WHITE HOUSE TO FDA: CAN'T THE VACCINE PROCESS MOVE ANY FASTER? — Administration officials have been frustrated that their "Warp Speed" effort has run into Washington regulations, with vaccine distribution still days away even though Pfizer and Moderna announced promising results weeks ago, POLITICO's Dan Diamond, Adam Cancryn and Sarah Owermohle report. And they've lambasted FDA officials, saying that every day counts during a life-threatening pandemic. This week's news that the U.K. could authorize a vaccine on Dec. 7 — several days before the FDA is likely to greenlight one — further angered White House officials who view having the West's first authorized vaccine as a key element of Trump's legacy. "It's crazy to imagine the European Union or U.K. may approve a vaccine developed in the United States before us though, right?" said a senior official involved in the process. HHS Secretary Alex Azar and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows both held meetings with FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn this week, seeking to clarify where the process stands and if anything can be done to move more quickly on vaccine rollout. — It's important to remember: FDA is moving historically fast. The first shots are expected to be authorized less than a year after the coronavirus' genetic sequence was first shared, and FDA reviews like the one underway would normally take up to 10 months. "[W]e know we need to do our job…to make sure that any vaccine meets our high standard of safety and efficacy," Hahn told state governors on a call convened by the White House on Monday, according to notes from the call obtained by POLITICO. Meanwhile, PULSE's European counterparts point out that the concern overseas is reversed: There's frustration that the United States and United Kingdom will likely be weeks ahead of the European Union, which may not sign off on a vaccine until early 2021. — But some public health experts lament the lost opportunity, such as the chance to move more quickly on emergency authorizations. "Every day that goes by is 2,000 people dead," said Walid Gellad, the director of the Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing at the University of Pittsburgh. "I don't know another circumstance where waiting on drug approval has such an impact on mortality." CDC PANEL: HEALTH WORKERS, LONG-TERM CARE RESIDENTS SHOULD GET VACCINES FIRST — An expert panel advising the CDC overwhelmingly endorsed giving the first Covid-19 vaccine doses to health care workers and those in long-term care facilities, POLITICO's David Lim reports. The 13-1 vote backing the recommendations is not binding, but could be influential for the states putting together their vaccination plans. Health care workers have accounted for at least 243,000 infections, while skilled nursing facilities alone have recorded nearly 70,000 deaths. The panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, is expected to refine and finalize fuller recommendations for vaccine distribution after the FDA authorizes its first shots and allows the committee to see late-stage trial data. — A rare NANCY MESSONNIER sighting: The CDC official tweeted Tuesday about the advisory committee, her first post in eight months. Messonnier drew anger from Trump and his deputies in March after she warned — accurately — that Covid-19 would disrupt daily life in America. COMING TODAY: THE COVID-19 VACCINE EDUCATION AND EQUITY PROJECT — More than 60 groups will announce a new effort to promote vaccines, increase vaccination rates and reach vulnerable communities. The Pfizer-funded project includes a new website and will convene a discussion among groups that are fighting Covid-19 on the frontlines, a spokesperson said. — Among the participating organizations: The Alliance for Aging Research, HealthyWomen, the National Caucus and Center on Black Aging, and Research!America. CDC REVISING COVID QUARANTINE GUIDANCE — The CDC is prepping new guidance recommending that people exposed to Covid-19 quarantine for 10 days, or seven days if they've obtained a negative test, POLITICO's Adam Cancryn reports. That's down from the current 14 days, and comes months after White House officials like Vice President Mike Pence began encouraging the agency to revisit its guidelines. The new CDC guidance is based on extensive data about the virus' behavior gathered over the last several weeks, an administration official said. BRAD PARSCALE: TRUMP BLEW IT ON COVID — Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale criticized the president's approach to the pandemic in a Tuesday interview, calling his decision not to express public empathy the biggest "policy error" of his reelection campaign. "People were scared and I think if he would've been publicly empathetic he would've won by a landslide," Parscale said on Fox News. "I think he could've leaned into it instead of run away from it." Parscale, who was replaced as campaign manager in July, claimed that his polling had Trump winning more than 400 electoral votes before the virus hit – and that he believed all the president needed to do to win re-election was to be empathetic about the crisis' toll. Instead, Trump chose to focus on quickly reopening the economy. "A young family with a young child who are scared to take them back to school wanted to see an empathetic president and an empathetic Republican Party," he said. "And I said this multiple times and he chose a different path."
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