Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan via Getty ImagesBy JAMES HILL, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Six months after a federal judge determined Ghislaine Maxwell to be a flight risk and ordered her detained until trial, the accused co-conspirator of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein intends to present a proposed bail package of $28.5 million in a renewed effort to be released from jail before the end of the year, ABC News has learned.
More than $22 million of the assets pledged to secure the proposed bond will come from the combined resources of Maxwell and her husband, with the remainder to be posted by a handful of close family and friends, according to a person familiar with Maxwell’s intentions.
The forthcoming bail application, expected to be in front of U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in the coming days, will also be the first public acknowledgement from Maxwell that she is, in fact, married, the person said.
At a detention hearing shortly after Maxwell’s arrest in July, a federal prosecutor told the court that Maxwell had refused to provide information about the identity or assets of her previously unknown spouse.
Maxwell’s legal team first signaled their intention to take a second crack at securing pretrial release for their client in a pair of letters to the court last month that were redacted to conceal the identities of the family members and friends of Maxwell who were offering to co-sign the bond.
“Ms. Maxwell and her counsel have assembled substantial information that was not available to present at the initial hearing [in July], as well as a comprehensive bail package co-signed by sureties who were unable to come forward at that time,” wrote Christian Everdell, an attorney for Maxwell, on Nov. 25.
The proposed bail package, Everdell wrote, will include letters from family and friends that contain details that — if made public — would “invite identification and harassment of the sureties and other third parties, including minor children.” The co-signers are “legitimately afraid” that if their names become public, they will be subjected to the “same relentless media scrutiny and threats that Ms. Maxwell has experienced for more than a year,” Everdell wrote.
Also to be included, according to Everdell’s letter, is a financial report prepared by a professional accounting firm that “provides a summary of Ms. Maxwell’s financial condition from 2015-2020 and discloses all of her assets, all assets held in trust, and assets held by other family members.”
At Maxwell’s initial detention hearing in July, federal prosecutors conceded that they were not alleging that Maxwell presented a danger to society if released on bail, but argued that her finances were “opaque” and that she was the “very definition of a flight risk.”
“She has three passports, large sums of money, extensive international connections, and absolutely no reason to stay in the United States to face a potential significant term of incarceration,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe.
Maxwell’s renewed bail proposal will attempt to counter those concerns by emphasizing her marriage, her family connections to the U.S. and her commitment to stay and fight the charges, according to the person familiar with her plans. Her proposal will also include a waiver of her right to seek extradition from England and France, the two countries besides the U.S. where she holds citizenship.
Maxwell, 58, is the Oxford-educated daughter of Robert Maxwell, the larger-than-life publishing baron whose rags-to-riches story captivated England. She lived an extravagant life among the British elite until her father’s business empire collapsed in the wake of his death in 1991. She decamped to New York looking for a fresh start and was soon seen in the company of the mysterious multimillionaire Epstein.
In a letter to a Florida state prosecutor related to Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea, Epstein’s attorneys described his relationship with Maxwell as one of two “long-term intimate relationships” Epstein had in adulthood. Maxwell has asserted in court filings that she entered Epstein’s employ in 1999, where she remained, despite the eventual end of their romantic relationship, until at least 2006.
Following Epstein’s death in custody in August 2019, media and law enforcement attention turned to Maxwell, who had been previously accused in civil lawsuits of facilitating Epstein’s abuse of young women and girls, allegations that she has long denied. She was arrested on July 2 in a surprise early morning raid at a secluded 156-acre property in Bradford, New Hampshire, that had been purchased by a shell company in an all-cash transaction, according to court records and public documents.
To answer allegations from prosecutors that she tried to hide from law enforcement during the year-long investigation prior to her arrest, Maxwell will contend that she was never hiding from the government but had sought seclusion because of media attention and threats to the safety of her and her family after Epstein’s death, the person said.
Maxwell’s bail proposal is also expected to renew her concerns that the conditions of her confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn are putting her health at risk and making it difficult for her to review documents in preparation for trial. She recently spent two weeks in quarantine protocol after a staff member assigned to her unit tested positive for COVID-19, according to court records. Her lawyers have argued that Maxwell — a pretrial detainee — is being subjected to “disparate treatment” because the federal Bureau of Prisons failed to keep Epstein alive in jail.
“[T]the Department of Justice is seeking to repair the BOP’s tarnished reputation by placing Ms. Maxwell under extraordinarily harsh conditions, not in any response to Ms. Maxwell’s requirements, but rather in response to the failed handling of a completely different inmate,” wrote Bobbi Sternheim, an attorney for Maxwell, in a letter to the court earlier this week.
Maxwell pleaded not guilty to a six-count federal indictment alleging that she conspired with Epstein in a multi-state sex trafficking scheme involving three unnamed minor victims between 1994 and 1997. Prosecutors contend Maxwell not only “befriended” and later “enticed and groomed multiple minor girls to engage in sex acts with Epstein, through a variety of means and methods,” but was also, at times, was “present for and involved” in the abuse herself.
Maxwell’s attorneys have already questioned the prosecution’s contention that the “strength of the Government’s evidence” provided a strong incentive for Maxwell to flee, alleging in an earlier court filing that the government had yet to produce the corroborating documentation they claimed to have.
“[T]he dearth of evidence reinforces why Ms. Maxwell has never intended to flee. She steadfastly maintains her innocence and vehemently denies the charges against her,” wrote Maxwell’s attorney Jeffrey Pagliuca in October.
Maxwell has asked Nathan to set a hearing on her renewed bail proposal for Dec. 21. If granted release, Maxwell could be out of custody in time for Christmas, which is also her 59th birthday. Nathan has ordered the government to respond to Maxwell’s proposal by next week and then will decide if a hearing is necessary.
LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty ImagesBy HALEY YAMADA, JON SCHLOSBERG, and SENI TIENABESO
(NEW YORK) — Bill Gates has warned about the need to prepare for a pandemic for years. Since the novel coronavirus swept across the country in March, the billionaire has put his money where his mouth is.
“This will be seared in the memory of this generation, hopefully enough, to invest, to be more ready next time. Hopefully to invest more in all these infectious diseases that are still a huge problem,” Gates told ABC News.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a new $250 million commitment on Thursday, adding to the foundation’s total investment to $1.75 billion into combating COVID-19 through vaccine development and distribution.
“The plan is coming together to get this vaccine out. So, you know, it’s a tragedy, but there’s a lot of heroes in the process of getting it to end,” said Gates.
Gates, who had invested in the vaccine technology in 2015, emphasized the importance of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines ending this pandemic and potentially ones to come in the future.
“Well, your immune system is kind of magic. If it sees a foreign shape once, then it says, ‘Wow, if I ever see that again, I am going to react very quickly,’ and so that it doesn’t cause a problem,” said Gates.
“With mRNA, we actually give instructions to your cells to make them build part of the virus,” said Gates, who said that the immune system kicks in to help inoculate against the virus.
The U.K. was the first country to authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and began distributing it to first-wave participants on Dec. 8.
The U.S. is likely not far behind on authorizing emergency use and beginning to distribute a that COVID-19 vaccine. On Dec. 10, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel held a hearing on the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Alex Azar, the U.S Department of Health and Human Services secretary, offered ABC News an optimistic look the vaccine authorization process.
“If things are on track, the advisory committee goes well, I believe we could see FDA authorization within days,” Azar told ABC News on Dec. 6.
Gates said that citizens in other countries may not be as lucky and could potentially be left behind amid the rush to manufacture, obtain and distribute the vaccines.
“Well, there are many countries that have no vaccine factories at all, and it doesn’t make any sense that their citizens wouldn’t get any protection,” said Gates. “We want to end the disease everywhere, so we’re not constantly having these re-infections. And if anyone cares about equity, they should not want the vaccines only to go to the rich people or the rich countries.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Dec. 9 that stated the U.S. would only share its vaccine doses after “all Americans who choose to be vaccinated” are able to.
Gates said that he was hopeful other billionaires will step up to help fill the global gaps in vaccine distribution.
“I always think we could do more, we should give more, give smarter,” he told ABC News. “I hope in the future people are even more generous.”
Although vaccine authorization and distribution is imminent, the U.S. saw its deadliest week since the beginning of the pandemic this week, with 15,578 deaths — roughly the equivalent to 92 deaths every hour, ABC News reported.
In less than a week alone, the U.S. has reported 1.4 million new cases.
Gates said he hopes what the U.S. has done and learned during the coronavirus pandemic will help mitigate the next global disease outbreak.
“Well, you know, just the way people have come together on this. Science, caring about other people,” he said. “I’m very hopeful the way we get out of this disaster sets a model for innovation and cooperation.”
ABC News’ Adam Kelsey and Adia Robinson contributed to this report.
By MORGAN WINSOR, ERIN SCHUMAKER, IVAN PEREIRA and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 69 million people and killed over 1.5 million worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Here’s how the news is developing Thursday. All times Eastern:
Dec 10, 12:12 pm HHS officials acknowledge staffing struggle
Jonathan Greene, deputy assistant secretary for operations and resources at the Department of Health and Human Services, acknowledged in a briefing call that the agency is not able to provide the number of health care workers states are requesting.
HHS and FEMA have been “very judicious” in using and moving health care workers, providing 300 to 400 nationwide, which matches the number deployed during the first surge in the spring, Greene said. Fewer were deployed over the summer, mimicking the case curve.
About 3,100 can be deployed nationally, but Greene admitted the system is designed more for situations like hurricanes than for pandemics.
“It works less well when we’re talking about a pandemic where everyone needs all of these providers all at once. And certainly when we activate and deploy these people and take them out of their full-time jobs and put them somewhere else, it reduces the capacity in the places where they come from,” he said.
Greene emphasized that local health systems ought to look to nontraditional health care providers and locations for back-up before looking to the federal government for staffing resources. ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report. Dec 10, 12:07 pm Ellen DeGeneres tests positive
Ellen DeGeneres said Thursday that she’s tested positive for COVID-19 and is “feeling fine.”
“Anyone who has been in close contact with me has been notified, and I am following all proper guidelines,” the talk show host said.
Dec 10, 11:13 am NYC schools aim to close ‘COVID achievement gap’
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled his 2021 student achievement plan, which will focus on getting students caught up after, for some, 18 months of remote learning.
“Clearly there will be a COVID achievement gap and we have to close that COVID achievement gap,” the mayor said.
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said the plan is to: get a baseline of what ground was lost; increase the high-quality digital curriculum available for every single school; launch a one-stop digital learning hub; deepen professional development; expand Parent University (the “online learning and empowerment platform” for families); and confront the trauma and mental health crisis within schools. ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
Dec 10, 9:02 am Seoul reporting bed shortages
In South Korea, more than 3,000 COVID-19 patients were identified in the last week, and in the Seoul area, as of Wednesday, 506 were unable to be taken to hospitals this week due to bed shortages, Yonhap reported.
South Korea reported 682 new cases and eight more deaths on Thursday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported.
The nation now has over 40,000 confirmed cases.
Dec 10, 8:25 am FDA Commissioner: ‘We intend to’ act quickly on vaccine review
The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, an independent panel of infectious disease experts, doctors and scientists, is meeting Thursday to recommend if the Pfizer vaccine should be considered safe and effective in the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn told ABC News’ Good Morning America Thursday that he wouldn’t “prejudge” what the advisory committee would vote, but said the FDA will act “quickly” afterward.
“FDA’s reviewers are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters. We totally understand the urgency of this situation, and we are working around the clock on behalf of America,” Hahn said. “FDA scientists are known around the world for their expertise. We are a regulatory gold standard for the authorization or approval of medical products, including vaccines. We intend to do and we have done a very thorough review to get this right, to get all the answers we possibly can from the data.”
Hahn also said the FDA was “working very closely with our U.K. partners” after two people who received the vaccine in the U.K. had severe allergic reactions.
Hahn told NBC that it was “possible” that the FDA could advise people with significant allergies to not get the vaccine. Hahn said the allergy issue would be discussed at Thursday’s meeting but added that the FDA stands by “our initial assessment” that Pfizer’s vaccine “does meet our criteria.”
Dec 10, 4:31 am US on verge of grim milestone: 290,000 deaths from COVID
Just as the U.S. surpassed 280,000 deaths from coronavirus on Saturday, Dec. 5, the country is likely to pass 290,000 deaths later today.
The current death toll stands at 289,373, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
This comes on the heels of new records reported yesterday in highest single-day total and seven-day average of new daily deaths — 3,054 and 2,276 respectively — according to The COVID Tracking Project.
Dec 10, 1:16 am Four incoming Georgia sheriffs test positive for COVID-19, others await results
Four Georgia sheriffs just elected to their counties have tested positive for COVID-19.
In a joint statement sent out Wednesday night, Fulton County Sheriff-elect Pat Labat and Cobb County Sheriff-elect Craig Owens said they tested positive after attending a sheriff’s school in Pine Mountain, Georgia.
Gwinnett Sheriff-elect Keybo Taylor and Henry County Sheriff-elect Reginald Scandrett also said they tested positive for COVID-19. Others who attended the conference are quarantining in their homes as they await their COVID-19 test results.
“We urge all Georgians to follow the advice of our dedicated health care workers and to wear masks and socially distance,” the sheriffs said in a joint statement. “While the vaccine is forthcoming, the pandemic is not over yet, and we must all remain diligent to ensure the safety of our communities.”
(NEW YORK) — One of the three alleged victims in the criminal indictment of Ghislaine Maxwell is attempting to dismiss her civil lawsuit against Maxwell and the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, but attorneys for Maxwell are objecting, insisting they first be provided with a copy of a confidential settlement agreement the alleged victim, Annie Farmer, reached with a victims’ claims program established by the estate, according to court records.
“Ms. Maxwell respectfully requests that this Court order [Farmer to] provide to Ms. Maxwell an un-redacted copy of the signed and executed release from the claims program,” Maxwell’s lawyer Laura Menninger wrote in a letter to the court Tuesday.
Farmer, 41, has publicly identified herself as “Victim 2” in the criminal case and is almost certain to be called as a witness should Maxwell’s case proceed to trial next summer. Maxwell is charged with facilitating and, in some cases, participating in Epstein’s alleged sexual crimes against three minor girls, including Farmer, in the mid-1990’s.
Farmer filed the lawsuit in November 2019, eight months before Maxwell’s arrest, alleging she was sexually trafficked at age 16 as part of “Epstein and Maxwell’s organized ring of procuring young women and girls for sex.” During a 1996 visit to Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico, Farmer claims Maxwell pressured her into receiving a massage and “touched intimate parts of [her] body against her will,” according to Farmer’s complaint.
At a detention hearing for Maxwell in July, Farmer spoke to the court via video link to implore the judge in the criminal case to deny Maxwell’s request to be released on bail. “She is a sexual predator who groomed and abused me and countless other children and young women,” Farmer said. “She has never shown any remorse for her heinous crimes, for the devastating, lasting effects her actions caused.”
Farmer’s civil lawsuit was placed on hold in June while she presented her claims to the Epstein Victims’ Compensation Fund, the voluntary restitution program that began operating earlier this year. In October, Farmer accepted an offer from the fund, which requires her to drop all pending litigation against the estate and any former employees of Epstein. But when Farmer attempted to do just that, Maxwell’s legal team resisted.
“In the event [Farmer] attempts to sue her again in any forum at some unknown time in the future, Ms. Maxwell needs a signed and executed release so that she has a legally enforceable document to seek dismissal of any such claim,” Menninger wrote, arguing that assurances from Farmer’s lawyers in correspondence are “insufficient.”
Sigrid McCawley, an attorney for Farmer described Maxwell’s demands as “perplexing” and “indefensible” and “a clear attempt to stall Ms. Farmer’s ability to receive the compensation that she has been offered through the Victims’ Compensation Program,” according to court records. McCawley, a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman in a letter this week that Farmer had offered to provide Maxwell a copy of the settlement agreement with only the amount of the monetary offer blacked out, but she said Maxwell’s lawyers rejected that attempt to reach a compromise.
Dan Abrams, chief legal analyst for ABC News, said that Maxwell’s unusual effort to obtain information about Farmer’s confidential monetary settlement with the estate as a condition of dismissing the case, should be viewed in the context of Maxwell’s pending criminal trial and a potential cross-examination of Farmer.
“It’s clear that Maxwell’s lawyers want as much information as possible on Farmer and on any of the potential witnesses who could testify in her criminal case,” Abrams said. “If the amount of the settlement was known, you can count on the fact that if Farmer was called to testify, they would want to cite the amount that she settled for to suggest she was in this for money.”
Still, Abrams sees Maxwell as lacking leverage and thinks it unlikely that a judge would grant Maxwell’s request for those details. “Farmer is saying, ‘Forget it. I’m not suing you anymore,’ I don’t see how Maxwell has any basis for demanding information before she agrees to let Farmer not sue her anymore,” he said.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and denied the allegations in Farmer’s lawsuit. “To be clear, Ms. Maxwell denies that she had any involvement in any of the activity alleged” in Farmer’s complaint, Menninger wrote in a court filing in May.
Menninger, of Haddon, Morgan and Foreman in Denver, did not respond to a request for comment. McCawley, through a spokesperson for her firm, declined to comment. Lawyers for the Epstein estate have consented to Farmer’s request to dismiss the civil case.
Samara Heisz/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, ERIN SCHUMAKER, IVAN PEREIRA and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 67.8 million people and killed over 1.5 million worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Here’s how the news is developing Tuesday. All times Eastern:
Dec 08, 8:36 pm Ravens receiver tests positive before gametime
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Dez Bryant tweeted he would not be playing Tuesday after he tested positive for the coronavirus minutes before kickoff against the Dallas Cowboys.
Bryant said he was warming up with the team on the field — with a mask on — when he was pulled off by team officials for further testing.
Fox Sports reported an earlier COVID-19 test came back inconclusive and had to be retested.
Bryant reacted angrily on social media, as the former long-time Cowboys player had been looking forward to facing his former team. He tweeted he had the same routine and the positive test made no sense to him, before saying he was going to call it quits for the rest of the season.
Two weeks ago, the Ravens experienced a coronavirus outbreak among players and staff. Twenty-three players and staff were put on the COVID-19 list, including reigning MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson.
The team had to postpone its Thanksgiving Day against the Pittsburgh Steelers three times. It also prompted this week’s game to be pushed back to Tuesday.
Dec 08, 8:04 pm Record hospitalizations, deaths continue to rise
The U.S. has over 104,000 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, setting a new daily record, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
The seven-day average of hospitalizations is also at a record high of 101,659, according to the health data.
The country reported 213,498 new cases and 2,622 new deaths Tuesday.
The seven-day averages for new cases and deaths hit records Tuesday, at 202,158 and 2,225, respectively, according to the health data.
Dec 08, 6:42 pm Vaccine won’t help curb cases until spring: White House report
The coronavirus vaccine will not substantially reduce the spread of the virus until the spring, according to the White House coronavirus task force’s weekly briefing for governors. The report was obtained by ABC News.
The briefing said it will take at least 100 million Americans to be immunized before viral spread, hospitalizations or fatalities can go down.
“Behavioral change and aggressive mitigation policies are the only widespread prevention tools that we have to address this winter surge,” the task force report said.
The task force noted that state and local governments aren’t implementing the same mitigation policies that curbed cases back in the summer.
It also said 2,000 counties are in COVID-19 red zones.
“This current fall to winter surge continues to spread to every corner of the U.S., from small towns to large cities, from farms to beach communities,” the report said. -ABC News’ Brian Hartman and Josh Margolin
Dec 08, 5:47 pm Maryland could begin vaccine distribution next week
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced coronavirus vaccine distribution could begin as early as next week for critical health care workers, long-term care facility residents and staff and first responders.
Hogan said the state will initially receive 155,000 first doses of the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine could begin distribution starting Dec. 14, while the Moderna vaccine could begin distribution a week later, according to the governor.
“The state has signed up all of the state’s 227 nursing homes and 1,668 assisted living facilities for the federal distribution partnership through CVS and Walgreens,” according to a statement from the governor’s office.
Maryland will also roll out a campaign educating residents on the vaccine and encouraging residents to get the shots.
Dec 08, 4:17 pm California hospitalizations up 70%
Hospitalizations in California have jumped 70% in the last two weeks and intensive care unit hospitalizations have increased by 68.7%, California Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said.
In Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley, ICU availability has fallen to 10.1% and 5.6% respectively, he said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered any region with less than 15% ICU capacity to follow a three-week stay-at-home order. In those regions, restaurants, bars and personal care services are closed.
When it comes to the holidays, Ghaly said, “We ask you to cancel travel plans.”
Travel is explicitly restricted in areas under regional stay-at-home orders.
Dec 08, 4:00 pm North Carolina to begin modified stay-at-home order
North Carolina will begin a “modified stay-at-home order” on Friday requiring residents to stay home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Restaurants, bars, and most retail stores and more must close by 10 p.m. and alcohol sales must end by 9 p.m., said Gov. Roy Cooper
“Our trends are alarming,” Cooper tweeted.
“We already have strong safety protocols and capacity limitations in place — including a statewide mask mandate,” Cooper said. “With this additional action beginning Friday, we hope to get these numbers down.”
The order lasts until Jan. 8.
Dec 08, 3:27 pm Biden lays out top COVID-19 priorities for 1st 100 days in office
President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday outlined his top three COVID-19 priorities for his first 100 days in office: a 100-day mask-wearing program, 100 million doses of the vaccine into Americans arms in the first 100 days, and getting schools reopened permanently.
“We didn’t get into this mess quickly. We’re not going to get out of it quickly,” Biden said. “But I’m absolutely convinced that, in 100 days, we can change the course of the disease and change life in America for the better.”
Biden warned that distributing the vaccine would be one of the hardest and costliest challenges the country will face and will require the cooperation of Congress.
“We’re gonna need Congress to fully fund vaccine distribution to all corners of the country, to everyone,” Biden said. “I’m encouraged by the bipartisan efforts in Congress around a $900 billion economic relief package which I’ve said is critical, but this package is only a start for more action early next year.”
“We’ll also need the Trump administration to act now,” Biden added, “to purchase the doses it has negotiated with Pfizer and Moderna, and to work swiftly to scale manufacturing to U.S. populations and the world.” ABC News’ Molly Nagle contributed to this report. Dec 08, 3:09 pm Washington state extends restrictions through holidays
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the state’s restriction on social gatherings, restaurants, bars, gyms and religious services will be extended to Jan. 4, 2021.
“We need to buckle down through the holidays,” Inslee tweeted.
“The hospitalization projections are scary. We’re already at 80% ICU capacity,” Inslee said, adding, “our hospitals are still on the brink.”
Washington state has over 184,000 diagnosed COVID-19 cases and at least 2,941 fatalities.
Dec 08, 2:30 pm Over 150 arrested at ‘super spreader’ party in LA County
Thirty-five juveniles and 116 adults were arrested at a “super spreader” underground party this weekend in Palmdale, California, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
The sheriff said the party was in clear violation of the governor’s stay-at-home order, adding that the party would have been targeted without the pandemic due to allegations of drugs, weapons, prostitution and underage trafficking. ABC News’ Alex Stone contributed to this report.
Dec 08, 2:05 pm Massachusetts enacts new restrictions as cases, hospitalizations rise
Massachusetts will roll back its reopening plans on Sunday as cases and hospitalizations rise in the aftermath of Thanksgiving, Gov. Charlie Baker said.
Capacity will be reduced from 50% to 40% in facilities including offices, gyms, places of worship and retail stores, Baker said.
In offices, people must wear masks when they’re not alone, and at gyms, customers must wear masks at all times.
Changes are also coming to Massachusetts restaurants. Customers must wear masks at all times except when eating and drinking, and their time at tables will be capped at 90 minutes.
Dec 08, 1:52 pm Fauci: ‘We have not yet seen the full blunt’ of Thanksgiving
Dr. Anthony Fauci and White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx warned Tuesday that the U.S. hasn’t yet seen the full impact of Thanksgiving gatherings.
“We have not yet seen the full blunt and the effect of the traveling and the congregating,” Fauci said at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council summit .“That should be sometime probably next week, or a week and a half.”
“Then we’re going to enter into the Christmas season, again, with more traveling and with more congregating at family and social gatherings. So we’re in for a very challenging period,” Fauci continued. “And the only way we’re going to counter that is by a consistent uniform implementation and adherence to public health measures.”
Fauci also said he’s accepted President-elect Joe Biden’s offer to become his chief medical adviser.
“I’ve already told the president-elect that I would gladly accept that responsibility. It really is very similar to what I’m doing now,” Fauci said. ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
Dec 08, 1:41 pm Michigan-Ohio State football game canceled due to increased cases
The University of Michigan said this Saturday’s football game against Ohio State is now canceled due to “an increasing number of positive COVID-19 cases and student-athletes in quarantine over the past week.”
“The number of positive tests has continued to trend in an upward direction over the last seven days,” said Michigan’s Athletic Director, Warde Manuel. “We have not been cleared to participate in practice at this time. Unfortunately, we will not be able to field a team due to COVID-19 positives and the associated quarantining required of close-contact individuals.”
“This decision is disappointing for our team and coaches but their health and safety is paramount, and it will always come first in our decision-making.” pic.twitter.com/IHXOD6lXyj
Dec 08, 1:31 pm Nearly 1.5 million US children have had COVID-19
Nearly 1.5 million children in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association said in its weekly report.
During the week ending Dec. 3, there were 123,688 new cases of children with COVID-19, bringing the total number of U.S. children diagnosed to 1,460,905. ABC News’ Eric Strauss contributed to this report. Dec 08, 11:34 am FDA scientists to report Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine safe and effective
Scientists from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday appeared set to confirm that the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective against the virus, according to documents released ahead of a crucial meeting on the vaccine this week.
According to a document prepared by FDA staff, government scientists plan to tell the advisory committee that the data is adequate to determine the vaccine is both safe and effective.
While that doesn’t mean the FDA is prepared to authorize it just yet, the briefing materials suggest agency staff aren’t warning of any last-minute issues.
“Safety data from approximately 38,000 participants [greater than or equal to] 16 years of age randomized 1:1 to vaccine or placebo with a median of 2 months of follow up after the second dose suggest a favorable safety profile, with no specific safety concerns identified that would preclude issuance of an EUA,” the FDA wrote.
The report notes the most common reaction was a skin reaction at the injection site, followed by fatigue or headaches.
The FDA released data on the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine trials and the agency’s scientific analysis ahead of an advisory committee meeting on Thursday, when independent experts are set to discuss and vote on whether to recommend the vaccine be authorized for emergency use. ABC News’ Stephanie Ebbs and Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
Dec 08, 8:15 am Operation Warp Speed chief says he doesn’t know what executive order Trump is signing
The chief science adviser to Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. government’s initiative to expedite vaccine development, said he doesn’t know what vaccine-related executive order President Donald Trump is expected to sign on Tuesday.
“Frankly, I don’t know and, frankly, I’m staying out of this. I can’t comment,” Dr. Moncef Slaoui told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Tuesday on Good Morning America.
When pressed on the matter, Slaoui added: “Our work is, you know, rolling. We have plans. We feel that we can deliver the vaccines as needed, so I don’t exactly [know] what this order is about.”
Trump is expected to discuss the order at a COVID-19 vaccine summit to be held at the White House later Tuesday, multiple White House officials told reporters during a background briefing on Monday evening. While it’s not entirely clear on how exactly the order would work, the move is designed to prevent the U.S. government from shipping any vaccine doses it has purchased to aid foreign countries until all the needs within the United States are met.
White House officials also denied reports that the Trump administration turned down an offer last summer to purchase an additional 400 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, and that the companies now may not be able to provide more of their vaccine to the United States until June 2021 because they have committed those doses to other countries.
When asked about the matter, Slaoui explained Operation Warp Speed’s strategy in securing vaccine doses.
“We selected six different vaccines to build a portfolio to manage the risk that some may work and some may not work, but also to ensure that as more than one would work that we would accumulate vaccine doses from this portfolio of vaccines,” he said. “If somebody came to us and said, let’s buy more of this vaccine or that vaccine, no one reasonably would buy more from any one of those vaccines because we didn’t know which one would work and which one may be better than the other. Once the vaccine’s performance becomes known is the right time, given the strategy we’ve taken, to go and order more vaccine doses, which we may be doing. And frankly, the constructive thing to do if one of the suppliers has challenges producing enough vaccine doses is to roll our sleeves and help ensure that capacity can be increased.”
Slaoui said he’s confident the U.S. government will be getting vaccines to Americans who need them “as soon as possible” and that plans are “still on track.”
“We will work with Pfizer to try and increase capacity and have those vaccines available,” he said. “We have two more vaccines from J&J and AstraZeneca that will be completing their Phase 3 trials in January and most likely, I hope, be approved for use in February. We have tens of millions of doses from those vaccines, you know, participating to the volume of vaccines we need to immunize the U.S. population as we promised, all of it by the middle of the year 2021 and that’s still on track.”
Slaoui said Operation Warp Speed has a meeting with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team scheduled for Thursday.
“We look forward to, you know, sharing all the information and working together,” he said. “Our objective has always been outside of politics and making sure we make available these vaccines for the U.S. people, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Dec 08, 7:04 am UK ‘can’t afford to relax now,’ prime minister warns
As COVID-19 vaccinations were administered to high-risk groups of people across the United Kingdom on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that the nation “can’t afford to relax now.”
“It is important for people to understand that the virus is alas still rising in some parts of the country,” Johnson said while visiting a newly-opened vaccination center in London.
When asked whether he would be receiving the shot, Johnson told reporters he is “not in the priority group” outlined by the government but that those who are eligible should get it.
“I would just say to all those who are scared, don’t be,” he said. “You see people take the vaccine this morning, in large numbers, people are going to be taking it in the next few days and weeks and there is nothing to be nervous about.”
The United Kingdom — made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — has the seventh-highest tally of COVID-19 infections in the world, with more than 1.7 million confirmed cases, including over 61,000 deaths, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The European island nation launched a mass immunization program on Tuesday, after authorizing emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
Dec 08, 6:36 am US reports over 192,000 new cases
There were 192,299 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the United States on Monday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
It’s the 35th straight day that the U.S. has reported over 100,000 newly diagnosed infections. Monday’s tally is less than the country’s all-time high of 227,885 new cases confirmed on Dec. 4, according to Johns Hopkins data.
An additional 1,404 deaths from the disease were also registered nationwide on Monday, down from a peak of 2,879 fatalities on Dec. 3, according to Johns Hopkins data.
COVID-19 data may be skewed due to possible lags in reporting over Thanksgiving followed by a potentially very large backlog from the holiday.
A total of 14,954,331 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 283,746 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins data. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.
Much of the country was under lockdown by the end of March as the first wave of pandemic hit. By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country’s cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up over the summer.
The numbers lingered around 40,000 to 50,000 from mid-August through early October before surging again to record levels, crossing 100,000 for the first time on Nov. 4 and reaching 200,000 for the first time on Nov. 27.
Dec 08, 5:52 am Russia extends ban on mass gatherings at schools until 2022
Russia has banned schools and extracurricular clubs from holding mass gatherings until Jan. 1, 2022.
A ban on mass gatherings at Russian schools was first imposed in June to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus and was set to expire on Jan. 1, 2021. But a new decree published Monday and signed by Russia’s chief sanitary doctor, Anna Popova, extends the ban and now also applies to sports organizations and other social infrastructure for children and youth.
Universities and colleges are exempt from the ban.
Russia’s coronavirus response headquarters said Tuesday it had confirmed 26,097 new cases of COVID-19 as well as 562 deaths from the disease in the past 24 hours. The country’s cumulative total currently stands at 2,515,009 confirmed cases with 44,159 deaths.
Despite the growing number of infections and deaths, Russian authorities have repeatedly said they have no plans to impose another nationwide lockdown.
The Eastern European country of 145 million people has the fourth-highest tally of COVID-19 cases in the world, behind only the United States, India and Brazil, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Dec 08, 4:16 am 90-year-old grandmother becomes first to receive Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine outside clinical trial
A 90-year-old grandmother became Patient A on Tuesday morning as she was the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial.
Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, received the shot — the first of 800,000 doses — at University Hospital Coventry in central England at 6:31 a.m., as part of a mass immunization program rolled out across the United Kingdom, according to a press release from the National Health Service (NHS), the country’s publicly-funded health care system.
Keenan, a former jewelry shop assistant who only retired four years ago, said she feels “so privileged to be the first person.” She will receive a booster injection — re-exposure to the immunizing antigen after initial vaccination — in 21 days “to ensure she has the best chance of being protected against the virus,” according to the press release.
“It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year,” Keenan, who has two children and four grandchildren, said in a statement released by the NHS.
Last week, the U.K. became the first country in the world to authorize emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. The potentially life-saving vaccine was shown in late-stage clinical trials to be more than 95% effective in preventing COVID-19.
Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan via Getty ImagesBy JAMES HILL, ABC News
