The New York Times - USA (2020-12-07)

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WASHINGTON — The Trump

administration’s top health offi-

cials outlined an ambitious time-

table on Sunday for distributing

the first coronavirus vaccinations

to as many as 24 million people by

mid-January, even as the acceler-

ating toll of the pandemic filled

more hospital beds across the

United States and prompted new

shutdown orders in much of Cali-

fornia.

After criticism from President-

elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. that the

administration had “no detailed”

vaccine distribution plan, Moncef

Slaoui, the chief science adviser of

Operation Warp Speed, the Trump

administration’s vaccine develop-

ment program, said all residents

of long-term care facilities and

health workers could receive the

first round of vaccinations by mid-

January.

A vaccine manufactured by Pfi-

zer could be available by the end

of the week, after anticipated ap-

proval by the Food and Drug Ad-

ministration, Dr. Slaoui said on

CNN’s “State of the Union” on

Sunday. Alex M. Azar II, the secre-

tary of health and human serv-

ices, was just as optimistic.

“Really within days,” Mr. Azar

said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“Within 24 hours of F.D.A. green

lighting with authorization, we’ll

ship to all of the states and territo-

ries that we work with. And within

hours, they can be vaccinating.”

But the hopeful comments were

VACCINE MAY SHIP

IN DAYS AS CASES

SURPASS RECORD

CRISIS GRIPS CALIFORNIA

Trump Team Emphasizes

Speed but Experts

Warn of Delays

This article is by Michael D.

Shear, Apoorva Mandavilliand Jill

Cowan.

Mobile test site at Dodger Sta-

dium in Los Angeles last week.

PHILIP CHEUNG FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A

DECATUR, Ga. — President

Trump bet his re-election on a

very specific vision of the Ameri-

can suburb: a 2020 edition of May-

field from “Leave It to Beaver” in

which residents are white, resent

minorities, and prioritize their

economic well-being over all other

concerns.

The bet fell far short. Mr. Trump

lost ground with suburban voters

across the country. And particu-

larly in Georgia, where rapidly

changing demographics have

made it the most racially diverse

political battleground in the coun-

try, his pitch has been at odds with

reality.

From the inner suburbs sur-

rounding Atlanta and extending

to the traditionally conservative

exurbs, Democrats benefited

from two big changes: Black, Lati-

no and Asian residents moving

into formerly white communities

and an increase in the number of

white, college-educated moder-

ates and conservatives who have

soured on Mr. Trump.

Those factors helped President-

elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. become

the first Democrat to win Georgia

since 1992. And Senate runoff

elections in January will test

whether those Biden voters

backed his agenda or simply

sought to remove a uniquely divi-

sive incumbent.

Though Mr. Trump is not on the

ballot next month, he is very much

involved in the race and has not

moderated his message despite

his chastening at the ballot box.

The hope is, to some degree, that

the pitch that fell short with sub-

urban voters last month will work

when Democratic control of the

Suburbs Tilted Georgia to Biden,

But Senate Battle Is New Game

By ASTEAD W. HERNDON Crossover Vote a Puzzle

For Two Democrats

Continued on Page A

WILMINGTON, Del. — The

hometown of President-elect Jo-

seph R. Biden Jr. has long wres-

tled with its image problem.

Namely, it does not have one.

If people could find Wilmington

on a map — and many couldn’t —

they thought of it as a convenient

pit stop along the Northeast Corri-

dor, which was dominated by far

larger, more important, more col-

orful places. It is a city lacking a

well-known culinary dish, histori-

cal event, professional sports

team or even a particular catch-

phrase.

And yet, against dubious odds

not unlike those that Mr. Biden

overcame in reaching the presi-

dency after three tries, Wilming-

ton appears determined to ride

the Biden wave to long-elusive

glory.

“Usually, nobody pays attention

to us, and now we are on the news

every night!” exclaimed Karen

Kegelman of the Delaware His-

torical Society, whose first memo-

rable encounter with Mr. Biden

dates back to when he spoke at

her high school graduation. She is

53.

The president-elect has trans-

formed the city into a federal-gov-

ernment-in-waiting. He delivers

With New President, All Eyes on Wilmington

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

‘A Little Mystique’ for

a Little Business Hub

A cardboard cutout of Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the window of a clothing store in Wilmington, Del.

MICHELLE GUSTAFSON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A

rolling down sealed-off streets —

now serves as a disturbing post-

card from the post-traumatic af-

termath.

In small towns where many

know one another, there is appre-

hension about other people, but

also survivor’s guilt, anger, sec-

ond thoughts about fateful deci-

sions and nightmares about dying

wishes unfulfilled. There is a per-

vasive anxiety that, with the virus

surging anew, Bergamo’s enor-

mous sacrifice will soon recede

into history, that its towns will be

forgotten battlefields from the

great first wave, that its dead will

become engraved names on an-

other rusted plaque.

And most of all there is a col-

lective grappling to understand

how the virus has changed people.

Not just their antibodies, but their

selves.

“It has closed me more,” Monia

Cagnoni, 41, who lost her mother

to the virus and then developed

pneumonia, said as she sat apart

from her father and sister on the

stairs of their family home. “I

want to be more alone.”

Her sister, Cinzia, 44, who pre-

pared coffee and cake in the

kitchen, had the opposite impulse.

“I need people more than ever,”

she said. “I don’t like to be alone.”

Hollowed Out by Covid, and Struggling to Cope

By JASON HOROW

NEMBRO, Italy — Every Mon-

day night in the northern Italian

town that had perhaps the highest

coronavirus death rate in all of Eu-

rope, a psychologist specializing

in post-traumatic stress leads

group therapy sessions in the lo-

cal church.

“She has treated survivors of

war,” the Rev. Matteo Cella, the

parish priest of the town, Nembro,

in Bergamo province, said of the

psychologist. “She says the dy-

namic is the same.”

First the virus exploded in

Bergamo. Then came the shell

shock. The province that first

gave the West a preview of the

horrors to come — oxygen-

starved grandparents, teeming

hospitals and convoys of coffins

Sara Cagliani was consoled at a Mass for her father, Alberto Cagliani. She was unable to carry out his last wish: to bury him in uniform.

FABIO BUCCIARELLI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Trauma and Despair

Plague Survivors in

Italian Province

Continued on Page A

Public Transit

Faces Big Cuts

And Little Help

By CHRISTINA GOLD
and WILL WRIGHT
In Boston, transit officials
warned of ending weekend serv-
ice on the commuter rail and shut-
ting down the city’s ferries. In
Washington, weekend and late-
night metro service would be
eliminated and 19 of the system’s
91 stations would close. In Atlanta,
70 of the city’s 110 bus routes have
already been suspended, a move
that could become permanent.
And in New York City, home to
the largest mass transportation
system in North America, transit
officials have unveiled a plan that
could slash subway service by 40
percent and cut commuter rail
service in half.
Across the United States, public
transportation systems are con-
fronting an extraordinary finan-
cial crisis set off by the pandemic,
which has starved transit agen-
cies of huge amounts of revenue
and threatens to cripple service
for years.
The profound cuts agencies are
contemplating could hobble the
recoveries of major cities like New
York, Los Angeles and San Fran-
cisco, where reliable transit is a
lifeblood of the local economies.
Trains and buses carry the of-
fice workers, shoppers and tour-
ists who will help revive stores,
restaurants, cultural attractions,
hotels and other key businesses
that have been battered by the
outbreak.
The financial collapse of trans-
portation agencies would espe-
cially hurt minority and low-in-
come riders who tend to be among
the biggest users of subways and
buses.
For months, transit officials
around the country have pleaded
for help from the federal govern-
ment, but with no new lifeline
forthcoming and many systems
facing December deadlines to bal-
ance their budgets, agencies have
started to outline doomsday serv-
ice plans that would take effect
next year.
A glimmer of hope emerged in
recent days, when a bipartisan
group of lawmakers in Congress
proposed $15 billion for public
transit agencies as part of a $
billion framework for a pandemic-
relief package.
The plan, which President-elect
Joseph R. Biden Jr. has said he
supports, would provide nearly
half of the $32 billion that transit
leaders have lobbied for in recent

Continued on Page A

Quebec is grappling with how to re-
member the separatist-led 1970 “Octo-
ber crisis.” PAGE A

INTERNATIONAL A9-

Looking Back on Violence

In a year of loss, the death of Rafer

Johnson hit extra hard, Kurt Streeter

writes. Sports of The Times. PAGE D

SPORTSMONDAY D1-

A Champion, and a Guide

Serious new plays always face big

challenges, never more so than now, but

“The Wolves,” above, and “Heroes of

the Fourth Turning” offer hope. PAGE C

ARTS C1-

Heartening Performances

In Chula Vista, Calif., flying drones with

artificial intelligence are helping police

in their investigations while also

presenting new civil rights questions

about citizen privacy. PAGE B

BUSINESS B1-

Drones as First Responders

In the European Union, the number of

daily deaths from the coronavirus ex-

ceeded 4,000 on Nov. 24, a horrifying

new record. PAGE A

TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-

A Deadlier Second Wave

The stunning release move by Warner

Bros. shows that the Netflix model is

winning. The entertainment industry

may be changed forever. PAGE B

Signs of a Movie Revolution

Andre Iguodala, 36, is on the back end

of his N.B.A. career, but he’s hitting his

stride in the tech world. PAGE D

Beginning the Next Act

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the
European Union’s president are facing a
Dec. 31 deadline for a deal. PAGE A

A Last-Ditch Brexit Attempt

College officials say they are using

pandemic lessons from the fall to bring

more students back. PAGE A

Making Room on Campus

Republican officials argue the presi-

dent’s actions have eroded the public

trust in the election process. PAGE A

NATIONAL A12-

Muddying the Georgia Waters

Farhad Manjoo PAGE A

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A18-

WASHINGTON — President-

elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has se-

lected Xavier Becerra, the Demo-

cratic attorney general of Califor-

nia, as his nominee for secretary

of health and human services, tap-

ping a former congressman who

would be the first Latino to run the

department as it battles the surg-

ing coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. Becerra became Mr. Biden’s

clear choice only over the past few

days, according to people familiar

with the transition’s deliberations,

and was a surprise. Mr. Becerra

has carved out a profile more on

the issues of criminal justice, im-

migration and tax policy, and he

was long thought to be a candidate

for attorney general.

But in California, he has been at

the forefront of legal efforts on

health care, leading 20 states and

the District of Columbia in a cam-

paign to protect the Affordable

Care Act from being dismantled

by his Republican counterparts.

He has also been vocal in the Dem-

ocratic Party about fighting for

women’s health.

If confirmed, Mr. Becerra will

immediately face a daunting task

in leading the department at a

critical moment during a pan-

demic that has killed more than

281,000 people in the United

States — and one that has taken a

particularly devastating toll on

people of color.

“The A.C.A. has been life-

changing and now through this

pandemic, we can all see the value

in having greater access to quality

health care at affordable prices,”

Mr. Becerra said in June, when he

filed a brief with the Supreme

Court in defense of the health care

law. “Now is not the time to rip

away our best tool to address very

real and very deadly health dis-

parities in our communities.”

A spokesman for Mr. Biden’s

transition team declined to com-

ment. The president-elect plans to

formally announce Mr. Becerra as

his choice to lead the health de-

partment early this week, along

with several other top health care

advisers, according to people fa-

miliar with the rollout.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the chief

of infectious diseases at Massa-

chusetts General Hospital, will be

selected to lead the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention,

according to a person familiar

with Mr. Biden’s deliberations. Dr.

Walensky, whose selection was re-

ported earlier by Politico, will re-

Continued on Page A

Surprise Pick

For Top Office

In Virus Fight

Biden Selects Becerra

for Health Secretary

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

and MICHAEL D. SHEAR

Late Edition

VOL. CLXX.... No. 58,900 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2020

Today,sunshine, clouds, blustery,

cold, high 40. Tonight,partly cloudy,

chilly, low 30. Tomorrow,partly

sunny, still brisk and cold, high 41.

Weather map appears on Page A16.

$3.