Lot of americans who need it most. On sunday, another 172,000 people were diagnosed with the disease here in the united states. That is just shy of the record we saw last week. Case numbers are rising in basically every state in the nation. The positivity in states like wyoming, south dakota and iowa are all over 50 . And as we have been telling you, the federal government is doing next to nothing. So one by one, cities and states are forced to take matters into their own hands to try to bring these numbers down. On monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom said he was ramping up restrictions, hitting the socalled emergency brake on the states reopening. New rules were also announced in the cities of philadelphia and kansas city. And two republican governors are now taking steps to curb the virus as well. Oklahomas kevin stitt who faced serious backlash after tweeting a picture of his family at a packed restaurant in march now adding restrictions for bars and restaurants there. And iowas kim reynolds who once dismissed masks as, quote, a feelgood measure, now says they are a requirement at all public indoor spaces. Of course, we all know that these vaccines are coming from pfizer and moderna. On the way, for sure. But even in a best case scenario, its going to take weeks for immunizations to start and many months for everyone to get them. And because President Trump wont even admit that he lost the election, which as you all know, he did, his administration is not speaking with or coordinating with president elect biden and his team, and that means not sharing plans on how to distribute this allimportant vaccine. The president elect was asked about the consequences of that, and heres what he said. More people may die if we dont coordinate. If we have to wait until january 20th to start that planning, it puts us behind, over a month, month and a half. And so its important that it be done, that there be coordination now. Now or as rapidly as we can get that done. The consequences of simply staying in a Holding Pattern until january 20th are huge, according to a Washington State model. If we stay on the current trajectory, we could see another 110,000 americans die by inauguration day. Lets dig deeper and take you across this country. First to my colleague Yasmin Vossoughian and ron allen at a testing site in newark in my home state of new jersey. Lets talk about this surge in rhode island. This is a nightmare for all of these hospitals but its a nightmare theyve seen before. Are they better equipped to handle this surge than they were in the spring . I mean, as of this hour, it seems like they are. Im just talking to a physician here, dr. Levy. They feel ready. They know what to do, when to do it, how to do it. They feel ready today. But he feels like every morning is different. They dont know how long its going to go on, how many patients are going to see. The numbers are increasing every single day. Back on october 4th, 87 patients hospitalized. As of yesterday, 264 patients hospitalized. On saturday, there were 1,000 new covid patients. It doesnt seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things when you compare it to numbers we see in new york. But in a state theres only a Million People. They feel they have the supplies they need at this moment. They have the ventilators, the hospital beds, the ppe. Theyre not suffering like they were back in the spring, for lack of supplies. But they feel that could run out. And its happening across the street. I spoke to another doctor, dr. Foreman, who works at another hospital. Listen to what she had to say. Now were realizing this pandemic is pushing us to the brink. Even in a wellresourced state from a health care standpoint, were rapidly running out of space, supplies, rooms. We are very concerned about what the coming weeks to months will bring. So, steph, actually dr. Foreman is the head of a Field Hospital about 25 minutes from where i am now. Thats completely ready to go. Theyre awaiting patients. She feels like its not a matter of if but when theyll have to start sending patients to that Field Hospital. Its ready. They have ventilators, beds in place. And they are hoping they have the Frontline Health care workers, the doctors and nurses in place as well. Ultimately, theyre suffering as well from tsd, traumatic syndrome, because so many of them have been dealing with this pandemic for so long. Think about all of those Health Care Professionals and what heroes they have been over the last nine months. Lets talk testing. For people who plan to selfquarantine before going to see relatives before thanksgiving, that window is closed. Its a little more than a week away. That means testing is their only option. Whats demand like . Here at this place in newark, there was a line at 4 00 a. M. This morning. Didnt open until 8 00 a. M. So that gives you an idea of the demand. And people have been showing up since weve been out here. So, yes, theres a lot of demand for testing. One big problem with testing, however, that we determined here in new jersey is the Contact Tracing part of it is falling apart. Its like a 60 noncompliance rate. So Contact Tracers try and find people, more than half the time no one cooperates, which is not helping. And the numbers in new jersey are off the charts. Over 4,000 cases saturday and sunday each day which are which harkens back to where the numbers were in april. Here in the state its been a 9 positivity rate. In newark, its about a 20 positivity rate. So 1 out of every 5 people. And while there have been some restrictions put in place like limiting gatherings indoors to ten people, businesses, restaurants and bars closing at 10 00, the mayor here wants even tougher restrictions that he thinks are going to need to be imposed after the holidays. Heres some of what he had to say after that. So i think after thanksgiving, we should really be contemplating a shutdown for at least a week. Seven days, ten days. Opportunity to quarantine. People to take tests. Youre not going to stop people from being with their families. People are going to travel. We have to take that into account. And when its done, we should tell people, shelter in place. So, yes, there is perhaps some inevitability that people are going to gather. Hes trying to get ahead of this. Here in newark, its a really difficult situation. The numbers of were as high as 68 at one point during the worst of the pandemic. And they have gotten down 2 . But now theres this steady rise again. A lot of people who cannot work from home who are essential workers, who are going out. But here, as everywhere else, the bottom line is covid fatigue or covid attrition. The virus wearing people down and spreading. Covid fatigue is real, but not cooperating with Contact Tracers kills poom. Thank you both. I want to bring in a man who is in the thick of all of this as its unfolding real time. Jeff pothoff, an e. R. Doctor at the university of wisconsin hospital. Also their chief quality officer. Doctor, thank you for all that youre doing and for being with us this morning. Take us inside your hospital. Tell us about the patients youre seeing. What are their conditions . Yeah, unfortunately, where we are at, we are seeing just a larmg n large number of patients who are extremely ill. A high number requiring the intensive care unit. We talk about ventilators, they are requiring our most sophisticated ventilators. Anything less than that isnt working. And we seem to break our record for total number of patients. Were all tired. Everybody is doing their best. Medicine is a team sport. But we need some help. Things are not going well for us. Now that were in flu season, how does that complicate things . Yeah, we worry that well see the normal flu volume that we see most falls going into early winter. Right now our hospital is already stretched to capacity. Weve opened up additional wings for covid patients. We dont really have that ability to flex much more. So if we see a flu season that is at all difficult for us, with admissions, that could further compound our ability to take care of all the people in our region that are asking us to meet their medical needs. Lets talk about that. Given that you are at capacity, if i showed up at your hospital today, because i got injured or i had chest pains, could i even get care at this point . Today, you could, but if we talk in two weeks, three weeks, i dont know if the answer is the same. We are trying to look at every single procedure that we do. If it is not urgent, nonemergent, postpone those procedures. Were looking at bringing in doctors that usually work in a clinic. They take care of blood pressure, high cholesterol, do preventative medicine. Were trying to redeploy them to our inpatient environment to build those teams. Looking carefully at how we can get more nursing resources, respiratory therapists. At some point soon, our ability to do this is going to run out. And then well be trying to decide who gets medical care and who doesnt. The people who are coming in who are so sick, are they able to Contact Trace . Do they even know where they got it . Yeah, were struggling to keep up with Contact Tracing. You can imagine with cases just growing expoinnocenentially her Contact Tracers arent even able to call everyone who they should be able to call because the cases are so high. So some of them do have an idea. Lots of times it gets lost right now and thats a problem because we cant stop the disease unless we know who has it and who is at risk of getting it. I know you have two young daughters. What steps are you taking to protect yourself and your family . Yeah, you know, we talk about it with them. We try not to make it a scary thing. We ask them about wearing their mask. We talk about staying distanced from individuals they come in contact with. You know, we talk about doctors and nurses working hard and try to decrease the fear that is naturally present in young childrens minds about what is going on right now. And for the most part, thats been effective. They recognize when people dont have masks on and that worries them. They stay away. When we have to go somewhere, we typically dont take our children. That seems like an unreasonable risk, but they always have their masks on. They are careful about distancing. Its really important to talk to our kids. Talk to everyone. Make sure were doing these things because thats really our only chance of getting through this for the present time. Doctor, thank you so much for the work youre doing every day and thank you for joining us this morning. I appreciate it. Thank you. Now lets turn to the hopeful light at the end of the tunnel. Those new vaccines on the horizon. Heres the big question. Who will get them and when . Heres one way it could play out. Watch this. States will decide how to roll out vaccines, but the National Academy of medicine makes this recommendation. Covering just 5 of the population, phase 1a includes highrisk americans Like Health Care workers and first responders. And theres currently not enough doses for them. Phase 1b covers those with underlying medical conditions and seniors living in congregate seths like nursing homes. Phase 2 covers 30 to 35 of the population and covers workers in the food supply system, teachers and those over 65. Phase 3, 40 to 45 of the population, includes most young adults and children. Phase 4 protects everyone else. Of course, we have to get there first. And that is going to take time. Right now, i am joined by claire hannon. Shes the executive director of the association of immunization managers. An expert at exactly what we need to cover. Claire, the first thing you must focus on is the quality of these vaccines. Any questions or concerns in that department . Not at this time. We got some really great news on monday and last monday. It looks like both the pfizer and the Moderna Vaccine are showing really high effectiveness in preliminary data analysis. So this is really great news. Were really happy to see that. And so far, things are going well with other vaccine candidates as well. So things are looking very good on the Vaccine Development front. One of the big differences seems to be that the Pfizer Vaccine needs to be stored in super sophisticated, sub zero temperature freezers. The moderna doesnt. How does that change the game in terms of how quickly this thing can get disseminated . Right. So the Pfizer Vaccine is really unlike any other vaccine weve seen. It does require the ultra cold storage. Its only viable for five days after its been put in the refrigerator, so you have to use it fairly quickly. It does require dilution so you have to dilute it before you give it, and it comes in a package with 975 doses. The Moderna Vaccine does not require dilution. It ships frozen, and it comes in a smaller package with 100 doses. Really, for the states, you know, were planning whichever vaccine comes first. Thats the one we want to get to hospitals and get to Public Health to give to health care workers. But, obviously, both vaccines are on the market, then it may make sense for looking at where the Moderna Vaccine would be more viable, like in Rural Communities or in longterm care facilities where they cant handle a package with dry ice of 975 doses. Do we need the federal government to coordinate the plans to distribute the vaccine . Thus far, theres been no national coordination. Well, it makes sense to have centralized coordination of the distribution of the vaccine. But, really, making sure it gets in peoples arms, that last mile of plan, that makes sense to happen at the state and local level. This is the way we do it with current childhood vaccines and the vaccines for children program. So it makes sense to scale up what we already do well. And thats what were seeing. Were seeing operation warp speed and cdc really directing the vaccine at the top and then the states and local Health Departments planning for the distribution at the local level. Then, in your mind, six weeks from now, are you going to be walking into a local cvs and getting this vaccine . I dont think that will happen six weeks from now. I think its going to take some time. Were going to have limited supply at first. Were really going to prioritize the health care workers. And as you showed, essential workers. Those at highest risk. Those over 65. Were really looking several months out to having a robust supply. Enough supply for all americans to get it, but i think at that time, perhaps in spring or summer, you will be able to get the vaccine from a local farm aer pharmacy, from the local physician. Were enrolling hundreds of thousands of providers in each state so that the vaccine will be accessible in every community. And it will also be affordable. It will be free of charge. So its not going to happen in six weeks, but hopefully in six months. Accessible and affordable. That is what americans need. Thanks for joining us this morning. You definitely made us smarter and a bit safe or this subject. Coming up next we spoke about the new restrictions being put in place across the country. But were seeing more and more businesses resisting these restrictions because they dont have the money to survive. Were going to look at what we need to do to make sure we can keep americans safe and keep our Small Businesses afloat. First, schools. Schools, the most important, across this country now considering shutting their doors again. Former education secretary arne duncan whose family is currently infected with the coronavirus joins us on how we can make sure the most Vulnerable Children are not left behind. We all have our own journey ahead of us. Our own hopes and dreams. Well pass many milestones. Moments that define you. And drive you. To achieve even more. So, celebrate every one. Because success isnt just about where you want to get to. Its also about how you get there the all new 2021 cadillac escalade. Never stop arriving. Good morning, mr. Sun. Good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. Im gonna grow big and strong. Yes, you are. Im gonna get this place all clean. Ill give you a hand. And im gonna put lisa on crutches wait, what . Said shes gonna need crutches. She fell pretty hard. 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Ill get on it thats a step in the right direction. This morning, parents across this country are panicked again. Why . Because a number of School Districts are considering returning to remote learning. But experts warnin s warn the i children could be dire. Cynthia mcfadden sat down with families and doctors seeing it. Reporter Samantha Greenberg is a vibrant, energetic 5yearold. Do you feel Lonely Sometimes during this time . Yeah. Reporter sam couldnt wait to make the big kid transition to kindergarten. But the first day on zoom, a sore disappointment. She started crying. She said, please, please let me go see other kids. Ill wear two masks. Reporter dr. Celia says shes seeing the effects. Youre telling me a 3yearold is not too young to exp