Two Weeks of In-Depth Reports to Air Across ‘TODAY,’ ‘NBC Nightly News,’ MSNBC, NBCNews.com and NBC News NOW
Lester Holt and Savannah Guthrie to Anchor One-Hour Primetime Special on March 11
March 1, 2021 — Marking one year since Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic, NBC News will provide in-depth reporting on how the coronavirus has impacted lives, as well as the challenges and hopes that lie ahead. Beginning today, the two-week series will focus on exclusive and original reporting across TODAY, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, MSNBC, NBCNews.com and NBC News NOW.
“Covid One Year Later: Life After Lockdown” will examine a wide range of angles, including the production and distribution of vaccinations, how to re-open the country safely, Covid-19 survivors known as long haulers, the science behind why the virus affects people differently, the status of therapeutics, the ripple effects of the pandemic, as well as the impacts on mental health, family planning, small businesses, the climate, and new mothers and their babies.
The two weeks of deep-dive reporting will culminate in a live primetime special, anchored by NBC Nightly News’ Lester Holt and TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie on March 11 across NBC and NBC News NOW. Broadcasting from the Lincoln Memorial, “Covid One Year Later: Life After Lockdown” will take a sweeping look at how everyone’s lives have changed this past year, as well as the path forward to regaining a sense of normalcy. The special will feature reports from TODAY news anchor and MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin, NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel and NBC News senior national correspondent and anchor Kate Snow.
Some of the other key programming highlights include:
- On NBC Nightly News on Monday, March 1, NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk will have an exclusive interview with National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins about what they are still learning about Covid-19 and what the road forward could look like. Gosk will also speak with patients hoping for answers and treatments for their long-term symptoms.
- Coinciding with the NBC Nightly News segment on Monday, March 1, NBCNews.com reveals the first national data of what post-Covid-19 syndrome looks like across America, following its survey of 64 specialty clinics providing care for long-haulers.
- All this week, NBC Nightly News’ “Inspiring America” series will spotlight stories of restaurant workers and customers stepping up to help each other, including an online movement to support servers and bartenders and an exclusive look at how Meals on Wheels changed its operations to better serve the millions of Americans who rely on them daily.
- TODAY and NBC Nightly News will have an exclusive report at how Alaska is ahead of most of the country in vaccine distribution. NBC News correspondent Erin McLaughlin will report from there on Monday, March 1, revealing how one of the most remote states is accomplishing this challenging task.
- On TODAY on Wednesday, March 3, NBC News investigative and consumer correspondent Vicky Nguyen will have an exclusive look inside a Covid treatment center, few people are aware of. As the government opens infusion centers to help people get this potentially life-saving treatment, she will speak with doctors about the monoclonal antibody treatment and will look at its effectiveness as new virus variants emerge.
- Throughout the week, NBC News senior Washington correspondent and MSNBC anchor Hallie Jackson will report for TODAY, MSNBC and TODAY.com on babies born during the pandemic, and will share her own personal story as a first-time mom giving birth during lockdown. Jackson will also highlight the choice many female healthcare workers are facing about whether or not to get the vaccine, especially if they are pregnant or nursing.
- Next week, MSNBC will air back-to-back primetime specials hosted by Nicolle Wallace and Chris Hayes. At 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 10, Wallace will anchor a special “Lives Well Lived,” an hour-long edition of the Deadline: White House daily segment dedicated to remembering Covid-19 victims, their families and how the nation honors them. The following evening at 8 p.m. ET, Hayes will be live from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. with a special “All In America: The Year We Meet Again” examining the past year and a hopeful look ahead to a post-pandemic future.
- NBC News NOW will air a special on March 9, “Beyond Covid: Life After Lockdown,” hosted by Morning News NOW anchors Savannah Sellers and Joe Fryer. Following the U.S. surpassing 500,000 deaths and the promise of vaccines on the way, the program will take stock of where we go from here, with a specific focus on health, business and education, along with contributions from NBC News senior medical correspondent Dr. John Torres and NBC News technology correspondent Jacob Ward.
- Vicky Nguyen will host a half-hour special “The Racism Virus” for NBC News NOW on March 10, where she’ll focus on Asian Americans becoming targets of hate and discrimination since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Featuring candid conversations, the program will tackle how the community is coping one year later.
- To mark the official March 11 date of when the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic, NBC News Digital will publish a stunning photo feature, “The Last Photo,” which will showcase reader submissions of the last photo in their camera rolls before life drastically changed on March 11, 2020.
Throughout both weeks of programming, NBC News and MSNBC will continue to highlight Plan Your Vaccine, a nationwide awareness campaign and online tool from Comcast NBCUniversal. Since launching just two weeks ago, Plan Your Vaccine now tracks over 12,400 vaccination locations and has had nearly 3.5 million page views with engagement from more than 2 million people, across all 50 states. You can learn more and sign up for alerts to find out when, where and how to get your vaccine at PlanYourVaccine.com or PlanificaTuVacuna.com.
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NBC News contact:
Dana.Klinghoffer@nbcuni.com
About NBC News
More Americans watch NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC than any news organization in the world. NBC News’ leading and award-winning television news broadcasts include TODAY, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, Meet the Press with Chuck Todd and Dateline NBC. MSNBC is the #2 network across all of cable and the premiere destination for breaking news, award-winning content, in-depth analysis and informed perspectives. CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage, business and general news content, and primetime reality programming, consumed by more than 557 million people per month across all platforms. The rapidly-growing NBC News Digital Group – including its streaming news services NBC News NOW and TODAY All Day – and the network’s award-winning original podcast and audio unit provide continuous content to consumers wherever they are, whenever they want it. NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC are part of the NBCUniversal News Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast Corporation. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit www.NBCUniversal.com.
