Wednesday, December 2 top news briefs

It is Wednesday, December 2. Here are today’s top news briefs.

There were over 184,000 new Covid-19 cases and 2,607 new deaths yesterday in the U.S. We’re in a bad spike and the statistics are the worst ever since the pandemic hit in March.

This morning the U.K. approved Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine. The first doses of the vaccine are expected to roll out next week in the U.K. They are the first Western nation to approve a Covid-19 vaccine.

Pfizer and Moderna have already applied for FDA authorization in the U.S., and that process is currently playing out. A FDA panel will meet on December 10 to review Pfizer’s data and make a recommendation on authorization.

A CDC panel voted 13-1 yesterday to make health care workers and nursing home residents be the first in the line to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. The CDC said there are about 21 million health care workers and 3 million long-term facility residents in the U.S. It should take about three weeks to vaccinate everyone in these groups.

The vaccines require two doses a few weeks apart. Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the leader of the Trump administration’s vaccine program Operation Warp Speed, said that about 10% to 15% of people report noticeable side effects from the vaccines such as pain at the injection site, fever, chills, muscle aches, and headaches.

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The CDC also announced changes to its recommendations for a 14-day quarantine for people who have been exposed to Covid-19. The CDC said a 10-day quarantine without a test is sufficient if a person has no symptoms, or a 7-day quarantine if a person has a negative test and no symptoms. The CDC said a 14-day period is best, but they are concerned that people will intentionally lie about their exposure out of concern that they might miss too much work or be away from others too long, and make things worse by spreading the virus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a national rollout of its Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine to begin next week with teachers and doctors being the first in the line to get it. Russian officials said the vaccine was 92% effective at preventing Covid-19. Their vaccine has not completed clinical trials but have received approval from regulators in the country.

In Glen Burnie, Maryland, police said a bowling alley manager was punched and kicked by a group of men who were angry that they were asked to leave because they refused to wear masks. A second bowling alley employee who rushed to help was also assaulted.

Salesforce will acquire Slack for $27.7 billion. Salesforce is a giant customer management and data company, while Slack is an online project management tool. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said this move was a bet that people who have shifted to remote work because of the pandemic will stay that way for good, even after the pandemic subsides.

That’s all the top news briefs for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/02/uk/pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine-uk-intl-hnk/index.html

https://www.pfizer.com/

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/01/health/first-pfizer-vaccine-shipments/index.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/cdc-quarantine-time-covid/2020/12/02/18159172-349e-11eb-b59c-adb7153d10c2_story.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/01/covid-vaccine-cdc-panel-says-health-workers-nursing-homes-will-get-vaccine-first.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN28C21E?il=0

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/live-updates/coronavirus/?id=74456908&cid=clicksource_4380645_2_heads_hero_live_hero_hed

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-beaten-bowling-manager-asked-patrons-wear-masks-74498892

https://www.axios.com/slack-salesforce-analysis-46102ace-dc17-47c1-98b3-0e39e1fc031e.html