Sunday shows preview: Senate candidates brace for Georgia runoffs; government continues coronavirus vaccine roll out

Georgia’s Senate runoff races on Tuesday and the federal government’s coronavirus vaccine rollout are expected to dominate this week’s Sunday talk shows.

Georgia’s Senate candidates are gearing up for their last campaign sprint before Tuesday’s runoff races, both of which will determine whether the GOP remains in control of the upper chamber.

Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) will face off against Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, respectively on Jan. 5. Republicans currently hold a 50-48 advantage in the chamber, and Democrats will need to win both seats in order to have Vice President-elect Kamala Harris cast tie breaking votes.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been raised and spent for the race. Harris, President-elect Joe Biden and President Trump are all scheduled to campaign for their candidates this week.

Just days before the election, Perdue announced that he was quarantining after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.

Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, sister of former gubernatorial candidate and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams, ruled that Georgia’s Muscogee and Ben Hill Counties could not invalidate thousands of voter registrations based on unverified change of address data ahead of Jan. 5. 

Abrams, who played a critical role in registering voters in the Peach state for the 2020 presidential election, will appear on ABC’s “This Week” and CNN’s “State of the Union.”

The Senate race has already garnered record voter turnout.

Over 3 million people have already voted early in the runoffs, according to the Atlanta Journal- Constitution, breaking a previous record for a Georgia runoff, when 2.1 million people voted in 2008.

Perdue is scheduled to appear on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” while Ossoff is expected to appear on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Loeffler will appear on “Fox News Sunday.” 

Meanwhile, the U.S. is continuing to roll out the coronavirus vaccine, although some officials have acknowledged that the Trump administration has fallen short of its inoculation goal.

The administration planned to have administered 20 million vaccinations by the end of 2020, but only about 3 million have received the shot, according to data from The New York Times.

Anthony Fauci, who will appear on ABC;s “This Week” and NBC’s “Meet the Press,” called the rollout “disappointing” in an interview on Thursday.” He said that the hoped distribution would increase this month, but local municipalities will need to more support to make that happen.

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this weeks Sunday talk shows:

ABC’s “This Week” — Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Fauci, Abrams; Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Moncef Slaoui, head of the U.S. vaccine development effort; Gov. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark.; Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles; Jo Ann Jenkins, CEO of AARP.

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Abrams; Surgeon General Jerome Adams; Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio; Senate candidate Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.

FOX News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Mo Brooks (R-Ala.); Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.); Sens. David Perdue (R-GA) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Rep. Vernon Jones (D-Ga.), Georgia House of Representatives

“America This Week with Eric Bolling” — President Donald Trump- Town Hall (October 25, 2020)

“Fox News Sunday” — Loeffler, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)

Updated 4:00 p.m.