There’s the initial shock and chaos in a collective disaster like the deadly and destructive California wildfires.

FILE - This Nov. 15, 1995 file photo shows then Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Administrator David Kessler testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington. President-elect Joe Biden has picked Kessler to lead vaccine science in his drive to put 100 million shots into the arms of Americans in his administration's first 100 days and stem the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. David Kessler, who will have the title of chief science officer of COVID response, headed the Food and Drug Administration in the 1990s under presidents of both political parties. Army Gen. Gustave Perna, who has been in charge of vaccine delivery under Operation Warp Speed, is expected to stay on. Kessler will coordinate vaccine review and approval, as well as the logistics of manufacturing millions more doses.

(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)Mexico posted a record spike in coronavirus cases on Friday, with 21,366 newly confirmed infections, about double the daily rate of increase just a week ago. The National Health Commission said 90 of those confirmed cases were in Hebei province, adjacent to Beijing, where the country’s biggest recent outbreak occurred. State health officials announced this week that vaccine eligibility would be expanded to educators and seniors beginning Jan. 23. But federal officials have since said the stockpile was exhausted when those promises were made and governors can’t expect any windfall shipments. President Donald Trump had invoked the Defense Production Act to address various aspects of the COVID-19 public health crisis.

President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event at The Queen theater, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Wilmington, Del. “You have my word: We will manage the hell out of this operation,” Biden declared. Another carryover from the Trump administration plan: Biden said he intends to mobilize local pharmacies to administer vaccines. Biden committed to better communication with the states, to avoid surprises about how much vaccine they can expect. The Biden administration also plans to launch a public education campaign to overcome doubts.

“The ceremony’s footprint will be extremely limited, and the parade that follows will be reimagined,” Biden's inaugural committee said in a statement. After the swearing-in ceremony, Biden will deliver an inaugural address that “lays out his vision to beat the virus, build back better, and bring the country together,” the inaugural committee said. “I think you’re going to see something that’s closer to what the convention was like than a typical inauguration,” Biden said last week. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said last week that she had been in touch with the inauguration committee but that the process was understandably coming together later than a normal inauguration. A face-to-face between Trump and Biden is up in the air due to Trump's ongoing maneuvering rather than any virus concerns.

President-elect Joe Biden listens during a meeting with his COVID-19 advisory council, Monday, Nov. 9, 2020, at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):9 p.m.International observers from the Organization of American States say they saw no instances of fraud or voting irregularities in the U.S. presidential election. Some Republicans are renewing their attacks on President-elect Joe Biden’s lead over President Donald Trump in Georgia, with Sens. Political appointees who are looking for job opportunities after President Donald Trump’s election defeat to President-elect Joe Biden should think twice. Carson is the first member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet known to have tested positive.

“We are still facing a dark winter.”He called on Americans to separate politics from the virus and embrace mask-wearing. Biden noted the pandemic’s disproportionate toll on people of color as he called on Americans to separate politics from the virus and embrace mask-wearing. Pfizer said Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine may be a remarkable 90% effective, based on early and incomplete test results. A top Trump administration health official delivered much the same message as Biden, although the timing was coincidental and the occasion apolitical. The advisory board that Biden announced on Monday includes doctors and scientists who have served in previous administrations, many of them experts in public health, vaccines and infectious disease.

The White House in Washington, is seen early Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, the morning after incumbent President Donald Trump was defeated by his Democratic challenger, President-elect Joe Biden. That’s a necessary move to free up money for the transition and clear the way for Biden’s team to begin putting in place the transition process at agencies. Saying the field was full of good candidates, Clyburn said he “came to the conclusion that Joe Biden was our best bet.”___9 a.m.President-elect Joe Biden will launch an “agency review teams” this coming week. Biden’s campaign launched a transition team in May, and they’ve been working alongside designated staffers in President Donald Trump’s administration on transition planning for months. Biden’s transition team has also come out with a transition-focused website — BuildBackBetter.com — and is launching transition-focused social media accounts under the username “Transition46.”

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON – The Latest on the presidential campaign (all times local):8:35 p.m.Joe Biden is getting a boost from Oprah Winfrey in the final days of the presidential campaign. While President Donald Trump won all but Minnesota in 2016, Democrats are increasingly optimistic Biden can win at least Michigan and Pennsylvania back, and he’s making a play for Ohio as well. ___HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:The presidential campaign shifts west as President Donald Trump visits an Arizona town across the Colorado River from Nevada. The Biden campaign announced the rally on Wednesday but hasn’t said where it will be held. President Donald Trump won Michigan by just under 11,000 votes four years ago, making it his closest margin of victory in any state.

WASHINGTON – The Latest on the 2020 presidential election (all times local):12:40 p.m.Joe Biden is receiving a virtual briefing from a former U.S. surgeon general and a collection of health experts on how best to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Biden’s campaign created a virtual studio that connected the former vice president via video with former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and six other experts at a theater in downtown Wilmington, Delaware on Wednesday. Biden will give a speech on the topic later in the day. He suggested doing so could save thousands of lives and ultimately be more effective between now and early next year as vaccines are being developed. Others on the briefing endorsed a national requirement to wear masks, given the country’s “porous borders” and rules that vary from state to state.