Vaccine Line Chaos; U.K. Strain Already Here? ‘Toxic Individualism’

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Frontline healthcare workers watch in alarm as a vaccine “free-for-all” allows colleagues to jump ahead in line despite little risk of contracting COVID-19. (NPR)

Meanwhile, two staffers from each member of the U.S. House and Senate are now eligible for the shot. (Politico)

As of 8:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the unofficial COVID-19 toll in the U.S. reached 19,312,568 cases and 335,051 deaths — up 175,810 and 1,911, respectively, since this time a day ago.

U.S. officials promised that 20 million Americans would be vaccinated by year’s end, but that now seems unlikely: according to the latest CDC figures, some 11.4 million vaccine doses have been shipped, and just 2.1 million people have received their first injection. (CNN)

“I regret nothing,” said emergency physician James Phillips, MD, who worked his last shift at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after being removed from the hospital’s schedule. Phillips had publicly criticized President Trump’s motorcade trip to wave at supporters during his stay there for COVID-19 treatment. (The Hill)

There may already be “hundreds” of U.S. cases of the new U.K. coronavirus strain, and German officials identified the strain there in samples from deceased patients. (CNN, Reuters)

New York’s attorney general is investigating whether a ParCare clinic in Orange County administered COVID-19 vaccine to members of the public in violation of the state’s distribution plan. (CNBC)

After some delays, the phase III trial of Novavax’s recombinant coronavirus subunit vaccine candidate has opened in the U.S. and Mexico, with up to 30,000 individuals expected to participate, the NIH announced.

Four workers at a German nursing home were hospitalized with flu-like symptoms after inadvertently receiving vaccine doses five times higher than recommended. (Reuters)

Spain said it will keep a confidential registry of vaccine refusers. (BBC News)

In China, authorities seek to contain a new COVID outbreak in the capital, Beijing. (Reuters)

Rural healthcare workers are fleeing small-town America, citing pandemic politics and “toxic individualism.” (NPR)

A fired Tyson Foods manager said the office pool on how many workers would contract COVID-19 was meant to boost morale. (AP)

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