Good morning. It's Tuesday, Dec. 15, and we're covering the first vaccinations in the US, protests in India, and much more. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

The Shot Felt Around America

Thousands of Americans received initial doses of a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 yesterday, a turning point in the pandemic that comes 11 months after the country's first reported case. Sandra Lindsay, an ICU nurse in New York City, is believed to have been the first to receive the treatment in the US outside of a clinical trial (watch here). 

Almost 3 million doses of the vaccine, developed by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, were delivered in the first batch. The companies expect to deliver 25 million doses by the end of the year. A vaccine produced by Moderna is expected to supplement the initial wave—officials meet Thursday to consider the approval of the treatment. Both vaccines have roughly a 95% efficacy, reached one month after the first shot of the two-dose regimen.

Officials expect 100 million Americans to be vaccinated by March; Dr. Anthony Fauci said yesterday low-risk groups could begin receiving doses by early summer. 

Achieving herd immunity via inoculation is expected to take many months, and the rollout began as the US passed 300,000 total reported COVID-19 deaths. Officials say the death toll will continue to rise in the short term, as the rate of new daily cases has not yet peaked (see averages). 

Take a look back at the first reported case in the US, and review what scientists have learned over the past year about how the virus infects and kills.

India's Farmer Strikes

Thousands of farmers across India held a one-day hunger strike yesterday, escalating their demonstrations over new nationwide agricultural laws. Beginning regionally in September, the larger movement coalesced 20 days ago as tens of thousands of farmers marched to the capital city of New Delhi. The effort has snarled traffic in the overcrowded city, with protestors setting up camp along major highways.

Introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the reforms would liberalize India's massive agricultural market—which employs almost half of the country, but accounts for just 16% of the economy—allowing companies to purchase crops directly from farmers. Farmers argue the changes threaten existing safety nets, including government-set price minimums. The new laws also outlaw a practice known as stubble burning, a waste-clearing practice that contributes to the country's notoriously bad air pollution.

Talks to end the demonstrations have been slow-moving. 

Electoral College Casts Ballots

Members of the Electoral College met at locations around the nation yesterday, voting for President-elect Joe Biden over President Trump by a margin of 306-232. The result is the same as President Trump's electoral 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton—before seven defectors changed the result to 304-227. 

The procedural step is the next in a series formalizing the 2020 election results, to be followed by a Jan. 6 Congressional session to record the vote. Efforts by the Trump campaign and allies to challenge swing-state election results in court have been almost unanimously unsuccessful. Some supporters have called for Congress to object to various states' electoral votes Jan. 6—here's how that process works—an effort that would require approval from the Democrat-controlled House.

In related news, early voting began yesterday in two Georgia runoff elections that will determine which party controls the US Senate. Election day for both races is Jan. 5. 

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> US box office revenue for 2020 of $2.3B is lowest in 40 years (More) | “The Dark Knight,” “Shrek,” and “Grease” among 25 movies added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry; a record nine of the films were directed by women (More)

> Cleveland Indians announce they’ll keep “Indians” name through 2021 season (More)

> Michael Jackson’s estate wins appeal in $100M lawsuit against HBO over their “Leaving Neverland” documentary that accused the late pop star of sexual assault (More)

Science & Technology

> Japanese scientists find more than the anticipated amount of soil and gas in the Hayabusa-2 capsule, which returned to Earth last week after taking samples from the asteroid Ryugu (More)

> Google experiences hourlong worldwide outage for the majority of its users yesterday morning; issue linked to authentication system malfunction (More)

> Security analysts say Russian government-backed hacker group APT29, also known as Cozy Bear, was behind sweeping attacks that penetrated the US Treasury and other federal agencies (More)

Business & Markets

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> Exxon Mobil announces plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over five years, after activist investor groups targeted the company for failure to address energy transition plans (More)

> Apple launches Fitness+, a $10 per month at-home fitness app with recorded classes; product will compete with at-home fitness companies like Peloton and Mirror (More)

> Social media giant Pinterest to settle gender discrimination lawsuit from former COO for $22.5M; includes $2.5M to advance women and underrepresented communities in tech (More)

Twenty-five percent of all US Dollars to ever be in existence were created in the last nine months. Scary right? Many investors are moving a portion of their wealth to hard money assets, like art, to hedge against inflation. Masterworks lets you invest in the $1.7T art market with artists like Banksy and KAWS. 1440 Subscribers can skip the 15,000 person waitlist today. #Ad (disclaimer)

Politics & World Affairs

> Attorney General William Barr to step down Dec. 23; move comes after weekend criticism by President Trump for not revealing details of a Hunter Biden tax probe ahead of the election (More)

> London moves into the highest tier of restrictions as COVID-19 cases accelerate (More) | The United Kingdom eases rules restricting blood donations from gay and bisexual men (More)

> Boko Haram claims responsibility for kidnapping more than 300 students in Northwest Nigeria; government says military rescue operation underway (More)

IN-DEPTH

One Family's COVID-19 Reckoning

Akron Beacon Journal | Jennifer Pignolet. With more than 300,000 deaths, the impact of the coronavirus on American families often feels reduced to statistics. Through firsthand emails, read one Ohio family's gut-wrenching battle with COVID-19. (Read)

She Stalked Her Daughter's Killers

NYT | Azam Ahmed. For three years, Miriam Rodríguez trekked across Mexico, tracking down those responsible for her daughter's killing. After helping put 10 accomplices behind bars, her own story ended in tragedy. (Read, $$)

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ETCETERA

Watch Italy's Mount Etna spew lava.

See Hollywood's annual list of the hottest unproduced scripts.

Dazzling high-resolution images of snowflakes.

The most spectacular science images of the year.

Instagram weighs in on the year's best New Yorker cartoons.

How spiders build webs in outer space.

Don't believe those texts about $1,200 checks from the IRS.

Review this very quaint 1996 guide on how to use the internet.

Clickbait: Quantifying potential apocalypses. (w/video)

Historybook: US Bill of Rights ratified, becomes law (1791); Eiffel Tower designer Gustave Eiffel born (1832); Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull killed (1890); RIP Walt Disney (1966); RIP actress Joan Fontaine (2013).

"A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there."

- Walt Disney

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