Coronavirus live updates: Moderna to file for vaccine emergency use; Vietnam reports first locally transmitted case in 3 months

The number of new Covid infections is surging across the U.S., and 21 states on Sunday logged record highs in average current hospitalizations.

Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia all reported record high hospitalizations yesterday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said on Sunday that current restrictions and travel advisories will be necessary for the Christmas holiday season to stem the tide.

“What we expect, unfortunately, as we go for the next couple of weeks into December, is that we might see a surge superimposed on the surge we are already in,” Fauci said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I don’t want to frighten people, except to say it is not too late to do something about this.”

—Terri Cullen

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has forecast that more than 70% of people in developed markets will be vaccinated against the coronavirus by fall 2021.

Economists Daan Struyven and Sid Bhushan laid out a vaccine timeline using a combination of supply estimates (using data from leading vaccine developers) and demand, using consumer survey data.

Half the population of the U.S. and Canada was expected to be vaccinated in April. Meanwhile, the economists expected the U.K. to vaccinate half of its population in March. They forecasted that the European Union, Japan and Australia would reach this level of immunization in May.

—Vicky McKeever

Cyber Monday 2020 is likely to be the largest day for digital sales ever recorded in the United States, with spending expected to reach between $10.8 billion and $12.7 billion, according to Adobe Analytics. That would represent an increase of 15% to 35% from a year earlier.

Businesses have had months to prepare for this Super Bowl of the e-commerce world. Ever since the pandemic rapidly shifted spending online, companies have been investing in their supply chains to make sure they had stockrooms chock full of the right inventory, and to ensure delivery providers could speedily get packages to doorsteps.

But this holiday season, with online spending already breaking records new challenges arise. Among them: The Covid-19 pandemic has made it much more difficult for companies to gauge what consumers will be buying, social distancing must be enforced in e-commerce warehouses and delivery providers like UPS and FedEx are in incredibly high demand and shipping costs are rising.

“A number of operational factors have to align for retailers to get products to the consumer on time this holiday,” said Michael Brown, a partner in Kearney’s consumer products and retail practice. “Only time will tell which consumers reacted and shopped early, and which ones are still going to be waiting for their packages on New Year’s Day.”

—Lauren Thomas

Watch this video to find out how the U.S. government plans to distribute a coronavirus vaccine to every person living in the U.S. – and how much it will cost.

—Melodie Warner 

Vietnam has reported the first locally transmitted coronavirus case in nearly 3 months, Reuters reports, after a 32-year-old man was infected. He is the relative of a flight attendant who returned to the country from Japan, the report says.

Vietnam has seen practically no virus outbreaks since the onset of the pandemic, making it something of a success story in the global fight against Covid-19. The Southeast Asian nation has a population of roughly 95 million but has only reported 1,346 cases and 35 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

—Sara Salinas

Moderna said it will request emergency clearance from the FDA for its coronavirus vaccine after new data confirms the vaccine is highly effective in preventing Covid-19 and was safe.

Moderna is now the second drugmaker to seek emergency use after Pfizer applied for the authorization earlier this month. The announcement means some Americans could get Moderna’s vaccine as early as next month.

The FDA’s review of Moderna’s vaccine is expected to take a few weeks. The agency will likely schedule an advisory committee meeting to review the vaccine on Dec. 17, Moderna said. It has already initiated rolling submissions with several regulatory agencies around the world, including the European Medicines Agency.

–Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

Coronavirus updates: AstraZeneca CEO touts a new vaccine trial in response to doubts raised in U.S.