captioning sponsored by cbs >> brennan: i'm margaret brennan in washington, and this week on "face the nation," the government's plan to vaccinate americans is already showing signs of strain, as the number of coronavirus cases and deaths climbs higher than ever, and concern over a new variant of the virus grows. it's been a sobering start to 2021. bad behavior over the holidays, as defined by c.d.c. guidelines, threatens to make january the deadliest month yet since the virus was discovered. the u.s. has now recorded over 20 million infections, a number that has doubled in the last eight weeks. in some parts of the country, hospitals, morgues, and funeral homes are at or over capacity.

health care workers are overwhelmed. >> i don't know. things are pretty bad. things are really bad. please, everyone, do your part. wear a mask, stay home, and help us reduce the strain on us because we need help. >> brennan: pictures of people waiting in long lines are now desperate for a covid-19 shot. >> there is a lot of vaccine hesitancy, but there is still a strong desire for people to get the vaccine. >> brennan: but there is chaos and lack of coordination with the credit carvaccine distribution. even those in charge say it is not a question of availability. >> there is a learning curve (indiscernable). >> brennan: we'll talk with the chief advisor or "operation warped speed," dr. moncef slaoui. and we'll here from los angeles mayor, eric

garcetti. his city is ground zero for the covid-19 surge. and asa hutchinson will also join us, as well as former f.d.a. commissioner dr. scott gottlieb, and the head of the negotiation representing tens of millions of seniors, aarp's jo ann jenkins. and a preview of georgia's elections. will the state that went from red to blue in november see enough democrats turn out to defeat not one, but two, republican senators? it is all just ahead on "face the nation." ♪ ♪ >> brennan: good morning. and welcome to "face the nation." as we begin the new year, optimism over the prospect of vaccinations is facing the reality of delays, confusion, lack of communication, and, once

more, a federal government seemingly without a coherent plan for making the millions of doses already manufactured accessible to americans. overwhelmed states, many struggling with this latest surge, have been left in charge of getting the vaccine to americans, and they're having a hard time doing so. meanwhile, the death toll continues to climb. more than 350,000 people have now died of covid-19 in the u.s. california is the new epicenter of this latest outbreak. cbs news correspondent carter evans reports from los angeles. >> reporter: with a new year comes new hope. but while vaccinations are under way across the nation -- >> i means seeing my grandkids. that means everything. >> reporter: they're not happening fast enough. the trump administration promised 20 million doses would be given by the end of 2020. but the c.d.c. says just

over four million people have been inoculated. part of the problem is finding enough medical professionals to administer the shots. >> the local boards of health have been overworked. a lot of them are understaffed. >> reporter: and there is the time involved, including a 15 to 30-minute observation period after the shot is given. another delay: vaccine skepticism. a new survey finds 29% of health care workers are vaccine hesitant. the growing covid surge is pushing hospitals in southern california to the breaking point. >> things are pretty bad. things are really bad. we're overwhelmed. we're stressed. we're stretched so thin. it's pretty unimaginable. >> reporter: some hospitals in the epicenter of l.a. county are already diverting ambulances. others are preparing emergency plans for rationing chairs. and now the army corps of engineers is mobilizing to

update oxygen delivery systems at hospitals in l.a. new covid cases here are up almost 1,000% since november. one in five people tested is now positive, and state-wide, covid kills someone every three minutes. morgues are overflowing, the dead now filling refrigerated trucks outside. across the country in north carolina, workers are setting up field hospitals, preparing for a new surge after the holidays. same story in atlanta, where they're converting the convention center into a medical center again. today marks the end of the busy holiday travel period. the t.s.a. says in the last two weeks, it has screened more than 11 million passengers. that, plus the tens of millions who likely traveled by road, has experts concerned another surge may be coming. right about the time president-elect biden is being sworn in. margaret? >> brennan: carter evans, thanks. around the world, other countries, most notably

israel, are outpacing the u.s. when it comes to vaccinating their population. israel stands the 12.6%, while the u.s. is at just 1%. behind bahrain, iceland, and the u.k. liz palmer reports from london. >> reporter: good morning. those numbers point to the inequality of access to vaccine around the world. at this point, the developed countries are 13 13% of the population have locked in more than half of the world's vaccine supply. it is india's giant pharmaceutical manufacturers that will be key to making enough vaccines, hundreds of millions of doses for the world, especially developing countries, and, of course, for itself. the indian government staged a dry run for our giant program that will try to inoculate a million

and a half people a day. >> you see how short of breath you are? >> reporter: but as vaccinations gathered speed, so did the virus. extra contagious strains, one in south africa, have pushed up the death rate alarmingly. >> it is scary, scary for us all. >> reporter: one in london was hit hard, too, and hospitals were at full capacity. so it was a huge relief when regulators approved the astrazeneca vaccine just before the new year. tomorrow it will be rolled out in britain, with such urgency that for now people will only get one shot of it or the pfizer vaccine, instead of the recommended two, to make supplies go further. israel's vaccine program is in full swing. it hopes to be the first country in the world to immunize all of its citizens by some time in march. that's likely to be before some countries in africa even get started. covid ruined most new

year's parties. in london, small groups of people hoping for fireworks were chased away by mounted police. >> you shouldn't be gathering here. >> reporter: but here and there, as in taiwan, where covid is firmly under control, crowds welcomed what the rest of the world so craved: a healthy 2021. widespread and truly global vaccine has to be well under way before things like safe travel for all of us can resume. an epidemiologists say that is not likely to happen until at least 2023. margaret? >> brennan: liz palmer, thank you. we want to go to the chief advisor for the u.s. vaccine effort, that's "operation warped speed," dr. moncef slaoui joins us from miami. good morning to you, doctor. >> doctor: good morning, margaret. >> brennan: have u.s. officials gotten any insight as to how this mor

more contagious version of the virus -- what the impact is? we know from the u.k., that version is in at least three u.s. states? >> doctor: yes. so that's the information we have, the virus, it starts to mutate as part of its normal behavior. therefore it is normal to expect there will be variants. what is very important is to study those variants and understand how infectious they are, whether they have more impact in terms of morbidity or morality, and whether they are sensitive to the vaccines that have been developed. on those three counts, based on the information shared with us by the u.k. scientists, and early data that we have here, we think that these viruses -- these virus variants should be under control with this vaccine. fortunelfortunately they are not

more deadly, but they are more contagious and will exacerbate the surge we're having. >> brennan: there are reports in the u.k. that more children are becoming ill. from the models you've seen, what does this new virus strain do to children? >> doctor: well, it's capacity to spread is higher. frankly, i'm not very clear about data showing a differential. it should signal that what we need to do as a population is to wear masks, distance ourselves, wash our hands, be very aware of people around us, and continue to be very careful around the transmission. this has to continue to happen. the key to solution is

vaccination. >> brennan: congratulations to you for overseeing that part of it. and now we're at the complicated part of actually getting it to americans. the president twice this week has blamed the states for failing to distribute it. if they're not up to the task, what are you doing at "operation warped speed" to help them? >> doctor: well, first, as you said, let me acknowledge the progress that has been made. it has been remarkable and it is the work of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people to have a five vaccines in phase three trials, and probably more to be approved in the next four to six weeks. and 20 million doses would be made available to the american people to be immunized, which have been made available. 17.5 million have been shipped. >> brennan: but only a third of them have actually been used. >> doctor: exactly. >> brennan: so what are you doing for the states

to help them -- >> doctor: so we have visited, actually, the states. i know you have the governor from arkansas with you later on today. we have visited the department of health with our concern. we have explained the process, and this was on october 26th. and arkansas has actually ordered from the central reserve 150,000 doses of the vaccine. 120,000 have been delivered to the actual locations they have told us. therefore our assumption has been there is a plan in place to immunize. we stand by here to help any specific request. we will do the best we can, as we have done over the past eight months, to make these vaccines to make it into the arms of people. but you have to have a specific ask, and maybe there will be one later on today. >> brennan: sir, i know you know what these numbers are right now. we are at a peak level of

infection. so forgiving out the bureaucracy seems to be frustrating for people here because they want it now. what about jump-starting the plan you have in place. c.v.s. and walgreens say they're expecting to get the vaccine in the spring to give to the population at large. why not give it to them now? if the states are having a problem, go to the private sector? >> doctor: as you know, we have agreements with c.v.s. and walgreen, and we are starting to ship vaccines to those locations, as allocated by the states. that's really the key point. >> brennan: but that's the problem. >> doctor: i don't think it is a problem. frankly -- actually, we are here to help. let me just, for instance, say, over the last 72 hours, 1.5 million vaccine doses have been inoculated. that is quite an important number. that is 500,000 a day. we are optimistic, as we go beyond this holiday

season, that the numbers will go up. and we're standing ready to do what we're asked. where there is help to be given, we're standing by to help. i don't think we are able to identify exactly which long-term care facility or which c.v.s. store should be getting more vaccine or less vaccine. that has to be done with people who have granular knowledge of their population, their movements, where the older people are, or the various groups, and then we'll be there with them. >> brennan: okay. so you're saying it still has to be up to the states to figure out where they have the need. let's talk about the portion you can control, and that is the federal supply. if the goal is preservation of life, how can you still justify holding back more than half of the manufactured doses that you have? we just heard from the u.k. that they're trying to hit as many people as once. why not do something like that and space out the time between doses?

>> doctor: yes. so a scientific answer and then an alternative: i think it is not reasonable, when vaccines have been developed, with two doses given 21 days apart, or 28 days given apart, and where we have the data on their safety and efficacy, and after two -- that's after two doses. we have no data if we leave people after one dose, with incomplete immunity, and then -- >> brennan: but they've got zero immunity right now. >> doctor: well, it is -- i'm going to tell you the alternative in one second. just let me finish the point i'm making. we always said that these vaccines would be developed on the basis of science, and all decisions will be made on the basis of data. changing the decisions made, the choices made, which was to give two doses of vaccine, and the

second dose gives you 10 times higher immune response than the first dose, without any data would not be responsible. here is the alternative: we know for the moderna vaccine, giving a half dose to people between ages 18and 55, which means achieving the objective of immunizing double of number of people with the doses we have -- we know it induces immune response. so we're in discussions with moderna and the f.d.a -- ultimately it will be a f.d.a. decision -- to acelerating half the volume. it will be based on facts and data to immunize more people. and, of course, we continue to produce more vaccine doses. >> brennan: quickly, do you have a date to know once you've been vaccinated, if you can still give the virus to others? is there any timeline? >> doctor: no. those studies, frankly,

will be based on observation and data into the population. i don't think we'll have daa before late in the spring. >> brennan: dr. slaoui, thank you for your time this morning. and "face the nation" will be back in a minute with los angeles mayor eric garcetti, so stay with us. "absolutely, let's figure out how to get this done." when you start working in an area and you're out in the stores, and in the community, you see the need. it was just the right thing to do. ♪ ♪ ♪ vicks vapopatch. easy to wear with soothing vicks vapors for her, for you, for the whole family. trusted soothing vapors, from vicks

high protein. low sugar. tastes great! high protein. low sugar. so good. high protein. low sugar. mmm, birthday cake. pure protein. find our coupons in sunday's paper. >> brennan: we're back now with the mayor of los angeles, one of the cities struggling with the pandemic. eric garcetti is our guest. good morning to you. >> mayor: good morning, margaret. >> brennan: you said a high percentage of death are among people with n underlying conditions. why is the virus so deadly right now? >> mayor: we're seeing a person ever six seconds contract covid-19 here in los angeles county, the nation's largest county, 10 million people. there are two reasons: one is simple dense satellite, we're thdensity.and we're seeina

household spread. one person is coming home, an essential worker, and there might be 10 people in that household. 92% of previous deaths were people who had underlying conditions, but that is rapidly falling. so my message to everybody is this is not only going to come to somebody that you love, this is going to possibly come for you. so everything we do is either life-saving or life-taking at this point. >> brennan: is the higher incidences of death due to the fact that you have a shortage of medical prsonnel? >> mayor: there is no question we have a shortage of medical personnel. but that's not why we think the deaths are happening. we think it is spreading and mutating. but we believe it is how widespread it is. and a lot of people who are younger and don't have pre-existing conditions --

95% of people can be doing the right thing, and it is still dangerous. if 80% are doing the right thing, it is disasterous. while we have high compliance here, we still have the tough months. i think the vaccine has made everybody so hopeful they can relax their behavior. they cannot. we will have the toughest months where our country and our people will be tested. >> brennan: you have a mask mandate, but you're saying that some of the people are not complying with the restrictions that you put in place. you have that stay-at-home order in early december, do you think you waited too long to institute that? >> mayor: no. we have great compliance. people are moving less. i'm talking to the head of the red cross who moved here from othe another state, and she was surprised at all of the people wearing masks. we might not all have the same density of

los angeles, but what is happening in los angeles can and will be coming to many communities across america. if you get two households together during christmas, if you went to a new year's gathering, even if it is people you know and love and you thought it was okay, that's when the virus exploits people. l.a. was the first place to close places down, and offer widespread testing for people with and without symptoms, and we went into the nursing facilities where we arrested most of the virus. but this virus doesn't care what you've done in the past, only what you're doing today. >> brennan: what about the vaccine that is being distributed now? you publicly called for them to deliver more. but it is your governor who controls the distribution. is he not giving you what you need? >> mayor: we have not been delivered what was promised at the national level. and thank god for the great work that was done nationally. let me give that praise for developing and helping the private sector get these vaccines.

but we're at a pace to deliver vaccines in los angeles over five years instead of over half a year. >> brennan: but you just heard the head of "operation warped speed" lay that firmly at the door of the governors in this country. >> mayor: i respectfully disagree. i sat at a coalition in washington for a cares corps, which have trained people, including vaccine distribution. while washington went on vacations and didn't pass a relief bill for seven, eight months -- we could be training people to be ready. we knew that the same medical personnel who would give the vaccines, if we were lucky to get the vaccine, would be pulled into the hospitals to treat people. where was the forward plan. >> brennan: the government says the forward planning was supposed to be with local government. the city of los angeles -- you were talking about the

uniqueness of your city in terms of density, and you have a high homeless population, 16% rise in the years past. how are you planning to deal with that problem, and bettin getting the vaccine into those members of your cmmunity. that's your job as mayor. >> mayor: we did bring medical personnel to the streets, and we have distributed masks. that is a great platform to make sure the vaccines are going to go to the most vulnerable. we did three, and we're about to do four more walk-up vaccine sites for folks working on places like skid row. to go to your point earlier, the federal government can't tell the local governments and state governments do do something and not give us aid. we were cut out of federal assistance that we cut have put into. the cares act could have

been local folks hiring locally and they failed to do that. >> brennan: we wish you well. i know your daughter was recently ill, and we hope she is recovering. >> thank you, margaret. she is. >> brennan: stay with us. back off, uc. stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. rpls, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. lasting remission can start with stelara®. if you've been financially impacted by covid-19, janssen may be able to help.

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[captioning funded by cbs sports division] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] james: week 17 in the nfl. nate: tua tagovailoa six wins in season a must win today. he would tie marino and tannehill for the most wins by a miami rookie. bill: lamar jackson has been dynamic running the ball last four games but his arm is productive. 70% completion perming and eight touchdowns and only two interceptions. phil: baker mayfield throwing the ball w