our thanks to robert wachter, there.cribing the storming of congress by donald trump's supporters as an assault on democracy. in a letter to the president, he said actions and rhetoric following november's election had threatened to tarnish the administration's legacy. but mr azar said he would stay in his role until wednesday to ensure a smooth transfer of power during the pandemic. he's been one of mr trump's closest allies. a number of white house officials have stepped down following the violence in washington earlier this month. the authorities in india are beginning a huge coronavirus vaccination programme. efforts are underway to inoculate 300 million people by august, starting with healthcare and frontline workers. these are live pictures from delhi, primus and arena modi speaking. —— prime minister narendra modi. two types of vaccine are being used. critics accuse the government of rushing to approve one of them, covaxin, which was developed in india. 0fficials insist the jab is safe, despite having not yet pass

ucsf director of medicine doctor robert wachter says the extent and length of the nationwide surge makes it far more concerning than initially thought. he says that coupled with 2 other factors are creating what he calls the trifecta of trouble. >>you have the combination of this is really big surge and 2003 1000 people a day dying. multiplied times the vaccine distribution being far slower than anybody wanted her and had anticipated. and the 3rd element of the trifecta is this new variant which is now quite clearly more infectious than the virus we've been dealing with for the past year wachter says while this new strain of the virus first discovered in the uk doesn't appear any deadlier. the fact that it's more contagious is of great concern but it's more infections that if you get it you're more likely to give it to more people and each of those people has the same chance of dying as they had with bug. means that more people will just because they'll be more cases he says that's why it's more important than ever to get the vaccine in as many arms as possible as quickly as possible. th

professor robert wachter is chair of the department of medicine at the university of california, sanng on the programme. and i believe you havejust programme. and i believe you have just had your programme. and i believe you havejust had yourjabs, programme. and i believe you have just had yourjabs, is that right? i have just had your “abs, is that righnfi have just had your “abs, is that rtghttfi have just had your “abs, is that hghttfi have just had your “abs, is that ritht? ., , . , that right? i have 'ust had my second injection _ that right? i have just had my second injection of _ that right? i have just had my second injection of the - that right? i have just had my second injection of the visor l second injection of the visor vaccine and i am doing fine. congratulation, great news. about the situation more widely in california? not such great news. element is quite cheap —— quite terrible. southern california is disastrous and resembles what new york looked like in march and april. hospitals filled, icus filled, some ambulances not able to take patients to the hospital, beginnin

robert wachter.s the head of the department of medicine at uc san francisco's medical school and he and dr. ashish jha wrote this ppll available vaccine immediately. grt to have you on the newshour. before we get to your idea, can u help us understand why from your perspective, this i struggling? >> is a little bit surprising and a little bit odd. predicted this.f us could have but most thought bottleneck would be supply and it's been surprising how hard it's been to get vaccine into people's shoulders. it is complicated. we are ave big, e country. i think there has been relatively poor planning it has been under resourced. congress just passed a bill. the departments, hospitals that are reonsible for rolling out the vaccine. i think we underestimated the complexity. william: you proposed this idea about delaying the second shots and using all of those shotsnd giving them to everyone as quickly possible. dr. wachter: the things that changed in my nd were the extent of the surge right now, which is de

ucsf director of medicine doctor robert wachter says the extent and length of the nationwide surge makes it far more concerning than initially thought. he says that coupled with 2 other factors are creating what he calls the trifecta of trouble. >>you have the combination of this is really big surge and 2003 1000 people a day dying. multiplied times the vaccine distribution being far slower than anybody wanted her and had anticipated. and the 3rd element of the trifecta is this new variant which is now quite clearly more infectious than the virus we've been dealing with for the past year wachter says while this new strain of the virus first discovered in the uk doesn't appear any deadlier. the fact that it's more contagious is of great concern but it's more infections that if you get it you're more likely to give it to more people and each of those people has the same chance of dying as they had with the old bug. means that more people will just because they'll be more cases he says that's why it's more important than ever to get the vaccine in as many arms as possible as quickly as poss

robert wachter. he's the head of thetment of medicine at u.c. n francisco's medical school, and he and dr. ashish jha wrote this op-ed suggesting we delay the planned second dose and use all eavailable vaccine immedily. dr. wachter, breat to have you the newshour, before weet to your idea, let's back up just and can you help us understand why from your perspective ts vaccine rollout is stumbling so badly? >> well, it is a little surprising and it's not, the part that is not is the rollout of ppe and rollout of testing also stumbled so i guess we could have predicted it. but i guess most of uous t the bottle neck would be oversupply, that there was just not going to be enough doses o vaccine that would be out there. hard it's been get vaccine how it is complicated.lders. we're a big, diverse country but i think it has been relatively poor planning. it it has been underresourced. the congress just passed a bi ll th going to provide 8 or 9 billion, that was just last week. th should havbeen done a couple of months ago. and theepartment, t departmen