Trump Criticizes Covid Package; Pfizer Shot Supply: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Donald Trump signaled he may not sign a $900 billion coronavirus relief package just one day after Congress passed it with bipartisan support.

The new Covid-19 strain that emerged in the U.K. is possibly already in the U.S., Germany, France and Switzerland, officials in those countries said. A wider swath of the U.K. would be ordered into a more-severe lockdown under a plan being considered by government officials intent on halting the spread of the pandemic.

Pfizer Inc. is moving closer to finalizing a deal to supply the U.S. government with as many as 100 million more doses of the drugmaker’s coronavirus vaccine, according to a person familiar with the matter. Its partner BioNTech SE’s chief executive officer said its shot will probably work against the new virus strain.

Why the U.K.’s Mutated Coronavirus Is Fanning Worries: QuickTake

Key Developments:

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South Korea Cases Rise (8:49 a.m. HK)

South Korea reported 1,092 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, rising again after infections briefly dipped below 1,000 in the previous two days.

South Korea has repeatedly prevented the coronavirus from spreading uncontrollably, applying its elite testing-and-tracing practices that have become a global model for managing the pandemic. Now the country is being tested as infections jumped above 1,000 for the first time earlier this month.

Trump Indicates He Might Not Sign Virus Relief Package (8:42 a.m. HK)

President Trump signaled that he may not sign the $900 billion coronavirus relief package just one day after it was passed in Congress.

In a video posted on his Twitter account, Trump said the bill included “wasteful and unnecessary” items and demanded that lawmakers increase the stimulus checks due to go out to most Americans from the “ridiculously low” amount of $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple.

“I am asking Congress to amend this bill,” Trump said, adding he wanted Congress to “send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a Covid relief package and maybe that administration will be me and we will get it done.”

Sydney Cluster Grows to 97, Lockdown Is Extended (8:33 a.m. HK)

The cluster of Covid-19 infections in Sydney’s Northern Beaches has grown to 97, and a lockdown will be extended over Christmas to prevent the virus from spreading across the city, authorities announced Wednesday.

The area’s 250,000 residents won’t be allowed to leave the Northern Beaches but will be permitted to have five or 10 guests in their homes over Christmas, depending on whether they live in the worst-affected communities, New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters. Limits on guests allowed in homes have been slightly eased in the rest of the city, with children aged under 12 not counted among the cap of 10 adults.

Singapore May Give More Vaccine Rollout Details by January: ST (8:32 a.m. HK)

Singapore may provide more details on its vaccination program as early as January, the Straits Times reported, citing Education Minister Lawrence Wong.

Wong, who co-chairs the nation’s task force on Covid-19, said that exact details will depend on variables including vaccines’ supply, delivery schedule and authorization for use, according to the newspaper’s report citing his comments made Tuesday to reporters.

NYSE Plans to Have Designated Market Makers Work Remotely (8:19 a.m. HK)

The New York Stock Exchange plans to have designated market makers work remotely again amid a surge in coronavirus cases around the city. The temporary measure will take effect Monday with some exceptions, the venue said in an emailed statement.

The NYSE took similar precautions amid a spike in cases earlier this year. The specialists, as they’re known, typically facilitate activity in assigned stocks.

Pfizer Near Accord to Supply Additional Vaccine Doses to U.S. (8:11 a.m. HK)

Pfizer is moving closer to finalizing a deal to supply the U.S. government with as many as 100 million more doses of the drugmaker’s coronavirus vaccine, a person familiar with the matter said.

Such a pact could expand the number of shots available to the government as it ramps up its immunization drive in the coming year. While talks were continuing on Tuesday evening, a deal could be announced as soon as Wednesday, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the discussions are private.

Houston ICUs Post 11% Jump in Virus Patients (7:28 a.m. HK)

The Houston area’s intensive-care wards saw an 11% spike in virus patients during the past 24 hours that swelled the tally of the most acutely ill Covid-19 cases to a four-month high of 505. The number of ICU beds occupied by virus patients in the fourth-largest U.S. city and surrounding counties has more than doubled since the start of November, according to the SouthEast Texas Regional Advisory Council.

Japan to Suspend Foreign Arrivals From U.K.: Nikkei (7:16 a.m. HK)

The Japanese government will suspend all foreign arrivals from the U.K. because of the coronavirus variant, the Nikkei newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information.

Biden Wants More Aid, Sees ‘Darkest Days’ (6:30 a.m. HK)

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden warned the “darkest days” of the coronavirus pandemic were still to come and called on Congress to be ready early next year to produce another stimulus package, even though the most recent one took months to complete.

“Our darkest days in the battle against Covid are ahead of us, not behind us,” he said at a year-end news conference in Wilmington, Delaware.

Biden said the country needs to support state and local governments, which have seen resources plunge during the pandemic, and also offer other economic stimulus. When pressed for what he wanted in the next round of stimulus, Biden refused to specify a dollar amount or predict the outcome.

U.K.’s Johnson Looks at Tighter Lockdown (5:45 a.m. HK)

Boris Johnson’s government is examining whether to move more areas of England into lockdown to counter a faster-spreading variant of coronavirus.

Ministers are considering whether to apply the highest Tier 4 restrictions -- forcing non-essential shops and leisure facilities to close -- to more regions, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Ministers and scientific experts met late Tuesday after cases of the new Covid-19 strain were identified outside London and southeast England, which were placed into Tier 4 last weekend.

France to Reopen Transport Links to U.K. (4:35 a.m. HK)

France said it will start to reopen critical trade and transportation links with the U.K. by midnight Tuesday, two days after a temporary suspension triggered chaos at Britain’s busiest port.

Travel from the U.K. will resume for European Union citizens and residents able to demonstrate negative Covid-19 tests, according to a statement from Prime Minister Jean Castex. Other nationals will be allowed to resume essential travel.

France shut down freight traffic from Dover on Sunday over concerns the faster-spreading variant of Covid-19 could trigger a surge in cases, just as it did in London and surrounding areas, where the U.K. government has imposed a strict lockdown.

New Covid-19 Strain May Be in U.S. (1:40 a.m. HK)

The new variant of Covid-19 found in the U.K. may already be in the U.S. undetected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

No cases of it have yet been identified, the CDC reported, but viruses have been sequenced from only about 51,000 of the 17 million U.S. cases. Travel between the two countries and the prevalence of the new strain in the U.K. boost the chance it is already in the U.S., the CDC reported.

Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, said on Monday that it would take weeks to determine scientifically if the strain is more transmissible but that it didn’t appear to be any more dangerous. He also said he expects the existing vaccines will likely still offer protection against it.

Fauci Vaccinated With Moderna’s Shot (11:55 p.m. HK)

Anthony Fauci was among the first employees of the National Institutes of Health to get a Covid-19 vaccine, administered in the same auditorium where he first arrived at the NIH as a fellow 52 years ago.

Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease doctor, received Moderna Inc.’s vaccine along with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and NIH Director Francis Collins, and six front-line health care workers at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

The public ritual of vaccinating senior health leaders is part of an effort to build confidence in vaccines that were developed in record time and amid political wrangling over the timing of the vaccines’ authorization.

Fauci, who turns 80 on Thursday, noted that he’s getting the vaccine partly because he still sees patients as an attending physician at the NIH Clinical Center, but also to send a message “to the rest of the country that I feel extreme confidence in the safety and the efficacy of this vaccine.”

He flashed a thumbs-up sign after getting the shot in his left arm.

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