The United Kingdom has just approved a Covid-19 vaccine, becoming the first Western nation to formally do so. The vaccine, produced by Pfizer in collaboration with the German company BioNTech, will need to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures, kicking off a demand for special refrigeration units. While the U.S. government is behind the UK on a vaccine approval—sparking remonstrations against the FDA by the Trump administration—the European Union criticized the speed of the British approval process, calling it “hasty.” According to Al Jazeera, the EU said its, “longer approval procedure was more appropriate as it was based on more evidence and required more checks than the emergency procedure chosen by the UK.” British authorities shot back saying they had not cut any corners. Also, part of the story on vaccines is the fact that wealthy nations in the West have been able to pre-order vaccines from companies like Pfizer, pushing poorer nations to the back of the line. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened an advisory panel that announced vaccine priorities on Tuesday. CDC Director Robert Redfield is expected to approve the recommendations by Wednesday after which states will be sent the guidance. The panel voted overwhelmingly to prioritize nursing home and long-term care residents and employees first, given that nearly 40% of all Covid-related deaths have taken place in those facilities. Next will be healthcare workers who are daily exposed to the virus as they care for Covid patients. After that the next phase will likely be essential workers such as grocery workers, teachers, public transit operators, etc. The CDC on Wednesday also changed its recommendations for a 14-day quarantine period to 7 or 10 days. The agency did not cite a scientific basis for the change, rather the fact that it was difficult for workers to comply with a 2-week quarantine period if they thought they had been exposed to the virus. Meanwhile employers are tackling legal questions of how to ensure workers get vaccinated considering widespread vaccine skepticism in the nation as a result of conspiracy-laden misinformation. 

Although news on the vaccine front is encouraging, health experts are warning that the next several weeks will be the darkest in the nation as hospitals and morgues are already overflowing. There are currently 98,691 people hospitalized with Covid-19 in the nation – the highest number ever. On Tuesday, 2,