Live updates: FDA advisers recommend second coronavirus vaccine as California becomes U.S.
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Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine got the greenlight from a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee Thursday, paving the way for authorization of a second shot aimed at slowing a pandemic that has killed nearly 310,000 people in the United States.

The news came as California became the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S., posting in the past 48 hours more than 100,000 new infections and setting a new daily death record. In Southern California, a region that includes Los Angeles and San Diego, ICU capacity fell to 0 percent on Thursday.

Here are some significant developments:

Officials in multiple states said they were alerted that their second shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine next week had been reduced.

Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.), tapped by Biden to be a White House senior adviser, has tested positive for the coronavirus.

French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Wednesday was the deadliest day for the United States to date, with at least 3,367 fatalities reported across the country.

Sign up for our coronavirus newsletter | Mapping the spread of the coronavirus: Across the U.S. | Worldwide | Vaccine tracker | Has someone close to you died of covid-19? Share your story with The Washington Post.

4:57 a.m.

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CDC: Largest opioid death toll in a year accelerated during the pandemic

By Meryl Kornfield

In an alert issued Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned health-care providers about a “concerning acceleration” in drug overdose deaths coinciding with the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 81,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in a 12-month period ending in May, a record for the opioid epidemic that has claimed more than 450,000 lives in the two decades leading up to 2019. In recent years, the annual death toll from the opioid crisis has continued to rise — aside from a slight decrease in 2018 — fueled by the proliferation of a potent synthetic opioid called fentanyl. The worsening epidemic was especially deadly from March to May toward the start of the pandemic, according to the CDC.

Since then, the coronavirus pandemic has stripped people of their jobs, close contact with family and in-person resources for substance abuse disorder.

“The disruption to daily life due to the COVID-19 pandemic has hit those with substance use disorder hard,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement about the alert. “As we continue the fight to end this pandemic, it’s important to not lose sight of different groups being affected in other ways. We need to take care of people suffering from unintended consequences.”

The CDC advisory included recommendations to expand prevention and response services for public health departments, first responders and other groups.

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4:04 a.m.

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FDA advisers recommend second coronavirus vaccine

By Laurie McGinley and Carolyn Y. Johnson

Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine got the greenlight from a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee Thursday, paving the way for authorization of a second shot aimed at slowing a pandemic that has killed nearly 310,000 people in the United States.

The panel voted that the benefits of the highly effective vaccine outweighed its risks for people individuals 18 years of age and older. The FDA plans to authorize the vaccine Friday, according to knowledgeable individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the schedule.

Anticipating the authorization decision, Gen. Gustave F. Perna, who is overseeing the federal effort to distribute vaccines, said Monday the government was preparing to ship almost 6 million doses of the Moderna vaccine to 3,285 locations in the first week after approval.

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3:21 a.m.

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ICU capacity in Southern California falls to 0 percent

By Reis Thebault

California — the country’s most populous and richest state — is the new epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus crisis, with unprecedented surges of seriously infected patients threatening to overwhelm hospitals and overflow morgues.

The state is reporting unnerving numbers: California has set nationwide records for new cases again and again in the past week — most recently on Thursday, when it posted more than 50,000 infections, nearly 100,000 in 48 hours.

On Thursday, the state reported 379 new fatalities, topping its previous high of 293, set the day prior.

The number of available beds in intensive care units is plummeting. In the San Joaquin Valley, hospitals ran out over the weekend, resorting to “surge capacity.” In Southern California, a region that includes Los Angeles and San Diego, ICU capacity fell to 0 percent Thursday.

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2:45 a.m.

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Hundreds of maskless Long Beach police gathered at indoor ‘superspreader’ event, complaint says

By Jaclyn Peiser

Nearly 300 Long Beach, Calif., police officers, uniformed and masked, gathered close together for a group picture on Nov. 5 at the city’s convention center to commemorate the end of a weeks-long tactical training.

But an informal image from that same day captured a different story — the officers are seen standing side-by-side and barefaced, the Long Beach Post first reported earlier this month.

Now, as the department battles dozens of infections in its ranks, two Long Beach community groups are demanding an investigation and accusing the police chief of “knowingly and willfully ordering a super spreader event,” according to a complaint to the city’s Citizen Police Complaint Commission obtained by The Washington Post.

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2:05 a.m.

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States report confusion as feds alter vaccine shipments, and Pfizer says it has ‘millions’ of unclaimed doses

By Isaac Stanley-Becker, Yasmeen Abutaleb and Lena H. Sun

Officials in multiple states said they were alerted late Wednesday that their second shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine next week had been reduced, sparking widespread confusion and spurring the company’s CEO to put out a statement saying it had millions more doses than were being distributed.

The changes prompted concern in health departments across the country about whether Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccine accelerator, was capable of distributing doses quickly enough to meet the target of delivering first shots to 20 million people by year’s end.

A total of 2.9 million doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and the German company BioNTech was allocated this week, and 5.9 million doses of Moderna’s regimen are poised to go out next week if the vaccine is authorized this week, as expected. That will be on top of additional supply from Pfizer, which Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Wednesday would amount to 2 million doses.

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1:31 a.m.

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HHS Secretary Azar says there’s no need to fear virus mutations

By Taylor Telford

There is no evidence that variations and mutations are making the coronavirus more dangerous or threatening known treatments, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Thursday.

Reports of a new strain of the coronavirus spreading in the United Kingdom caused some alarm earlier this week. Although there is no proof that these changes are making the virus deadlier, The Washington Post reported, recent research has shown that the virus is not a static target of vaccines.

The virus will need to be watched closely to see how it responds to therapeutic interventions and the human immune system. But in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Azar said that although many variants of the virus have been seen throughout the pandemic, mutation is “not a concern.”

“We’ve got no indication of any type of drift of the virus or mutation of the virus that would impact vaccine or therapeutic strategies at this point,” Azar said. “Obviously we’re always looking at it.”

Mutations are a natural phenomenon. The coronavirus jumped into the human species sometime late last year and may still be evolving as it adapts to the new host. It will continue to change now that millions of people have been infected and developed antibodies and as new interventions such as vaccines and therapeutic drugs are introduced.

The Food and Drug Administration is warning medical providers to watch for allergic reactions to vaccines after a handful of people had severe responses after receiving Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine earlier this week. The individuals are said to have recovered quickly, and some had histories of severe allergic reactions to vaccines.

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1:25 a.m.

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Rep. Mike Rogers tests positive for the coronavirus

By Paulina Firozi

Rep. Mike D. Rogers (R-Ala.) has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Rogers made the announcement Thursday morning and says he immediately consulted with Congress’s attending physician and is self-isolating. In a tweet, Rogers said he is experiencing “mild symptoms” but is in “good spirits.”

This morning I tested positive for COVID-19. I immediately consulted with the Office of the Attending Physician and am currently self-isolating. I am experiencing mild symptoms but otherwise I am in good spirits and looking forward to getting back to work soon. — Mike Rogers (@RepMikeRogersAL) December 17, 2020

Rogers is at least the second lawmaker to announce a positive test in as many days.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) said in a statement Wednesday that he had tested positive, an announcement that came after he delivered remarks on the House floor earlier in the day.

Wilson said he was not experiencing any symptoms.

“Earlier this evening I learned that I have tested positive for COVID-19. I will be taking all necessary precautions, as directed by the House Physician, including quarantining through the Christmas holiday,” Wilson said in his statement, adding: “It is so important that we all do our part to help prevent the spread of this virus.”

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12:57 a.m.

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Stimulus talks could spill into weekend as lawmakers scramble to complete deal

By Mike DeBonis, Jeff Stein and Seung Min Kim

Congressional leaders are trying to resolve a number of lingering policy disagreements as they race to finalize an approximately $900 billion coronavirus relief package, but numerous obstacles could push talks into the weekend. Among the most vexing issues are whether to curb the powers of the Federal Reserve, a clash over aid for theaters and music venues, and relief for cities and states.

Negotiators have cited significant progress in recent days as talks have accelerated. Senior lawmakers aimed to unveil legislation as soon as Thursday. While several difficult sticking points remain, aides are expressing optimism that none of the issues that has emerged appeared likely to prevent final passage of an agreement.

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12:32 a.m.

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5,200 New York health-care workers have received vaccine, Mayor de Blasio says

By Kim Bellware

At least 5,200 health-care workers in New York City have been vaccinated for covid-19, and that number is expected to accelerate in the coming days, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said during a Thursday news conference.

The first doses of the vaccine arrived Monday. Sandra Lindsay, a critical-care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, became the first person in the United States to receive one.

De Blasio said to expect a “slow and steady ramp-up” in the coming days.

Join me at City Hall for the latest on #COVID19 and the winter storm. https://t.co/PYyZ70UJEA — Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) December 17, 2020

“Then you’re going to see a takeoff. We have, so far in New York City, 42,900 doses [that] have arrived,” he said.

De Blasio described that figure as “plenty of supply” for the city of nearly 9 million residents.

New York, one of the earliest epicenters of the United States’ outbreak, is slated for an initial shipment of 170,000 doses for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the latter of which is expected to be approved soon. The initial doses are planned to go to high-risk health-care workers and to the staff and residents of nursing homes.

12:00 a.m.

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U.S. woman sentenced to four months in prison after breaking Cayman Island quarantine rules to attend boyfriend’s jet-ski competition

By Adam Taylor

An American woman and her boyfriend have been sentenced to four months in prison in the Cayman Islands after she broke coronavirus quarantine rules to attend a jet-ski competition, according to local reports.

“This was as flagrant a breach as could be imagined; it was borne of selfishness and arrogance,” Justice Roger Chapple, the judge who handed down the sentence, said Tuesday, the Cayman News Service reported.

Multiple Cayman news outlets reported late last month that 18-year-old Skylar Mack had been seen interacting with the public without a mask at the competition Nov. 29, even though she had arrived in the country just two days before.

Under pandemic restrictions, arrivals to the Cayman Islands are required to quarantine for 14 days. During that time, they are told to wear an electronic bracelet called the TraceSafe iMSafe that monitors their movements.

But a court on the island later heard Mack had complained the bracelet was too tight and had it reapplied more loosely, which enabled her to leave the residence where she was isolated to visit the event.

Mack’s boyfriend, 24-year-old Vanjae Ramgeet, was participating in the event. Ramgeet is a Cayman Islands citizen.

The pair both pleaded guilty to breaching quarantine requirements and were initially sentenced to 40 hours community service and a fine of $2,600, to cover the costs of Mack’s movement to the government quarantine facility.

But the government appealed the court’s decision and a new ruling leveled the four-month prison sentence Tuesday. Cayman News Service reported the pair were not likely to serve the entire sentence, but would probably miss the holidays.

Attorney Jonathan Hughes, who represents Mack and Ramgeet, told the court this week the American had received “death threats” and her father, also a professional jet-skier, had lost work because of the incident. In a public letter released by Mack before her sentencing, she apologized to the people of the Cayman Islands. “I made the biggest mistake of my life so far,” she said.

The Cayman Islands have so far recorded 308 cases and two deaths. The country has a population of around 64,000.

11:26 p.m.

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Another adverse reaction to coronavirus vaccine reported in Alaska, but recovery was quick

By Joel Achenbach

Another adverse reaction to the new coronavirus vaccine has been reported by a hospital in Juneau, Alaska, although the case was not as serious as one disclosed Wednesday in which a health-care worker had to be hospitalized and monitored overnight after a severe allergic reaction.

The second case involved a staff member at Bartlett Regional Hospital who Wednesday “experienced eye puffiness, lightheadedness, and scratchy throat ten minutes after being injected with the vaccine,” according to the city of Juneau’s website. He was given a standard treatment of epinephrine, Pepcid and Benadryl and “felt completely back to normal within an hour and was released,” the statement said.

This was not considered a case of anaphylaxis, unlike the incident in Alaska that began Tuesday when a health-care worker, described as middle-aged but otherwise not identified, suffered shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat and flushed skin in a reaction that also began 10 minutes after receiving an injection of the vaccine created by Pfizer and BioNTech. The worker was treated overnight and was stable and not on medication by the next morning. She then stayed a second night in the hospital “under observation,” according to a hospital statement. “She is still encouraging her colleagues to get the vaccine,” the statement added.

That was the first and, as of Thursday morning, only reported case of anaphylaxis since the vaccines began to be administered Monday nationwide. Two severe allergic reactions have been reported in the United Kingdom among health-care workers receiving the vaccine. Vaccine expert and pediatrician Paul Offit of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said Wednesday that, among all vaccines, about one in a million vaccinations triggers a severe allergic reaction. The guidance for this new vaccine requires people to be monitored for 15 minutes after the injection to see if they have a reaction, or 30 minutes if they have a history of severe allergic responses.

It is unclear what ingredient in the Pfizer vaccine may be causing the adverse responses. Milder side effects, such as fever, headache, fatigue and pain at the injection site, have also been reported by volunteers in randomized trials, particularly after the second dose and particularly among younger people who tend to have more robust and reactive immune systems. Those side effects go away in a day or two and are not considered a cause for concern.

11:11 p.m.

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Poland announces three-week lockdown to begin after Christmas

By Adam Taylor

Poland will enter a national lockdown on Dec. 28 that will last until Jan. 17, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski announced at a news conference on Thursday.

Hotels, shopping centers, ski slopes and other businesses will be forced to close during the lockdown, but grocery stores and pharmacies will stay open.

The restrictions would not be imposed for Christmas, though there would be a curfew from 7 p.m. on New Year’s Eve to 6 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

Niedzielski said the rules were required as asking people to voluntarily stay careful was not working.

“Appeals alone will not help, appeals alone are not enough,” he said, according to national broadcaster Polskie Radio.

The health minister had previously asked people to spend Christmas and New Year’s at home, warning that vaccination plans could be disrupted if the virus spreads too widely.

Poland reported 11,953 new infections and 431 additional deaths on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases to 1,171,854 and deaths to 24,345.

10:39 p.m.

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Strip clubs in San Diego exempt from California restrictions, judge says

By Kim Bellware

Strip clubs in San Diego are exempt from California’s restrictive stay-at-home order, a San Diego Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday, a decision that has made the local restaurant industry cautiously optimistic that the exemption applies to their businesses, too.

The judge’s nine-page ruling prevents the state’s regional stay-at-home order from applying to adult entertainment businesses and “San Diego County businesses with restaurant service.”

The order took effect in early December and required businesses, including indoor dining at restaurants, movie theaters and family entertainment centers, to shutter in an effort to slow the state’s unprecedented surge in new cases.

Two local strip clubs were hit with a cease-and-desist order from the state after they continued to operate in defiance of the shutdown order and fought it on First Amendment grounds, arguing that the government was trying to curb protected free expression.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil determined that the clubs had established their own covid-19 protocols and that the state would probably be unable to prove that the clubs’ ongoing operation was contributing to the ICU bed shortage in the area.

The vagueness of the ruling has restaurants, the county and the state scrambling to understand how widely it extends and whether it would enable area restaurants to resume on-site dining.

Chad Cline, co-owner of the Waterfront Bar & Grill in Little Italy and other nightlife venues in the area, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that he needed clarity on the ruling but was hopeful he could reopen his businesses.

“It kind of says that restaurants can reopen but the caveat there may be that someone has to be stripping, which seems so wild to me,” Cline said. “If that’s what it takes for us to reopen our businesses — taking off our clothes, I’ll do it.”

9:50 p.m.

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German study finds some bodies of covid-19 victims are contagious after death