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Understanding COVID-19 Vaccines and Potential Side Effects; BioNTech CEO: This is the Start of the End of the Pandemic; Vaccines Face Misinformation Campaign on Social Media; Frontline Healthcare Workers Open Up About Struggles; U.S. Withdrawing Embassy Personnel from Baghdad; Diehard Supporters Say Trump was Cheated. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 03, 2020 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: A top official of operation Warp Speed in the U.S. says tens of millions of Americans could be vaccinated early in the new year. But every vaccine has its own side effects. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke with someone taking part in one of the vaccine trials.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YASIR BATALVI, VACCINE TRIAL PARTICIPANT: That evening was rough. I mean, I developed a low-grade fever and fatigue and chills and --

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Yasir Batalvi is describing the side effects that he experienced during Moderna's COVID vaccine trial.

BATALVI: Thirty minutes later I had a little bit of stiffness, muscle soreness in my left arm. It's like you -- you're punched in the arm, basically.

GUPTA (on camera): When you're going through this whole process, Yasir, 22-page consent form, hearing about all the potential side effects, knowing that you're trialing something that, you know, we don't have a lot of data on at the time, did you have any second thoughts before taking it?

BATALVI: Honestly, Sanjay, yes.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's claiming the efficacy of --

GUPTA (voice over): Every decision we make is risk versus reward. And when the company announced early data showing over 94 percent efficacy, Yasir was confident it had been worth it.

BATALVI: It doesn't last long. And the potential of folks not getting this vaccine and actually infecting people with COVID, those affects last a lot longer. And they can be life or death.

These are early days. And the two vaccine front-runners in this country, Pfizer and Moderna, use a type of genetic sequence called mRNA. It's a technology that has never before been used in humans outside of a clinical trial. mRNA stands for messenger RNA. It carries the instruction for making

whatever protein you want. In this case, the spike protein the virus uses to enter our cells. These vaccines require two doses. One to prime, one to boost, a few weeks apart so the body mounts what we hope will be a lasting immune response.

One of the biggest concerns now is that the side effects that Yasir is describing, fatigue, muscle pain, fever and chills, will deter people from getting that second dose.

DR. MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: Maybe 10, 15 percent of the subjects immunized have quite noticeable side effects that usually last no more than 24 to 36 hours.

GUPTA (on camera): Do you worry about the impact of this vaccine on you long-term?

BATALVI: I gave it a lot of thought. And the only thing that gave me some calm was trying to research the actual vaccine, trying to understand how mRNA vaccines work.

GUPTA (voice over): We understand this for sure, you can't get infected from this vaccine, because the vaccine doesn't actually contain the virus. And even though these are genetic-based vaccines, they don't alter our DNA. And as far as those side effects go, that may even be a good sign.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That means your immune response is working for you. You should feel good about that. And it shouldn't really be any difficulty coming back for that second shot, knowing that you're now in a much better position to fight off this awful virus.

GUPTA: For now, Yasir is looking forward to his next appointment, which is on December 10th, the exact day the FDA might authorize the first vaccine for COVID-19.

BATALVI: So I put my name down because I just -- I felt so helpless. It's public service. I have to do it because I think mass scale vaccination is really the only realistic way out of the pandemic that we're in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Dr. Sanjay Gutpa with that report.

Meanwhile, BioNTech CEO spoke exclusively to CNN Fred Pleitgen about the big vaccine approval news in the U.K., and what it means for next year. Here's part of the interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UGUR SAHIN, CEO, BIONTECH: 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 rollout. So, technically we are prepared to start the rollout. It depends of course on the regulatory approval.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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.

[04:35:00]

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 challenge 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 working 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well meantime, some social media platforms have put policies in place to combat misinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding COVID vaccines. But they have their work cut out for them as England's deputy chief medical officer explained to me just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN VAN-TAM, DEPUTY CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR ENGLAND: 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 are them, you know, it's communities of moms, concerned moms, concerned parents, they're being pushed on to other platforms where they're reforming, feeling that they have been chased because they've actually got a point. And then kind of coming back in a stronger way and uniting with other interest groups like yoga lovers, anybody who's got this kind of more holistic view of health. And therefore thinks that maybe, A, their kid done need a vaccine anyway or, B, this is all so rushed, and the science is so much still in development that they have a right to be concerned. That's what they fear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, frontline medical workers across the U.S. are struggling to keep patients alive and keep themselves from burning out. CNN's Lucy Kafanov spoke with one doctor in Colorado getting therapy to help with the pain of seeing so many of her patients die alone and with a nurse who says her nightmares are very real.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SHANNON TAPIA, GERIATRICIAN: We might not show it if we're interacting with you, but it's so hard.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The words of a Colorado physician who's had enough. Dr. Shannon Tapia is one of thousands of health care workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.

TAPIA: Sleep is on short supply right now.

KAFANOV: A geriatrician and single mom who works with the elderly. She switched to telehealth to keep her patients and herself safe.

What do you want people to know about the experience of the health care workers including yourself under COVID.

TAPIA: We might not talk about it because we know people don't want to hear it. We know everyone is struggling. We know COVID changed everybody's lives. It's just, it's been so hard, and I don't want to say it's been harder for us than it has for everybody else, but the truth is it has. It has. It's not the same, and it's not the same when you feel responsible for people's -- whether it be their life or their quality of life because you care.

KAFANOV: Colorado is in the midst of its third pandemic surge. Cases and hospitalizations have been breaking records.

GOV. JARED POLIS (D-CO): What matters now is in Colorado, one out of 41 people are contagious. So it could be anywhere.

KAFANOV: More than 14,000 Coloradans have been hospitalized since the pandemic began. Among those facing the brunt, doctors and nurses like Allison Boerner.

ALLISON BOERNER, ER NURSE, CENTURA-PARKER ADVENTIST HOSPITAL: As an ER nurse, I haven't cried a lot on the job, you hold that back, and, you know, you want to stay tough for the family, and stoic, and there's been a lot of tears shed in ER rooms during COVID. Because we are treating that person dying like our loved one dying, because they don't have anyone else and they need that grace, and they that human touch and they need someone to be there when they're taking their last breath. KAFANOV: Before the pandemic, she said work had never caused her to

lose sleep. Now she regularly has nightmares.

[04:40:00]

How has the COVID crisis impacted nurses and yourself on a personal level? I mean, you're saying this day in and day out.

BOERNER: Yes, on a personal level, it's hard. You know, we lean on each other. The holidays have been rough for a lot of us. We're not seeing our families. We're doing everything we can to keep the public safe, and so it's extremely frustrating for us when people are not doing that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here on the front lines, this virus is incredibly real.

KAFANOV: With cases climbing, her employer Centura Health released this PSA.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (PSA announcement): Please, let's have each other's backs.

KAFANOV: A message Dr. Tapia shares. She has seen firsthand the devastating toll on residents of long-term care facilities who account for 40 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the country. Many die alone.

TAPIA: It's so hard on their loved ones and their families because they can't grieve it the way they should be able to.

KAFANOV: She's found new ways to cope, a puppy, therapy and antidepressants. But with a virus raging unabated she worries how much more she and other frontline workers can take.

TAPIA: I think there's going to be a huge reckoning when things calm down and people get to really process what's happened to them.

KAFANOV: Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Denver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, nearly one year after a U.S. air strike killed a top Iranian general, concerns of retaliation are leading to a temporary withdrawal of personnel from the Baghdad embassy. The latest in a live report. That's next.

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CHURCH: The U.S. is temporarily withdrawing some staff from its embassy in Baghdad amid tensions with Iran.

[04:45:00]

Three sources say there are concerns about possible retaliation around the anniversary of the death last January of Iranian military commander General Qasem Soleimani. One defense official says Iran's leaders want revenge and quote, aren't going to give up.

CNN's Arwa Damon joins us now live from Istanbul. So Arwa, what is the latest and where is all of this going?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, when it to that notion that Iranian leaders are not going to give up, it's also worth noting that Iran, however, is very patient, and quite willing to play the long game.

That being said, it does seem at this stage as if the U.S. is not taking any chances, at least not when it comes to personnel in Iraq. According to sources CNN has spoken to, and diplomatic sources as well, the U.S. is drawing down some of its staff but also worth noting this is happening over the holiday season. So basically a lot more people are being allowed to take leave, and they are expected to return back to business more or less as usual by mid-January.

But of course, yes, the anniversary of the killing of Qasem Soleimani is on January 3rd, and there are concerns surrounding that, concerns thatch most likely been amplified because of the killing of the Iranian nuclear scientist that took place last week.

And following that, that is really what prompted Iran's Parliament to pass a bill that allows it to immediately begin enriching uranium at 20 percent. That is higher than the pre-2015 nuclear agreement levels and to block inspections if sanctions are not lifted. So you also have tensions that are rising on that front.

And the way it does tend to sadly play out when it comes to tensions between the U.S. and Iran, well, they happen in the proxy battlefield of Iraq. And that of course is putting Iraqi officials on edge, because the last thing that that country needs is to once again find itself stuck between its neighbor Iran, and the country that is meant to be one of its allies, the United States -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, Arwa Damon, many thanks for bringing us the latest on that. And still ahead.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he's going to turn it around. I think he going to turn it around. I think we got cheated out of the election, and I'm sticking with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Not down and not out. The Trump supporters who won't let evidence stand in the way of their beliefs.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, former President Barack Obama is warning young activists to stop using the phrase defund the police. Mr. Obama has been a vocal supporter of protesters after George Floyd died when he was pinned to the ground by an officer. But in an interview on Snapchat, the former President said the slogan backfired and other carefully considered slogans could attract more supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You've got to be able to meet people where they are. You can use a snappy slogan like defund the police, but you know you've lost a big audience the minute you say it.

If you instead say let's reform the police department so that everybody's being treated fairly, suddenly, a whole bunch of folks who might not otherwise listen to you are listening to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, nearly a month after Joe Biden was declared U.S. president-elect, some loyal Trump supporters are still waving their campaign flags and simply won't give up. Gary Tuchman spoke to voters in Georgia who think the election is not over yet and the President can still win.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In many American neighborhoods, the beginning of December still looks like the beginning of November. Trump campaign signs, flags, banners on houses, on barns, on fences, on trees, all left up by Trump voters who in many cases believe giving up on their signs means giving up on their President. Julie Darnell lives in Cherokee County Georgia, just north of Atlanta.

You still have up a lot of signs and flags for Donald Trump and Mike Pence. The election was November 3rd, how come the signs are still up?

JULIE DARNELL, TRUMP VOTER: And they're going to stay up until the end, to the very end. I think he's going to come through, you know.

TUCHMAN: What's going to come through?

DARNELL: I think is going to turn around. I think he's going to turn it around. I think we got cheated out of the election, and I'm sticking with him.

TUCHMAN: Donald Trump has a lot of loyal supporters here, he received 69 percent of this county's vote. So, you will find a lot of signs here that are still up. J.D. Ortega says during the campaign, some of his Trump signs were stolen, so he put other signs high in trees, and that's where they will remain for now.

J.D. ORTEGA, TRUMP VOTER: Well, there still up because I'm hopeful. You know, I'm hoping that something is going to come out of these investigations. I'm hoping something will turn the tide. And I'm just -- I'm a big supporter.

TUCHMAN: That Donald Trump can still be President? ORTEGA: And I'm hoping that he can still be President. Yes, I

absolutely am.

TUCHMAN: But then there is reality, the formal certifications of the results in battleground states, the Trump attorneys failures in courtrooms throughout the country to prove what the President claims was a fraudulent, rigged election.

Does it concern you, though, that the President and others say there's evidence but it's not being presented in the courtroom.

ORTEGA: That does concern me. I'm definitely --

TUCHMAN: Why do you think that is?

ORTEGA: I don't know. I don't know all the ins and outs of what he's going on. So it does concern me that it hasn't come to light yet.

TUCHMAN: The lack of evidence presented by the Trump lawyers is not comforting to many still flying the Trump flag, including Roger who didn't want his face shown. But did want to tell us he nevertheless feels Donald Trump could win the election.

And why, other than him saying it?

ROGER, TRUMP VOTER: Just anecdotally, like I said, it's hard to say. We have so many --

TUCHMAN: Is it may be wishful thinking on your part, as opposed to --

ROGER: Sure, sure, absolutely.

DARNELL: America voted Joe Biden in, then Joe Biden should be in. But I think it all should be fair. I think it all should be fair.

[04:55:00]

TUCHMAN: Does it bother you that you haven't seen any evidence of it, that it hasn't been presented and that maybe you're being tricked, that maybe this man just wants to stay in office so badly, he's going to keep saying it but not show any evidence proving it?

DARNELL: Bother me? I don't know why he would want the office the way they've done him.

TUCHMAN: Many people still sporting the signs look at post-election Trump as a political martyr.

Each person we have talked to here, recognizes that for every day that goes by things get more complicated for Mr. Trump. But these are true believers who refuse to stop believing.

Do you think that it's possible that America elected Joe Biden to be the next President? I know that you don't want that that to have happened --

DARNELL: Possible. Not probable. Possible.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Cherokee County, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Actually, it's the facts.

Well, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has invited hundreds of guests to the State Department for holiday parties. That's in spite of health experts warning to avoid large gatherings as the coronavirus surges. Two State Department officials say invitations for one event went to 900 people. 180 foreign ambassadors in the U.S. are invited to another. A department spokesperson said guests will be required to wear masks and socially distance, but career officials are enraged because staffers feel they can't say no to working at the events.

And before we go this hour, we would like to spread a little holiday cheer. New York lit up its Christmas tree Wednesday night at Rockefeller Center, but things will be a little different this year, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Visitors will have to make reservations to see the display in person, and they will be limited to five minutes. So enjoy every moment.

Thanks so much for your company this hour, I'm Rosemary Church. "EARLY START" is up next. Have yourselves a great day.

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