Axios

Italy has announced it is tightening coronavirus restrictions for five regions experiencing a wave of cases, the New York Times reports.

Driving the news: Like much of Europe, Italy is seeing a surge in coronavirus cases nationwide, straining the country's hospitals and health care system.

Most of the Affordable Care Act appeared likely to survive Tuesday as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments over the law’s individual mandate.

The big picture: Two members of the court’s conservative majority — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh — suggested they’re unlikely to throw out the entire health care law, as Republican attorneys general and the Trump administration have urged. Their votes would be enough to save it.

Utah's new coronavirus restrictions — including a statewide mask mandate — are receiving mixed reviews from the state legislature, the Salt Lake City Tribune reports.

Why it matters: Utah implemented the new restrictions in light of a swelling caseload and the threat of hospitals becoming overwhelmed, and may provide an example of what's to come in red states across the U.S.

Pfizer and BioNTech's preliminary analysis — suggesting their vaccine was 90% effective at preventing symptomatic coronavirus disease — created some light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.

Why it matters: 90% efficacy is on the high end of what experts were hoping for, and Pfizer's good — albeit preliminary — news is also an encouraging sign for how well other, similar vaccines could work.

Pfizer yesterday took a giant step toward a COVID-19 vaccine, reporting that its vaccine candidate was effective in over 90% of uninfected clinical trial patients.

Reality check: It's a giant and welcome development, but the pandemic will be with us long after vaccine distribution begins.

Portugal and Hungary have become the latest European countries to impose partial lockdowns, with curfews going into effect overnight. Governments across the continent are imposing more restrictions in attempts to curb COVID-19 spikes.

The big picture: Over 9.2 million cases have been reported to the European Centre for Disease Control. Per the ECDC, France has the most (almost 1.8 million) followed by Spain (over 1.3 million) and the United Kingdom (nearly 1.2 million). The COVID death rate per 100,000 of the population is highest in the Czech Republic (25), followed by Belgium (19) and Hungary (10.4).

The FDA announced on Monday it has issued an emergency use authorization for Eli Lilly's antibody therapy, bamlanivimab, to treat mild to moderate cases of COVID-19.

Why it matters: The treatment is authorized for people "who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization," including people who are 65 and older, and/or people with certain chronic illnesses.

David Bossie, one of President Trump's outside advisers, has tested positive for the coronavirus after attending the president's election night party last week, sources familiar with the situation tell Axios.

Why it matters: Bossie is helping the Trump campaign lead a barrage of lawsuits to contest the outcome of the 2020 election, as the president continues to spread unsubstantiated allegations that widespread voter fraud and mail-in ballot irregularities stole the election from him.

Pfizer on Monday announced that its COVID-19 vaccine has proven effective in over 90% of previously uninfected people, and added that it could have 50 million doses available by year-end.

Axios Re:Cap talks to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla about vaccine data, distribution, politics, and how he reacted upon receiving the news.

The U.S. surpassed 10 million confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins data.

Why it matters: The U.S. has reported over 100,000 new coronavirus cases every day since last Wednesday, when it first passed the threshold, per the COVID Tracking Project.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson tested positive for COVID-19, ABC News first reported on Monday.

Why it matters: Carson is the latest in a string of White House officials to contract the virus — days after Chief of Staff Mark Meadows also tested positive. Like Meadows, Carson attended the White House’s largely mask-free election night party last week alongside a group of other top officials in President Trump's Cabinet.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced Monday that its coronavirus vaccine trial was effective in preventing COVID-19 infections in 90% of previously uninfected people and did not produce any serious safety concerns.

Why it matters: Should the results bear out, it would potentially a huge breakthrough in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

23 states set new highs last week for coronavirus infections recorded in a single day, according to the COVID Tracking Project (CTP) and state health departments. 15 states surpassed records from the previous week.

Why it matters: More states across the country are handling record-high caseloads than this summer.

An independent panel of medical experts overwhelmingly said last week there is not enough evidence for the Food and Drug Administration to approve Biogen's experimental Alzheimer's drug, aducanumab.

Why it matters: This is one of the most consequential drug evaluations in years, aside from pending coronavirus vaccines and drugs. The FDA is not required to follow the experts' recommendations, but bucking their advice and siding with Biogen's data-parsing would call into question the agency's standards and motives.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday over the future of the Affordable Care Act — the third time in eight years the ACA has been on the brink of life or death at the high court.

The big picture: For now, the smart money says that the court is likely to strike down what remains of the law’s individual mandate, but is unlikely to go along with the argument — advanced by both red states and the Trump administration — that the whole law has to fall along with it.

President-elect Joe Biden declared tackling the pandemic "one of the most important battles our administration will face" as he announced a new 12-member Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board on Monday.

Why it matters: The U.S. has reported over 100,000 new coronavirus cases every day since last Wednesday, when it first reached the milestone. The seven-day average of deaths from the virus reported by states has risen 36% in the past three weeks, per the COVID Tracking Project.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) announced late Sunday a new state of emergency that mandates masks statewide until further notice "due to the alarming rate of COVID infections" that have put a strain on hospitals.

Driving the news: Cases are surging across the U.S. Local officials said hospitals were at "breaking point" as infection numbers spike, per ABC4. Utah confirmed Sunday 2,386 more people tested positive for the coronavirus, taking the total to 132,621, per the COVID Tracking Project.