Voices From the U.S. Vaccine Program

Congress looks closer to passing a coronavirus relief deal. Two people familiar with the negotiations say it includes stimulus payments to individuals and supplement to unemployment insurance, but not liability protections or direct aid for state and local governments. Leaders are rushing to finalize the package in time to attach it to crucial government spending legislation and pass it by the end of the week. Four people briefed on the discussions said it is expected to be less than nine

hundred billion dollars. Some of the first doses of the fies are incorporated bio n Tech. COVID nineteen vaccine were held up from delivery in the US this week and sent back to the company because they were colder than anticipated. Gustav Parana, the Army general who serves as Operation warp Speeds Chief operations officer, said that two trades of vials at two California locations reached degrees below zero, colder than

they are supposed to be stored. The same thing happened at one location in Alabama, Paranah said at a news briefing on Wednesday. Finally, Germany recorded nine ten coronavirus fatalities in the twenty four hours through Wednesday morning, the most since the pandemic began. A strict shutdown designed to stem the surge of infections is being put in place. Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that the country faces a new peak of COVID nineteen infections next month, suggesting that the

tougher restrictions will remain in place beyond January. And now for today's main story. Just a month ago, Iowa experienced its worst COVID nineteen surge yet. Coronavirus cases began soaring there in early November, as they had have throughout the United States. By the middle of the month, Iowa was recording about four thousand new cases every day, But this week, staff at a University of Iowa health Care System finally

had reason to celebrate. The first doses of Viser's vaccine arrived at the Iowa City location Monday morning in tiny vials packed in dry ice. Angelica Levito spoke to healthcare workers there just after they became some of the first Americans outside of clinical trials to get immunized against the

deadly disease. I spoke to her today about how it went so, Angelica, you spoke to someone who is among the first in the US to be given the COVID nineteen vaccine developed by Fiser and Bio n Tech, Chitana Daniels. I was wondering if you might just tell us a bit about her. Chitana Daniels is a staff nurse in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and so at her hospital in Iowa City, she sees some of the most complex critical care patients

in the state. The University of Iowa is really the only academic medical center in the state, and so they see patients from all over Iowa and even in parts of Illinois who are coming in with the coronavirus. And so she's been working in the i c U since the pandemic started, and her experience has been a little bit unique in that in the spring, when cases were exploding in New York City, it was pretty quiet in Iowa.

But then, unfortunately, as the year progressed, and especially during the fall, she started seeing more and more patients and caring for some of the sickest people in the state. In beginning middle of November, we had like lists of patients just waiting to get to bed, even from Illinois, like the hospitals on the Illinois Iowa border. We're calling places like Chicago and St. Louis trying to send their

patients and there was nowhere for them to go. You mentioned Iowa City seeing an increase in an uptick of COVID nineteen patients throughout the year. So how does this play into how Iowa City was chosen or was able to be one of the first place to begin administering

the COVID nineteen vaccine. So states are able to choose where they want to send the doses that they're being allocated from the federal government, and really across the country, what we're seeing is states sending their doses to the people who are really on the front lines dealing with COVID patients all day, every day. And what that means is that a lot of health systems, the large health systems, including the University of Iowa, are getting the very first doses.

What was the process of getting the vaccine like for Chitana. So, hospitals, including the University of Iowa, are creating algorithms and formulas to determine who should get the first few doses because there are a very limited um quantity at the beginning that we see ourselves in right now. And so Titana, given her role as a staff nurse in the medical Intensive Care unit, UM was among the first at the

University of Iowa health system to get vaccinated. And she got a call late last week asking her if she would want to come in on Monday to get her shot. And you know, at first she said she just thought it was something normal. The next step in the process. I think I got to call at the very end of last week, um my manager said, we're scheduling people to get vaccinated. We're trying to do it UM when they have a little bit of a stretch off, a few days off, so that if there are any side effects.

There's not a huge volume of people trying to call off work. So I said, sure, I'll do Monday. I'll do Monday morning, Monday afternoon now. But I didn't really feel, I don't know, any excitement about it. Um. I was just like, Okay, yeah, this is like just the next step, the next thing I do. But now that it's so close, and I saw a picture of my friend getting one of the first vaccinations this morning, like I'm I'm so excited. And so she went up and they were hosting the

clinic in the Children's Hospital. And this hospital is right across from the University of Iowa's football stadium, and so they have this room what they call the press box because it's glass and you can see over the football field and up there on the twelve floor is where they have this clinic. And so she went up there, and she said the energy was amazing. You know, people weren't as a the really cheering, but it just felt like everybody was kind of bouncing and and so excited

to get This is your vaccination card. You want to hang onto your badge because they're gonna have you swipe it more time. If you just want to hang out right here. That it's interesting too, is that there was a lot of security, because of course these are really precious products. Right now, there's a security guard standing in

front of the one elevator that gets you there. You had to scam me in and then get into the elevator, scan his badge again so I could go up, and then you know, there was somebody there who was checking off names of people who were expected to get the

vaccine that day. She arrived a little bit early, and people in line were just talking about how excited they were, and there were some posters reminding people that just because you were vaccinated doesn't mean you can stop wearing your mask ppe And there were about two or three stations where nursing and medical assistance were administering the vaccines. And she sat with her back to the football field and she got her shot. She said she didn't even feel

it go in reference day. I don't care left un that. Just a second thing on three, alright, I'll go for it. I'm gonna sign your okay, thanks, And then they gave her her card, these cards that the CDC is including in the supply kits that everyone all of the vaccinators are getting. And so she got her card with a sticker on it saying which vaccine she got when in reminding her to come for her second dose in a

few weeks. What is the next step for her? How does her her work or even her daily life change now that she's gotten part one of the vaccine. So this vaccine is a two dose vaccine, and so she will have to come back in in about three weeks to get her second shot. And so far I haven't heard her say that she's sket well that next dose. And you know, the data from viser suggests that there is some protection after the first shot, which is good, but it's not nearly as much as that second shot,

so her life will not change overnight. But you know, she is really excited about the possibility of maybe seeing her parents after her second shot and returning to some sense of normalcy because you know, a lot of healthcare workers haven't done much since this all started. She says that she's mostly seen just her husband, who she lives with, and that's it. And you know, she's been tempted to see some friends and and really engage in normal life

that so many people have resumed. But she hasn't felt comfortable doing that given that she sees the sickest of the sick patients every day, and so she's excited to get some sense of normalcy back. So, as a nurse, Titana was among the first received the vaccine, but it obviously maybe several months before others can receive it as well. What are some of her recommendations for those who may have to wait a bit before receiving their own shot.

You know, her recommendation is that people should really know that this virus is real and that they need to take it seriously. That we have tried and true measures that we know work. Wearing a mask, not attending extended gatherings. So these are things that you know, they might feel tiring or they might feel worrisome, but you know, she herself has seen that since Iowa implemented a mask mandate late last month that her own hospital census has started

going downward. So she just reminds people to be patient and do the things we know work. While we're still in this period where a very very small number of people are vaccinated. I sort of take for granted how lucky I am to be getting at this early because

even other you know, medical facilities don't have vaccines yet. Yeah, I just feel really grateful to be where I am and to like work for a hospital that protect the people that work for them, And I'm just I'm just like, for the first time in months, actually hopeful and maybe seeing a glimmer of a light at the end of the tunnel. That was Angelica Levito. And that's it for

our show today. For coverage of the outbreak from one and twenty bureaus around the world, visit Bloomberg dot com slash coronavirus and if you like the show, please leave us a review and a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to help more listeners find our global purporting. The Prognosis Daily edition is produced by tophrah foreheads in Gospora, Magnus Henrickson, and me Laura Carlson. Today's main story was reported by Angelica Levito. Original music by

Leo Sedrin. Our editors are Rick Shine and Francesco Levi. Francesco Levi is Bloomberg's head of Podcasts. Thanks for listening.