Tony's Diary Package — page 507

day the He was explaining to me why he California Governor: State At "Tipping Point" Of Pandemic. Reuters (11/30, Whitcomb, Caspani) reports California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) "said on Monday the state was at a 'tipping point' in the COVID-19 pandemic that would soon overwhelm hospitals as political leaders nationwide turn to increasingly aggressive measures to hold back the latest • Had important call with Gov Cuomo who called me up. He was explaining to me why he had an independent panel look at the COVID-19 vaccines. He said that the skepticism about the FDA already existed (i.e. their doing an EUA for Hydroxychloroquine) and he was trying to ameliorate it. He also was concerned about managing expectations about how quickly the vaccines will make a big and broad difference. He and I agree that the difference will not be until mid to late summer. He told me about his conversations with Trump and how Trump wants to mend the fences with Cuomo despite the fact that he has been trashing him. He wants to change his residence back to NYC saying that it would be good for NYC. Cuomo pushed back and told him that he did not agree that it would be good for NYC. Also, Trump apologized for calling Chris Cuomo "Fredo". Cuomo believes that Trump is a psychopath and an evil man who just wants to manipulate for his future, which he knows is bleak. Cuomo also expressed disdain for Azar saying that he is a sycophant to Trump and does not understand that black and brown people will not get fair access to vaccines with the paltry amount of money that the USG is giving to the states for the implementation of the vaccine distribution. USG gave $200 million to NY, when they really need $1 billion. Cuomo told me the best thing that could happen for my legacy would be for Trump to fire me and then have Biden re-hire me. • Had call with Rob Manfred, Commissioner of MLB - He needed advice about the timing of Spring Training (February for pitchers) vis-à-vis the roll out of vaccines and when there would be enough people vaccinated so that he can both get his players vaccinated and have a degree of herd immunity present so that he can have spectators in the stands. I told him that by April there could be massive vaccinations IF people uptake the vaccine. We could have most people vaccinated by early summer which means they can start with half full stadiums and then by the World Series they could conceivably have packed stadiums. He might delay start of Spring Training from February to March. Also, he wants to offer stadiums and parking lots for massive vaccination programs. I told him that would be a CDC/local public health department issue. • Had Miami Mayors call. - The mayor of Miami-Dade County - Daniella Levine Cava now has COVID-19. Former Mayor Jimenez has COVID-19. Still remaining issue that Governor DeSantis is blocking the mayors attempts to mitigate. For example, he will not allow closing the bars and indoor restaurants. • Had call with Gary Bettman (NHL) about the coming hockey season • Task Force call - The VP still extracts "happy talk" out of a very sober report from Birx about the surge and the fact that we are perilously close to having our health care system