As US sees new high for Covid-19 hospitalizations, states are preparing for vaccine rollouts

With the rollout of new vaccines for coronavirus just a few weeks away, the importance of inoculating people and following health guidelines grew even more apparent Tuesday as US hospitals reported a record number of patients with Covid-19.

According to the Covid Tracking Project, there were 98,691 Covid patients as of Tuesday, 2,638 more than Monday’s figure, the previous high.

The volunteer tracking organization said Tuesday’s total is more than double the number of hospitalizations reported November 1, and more than triple the total of patients reported October 1.

The news comes as states prepare to receive vaccines and an advisory committee to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends who gets the vaccines first.

States are testing their vaccine data systems – submitting files that are then received by a CDC clearinghouse.

A healthcare worker administers a test at a Covid-19 testing tent outside a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in the Mission District of San Francisco, California, U.S., on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. UCSF and the Latino Task Force held post-holiday Covid-19 testing in four of the most affected neighborhoods in San Francisco, ABC7 San Francisco reports. Photographer: David Odisho/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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“All the states are going through testing,” said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, which is helping states with their immunization plans. “Everybody’s got to pass that test to make sure that they can transmit data, that their providers are enrolled successfully, that they can transmit orders and receive communication in the data system.”

The first two vaccines available to Americans will be shipped in a few weeks, according to a document from the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed.

The first shipments of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine will be delivered December 15 and Moderna’s vaccine will start to be delivered December 22, the document, provided to governors ahead of a call with Vice President Mike Pence and obtained by CNN, says.

FILE - In this July 27, 2020, file photo, nurse Kathe Olmstead prepares a shot that is part of a possible COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., in Binghamton, N.Y. Moderna Inc. says it will ask U.S. and European regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as new study results confirm the shots offer strong protection. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)

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An advisory panel to the CDC recommended Tuesday that heath care and long-term care workers get inoculated first as the vaccines are rolled out.

As Americans wait for vaccines, Covid-19 has been spreading quickly. Johns Hopkins University data reports the United States has reached more than 13.7 million total cases and 270,481 deaths. There were more than 2,000 deaths reported Tuesday, only the third time that has happened since May 6.

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The vaccine candidates from Pfizer and Moderna are awaiting emergency use authorizations (EUA). States have until Friday to request the number of doses for Pfizer’s vaccine, Hannan told CNN on Monday.

Stephen Hoge, the president of Moderna, told NBC that they are “quite optimistic” when it comes to authorization of their Covid-19 vaccine candidate.

Once the US Food and Drug Administration grants EUAs, they will be ready to be shipped out, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, Operation Warp Speed chief scientific adviser, said Monday. And that very day or the next, the first immunizations can be administered, he said.

Panel: Health care workers and patients in long term care should get vaccines first

At first there won’t be enough vaccines to go around.

Although federal officials expect to have 40 million doses of coronavirus vaccine available by the end of December, those doses will not all be available at once, CDC vaccine advisers were told Tuesday.

Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine vials.

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The CDC’s Dr. Sara Oliver told the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that the CDC expects between 5 million and 10 million doses to become available each week for the first few months as vaccine makers ramp up manufacturing.

The decision on who should get the vaccines first was made by the committee, a panel of independent advisers to the CDC. They decided Tuesday afternoon to recommend that both health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities go to the front of the line.

Florida surpasses 1 million cases

But even after vaccines start to be distributed, there won’t be enough for the wider public to be immunized until April or May of 2021, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, said. Until then, the US is still contending with an unprecedented spike.

And upcoming holiday gatherings around Christmas and Hanukkah could further spread infections, health officials say.

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Florida became the third state to surpass 1 million cumulative Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, following behind Texas and California, according to the Florida State Department of Health.

Oregon on Tuesday reported 24 deaths, the highest number of deaths announced in a single day, according to a news release from the state’s health authority.

New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi issued a notice that warns at-risk older adults and those with underlying health issues to stay in their homes as much as possible.

Under the health advisory, the commissioner is calling on those people to limit outdoor activities and stop non-essential travel. It also asks anyone who is around those populations to wear a face covering.

KENTFIELD, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 01: A classroom sits empty at Kent Middle School on April 01, 2020 in Kentfield, California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that schools will remain closed through the end of the academic year due to shelter-in-place orders necessitated by COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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To manage the risk of reopening, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Monday a new “Red to Green” system that tiers counties by their risk of spread. The data will be updated biweekly, and if a county fails to meet the metrics, it will begin operating at the most restrictive level within 48 hours.

Los Angeles County reported its highest number of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic with 7,593 new cases and 2,316 hospitalizations, according to a news release from the county’s public health department.

“Today … is the worst day thus far of the COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles County,” Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said in the news release. “However, it will likely not remain the worst day of the pandemic in Los Angeles County. That will be tomorrow, and the next day and the next as cases, hospitalizations and deaths increase.”

The number of new cases reported Tuesday easily surpassed the previous high of 6,124 new cases seen last week, signaling “that the virus is infecting more people at a faster rate than ever seen in L.A. County before,” the health department said.

Nationally, Tuesday marked the 29th consecutive day that the United States reported more than 100,000 new cases – a number that far exceeds the records set in the spring and summer surges, which both stayed below 60,000.

CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen, Maggie Fox, Lauren Mascarenhas, Raja Razek, Virginia Langmaid, Holly Yan, Sara Murray, John Bonifield, Shelby Lin Erdman, Jennifer Selva and Sheena Jones contributed to this report.