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United Kingdom Starts its Vaccination Program; Healthcare Workers to Have the Vaccine First; U.S. Hits the Highest Coronavirus Death Toll; Healthcare Workers Pleas the Public to Obey Rules; Russia Has Vaccinated 100,000 Individuals with Sputnik V; Bill Barr Frustrates Trump; Biden Calms Small Business Owners; U.K.'s Rapid Vaccine Approval Problematic; Nurse Makes Plea After Family's Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak; Biontech CEO, This is the Start of the End of the Pandemic; U.K. Health Official Urging Public to take Vaccine; South Korea Holds College Entrance Exams Amid Pandemic; United Nations Chief Warns our Planet is Broken; Weekly U.S. Jobless Report Due in Coming Hours; France's Valery Giscard d'Estaing Dies At 94. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired December 03, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, a COVID vaccine is coming to the U.K. Pfizer shipping hundreds of thousands of doses. When will the rest of Europe get access?
In the U.S., health care workers are pleading with people to take precautions as the country records its deadliest single day in this pandemic.
And later, we'll go to South Korea where half trying a million students are trying to stay safe while taking a high stakes exam.
Good to have you with us.
Well the first doses of a promising COVID vaccine should begin arriving in the U.K. next week. This after British regulators became the first in the west to grant emergency use authorization to the revolutionary therapy developed by a drug makers Pfizer and BioNTech.
Pfizer is preparing to ship about 800,000 doses of the drug to the U.K. from its facility in Belgium. It's a huge logistical challenge because the vaccine must be stored at extremely cold temperatures. The prime minister explained who would be vaccinated first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The first phase will include care home residents, health and care staff, the elderly and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable. But there are immense logistical challenges. The virus has got to be stored at minus 70 degrees. Each person needs two injections three weeks apart. So, it will inevitably take some months before all the most vulnerable are protected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): The U.K.'s fast-track approach puts it ahead of the U.S. and European Union by days if not weeks. The E.U.'s regulatory agency says it prefers not to rush the review process and will have a decision by the end of the month.
The U.S. regulatory agency will begin reviewing Pfizer's application for emergency use on December 10th.
Well Max Foster is following developments in London. And Melissa Bell is standing by in Paris. Good to see you both. So Max, to you first. The U.K. fending off suggestions that it moved too fast with this approval. What's the latest on that and of course preparations to start vaccinating next week?
MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: Simply the defense on that is that no corners are cut. And the regulators they did all the checks and tests on this vaccine that they would normally do for vaccines. It's just that they did it in a different order, so they did at these tests in parallel with each other as opposed to one after the other, which means that this vaccine was approved after just 10 months after it was conceived, when it would normally take 10 years, a pretty extraordinary.
The other extraordinary thing is the logistical exercise. Let's take you through it. There would be 50 hub hospitals which will begin offering vaccines to people who over the age of 80 and care home staff. I'll talk more about that in a moment because they've already faced their first challenge there.
About 1,000 vaccine centers across England will start dosing vulnerable patients. That will come a bit later on. Local pharmacies should be able to offer doses as well further down the line. And the roll out filters down to the general public by age with older groups coming first.
Now I want to talk about challenges, Rosemary. There is a clear challenge that has emerged straight away. And that is that this is a very fragile vaccine. It has to be kept to these very low temperatures. But also, it comes in batches of 975. And under the U.K. regulations, those batches can't be split.
So, this is where you have a problem when you say that the care homes come first because they can't get them into care homes next week. They're going to these key hospitals, and the care home residents will simply have to wait.
So, there is already a problem here. They can't actually get it to the most vulnerable people. But the deputy chief medical officer says they will get it into care homes as seen -- as soon as it is technically and legally possible. So, a big challenge already. CHURCH: Yes, absolutely. Melissa, to you, the U.K.'s rapid approval
all Pfizer's vaccines has exposed tensions, hasn't it? With the E.U. suggesting this was too hasty and jeopardizes trust in the vaccine. What has been said about that?
[03:05:05]
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, I mean, it's been a fairly bitter divorce over the course of the last few years. This, one of those success stories really for Britain when you consider that it is able to move so much faster as it did on vaccine procurement frankly.
When you think back to June, the United Kingdom was given the option of joining Europeans with this mechanism, this system for trying to get vaccines procured, that is to secure those doses further down the line of all those vaccines that might get approved to be functional. And the British got ahead.
So, they got the first vaccines even from companies that were based within the E.U. because that decision-making process in the European Union turned out to be slower, and again this time. So, what happens now with continental vaccines is that the EMA, the European Medicines Agency has begun its process. It is also fast-tracked. It will also be accelerated simply not as accelerated as the British has been.
Then has to go to the commission, that too has happened in a simultaneous manner, in order that what we expect in terms of the rollout is that by the end of December we will have a decision on that Pfizer vaccine. It will then be in late December or early January that it will then be rolled out.
And then the Moderna one later in the month -- in the month of January. So, this time of Christmas is very difficult that continental are going to get the same access as the British are, to this much needed and eagerly anticipated vaccines. Have a listen to what the German health ministry had to say about this.
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JENS SPAHN, GERMAN HEALTH MINISTER (through translator): Within the E.U. there are also individual members, Germany included that could activate these emergency approval procedures, but after much consideration we decided against doing this, but said we would proceed in collaboration with the E.U. As the commissioner quietly rightly stated, we are proceeding with caution to keep the maximum level of trust in this product.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELL (on camera): So maybe the slightly longer way, but essentially European countries, bound as they are by the European Union will be waiting and seeing those weeks pass before they can hope to give their own citizens the kinds of vaccines that the British will get.
It is, I suppose, the privilege from leaving the E.U. that you can make those decisions and start moving faster, and twice now in terms of COVID, both with vaccine procurement in the beginning and now with the rollout of the vaccine itself. The British have beaten the European Union.
CHURCH: Indeed, and balancing access and trust there of course. Max Foster and Melissa Bell, many thanks to both of you.
Well, more deaths from COVID-19 were reported in the U.S. on Wednesday than on any day before. The 3,100 fatalities far exceed, even the worst days of the pandemic last April, and while the prospect of an imminent vaccine is encouraging, it won't come soon enough for many people.
The head of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fears the U.S. death toll could reach 450,000 by next March before a vaccine is widely available. Many U.S. medical facilities already are at or nearing capacity. A record 100,000 Americans are so sick right now they need to be hospitalized. And that number is expected to go up in the coming weeks and months.
U.S. Regulators will review Pfizer's application for an emergency use authorization on December 10th, and if it gets the OK the vaccine distribution could begin almost immediately.
CNN's Athena Jones has our report.
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ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With the United Kingdom becoming the first western country to green light a coronavirus vaccine, plans are already underway to distribute it in the U.S. once the FDA grants emergency use authorization.
GUSTAVE PERNA, COO, OPERATION WARP SPEED: When EUA decision comes, distribution to the American people becomes immediate within 24 hours. That's our goal.
JONES: Federal officials expect 40 million doses to be available by the end of December with between 5 and 10 million doses becoming available each week for the first few months as vaccine makers ramp up production.
The first shipment said to be delivered December 15th for Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, and December 22nd for Moderna's. A CDC advisory committee recommending health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities be among the first to be inoculated.
Operation Warp Speed officials expect to vaccinate 29 million people in December, 30 million in January and 50 million in February.
MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: And end of February, we will have potentially immunized 100 million people which is really more or less the size of the significant at-risk population.
JONES: But it will be months before most people get a shot. And America is already in crisis. The White House Coronavirus Task Force warning we are in a very dangerous place with the COVID risk to all Americans at an historic high.
The U.S. setting another record for hospitalizations with more than doubled in the month of November on Tuesday. The CDC director warning by February we could have 450,000 deaths.
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ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: The reality is December and January, and February are going to be rough times. I actually believe they are going to be the most difficult times in the public health history of this nation. Largely because of the stress that it is going to put on our health system.
JONES: Oregon report its highest single day death toll so far. Texas set a new record for new cases in one day. And in Kentucky --
ANDY BESHEAR (D), KENTUCKY ATTORNEY GENERAL: No way to sugarcoat it. Today is the worst day that we have had for reporting the spread of the coronavirus. And it is the deadliest day that we have had.
JONES: In California where Los Angeles saw its worst day for new cases and hospitalizations, the governor is weighing the possibility of a statewide stay-at-home order as cases surge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES (on camera): And with Christmas right around the corner and the terrible numbers we are seeing across the country, the CDC has the same message for the upcoming holidays that it did for Thanksgiving. The best way for people to protect themselves and their loved ones is not to travel and to stay home.
Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
CHURCH: Joining me now from Portland, Oregon is CNN medical analyst, Dr. Esther Choo. Thank you so much, doctor, for being with us and for all the work you do.
ESTHER CHOO, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Now before we get to the vaccine, let's look at the reality we're facing right now. The director of the CDC warns the next three months will be the most difficult time in U.S. public health history as hospitalizations set a new record at a 100,000 plus and deaths saw above 2,600 a day.
Of course, Thanksgiving and Christmas travel will make this even worse, yet more Americans ignore public health advice. What needs to be done here and where all this going, do you think?
CHOO: Yes, it's hard to know what to ask of people anymore. I mean, we have been pushing throughout the fall, headed into these winter holidays for people to really listen to public health recommendations and be very strict about mask wearing and social distancing, and yet people have been gathering, and of course we all have fatigue, but I think all we can do is try to take some measure of hope from these incoming vaccines.
And ask for people to do more of the same, but this time with hope in a very specific timeline in mind. And I'm hoping that the promise of these vaccines sometime in the New Year will give people that extra energy they need to really buckle down and try to get us through the virus between now and then, we really need to just save as many lives as possible.
CHURCH: Yes. Let's just try to do that as you say, and doctor, yesterday the U.K. approved Pfizer's COVID vaccine. They already to start vaccinating next week. but they have been criticized for moving too fast on this even though they insist corners were not cut here. What's your response to that?
CHOO: Well, it really does seem like things are expedited rather than rush. I think it's really the right terminology. I mean, we're not very far away from the same here in the United States. We are looking at getting some vaccine pushed out to health care workers as early as later this month.
And I think it seems like the studies have been done with tremendous care and rigor. That the safety data have been incredibly reassuring. So, I haven't really seen any cause for alarm, but a lot of reassurance of the benefits outweigh the harms that have been observed, not just with this latest trial but from phase one onwards.
CHURCH: Yes, indeed, and of course the U.S. isn't far behind the U.K. Vaccinations could start right after the December 10th FDA advisory meeting. The plan is to potentially vaccinate 100 million Americans by March. How do you think that distribution will play out and what are the major challenges that you see going forward with this?
CHOO; Well, distribution is an extremely complicated thing, and we are still looking to see how this is going to play out in the United States. And there are many, many questions that have not been answered. House is going to be coordinated across states? How are we going to manage things like even storage of the vaccine, of course the Pfizer vaccine requires these ultra-cold refrigerators.
These are not standard issue even for major medical centers. But you know, if anybody has that it would be larger hospitals. How are we going to get it out to rural areas or simply places that are at enough driving distance that we won't be able to get busses out to the?
And then of course, the huge public health messaging piece, there's a lot of vaccine hesitancy. We have to get people interested and willing to take the vaccine while we work out the delivery issues. And not only receive one dose of the vaccine but come back and receive a second dose.
And so, there are tremendous challenges. This is also an incredibly expensive process to get the vaccine out and to educate both health care providers who need to administer the vaccine, and how to do that how to store and how to, you know, administer the vaccine. [03:15:07]
And also -- and also educate the public and make sure that people have the knowledge and the understanding and the confidence to receive the vaccine.
So, we have tremendous challenges ahead of us, really more questions than answers. I mean, a lot of work to do over the upcoming months to make sure that this very successful vaccine in the clinical trial setting is actually successful when we get it out there.
CHURCH: Yes, absolutely. Dr. Esther Choo, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it. And we appreciate you.
CHOO: Thank you.
CHURCH: Well, Russia is moving ahead with its own vaccine, the country's health minister says that more than 100,000 Russians have been vaccinated so far with a country Sputnik V vaccine.
And CNN's Matthew Chance joins us now live from Moscow with more on this. Good to see, Mathew. So, what is the latest on the safety and efficacy of Russia's vaccine after much concern in the initial stage?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There has been a lot of skepticism expressed about the safety and effectiveness of the Russian vaccine. But, so far, the trial results that have been peer reviewed, and prominent medical journal, The Lancet, have indicated that there is a good strong antibody production, with people who have been vaccinated with Sputnik there are no significant adverse effects.
The concern was in the fact that the group of people that have been used to test, Sputnik V was not as big as it was with other, you know, kind of pharmaceutical companies who have been sort of testing their vaccines as well.
But, you know, the Russians have full confidence in it and to underline that, Vladimir Putin 24 hours ago, you know, gave a televised conference in which he called on the deputy prime minister who is in charge of vaccination in this country, to undertake large- scale vaccinations across the country beginning next week.
He said that the country has managed to produce two million doses so far of Sputnik V. And that amount is going to increase dramatically in the weeks and in the months coming ahead. And so, he said by next week, he wants to come back to him and say look, we've started this log large-scale vaccine.
In the meantime, the Russian health minister is going to presentation at the United Nations, and you can (Inaudible) again was by video conference, in which he said that already, 100,000 people in Russia have been vaccinated with Sputnik V.
I think given the exact breakdown of who those people were, but we do know that at least 40,000 people have been involved in the phase three trials of Sputnik V which is ongoing, we know that at least two and a half thousand members of the military have been vaccinated. And at least 10,000 frontline health care workers have received Sputnik V as well.
And so, you know, it's people in those categories, as well as sort of a VIP or prominent people, the mayor of Moscow, the defense minister, Putin's own daughter who have received Sputnik V so far. And obviously, as with the countries that efforts as that vaccine becomes more available and production is stepped up, it is going to accelerate dramatically in the weeks in the months ahead, Rosemary.
CHURCH: And let's hope it is the beginning of the end of this pandemic. Matthew Chance bringing us the latest there. I appreciate it.
Well time now for a short break, when we come back, sources say recent comments by the U.S. attorney general about the election have left President Trump frustrated.
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CHURCH: U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr's days on the job could be numbered. The Washington Post reports President Trump is livid with Barr and is considering firing him. On Tuesday, Barr said there was no fraud on a scale that could change the results of the election. Officials are discouraging the president from firing Barr so close to the end of his term.
Jim Acosta has more.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Starring clear at reporters but surfacing at White House holiday parties, the president may have found a new official to put on the naughty list. Attorney General William Barr, Mr. Trump appeared to be ignoring his own Justice Department's assessment that there was no widespread fraud in the election.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I call it a rigged election and I always will.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
ACOSTA: Asked about Barr's comments, pushing back on Mr. Trump's false conspiracy theories about a rigged election, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany stopped short of saying the president still has confidence in the attorney general.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president if he has any personal announcements, you'll be the first to know it. ACOSTA: McEnany suggested that Barr didn't have all the facts before
referring the matter to the Trump campaign. Yes, the same campaign she has represented as an adviser on conservative media.
MCENANY: The attorney general was speaking to what has come before his desk. And again, I point you to the campaign for specific questions on this.
ACOSTA: That was hardly the only dodge of the day on reports from CNN and other news outlets that the president and his advisers have discussed pardons for the members of the first family, plus associates like Rudy Giuliani, and Mr. Trump himself. McEnany sidestepped that matter as well.
MCENANY: I heard no mention of any pardons in any conversations I've had in the White House.
ACOSTA: Democrats say it's time for GOP leaders to stand up to the president.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: No, Mr. President, that would be a gross abuse of the presidential pardon authority. But I have a more important question. Just how long our Republican colleagues going to indulge the president in this nonsense?
ACOSTA: Asked for the Justice Department's recently disclose investigation into a potential presidential pardon bribery scheme, Mr. Trump tweeted that the probe is fake news.
UNKNOWN: Has anybody in the White House been questioned by federal law enforcement officials regarding potential brides?
MCENANY: No. And in fact, the DOJ officials said yesterday that no government official was or is currently a subject or target of the investigation.
ACOSTA: White House officials also declined to explicitly condemned recent threats against election officials in Georgia. Contradictive of Mr. Trump's bogus claims.
GABRIEL STERLING, GEORGIA VOTING SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION MANAGER: Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot. Someone is going to get killed. And it's not right. When they called for us to resign, the senator -- I'm sorry, the president called that Brad Raffensperger who is fine outstanding life-long Republican, an enemy of the people, that helped opened the floodgates to this kind of crap.
ACOSTA: McEnany's response to that.
MCENANY: We condemn any threats against anyone. There is no place for violence.
ACOSTA: The White House was also asked about the possibility that the president could announced his running in 2024 around Joe Biden's inauguration. An idea discussed by some Trump advisers. Mr. Trump hinted at that to party goers. TRUMP: It's been an amazing four years. We are trying to do another
four years. Otherwise, I'll see you in four years.
ACOSTA: McEnany said she's out of the loop on that subject too.
MCENANY: I have not heard any discussions of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA (on camera): A source close to the White House said the public should expect a, quote, "flurry pardons" as Mr. Trump nears the end of his time in office. The source also said some of the president's advisers believe that it would be perfectly fine for Mr. Trump to pardon his own family members preemptively even though they haven't been charged with any crimes.
Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
CHURCH: In the meantime, President-elect Joe Biden gave small business owners and workers hit by the pandemic some encouragement during a virtual roundtable on Wednesday.
CNN's M.J. Lee breaks down his busy schedule in the lead up to the inauguration.
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UNKNOWN: We do have a lot of concerns, Mr. Biden. It has been a rough,
M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: President-elect Joe Biden staying laser- focused on the economy. Meeting virtually with small business owners struggling amid the recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.
[03:24:59]
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I know you are all experiencing the effect of one great problem. And that is the economic downturn, a large part because of COVID. And the failure of some of our friends in Congress to have moved forward on the kind of economic package.
LEE: This, as the former vice president confronts lobbying for multiple directions. Civil rights and advocacy groups, as well as elected officials, publicly calling on Biden to appoint more people of color to high-profile cabinet positions. The NACCP has asked for a meeting with Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to discuss this and other issues important to underrepresented communities.
DERRICK JOHNSON, PRESIDENT & CEO, NAACP: There have been several meetings with other constituency groups. There's not been a meeting with the civil rights community. We don't want the clock to run out before there's a discussion of all the decisions are made.
LEE: Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus writing to the transition team, pushing Biden to choose New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham as his Health and Human Services secretary. And ensure that Latinos are more fairly represented in our nation's government.
Sources telling CNN, Lujan Grisham is currently a leading contender for that job. Also, under consideration, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo who has been interviewed for the role a source tells CNN. Biden on Tuesday touting the diversity of his economic team.
BIDEN: She will be the first woman to hold this office, and now Wally will be the first African-American ever to hold this post.
LEE: Forty-nine days out from his inauguration, Biden yet to announce other top cabinet positions including CIA director and secretary of defense.
BIDEN: We are just going to a piece of time here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE (on camera): And just one more sign of the flurry of lobbying that we have been seeing, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus also writing to Joe Biden asking that he appoint either Javier Becerra or Tom Perez for the role of attorney general. And also, the head of the NAACP telling CNN that it's less about these individual appointments and more about making sure that civil rights issues, an issue that are important to these minority communities be adequately represented in the Biden administration.
M.J. Lee, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.
CHURCH: And CNN's Jake Tapper sits down with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. It's their first joint interview since they won the White House. See it on Friday at 10 in the morning in Hong Kong, 7 a.m. in London only here on CNN.
Well, as we've been reporting, Pfizer/BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine has been approved in the U.K.
Ahead on CNN, BioNTech CEO addresses some of the concerns people have with the drug's cold storage requirements. We're back with that in a moment.
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[03:30:00]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Well, the U.K. has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for public use and vaccinations there could start as early as next week. But some have doubts about how fast the U.K. approved it.
Peter Liese is an E.U. lawmaker and physician. He is calling the U.K.'s decision to authorize it hasty and problematic and doesn't think other European countries should follow suit. And Germany's health minister says, his country is going for a longer approval process to create confidence and trust. The European Medicines Agency is supposed to publish its findings on the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine by December 29th.
Moderna meanwhile says delivery of its vaccine in the E.U. could start in the first quarter of next year if it's approved. And with news of the vaccines comes cautious optimism about the fight against COVID-19. But health officials and those on the front line warned now is not the time to let down our guard.
Among them, a New Jersey nurse who is now struggling with the virus, but she didn't get it from work. She spoke from her hospital bed about how a simple act of kindness, her mother giving a friend a ride home led to a deadly outbreak in her family.
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SOFIA BURKE, NURSE: What I want to say to everyone is this. It was just a selfless act. My mother giving an elderly person a ride home, who got this virus. My mother let her guard down for one moment. One moment. And in that swift moment, my entire family was affected. My father died last Tuesday on a ventilator. My mother is home with oxygen, unable to breathe on her own.
She's been in the hospital for six days. My child, my two-year-old with diabetes contracted the virus, although she has no respiratory issues. She has (inaudible) fever and the sign is (inaudible) COVID. And my son is sick. My elder daughter (inaudible). This thing is so real. I am sitting in a bed. Completely feeling useless. Unable to do bare minimum, just because we let our guard down for one second.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: With a tragic cautionary tale there. And the CEO of the vaccine developer Biontech spoke to CNN's Fred Pleitgen about the big vaccine news in the U.K. and what it means for next year. Here's that exclusive interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UGUR SAHIN, CEO, BIONTECH: This is really of course very important milestone. So, it will be the first time that people outside of clinical trials will get access to our vaccine and we believe that it is really the start of the end of the pandemic if you can ensure now are both (inaudible) of our vaccine. Of course, it's the first country to enable authorization and others will probably follow, but it's a good start.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): High fast are things going to go now from this approval to people actually getting the vaccine, first in the U.K., then also other places?
SAHIN: Yes, so, we are at the moment in the process of preparing additional documents and dealing with logistics, so if everything goes down I expect that first people could get the first vaccinations beginning next week.
PLEITGEN: Beginning next week? In the U.K. at the same time you are also, believe (inaudible) that you are very close to getting approval for emergency use authorization from the FDA. When do you think that's going to be the case? How soon do you think that will be?
SAHIN: Yes. So, we are in close interaction with the FDA and everything that (inaudible) we are providing additional data. The next important meeting will be on December 10th, the (inaudible) meeting. And after the (inaudible) meeting depending on the outcome of this meeting, it could be very fast. So, it could happen that the days after the (inaudible) meeting we might get the authorization and if we get the authorization we will be able to start delivery of the vaccine very fast.
PLEITGEN: How fast is very fast? Because a lot of people in America of course also are asking how soon will they be able to get the vaccine? How much have you already produced for instance?
SAHIN: So, we have already produced a lot of doses in the last weeks. These doses -- the Vaccine doses are now going to be released with certificates with quality certificates.
[03:35:00]
We've already mentioned that we will deliver up to 50 million doses to the different regions in 2020. So that means a significant proportion of these doses would also go to the United States. Of course it depends on that then we would be able to start the whole out. So, technically we are prepared to start the rollout. It depends of course on the regulatory approval.
PLEITGEN: One of the things that we've been hearing over the past couple weeks is the logistics specifically of your vaccine, having to be stored at around minus 100 Fahrenheit. There are some who had called it logistical nightmare. How do you plan to mitigate that in the future?
SAHIN: Yes. So, this is the early phase of pandemic supply. And of course the early phase of pandemic supply is a logistical challenges for all of us. It's not only the storage and transportation of the vaccine, but also really getting the people to the right place at the right time and ensuring that they can come back for the second vaccination.
We are at the moment lurking and analyzing other transportation temperatures, including minus 20. We are evaluating whether the vaccine is stable at 2-8 degrees for a longer time. And what we also do is we are working already on a second generation of formulations which might allow us even transportation at room temperature. We will see that this will work and forecast in the next.
PLEITGEN: When will be the second generation be available?
SAHIN: So, first of all, what is important is that in the next few months we will get additional data supporting us the transportation of the vaccine, for example at minus 20. So, that's the first change. And the second generation will be available most likely in the second half of 2021. PLEITGEN: When, and this is the final question. When do you think
that this will all have such an effect that we will begin to see the end of the pandemic and life will be going back to normal?
SAHIN: It is important. So, every individual who receives the vaccine, they are most likely ahead of benefit. We have demonstrated for our vaccine 95 percent protections from disease. And it will be benefit for everyone getting this vaccine, including those who are at risk to have a severe disease. To ensure that we are able to stop this pandemic, we need to reach a high vaccination rate.
And experts give differing numbers. 60 to 70 percent, it's a number proportion of people having an immune response, which could enable stopping of the vaccine and I believe, I personally belie, there's a number of companies now reaching, reaching the approval in the next few months. We might be able to deliver a sufficient number of doses until the end of summer 2021. Two weeks to 60 to 70 percent coverage, which could give us the relief to a have a normal in the entire 2021.
PLEITGEN: Ugur Sahin, thank you very much for speaking with us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH (on camera): The COVID vaccine becoming available in a few months, the next challenge that health officials around the world, will be to make sure that people actually get the shots.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN VAN-TAM, DEPUTY CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR ENGLAND: We need people to take it. This vaccine is not going to help you if you don't take it. And you will need two doses of this vaccine. And most of the others to have full protection. Watching others take it and hoping that this will then protect you is not going to work necessarily.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): But some people ask skeptical of a brand-new fast-track vaccine, others are being influenced by misinformation and there is a lot of it. Neil Johnson has been studying how bad information is spreading online. He is a professor at George Washington University, and he joins me now. Thank you so much, professor, for being with us.
NEIL JOHNSON, PHYSICS PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY (on camera): Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So, social media platforms were blamed for contributing to a measles outbreak about two years ago, because these companies allowed false claims about the risks of vaccines to spread. And we are seeing it again with COVID-19 vaccines. Misinformation popping out on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. So what should these companies be doing right now to counter this nonsense?
JOHNSON: Well, of course, at the moment, they are trying to stamp out some of this misinformation. But it's a very complex process. It's a little bit like having bugs in the yard. If you push them away from one yard they will just go to the neighbors. And of course different platforms are all neighbors online.
And so what's happening is that a lot of them and some of them are, you know, it's communities and moms, concerned moms, concerned parents, they are being pushed on other platforms where they are reforming, feeling that they are being chase, because they actually got a point.
[03:40:09]
And then kind of coming back in a stronger way and uniting with other entrust groups like yoga lovers, (inaudible) lovers. Anybody who's got this kind of more holistic view of health. And therefor thinks that maybe, A, their kids don't need a vaccine anyway or B, this is all so rush and the science is so much in the development, that they have a right to be concerned. That's what they feel.
CHURCH: Right. And Pfizer's vaccine of course has been approved for use in the U.K. starting next week. Those who trust science are thrilled, but the anti-vaxxers and others are worried about the speed at which these vaccines are being developed. And that is feeding into this misinformation. So, what needs to be done to instill trust in these vaccines? And make the facts more compelling than the lies so we could turn this pandemic around?
JOHNSON: There has always been anti-vaccine movement. It's unlikely in the next couple of months that's going to be change. But of course, that's actually quite a small movement. The big challenge and the challenge that is being, I have to say, misunderstood even today when they were talking about it in the U.K. bond by labeling the hesitance as anti-vax -- that's not true. It could be me. It could be a neighbor. It be someone in our family.
And lots of people are actually have concerns. And so instead of the mandate being to go after these kind of bad guys, the anti-vacc, it should be really the engagement with the others, which are the huge majority of people who probably don't even think twice about vaccines, usually, but are now being -- kind of thinking to themselves. When, I've got to take my kid, or I got to take my mother, my grandmother to get this vaccine. Am I doing the right thing?
CHURCH: In other countries like Australia, they run compelling public health announcements to inform the population often engaging reputable advertising agencies to do this. Why don't we see more of that in the U.S. to counter this massive anti-science and anti-vaccination sentiment that is gripping this nation? Certainly this sense of distrust and science?
JOHNSON: Well, we do see it. And it's posted on for example on Facebook pages, but it's like a vanilla message. Go here. Here is the truth. Therefore, what you are thinking is not the truth. Somehow you have not got it. You don't understand it. That is a very condescending message. It's also very plain message.
The message that the doubters, the hesitance are spreading is, well, it's for kids, an angle for kids, an angle on liberties, and angle on, well, you know, farmer -- big farmers making a lot of money. There's so many flavors of opposing narrative. That just putting out a simple kind of vanilla one size fits all is not going to work.
CHURCH: We will have to see what happens. Hopefully more people will trust this vaccine and as more people get it. Neil Johnston, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate. It
JOHNSON: Thank you so much.
CHURCH: Well, three former U.S. presidents are volunteering to show a vaccine is safe. Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton say they would get their COVID-19 vaccines on camera. Once a vaccine is approved for use by U.S. officials, they want to promote confidence and its safety and effectiveness.
And if you have questions about vaccines, be sure to join Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta for a new coronavirus town hall. Experts will answer questions from you, our viewers. That is at 9:00 p.m. Friday on the U.S. East Coast. 6:00 a.m. Saturday in Abu Dhabi, and 10:00 a.m. in Hong Kong, right here on CNN.
Well, even a deadly virus is not stopping South Korea from going ahead with college entrance exams. About a half million -- around half a million students have just finished a grueling eight-hour test, but authorities say they took precautions to ensure the exams were held safely. And CNN's Paula Hancocks is live from Seoul. She joins us now. Good to see you, Paula. That is an incredibly long exam, by the way. So, how did authorities go about ensuring that everyone was safe during this exam?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Rosemary, what they did was really the absolute basics. They're taking the temperatures, hand sanitizing, socially distancing the desks and then putting up a plastic barrier between the desks and of course everybody while inside had to wear a mask. And authorities believed that that should be enough to make sure that there wasn't any kind of outbreak within this exam.
[03:45:07]
This is an incredibly important exam in South Korea. In any regular year, businesses and the stock market will open an hour later to make sure that there is no rush hour traffic when the students are trying to get to the test on time. They also suspend flights to make sure that during the English listening part of the test they are not disturbed by a jet overhead.
So, the fact that it is such an important exam is one of the reasons we are being told by authorities that they decided to go ahead. The education minister who I spoke to last week said that they proved that they could hold a general election so they believe that they could hold a national exam safety as well, Rosemary?
CHURCH: Right, and of course, meantime cases are high there in South Korea. So, what is being done to work on that? To ensure that those numbers come down. And are people wearing masks and social distancing?
HANCOCKS: Well, we were on level two social distancing now. One of the rules for level two is that you have to wear a mask when you are indoors, if you don't, you can be fine and it's a fine of around about $90 if you are caught. But quite frankly the vast, vast majority of people in South Korea have been wearing masks the entire time anyway. This is not a country that has to be convinced to wear masks, but we are seeing high numbers still here.
The level two restrictions came in about a week and a half ago, and still these numbers are high. 540 new cases for Wednesday. And that is high for South Korea, if it's not for other countries. And certainly, authorities will be looking at whether there is further social distancing that they can carry out. Because they were hoping, at least by this week they would see these numbers start to come down again. But they are starting to creep up, so certainly that is a concern.
And it was a concern with this exam. There were some, who believe this exam should not go ahead. There was a petition of some 6,000 signatures asking for this exam to be postponed by two weeks. Pointing out that they believe that it was like throwing people into the pit of the fire. Pointing out that schooling is not more important than children's health. But from the government's point of view, they believe that they could keep these students safe but of course, we've also heard from the health minister, that he believes it's possible to catch a coronavirus in the Metropolitan Seoul area at any time in any place.
So there is a great concern that, the local transmission is rising. So, quite frankly when it comes to these seam, it will be a few days potentially a week before we see if those risks were worth taking. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes. It's a hard decision to make. A lot of those exams and they are not quite as long as that. But the ones here in the United States, keep getting canceled which of course, cause a lot of stress from another angle there. But Paula Hancocks joining us live from Seoul, many thanks.
And just ahead here on CNN, we are learning more about who has been able to keep their job and who hasn't as the pandemic drags on in the United States.
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[03:50:00]
CHURCH (on camera): Two new reports lay out what could be the devastating impact of climate change around the world. One study is from the world meteorological organization and the other is from the United Nations environment program. In a scathing speech on Wednesday, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres says the study show the planet is close to a quote, climate catastrophe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: The state of the planet, is
broken. Dear friends, humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal. Nature always tracks back, and it is already doing so with growing force and fury.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Guterres explained what needs to be done to tackle the crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUTERRES: We face three imperatives in addressing the climate crisis. First, we need to achieve global carbon neutrality within the next three decades. Second, we have to align global finance between the Paris Agreement, the world's blue print for climate action. And certainly, we must deliver a breakthrough on adaptation to protect the world and especially the most vulnerable people in countries from climate impacts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): And that was U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres. So, now we want to turn our focus to the U.S. job market. A new report shows job growth slowed down in November. And there is still no sign of a COVID relief bill from Washington. CNN's John Defterios joins us now live from Abu Dhabi to talk more about this. Good to see you, John. So, it seems all the job reports are pointing to a hiring slowdown. Is this the result of the second wave, and will it force the hand of U.S. Congress to act?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR (on camera): Well a couple of key questions you are asking there, Rosemary. The velocity of the second wave clearly is starting to hamper hiring at this stage. We have a pretty decent job recovery through October, and then we see the stuttering that is taking place right now. Particular in the private sector.
There is some alarm on Wall Street yesterday when we saw the ADP report of the private sector, 307,000 jobs created, it sounds pretty good. But that was a quarter less than what everybody was expecting in terms of expectations from the private sector to the job creation. Both for tourism and travel. They're all suffering at this stage right now.
And the other challenge we have is that, we have this very interesting dynamic where business owners on Main Street, are not confident about the future. Wall Street's betting on vaccines, it's coming out ahead of itself in terms of the rallies. Still, awaiting that vaccine to actually get distributed, as you reports were suggesting.
And then we have no movement, really, in Congress itself. So the Federal Reserve board chairman was up on Capitol Hill, Jerome Powell, he was saying, this is no time for lawmakers to be conservative. Let's step on it and get a deal done. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE: The risk of overdoing it, is less than the risk of under doing it. That is the record of pandemics and crises. We have come a long way, the cares act in a tremendous amount of good. We can see what maybe the light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccines. And I just would want us -- we at the Fed will keep at it until we are really done. And I think that some fiscal support now, would really help move the economy along as well. At least to guard against those downside risks that we have been talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS (on camera): Jerome Powell, once again, the Federal Reserve board chairman, is very blunt with lawmakers here to kind of keep the pressure on them. We're hearing the same language from the treasury of secretary nominee Janet Yellen, who's saying the same. There's a $900 plus billion package, kind of a bipartisan bill.
But to Mitch McConnell on the Senate side, it's kind of insisting he goes with a half a trillion dollars to get the president to sign off. But there's not really anyone else that thinks that is going to be ample enough to get through the first 100 days of the Biden administration in 2021, Rosemary.
CHURCH: And John, on Friday we have the U.S. unemployment report. Is the jobless rate expected to remain stunningly high?
DEFTERIOS: It is stubbornly high but in context of what we saw -- what, last April and May, we made some big progress. We'll be picked out at 14.7 percent on the unemployment rate. We're hovering just below 7, it could inch down again, Rosemary. But that is almost two times where we were in February.
And we have to remember, this is crucial that 10 million Americans, are still without a job. So as a result of that, the report that we saw yesterday, there is the weekly jobless claims that are coming out this week. Let's take a look at that number. Again, historically high. 775,000 people still looking for benefits. It's not a great indicator, because we are in that in between period, between the vaccines rolling out. Rosemary, and a stimulus package, parked on Capitol Hill.
[03:55:06]
We have the full job report, for November coming out on Friday. And we are expecting the lowest job creation in November. Since the last six months. It's not a very good sign and why, that pressure, I was talking about there is mounting in Congress.
CHURCH: All right, John Defterios, many thanks as always. I appreciate it.
Well, France and the E.U. are honoring the legacy of former French president, Valery Giscard d'Estaing. He passed away on Wednesday, how he brought his country and the rest of the continent into the modern era. That is next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH (on camera): Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing died on Wednesday at his family home in France. His foundation wrote on Twitter that he's state of health had worsened and that he died from COVID-19. Our Robyn Curnow looks back on President Giscard's life and work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): One of the architects of European integration and a World War II resistance fighter, Francis former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing past away Wednesday. The palace confirmed his family told AFP he died from COVID-19.
He took office in 1974, and said it marked a new era for French politics. Promising quote, rejuvenation and change for his country. And his seven years as president, he oversaw reforms like legalized abortion, and divorce by mutual consent. Prior to taking office, he twice served as the country's finance minister. And it was one of the founders of the E.U. charter in the European monetary system that led to the single Euro currency.
Though he proposed the article that allowed Brexit, he made clear his version to it, saying it would hurt Europe and the U.K.
UNKNOWN: I am not in favor of it because I think such an exit, and its decision which the United Kingdom has a right to make, will hurt Europe. And the United Kingdom too.
CURNOW: At 18 years old, d'Estaing was part of the Liberation of Paris in 1944 from German forces. Former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy posted a tribute to him on Twitter. Calling him a man who has brought honor to France and modernize political life. Sarkozy said, d'Estaing had worked all of his life, to strengthen ties among European nations, d'Estaing was 94 years old.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH (on camera): And thank you so much for joining, us I'm Rosemary Church, and I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
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