1440 News.
Robert Massimi.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its partner BioNTech requested emergency use authorization for their coronavirus vaccine Friday, teeing up the possibility for some Americans to begin receiving shots by the end of the year. The FDA will review the request Dec. 10; some federal agencies with essential workers have reportedly told employees they could receive vaccines within two months, after front-line healthcare workers. A second vaccine from Moderna is expected to be submitted for review in the near future. See a timeline of the process here.
Separately, the FDA granted emergency authorization for an antibody treatment from Regeneron. President Trump received the drug cocktail during his bout with COVID-19.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, announced he had tested positive over the weekend, as did Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Rick Scott (R-FL). Andrew Giuliani, son of Rudy Giuliani and personal aide to the president, also tested positive.
The US has reported 12.2 million total COVID-19 cases with 256,783 deaths as of this morning, including more than 195,000 Friday alone, according to the Johns Hopkins University dashboard. See rolling averages for cases and deaths here and here.
Finally, in breaking overnight news, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford said their vaccine candidate proved up to 90% effective in late-stage trials.
Georgia Certifies
Georgia’s Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) certified the state’s election results Friday, showing a slim victory for President-elect Joe Biden. The margin after the manual recount — which turned up nearly 6,000 uncounted ballots — settled at just over 12,600, or 0.25% of the vote. The Trump campaign has requested a second recount, which will be done via machine scan, as opposed to the just-completed audit performed by hand.
In Michigan, another battleground, the board of canvassers is scheduled to meet today to certify the state’s vote — split with two Democrats and two Republicans, the board could potentially deadlock. Leaders from the GOP-controlled state legislature — who are not involved in the certification process, but could potentially send a separate slate of electors to vote in the Electoral College (see 101) — said Friday they saw nothing to overturn Biden’s 150,000-vote win in the state.
In Pennsylvania, a Trump campaign lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s results based on inconsistent county-level voting procedures was dismissed (Biden leads by 1.2% in the state). Pennsylvania is scheduled to certify its vote today, with Nevada tomorrow, and Arizona next week. See an overview of current legal challenges here.
Under the current electoral map, Biden leads President Trump in the Electoral College 306–232, the same result from Trump’s 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton (minus faithless electors). See full election results here.
Open Skies Treaty
The US formally withdrew from the Treaty on Open Skies over the weekend, roughly six months after it initiated the process to leave the pact. Almost two decades old, the agreement allows members to conduct unarmed reconnaissance flights over each others’ territories (see background). In principle, the treaty is designed to build trust and confidence between each country, and has been generally viewed as one of the most wide-ranging military efforts to promote openness and transparency.
Listed among the 34 member countries are the UK, France, Russia, Turkey, and others. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has previously cited noncompliance by Russia as the motivation for the US withdrawal. The move follows news the administration is weighing whether to leave a nuclear arms pact with Russia, and a withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty last year.
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IN THE KNOW
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
Brought to you by Kettle & Fire
> Contestant on TBS’s “Wipeout” dies of cardiac arrest after completing the game show’s obstacle course (More) | Kirby Morrow, prolific Canadian voice actor best known for “Dragon Ball Z,” dies at 47 (More)
> Taylor Swift wins Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards; see full results here (More) | Alejandro Sanz wins Record of the Year, Natalia Lafourcade takes home Album of the Year at 2020 Latin Grammy Awards (More)
> Cofounder Ezra Klein and Editor-in-Chief Lauren Williams both depart Vox just one week after fellow cofounder left the media company (More) | Charli D’Amelio, 16, becomes first person with 100 million followers on TikTok (More)
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Science & Technology
> General Motors says a soon-to-be-announced breakthrough in battery chemistry will make its electric vehicles cost-competitive with gas engines within five years (More)
> Zebra finches can identify at least 50 members of their own flock based on the sound of the birds’ song alone, demonstrating a near-human capacity for language-mapping (More)
> True random number generated using the random assortment of DNA building blocks; study represents the largest random number demonstrated via biochemical means (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets end lower Friday (S&P 500 -0.7%, Dow -0.8%, Nasdaq -0.4%) but Monday’s futures up on vaccine authorization news (More)
> Children’s gaming company Roblox files for IPO, capping a busy week of five tech IPO filings (More)
> Guitar Center — the largest US musical instrument retailer — files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; approximately 300 stores to continue operations (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D, MD-5) says earmarks likely to be reintroduced in the House in the upcoming congressional session (More) | The argument for pork-barrel politics (More) | … and against (More) | President-elect Biden to select Antony Blinken as secretary of state (More)
> Trump administration unveils plan to lower medicine prices by linking domestic cost to overseas cost; “most favored nations” rule would cap Medicare drug payments at the lowest price paid by a comparable nation (More)
> Ethiopia warns residents in the city of Mekelle, the capital of the opposition Tigray regional government, to expect “no mercy” as government forces advances; human rights groups warn of impending war crimes (More)
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ETCETERA
Meet the 2021 Rhodes Scholars.
Two victims of ancient Mount Vesuvius eruption uncovered.
Travelers rank their favorite US tourist experiences.
Why we judge others based on their relatives.
Ranking America’s most scenic train trips.
The 100 best books of 2020. ($$, NYT)
Deceased comic Robins Williams’ former home finally sells.
Got a few minutes? Let’s make some diamonds.
Visualizing how much of the ocean floor is mapped.
Clickbait: Watch a baby chimpanzee see her reflection for the first time.
Historybook: First issue of Life magazine published (1936); First episode of “Doctor Who” airs on BBC (1963); Children’s book author Roald Dahl dies (1990); Hockey great Wayne Gretzky scores his 600th goal (1988); HBD Miley Cyrus (1992).
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”
- Wayne Gretzky
Vox, Wayne Gretzky, Open Skies, Pfizer, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google.books.com, Duck Duck Go, Twitter, Rumble, You Tube, Robert Massimi, Georgia, “Doctor Who”, Pete Townsend.
