good day, everyone, i'm andrea mitchell in washington as president-elect joe biden lays out an ambitious plan of 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days. >> developing a vaccine is only one herculean task. distributing it is another herculean task. vaccines in a vial only work if they're injected in an arm,

especially of those most at risk. this will be one of the hardest, most costly operational challenges in our nation's history. >> today biden is introducing his choice for secretary of defense, general lloyd austin, which received some pushback because he will need a waiver from congress because he is a recently-retired general. >> let's see whether or not somebody has the courage, whether it's a legislator or legislatures or whether it's a justice of the supreme court or a number of justices of the supreme court, let's see if they have the courage to do what everybody in this country knows is right. >> joining me now, nbc white

house correspondent and "weekend today" co-host kristen welker in wilmington, nbc's kelly o'donnell outside the white house, and "washington post" national political reporter robert costa, moderator of "washington week" on pbs. welcome, all. there's a flurry of activity on the cabinet front from president-elect biden. we've seen that. what do we know about how he's balancing all these pressure points? and we do expect to hear an announcement on the next attorney general. but when? is that going to be the last out of the gate? >> well, andrea, i don't think we're going to learn who the next nominee for attorney general is this week. my sense is that president-elect biden is still working to make a decision among the top names that we're hearing. senator doug jones, someone who of course as you and i have discussed, has a history in civil rights. he of course prosecuted those two former kkk members who were a part of the 1963 bombing of the church.

and also merrick garland, remember, he was former president obama's pick for the supreme court. republicans wouldn't give him a hearing at all. so those are among the names that are being discussed for the next nominee for attorney general. what we know is that today, president-elect biden is going to announce his next nominee for defense secretary. this of course is general lloyd austin, someone who would need a waiver in order to be approved and confirmed for that position. and you already have some democrats, senator blumenthal, to name one, who has come out and said they're just not going to grant a waiver. of course that was a big issue for general mattis. and he was ultimately confirmed. some of those same democrats who voted against the waiver for general mattis are already signaling they're going to do the same with lloyd austin. so that could be a showdown in the senate, andrea. we know that biden also intends to nominate marcia fudge for hud

secretary. there had been a lot of pressure from civil rights groups, they wanted to see her as ag secretary. but we learned overnight biden will nominate tom vilsack for that position. he of course served as agriculture secretary for eight years under president obama. you underscore an important point, there are a number of pressure point. biden is hearing from interest groups especially and including civil rights leaders who say they want to see diversity at the highest levels of biden's cabinet. >> it's striking he's come to the defense of the lloyd austin pick in a "atlantic" column, post that he's done. i think they know there's pushback, i'm hearing it also from congressional folks. the senators not sure, and jack reed, of course the ranking democrat, said we have to wait and see. as far as the attorney general choice, i think the issue is, if

the civil rights leaders on doug jones want to see what his policies are now, not what he did back then. so that's another question for them. kelly, maeanwhile, president trump railing, railing against the courts and the election, including his own supreme court, now dominated by his own choices. >> andrea, there seem to be very few pressure points that have an impact on president trump. as we've seen kristen discuss how those forces are a part of the biden transition. for president trump, it's more defiance, today with a simple tweet, eight letters, all cap, "overturn." new hashtag from the president, in some ways the most potent form of what he's been arguing for. he wants to see the results that have been certified around the country overturned in his favor. that is something that is highly remote. and the legal set of affairs that the president finds himself in is just one defeat after another, including the supreme court, with a single one-line

denial to take up a case from pennsylvania, including the three justices that he nominated to the court. the president also today talking about how in his understanding of history, there have rarely been cases where someone wins ohio and florida. and the president won both of those pretty comfortably this time, and not win the white house. he doesn't acknowledge the fact that states like georgia and arizona went for joe biden, when they have typically been republican. so the president throwing a lot of things out into the twitter-verse today, no public events so far. you played the clip where he talked about wanting to see someone in one of these positions, from the high court to state legislatures and so on, step forward on his behalf. he's tweeting about that as well. but those showing courage seem to be those saying the president is wrong on these facts frat legal challenges he's brought forward, as that window of time to contest this election gets narrower and narrower, andrea.

>> and to robert costa, we're only five days from the electoral college meeting and the president not backing off, he's escalating his attacks, including against the supreme court. >> he is, but there's an acknowledgement among my republican sources that they just have to play this process through. it is president-elect biden, we know that, but republicans know that, many of them fail to articulate that publicly because they do not want to anger president trump, thinking he still has political capital to use in 2022 in their own primary fights. what we're seeing from president-elect biden is an awareness of the senate realities, should republicans win those seats in georgia. they might not, but if they do, the republican-controlled senate will have a lot of say over his nominations. we haven't seen a president with a depth of this senate experience since lyndon baines johnson back in the '60s. he understands the dynamics in

that chamber. you see him moving toward picks that have been confirmed before, like vilsack, jones, a creature of the senate himself, and others who are more centrist who are likely to get republican approval or at least tacit republican approval, not a huge fight, but that will maybe cost him points with liberal democrats. we'll see how far senator sanders, representative ocasio-cortez want to go. >> robert, what about steny hoyer now expressing concern that with such a slim margin in the house, they can't take any more house members for the cabinet as they have just now with the proposal of marcia fudge? >> i was talking with some house members, andrea, and they said if they're in a competitive district, if they're in a district that might be on the map in 2022, it's very unlikely they're going to be picked for this cabinet. if you're in a deep blue district in the house, you have a chance, because the special election won't be too difficult for the democrats. but this margin is so narrow, minority leader mccarthy has a

lot of sway. speaker pelosi is in charge of the house, remains so, but this is a narrowly divided house. >> kristen welker, kelly o'donnell, robert costa, thanks to all of you. and in canada, canada has just announced it's approved the pfizer vaccine, making it the second country to do so. this as there is some concern over the use of the pfizer coronavirus vaccine in the uk after british regulators sent out a warning urging individuals with significant allergic reactions to not receive these doses. nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins me now from london. richard, how serious is this a setback? >> reporter: well, it's causing complications. the symptoms that have been described so far do not seem to be very serious. what happened was, yesterday the rollout began, amid a lot of fanfare. there was a lot of excitement in the country and around the world. the people who were vaccinated

yesterday, thousands of them, were over 80 or critical health care workers. and two nurses, two health care workers who had allergies previously, they both carried epi pens, so they were prone to severe allergic reactions, they did develop reactions. they're described as an aniphylatoid reactions. they were serious enough to prompt regulators in the country to issue an advisory and guidance that people who do have severe, known allergies to medicine, to other vaccines, or to food, should not at the moment take the pfizer vaccine. they are waiting for other

vaccines to come online and they are hoping that perhaps some of the other vaccines will not have these reaction. so it was a precautionary step. but it is setting back the process. i was watching today as people were coming in to get vaccinations and the medical staff at this vaccination center were going through the symptoms, going through the advisory, and asking people if they were prone to severe allergies. a couple of people responded that they were and they were unable to get the vaccine. so it's a setback but not necessarily a game changer, the program is still moving ahead. >> richard engel, thank you so much, those important warning until we can get more details and more people are involved. joining me now, dr. selene gounder, a member of the biden/harris coronavirus vaccine advisory board and an epidemiologist at nyu and bellevue hospital in new york. dr. gounder, thank you very

much. you would think that what richard was just reporting would have come up in all of the phased trials with those getting the vaccine, because that's such a noticeable reaction. >> i think it's important to understand that when we do these phase iii clinical studies, we're intentionally excluding certain populations. people who have had severe side effects, pregnant women, children, they were not included in these phase iii clinical trials. in fact the way the vaccine is approved for use right now in the uk, they're recommending, even prior to these allergic reactions happening, we were recommending -- they were recommending against giving them to people who have had severe allergic reactions. will you have some people who slip through the cracks for one reason or another, maybe they forgot about a reaction, maybe they just really want the vaccine. so for people like that, we do need to be on the lookout. they do need to be observed by health care workers and have an epipen on hand.

>> that is an interesting point. what about people who already get flu shots and other shots, pneumonia shots, and have had no problems with it, but do have other allergies, penicillin or food allergies? >> if you've had history of a severe allergic reaction, regardless of the trigger, we would recommend against getting vaccinated with the coronavirus vaccine until we have a bit more information. but this is something we're going to be following, monitoring, as vaccinations unfold. and we will start to see studies in other high risk populations, like i mentioned, also in pregnant women and children eventually. >> and you don't think it would hang up the anticipated emergency use authorization coming from fda as early as thursday? , tomorrow? >> i don't believe this is going to hold up the emergency use authorization. i think we need to be careful about who it is that we're recommending vaccination for and that there are certain groups

where we don't necessarily have the data. i also think, bigger picture, you are going to have people, say, in a month from now, who are going to have a heart attack no matter what. and just because between now and then they might get a coronavirus vaccine does not mean the vaccine caused the heart attack. that was going to happen no matter what. and so i think we need to be very careful about whether some of the reactions or side effects, quote unquote, that we observe in the coming weeks as the vaccine is rolled out are truly related to the vaccine or just a coincidence in timing. >> turning to the president-elect's goal, very ambitious goal, 100 million vaccine injections in the first 100 days, is that realistic, given that we now know that the trump administration passed on getting more pfizer doses, for instance? are there enough other options, moderna likely coming behind, but what else could you expect to fill the gap and create 100 million doses? >> yeah, so the goal is to

administer 100 doses -- 100 million doses to 50 million people because it's two doses per person. but it's not just the pfizer vaccine that's in the pipeline. moderna has already submitted its vaccine for emergency use authorization as well. that one we'll probably get news on very soon here. and then you have johnson & johnson and astrazeneca close on their heels behind. so i think by the beginning of 2021, we'll actually have multiple vaccines that we can be using. and we'll target based on, you know, how the characteristics of those vaccines, you know, whether you need a cold chain, this ultradeep freeze or not. that will probably dictate which vaccines end up being used where. >> and what about the current surge? we're beginning to see the impact from thanksgiving. how much worse do you expect it to be in the coming months before we get a larger number of people vaccinated? >> well, i think unfortunately

in the coming couple of weeks, we'll be contending with the transmission that occurred over thanksgiving. the genie is out of the bottle on that one. there's a lot we can do even before the vaccines come out. we can follow public health guidance, wear masks, socially distance. if we'll be around people over the upcoming holidays, do that out of doors. given how out of control across the country right now, the advice would really be to try to stick to your household bubble for the upcoming holiday. >> thank you so much, dr. celine gounder, thanks for being with us today. ahead, on defense. why president-elect biden's pick to head the pentagon is getting some criticism from some democrats. senator tammy duckworth, iraq war veteran, joins me next. and people in the united

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president-elect joe biden will formally announce general lloyd austin to head the pentagon in a little over an hour. in an op-ed in "the atlantic," biden writes, he's a true and tested soldier and leader. i've spent countless hours with him in the field and in the white house situation room. i saw his advice, seen his command, and admired his calm and his character.

had he is the definition of a patriot. the four-star army general would be the first black secretary but he requires a congressional waiver to serve because he retired from active duty less than seven years ago. in 2017, 17 democratic senators voted against a waver for james mattis, including senator tammy duckworth. senator duckworth, who serves on the amendmermed services commit joins me now. thank you very much for joining us. have you decided whether you will support a waiver for general austin? >> i will support general austin but i will not support the waiver. >> well, without the waiver, how would he be able to serve? >> he would not be able to. but i suspect that the waiver will pass. i will not vote for the waiver. i believe very strongly there needs to be civilian control, civilian oversight of the military. and by reducing the wait times from ten years to seven years,

we did that in 2007 without any input, and now again for our second secretary of defense in a row to request another waiver, i just can't support that on principle. i will tell you that general austin is an excellent officer, well-tested, very capable of leading the department of defense and i think he will be an excellent secretary of defense. but on principle i cannot vote for the waiver. >> from your conversations with colleagues, do you think he will be confirmed? >> i do think he will be confirmed, i think there will be enough folks to vote for the waiver that he will be confirmed, unless something happens in committee new that we don't know about. but i expect that the process will be very smooth and i've actually offered to help him go through that process myself because i do think he is an excellent officer. >> what are your concerns, then, about -- i mean, if you have concerns about civilian control of the pentagon, then why would you help him get confirmed? it does seem to be a disconnect

there, because a lot of people admire his service, but a lot of people also are saying, certainly some prominent people are saying that what the pentagon needs now is someone to take a deeper dive on policy and that essentially you would be getting two chairmen of the joint chiefs by having him there. >> i would disagree with that assessment. i think that he would be very much able to do the deep dive on policy issues. my concern is, it's a principle. i spent 23 years in the army to preserve and protect and defend our constitution. and the system is set up that there should be civilian control of the military. it is important in our system of government that there is civilian oversight, civilian leadership over the military. and what has happened with these waivers is that we're slowly shifting towards a point where you could actually have military officers leave active duty and go on to become defense secretaries. that's not appropriate.

that's only appropriate in places where there are military juntas, and america is not one of those nations. now, i do suspend tct the waverl pass and general austin will be a very capable secretary. i did not vote for the waiver for general mattis. this principle is bigger than any single individual. i'm going to stick by it. >> and i also want to point out that on facebook today former secretary of state and joint chiefs chairman colin powell is supporting general austin, writing that president-elect joseph biden is making a superb choice in selecting general lloyd austin to be the next secretary of defense. general austin has served splendidly and has demonstrated his war fighting and diplomatic and political acumen. to the same point, the issue of ft. hood, you've spoken out on

this today as well, the army has disciplined 14 senior officers including a general and soldiers as well at ft. hood after that independent study, the independent conclusion of the review board that there was a terrible handling of this case of veronica guillen. tell me what you think needs to be done. was that good enough? >> well, i think it certainly is an excellent decision by the secretary of the army, ryan mccarthy. i do think there needs to be more done at ft. hood. we need an overhaul of how they're treating their soldiers and civilians there. one of the things that was found is they have not been adequately implementing the sexual harassment and rape training programs. that is supposed to be a central part of their personnel actions and they have notmplementing th. i myself have been calling for a deeper dive into how everything is handled from the training as

well as how the investigations, when this soldier went missing. and remember, she's not the only death that came out of ft. hood. there have been multiple instances and multiple cases that have happened here. unfortunately, all very tragic, ending in the deaths of soldiers. we cannot let that continue. >> and finally, the defense bill, the house passing the ndaa, the national defense authorization act, last night, despite president trump's threat to veto it. is it veto-proof in the senate? >> i think it's veto-proof in the senate. it's very sad that president trump would continue to bring issues that are not germane to our nation's defense and to our dod budget. and he would continue to do things like threaten to veto troops' pay increases because he's in a fight with facebook and twitter. he needs to keep those fights outside of the defense budget. this is about our national security. this is about the men and women who wear the uniform of this nation getting a much-needed pay increase, a very modest one at

that, and the training dollars we need to keep them operating and able to defend us. for this president to first threaten a veto over dead confederate generals and now threatening a veto over his fight with facebook and twitter is not appropriate. we need to pass this defense budget. i think there are enough folks on the republican side of the aisle that we'll be able to override the veto. >> it faces an uncertain future in the house, though, because we're already hearing from the republican leader that he will support the bill but not an override. we'll have to wait and see. thank you very much, senator duckworth, it's great to see you, thanks for being with us. >> good to see you, thank you. the national academy of sciences panel is pointing to a probable cause of the mysterious brain injury suffered by state department and cia officers overseas. a bipartisan group of senators led by new hampshire's jeanne shaheen and maine's susan collins has proposed new legislation to expand benefits to the victims including

retirees and covering the cia officers as well. next, a novel way to deal with the refrigeration challenge for the pfizer vaccine, coming up. stay with us. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. before we talk about tax-smart investing, what's new? -audrey's expecting... -twins! ♪

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today we'll be hearing from operation warp speed within the hour on how they plan to distribute millions of vaccines. in north carolina, one creative solution is taking off, literally. the state's largest public health provider is enlisting drones capable of cold chain storage to deliver vaccines to hard to reach rural populations. how smart is that? nbc reporter dasha burns joins me now. dasha, i guess the point is to keep those vaccines cold for that period of time. >> reporter: yeah, andrea, for civilians like us, drones are probably either toys or nuisances. but we are not talking about your teenage nephew's drone here. this drone is capable of flying at 60 miles per hour over a range of 50 miles. it can carry ten pounds of cargo. it can do what's called a soft touch landing, you see it doing that there.

it's setting the cargo down, it's not dropping it, so it protects those precious materials in there like glass vials for vaccines. andrea, this project here in wilson, north carolina, what this drone has been doing is taking vaccines and medical supplies from merck pharmaceuticals' finishing facility here to a hospital in a rural part of north carolina. this is a test project. this is to see how this technology can really function best and hopefully to scale it for things like covid vaccine delivery. that cargo box you see there, that can store vaccines at minus 80 degrees celsius. we know that ultracold storage as is a huge challenge, especially for rural hospitals. if you're a facility and you cannot have that big inventory because you don't have an ultracold freezer, what this can allow you to do is order the supply that you actually need on demand. it can reach those more remote areas and it can just bring the supply that that facility needs.

so if you need to vaccine 10 million people, you're not getting a massive delivery in dry ice that you can't figure out how to handle. you're just getting what you need. it doesn't make sense to use this solution everywhere but it could be key for these rural areas. this is still early days for this technology, so there are a lot of challenges that still need to be overcome. there are restrictions and regulations. but when communities really need to figure out some creative solutions, this could be one piece of the puzzle here, andrea. >> dasha burns, thanks so much for bringing that to us. and no relief in sight. congress is still stalemated over that covid relief plan. is there any sign of a compromise today? coming up also at 2:00 p.m. eastern, chris krebs, the man who led election cybersecurity for the nation before being fired by president trump will join katy tur for his first interview on msnbc to talk about his lawsuit against the trump campaign. they have more freshness ingredients compared to bargain liquid detergent.

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the months-long failure to pass a covid relief bill has congress at a standstill. the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, and the president will not get behind the democrats' proposal. now the white house is proposing dramatically lower unemployment benefits in exchange for a $600 stimulus payment. joining me now, u.s. today's susan page, "the new york times'" jeremy peters, and jim messina. we're expecting to hear from the warp speed briefers, i may have to move to them in a moment. nancy pelosi rejects the latest white house proposal, where does that now leave us?

>> it's been almost nine months now since president trump signed the last covid relief bill. constant negotiations, the negotiations have never broken down, but they've never gotten anywhere. the issues that divide them now are the same issues. it's aid for state and local governments, it's liability protections for businesses, it's whether you extend expanded unemployment benefits or if you send people a check. there seems to be no ability for the kind of compromise that marks legislation all the time to get this over the finish line. >> and jim, mitch mcconnell's proposal to drop state and local completely and when states need it most, this while europe and canada are continuing to support their unemployed and small businesses, i guess that would be in exchange for dropping the liability protection. >> yeah, it's just kind of a no reality of where we are as a country. right now all these states and

local governments are facing huge problems. we're talking about starting to default on bonds, having to lay off people. if you look at the crisis that's occurring in the state and local governments, you would think that maybe washington could actually be helpful. and instead mitch mcconnell is continuing to play politics, andrea, right after we just had the longest election in our lifetime. so we need to do what susan talked about, actually sit down and reach a compromise that isn't going to make anyone happy, that's what a compromise is, and get this done, because there's millions of people who are going to sleep every night without the security of knowing if their unemployment checks are going to come, if their job in a state or local government is going to remain. we're facing the possibility, this morning economists are warning of a double dip in the economy. and it's just because washington just can't seem to get this done. >> and we're going to have to interrupt right now and go to secretary azar, alex azar,

briefing on operation warp speed's delivery plans for the covid vaccine. >> -- which will weigh in for the agency's consideration on whether they believe the vaccine meets the criteria for emergency use authorization. we could then have an eua within days and be administering doses of vaccine to our most vulnerable next week. as we've discussed, based on current production schedules, we expect to have enough doses to vaccinate 20 million americans by the end of this year, 50 million total by the end of january, and at least 100 million total by the end of the first quarter. we remain confident that across our portfolio of multiple vaccines, we will have enough doses for any american who wants a vaccine by the end of the second quarter of 2021. as we've continued to make progress on vaccine development and manufacturing, general perna and his team have been in close

touch with state partners on how we'll be allocating and distributing the doses as they become available. we'll also release information to help americans spread the word about safety and efficacy of the coming vaccines. we continue to allocate and ship more courses of the two authorized antibody treatments to help americans at risk for severe covid-19 who have not been hospitalized. as of today, we have now allocated more than 278,000 courses of these treatments. as i've noted in previous weeks, every american who has recovered from covid-19 in the past three months can help expand our arsenal of potential treatments for this virus by donating plasma. millions of americans have recovered from covid-19 in the last several months and could be eligible to donate. please contact your local american red cross or local american blood bank or go to coronavirus.gov for more information about how you can volunteer to be a donor and give the gift of life.

i'll conclude by reminding all americans that even as we have such a bright future ahead, we face extremely concerning trends in the spread of the virus. hospitalization rates are now at the highest they've been during the pandemic. we are so close to being able to protect millions of americans from this virus with the vaccine. for now, we need to double down on the steps that can keep us all safe. the three w's. wash your hands, watch your distance, wear a face covering when you can't watch your distance, and avoid indoor settings and crowded settings where you can't do those things. those public health measures are the safe bridge to a vaccine. thank you again for joining us and i'll now hand things over to dr. slaoui to give us updates on the vaccine development front. >> thank you, mr. secretary. hi, everybody. so just a few comments to add to build on what mr. secretary has said. clearly great focus on the fda outcome tomorrow and then a week

from tomorrow, reviewing the pfizer and then the moderna vaccines. probably most of you have now had a chance to look into the pfizer submission. i'll be happy to address any questions you may have there. they have quite remarkable efficacy, i think very good safety profile, mostly injection site and injection related adverse events. one of the points i would like to attract your attention to is the curve that shows that within 12 days or so from the first dose of vaccine, the number of cases in the study vaccine arm, flattens and continues to remain flat after the second dose. the key point is already after the first dose, and if you study immunogenicity data, you'll see there is barely detectable neutralizing antibodies at that time. there is already very, very significant protection induced. i think it's very important

because hopefully we will start impacting people's lives very quickly after the onset of complaints to immunize. secondly, it makes us more optimistic in regard to the j&j vaccine that's being tested as a one-dose vaccine. probably in a few days, the moderna booklet will be published and you will see the data are as impressive and compelling. regarding the j&j vaccine, i said it's a one-shot vaccine. actually there is a second phase iii trial that has a two-shot vaccine. what we consider to be a breakthrough in terms of intervention into the pandemic could be the one-shot vaccine. we're optimistic efficacy could be very high. we have already recruited more than 38,000 subjects in the study. with j&j, we decided to cap recruitment to around 40,000

subjects which will happen by the end of this week, in the next two or three days. and given the attack rate into the study and in the countries where the study has been conducted, it is very likely that we will have our first views on efficacy for this vaccine very early in the month of january and that somewhere in late january or early february, an eua will be submitted and hopefully approved equivalent. we may be able to accumulate another 30 to 40 million vaccines in the month of february if this vaccine gets approved at an equivalent number or slightly higher going forward in the month of march, et cetera. so an important thing to keep in mind in terms of impact on the pandemic. also the astrazeneca vaccine, we have now about 18,000 subjects

recruited in the u.s.-conducted phase iii trial. that's under the oversight of operation warp speed. there are no different dosages, there's no different batches of vaccine. that study we believe is going to give a clear outcome as to the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. and we, again, look forward to potentially reading out from that study on its efficacy somewhere late in the month of january and if positive, an eua may be filed somewhere late in the month of february with final analysis data. on the protein vaccine side, which is the third platform technology, as you know, that we have in the portfolio, we have very good progress with novavax that is gearing up to start its phase iii trial. and we have some further analysis ongoing and discussions with sanofi to see what the next steps are to progressing the

vaccine there towards phase iii. so things are moving in the right direction and i'm happy to address your questions. i'll pass on to my co-leader, general will make it in to people. >> thank you, both. just exciting time to be in the business that we are in right now. supporting this through logistics and eventual sustainment of vaccine distribution and resupply accordingly. we are focused on our micro planning at the state jurisdiction level. reminder of the tri-ad involved in this. the cdc experts who developed the strategy, who have been working day-to-day with the states for the last six months. the commercial industry

partners, fedex, u.p.s., walgree walgreens, cvs and remain others are working their plans every day to make them better. then, of course, the states, right? our ability to enable their priorities and their plans is what really will determine our success. every day that goes by, we get stronger on this. but eventually, right? we are going to have an eua, right? not to get out in front of that decision, but to be prepared for it. this week, this past friday, all of the jurisdictions, all 64 jurisdictions and five federal agencies locked in their micro plans for the pfizer vaccine. based on the vaccine we provided to them we locked in 636 locations by quantity vaccine delivery if and when the vaccine is approved. as i've talked about, we will

begin upon approval of the eua, packing to the micro plans, and begin distribution within 24 hour hours out to the jurisdictions accordingly. our goal is to make sure we can ensure the vaccine is delivered in a timely manner. and that it's delivered safely, securely, and it's ready to be utilized to start administering vaccine as soon as possible. to that end, what we also already did, i gave permission to already distribute syringes and needles, alcohol wipes, and dilutant which is required in support of the pfizer vaccine. we will begin that today and distribution will be completed by friday. again, only to set conditions and if it sits there another week or ten days or whatever, then it does.

but planning for success. we wanted to make sure that the states had all that they needed to have. this week, we are focusing not only on the final planning for the pfizer vaccine, but we are in deep coordination for the pfizer vaccines. final to the jurisdictions. today, tomorrow, friday, they will lock in locations and constituent and, hence, be prepared for follow-on eventual approval of the eua for moderna. >> as they continue this briefing, what we have now heard from the team at warp speed is that they are locking in. they have locked in jurisdictions, locations for distribution of pfizer and are beginning to do that ahead of the emergency authorization of either the vaccine but certainly

ahead of what we expect next week on moderna. back with me is susan page and jeremy peters and jim mussina. they seem to have a plan from what we are hearing from the general perna. they are proceeding that moderna will be approved, following up on the pfizer approval that we expect as soon as tomorrow. >> it's good news but short-term news, right? you're only talking about getting, you know, a few tens of millions of these vaccines to critical care workers at the beginning. we are still months away from having all of us being able to get this vaccine and it makes it even more important to go back to your earlier point that congress and the president be a real partner in here in getting relief to the states and local government and consumers who are sitting out there just getting absolutely bludgeoned by this illness and this academic

downturn. they have to figure out something to do to pass a stimulus bill before the end of the year. >> absolutely. jeremy, the state department had the first of a series of holiday parties at blair house last night. reception for diplomats, we believe, who came to blair house last night at the invitation of secretary pompeo. this, again, is large gatherings in a small pace. blair house is not a large space. they were lined up to get in past security outside the white house there on pennsylvania avenue near lafayette park. it doesn't seem as though the white house is changing any of its plans for the state department for holiday entertaining? >> no. it's really surprising and it is surprising not just to us in the media but people who, you know, have observed this for a long time and watched this administration act very cavalierly with serious issues. it's also surprising to people within the west wing who are

taking this more seriously than their bosses. i've talked to people who are incredibly alarmed at the loosey-goosey nature of the public health guidance that administration just continues to flaunt. i mean, this is, i think, an example of the way that trump and the people around him continue to act as if they will not suffer any consequences and, in this case, the reality is, because they have access to the best medical care and treatments that most americans will never get, they don't think that they will pay the price if they get sick. >> well, to be continued. susan page, jeremy peters, jim mussina, thank you for sticking with us. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." chuck todd is up next with "mtp daily," only on msnbc. daily," only on msnbc. at fidelity, you get personalized wealth planning

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if it's wednesday, coronavirus patients are flooding hospitals. top health officials warn the vaccine will not stop the spread for months. for americans who can't afford to wait, still no financial relief plan from congress. plus, what we do and do not know about the coronavirus vaccines. new questions about side effects, allergic reactions and why the shot does not mean an end to masks and social