The showdown came as President Donald Trump and several in his orbit have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, raising questions on a transfer of power to the vice president were Trump at 74 -- or Democratic nominee Joe Biden at 77 -- to become too ill to serve.
The debate's format was divided into nine 10-minute sections with each candidate having two minutes to respond to the opening question in each segment and the remaining time allowed for follow ups. Moderator Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief of USA Today, did not release the topics in advance.
The sole vice presidential debate follows Trump and Biden's chaotic debate last week in Cleveland.
Here is how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Oct 07, 2020, 9:49 AM EDT
Kamala Harris: Everything you need to know
California Sen. Kamala Harris was selected as former Vice President Joe Biden's running mate on Aug. 11. She is the first woman of color on a major party's ticket, and if elected, she'd be the first woman and first woman of color to serve as vice president.
Her nomination came after serving as senator for California and as the state's attorney general -- and after her own, unsuccessful presidential nomination run. She suspended her presidential bid on Dec. 3, 2019 because, she wrote in an email to supporters, she didn't have the financial resources to continue.
Kamala Harris is the first female, first black and first Asian American U.S. vice president.
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-ABC News' Tessa Weinberg and Sruthi Palaniappan
Oct 07, 2020, 9:04 AM EDT
Debate safety measures a matter of contention between the 2 camps
In response to COVID-19 concerns from Kamala Harris’ team, the Commission on Presidential debates has agreed to add additional safety precautions at the debate.
Vice President Mike Pence and Harris will be seated 12-feet and 3-inches away from each other and from the debate moderator, USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page. As was the case at the presidential debate, there will be no handshakes between the candidates, and while the Commission said there would also be plexiglass separating Harris, Pence and Page, the Pence campaign has objected to using it.
A senior administration official in Pence’s office told ABC News Tuesday that there had been no formal agreement about the plexiglass and that while Harris and Page could use it, Pence doesn’t want to.
Workers clean protective plastic panels onstage between tables for Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris as preparations take place for the vice presidential debate at the University of Utah, Oct. 6, 2020, in Salt Lake City.
Patrick Semansky/AP
In a statement to ABC News, Pence spokeswoman Katie Miller said, "If Sen. Harris wants to use a fortress around herself, have at it."
Though Harris, Pence and Page will not wear masks on stage, everyone else in the debate hall will be required to wear one. Anyone who takes their mask off will be escorted out, according to the rules.
During the presidential debate in Cleveland, members of the Trump family were seen sitting in the audience without masks, even after being asked to put them on.
Harris and Pence will be tested prior to the debate, according to the Commission, which is a change from the presidential debate when the campaigns were responsible for testing their candidates and traveling parties.
“They’ve got to wear a mask, and if they take their mask off they're gonna be escorted out, and I don't care who they are, they'll be escorted out,” said Frank Fahrenkopf, chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, in an interview with ABC News.
The vice president has tested negative each day since Friday, and his White House physician has cleared him from having to quarantine, citing that he is not a “close contact” with anyone who’s tested positive, including Trump.
But Pence was present at the Rose Garden ceremony on Sept. 26 when Trump announced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his U.S. Supreme Court nominee. Eleven of the attendees have since tested positive for COVID-19. He was also in the Oval Office with Trump the morning of his debate, just days before the president tested positive.
Harris tested negative for COVID-19 Monday after being screened in Salt Lake City, where she has been gearing up for the debate, according to an aide.
-ABC News' Justin Gomez and Averi Harper
Oct 07, 2020, 8:24 AM EDT
Pence will get 1st question at debate
Pence will get the first question at Wednesday’s vice presidential debate, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Tuesday evening, along with a few more details of what viewers can expect.
A stand in for Vice President Mike Pence sits at a desk on the stage during a rehearsal as preparations take place for the vice presidential debate at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Oct. 6, 2020.
Julio Cortez/AP
Pence will be seated stage left. Harris will be seated stage right.
The candidates will be socially distanced with 12 feet and three inches of space between the center of one chair and the center of the other chair.
Similar to last week’s presidential debate, there will be no opening or closing statements.
Unlike last week, nine 10-minute pods of discussion will fill the 90-minute debate. Each pod will start with a question. The first candidate will get two minutes to answer. The second candidate will then get two minutes. After that, there will be six minutes of discussion.
-ABC News’ Political Director Rick Klein
Oct 07, 2020, 7:43 AM EDT
COVID-19 looms large over vice presidential debate
In the days since President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden took the stage for their first presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio, last week, the coronavirus has become even more of a central campaign issue than ever as the vice presidential candidates prepare for their only debate in Salt Lake City, Utah, Wednesday night.
The way the Trump administration has handled the pandemic is likely to be central to the debate as the White House deals with a cluster of COVID-19 cases, including the infection of Trump himself, amid a campaign and administration that have downplayed the virus and flouted the advice of health experts.
Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris are pictured in a composite image.
Getty Images
On Wednesday night, Trump's stance on masks, his decision to restart large campaign rallies that pack thousands together with no opportunity to socially distance and his admission to Bob Woodward that he downplayed the severity of the coronavirus will likely be brought up, with the spate of White House coronavirus cases giving Harris new ammunition to claim the administration hasn't taken the pandemic seriously enough.
Pence may also be asked to answer for Trump's words, comparing COVID-19 to the flu as recently as Tuesday and previously saying the virus would just "disappear."
Harris has previously said Trump has shown "a reckless disregard for the wellbeing of the American people" by failing to contain the outbreak and is likely to continue that line of attack.
"Even now, some eight months into this crisis, Donald Trump still won’t take responsibility. He still won’t act," Harris said in a speech on Aug. 27.
Pence will likely defend Trump by saying he ordered the manufacturing of personal protective equipment (PPE), sent ventilators to states and shut down travel from China as evidence he sprung into action early on. He may use Trump's short hospital stay as evidence of the progress made with regard to therapeutic drugs and to boost the president's position that Americans shouldn't let coronavirus "dominate" their lives.
