>> reporter: she was admitted with her mother, 24 hours later, her mother passed away. >> it's litly rallily just tore my family in to tiny pieces. >> reporter: all nonessential shops will be forced to shut and schools will be closed until the middle of february. but scientists say the new variant in the uk is less concerning than another strain of covid that is being detected in south africa. >> the south african variant is what is making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. dr. david agus told us that the south african strain has more mutations to its spike protein. which functions liking a key opening the door to human cells. and there are fears that could make vaccines less effective. >> it will take another two to three weeks to understand the immune responses with the current vaccines and until then, we are very, very scared. >> reporter: is the south african variant already in the u.s., do you think? >> the true answer is we just

don't know if it's here in the u.s. my gut is, probably is here in the united states. >> to make limited supplies of vaccines here in the uk go further, they have taken the controversial decision to give more people the first shot and then make them wait 12 weeks instead of three for the second shot, they say, it's a brilliant decision, because it could give more people at least partial immunity. >> holly williams, reporting from london. closer to home, we have part two of jim axelrod's investigation in to why doctors are often not disciplined for causing harm to their patients. state medical boards which are responsible for licensing and disciplining doctors are supposed to have one goal. keep patients safe. but our year long investigation revealed that is not always happening. our investigative team talked to more than a hundred malpractice attorneys in all 50 states and heard the same thing, after

doctors harmed their patients medical boards often looked the other way. here is jim axelrod. >> she was paralyzed and had drop foot, which is where your left foot hangs down and does nothing. >> reporter: when his mother had spinal surgery in 2008, her left leg was left paralyzed, she settled a medical malpractice suit with the surgeon. who has a long history of problems in indiana. >> it's pretty bad that people can get away with what they have in these situations. >> reporter: people? >> doctors. >> reporter: doctors are licensed and disciplined by state medical boards, panels made up of fellow physicians. >> folks have to realize the medical board is not a substantial barrier to them being injured by a physician. >> reporter: dr. john hall spent 25 years practicing

pediatricanesthesia and care, he went to be on the mississippi medical board. >> most medical boards are put together of physicians who are political appointees and that is an inherent conflict of interest. >> the people policing the doctors have an interest in protecting the doctors. >> absolutely. >> reporter: after dr. hall pushed the mississippi medical board to be more aggressive in disciplining doctors he found himself out of a job. >> i believed in the mission of the medical board and i thought this is a place where i can do this and do some good. >> reporter: you were pushing too hard? >> absolutely. >> reporter: do members of the general public understand everything they could understand about the doctor who is are treating them? >> oh, absolutely not. >> reporter: roberter eohel spe time in the department of health and human services where he worked with a federal database used by hospitals the to keep track of bad outcomes by doctors.

he said there's a problem, the national database was not shared with the public. >> reporter: if doctors names in the database were shared would it save lives? >> sure, there's doctors with bad records that are brain ipra. >> reporter: less than 2% of doctors are responsible for more man half of all malpractice settlements. >> it's a small portion that cause the bulk of the problem and worse, 1 in 7 have had action taken against them in any state. >> reporter: meaning most are practicing? >> yes. >> when you buy a car, it's has carfax, it's like a doctor should have a doctorfax. >> reporter: jeremy's mother was operated on by dr. svabek, google him and you will not find anything about his list of malpractice settlements in indiana or the three that he received recently from the florida medical board. >> we don't have any comment on

the questions no. >> reporter: the indiana board was made aware of his problems in florida. so we traveled to indianapolis for the hearing. if you had a chance to speak to the board, what would you say? >> how many more lives are you going to allow him to ruin? >> reporter: when the case came up, we were surprised to see that not only was the doctor not present he didn't even have a know attorney to represent him. >> sounds like florida dealt with it. >> reporter: the board fined him a thousand dollars and moved on. we asked for an interview with the board president, they did not make him available. so when the board took a break, we tried to get some answers. i'm jim axelrod with cbs news, i would like to ask you a couple of questions. >> i can't do that. >> i would like to ask you questions about dr. svabek's case. >> mike, can you direct him to the right person. >> reporter: you are the right person, you are in charge, are you telling me the buck does not

stop with you, the doctor did not respond to a single question we asked. >> that was jim axelrod feeling sluggish or weighed down?

it could be a sign that your digestive system isn't working at its best. taking metamucil everyday can help. metamucil psyllium fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. it also helps lower cholesterol and slow sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so you can feel lighter and more energetic. metamucil. support your daily digestive health. take the metamucil two week challenge and feel lighter and more energetic. sign up today at metamucil.com. many front line health care workers say they have been overwhelmed by the endless stream of covid patients

flooding in for care, carter evans has the story of two nurses dealing with the crushes stress through poetry and song. at lomalinda university health, it's another day grappling with the virus. >> every shift i walk in to the hospital, you are going to be confronted by something that you are not fully prepared for. you are never fully prepared for somebody that will lose their lie in front of you on your next shift. and they impact you. ♪ ♪ive seen hope ♪ from the depth of on dispair i've seen peace. >> he picks up his guitar, medicine inspiring his music. ♪ but i can see through the stain love remains ♪ >> almost 2,000 miles away, near

minneapolis, hospice nurse juggles as many as 19 patients. holding their hands as they die because covid prevent families from visiting. what is it like being the person who holds the iphone for that final zoom? >> i am there with my mask and my shields on, and i am holding up the phone to see their grandma and their mom one last time. this is not how we say goodbye to our loved ones. >> she processes her experiences through poetry. >> over the phone, through the camera lens, one last time you see her brown, loving eyes that once filled the room with sparkle and joy. >> the hospital where she works recently gave it a voice. >> as her body is ready, you are not. it's not fair. you say through tears. i agree, my tears and breath clouding the goggles. >> back in california -- ♪ ♪ love is always searching >> where he began performing for

the hospital staff, a support group formed to help medical workers struggling with the pandemic. his music struck a chord with co-workers. >> i don't understand why the world is acting the way it is. when you hear td and you hear his music, you feel like it's going to be okay, tomorrow will be okay. ♪ ♪ tell me that it will be all right. >> i think as health care workers we are all coming together. and we really understand what each other's going through. calm and comfortable. the words i use to carefully describe her to you. you let out a sigh of relief. >> during hospice, she often picks up a camera and photographs loved ones. >> what is part of the good part of my job is capturing meaningful moments. it's been great to provide that for families. even if it's a cell phone photo. like this is how your mom is doing, i saw herred.

>> amber lost her brian. >> we feel she captured our essence and she went out of her way to do it and i treasure them. >>. ♪ met an old man and i saw him smile ♪ ♪ he looked my way and said he walked this mile ♪ ♪ he said keep coming don't you turn astray ♪ ♪ and never, ever, trade your love away ♪ >> reporter: he incorporate rates conversations in to his music. to find a hope in the difficult times, it's hard. >> i think it's the most difficult thing to do to find the hope. but it's in that had moment where it's the most difficult that it's also the most important. i'll fight with every fiber to find the hope knowing that it exists in there, because if it doesn't, we have a much bigger problem. >> reporter: finding hope and

healing, reminding patients, families and colleagues, they are not alone. carter

tnchlthsz on going pandemic has convinced a lot of people to put

off routine medical tests not to mention complex procedures for fear of contracting covid in the hospital. and that can prove a death sentence for the thousands of americans waiting on life saving organ transplants. well, i spoke to an elementary school teacher who braved the virus to provide a new lease on life to a co-worker. >> brooklyn, what is 2 times 7? >> reporter: this third grade teacher, gave her a piece of advice, befriend the school custodian because they are the heart of the school. but when pat needed something, it was not a heart, it was a kidney. too proud to ask for help on his own, his daughter took to facebook, pleading for someone to donate one and help save a life. >> reporter: how the ddid you r to the news? >> i turned to my husband and i said, pat needs a kidney, and it needs to be o type blood and i

think it's going to be me. >> reporter: she was right, it's a match. >> there were tears and hugs and it was beautiful. >> reporter: i'm sure you said it before, what would you like to sd say to erin right now? >> i don't know how i can ever thank you. >> reporter: erin, do you need a lot on thanks? >> no. i feel somewhat embarrassed every time he says it. >> reporter: the july transplant was a success and both were well enough to return to work in august. >> reporter: would it be fair to say that she gave you your life back? >> oh, most definitely, she did. >> and there's no greater gift than that. it's times like this that often bring out the best in all of us. and that's the overnight news for this wednesday. for some of you, the news continues, for others, check back later for cbs this this morning and follow us online, any time at cbs news.com. reporting from the nation's capitol, i'm chip reid.

it is wednesday january 6, 2021. this is the cbs morning news. breaking overnight, election results in georgia. cbs news projects ainr in onrace as power over the u.s. senate hangs in the balance. electoral vote clash. congress meets today to confirm the results. the protests planned inside and outside the capital. >> bad luck