Reopening America

We are on track to get the second coronavirus vaccine approved by the end of the week. On Tuesday, the FDA confirmed that Moderna’s two-dose vaccine is safe and effective. In the first week of its rollout about 6 million doses will be shipped out. The government also bought another 100 million doses from Moderna for a total of 200 million at a cost of $3.2 billion. Sarah Owermohle, health care reporter at Politico joins us for more good vaccine news.

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Many are still experiencing COVID fatigue and its happening at the worst time. Despite vaccines starting to rollout, cases are rising and ICU bed availability is low, and people are letting their guard down. People are also experiencing news overload and are tired of hearing about coronavirus. Zlati Meyer, staff writer at Fast Company, joins us for what the latest polls say about how over the pandemic everyone is.

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The worst fears of public health experts came true after Thanksgiving travel… rising Covid cases, reduced ICU bed capacity, and more lockdowns. Even though vaccines are currently rolling out, health officials are worried about Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. They are already urging caution about traveling, but as we saw already, many people will probably not follow that advice. There were some lessons learned from the last time… officials need better messaging and provide better testing as they will definitely see a rush. Brittany Shammas, reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for more.

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The Pfizer vaccine is being shipped out now to all the states and will start being administered immediately as we mark another turn in the pandemic. Despite President Trump's record on handling the coronavirus, Operation Warp Speed has been a success in getting a vaccine approved in less than a year. In other news, after suffering another loss in court, it seems that the president is all out of options to overturn the election. The Electoral College is meeting today to formally cast votes for Joe Biden, sealing his victory over Trump. Ginger Gibson, deputy Washington digital editor at NBC News, joins us for all this... plus, how the Hunter Biden investigation could influence the president-elect's decision on an Attorney General.

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An FDA advisory committee has recommended authorization of the Pfizer vaccine and it will soon start making its way through the U.S., but some of the biggest hurdles still to overcome are mistrust in both the government and vaccines themselves. Polls are showing that many still do not want to take the vaccine as soon as it is available. This is especially evident in communities of color who are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus. We need about 70-75% of people to get vaccinated so that we can get on the road back to normal. Ian Duncan, reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for why many are taking the wait-and-see approach with the Covid vaccine.

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As we wait for the emergency use authorization here in the U.S. for the Pfizer vaccine, all eyes are on the U.K. with their program and many were alarmed when two British people had allergic reactions to the vaccine. It prompted British officials to advise those with serious allergies to avoid getting vaccinated for now. Karen Weintraub, health reporter at USA Today, joins us for the latest as the Pfizer vaccine continues its rollout.

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The U.K. has begun the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine and all eyes will be on them for things they do right and things they get wrong. It has been less than a week that Britain has granted emergency use authorization and because of limited supplies and how difficult the Pfizer vaccine is to ship and store, only about 50 hospital hubs will be able to administer the vaccine for now. Joanna Sugden, assistant editor at the WSJ based in London, joins us for how vaccine distribution is going in the U.K.

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We have two vaccine candidates that are on their way very soon to be approved by the FDA for distribution, but while those may begin being administered shortly, the long haul of vaccine results is just beginning. We have another candidate from AstraZeneca that has released preliminary findings with some promising and confusing results, as well as other trials underway. Sarah Zhang, staff writer at the Atlantic, joins us for more.

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Because of the pandemic and dealing with isolation and the need for social interaction, it has forced some men to realize that they need deeper friendships. Many male friendships are rooted in "shoulder-to-shoulder" interactions such as watching sports or playing video games and with most of that gone right now, they are feeling the need more than ever to make deeper connections. Samantha Schmidt, reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for how some men are looking for more out of their friendships.

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Background and breakdown on 100 days of Portland insurrection, going in to the background, history of the current protests breaking down the struggles, successes and infrastructure that has made the uprising in Portland possible. 

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