Thread by @ASlavitt

Morning update on COVID news.

Vaccine rollout
Senate package
New strain in UK
More data/California 1/

Vaccine rollout.

Trump Administration have problems counting how many Pfizer vaccines they have & where & when they go. Will fail to send committed amounts on time to states. 2/

Governors are annoyed & trying to be patient. Delay will be weeks not months from what I hear.

This sounds sloppy. But kinks are to be expected. Moderna vaccine begins to ship. 3/

Next topic— Senators tell me the $900 billion COVID relief bill is passable. $ for:
-vaccine distro
-schools
-$300 UI
-stimulus
-renters
-small biz loans 4/

Language being drafted, room for surprises. But expect late night vote.

Two thorny issues left out are business liability protection (Rs want$, $ for states (Ds want). 5/

Tomorrow I will have @SenDuckworth on #inthebubble. She will describe the deal for you and the Ins & outs as well as discuss how we survive— the theme of 2020. 6/

Smarturl.it/inthebubble

Next topic— The new strain in the UK reported yesterday. ICYMI, summary from key scientists here. 7/

https://twitter.com/aslavitt/status/1340349052945199104

Continental Europe has reported seeing this strain as well. Countries are shutting down travel from the UK.

Disruptive. More disruptive in a country like the US that has failed at containment & has had no ability to implement strict public health measures. 8/

Next topic— The extent of the challenge of COVID is becoming public finally. Analysts are pouring through the new data the WH finally made public.

It’s grim. And its unconscionable that it hasn’t been released until now. 7/

There are things that can be seen before we experience them with this virus & they tell us which counties & cities are about to get worse. Yet the public wasn’t told. 8/

While things are bad virtually everywhere this tells us where things are about to get worse (Tennessee). 9/

California is in the most dramatic situation today. Scenes never experienced before in US hospitals to my knowledge.
-hospitalizations up 50% over last week
-60% of ICU COVID (double rest of country) 10/