U.S. Vaccines May Start Friday Amid Covid’s Worst: Virus Update

Vaccinations in the U.S. could begin as early as Friday, with the Food and Drug Administration set to vote on emergency-use authorization for the Pfizer Inc./BioNtech SE shot the day before, an FDA adviser told NBC News.

As states put in their orders for vaccines — and began deciding who will get them first — California set another record for infections and now more than half the state faces new restrictions. New York City’s outbreak continued to worsen, as North Carolina again recorded its highest infections and hospitalizations. Fatalities across the U.S. are rising sharply.

The U.K. plans to begin vaccinations in the week of Dec. 14, as authorities worldwide move to a new stage in tackling the pandemic. Moscow began jabs on Saturday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the nation can maintain high spending next year to help cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus.

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Two California regions — Southern California and San Joaquin Valley — will be slapped with the state’s stay-at-home order after the capacity at their intensive-care units fell below the 15% threshold for more curbs.

ICU capacity in San Joaquin Valley, a relatively rural area in the the state’s central region that includes Fresno, dipped to 8.6%. In Southern California, which has more than half of the state’s population in an area that includes Los Angeles and San Diego, that capacity fell to 12.5%. Under the order, a list of sectors including bars, wineries, hair salons and personal care services would be shut.

Los Angeles County, which has the nation’s highest number of cases and deaths, reported a record 8,949 new infections for a total of 439,408. Deaths increased by 44 to 7,886. Hospitalizations also reached a new high of 2,769.

Brazil reported 43,209 new cases at the end of a fourth week in a steep resurgence of the virus, according Health Ministry data. Infections have more than doubled over the last month to levels near the last peak in August. Another 664 people died.

The nation now has a total of 6,577,177 total cases, the most after the U.S. and India, and 176,628 deaths.

Florida reported 10,431 cases, its third consecutive day above 10,000 as the pace of infection rose rapidly. Average daily cases this week were 20% more than last week — or about 1,500 more infections each day — as hospitalizations neared the heights of the summer surge. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade said on Friday she was “gravely concerned” about pressure on the area’s medical system.

New York state reported 10,761 new cases, its second consecutive day above 10,000 –at the highest level since the peak of the outbreak in April.

Total hospitalizations rose almost 100 to 4,318. The statewide positive-test rate, which has been rising rapidly, dropped slightly to 5%, though it rose to more than 11% in a hot spot in Westchester County just north of the city. Another 69 people died.

Alabama reported 3,390 new cases, the fifth consecutive day over 3,000, keeping infections at their highest level since the start of the pandemic. The state reported 46 deaths, in a week when fatalities have spiked: The seven-day average this week was 44, compared to 31 week before Thanksgiving. Hospitalizations are at an all-time high on a seven-day average, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

California added a record 25,068 new cases, bringing the total to 1.3 million. It also reported 209 new deaths for a total fatality count of 19,791.

The state has been warning about the surge in cases and the strain on hospital beds, particularly those in intensive-care units. The number of ICU beds have fallen by 45 to 1,628, a new low, as hospitalizations increased 3.2% to 10,273.

A wide swath of the San Francisco Bay area has imposed stay-at-home rules through Christmas and New Year’s Day, while Los Angeles warned that the number of cases could top 500,000 by the end of the year.

A Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE could be in use by Friday if the Food and Drug Administration approves an emergency use authorization, James Hildreth, a member of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee, told NBC News.

The panel is scheduled to vote on the matter after reviewing the vaccine’s data at a meeting on Thursday.

“If the FDA Commissioner decides to issue approval, the EUA, on that day when the vote is taken, as early as Friday of next week we could see vaccinations happening across the country,” Hildreth said on NBC’s “Weekend Today.”

New Jersey reported 5,367 new cases, the second time this week over 5,000. The state’s infections are at the highest level since the start of the pandemic. Total hospitalizations fell slightly, and another 53 fatalities were reported.

France’s reported confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 12,923 on Saturday to 2.28 million. The seven-day average of new cases rose by 0.5% to 10,397, climbing for the first time in more than two weeks.

The rate of positive Covid-19 tests remained at 10.7% for a third day, following three weeks of declines. Hospitalizations and patients in intensive care for Covid-19 continued to fall from their mid-November peak. Deaths linked to the virus increased by 214 to 54,981.

The government started easing some lockdown measures a week ago, allowing non-essential stores to reopen.

Italy reported 21,052 new cases Saturday, confirming the downwards trend from last week. Daily fatalities dropped to 662 from 814 on Friday.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on SkyTg24 television on Saturday that strict anti-Covid measures are a necessity to avoid a new uptick in virus cases that would swamp hospitals and cause a further increase in deaths.

Asked about vaccine distribution, he said the timing will depend on the European Medicines Agency and that the Italian government plans to administer the vaccine on a voluntary basis once it’s available.

Arizona reported 6,799 new cases on Saturday, the fourth time this week that the state recorded more than 5,000 daily Covid-19 infections. During the state’s earlier surge last summer, Arizona never hit the 5,000-a-day mark.

The mayors of four Arizona cities have called on Republican Governor Doug Ducey to take stronger actions to curtail rising cases. The most important measure, they’ve said, is passing a statewide mask mandate to supplement existing local requirements.

North Carolina reported 6,018 new cases, another record at the end of week in which daily cases passed 5,000 three times. Hospitalizations rose to a record 2,171.

New York City’s outbreak continues to widen: Mayor Bill de Blasio reported increases in new infections, 2,179 on a seven-day average in the latest count, and new hospitalizations, 158. The positive-test rate declined slightly to 5%, on a seven-day average.

Maine reported a record daily average number of cases, 265 over the last week, the state’s Center for Disease Control reported Saturday. On Friday, Nirav Shah, the agency’s director, called the spread “ferocious” in a state that has so far avoided a major outbreak. He warned that tracking infections would have to scale back to focus on the most vulnerable most likely to cause further spread.

Germany will spend as much as 6 billion euros ($7.3 billion) on vaccinating its population against the coronavirus.

“That’s a lot of money,” Health Minister Jens Spahn said at a conference in Berlin on Saturday. Still, the cost of “not getting it under control is higher,” he said.

By contrast, the nation will likely spend as much as 20 billion euros on November support for restaurants and cafes, he said. Germany aims to begin mass vaccinations by the summer of next year, Spahn said earlier in an interview with T-Online.

Kier Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party in the U.K., has gone into self-isolation after a member of his staff tested positive. Starmer is well and not showing any symptoms of Covid-19, a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

U.S. deaths are up on average of 34% this week versus last week, or about 500 more per day. The nation reported 2,637 fatalities on Friday, the fourth day this week above 2,500, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. Friday’s fatalities were below Thursday’s record of 2,867.

Compared to a month ago, total deaths have risen 134%. The Midwest, which was hit first in the now nationwide surge, and the South are leading the increases, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

Local services will start in week of Dec. 14, with a goal of delivering 975 doses per site to priority patients that week, NHS England said in a letter sent to doctors on Friday.

Vaccines must be used quickly, and sites will initially receive 3.5 days’ worth of supplies, which can be stored at between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, the letter said. The Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE shot must be kept at freezing temperatures longer term. Sites involved in the first…