California legislature suspends meeting for first time in 158 years

The California Legislature approved up to $1 billion in new spending on Monday to combat the coronavirus outbreak, then suspended their work for the next month to try and contain the illness.
It is believed to be the first unexpected work stoppage in the California Legislature in 158 years, according to Alex Vassar, an unofficial legislative historian at the California State Library. And it came on the heels of extraordinary bipartisanship, as Republicans and Democrats alike voted overwhelmingly to give Gov. Gavin Newsom broad authority to spend during the crisis without their oversight.
“It is a request to step away from our desks much earlier than we would like. The demands of public health require it,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said.
The California Legislature has rarely closed. The Legislature did not miss meetings during either of the world wars or in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. In 2001, when a semi-truck crashed into the Senate side of the Capitol, the Senate convened right on schedule about 12 hours later in the Assembly chambers. And last year, when a woman threw her own blood onto the floor of the state Senate in an act of protest on the session’s final day, lawmakers reconvened hours later in a committee room to finish their work.
The only time lawmakers did unexpectedly suspend their meetings was in 1862, when a flood consumed most of Sacramento and, legend has it, forced newly elected Gov. Leland Stanford to use a boat to attend his inauguration. Lawamkers missed a few days before reconvening in San Francisco to continue their work, according Vassar.
In 1919, during a flu pandemic, at least five lawmakers had symptoms and had to be quarantined. Leaders discussed whether lawmakers should stop meeting, but eventually decided to “disinfect the Capitol daily and to keep meeting,” Vassar said.
“It is an extremely rare occurrence for the Legislature to stop meeting during the regular session,” Vassar said.
Lawmakers agreed Monday to stay away until April 13. But legislative leaders in either chamber can decide to reconvene. And they can extend the recess if necessary.
“We will be prepared on a moment’s notice to return ton address any urgent action that we must take,” Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins said.
The legislation approved Monday gives Gov. Gavin Newsom $500 million to spend “for any item for any purpose” related to his March 4 declaration of emergency. In the future, Newsom could increase that spending by increments of $50 million — but only if he tells lawmakers about it three days in advance. The spending is capped at $1 billion.
“By taking this action we are placing an extraordinary degree of trust in Gov. Gavin Newsom. However, these are extraordinary times,” said Republican Assemblyman Jay Obernolte.
A separate bill would make sure public schools that closed because of the outbreak don’t lose funding. It would also allocate $100 million to schools for “personal protective equipment” or to pay for “supplies and labor related to cleaning.”
State law bans lawmakers from voting on bills unless they have been available for public review for at least three days. But lawmakers can waive that law if the governor asks them to. Newsom did that on Monday.
“Today I write to you to state the obvious: we must rise to the challenge facing our state with every tool at our disposal and without a second of delay,” Newsom wrote in a letter to the Legislature. “We cannot hesitate to meet this moment.”
Lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to approve his request.
Lawmakers were in action on Monday while most other entities in California were closed. Sunday, Newsom urged everyone 65 and older to stay home. Presumably, that order included the 25 lawmakers in the state Legislature who are older than 65.
Assemblyman Jose Medina, 66, said he was already on a plane headed to Sacramento on Sunday when Newsom asked people 65 and older to stay home. He attended Monday’s Assembly session, saying he thought his constituents would “appreciate that we are still doing the work of the state of California.”
“It’s nothing that I would take lightly, and I think that most folks my age and older are taking it seriously,” said Medina, a Democrat who represents Riverside.
But 73-year-old Assemblyman Bill Quirk stayed home. He lives in a retirement community in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife. While the two of them are healthy, many of their neighbors are not.
“If I were to bring home the coronavirus, 20 people could die, or maybe even 40,” Quirk said. “Some people think they are really important and they should always be working. And I can tell you I’m not so important that we can even risk one life here, period.”

Primaries go forward in three big states despite coronavirus, as Biden looks to shut out Sanders

No candidates in sight – no campaigning – and no canvassing.
Welcome to the first presidential primary during a pandemic in modern times.
Voters in three states will briefly head to the polls with trepidation on Tuesday - with the country facing an unprecedented crisis as the coronavirus has forced most Americans to self-isolate in their homes in hopes of stemming the spread of the outbreak.
CORONAVIRUS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
On primary eve – Ohio’s governor used an emergency order to postpone his state’s contest after the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) urged against any gatherings nationwide of 50 people or more.
“We cannot conduct this election tomorrow,” Gov. Mike DeWine stressed.
While the polls will be closed in Ohio, contests in Arizona, Florida, and Illinois – will go forward on Tuesday.
And that could give Democratic presidential nomination front-runner Joe Biden a chance to deliver a potential knockout blow to Sen. Bernie Sanders – who’s fighting to avoid elimination from the White House race.
“This primary is far from over,” Sanders stressed in an email to supporters on the eve of the March 17 contests.
But in reality – the progressive senator from Vermont who’s making his second straight bid for the Democratic nomination is watching his window fast close.
The self-described democratic-socialist was the front-runner in the race for much of February – thanks to a partial victory in Iowa’s caucuses, an outright win in New Hampshire’s primary, and a shellacking of the rest of the Democratic field of contenders in Nevada’s caucuses.
But over the last two and a half weeks, Sanders has watched Joe Biden zoom past him in the race for the presidential nomination. Following a landslide win in South Carolina’s primary and sweeping victories in the coast-to-coast Super Tuesday states as well as last week’s mini Super Tuesday, the former vice president cemented his position as the unrivaled front-runner and has taken a commanding lead over Sanders in the all-important race for convention delegates.
At the same time, Biden’s seen a tidal wave of support and endorsements from current and former members of Congress, governors and state lawmakers and party rainmakers – as centrists, moderates, and the party establishment have all coalesced around the former vice president in hopes that they’ve found the contender who can take out President Trump in Novembers general election.
The public opinion polls in all four states voting Tuesday indicate Biden enjoying large double-digit leads. And Sanders lost all four of the states four years ago to eventual 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton.
With 219 pledged delegates at stake, Florida’s the biggest prize. Illinois has 155 delegates up for grabs, followed by Ohio at 136 and Arizona with 67.
While Sanders scored points at Sunday night’s Democratic presidential nomination debate – he didn’t deliver a knockout blow to Biden that was needed to change the primary narrative that the independent senator’s living on borrowed time.
If Tuesday’s primaries deliver another round of decisive victories by Biden, the chorus of calls for Sanders to step aside will grow louder. But Biden will still be short of the 1,991 pledged delegates needed to clinch the nomination. And with the primary calendar grinding to a halt after Tuesday's contests due to the coronavirus pandemic - there’s the possibility that Sanders could stay alive in a race that will be frozen in time.

Dr. Ronny Jackson says Trump prevented American coronavirus pandemic on level of Italy, Iran

Former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson praised President Trump Monday night after he announced a list of guidelines that he and the White House coronavirus task force hoped will slow the spread of the pandemic within 15 days.
"The president has done everything he needed to do in this case," Jackson told "Hannity". "He’s acted quickly and decisively. He did what he always has done ... he went with his instincts."
"He put together a top-notch team and he was criticized.... despite that, he carried on and did what he needed to do for our country. He put the [China] travel ban in place," he added.
Jackson said he does not expect the virus to spread at the rate that it has in places like Italy and Iran due to the president's "quick and decisive actions," notably his decision to restrict travel into the U.S. from China in late January.
"What’s going on in Italy and Iran is not going to happen here I think, because of the president's quick and decisive actions. I think we are going to be more in line with what’s going on in South Korea and things of that nature," Jackson said.
He continued, "We are going to see that we got on it early ... the president stopped it quickly and it’s going to save countless American lives. I am proud that he’s acted so quickly and decisively in all of this."
Jackson also praised the coronavirus task force assembled by the president, and urged the public to "follow their instructions."

"...The president stopped it quickly and it’s going to save countless American lives."
— Dr. Ronny Jackson

"We are going to be okay," he said.
Asked to comment on the lack of tests available to the public, Jackson defended the administration, and called it just one example "of some of the regulations in government that the president has been getting rid of."

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Mary Anne Marsh: In Biden-Sanders debate, solutions win and revolution loses

While starting a debate focused on the coronavirus by coughing wasn’t the best move by former Vice President Joe Biden, he employed the right strategy in his first one-on-one matchup against Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday night, making it about solutions versus a revolution.
Biden addressed the coronavirus crisis and every topic discussed with real answers to the existing challenges we face today. In contrast, Sanders missed the mark by relying on his stump speech about a revolution to change health care and other important aspects of American society.
With a very strong performance, Biden was the clear winner of the debate between the Democratic presidential candidates.
SANDERS ATTACKS BIDEN RECORD AS ONE-ON-ONE DEBATE TURNS PERSONAL: ‘DON’T LAUGH, JOE’
Yes, many headlines will focus on the commitment Biden made to select a woman as his vice presidential running mate. He also made news by committing to put an African-American woman on the Supreme Court if he becomes president.
But it was the stark contrast between Biden and Sanders, and by extension with President Trump, that really mattered in the debate.
Biden’s pledges on female appointments were meaningful historically and politically. It was also smart to make sure there was a headline or two, in case the evening didn’t go well. But Biden not only made news – he delivered a great performance as well.

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The former vice president provided specifics throughout the debate – whether it was calling for dealing with the worsening coronavirus crisis by adding more hospital beds or deploying the military to assist the emergency response. He showed he knew what to do about the pandemic, as well as a range of other topics.
Rarely did Sanders tackle a problem head-on with a solution. Instead, he leaned on his well-worn campaign rhetoric or parts of his record – especially his oft-repeated desire to reform the health care system with “Medicare-for-all.”
In contrast, Biden did an especially good job defending the Obama administration bailouts that saved the economy and prevented the Great Recession from becoming a depression. He pointed out that many of the very people who Sanders constantly claims to represent – blue-collar workers, small-business owners, and hourly wage earners – would have been hurt the most if Sanders had his way and thwarted the bailout.
The context of this debate was clear before it started. Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee with what looks like an insurmountable delegate lead. He is expected to defeat Sanders in upcoming primaries and clinch the party’s presidential nomination.
In this first and perhaps only one-one-one Sanders-Biden debate (if Sanders ends his campaign early) Sanders tried to get commitments from Biden to support his policies and move to the left.
Sanders foreshadowed his strategy in remarks he made in the wake of his losses last Tuesday in a string of primaries.
But Biden preempted Sanders by announcing before the debate he supported free public college tuition for any family with an income less than $125,000.
Looking ahead to the November election, each candidate pledged to support and campaign for the other if his competitor becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.
Sanders likes Biden, which will advance efforts at party unity. Biden has always treated Sanders well from the day Sanders walked into the Senate.
This also made for a much better debate and allowed viewers to focus on the stark policy differences between the two candidates.
At the end of the debate, you saw the differences between Biden and Sanders. But you could also see the differences between Biden and Trump. And a debate between them could be a doozy.
WINNER: Joe Biden
Holding a debate focused on the coronavirus without an audience was the best idea of the night.  It allowed everyone to see how Sanders, Biden and Trump are reacting to the pandemic.
Add to this Biden’s strong, aggressive performance throughout and that made him the clear winner.
From his experience in the Obama White House and long Senate service, Biden repeatedly offered specific details about how to tackle problems, pointing to his previous experience doing the same and showing voters he could get the job done.
In one exchange Biden got right to the point by focusing on “Medicare-for-all” and the coronavirus, showing viewers that proselytizing for single-payer government health insurance isn’t the answer.
“That has nothing to do with whether or not you have an insurance policy,” Biden said. “This is a crisis. We’re at war with a virus. We’re at war with a virus. It has nothing to do with co-pays or anything."
Biden repeatedly stated that now isn’t the time for a revolution because we need to solve problems immediately. Then he pointed to the fact that Sanders still hasn’t said how much “Medicare-for-all” would cost.

Sanders knows he won’t be the nominee and you could see it in his debate performance. That doesn’t mean he won’t keep trying to get Biden onboard with his positions.

Biden really hit his stride talking about BidenCare building on ObamaCare to tackle health care and the coronavirus pandemic, and reminding viewers in a very personal way about his own experience with health care crises. His first wife and daughter died in a car accident in 1972 and his son Beau died in 2015 of brain cancer.
The former vice president noted that most people want to have hope when faced with a health crisis.
Biden put it all together on a night when our country is facing one of its biggest challenges in the coronavirus pandemic. If he can continue to perform during the next eight months the way he did Sunday night then Trump will have an even bigger challenge on his hands to stay in the White House.
LOSER: Bernie Sanders
With what seems to be an insurmountable delegate hill to climb, Sanders entered the debate looking like the loser in the nomination race. So Sanders’ strategy in the debate was to get Biden to move to the left and endorse Sanders’ proposals about health care, climate change, immigration and other issues.
But Sanders failed to push Biden as far left as the senator from Vermont would have liked. In addition, Sanders hesitancy to commit to picking a woman running mate gave us a window into him and his campaign that wasn’t a winning look.
Sanders was effective when he reminded viewers of votes Biden has taken in the past that don’t look good today.
As a senator in 1996, Biden voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions for the purpose of federal benefits. Also as a senator, he voted in 2002 to give President George W. Bush the right to take military action against Iraq, voted for the Hyde Amendment that barred the use of federal funds to pay for abortions except to save the life of the woman or if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest, and voted for legislation that made it harder to declare bankruptcy.
Sanders voted against all the above measures and sought to use the old votes against Biden in their debate Sunday night.
But even that effort failed when Biden hit back by reminding everyone that Sanders voted against the Brady Act gun control legislation five times and voted to give gun manufacturers protection from lawsuits.
Furthermore, Sanders never answered Biden’s question about why he voted against sanctions on Russia for interfering in our 2016 presidential election.
While Sanders may have won some points in these exchanges he lost the debate.
Finally, Sanders at one point lectured Biden that Biden would be a weak candidate against Trump because he couldn’t muster the enthusiasm of voters. Biden punctured that argument by noting he increased turnout and broke records in the primaries while Sanders outspent him more than two-to-one in some contests.
Sanders knows he won’t be the nominee and you could see it in his debate performance. That doesn’t mean he won’t keep trying to get Biden onboard with his positions. But Sanders is unlikely to have any more luck with that in the future.
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Coronavirus brings life in the US to a grinding halt as federal, local governments work to stop spread

It was the week that changed everything.
Federal, state and local governments, in the past 72 hours, have taken unprecedented steps to try and slow the coronavirus’ spread, and bolster small businesses, first-responders and hospitals that prepare for an influx of patients exhibiting serious symptoms.
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Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who is spending some time in Italy, wrote in Newsweek that the U.S. should plan for a "worst-case pandemic." He called for a unified effort with the kind of "intensity of implementation which served us so well in World War II."
Exhausted Italian nurses have taken to social media to give grim updates about patient care in the country's northern city of Lombardy. Some health care workers there say hospitals can’t keep up with the demand, and they’re running out of beds.
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"It's as if you were asking what to do if an atomic bomb explodes," Dr. Antonio Pesenti, the head of Lombardy's intensive crisis care unit, told the Washington Post. "You declare defeat. We'll try to salvage what's salvageable."
Doctors in Italy had the grim task of issuing guidelines on which patients have access to the dwindling supply of ventilators. The young and those with the best chance of survival are prioritized, the Post reported.
President Trump, at a news conference on Sunday, said the U.S. is studying how countries effectively managed the outbreak. South Korea and China are two countries praised for their efforts. Italy, which has a large elderly population, is considered, at this point, to be a cautionary tale.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has sickened more than 162,000 people worldwide and has left more than 6,000 dead, with thousands of new cases confirmed each day. The death toll in the United States climbed to 68, while infections passed 3,200. West Virginia is the only state without a confirmed case.
STATE-BY-STATE BREAKDOWN
The coronavirus, for most, causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover.
Americans have seen dramatic steps taken that affect their everyday lives, from reduced hours at work, new concerns for an elderly relative or an urgent need for childcare.
But the country has also seen measures that affect our national identity. NBA, NHL, MLB pre-season, NCAA and PGA seasons have been suspended. The Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Memorial and Ellis Island are closed to the public effective immediately. There is going to be an emergency meeting to discuss the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The U.S. Capitol will cease all public tours. Walt Disney World theme parks and the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles will also close.
MGM Resorts announced Sunday that it will suspend operations on Tuesday at famed  Las  Vegas casinos, including The Bellagio, MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay. No reservations will be prior to May. Fourteen total hotels there are set to close by Tuesday.
Trump on Sunday worked to assuage Americans who’ve seen their schools closed and grocery stores emptied.  He said these grocery stores will remain open. The National Security Council took to Twitter late Sunday to deny rumors of a "national quarantine."
"We're doing great, it all will pass," Trump said.
The president has been pushing for calm, but the crisis has evoked the memory of the 9/11 attacks and the financial crisis of 2008. Axios reported that Delta Airlines' recent decision to cut its flight capacity by 40% went further than in 2001. New York's hotel market is in its own "state of emergency," according to Hospitality.net. John Lam, a hotel developer and CEO of the Lam Group, said "this is worse than 9/11."
"During 9/11 you still had government employees and the Red Cross coming in and staying at hotels. Now no one is coming to New York," he said.
Perhaps the most troubling aspects of the coronavirus are the uncertainties. China said it will try to slowly get back to normal in Wuhan, the city where medical experts believe the virus originated, but it remains to be seen if the infection rate will increases there once again during the transition. The virus on Sunday, for the first time, officially killed more people outside China than within.
Trump has worked to calm the markets, but the long-lasting repercussions of the virus on business life in the U.S. and the world is anyone’s guess. Biotech companies are working to develop a vaccine, and the first human trials are expected later Monday in Seattle.
Jason Furman, an adviser to then-President Obama during the 2008 financial crisis, told  NBC News that the coronavirus is potentially more serious than the financial crisis. He said timing is everything. If the virus is gone in two months, he would not be worried.
"The problem with the economic side is that if it lasts more than a few months, it then takes on its own momentum," he said. "If you look across the United States and across other countries, the unemployment rate can go up very quickly, but it can’t come back down very quickly. It never has. A business whose balance sheet is in tatters after nine months without revenues might go bankrupt, it might go out of business, or it won't be in position to hire people back immediately even if demand returns."
The Federal Reserve, like other central banks, slashed its benchmark interest rate to near zero and promised to buy $700 billion in Treasury and mortgage bonds. U.S. futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index responded by falling 5% on Sunday night, triggered a halt in trading.
"Despite whipping out the big guns," the Fed's action is "falling short of being the decisive backstop for markets," said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in a report. "Markets might have perceived the Fed's response as panic, feeding into its own fears."
CITIES TAKE ACTION
The coronavirus has prompted some of the largest cities in the country to take swift actions to prevent an overwhelming outbreak.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced late Sunday an executive order that "in an effort to save the lives of loved ones and our neighbors," the city will limit bars, restaurants, cafes to delivery only. The executive order will call for the closures of all city nightclubs, movie theaters and concert venues. The restrictions are in line with other cities like Washington, D.C. and the state of California.
The mayor announced earlier that the city’s public school system will also close until April 20. The school system will use remote learning beginning on March 23. The school system has about 1.1 million students.
"The notion of having a school year disrupted in this fashion, I have no words for how horrible it is," he said.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also invoked an executive order and closed all bars, night clubs and movie theaters until March 31. Like de Blasio, he said these restaurants can deliver food.
Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale closed their beaches, where thousands of college spring breakers flocked. The cities also ordered restaurants and bars closed by 10 p.m. and to keep crowds below 250.
"We cannot become a petri dish for a very dangerous virus," Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said. "Spring break is over. The party is over."
The decisions of these major cities to close these establishments follow the recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to bar all gatherings of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks. It added that, at any event, people should take proper precautions, including handwashing and keeping one's distance.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government's top infectious disease expert, said he would like to see a 14-day national shutdown imposed to prevent the virus's spread.
"I think Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing," said Fauci, a member of the White House task force on combating the spread of coronavirus. He heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.
There is no indication Trump is considering such a move.
STATES TAKE ACTION
Vice President Mike Pence, who has been tapped to run the president’s coronavirus task force, told a press conference Sunday that the federal government is in contact communication with states and said there’s a need for a “whole-of-America” approach to fighting the virus.
“We couldn’t be more grateful for all of the governors, particularly in areas where we’ve had community spread, for the seamless cooperation that’s taking place,” he said. “And we commend local health authorities and all of those who are literally on the frontlines.”
Governors across the U.S. have also implemented executive orders that they say help prepare their states for a coronavirus case surge.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Democrat, released an executive order last week that includes the authority for the state to take over hotels and motels for medical use for potential coronavirus patients. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan Democrat, signed an executive order on Sunday that imposes new restrictions on price gouging. ClickonDetroit reported that the order makes it illegal for someone to resell a product that grossly exceeds its purchase price.
Gov. Henry McMaster, the South Carolina Republican, ordered schools and universities in the state to be closed until at least March 31. The state is working to equip some school buses with WiFi in remote areas of the state to accommodate students who live there, a report said.
Some leaders took a different position on called to self-isolate and maintain a six-foot distance from each other. Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt tweeted a picture of himself and his children at a crowded metro restaurant Saturday night. Republican Rep. Devin Nunes had a similar message on Fox News Sunday and encouraged people to go to local restaurants and pubs.
Dr. Amy Acton, Ohio’s director of the state’s health department, told reporters last week that the virus is "among us, but we can't see it yet."
She said that even though there were only five confirmed cases in the state, the more realistic figure is likely about 100,000, since many were not tested and the symptoms could be mild.
"This is certainly an unprecedented time. It is this one in 50 years pandemic that we have been planning for that we talk a lot about in my over 30 years in public health," Acton said. "We have never seen a situation exactly like this."
2020 ELECTIONS
Sen. Bernie Sanders told the New York Times Sunday that it might make sense to suspend primaries during the coronavirus outbreak.
SANDERS TRIES TO GO ON OFFENSIVE DURING HEATED DEBATE
The report pointed out that Louisiana and Georgia have already postponed their primaries, but the states that vote on Tuesday—including Ohio, Illinois, Florida and Arizona—plan to go forward.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose defended his state’s decision to proceed with the primary elections, calling the vote a “sacred thing.”
“And if we can do so in a way that's healthy based on what the scientists are telling us based on what the PhDs are telling us that we need to move forward with that, to abandon that because of fear or to abandon that because we're maybe sort of replacing the professional expert guidance with our own would be irresponsible,” he told Fox News.
Sanders said he would hope state officials listen to public health experts and avoid gatherings of 50 or more people.
"I'm thinking about some of the elderly people sitting behind the desks, registering people, all that stuff. It does not make a lot of sense. I’m not sure that it does," he said.
Kate Bedingfield, Joe Biden's deputy campaign manager, wouldn’t weigh in on whether or not Tuesday’s contests should be postponed. But she stressed that “we encourage everybody to follow the guidance of pubic health officials and public officials in their states. We believe that we can uphold the values of our democracy while protecting public health.”
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser and the Associated Press contributed to this report

Coronavirus: Biotech company ships first batches of vaccine, to be tested on humans: report

Containment measures are being implemented in the U.S. and throughout the globe to limit the spread of coronavirus, but only a vaccine can prevent people from getting sick from the virus.
Roughly 35 companies and academic institutions are rushing to create a vaccine and at least four have tested it on animals. Moderna, a biotech company in Massachusetts, has already shipped the first batches of its COVID-19 vaccine to the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
It was said to be ready for human trials in April, but the first patient will receive an experimental dose on Monday, a government official said.
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A gun store customer that gave his name only at John waits in line, Sunday, March 15, 2020, in Burbank, Calif. As consumers are buying all kinds of goods in large quantities amid coronavirus concerns, putting pressure on inventories.(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The trials will be held at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. Testing will involve 45 young, healthy volunteers and it uses Moderna's mRNA-1273 vaccine.
"Unlike a normal vaccine, RNA vaccines work by introducing an mRNA sequence (the molecule which tells cells what to build) which is coded for a disease-specific antigen, once produced within the body, the antigen is recognized by the immune system, preparing it to fight the real thing," according to the University of Cambridge.
The goal of the trial is to make sure the vaccines show no worrisome side effects before researchers begin larger tests. Participants can't get infected from the shots.
The speed in getting to this part of the process was assisted by scientists in China who were able to uncover the virus's genome sequence -- called SARS-CoV-2, which they shared back in early January. That step has allowed researchers to grow the virus and study how it impacts the body.
It was also assisted by the knowledge that flu is generally considered the biggest pandemic risk, according to the Guardian. Scientists have been working on "prototype" pathogens following the SARS and MERS epidemics in previous years.
“The speed with which we have [produced these candidates] builds very much on the investment in understanding how to develop vaccines for other coronaviruses,” said Richard Hatchett, the CEO of a Norweigan company that is leading efforts to finance and coordinate the development of the COVID-19 vaccine.
CORONAVIRUS VACCINE DEVELOPMENT: WHERE DOES IT STAND?
Work to help develop vaccines for those viruses was shelved after their outbreaks were contained, but it's now being looked at again. The Moderna vaccine was also built from earlier work on the MERS virus, according to the paper.
Still, clinical trials are a lengthy process that will take over a year to make sure the virus is safe and works. The patients who are being tested with the Moderna vaccine during trials will be closely monitored for about a year. After that, the distribution of the virus to the necessary populations will take a good bit of time.
"Getting a vaccine that’s proven to be safe and effective in humans takes one at best about a third of the way to what’s needed for a global immunization program,” global health expert Jonathan Quick told the Guardian. “Virus biology and vaccines technology could be the limiting factors, but politics and economics are far more likely to be the barrier to immunization.”
While President Trump has vowed a vaccine will be ready come election time in November, the World Health Organization has estimated a vaccine will be ready in 18 months.
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Even if initial safety tests go well, “you’re talking about a year to a year and a half” before any vaccine could be ready for widespread use, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
That still would be a record-setting pace. But manufacturers know the wait — required because it takes additional studies of thousands of people to tell if a vaccine truly protects and does no harm — is hard for a frightened public.
Fox News' Nick Givas and the Associated Press contributed to this report

House’s coronavirus bill may be in trouble in the Senate

“Do not underestimate the challenge the Senate could face passing this bill.”
Those were the words of a senior Republican source about how tough the path may be for the Senate to align with the House of Representatives and approve a massive coronavirus measure. There is one school of thought that the Senate could simply take up the House bill and pass it on the spot. But frankly, the course is much, much harder than that.
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In fact, there are some technical problems in the drafting of the coronavirus legislation that requires the House to pass the bill again – perhaps with a skeleton staff – later this week. More on that in a moment.
The House overwhelmingly okayed the emergency coronavirus package in the wee hours of Saturday morning after more than 20 phone calls between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
“What made it hard is that we could never get everyone in the same room,” said one source.
In other words, social distancing contributed to a problem in the drafting of the legislation and trading of offers. Usually, the sides would lock themselves into a room and go around the table. But not in the age of coronavirus.
That prompted dozens upon dozens of phone calls between Pelosi, Mnuchin, other officials at Treasury, the White House, Republican Congressional leaders, House Committees, legislative counsel, et al. You get the idea.
Don’t forget that President Woodrow Wilson fell ill with the Spanish Flu in 1919. Wilson’s bout with the flu nearly sidetracked the Treaty of Versailles to end World War I. In other words, there’s precedent for pandemics shaping the curve of negotiating some of the most important things in politics.
So, the road to passage in the Senate? Unclear – even though 140 House GOPers voted for the plan in a witching hour vote Saturday morning and President Trump tweeted his support for it – just hours after dismissing the legislation.
Perhaps Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was prescient about the possible problems facing the Senate with this bill. McConnell bolted from the Capitol mid-afternoon Thursday as Pelosi and Mnuchin continued to talk. There was no clear route to pass any coronavirus bill on Thursday afternoon. There was no final bill. And, it took the House an additional 34 hours to assemble the coronavirus package.
But Pelosi and Mnuchin wouldn’t have continued to bargain into the night on Thursday and all day Friday had there not been a deal to be had.
So, when the Senate finally adjourned Thursday, it locked in a procedural vote at 5:30 p.m. et Monday – related to FISA. That’s the controversial surveillance program which expired over the weekend. Yep. Nothing pertaining to (at that point) any possible coronavirus bill. In fact, the Monday vote tied to FISA in the Senate is two parliamentary steps removed from actually reauthorizing FISA. In Senate language, this is a motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the FISA bill. In layman’s terms, that means the Senate must break a filibuster (with 60 yeas) just to start debate on FISA. If 60 senators vote yes, and there’s no other agreement, and they do it by the book, then the Senate wouldn’t formally start debate until late Tuesday night on FISA. Another procedural vote would be required later in the week just to wrap up all debate. Only then would the Senate be able to vote on FISA and move to the House coronavirus bill.
That’s if they do it by the book. And Fox is told there are plenty of senators who want to alter the House coronavirus bill.
Let’s start with the status of the FISA package. Attorney General Bill Barr came to Capitol Hill last Monday night to negotiate a final version with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and members of the conservative Freedom Caucus. The sides forged a bipartisan pact with Pelosi and other Democrats. The House approved the FISA renewal. And then President Trump tweeted that “Many Republican Senators want me to Veto the FISA bill until we find out what led to, and happened with, the illegal attempted ‘coup’ of the duly elected President of the United States and others!” But McCarthy signaled Friday night he expected Mr. Trump to sign FISA once it got through the Senate.
In other words, if the Senate can wrap up FISA quickly, only then can the senators advance to the coronavirus bill. But if FISA is stalled, who knows.
A top aide to McConnell e-mailed the Capitol Hill press corps after the House finished voting in the wee hours of Saturday morning. The staffer observed it would take the cooperation of 100 senators to start work on the coronavirus bill – regardless of FISA. But, since the House must still resolve problems with its own bill, McConnell suggested Sunday night that it would wait for the House to re-approve that measure.
A senior House Democratic aide expected the House to pass the fixed version of the bill via unanimous consent this week – that’s so long as no one objects. An objection from any lawmaker would stall the bill in the House and require all House members to return to Washington to vote.
You might recall an episode last spring where the House tried to move a $19.1 billion disaster measure to help areas ravaged by hurricanes and flooding. The House hoped to okay the plan via unanimous consent since communities needed the funding. Yet on three different occasions, Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX), Thomas Massie (R-KY) and John Rose (R-TN) all objected. That delayed the bill – forcing the House to vote on the package about a week later.
So….
One may ask who would want to get in the way of getting the actual coronavirus bill over to the Senate. Well, there is precedent for lawmakers blocking swift approval of the disaster bill. Many of the 40 House Republicans who opposed the measure Saturday morning complained they only had a few minutes to read the coronavirus bill text. And, to this point, no one truly knows the cost of the measure. It’s anywhere from tens of billions of dollars to the hundreds of billions of dollars.
“We don’t know the price tag because we don’t know the coronavirus model yet,” said one source.
The world has never witnessed a modern pandemic like coronavirus. So any attempt to assign a dollar figure at this stage is potentially a fool’s errand.
Keep in mind that this coronavirus bill was supposed to be the easy bill. One can anticipate just how complicated and onerous other bills could be. Industry bailouts. Increases in wages. Back pay. Amplified social programs. A recalibration of health care. Oh, and don’t forget the looming issues with re-insurance.
Say what?
Here we have a major event which upends the economy and forces the cancellation of practically everything. As we saw after 9/11, it may be tough for some current insurers to remain solvent because of major payouts. Therefore, insurance firms cede the risk to another insurer. That helps mitigate some of the risk. Complicated? You bet.
It’s truly unclear what path the Senate may take with the coronavirus measure this week. Or, maybe it bleeds into next week.
And that’s the issue. Some will argue Congress needs to act – and fast. Others will protest that the bill(s) are too big. Too massive. Congress should slow down.
“This all needs to be sorted out at the usual Tuesday lunches,” said one source, referring to the typical policy lunches on Capitol Hill. Each Tuesday, all of the Republicans huddle in the Mike Mansfield Room at the Capitol for lunch. The Democrats crowd into the Lyndon B. Johnson Room.
Yes. Business as usual, apparently. Senators bunching up together in the same room – over lunch, no less.
“We really just need to get these guys out of the building, before everyone gets sick,” said one aide.