Good morning ... I'll be filling in for the next few days while Caitlin takes some time off. Send me your tips and feedback: baker@axios.com.
Today's word count is 945, or a 4-minute read.
Good morning ... I'll be filling in for the next few days while Caitlin takes some time off. Send me your tips and feedback: baker@axios.com.
Today's word count is 945, or a 4-minute read.
Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Inauguration Day is 69 days away, but the coronavirus will not know there's a new president.
The big picture: Biden will have to manage an enormously complicated behind-the-scenes response, but his biggest challenge will be to get the public to take advantage of that response.
What we're watching: The Biden administration will be reorienting America's public health apparatus while it's still staffing up and the pandemic continues to get worse.
The good news: If the early results from Pfizer's vaccine trial hold, and the rest of the process moves smoothly, the distribution of that vaccine would likely get going early next year and continue to ramp up from there.
It'll ultimately be the government's job to manage that process — and to persuade people to get vaccinated, once they have the opportunity.
When we say this crisis is going to keep getting worse, here's what that looks like; new infections were up 40% over the past week, and have been rising for months.
What's next: Experts have long believed that winter would be a dangerous time — not because temperature makes much of a biological difference for the virus, but because it spreads more easily indoors.
The latest: The U.S. recorded 140,000 cases yesterday — another single-day record — as well as 1,421 deaths, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
Coronavirus patients with developmental disorders are the most at risk of dying, followed by those with lung cancer and intellectual disabilities, according to a new analysis by FAIR Health, in collaboration with the West Health Institute and Johns Hopkins' Marty Makary.
Why it matters: Information about who is most at risk for severe coronavirus infections could help determine who should be the first to a vaccine, or scarce treatments, Axios' Caitlin Owens writes.
What they found: The overall mortality rate, determined by analyzing the claims of nearly half a million privately insured patients diagnosed with the virus, was -.59%.
"We knew COVID mortality was skewed toward chronic conditions, but we didn't realized it was skewed this much," Makary said.
Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images
The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at temperatures well below freezing, and while large, urban hospitals are rushing to buy expensive ultra-cold freezers to store it, many rural hospitals can't afford them, STAT reports.
The big picture: A review of states' vaccine distribution plans found that many aren't ready to deal with the challenge of delivering the shots, per ProPublica.
The bottom line: "Early, when we don’t have lots of doses, I frankly do not anticipate that vaccine will be widely available in every rural community," Amanda Cohn, chief medical officer for the CDC's Vaccine Task Force, said during a call on vaccine implementation earlier this month, per ProPublica.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Wisconsin hospitals say they're nearing a "tipping point" after which they may not be able to save everyone who needs saving. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Pfizer's CEO sold $5.6 million of stock on Monday, after the company's vaccine news sent that stock soaring. (CNBC)
New York is imposing a curfew on certain businesses as rising cases threaten its success at keeping the virus in check. (Axios)
Some Republican governors say they would not impose or help enforce the mask mandate Biden has called for. (Fox News)
Novamax has a contract with Operation Warp Speed to develop a vaccine, although the federal government had not disclosed it. (NPR)