SIGNS OF OPTIMISM ON COVID — Moncef Slaoui, Operation Warp Speed's clinical adviser, signaled on Sunday that Americans could start getting vaccinated for Covid-19 within a day or two of the FDA's advisory committee meeting scheduled for Dec. 10. "Our plan is to be able to ship vaccines to the immunization sites within 24 hours from the approval, so I would expect maybe on day two after approval on the 11th or the 12th of December," Slaoui said on CNN. — Herd immunity could be reached by May, Slaoui also predicted, estimating that's when about 70 percent of the U.S. population would get shots. The vaccines should be "an incentive to have us double down even more with public health measures until we get the full component of the help that's on its way," said infectious-disease expert Tony Fauci on NBC's "Meet the Press." — Meanwhile: FDA authorized Regeneron's experimental antibody treatment on Saturday, saying that it could be used for mild and moderate cases of Covid-19. President Donald Trump received the treatment in October. SIGNS OF PESSIMISM AND CONCERN — Coronavirus cases have accelerated, with an average of more than 170,000 new confirmed cases per day across the past week. That's more than double the rate a month ago, and hospitalizations and deaths are surging too. It's also created new pressures on hospitals and health workers from coast to coast, with some Utah doctors saying that care is being effectively rationed, Erin Alberty writes in the Salt Lake City Tribune. "There are no beds anywhere," one Minnesota doctor told the Star Tribune's Jeremy Olson. HOW BIDEN's COVID RESPONSE WILL CENTER THE CDC — The president-elect is planning to restore regular media briefings and elevate long-sidelined career CDC officials when his administration takes control of the Covid-19 response, POLITICO's Alice Miranda Ollstein and Adam Cancryn report. The moves are aimed at sending an immediate message that the Biden administration is prioritizing science over politics in its pandemic efforts — and heading off resistance to public health restrictions and mass vaccination efforts. — Two to watch: NANCY MESSONNIER and ANNE SCHUCHAT. The top CDC officials were sidelined by Trump and his deputies after their warnings about the severity of the crisis angered the White House. Both are likely to re-emerge under Biden and play prominent roles in guiding the response. Biden transition officials have also spent significant time plotting how to restore trust and morale at the CDC, with a person close to the president-elect calling the challenge "job one." — The incoming administration views messaging as critical to curbing the pandemic. Biden will confront a series of policy and logistical challenges, but the simpler question of how to rally a fatigued and divided nation has dominated discussions. In building his pandemic team, Biden has sought candidates who are good communicators and boast deep credibility with the health community and broader public. Once in office, the Biden administration is likely to enlist a slate of career health officials and political appointees to reinforce the government's message and build trust in particular in communities of color hit hardest by the pandemic. — What the FEDERATION OF AMERICAN HOSPITALS is urging Biden: The organization for investor-owned hospitals wants the president-elect to extend the public health emergency and its accompanying waivers, in a letter shared first with PULSE. "All of the waivers, while too numerous to list here, have been critical for allowing hospitals to prepare for patient surge and care for patients throughout the PHE, while also protecting them from risk of exposure to COVID-19," FAH chief Chip Kahn urges, also calling for other policies to improve coronavirus mitigation and help hospitals. CLYBURN BACKING VIN GUPTA FOR SURGEON GENERAL — Rep. Jim Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat and a close Biden ally, has recommended Gupta for surgeon general or another high-level post, he confirmed to PULSE. A lung specialist, Gupta is currently an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and had advised the Biden team. "Vin is someone that I'm very supportive of," Clyburn said. "I know him and I've worked with him and he would be outstanding." Gupta also spent recent months as a medical contributor for NBC and MSNBC — a visible role that comes as Biden officials seek candidates with the communication skills and credibility to steer the nation through the pandemic. Clyburn cautioned that he's not part of the transition, and doesn't have any final say on personnel decisions. But another person familiar with the process said Gupta has spoken with other high-level Biden advisers about a spot in the administration in recent weeks. Gupta declined to comment. TODAY: $50M VACCINE EDUCATION CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED BY COVID COLLABORATIVE, AD COUNCIL — The campaign, which its organizers bill as unprecedented, will promote awareness of the upcoming vaccines and attempt to reach marginalized communities. The effort also will release a toolkit devised with the National Governors Association and others. — The COVID Collaborative boasts a bipartisan mix of advisers, including Joe Grogan, who served as Trump's domestic policy chief before leaving the White House this year, and Trump's former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb. Other advisers include Obama officials like former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, CDC Director Tom Frieden and Peggy Hamburg, as well as academics like Georgetown's Rebecca Katz, Johns Hopkins' Tom Inglesby and Brown's Ashish Jha. The Ad Council, meanwhile, is the communications industry's not-for-profit consortium that has spent decades partnering with the government on public health campaigns. "Widespread adoption of the COVID-19 vaccine is our generation's 'moonshot' and will represent one of the largest public health interventions in our nation's history," Lisa Sherman, the head of the Ad Council, said in a statement. — The campaign comes even as the Trump administration's own planned $300 million-plus coronavirus surge awareness campaign, mired in months of scrutiny, has yet to produce a single ad. An official at the Ad Council told PULSE that the Trump administration still hasn't reached out to coordinate about that campaign.
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