Above the Fold

Trucks Filled With Vaccine Hit the Streets

Nurse Sandra Lindsay was the first non-study-related American to receive the first COVID-19 vaccination on Monday morning as thousands of inoculations began shipping. Roughly 145 U.S. hospitals received shipments of vaccinations Monday, with another 425 set for today and 66 more Wednesday, according to Gen. Gustave Perna, CEO of Operation Warp Speed, the current administration’s federal initiative to quickly research and deliver vaccines from several vendors. 

Pfizer is expected to ship nearly 3 million doses initially, with 25 million expected by the end of December alone. Moderna Inc.’s vaccine, which is also given in two doses, should begin shipping this month once final clearance has been given by the Food and Drug Administration. Although initial doses are reserved for doctors, nurses and other front-line workers, early recipients will also be those in long-term care facilities, followed by other essential workers and the elderly.

Three Things 

1. Google Goes Down – The global king of search and content experienced an outage yesterday affecting more than a dozen of its services, including Gmail and YouTube. For remote workers who depend on the company’s online services, such as Google docs, the disruption was a reminder of just how dependent we are on technology. The disruption event triggered thousands of school closures as teachers were unable to communicate with students. 
2. New Device Listens to Your Voice in a Whole New Way – The new Halo Fitness tracking device from Amazon claims it has an edge over competitors with its use of 3D imaging and even vocal monitoring that observes your mood through tonal changes (weird, we know). The device is not without its skeptics, but if you’re looking for the latest in digital fitness, and don’t mind Amazon’s algorithms listening to everything you say, the Halo might be an intriguing purchase. 
3. United to Recapture Its Aircraft Emissions (Sort of) – United Airlines has promised to eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The company will continue to use sustainable aviation fuels, but will also invest in new technologies that capture carbon dioxide directly from the air and store it underground. While this is a novel idea and alternative to purchasing carbon offsets, the initiative it’s currently investing in is led by Occidental Petroleum, which is using the captured carbon dioxide to extract hard-to-reach oil from the earth.

Did You Know?

A Couple Lesser-Known Facts About the Electoral College

America’s Electoral College system of voting, which applies only to presidential and vice presidential elections, is unique in that the winner of the popular vote doesn’t always lead to an election win (this has happened five times in U.S. history). And though the name “Electoral College” was not mentioned in the original Constitution, these “electors” are a critical part of our election process. Electors cannot be members of Congress or even federal employees; they also cannot vote for a presidential and vice presidential candidate who both hail from the elector’s home state.

Ironically, electors can also go “rogue” and cast ballots for candidates other than to whom they are pledged. There have been many of these “faithless electors” over time, and none have been prosecuted for doing so. The system, while arguably effective, has been a major source of American contention, as over 700 proposals have been introduced to Congress to either reform or eliminate the process.