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U.S. Hospitals Fear Deadliest Season Yet; U.S. Stimulus Talks; Trump's Continuing Lies; Vaccination Centers Open across Moscow; Scotland, Wales Begin Vaccinations on Tuesday; Vaccine Hesitancy Could Be Biggest Challenge; Georgia's Special Election; Bahrain Approves Pfizer Vaccine; E.U.-U.K. Trade Deal Negotiations Paused; Holiday Spirit Reigns Despite COVID-19. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired December 05, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hi. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. This is CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks so much for joining me this hour.
Just ahead on the show, there's a glimmer of hope for a new U.S. stimulus deal but time is running out for lawmakers to provide another COVID relief bill before year's end.
Plus, President Donald Trump hitting the campaign trail but not for himself. He's rallying to keep Republican control of the Senate.
And then the U.S. hasn't authorized a COVID vaccine yet, but we'll take you to countries where many will soon get that shot in the arm.
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CURNOW: So more Americans have now tested positive for COVID in a single day than at any point in this pandemic. Friday saw the largest number of new cases to date, almost 228,000 newly infected people. That is over 10,000 higher than the record set the day before.
The virus is so pervasive that U.S. officials now say some people should consider wearing masks inside their own homes. Deaths in the U.S. have been soaring since Thanksgiving. So far in December, yes, just the first four days of this month, the virus has already killed almost 11,000 Americans.
Now hospitalizations have also never been higher. The COVID Tracking Project says the number of coronavirus patients being treated in the U.S. medical facilities has now more than doubled in the past month, over 100,000 patients. We will get more now from Athena Jones. Athena.
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DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: We are seeing numbers that none of us believe it was possible to see with this pandemic right now. ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's never been this bad. And it's only getting worse. The U.S. setting records for new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths Thursday, some 14,000 people losing their lives to the virus just since Thanksgiving.
Now an influential model predicting the death toll will nearly double to almost 539,000 people by April 1st. That is more people than live in Atlanta and Sacramento or in Kansas City, Missouri. Experts warning there is more trouble ahead.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: So I think we have not yet seen the post- Thanksgiving peak, that it is likely we will see more of a surge as we get two to three weeks past the Thanksgiving holiday.
JONES (voice-over): That peak putting more pressure on already struggling hospitals and 9-1-1 systems.
DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: What lies ahead for the next few months is actually our worst-case scenario in terms of overwhelmed hospitals, in terms of the death count that is occurring.
JONES (voice-over): Ohio's governor warning the state's hospitals are already in crisis.
California, which hit another single day high for new cases Thursday, with more than 21,000, pulling the emergency brake with new restrictions tied to hospitals ICU capacity.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): The bottom line is if we don't act now, our hospital system will be overwhelmed. If we don't act now, we will continue to see a death rate climb, more lives lost.
JONES (voice-over): With hospitals in the golden state treating a record number of COVID patients in the ICU, the new stay-at-home orders will go into effect 48 hours after a region's ICU units fall below 15 percent capacity. 4 out of 56 regions expected to reach that threshold quickly.
Meanwhile, states are preparing to distribute thousands of doses of a coronavirus vaccine as soon as possible after the FDA signs off which administration officials say could happen within the next couple of weeks.
GOV. NED LAMONT (D-CT): We're going to get the most vulnerable and our essential workers all vaccinated within three or four months. That takes us say to mid-spring. That doesn't mean we are out of woods but it does mean we're beginning to turn the corner. Then we work broadly, get the vaccine out there.
JONES (voice-over): The doctors say mitigation efforts are still essential, a message echoed by a 23-year old in Arizona, who suffered a stroke during a bout with COVID.
RILEY BEHRENS, COVID-19 RELATED STROKE VICTIM: I thought if I get sick, if I test positive, I'm just going to have a little bit of trouble but I'll be OK. And I was not OK. And so, I would just say it's time to start taking this more seriously than I think a lot of people have. It's like wear your mask and social distance.
JONES: And the San Francisco Bay Area is getting ahead of California's new statewide restrictions, issuing a stay-at-home order for nearly 6 million people in five counties and the city of Berkeley.
Under the new health orders, outdoor dining is no longer allowed here and nail salons must close. The restrictions go into effect on Sunday and last until January 4th -- Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
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CURNOW: And U.S. Democratic lawmakers are expressing optimism that an economic stimulus bill could be struck by the end of the year. That's after a devastating jobs report that shows the labor market is still stalling and millions of Americans are struggling to put food on their tables.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is defending how they've handled the negotiations with Republicans.
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QUESTION: Was it a mistake though not to accept half a loaf months ago, when you said I'm not going to accept half a loaf.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: Let me tell you something --
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PELOSI: -- don't characterize what we did before as a mistake as a preface your question, if you want an answer. That was not a mistake. It was a decision and it is taken us to a place where we could do the right thing. The fact is, I am very proud of where we are.
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CURNOW: Well, the U.S. president-elect, Joe Biden, is growing impatient with Congress, saying struggling American families just can't wait much longer for economic relief. Let's get more on this from Arlette Saenz.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After November's jobs report showed fewer gains than expected, President-Elect Joe Biden acknowledged the hardship facing many Americans amid the pandemic.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: The jobs report was released and it was grim.
SAENZ (voice-over): As negotiations are ongoing on Capitol Hill, the president-elect pressed Congress to act on a bipartisan coronavirus relief deal.
BIDEN: I'm talking about the folks out there aren't looking for a handout. They just need help. They are in trouble through no fault of their own. We are in a crisis. We need to come together as a nation. We need the Congress to act and act now.
SAENZ (voice-over): With the FDA on the brink of approving a coronavirus vaccine, Biden vowed planning for its distribution is a top priority while also signaling concern about the state of plans under the Trump administration.
BIDEN: They have included us in on their planning on how they plan to distribute the actual vaccine to the various states. But is there no detailed plan that we have seen, any way as to how you get the vaccine out of a container, into an injection syringe, into somebody's arm.
SAENZ (voice-over): In an interview with CNN, the president-elect revealed the ask he'll make of Americans when he takes office as he looks to curb the spread of the virus.
BIDEN: I'm going to ask the public for 100 days to mask. Just 100 days to mask. Not forever, 100 days. And I think we will see a significant reduction if we incur that.
SAENZ (voice-over): Biden is also building out the team that would lead his coronavirus response, including asking Dr. Anthony Fauci to remain involved.
BIDEN: I asked him to stay on the exact same role he's had for the past several presidents and I asked him to be chief medical adviser for me as well and be a part of the COVID team.
FAUCI: Oh, absolutely. I said yes right on the spot.
SAENZ (voice-over): With Biden's inauguration 47 days away, there are questions about whether President Trump will attend the traditional ceremonies as he refuses to concede.
BIDEN: The protocol of the transfer of power I think is important but it's totally his decision and it's -- of no personal consequence to me but I do think it is for the country.
SAENZ (voice-over): But as President Trump weighs possible preemptive pardons for his family and allies, Biden is expressing concern over the president, it might set and insisting he will let the Justice Department operate independently.
BIDEN: It's not my Justice Department. It's the people's Justice Department.
SAENZ (voice-over): As he builds out his cabinet, Biden is also facing pressure to diversify his picks but has resisted offering a commitment on two top jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you commit to nominating a person of color for those positions? BIDEN: You're going to see significant diversity. I'm not going to
tell you now exactly what I'm doing in any department.
SAENZ: As President-Elect Joe Biden weighs his remaining cabinet picks, his transition team has signaled it will be a very busy few weeks for the president-elect. Biden is expected to name members of his health team early next week as he is trying to put together that group that will tackle the pandemic -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.
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CURNOW: And we are just one month away from a critical runoff vote here in Georgia. It will decide whether Republicans or Democrats control the U.S. Senate. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, incumbents, hope to get a boost from Donald Trump, who is expected to campaign in the state later on today.
But the president's baseless claims of electoral fraud in Georgia now have many conservatives saying they don't want to vote, because they say the electoral system is rigged.
Meanwhile, Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have been campaigning with some heavy hitters. They got help from former president Barack Obama on Friday.
Thomas Gift is director of the Centre for U.S. Politics at University College London.
Thanks for joining us. Thomas, hi, lovely to see you. Georgia is very pivotal for Dems and for Republicans to control the Senate.
Is it about turnout again?
Who can be relied to come out to vote?
THOMAS GIFT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Robyn, I think that it both Democratic candidates are able to win, that would represent a considerable swing in Georgia politics.
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GIFT: I think it's an uphill battle for Democrats because, in the past, Republicans have shown up. They have generally outperformed them in these Georgia runoffs.
Another challenge for Democrats could be that there's somewhat of an unspoken preference among voters for divided government and a reluctance to turn over the keys fully to one party.
Ultimately, it's going to be a base mobilization game and a question of who wants it more. Turnout will be lower than during the presidential election on November 3rd, which means the electorate will be more conservative on the Republican side and more liberal on the Democratic side.
But clearly, it's a high-stakes race because it has implications for the Democratic policy agenda.
CURNOW: It certainly does. Talking about that, Team Biden is talking up the need for a serious stimulus package and doing business with Republicans in Congress. We know that Joe Biden likes to champion his bipartisanship over the many decades he's been in Congress.
How likely is that, with or without Georgia tipping the balance of power in the Senate?
GIFT: I think that the stimulus package will be a good test of how effectively Biden can get progressives on board with his agenda and his prospects for compromising with Republicans.
Clearly, Biden wants stimulus legislation as part of his first hundred days. And he's exerting considerable pressure on his party to strike a deal. I think it is a hopeful sign that some top congressional Democrats are backing a stimulus of around $900 billion. That's considerably scaled back from the $2 trillion that Nancy Pelosi had been advocating earlier.
Previously I think Pelosi had miscalculated the politics in asking for so much. And Biden wants to avoid a repeat of that error. But I think, in all likelihood, the two sides will be able to meet somewhere in the middle, extend unemployment benefits, grant aid to small businesses and so on. I think that's a positive sign even though many economists wish a deal had been brokered earlier.
CURNOW: And many Americans are just absolutely struggling. We also know that Team Biden is being stonewalled by the Trump administration in terms of getting access to, say, intel briefings. The Biden administration would like to hit the ground running.
But can they?
GIFT: Certainly, Robyn. Experts will say there's no excuse for the Biden team not to have full access to the documents they need. That's especially in the area of national security.
A while back, George W. Bush's chief of staff, Andy Card, had warned a delay on the transition could have consequences for national security. He pointed to the 9/11 Commission Report, which noted that the brief transition between Clinton and George W. Bush in the wake of the election court battles back in 2000, could have partially been responsible for preventing a better response to the terrorist threat.
So we're in a position where the election has been decided. It's about six weeks away from the inauguration. So we'll see if Republicans push back on some of the stonewalling.
CURNOW: And we know this. The president lost by 6 million votes, lost the Electoral College, lost Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan. It's been a month since the election and he still won't concede. And nearly every major Republican still refuses to pretty much say it's over.
So when does it get to be over? GIFT: I guess on January 20th. But Trump clearly has no intention of conceding. We did hear Bill Barr say earlier this week there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Even Kellyanne Conway acknowledged it's over. But the story continues to be how Republicans are refusing to state the obvious.
I think Trump will continue to cast a long shadow over the GOP after he leaves office. Trump remains immensely popular within the party. Many in Congress won their elections by running on pro Trump platforms. And they're afraid of being on the receiving end of a 3:00 am tweet.
So Trump will be Trump but I think the lack of pushback from Republicans is what is regrettable because it depresses trust in government and it fuels resentment among voters who are convinced by his claims.
CURNOW: Thomas Gift, always good to speak to you. Thanks so much, live from London, thank you.
GIFT: Thanks, Robyn.
CURNOW: Just ahead here on CNN, several countries in Europe are rushing to get vaccines ready to distribute. That is next. Join us.
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CURNOW: Moscow just opened COVID-19 vaccination sites around the city as Russia rushes to reverse the surge in cases. Health care professionals, city workers and teachers are the first to get the Sputnik V vaccine which Russian scientists created. Matthew Chance joins us now live.
What can you tell us about this?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, a couple of days ago, Vladimir Putin issued an order, saying he wants large scale vaccinations to take place in all cities across that vast territory of Russia.
Moscow, being the capital, was the first to institute that. They started that process today, opening 70 vaccination centers. That's going to increase, as well, in the days and the weeks ahead in which people can go in, they can register and get the vaccine Russia developed.
The Moscow mayor has told us that pickup already has been quite enthusiastic. He says essentially 5,000 people, he gave that figure, registering themselves to take the vaccine within the first five hours. Obviously, that's going to increase as the hours go ahead. They're
limiting the number of people who can take to groups they categorize as the most at risk. But as the production is being stepped up, the authorities in Russia and in Moscow say that everybody in the Russian capital will be eligible to get that Sputnik V vaccination.
They want to get this vaccination program rolled out. This is a test city to see how they work, see what they can do in other cities, as well. They want to get as many people vaccinated as possible to try and bring an early end to the pandemic that has been so severely affecting not just other countries in the world but specifically Russia, as well.
CURNOW: Matthew Chance, thanks so much.
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CURNOW: So coronavirus vaccinations are set to begin on Tuesday in Wales and in Scotland but no word yet on England and Northern Ireland. The U.K. became the first country to approve use of the Pfizer vaccine. Let's go to Cyril Vanier in London.
What can you tell us?
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So it's now four days before Wales and Scotland can start vaccinating the very first patient with this Pfizer vaccine. Certainly throughout the course of the week, is when we're going to see the first vaccinations.
We're talking about tens of thousands of priority patients who are going to get this Pfizer vaccine. Now the first doses arrived just over 24 hours ago in the U.K. They were sent to an undisclosed secure facility.
A first security check was done to make sure that the integrity of the vaccine hadn't been compromised. As the entire world knows by now, I think all our viewers, this vaccine needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius. That is a big logistical challenge.
Now after that, the vaccine is going to be dispatched and that is probably happening now to 50 vaccination centers, vaccination hubs. And that's where the priority patients will be getting it. Staff are being trained as to how to do this.
We don't have very much detail, also, on how the health system here is going to keep tabs. But the idea is to keep tabs on who gets it, of course, what vaccine they got and when they got it.
And the last thing I would say, Robyn, is that, if you look at the timeline, it takes two shots at least three weeks apart to actually be inoculated. So you wouldn't expect people to get full protection, even the first patients, to get full protection from this until the very end of this year, maybe even the first days of January by the time they get the second shot.
CURNOW: OK. Cyril, thanks so much for that update there. I want to bring in now Dr. Peter Drobac, infectious disease and global
health expert.
Lovely to see you. We spoke earlier on this week. But looking ahead to next year, such positive news, particularly where you are in the U.K. These doses are apparently already in country.
DR. PETER DROBAC, OXFORD UNIVERSITY: We've all been waiting obviously a long time. And the news that data from these vaccines have been so positive. And while we haven't seen all the full data themselves, the regulatory agencies certainly have.
The most important thing is that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. We have to remember that this is a massive logistical effort that's ahead of us. There are going to be some bumps in the road.
It's probably the largest vaccination campaign in history. We have to vaccinate everyone on the planet. And that is going to be difficult. It's also not going to make a meaningful difference in most of our day-to-day lives for at least several months.
So in the midst of this winter surge, of course, we should be optimistic. But we really have to focus on making good choices and staying safe and saving lives.
CURNOW: I think you make an excellent point there. A lot of people have been asking about this vaccine and I've had these conversations among family and friends.
Give us, from your technical perspective, does this vaccine protect you from getting sick or protect you from getting infected?
That affects how long people will have to wear masks and social distance.
DROBAC: That's right. We know specifically from these trials that they seem to offer very good protection against serious illness with COVID. We don't have any information from the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines as to whether they prevent infections.
So it's possible people who are vaccinated could still get asymptomatic infections and be contagious. We just don't know that yet.
With the AstraZeneca Oxford vaccine, there was some data to suggest it does prevent infection. We don't know yet the public health implications of this but I think that will come over the next months.
CURNOW: It's still early days and people no doubt must go and get their vaccine.
How do health officials, people like you say, listen, this is in your best interest, particularly among communities of color here in the U.S., where research is showing there is reluctance as well.
DROBAC: Yes. It's really important to understand vaccine hesitancy is variable. Different communities may have concerns for different reasons. We have to understand that.
So it starts with transparency and clear scientific communication. I think, you know, from my experience over, you know, 20 years fighting epidemics, that also a vaccine rollout and communications strategy that is community based, that actually goes from the ground up, is more important than something that comes from the top down.
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DROBAC: And, you know, that's where we've seen such breakdowns in trust with institutions and political leaders. But trust still exists in communities. So if we can be engaging faith leaders and community leaders as part of this process, local health workers and health officials, that's going to, you know, go very far to hopefully overcoming some of this hesitancy.
CURNOW: But still, here in the U.S., the new highs and death rates, hospitalizations in the last few days alone, it's pretty overwhelming just if you live here. And it's no doubt even more overwhelming for the doctors and nurses in these hospitals, which are very fast becoming overrun.
What is your perspective on this?
And how does this end, particularly in the U.S.?
DROBAC: It ends when we change our behavior, frankly. And unfortunately we haven't even seen the effects of the Thanksgiving holiday period yet. We may just be seeing the beginning of the surge with all the mixing and traveling that happened over the holiday weekend.
So we ratcheted up the intensity of this epidemic in the U.S. and we're going to be paying for that over the next couple of weeks. So unfortunately, all of the numbers are going to get worse, regardless of what we do right now.
But we have to understand that things will continue to accelerate until we do something differently. And that's more aggressive masking. We're starting to see some stay-at-home orders. That was announced in California, for example, in the San Francisco area.
I think we need more of that, frankly, that we need to be aggressive. What we learned, if you're in Europe, you don't have to shut everything down. We know enough that you can be smarter about the kinds of restrictions in place that can slow down transmission without stopping the economy entirely.
And I think we need to heed some of those lessons in the U.S.
CURNOW: What do you make of those suggestions that even families need to be wearing masks while at home, particularly here in the U.S., the infection rates are so high that potentially you should be masking at home?
DROBAC: Yes. It sounds kind of wild but, in some communities, there are areas where one in 15 or one in 20 people are infected. That's only those that have diagnosed infection. The actual numbers are higher.
Half of transmission is happening among people who don't yet have symptoms. So at this really extremely high level, you know, silent transmission is happening all the time and that could even be happening in all households. It's not an unreasonable suggestion, given how crazy things are right now.
CURNOW: Always good to speak to you, Peter. Appreciate it. Have a lovely weekend.
DROBAC: Thank you, Robyn.
CURNOW: So President Trump heads to Georgia to rally for two Republicans but his false rhetoric may be doing more harm than good. That story, next.
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CURNOW: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. Thanks for joining me. It's 31 minutes past the hour. This is CNN and I'm Robyn Curnow.
In U.S. politics, President Trump will be here in Georgia on Saturday, campaigning for two Republican senators. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are in a fierce battle to hang onto their seats. Their critical election runoff in January will determine who controls the Senate.
But some Republican fear that President Trump's baseless claims about the November election being rigged might actually depress Republican voter turnout. Kyung Lah now reports from Georgia.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sixty miles west of Atlanta sits Haralson County, Georgia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have a good day.
LAH (voice-over): Here, lunch is served with a side of disbelief.
(on-camera): Do you believe in the results and what happened here in Georgia?
RALPH HORTON, TRUMP DIEHARD: No. Really no.
LAH (on-camera): Who do you think won in November? HORTON: I honestly think Trump did.
LAH (on-camera): Who do you think won the election in your viewpoint?
CHERYL CANTRELL, TRUMP DIEHARD: I think Trump did.
LAH (voice-over): For some shell-shocked supporters of the President, it's impossible to think about the upcoming January Senate runoffs with a continued (INAUDIBLE) of misinformation from President Trump and others.
(on-camera): You voted in November. How are you feeling about the runoffs?
MARK CLAYTON, TRUMP DIEHARD: I really don't know. I'm not going to change anything or not. It may or may not.
LAH (on-camera): Why do say that?
CLAYTON: I mean, without the voter fraud and other stuff that talking about. So, I don't know, hundred percent, you know, what's going on. Or how they count the votes or whatever. So, you know, it's confusion. But, you know, trust in anything anymore.
LAH (voice-over): That is the Republican nightmare in the upcoming Senate run offs, because here, the Republican who could hold the most sway is Trump.
In Haralson County, the President increases support by about 3,000 votes from four years ago, a trend in deep red counties. Donald Trump not only won these counties in November, he did so by roughly 276,000 more votes than in 2016. Republicans need that enthusiastic GOP base in places like Haralson to vote for incumbent Republican senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in the January 5th runoffs.
SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): We're going to win Georgia and --
LAH (voice-over): But there's a complication. The President keeps saying this.
TRUMP: They know it was a fixed election. It was a rigged election. They know it I appreciate the support.
LAH (voice-over): That baseless claim puts the incumbent senators on the ballot in a political pickle. Listen to David Perdue try to square that circle.
PERDUE: But President Trump's very frustrated, I'm very frustrated and we're going to do everything we possibly can to make sure that whatever anomalies are uncovered in November, don't happen in January. But this is illogical for any Republican to think that, oh, I'm just going to sit down and not vote and hand as you say the keys over the Democrats.
BUZZ BROCKWAY (R-GA), FORMER STATE REPRESENTATIVE: It has caused me concern. LAH (voice-over): Republican Buzz Brockway is a former Georgia State Representative. He says Republicans are already telling him they will not vote in January.
BROCKWAY: I've had dozens of people tell me that the people that I knew --
LAH (on-camera): There's not going to show up?
BROCKWAY: I do my best to try to talk them out of it. But the internet spreads things like wildfire.
LAH (on-camera): What happens if the President keeps tweeting and talking about a rigged election?
BROCKWAY: That hurts and absolutely hurts, because he has a very passionate group of followers who frankly are more committed to him than they are to the Republican Party. If he were to continue with that message that would be very hurtful to the Republican Party and to Loeffler and Perdue.
LAH (voice-over): Not everyone in Haralson County believes Trump's mixed message hurts.
[04:35:00]
LAH (voice-over): Andy Gunther, active in the local Republican Party, says the more outraged Trump is at the rally, the higher the enthusiasm for the senators.
ANDY GUNTHER, TRUMP SUPPORTER: It's going to boost the electorate to come out. Stronger I believe.
LAH (on-camera): And why stronger?
GUNTHER: It's defiance. It's, you know, we're not going to take this stuff sitting down. We're going to come back out. We're going to vote. We're going to show that we care.
LAH (voice-over): Kyung Lah, CNN, Haralson County, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: To the coronavirus now, which is ravaging the U.S. Vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are expected to get emergency authorizations in the coming weeks. But health officials say the first shipments fall short of what is needed to fully vaccinate health care workers and long-term care residents.
There's about 24 million Americans in that top priority group. Pfizer is only expected to have a little more than 6 million doses ready by mid-December. And what Moderna supplies won't be enough to make up the difference.
Some good news, though, the nation's top infectious disease expert tells CNN, once people do get their two doses of the vaccine, they will develop full immunity. Dr. Anthony Fauci also says the public needs to trust the vaccines are safe.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Was it too fast?
No, because we had technological advances that allowed us to do things in weeks to months that would've normally taken several years. That didn't compromise any safety, it didn't compromise any scientific integrity.
The decision of whether or not a vaccine is safe and effective, the public has to know, it's not made by the administration, it's not made by the company, it's made by an independent data safety monitoring board.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: It'll certainly be no small feat getting that vaccine from the maker to the public. As CNN's Pete Muntean shows us, some airlines are quickly getting ready to store and move the medicine.
Pete, hi.
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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is American Airlines cargo cold storage facility in Philadelphia, pharmaceuticals only. And essentially what is one big refrigerator, 25,000 square feet. You can see the fans back there, blowing cold air into here.
It is about 50 degrees in here right now, according to this thermometer although, I have to say it feels a lot colder. The idea is to keep the specialized containers for vaccines that need to be super- cold extra preserved.
The Moderna vaccine, -4 degrees Fahrenheit; the Pfizer vaccine, -100 degrees Fahrenheit. They would probably sit on the shelves in here but the idea is to not keep them very long. This is only a pit stop.
I want to show you one more way airlines keep the vaccines cold in transit. This is a portable, battery powered, refrigerated shipping container. You can set the temperature on the side of the container here; 32.8 degrees right now.
If the temperature is off by only a quarter of a degree, alarms go off in this. It is the infrastructure like this that airlines say makes them ready for a mission of a lifetime, American Airlines says it has a plan in place that, as soon as the FDA approves the vaccine, they can begin shipping it within 24 hours -- Pete Muntean, CNN, Philadelphia International Airport.
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CURNOW: And while the U.S. waits on regulatory clearances, some countries are already signing off on emergency use of the Pfizer. Bahrain is the second country giving the vaccine a green light after the U.K. Bahrain is first making the vaccine available to most of its vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and people with chronic diseases. Sam Kiley joins me now with more on this.
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bahrain is only the second country in the world to have signed off on the use of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. But it's not the first vaccine that the Bahrainis have signed off on.
They have already introduced for vulnerable groups, front line workers and so on, the Sinopharm Chinese-developed vaccine, which is largely in its later testing stages. They have authorized that for use back in November and it has also been used here in the United Arab Emirates.
So we've got here in the Middle East, at least in the Gulf nations, not only strict controls of people's movements; they're not in actual lockdown.
[04:40:00]
KILEY: But things here, particularly in comparison to the Anglo-Saxon world, are extremely strict and they are now seeming to get ahead, they hope, in terms of vaccinations.
That, Robyn, is not the case right across the Middle East. You've got places like Egypt that are not seeing the sorts of death tolls that one might imagine from -- in a country that's so crowded, where there's so little social isolation. So they will use, for example, masks.
But like many countries in Africa, very young population, doesn't seem to have been as badly affected as, say, neighboring Israel, where they have had very substantial levels of virus infections relative to the population and repeated local and national lockdowns.
Or indeed, Georgia, which has been in a similar position. So there's a lot of variety across the Middle East. But clearly here in the Gulf, these wealthy nations are very keen to get on the front for both in terms of maintaining the control over the spread of the virus but also clearly in dissemination of all of the different vaccinations.
And we understand from authorities here that the Emirates are trying to roll out as many and as much of a variety as possible for future vaccinations, too. Robyn.
CURNOW: Sam Kiley, thanks for that update there.
So ahead on CNN, time is starting to run out for the U.K. and the European Union to agree on a trade deal after Brexit. A live report from London, next.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) CURNOW: I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks for joining me.
So negotiators for the European Union and the United Kingdom are pausing trade talks. The president of the European Commission and the U.K. prime minister will speak later about where negotiations stand. The U.K. left the E.U. back in January and are now in a transition period, which expires at the ends of this year.
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CURNOW: Nic Robertson is watching all of this from London.
Hi, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it expires at the end of the year. So the clock is ticking louder. But really, this weekend, it's ding-donging very loudly, indeed. But the reason is really simple.
Even if they get a deal right now, it will be an absolute scramble for the British and European parliaments to ratify this deal. It's going to be an absolute scramble for all those business, particularly the hallway (ph) industry to get itself ready to know precisely what sort of paperwork they'll need to cross over the channel, to take goods into the European Union.
The sticking issues, because principally, we understand there were three, this is that the U.K. doesn't want to give up fishing rights for the waters around the U.K. And according to some British newspapers, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, is demanding that that French fishermen, who were pretty close to Britain, fish in the waters here, continue to have some rights for perhaps 10 years more.
The other thing is, how do you manage the sort of going forward where you've got all these new regulations and agreement, how do you sort of have dispute resolution?
But one of the big things for the European Union, that's what they call the level playing field. That means they cannot accept to see the British government give subsidies to British businesses that will unfairly then compete against European businesses with similar or the same products. So those are the sticking points.
So yes, right now, today, the telephone call between Ursula van der Leyen, the European Commission president, and Boris Johnson is the one that gets the next level beyond the negotiators. So they have to make political compromises.
But the time is really running out. Ursula van der Leyen doesn't make the compromises herself; they go back to the leaders of the nations. So time is running out. And crucial giving ground or not will have to be made in that phone call. But that is part of the negotiations.
Both sides at this point would be able to say to their constituents, look, we tried really hard but we had to match some compromises. Both sides want a deal. Times are really, really tight, though. CURNOW: This keeps on going down to the wire over and over again. So
what happens if there is no deal?
What happens in January?
ROBERTSON: Yes. And then it's the 1st of January because it kicks in over midnight. You know, the government right now is building massive, massive car parks in Kent, England, which is very close to Dover, surrounds Dover, I suppose, is a better way of putting it.
And Dover is one of the main ports, where trucks take the tunnel to drive into Europe. Right now, the British government is preparing a huge car park, building it from scratch in the countryside, for up to 10,000 trucks because the reality is -- and truckers will tell you this -- getting into the European Union from outside the European Union can take trucks that have the right paperwork -- and I think up to 10 hours.
The number of trucks that pass every day into the European Union is in the high thousands. Imagine the backlogs of what happens if the process is slowed by these numbers of hours.
So this is a real concern that products won't make it to market in Europe, businesses here will be hurt, businesses in Europe will be hurt. But potentially, you have shortages, as well, of food products, you know, 25 percent of products being imported from the U.K. to the European Union.
Will supermarket shelves be empty?
And actually, people don't really have the answer to those questions. No deal will throw those supply chains into jeopardy. For how long and by how much, we just don't know.
CURNOW: Nic Robertson, thanks so much for that.
So just ahead, just a couple of minutes to try to forget the coronavirus. Try 'tis almost this season and people are putting aside the COVID doldrums, eager for some Christmas joy.
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CURNOW: I think all this COVID news has been bringing down the holiday season but as our Tom Foreman is finding out, many people are sick of isolation, they have their wallets wide open and they're itching to get into the holiday spirit.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The holiday rush is on at the Owens house in Virginia, more decorations, more weeks ahead of the celebration.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whited (ph) reindeer.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And more coming.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I went out of my way and spent money that I wouldn't normally because we're not traveling.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Coast to coast, countless others appear to be doing the same, charging into Christmas, Hanukkah -- pick your holiday -- like never before. From this holiday shop in California --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With everything people have been through this year from not only COVID but murder hornets, goodness, we're ready for some joy.
FOREMAN (voice-over): To this tree farm in Oregon, where sales are five times higher than usual.
While some businesses remain shut down by the virus, others are reporting early and sustained surges.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't have a Christmas without a Christmas tree, so we're getting it started today.
FOREMAN (voice-over): In Illinois --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have never seen anything like this.
FOREMAN (voice-over): This family started building their light display three months ago, thrilling local crowds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because of COVID-19, I mean, we're all stuck in the house. Santa might just be wearing a mask in your house.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And at this garden center in Maryland, the calendar has been racing forward with a jingle.
FOREMAN: So normally you don't switch over to Christmas until November. But this year, it was October.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was very early.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gosh, we noticed that right away, people were purchasing Christmas merchandise because we can't spend as much time doing the things we used to, whether it be retail or restaurants or travel. They want to make the home feel like a special place to be.
FOREMAN (voice-over): All that enthusiasm may really pay off, with holiday spending predicted to rise as much as 5 percent higher than last year, a big boost to businesses hit by the pandemic slump.
FOREMAN: And some psychologists say it can be pretty good for the rest of us, too, the lights, the decorations, the whole holiday vibe can lift spirits like nothing else.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am assembling our fake three-piece Christmas tree.
FOREMAN (voice-over): So if you haven't hauled out the holly, you might get busy because the socially distanced party has already started.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's one thing that COVID cannot take from us and it's definitely the Christmas spirit.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Tom Foreman, CNN, Falls Church, Virginia.
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CURNOW: Hear, hear to that.
So if you have wondered whether Santa Claus' traditional red suit is waterproof, well, here is your answer. At the Malta National Aquarium, Father Christmas took his holiday cheer underwater. With snacks in hand, he went for a swim alongside the aquarium's fish and then a lucky zebra shark got some belly rubs.
It's all very 2020, as well, isn't it?
I'm Robyn Curnow. Stay with us. I will be right back with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM coming up after this short break.
