for bundling made easy, go to geico.com >> brennan: welcome back to "face the nation." we want to go now to governor asa hutchinson of arkansas, who is also the vice chair of the national governors' association. and he joins us from little rock. good morning to you, governor. >> governor: good morning, margaret. good to be with you. >> brennan: i'm glad we have you today to talk about the vaccine and distribution. i want to quickly ask you something on the political front as a republican. nearly a quarter of republicans say they have concerns about the election, and plan to oppose joe biden's electoral win. other republican senators say this is destructive to do in the first place. where do you stand?

>> governor: well, it's a process that they have the right to initiate. i think it is a little bit o a don keoti jousting at windmills efforts. it certainly will fail. joe biden is our president-elect and he will be confirmed in that capacity. i do think that from a state perspective, the challenges have been initiated through recounts and court challenges, and that's how we work in our electoral college, state by state. so when it gets to congress, it is really a limited opportunity to review th the intricacies of the election process. we should have confidence in what has been done and the reviews and the recounts. and let's all recognize that while the system is not perfect, it worked state by state, and we should accept those results and move on to do some good things for our

country. >> brennan: so i understand you do not support that effort. thank you for your clarification there, governor. i want to move on to the virus. the c.d.c. says arkansas has only distributed a third of the vaccines you have been given. what is the biggest challenge getting the doses into arms? >> governor: well, there are a number of challenges. and we've got to do better, both at the federal and at the state level. one of the challenges is that we have a limited supply. and when you have a limited supply, that means you've got to prioritize and you've got to make sure you're giving it to those with the greatest needs or those at the greatest risk. and that is a challenge in and of itself. secondly, you do do have some reluctance. we're focusing on our long-term care facilities, and that has to have consents in many instances, and that slows up the process. but even with that, we have to do better. we have to act with a sense of urgency.

and we can do that. we have to learn whenever you're in a battle, that you have to adjust to the circumstances of that battle. >> brennan: right. >> governor: and right now, we're going to have to make some adjustments in the plan to get these vaccines out. >> brennan: you heard the head of "operation warped speed" say they were working under the assumption there is a plan in place to immunize at the state level. was there not a plan in arkansas? that seems to be the implication here, that it is the governors who are dropping the ball. >> governor: no, there is a plan. and that plan has been coordinated at the federal level. but let me lay it out for you. in phase one, we're supposed to be doing our health care workers and we're doing our long-term care facilities' residents and staff. the federal government allocates that based upon where we wanted to go, but they're working through the pharmacies. and they made a contract with wa walgreens and with

c.v.s., two major chain pharmacies, but the local long-term care facilities can opt out. 60% of ours opted out for independent pharmacies. they're doing a better job of getting it out than the chain pharmacies. they're acting with more urgency. that's an example i've learned. when you look at the challenges with a specific population, what it is going to be like when we move to essential workers and whenever we move to the general population, we're going to have to utilize more resources to get this out than we've got planned right now. >> brennan: what have the other states told you is their difficulty? is it all the same, the problems of the nursing homes? >> governor: yes, it is the challenge of the work staff, the fact that we don't have enough right now for our nurses. we have to utilize our pharmacies because they have the capability and relationships to get it out. but we're going to have to

look more broadly at how to utilize more resources, whether it is utilized in medical personnel, that is already strained in terms of our national guard, whether it is bringing on pharmaceutical students that can do more in terms of giving these vaccinations out. we've got to increase the capacity of our human resources. >> brennan: you have the world's largest retailer headquartered in your home state. have you asked wal-mart to help you out? >> governor: wal-mart is ready to help. >> brennan: would it be better if the private sector took this over? >> governor: the private sector is very engaged. the private sector is doing it. both the independent pharmacies, as well as the chain pharms sees pharmacies. >> brennan: but if the federal government gave directly to them versus you? >> governor: the federal government is giving

directly to them. the delivery is directly to the private sector, and they're getting it out, but not as fast as we would like. and so it is a partnership. and you're going to see these numbers increase dramatically in the next week, 10 days. i believe by the end of january, you'll have all of 1a vaccinated, and we'll be moving on to essential workers, if not sooner than that. >> brennan: i ask you that because the head of "operation warped speed" said, again, allocation came down to where the governors asked them to be sent. >> governor: in saying the same thing, margaret. we're allocating where it goes. they deliver it to where we say, and that's to the private sector right now. >> brennan: okay. the federal government right now is telling states to prioritize people 75 years old and up, along with frontline workers. state governors in florida and texas, have moved the

age downwards, to hit more of their elderly population. are you going to do that? or are are you goin you going tk at what the federal gvernment is telling you to do? >> governor: we're looking at reducing that to 70 as well. the reason they allocate 75 and up first because there is a limited supply. and it might be easier to know exactly who you're distributing it to. but the 70 and up population we're looking at, we're trying to save lives, getting to the most vulnerable first. we're still looking at that whether that should be lowered. that decision will be forthcoming. >> brennan: so you may endorse what governor desantis is doing? >> governor: we're looking at that and the recommendations of the c.d.c. >> brennan: governor hutchison, thank you very much. and good luck to you.

>> governor: thank you, margaret. breermt>> brennan: we'll be right back with former f.d.a. commissioner dr. scott gottlieb. stay with us. did you know that geico's whole 15 minutes thing... that came from me. really. my first idea was "in one quarter of an hour, your savings will tower... over you. figuratively speaking." but that's not catchy, is it? that's not going to swim about in your brain. so i thought, what about... 15 minutes. 15 percent. serendipity. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. is now a good time enough, crohn's. serendipity. for adults with moderate to severe crohn's or ulcerative colitis, stelara® can provide relief, and is the only approved medication to reduce inflammation on and below the surface of the intestine in uc.

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>> brennan: we want to go to former f.d.a. commissioner dr. scott gottlieb. good morning to you. >> doctor: good morning. >> brennan: you said january is going to be the hardest month. i'm looking at the slower than expected rollout and this new strain of coronavirus. does all of this come together to mean that the peak will be extended, that this is going to be painful for a longer period? >> doctor: it is possible. we were hoping we would have more injections in people's arms at this point and the vaccine could be starting to have an impact on the trajectory of the epidemic. there are more risks that the epidemic peak may get extended. we're going to see it peak, hopefully at the early part of the month. but the terms of the lag

on the health care system is going to be about three weeks. so they're not going to see maximum resource utilization sooner than closer to the end of the month. so we have a ways to go with this current surge of this epidemic. until we start to see hospitalizations start to decline and hopefully deaths start to decline. the new variant, though, may have a risk for accelerated spread. >> brennan: what riskts risks are you seeing? >> doctor: we're not vaccinating quickly enough. right now there are some estimates that the new variant probably represents one percent of all new infections in this month. one of the keys to controlling this new variant is controlling this epidemic, that means mask-wearing and social distancing. but it means getting more

people vaccinating more frequently. the existence of this variant creates more urgency about trying to get this vaccine out more quickly. there is a lot of excess demand for the vaccine right now, particularly in the elderly population. i think we ought to think about moving quickly through these phases we've delineated and move more quickly into a general vaccination program for those 65 and above. >> brennan: governor hutchison sort of leaned into that concept, looking at what the governors of florida and texas have done, making it available to other age populations at this point. would you ask other governors to do that? because governor desantis was hit hard by images of long lines of older people waiting. it didn't seem to be moving quickly in terms of vaccinations, though he widened the number of people who qualified for it. >> doctor: well, i believe we can have a dual strategy here. we can continue prioritize certain hard to reach

communities, and have public health departments focus on that mission. and then make the vaccine more generally available through the retail pharmacies, through wal-mart and walgreens and c.v.s., to a general population, starting with age. we can walk down the age continuum. a large percentage of people 65 and above want to be vaccinated. at some point we need to allow supply to meet demand here and get the shots into the arms of the people who really want to get vaccinated. if you're pushing it through the retail pharmacies, you're not going to see the long lines. it will be a more orderly distribution. and we can have the public health departments focusing on the critical mission of going into homes, reaching harder to access communities, and people who are more reluctant. thunder is some place -- that ie place where the public health can focus on a

discernible mission. >> brennan: you have "operation warped speed," and it is working with the private sector. and you had the governor of arkansas saying they are working with the private sector. are you saying that the private sector should just take it over at this point? >> doctor: well, look, we have 40 million vaccines that were delivered in december. five million were injected into arms. that's 35 million vaccines sitting on a shelf somewhere. i'm saying we can be delivering these vaccines directly to wal-mart and walgreens, and in new jersey they're shipping through through shop rite. and allow them to offer more vaccines to the general public. instead working slowly through these preordained phases. continue to accomplish that mission, but take some of this excess supply and push it through the retail channels to the general public. someone who is 70 or 65 years old who wants to schedule through a c.v.s.

to get a vaccine, should be able to do that this month. we should work our way down until we work off some of the supply. there is more vaccine coming on the market every day. we're going to have a specific backlog or warehouse inventory of vaccines and that is tragic because they could be accomplishing an important public health purpose. >> brennan: "operation warped speed" is already stockpiling more than half of the supply they have. the governor of ohio said 60% of nursing home staff members offered the vaccine in his state and they declined it. you're seeing similar hesitancy elsewhere. these are medical personnel and health staff, and they're saying no. >> doctor: that's another reason to make this more generally accessible. there is a reality that some people don't want to get vaccinated. there are about 150 million americans who get vaccinat vaccinated for flu. i think it's your low-hanging fruit for

getting covid vaccinations out. some who get a flu vaccine are also going to get a covid vaccine. if we make it acceptable to 65 and above this month, probably about 30 million will get it. we need to start working that off because trying to push it into very discrete populations, you'll be bumping up against people who don't want it, and it is going to create friction and a slowdown in trying to get this vaccine out. every vaccination at this point sa health win. >> brennan: dr. gottlieb, thank you for your analysis. and we'll be right back in a minute. if there's anything that this year has taught us, it's the things that matter: family. health.

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but i can tell you what it feels like when someone offers to help. every plan through covered california is comprehensive - with mental health coverage and financial help for people who need it. enrollment ends january 31st. >> brennan: we turn now to jo ann jenkins, the c.e.o. of the american association of retired persons. you know it as aarp, and she is at their headquarters in washington this morning. good morning to you. >> good morning, margaret. >> brennan: december was a very deadly month, particularly for nursing home residents. the government plan is to have pharmacies, like

c.v.s. and walgreens, to set up facilities to vaccinate inside these facilities. is it moving fast enough? >> i think by every question it has not moved fast enough. 40 % of the people who died in this country live in nursing homes. we see this as a national disaster, that 350,000 people in this country have died from covid-19, and 40% of them have lived in nursing homes or work in nursing homes, and yet they only represent 1% of the population. so, no, we're not moving fast enough. >> brennan: i didn't hear a lot of specifics from the governor or from the head of "operation warped speed" on what they want to change. and i'm wondering, from you, what your view is. because we did hear from "operation warped speed" saying that some nursing homes aren't vaccinating until they have enough doses for everyone in the facility. that is a federal

requirement. should the government suspend it? >> well, i think that, you know, if you look at the data and the fact that that is where people are dying, havdying you, you have to the conclusion they should be doing everything they can to administer this vaccine as soon as possible. i know there are 2.2 million doses that have gone out to nursing homes, and yet only 13% of that has been administered. we have to find a solution. we need to stop pointing fingers and looking at who is to blame and really all of us, whether it is mayors or governors or the federal government, all across this country, to really try to fix this problem. >> brennan: so that's a yes, they should lift that requirement? >> absolutely, yes. >> brennan: at the state level, you heard a debate about whether the age qualification should be lowered more quickly, like it has been in texas and in florida. would you ask other governors to do that? >> well, i think if you

look at the data of where people are dying, if in fact we can stop people from dying of covid, we know that will offer some relief to the hospitals all across this country. we have examples that we're hearing from thousands of our members, particularly like those in florida, who are standing in lines, 300, 400 of them at 3:00, 4:00 in the morning, trying to get that vaccination. i think we have to really solve this issue and really come together so that there is some standard for which the states and the local nursing homes know how they're going to get this vaccine and what it is they're supposed to be doing. >> brennan: there is confusion. i know people who ask, where do i sign up when i qualify? what do you tell your members? do they call their doctor? do they get an e-mail? who do they ask, their local health department? >> i think one of the things we tried to do at aarp, we have aar

aarp.org/coronavirus, where we'rwe have have nfghts fm eacinformationfrom each of the . clearly our members are confused, whether they should be calling their physician or if the physician will contact them, and which of the vaccines they should be taking and how that is going to happen. i think there could be some simple transparency about what is to be expected of the timeframe that individuals all across this country should be thinking about. clearly we need to keep up the protections of wearing masks and washing our hands and doing all of those things. we shouldn't let our guard down, but there needs to be further clarity and expectations set about when these vaccines will be administered widely. >> brennan: do you think that staff in nursing homes should be mandated to take the vaccine? >> well, i think that the data tells us that that is

where the deaths are occurring, and that for patients and people who work in nursing homes, they need to be protected in a way. but clearly it is not ours to demand -- >> brennan: the governors would have to mandate that, right? is that what you're asking governors to do? >> i think we're saying to the governors that this is a way to bring it under control. and while we at aarp don't have the authority to mandate this, that this is one of the only ways we have that we know that this particular covid-19 covid-9 disease can be brought under control. >> brennan: jo ann jenkins, thank you very much for sharing what you're seeing out there. we'll be right back with a look at tuesday's georgia senate race. it's an important one. don't go away.

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>> brennan: in georgia, a pair of runoff elections on tuesday will decide

control of the u.s. senate. and shape the agenda of the incoming biden administration. here is our senior national correspondent mark strassmann. >> reporter: republicans have a new year's resolution: keep georgia red as its clay. >> we have to hold the line here against socialism. we need y'all to get out and vote. >> reporter: in dual runoffs here, kelly loeffler and david perdue both lose, democrats will seize control of the senate. it will be a 50/50 split with kamala harris breaking any tie vote. >> the whole country is watching georgia voters to see what we will do. >> reporter: democrats jon ossoff and raphael warnock each have raised $100 million over the last two months. their blitz events called both republicans corrupt. >> you can help kelly

loeffler to help herself -- >> reporter: more than three million georgians have already voted. the wildcard: president trump's groundless griping about election fraud here and its impact on republican turnout this tuesday. over the weekend, the president tweeted georgia's runoffs were illegal and invalid. billboards urge republicans to stay home. in a moment when state and national g.o.p. leaders need those voters to turn out. >> my family, my nation, our way of life depends upon you. >> reporter: president trump will hold a runoff rally in north georgia tomorrow, but many republicans here worry it could do more harm than good. in dualing last-minute rallies, president trump and president-elect biden will both campaign in georgia tomorrow. senator david perdue will likely miss his stage time with mr. trump. he is quarantining after

being exposed to a staffer with covid. so far he has tested negative. margaret? >> brennan: mark, thanks. as our new senior national correspondent, mark will continue to report regularly for us here at "face the nation." that's it for us today. thank you for watching. until next week, i'm margaret brennan. ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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center in new york city. capitol chaos, republicans rebell, america bracing for an explosive week, more trump loyalists object to the result. >> we will together object to certification. >> vice president mike pence welcomes offers challenging the the will of the people. >> a bombshell revelation, the president demands georgia count votes again to reverse his defeat. >> i just want to find 11,780 votes. >> plus, the u.s. covid death toll today topped 350,000. president trump calls it exaggerated. >> those are real number-s. real