'Vaccine Summit' at the White House

 

• U.S. hospitals are rushing to firm up plans for deciding which high-priority groups can receive the COVID-19 vaccine first, with initial supplies widely expected to fall short.
• December vaccine deliveries are forecast to only be enough for about 20M people, according to federal officials, slightly less than the 24M needed to vaccinate all front-line medical professionals and long-term care residents.
• President Trump is also expected to sign an "America First" executive order today designed to ensure that U.S. efforts to assist other countries in vaccinating their populations against COVID-19 take on a lower priority than domestic inoculations.
• The "Vaccine Summit" at the White House will also feature talks with administration officials and drug distributors, who will discuss the process of reviewing vaccine candidates and distributing them, just days before the FDA is expected to authorize a promising vaccine made by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE). However, both Pfizer and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), the two major drug manufacturers likely to receive emergency authorizations for their vaccines, have rejected invitations from Trump to appear at the summit, STAT reports.
• Can your boss fire you if you refuse to get a COVID vaccine? Yes, but there are may be a few exceptions (medical reasons, if the workforce is unionized, or if taking it is against a "sincerely held" religious belief).
• Roughly four in 10 Americans say they would "definitely" or "probably" not get a vaccine, according to a recent survey by Pew Research. To achieve herd immunity, experts say that about 70% of the population needs to be vaccinated or have natural antibodies.
• https://seekingalpha.com/news/3642363-stage-set-for-vaccine-summit-white-house