Coronavirus: The Hill and the Headlines, January 11 2021

In Washington:

• House Democrats on Monday introduced an article of impeachment against President Trump, charging him with inciting a mob of his supporters to carry out last week’s violent attack on the Capitol. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) told Democratic members on a call Monday afternoon that the impeachment vote will be held on Wednesday.  President-elect Joe Biden is having talks with House and Senate members in hopes to find ways to potentially “bifurcate” Senate impeachment proceedings so a trial would not impede the confirmation of his Cabinet selections.

• On Jan. 14, President-elect Joe Biden will unveil his sweeping coronavirus vaccination plan.  Biden has been frustrated with President Trump's lack of a national plan to get vaccines administered in Americans’ arms.   "Three thousand to 4,000 people a day dying is just beyond the pale, it's just wrong," Biden said Monday after receiving his second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. "And we can do a lot to change it."  Biden again vowed that his administration would fulfill its pledge of 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office.  Biden plans to release all doses on hand and not hold the second dose back for those that have already received the first dose.  Some health experts claim that this strategy can be a gamble if there are production delays or snags in administering the second dose in time.

• President-elect Joe Biden publicly received his second dose of Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine on Monday. “My number one priority is getting vaccine into people’s arms, like I just did today, as rapidly as we can,” Biden, wearing a face mask, told reporters after receiving his shot. Biden received the shot at ChristianaCare hospital in Newark, Delaware.

• Representatives Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) have tested positive for the coronavirus.  Coleman was one of several members who were evacuated from the Capitol to a safe location during last week's Capitol insurrection by President Trump supporters.  She blames her Republican colleagues who refused to wear masks in the committee room where they were held.  Punchbowl News shared a video where Reps. Marjorie Greene (R-Ga.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Scott Perry (R-Pa.), and Michael Cloud (R-Texas) rebuffed Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) as she offered masks to her colleagues.

• Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Patty Murray  (D-WA), and 44 other Democrats sent a letter to Health and Human Services Director Secretary Alex Azar calling for plans to correct "significant" failures in vaccine rollout, including guidance and support for states. Only one -third of distributed vaccines have been administered, the lawmakers said. "Federal responsibility does not end with delivery of vaccines to states, as you have suggested.  Vaccine administration must be a close partnership between the federal government and state, Tribal, and local governments, with the federal government stepping up to ensure that all needs are met."

• Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) on Thursday called for a congressional investigation into what he called “vaccine distribution mismanagement,” following multiple reports that a West Palm Beach, Florida nursing home and assisted-living facility steered vaccine shots to its board members and major donors. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has been under fire for the bumpy rollout of vaccinations in Florida purportedly due to his insistence that those 65 or older be among the first to get inoculated. On Thursday, DeSantis brushed aside Scott’s call for an investigation and said he has ordered Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel to start an official probe.

• Hospitals are throwing out portions of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine because the syringes distributed to them by Operation Warp Speed aren’t efficient enough to extract all the doses, according to hospitals.  “Operation Warp Speed is quickly evaluating options to reconfigure the accompanying ancillary supply kits to accommodate the potential additional doses,” according to an HHS spokesperson.

In the News:

• According to Johns Hopkins data, the U.S.  reported its 375,000th coronavirus death Monday and California has surpassed 30,000 coronavirus deaths. California broke its record for most single-day death reports on Saturday, recording 695 deaths. On Tuesday, state health officials issued a new mandate requiring hospitals to accept patients from hospitals in crisis care.

• World Health Organization experts are set to arrive in China to investigate the pandemic’s origins, China's government announced. 

• Several gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have tested positive for the coronavirus in what is believed to be the first cases among such primates in captivity. The park’s executive director, Lisa Peterson, told the Associated Press on Monday that eight gorillas that live together at the park are believed to have the virus and several have been coughing.

• Germany’s BioNTech, which developed the first COVID-19 vaccination on the market with American partner Pfizer, says it expects to produce 2 billion doses in 2021 with ramped-up manufacturing. The company said in a presentation Monday to the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference that it's also looking to expand vaccinations to include pregnant women and children.

• The following states are turning to "megasites" to help speed up the next phase of vaccine distribution, which is nearing Phase 2 after a slow start.
  • Arizona, which has the highest COVID-19 diagnosis rate in the U.S., is opening a 24/7 distribution site at the State Farm Stadium, home of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, in suburban Phoenix, per AP. California is opening up several distribution centers, including turning Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium testing site into a vaccine distribution facility.
  • Health officials will also open a “vaccination superstation” in the parking lot of a ballpark in San Diego.
  • Florida is using Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
  • Kentucky is using its fairgrounds in Louisville.
  • Michigan is using Detroit's TCF convention center.
  • New York has opened several 24/7 distribution facilities across the state.
  • New Jersey is using malls and its convention center in Philadelphia.
  • Texas is using the Dallas County fairgrounds and Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Authored by Ivan Zapien