Coronavirus: The Hill and the Headlines, January 15 2021

In Washington:

• President-elect Joe Biden has announced a coronavirus vaccination plan that will expand the federal government's response to the pandemic. Biden detailed the $20 billion effort in a Friday speech. Biden's vaccination plan includes a massive public education effort to rebuild trust in vaccine science, using the Federal Emergency Management Agency to launch new mass vaccination sites, expanding sites in pharmacies and community health centers, deploying mobile vaccination units in underserved and hard-to-reach areas, and more. The president-elect has already announced a plan to release nearly all vaccine second-dose reserves to help reach a goal of 100 million shots in his administration’s first 100 days. Biden’s vaccination plan is part of a much larger $1.9 trillion relief package he proposed.

• A new report says that while the Trump administration announced it was releasing a stockpile of COVID-19 vaccine initially held for second shots to accelerate lagging vaccination efforts nationwide, no such reserve existed. A report from The Washington Post Friday said the Trump administration had already released reserves in late December as production was ramping up, meaning the limited supply of vaccines currently being distributed to states will not increase as anticipated following the administration’s announcement. State officials have demanded answers from Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Alex Azar.

• A more contagious variant of COVID-19 that originated in the United Kingdom could be the dominant strain in the U.S. by March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Friday. The new variant could threaten already strained health care resources, require extended and more rigorous use of public health strategies, and increase the percentage of the population immunity needed for herd immunity, said authors of a CDC report. The authors recommended “strategic testing of people without symptoms who are at higher risk of infection," including people who have “frequent unavoidable” contact with the public. 

• Dr. David Kessler, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, will lead the White House's COVID-19 vaccination drive under President-elect Biden, a Biden transition spokesperson told The New York Times Friday. Biden chose Kessler to replace Dr. Moncef Slaoui as head of Operation Warp Speed. Kessler has advised Biden on COVID-19 policy, including co-chairing the Biden transition team's COVID-19 taskforce.

In the News:

• The world passed 2 million coronavirus deaths on Friday, a stunning toll that is continuing to rise as more contagious variants of the virus take hold. The United States has had, by far, the most deaths and cases of any country in the world, at more than 390,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University. Brazil, India, Mexico, and the United Kingdom follow. 

• A new coronavirus variant identified in Brazil has exacerbated concern among public health experts, and led to warnings that additional new strains were likely to develop. News of the variant in Brazil comes after two separate mutant strains of the virus were discovered in the U.K. and South Africa earlier this year. Earlier this month, Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases said it had detected a new COVID variant in four travelers from Brazil on January 2.

• Almost 9 million Americans have relocated since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the National Association of Realtors — and more are willing to pack their bags. Two-thirds of Americans would consider relocating if given the opportunity to work remotely indefinitely, or have already done so, according to new data from Redfin. But nearly 9 in 10 of those who have already relocated moved less than 50 miles away. And about 7 in 10 of those who want to move anticipate only going a similarly short distance, reinforcing the idea that many Americans are moving in search of more space.

• Trader Joe's and Dollar General, have announced they'll pay workers to get the vaccine. Online grocery delivery company Instacart also announced Thursday it will begin paying its workers $25 to offset them taking time to get the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Authored by Ivan Zapien