The pharmaceutical company Moderna on Monday announced via press release that the Covid-19 vaccine it has been working on has shown 94.5% effectiveness. The company is one of several that has received billions of tax dollars from the Trump administration to develop a vaccine as part of the President’s Operation Warp Speed. Moderna’s announcement comes a week after Pfizer in collaboration with a company called BioNTech declared that its vaccine –which is not part of Trump’s operation—showed very promising results at more than 90% effectiveness. The New York Times explained that, “Pfizer and Moderna each announced the findings in news releases, not in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and the companies have not yet disclosed the detailed data that would allow outside experts to evaluate their claims. Therefore, the results cannot be considered conclusive. The studies are continuing, and the figures on effectiveness may change.” Stocks rose on Monday based on the Moderna vaccine announcement. 

President elect Joe Biden has been iced out of the transition process by the current occupant of the White House who refuses to accept his election loss. Biden’s team is reportedly meeting directly with vaccine makers to remedy this failure. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases lamented the situation saying, “Of course it would be better if we could start working with them.” Most critically the incoming Biden administration needs to know how the Department of Health and Human Services plans on distributing the vaccine across the nation once all studies are complete and the Food and Drug Administration signs off. Virus cases are off the charts in the U.S. with a whopping 11 million cases of infection so far. There were a million new cases in the past week alone suggesting an exponential rise in the rate of infections. The large figure means that most Americans now know someone who has been infected. Researchers estimate that about a third of all Americans know someone who has died from the virus. 

As states around the country consider new shutdowns to stop the spread of the virus, President Trump’s controversial coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas shockingly told the residents of Michigan to “rise up” against restrictions that Gov. Gretchen Whittmer announced on Sunday night. Whittmer, who was the target of a thwarted kidnapping by a Trump supporter, responded saying, “We know that the White House likes to single us out here in Michigan, me out in particular. I’m not going to be bullied into not following reputable scientists and medical professionals.” Meanwhile given the lack of federal government aid to help them tide over the economic impact, businesses are rushing to lobby against more restrictions. Other states joining Michigan are Washington, Oregon, and New Mexico, as well as the