On November 9, 2020, pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer announced in a news release that they created an experimental COVID-19 vaccine with German drugmaker BioNTech that is up to 90% effective. This news came after they completed Phase 3 of testing. Out of 43,548 participants in the study, there were only 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 (although some of those may have been from a placebo vaccine). The vaccine comes in two parts, each taken a couple of weeks apart. The analysis shows the vaccine has an efficacy rate of up to over 90% as long as participants received both of their vaccine doses. This news also concluded there were no serious side effects of the vaccine observed or reported as of yet. Pfizer is planning on asking the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for emergency approval of the vaccine later this month because it will have two months of safety data making sure there aren’t any adverse effects. Operation Warp Speed, the rush for a vaccine, has promised to give Pfizer $1.95 billion in exchange for 100 million doses of the vaccine to the federal government to distribute to Americans for free, according to the New York Times. Because this information was in a news release from Pfizer and not a peer-reviewed medical journal, such as The American Journal of Medicine, this early data may change as the trial continues. Despite the fact that the vaccine could be over 90% effective, public health officials urge the public to social distance and wear masks as there are still a lot of cases and deaths.

As of November 8, 2020, at 12:16 pm, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) reported that the United States of America and its territories had 728,598 people that reported positive COVID-19 tests. The past 7 days alone have amounted to a little over 7.4% of total cases since January 21, 2020. These same 7 days had 1,072 reported new deaths nationwide, but this is only 0.45% of the total deaths since January. Many states are seeing an increase in case numbers, including Minnesota.

The MDH (Minnesota Department of Health) reported that by November 8, 2020, at 4:00 pm there were 3,762 confirmed positive cases in Minnesota on that day alone. This means on November 8 there were 2% of cumulative positive cases in Minnesota. There were also 19 reported new deaths on November 8. 

Goodhue County has approximately ⅓ of the total cases active right now. As of November 6, 2020, the Goodhue County Health and Human Services verified there were 323 active COVID-19 cases out of a total of 930 cases. This means that 323 people in Goodhue County have COVID right now and the 930 cases include those people as well as the people who have had COVID in the past. There were 7 people currently hospitalized on November 6. 17 in total have died so far from COVID-19 in Goodhue County. The students and staff of Cannon Falls schools have not seen a significant increase in cases, unlike Goodhue County.

ISD 252 confirmed on the week of October 31 to November 6 that there were a total of 3 cases of COVID-19 since September 8, 2020. Two of those cases were among the staff, and 1 case was confirmed in the student body. There are a total of 188 staff and 1,150 students in the school district. 49 students and 4 staff members are quarantined at home due to being identified as a “close contact” meaning either a member of their household tested positive or they themselves have symptoms of the virus. The COVID advisory decided on November 6, 2020, that they will continue the hybrid learning model for the high school and the elementary school. The elementary school previously was doing in-person learning, but switched to hybrid on November 2.