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Speaker 1: Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Laura Carlson. It's day two seventy

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Speaker 1: seven since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. Today's main

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Speaker 1: story healthcare workers at some of the country's most overwhelmed

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Speaker 1: hospitals finally have reason to celebrate what it's like to

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Speaker 1: be among the first inoculated against the deadly virus. But first,

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Speaker 1: here's what happened in virus news today. In the US,

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Speaker 1: Congress looks closer to passing a coronavirus relief deal. Two

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Speaker 1: people familiar with the negotiations say it includes stimulus payments

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Speaker 1: to individuals and supplement to unemployment insurance, but not liability

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Speaker 1: protections or direct aid for state and local governments. Leaders

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Speaker 1: are rushing to finalize the package in time to attach

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Speaker 1: it to crucial government spending legislation and pass it by

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Speaker 1: the end of the week. Four people briefed on the

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Speaker 1: discussions said it is expected to be less than nine

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Speaker 1: hundred billion dollars. Some of the first doses of the

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Speaker 1: fies are incorporated bio n Tech. COVID nineteen vaccine were

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Speaker 1: held up from delivery in the US this week and

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Speaker 1: sent back to the company because they were colder than anticipated.

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Speaker 1: Gustav Parana, the Army general who serves as Operation warp

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Speaker 1: Speeds Chief operations officer, said that two trades of vials

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Speaker 1: at two California locations reached degrees below zero, colder than

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Speaker 1: they are supposed to be stored. The same thing happened

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Speaker 1: at one location in Alabama, Paranah said at a news

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Speaker 1: briefing on Wednesday. Finally, Germany recorded nine ten coronavirus fatalities

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Speaker 1: in the twenty four hours through Wednesday morning, the most

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Speaker 1: since the pandemic began. A strict shutdown designed to stem

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Speaker 1: the surge of infections is being put in place. Chancellor

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Speaker 1: Angela Merkel has warned that the country faces a new

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Speaker 1: peak of COVID nineteen infections next month, suggesting that the

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Speaker 1: tougher restrictions will remain in place beyond January. And now

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Speaker 1: for today's main story. Just a month ago, Iowa experienced

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Speaker 1: its worst COVID nineteen surge yet. Coronavirus cases began soaring

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Speaker 1: there in early November, as they had have throughout the

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Speaker 1: United States. By the middle of the month, Iowa was

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Speaker 1: recording about four thousand new cases every day, But this week,

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Speaker 1: staff at a University of Iowa health Care System finally

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Speaker 1: had reason to celebrate. The first doses of Viser's vaccine

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Speaker 1: arrived at the Iowa City location Monday morning in tiny

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Speaker 1: vials packed in dry ice. Angelica Levito spoke to healthcare

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Speaker 1: workers there just after they became some of the first

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Speaker 1: Americans outside of clinical trials to get immunized against the

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Speaker 1: deadly disease. I spoke to her today about how it

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Speaker 1: went so, Angelica, you spoke to someone who is among

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Speaker 1: the first in the US to be given the COVID

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Speaker 1: nineteen vaccine developed by Fiser and Bio n Tech, Chitana Daniels.

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Speaker 1: I was wondering if you might just tell us a

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Speaker 1: bit about her. Chitana Daniels is a staff nurse in

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Speaker 1: the Medical Intensive Care Unit at the University of Iowa

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Speaker 1: Hospitals and Clinics, and so at her hospital in Iowa City,

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Speaker 1: she sees some of the most complex critical care patients

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Speaker 1: in the state. The University of Iowa is really the

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Speaker 1: only academic medical center in the state, and so they

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Speaker 1: see patients from all over Iowa and even in parts

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Speaker 1: of Illinois who are coming in with the coronavirus. And

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Speaker 1: so she's been working in the i c U since

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Speaker 1: the pandemic started, and her experience has been a little

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Speaker 1: bit unique in that in the spring, when cases were

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Speaker 1: exploding in New York City, it was pretty quiet in Iowa.

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Speaker 1: But then, unfortunately, as the year progressed, and especially during

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Speaker 1: the fall, she started seeing more and more patients and

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Speaker 1: caring for some of the sickest people in the state.

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Speaker 1: In beginning middle of November, we had like lists of

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Speaker 1: patients just waiting to get to bed, even from Illinois,

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Speaker 1: like the hospitals on the Illinois Iowa border. We're calling

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Speaker 1: places like Chicago and St. Louis trying to send their

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Speaker 1: patients and there was nowhere for them to go. You

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Speaker 1: mentioned Iowa City seeing an increase in an uptick of

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Speaker 1: COVID nineteen patients throughout the year. So how does this

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Speaker 1: play into how Iowa City was chosen or was able

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Speaker 1: to be one of the first place to begin administering

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Speaker 1: the COVID nineteen vaccine. So states are able to choose

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Speaker 1: where they want to send the doses that they're being

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Speaker 1: allocated from the federal government, and really across the country,

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Speaker 1: what we're seeing is states sending their doses to the

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Speaker 1: people who are really on the front lines dealing with

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Speaker 1: COVID patients all day, every day. And what that means

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Speaker 1: is that a lot of health systems, the large health systems,

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Speaker 1: including the University of Iowa, are getting the very first doses.

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Speaker 1: What was the process of getting the vaccine like for Chitana. So, hospitals,

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Speaker 1: including the University of Iowa, are creating algorithms and formulas

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Speaker 1: to determine who should get the first few doses because

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Speaker 1: there are a very limited um quantity at the beginning

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Speaker 1: that we see ourselves in right now. And so Titana,

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Speaker 1: given her role as a staff nurse in the medical

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Speaker 1: Intensive Care unit, UM was among the first at the

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Speaker 1: University of Iowa health system to get vaccinated. And she

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Speaker 1: got a call late last week asking her if she

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Speaker 1: would want to come in on Monday to get her shot.

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Speaker 1: And you know, at first she said she just thought

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Speaker 1: it was something normal. The next step in the process.

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Speaker 1: I think I got to call at the very end

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Speaker 1: of last week, um my manager said, we're scheduling people

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Speaker 1: to get vaccinated. We're trying to do it UM when

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Speaker 1: they have a little bit of a stretch off, a

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Speaker 1: few days off, so that if there are any side effects.

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Speaker 1: There's not a huge volume of people trying to call

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Speaker 1: off work. So I said, sure, I'll do Monday. I'll

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Speaker 1: do Monday morning, Monday afternoon now. But I didn't really feel,

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Speaker 1: I don't know, any excitement about it. Um. I was

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Speaker 1: just like, Okay, yeah, this is like just the next step,

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Speaker 1: the next thing I do. But now that it's so close,

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Speaker 1: and I saw a picture of my friend getting one

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Speaker 1: of the first vaccinations this morning, like I'm I'm so excited.

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Speaker 1: And so she went up and they were hosting the

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Speaker 1: clinic in the Children's Hospital. And this hospital is right

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Speaker 1: across from the University of Iowa's football stadium, and so

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Speaker 1: they have this room what they call the press box

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Speaker 1: because it's glass and you can see over the football

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Speaker 1: field and up there on the twelve floor is where

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Speaker 1: they have this clinic. And so she went up there,

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Speaker 1: and she said the energy was amazing. You know, people

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Speaker 1: weren't as a the really cheering, but it just felt

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Speaker 1: like everybody was kind of bouncing and and so excited

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Speaker 1: to get This is your vaccination card. You want to

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Speaker 1: hang onto your badge because they're gonna have you swipe

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Speaker 1: it more time. If you just want to hang out

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Speaker 1: right here. That it's interesting too, is that there was

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Speaker 1: a lot of security, because of course these are really

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Speaker 1: precious products. Right now, there's a security guard standing in

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Speaker 1: front of the one elevator that gets you there. You

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Speaker 1: had to scam me in and then get into the elevator,

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Speaker 1: scan his badge again so I could go up, and

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Speaker 1: then you know, there was somebody there who was checking

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Speaker 1: off names of people who were expected to get the

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Speaker 1: vaccine that day. She arrived a little bit early, and

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Speaker 1: people in line were just talking about how excited they were,

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Speaker 1: and there were some posters reminding people that just because

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Speaker 1: you were vaccinated doesn't mean you can stop wearing your

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Speaker 1: mask ppe And there were about two or three stations

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Speaker 1: where nursing and medical assistance were administering the vaccines. And

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Speaker 1: she sat with her back to the football field and

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Speaker 1: she got her shot. She said she didn't even feel

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Speaker 1: it go in reference day. I don't care left un that.

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Speaker 1: Just a second thing on three, alright, I'll go for it.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna sign your okay, thanks, And then they gave

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Speaker 1: her her card, these cards that the CDC is including

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Speaker 1: in the supply kits that everyone all of the vaccinators

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Speaker 1: are getting. And so she got her card with a

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Speaker 1: sticker on it saying which vaccine she got when in

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Speaker 1: reminding her to come for her second dose in a

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Speaker 1: few weeks. What is the next step for her? How

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Speaker 1: does her her work or even her daily life change

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Speaker 1: now that she's gotten part one of the vaccine. So

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Speaker 1: this vaccine is a two dose vaccine, and so she

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Speaker 1: will have to come back in in about three weeks

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Speaker 1: to get her second shot. And so far I haven't

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Speaker 1: heard her say that she's sket well that next dose.

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Speaker 1: And you know, the data from viser suggests that there

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Speaker 1: is some protection after the first shot, which is good,

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Speaker 1: but it's not nearly as much as that second shot,

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Speaker 1: so her life will not change overnight. But you know,

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Speaker 1: she is really excited about the possibility of maybe seeing

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Speaker 1: her parents after her second shot and returning to some

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Speaker 1: sense of normalcy because you know, a lot of healthcare

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Speaker 1: workers haven't done much since this all started. She says

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Speaker 1: that she's mostly seen just her husband, who she lives with,

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Speaker 1: and that's it. And you know, she's been tempted to

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Speaker 1: see some friends and and really engage in normal life

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Speaker 1: that so many people have resumed. But she hasn't felt

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Speaker 1: comfortable doing that given that she sees the sickest of

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Speaker 1: the sick patients every day, and so she's excited to

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Speaker 1: get some sense of normalcy back. So, as a nurse,

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Speaker 1: Titana was among the first received the vaccine, but it

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Speaker 1: obviously maybe several months before others can receive it as well.

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Speaker 1: What are some of her recommendations for those who may

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Speaker 1: have to wait a bit before receiving their own shot.

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Speaker 1: You know, her recommendation is that people should really know

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Speaker 1: that this virus is real and that they need to

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Speaker 1: take it seriously. That we have tried and true measures

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Speaker 1: that we know work. Wearing a mask, not attending extended gatherings.

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Speaker 1: So these are things that you know, they might feel

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Speaker 1: tiring or they might feel worrisome, but you know, she

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Speaker 1: herself has seen that since Iowa implemented a mask mandate

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Speaker 1: late last month that her own hospital census has started

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Speaker 1: going downward. So she just reminds people to be patient

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Speaker 1: and do the things we know work. While we're still

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Speaker 1: in this period where a very very small number of

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Speaker 1: people are vaccinated. I sort of take for granted how

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Speaker 1: lucky I am to be getting at this early because

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Speaker 1: even other you know, medical facilities don't have vaccines yet. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I just feel really grateful to be where I am

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Speaker 1: and to like work for a hospital that protect the

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Speaker 1: people that work for them, And I'm just I'm just like,

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Speaker 1: for the first time in months, actually hopeful and maybe

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Speaker 1: seeing a glimmer of a light at the end of

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Speaker 1: the tunnel. That was Angelica Levito. And that's it for

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Speaker 1: our show today. For coverage of the outbreak from one

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Speaker 1: and twenty bureaus around the world, visit Bloomberg dot com

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Speaker 1: slash coronavirus and if you like the show, please leave

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Speaker 1: us a review and a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Speaker 1: It's the best way to help more listeners find our

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Speaker 1: global purporting. The Prognosis Daily edition is produced by tophrah

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Speaker 1: foreheads in Gospora, Magnus Henrickson, and me Laura Carlson. Today's

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Speaker 1: main story was reported by Angelica Levito. Original music by

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Speaker 1: Leo Sedrin. Our editors are Rick Shine and Francesco Levi.

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Speaker 1: Francesco Levi is Bloomberg's head of Podcasts. Thanks for listening.