Hospitals brace for winter COVID-19 surge as world awaits vaccine

ARLINGTON, Texas - Public health officials are hoping a coronavirus vaccine will be approved soon and possibly end the outbreak. But AstraZeneca's announcement of a major discrepancy in its large-scale clinical trials — a number of volunteers were given a lower dose of the vaccine than was initially reported — could delay the FDA approval process.

"It's not something where anybody had any major consequence from the vaccine," Fox News medical contributor Dr. Devi Nampiaparampil said. "But on the other hand because of this issue, they may have to continue their trial longer or do more research."  

North Korea reportedly hacked AstraZeneca's vaccine data but it is unclear if that had anything to do with the pharmaceutical company's trial error. 

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As this new surge grinds on, hospitalizations are still spiking. about 90,000 people are being treated in hospitals for COVID-19; it is a new record for the 16th day in a row. Intensive care admissions are also hitting a grim new milestone: almost 18,000.  

Those hospitals are bracing for a major new spike in cases following the Thanksgiving holiday because millions of Americans ignored CDC guidelines and traveled anyway. Many of those travelers said they're doing whatever they can to keep themselves safe.  

• A vaccine won't end the COVID-19 crisis right away, experts say