Major drug maker reports encouraging findings for a covid vaccine. We will speak to dr. Saad omer, the director of the Yale Institute for Global Health. Then nine months into the pandemic, we look at how many hospitals are failing to provide adequate ppe to doctors and nurses. We will talk to jean ross, copresident of National Nurses united. We have been calling for this protection for Health Care Workers, not just for many months now, but also, if you recall, since the ebola crisis hit our shores. And sad to say, we are still very lacking. Amy plus, Central America has been devastated by backtoback Climate Changefueled hurricanes over the past two weeks. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the quarantine report. Im amy goodman. The United States recorded nearly 167,000 new coronavirus cases on monday, the third highest daily toll of the pandemic. The official u. S. Death toll, already the highest in the world, is rapidly approaching 250,000 with 800 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours. In california, democratic governor gavin newsom ordered pandemic restrictions for three quarters of the states counties and is considering a statewide curfew. Iowas republican governor kim reynolds has ordered a statewide indoor mask mandate, with some exceptions, along with limits on bars and restaurants and a ban on certain public gatherings. In arizona, the Navajo Nation on monday ordered nonessential businesses closed, canceled inperson classes, and shut roads to visitors warning of uncontrolled spread of the virus. In south dakota, where the covid19 death rate is among the worst in the world, emergency room nurse jodi doering says shes treated many patients who deny that covid19 is making them ill even as theyre hospitalized. In a nowviral thread on twitter , doering wrote these people really think this isnt going to happen to them. And then they stop yelling at you when they get intubated. She spoke on cnn. Their last dying words are this cant be happening. Its not real. When they should be spending time facetiming their families, they are with anger and hred and made me really sad the other night. I just cant believe this is going to be there last 10 words. Last spoken words. Amy in delaware, president elect joe biden spoke of a very dark winter ahead as the u. S. Continues to lead the world in Coronavirus Infections and deaths. Biden was asked what will happen if President Trump continues to prevent bidens Transition Team from coordinating with the outgoing administration. Yr. Biden more people made die. Amy biden called on Senate Republicans to pass a covid relief package like the 3 trillion heroes act approved by House Democrats last may. Vice president elect Kamala Harris noted the pandemic has a far greater impact on people communities of color. Black americans and latinos are three times as more likely to contract covid and more likely to die. Native americans are more than four times as likely to be hospitalized as others. In last month, the Unemployment Rate for black americans was almost twice the rate of others. Amy michigans democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer is blasting White House Coronavirus adviser dr. Scott atlas after he called on michiganders to rise up against Public Health measures aimed at slowing the spread of covid19. On sunday, atlas tweeted the only way this stops is if people rise up. You get what you accept. Tet came st ov a monthfter thebi said itad brokeup a ploby at ast 14en to atck the chigan ste capit and to kidn goverr whitr. Whmer latesaid atlas tweet took my breath away. She spoke with cnn on sunday evening. We know the white house likes to single is out in michigan, me in particular. I am not going to be bullied in a not following reputable scientists and medical professionals. Amy on monday, Stanford University issued a statement radiologistlf from dr. Scott atlas, whos currently on leave as a senior fellow at stanfords hoover institution. The Statement Read dr. Atlas has expressed views that are inconsistent with the universitys approach in response to the pandemic. In mexico, confirmed coronavirus cases have topped 1 million though the true number of infections is likely many times higher. Mexicos official covid19 death toll is nearing 100,000. Pakistan has banned public rallies after a spike in covid19 cases. Russia turned an ice rink into a temporary hospital as its cases reached a daily record of nearly 23,000 new infections. Iran also reported its largest daily increase, with over 13,000 confirmed cases. Hurricane iota made landfall on monday afternoon on nicaraguas caribbean coast as an extremely dangerous category 4 storm. Much of the city of Puerto Cabezas has been left without power, with the roofs of homes and a makeshift hospital ripped off by heavy winds and rain. Iota is the strongest hurricane ever observed this late in the season. It hit just days after hurricane eta devastated communities across the region, killing at least 150 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless. Well have the latest on the Central American hurricanes, fueled by the climate crisis, later in the broadcast. President trump continues to refuse to concede to president elect joe biden. On monday, trump tweeted that ohios next republican gubernatorial primary would be hotly contested after republican Governor Mike Dewine publicly acknowledged bidens victory. On monday, Trumps Campaign gave up major parts of its federal lawsuit challenging Election Results in pennsylvania, a state biden won by over 73,000 votes. Trump supporters also dropped lawsuits challenging results in michigan, georgia, pennsylvania, and wisconsin. Georgias republican secretary of state says members of his own party are pressuring him to exclude legally cast ballots from a hand recount of november 3s Election Results. Speaking from quarantine after his wife tested positive for covid, bread Brad Raffensperger said South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham urged him to throw out all mailin ballots in certain counties. And raffensperger blasted Georgia RepublicanCongressmember Douglas Collins for accusing him of capitulating to democrats. Raffensperger said im an engineer. We look at numbers. We look at hard data. I cant help it that a failed candidate like doug collins is running around lying to everyone. Hes a liar, georgias secretary of state said. Georgias initial counshowed joe biden won by over 14,000 votes a result thats extremely unlikely to change significantly after a recount. The New York Times reports President Trump has inquired about bombing irans main nuclear site in the coming weeks. Trump raised the issue during a meeting thursday with Vice President mike pence, secretary of state mike pompeo and top military officials, including christopher miller, the new acting defense secretary. The times reports the advisers attempted to dissuade the president , warning that a strike could escalate into a broader conflict. But officials told the times trump may still be looking for ways to attack iran or iranian assets before his term ends. Thursdays meeting was held a day after International Inspectors reported irans lowenriched uranium stockpile is growing again following trumps abandonment of the 2015 iranuclear dea iran is enriching the uranium at a level suitable for Nuclear Power plants but not nuclear weapons. The New York Times is also reporting trump is expected to soon order the withdrawal of thousands of troops from afghanistan, iraq, and somalia. The proposed plan would leave about 2000 troops in afghanistan and 2500 troops in iraq. The withdrawal has been opposed by some top military officials. Shortly before he was fired, former defense secretary mark esper sent a classified memo to the white house opposing the troop withdrawal from afghanistan. The Ethiopian Air force bombed the capital of the semiautonomous Northern State of tigray monday as part of a new offensive in the nearly twoweek conflict. This comes as ethiopian Prime Minister abiy ahmed who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year is rejecting calls to deescalate. Hundreds of people have died since ethiopian troops began the attack on tigray on november 4. More than 25,000 refugees have fled into sudan. Perus congress on monday selected the countrys third leader in just the past week. Francisco sagastis rise to power came a day after interim president Manuel Merino resigned amid ongoing mass protests, in which at least two people were killed. Merino was appointed after what opponents are calling a legislative coup against former president martin vizcarra, who was impeached and removed as hes being investigated for corruption allegations. At least half of perus congressmembers are also under investigation for corruption. In brazil, local Election Results in the countrys main cities show candidates backed by farright president Jair Bolsonaro have lost across the board. Among the victories is the election of Monica Benicio to the Rio De Janeiro city council. Benicio is the widow of marielle franco, a vocal black, lgbtq rights activist, longtime critic of police brutality. While in office, franco was the only black woman in rios city council. She was assassinated in 2018. Her murder remains unsolved. Back in the United States, nearly 93,000 claims of sexual abuse have been filed against the boy scouts of america. Monday was the deadline for victims to submit claims against the now bankrupt organization. Andrew van arsdale, a lawyer with the group abused in scouting, said sexual abuse was an unspoken norm within the scouts. The New York Times reports most serious conduct charges against new York City Police officers were met with lenient punishments as a department constantly ignored or downplayed the need for stricter response. Of nearly 7000 misconduct charges against officers, the department overruled harsher punishments and about 70 of cases, including officers accused of physically assaulting people. Meanwhile, new york city simultaneously paid millions of dollars to settle lawsuits that stem from those same abuse complaints. This comes as new york city added another 900 cups to the police force last month. Dozens of people in new york city over the week it took to the streets protesting Ongoing Police killings and abuse. This is an organizer with democratic socialists of america. At the end of the daypolice since this movement there will be more and more flashpoints. There is a sustained movement because of the daily presence of these people. Amy last week mayor de blasio launched a Pilot Program that would remove Police Officers from responding to Mental Health calls. And those are some of the stories. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the quarantine report. Im amy goodman. As coronavirus cases soar across the country and around the globe, the drug maker moderna announced monday that its Coronavirus Vaccine is nearly 95 effective. This comes after pharmaceutical giant pfizer announced a vaccine last week with 90 effectiveness. As the virus has now killed at least 1. 2 Million People nationwide worldwide, the Companies Say they could offer 20 million doses of the vaccine to people in the u. S. By sometime next month. But officials warn that widespread distribution of a vaccine for coronavirus will be a tremendously difficult and lengthy task. The World Health Organizations immunization director Katherine Obrien said monday discovering a vaccine was like building a base camp on mount everest. This comes as the ited states recoed nearly 167,000 new cases on monday, the third highest daily toll of the pandemic. Nearly 800 people died of covid19 on monday, bringing the official u. S. Toll to nearly 247,000. For more on the latest vaccine news, we go to new haven, connecticut, by dr. Saad omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, professor of Infectious Diseases at yale school of medicine, and a vaccine researcher. Welcome to democracy now it is great to have you with us. Lets talk about some numbers. You have this amazing announcement last week by Pfizer Biontech that their vaccine to stand percent effective. That is followed this week by samenas vaccine, moderna theres is 94. 5 percent effective. These are astounding figures. It i want to talk about how we got this information, by two press releases. Dr. Saad omerna dr. Saad omer and one from pfizer. As soon as they are released, their stocks skyrocket. How can we trust this . What should we understand . What do you understand . The news that is out there is reassuring but you are right, we need a little more information and we need a little more transparency. I can understd they want to get the information out right away due to insidertrading concerns and whatever. But soon after that, they should be a little more detailed and it should be in the form of some scientific report. Ideally, a reprint of bountiful. A peerreviewed report. More than a press release. Amy what kind of encouragement are you taking from this . How significant . And what about these two tests, these remarkable findings . And what does it mean for further testing . Who has to approve this next . How fast this becomes available, even as other vaccines we understand astrazeneca, johnson johnson, are nearing announcement as well . This is certainly good news. I dont think theres much of a practical difference between a 90 efficacy or 95 efficacy in preliminary results. So that is one thing. The best news is for the first time it has been shown there can a vaccine against this coronavirus. The establishment of that, proof of principle that an effective vaccine can be created by any method is a big deal. The second thing is that protein targeted by both of these vaccines is which is the target we have put most if not all x i, not all, but most of of eggs in the basket rgeting is protein, that is reassuring that two vaccine targetinghat seem to be working. The third thing is the mrna technology, both of them, seem to be working. This is part of good news. There is a lot to be known. For example, we need to know how long it is going to work. We need a little more details. The way it is likely to be approved, it is likely to be authorized like the to go to the fda now. Both of the companies have indicated theyre going to go to the fda in the few weeks. The fda has had a little course correction in the past for five weeks where they have been more open about following the mainstream process and, frankly, due to the pushback from that folks that is reassuring and it is likely these vaccines the data from these vaccines will be even more detailed data that is presented to the Advisory Committee, the independent Advisory Committee of the fda at fda itself, and that a decision will be made. Amy talk about what is needed for distribution. We understand the Pfizer Biontech double vaccine, need to have them, has to be kept at. Ubzero temperatures many states are deeply concerned in the United States, not to mention countries around the world and you are deeply involved with both as you are involved with the World Health Organization do not have these special freezers that are needed. Moderna is differe, though it still needs freezers. It ultracold call chamber requirement for Something Like what would be required for the Pfizer Biontech vaccine. That is a problem. I would say that is a challenge. It is not unsurmountable because the ebola vaccine was distributed in a low income country situation using ultracold chambers, so it is not impossible but it is a pretty substantial challenge. Focusing on this and terms of country preparedness. Look, you know, the world is not easy. Similarly in the u. S. , i wish we had beenlanning we had started planning a little bit earlier, but the cdc has released a few documents, has been working with several states to get us online as a country to prepare for vaccines that require ultracold chamber. It doesnt mean that will not pos