US: Over 22.9M Cases - 383K Dead - 13.4M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 90M Cases - 1.9M Dead - 64M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 260   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 189
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Infections - Hospitalizations - Deaths Still Climbing

The Vaccine Rollout - A Nation Struggles
Christmas Surge Hits This Week
Increased Threats & Extended 'Duty of Care'
Security's Vaccine Role
 

U.S. Hospitalizations and Reported New Cases, Deaths Edge Down
Newly reported Covid-19 cases, as well as deaths and hospitalizations related to the disease, were down from recent highs, but that doesn't necessarily indicate a downward trend. Newly reported cases and deaths each day tend to be lower at the beginning of the week and higher toward the end, as fewer people are tested on weekends.

The nation reported more than 213,000 new cases for Sunday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, down from 264,830 reported for Saturday and 292,521 for Friday. Sunday's case number is higher than the 209,895 reported a week earlier, according to Johns Hopkins data.

There were 1,814 deaths reported Sunday in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins data. That was down from 3,253 reported Saturday and a high of 4,194 reported Thursday. Sunday's figure was higher than the 1,358 deaths reported a week earlier.

There were 129,229 hospitalizations on Sunday, according to the Covid Tracking Project, the first time since Jan. 4 that the number has been below 130,000. There were 23,625 people in intensive-care units, the lowest number since Jan. 5. wsj.com

Experts Say Worst May Still Be Ahead With Expected Holiday Covid-19 Surge
Health experts say that even with an expected acceleration of vaccinations in coming weeks, January is likely to be a difficult month for Americans, with expected surges in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths after December's holiday gatherings and travel.

Still, newly reported cases, deaths and hospitalizations have been broadly increasing in large swaths of the U.S. for several months, and by nearly every measure, December was the worst month of the pandemic. wsj.com

Pressure Grows for States to Open Vaccines to More Groups of People
Some states are already expanding eligibility to people 65 and over, even though millions of people the C.D.C. recommends go first - health care workers and nursing home residents - have yet to get shots.

Just weeks into the country's coronavirus vaccination effort, states have begun broadening access to the shots faster than planned, amid tremendous public demand and intense criticism about the pace of the rollout. nytimes.com

Where's the Vaccines? Retailers Are Waiting
Retailers Hitting Bureaucratic Obstacles in Vaccine Distribution
Kroger and other grocers want to accelerate their COVID-19 vaccination efforts, but they say they are hitting bureaucratic obstacles.

Kroger Health president Colleen Lindholz told The Wall Street Journal that the grocer is getting only a small number of doses, a fraction of what it has the ability to handle. The company told the Journal it has given about 4,500 doses of COVID-19 vaccinations. On average, Kroger provides roughly 200,000 doses of the flu vaccine each week during flu season.

Inconsistency among state guidelines is causing a slowdown, Lindholz said, adding that she hopes the federal and state governments can come together to create a more uniform plan.

Kroger also told the Journal it is exploring ways to hold large events in community centers and stadiums that would allow it to vaccinate 600 to 800 people at a time. Lindholz added that the grocer could immunize a tremendous number of people if it had more access to inoculations.

Stop & Shop told the Journal it is communicating with Massachusetts and other states to learn how its pharmacies can help sooner.

Rite Aid, the third-largest U.S. pharmacy chain, told the Journal that a mounting number of states and other jurisdictions are reaching out to ask for help with administration.

Giant Eagle Inc., said the retailer is discussing with various states how to repurpose underused spaces such as county fairgrounds and courthouses to set up clinics.

The vaccine will roll out to the all 77 Ralphs Pharmacies (Kroger banner) throughout Southern California and the Central Coast as soon it becomes available through local health departments. drugstorenews.com

A Time for Leadership From the Retail Leaders
Let Mikey Do It - The 'Last Mile' Experts

U.S. Covid-19 Vaccination Plan Limits Speed of Rollout, Supply-Chain Experts Say
The decentralized effort focuses on supply with less attention to the last mile, or getting the 'vaccine from storage into people's arms'

A sluggish rollout of Covid-19 vaccines across the U.S. highlights the challenges of a decentralized distribution plan that relies on states and localities to handle the complicated last-mile logistics of getting shots into people's arms, supply-chain experts say.

Supply-chain experts attribute the delays in part to the burdens faced by often underfunded state and local health agencies already stretched to their limits by the coronavirus pandemic, along with communication problems including confusion over how many doses states were set to receive.

But experts also point to guidance from a federal vaccine advisory panel on who should be inoculated first, which recommended that the limited initial supply of doses be administered to health-care workers and residents of long-term-care facilities. wsj.com

Editor's Note: The NRF, RILA, FMI, and all of the retail pharmacy CEO's involved should be lobbying the outgoing and the incoming new administration about the logistics and distribution. It's retails time to shine. Wasn't there a business leaders group formed last year? Comprised of a number of retail CEO's. Where are they now? Hey just a thought - and who am I to even make such a statement given the chaos in DC.

'It Became Sort of Lawless': Florida Vaccine Rollout Turns Into a Free-for-All
Florida decided people 65 and older should get the coronavirus vaccine first. But demand has overwhelmed supply, and people are frustrated.

Florida is in an alarming new upward spiral, with nearly 20,000 cases of the virus reported on Friday and more than 15,000 on Saturday. But the state's well-intended effort to throw open the doors of the vaccine program to everyone 65 and older has led to long lines, confusion and disappointment.

States across the country, even as they race to finish vaccinating health care employees, nursing home residents and emergency workers, are under pressure from residents to reach a broader section of the public. Florida, which has already prioritized a large swath of its population to receive the vaccine, illustrates the challenges of expanding a vaccination program being developed at record speed and with limited federal assistance.

Some states, including Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska, decided to vaccinate people 65 and older, even before most essential workers, and other states are following suit.

But with states and counties left to largely sort out logistics by themselves, the rollout has gone anything but smoothly.

Florida has used only about 30 percent of the vaccine doses it has received, behind 29 other states. nytimes.com

The Christmas Infection Surge Starts This Week
You can extrapolate this nationwide - How Did You Manage Christmas Gatherings?

How much worse will coronavirus crisis get in L.A. County?
Here is what next few weeks could look like
The number of COVID-19 deaths in California and Los Angeles County - an epicenter of the pandemic - is setting records or near-records almost daily. There is clear evidence that the post-Christmas holiday surge in cases is worsening, as the numbers continue to spike, particularly in L.A. County.

For as dire as the crisis has become, most hospitals have yet to enter a sustained, widespread period of rationed care. But that would probably come if the Christmas surge is dramatically worse.

But the effect of holiday gatherings over Christmas will soon begin to show up in hospitals. Soon, a certain percentage of people who got infected over Christmas and have tested positive will begin getting so sick they'll need hospital care. If the number of new daily hospital admissions for COVID-19 patients worsens, that's a big sign of trouble.

"The fear, or the intuition, of most of the people doing predictive modeling is that it is going to get worse. The uncertainty is in how much worse. And in order to quantify how much worse, that requires the data that will only be available to us next week," Lewis said. latimes.com

Increased Threats & Disgruntled Employees - With Extended 'Duty of Care'
Surge in Physical Threats During Pandemic Complicates Employee Security Efforts

Security consultants say companies are looking for ways to manage increased threats targeting a workforce that is less secure and more spread out.

High-profile executives and rank-and-file staff have faced increased physical threats this year from inside and outside their companies, leading corporate security teams to search for ways to better protect employees-particularly those working from home, security executives say.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a raft of layoffs, spurring an increase in disgruntled former employees, they say. And corporations that have taken stances on social issues have increasingly become targets of threatening language on social media. The same goes for some companies that haven't taken a stance.

Dramatic Increase in Threats - Extended Duty of Care - Biggest Concerns - Continue Reading

Private Security's Role in the COVID-19 Vaccines
Safe Guarding - Protecting - Identifying Suspicious Activity

Pharmaceutical Companies Strengthen Security At Manufacturing Facilities
Both Pfizer and Moderna already had security staff on duty at their manufacturing facilities as well as at their offices but upon receiving the green light to develop the vaccines, additional security was brought in to ensure and enforce stricter security protocols at their labs and manufacturing plants.

Pfizer would not release the exact security protocols that were put in place but stated that besides their electronic security methods, physical security was also stepped up to prevent intrusion or any attempts of burglary of thefts.

Security officers were also used to guard the finished product and in the transportation of some of the shipments of the vaccines.

The vaccine supply chain is a complex, interconnected web of manufacturing, shipping, and precise preparation. The process begins at pharmaceutical plants around the country and ends with a needle in the arms of the patient.

In between, there are medical-grade refrigerators, ultra-cold freezers, advanced tracking software and security guards.

Security protocols are so sensitive, in fact, that no one would discuss them.

Security officers are also used to protect the shipments once received at hospitals and medical facilities throughout the country as well as during the distribution of the vaccine shots.

At a Wisconsin health care center, a security officer found a pharmacy employee acting suspiciously around a supply of the vaccines and called supervisors to investigate.

They found that 57 vials of Moderna coronavirus vaccine - enough for more than 500 doses -- were ruined and had to be discarded after the hospital employee intentionally removed the vials from a refrigerator, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Police said that the employee, a pharmacist, has been arrested. privateofficernews.org

Fed OSHA Never Developed a COVID-19 Strategy
Biden pledged COVID-19 workplace standards & more inspectors

U.S. regulators ignored workers' COVID safety complaints amid deadly outbreaks
A COVID-19 outbreak infected more than 40 Tucson UPS workers - including a manager who eventually died - and caused delivery delays throughout southern Arizona, according to interviews with six Tucson UPS workers and local union officials of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The UPS outbreak is among dozens of cases identified by Reuters where OSHA largely disregarded workers who reported lax pandemic safety practices, according to agency records.

Reuters identified 106 U.S. workplaces where employees complained of slipshod pandemic safety practices around the time of outbreaks - and regulators either never inspected the facilities or, in some cases, waited months to do so, according to the OSHA records. The agency never inspected 70 of those workplaces, where at least 4,500 workers were infected by the coronavirus and 26 died after contracting COVID-19, according to the Reuters analysis.

Continue Reading

Minnesota reports first cases of coronavirus variant

As COVID-19 rages, an L.A. hospital, Olympia Medical Center, plans to close its doors

NYC Opens Two Massive COVID-19 Vaccine Hubs

UK shopper numbers plummet 27.1% last week as lockdowns impact