It was unimaginable. A respiratory virus turned global pandemic disrupted every facet of our world. This was something public-health officials had been planning for. Yet most leaders seemed totally unprepared for its onslaught. A year later, half a million Americans have died. Where do we go from here?The Atlantic will explore the year that was, the power of the vaccines to stop the spread of the coronavirus, and the potential return to normalcy.
I’ve spent the pandemic taking daily walks around my neighborhood, along what are now overly familiar blocks. I try to vary my route, but I can tell you which patches of sidewalk are most treacherous, which houses have the most stylish doors, and where the yippiest dogs reside. Last week, a text interrupted this routine, with a link to schedule my first vaccination appointment. For a second, I thought it was spam.
For much of 2020, the world pinned its collective post-pandemic plans on a single, glimmering end point: the arrival of an effective COVID-19 vaccine. The resounding refrain of “when I’m vaccinated” has long conjured images of people shedding their masks, hugging their friends, and returning to a semblance of normalcy. And now some vaccinated people are doing exactly that.
A new Futuro Media podcast, “Suave,” tells the story of one person’s journey to freedom after receiving a life sentence without parole at the age of 17. David Luis “Suave” Gonzalez met journalist Maria Hinojosa in 1993 during a talk at the prison in Pennsylvania where he was serving a sentence for first-degree homicide. For years, Gonzalez and Hinojosa stayed in touch through letters, visits and phone calls that Hinojosa recorded.
Deb Haaland, a tribal citizen of the Laguna Pueblo, is being sworn in as secretary of the interior and will be the first Native American ever to serve in a U.S. presidential cabinet. Just four Republicans joined Democrats in voting to confirm Haaland, who will manage 500 million acres of federal and tribal land. Haaland will also oversee government relations with 574 federally recognized tribal nations and is expected to address the legacy of uranium mining on Indigenous land and other areas.
Residents in Jackson, Mississippi, have been facing a water crisis over the last five weeks, with many people lacking reliable access to clean drinking water after deadly February winter storms caused pipes and water mains to burst. While water delivery has largely been restored, “boil water” orders remain in effect for most people. The city estimates it could cost $2 billion to fix the city’s water system.
Parenting advice on COVID exposures, princess invasions, and puppy problems.
And he says sleeper cars are making a comeback.
The new vaccine confidence drive underscores the extent to which the administration is still concerned about Americans’ desire to get vaccinated.
“To pull back now, prematurely, would be ill-advised,” Anthony Fauci said.
I know she will be supportive, but she’s been through so much.
Janet Yellen said the greater risk was not strengthening the economy as it recovers from the impact of the pandemic.
He is best known for his work on a Stockton pilot project that provided $500 a month to a small group of low-income residents.
Another massive injection of federal cash could ignite the economy like never before. It also could drive up inflation and burst market bubbles, creating new headaches in an otherwise positive outlook.
The February gain marked a sharp pickup from the 166,000 jobs that were added in January.
“I mean, Shaq has a SPAC. What could go wrong?” one economist says of the euphoria rippling through Wall Street and raising a new round of worries.
Decades of reckless oil drilling by Chevron have destroyed 1,700 square miles of land in the Ecuadorian Amazon, but the company has refused to pay for the damage or clean up the land despite losing a lawsuit 10 years ago, when Ecuador’s Supreme Court ordered the oil giant to pay $18 billion on behalf of 30,000 Amazonian Indigenous people.
The Great National Post-Trump Cleanup continues. In today’s news, Sen. Mitch McConnell made headlines for vowing to make the Senate an even less productive place, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is asking that the new attorney general report back on several incidents of apparent corruption that Trump’s Justice Department blocked proper investigations of, and a Trump-era whistleblower finally gets the military promotion that Trump’s ever-crooked team tried to sabotage.
Republican men are the most likely group to say they won’t get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to recent polling.
California public health officials say that people in federal immigration detention in facilities located in the state will now be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, KQED reports.
Crimes against Asian Americans are at an all-time high, as every day another incident is reported in which an Asian American is the target of identity-based hate. An analysis found that while crimes in the United States’ 16 largest cities decreased overall by 7% in 2020, those targeting Asian Americans rose by nearly 150%.
Incidents all over the U.S. have been reported and recorded on social media, especially in California.
In the slew of anti-trans legislation springing up around the country, most measures focus on one of two areas. There are a number of anti-trans sports bills that aim to keep transgender girls out of girls’ sports. There are also a number of bills aiming to make it a felony for physicians to prescribe gender-affirming care, like hormones, to transgender and nonbinary youth. One example of this is slowly but surely moving forward in Alabama.
The president told ABC he is in favor of changing the rules to require senators to talk on the floor to delay a bill’s passage.
“The View” co-host linked a campaign trail comment from the vice president to Republicans not wanting the vaccine.
Ammon Bundy is nothing if not consistent. When the Idaho-based leader of the anti-public health measure “People’s Rights” network says he won’t be forced to wear a mask, he apparently means it—even if that leads him to miss his trial on trespassing charges at the Idaho Statehouse last year, leading to a warrant for his arrest and his subsequent imprisonment.
Every week, our lead climate reporter brings you the big ideas, expert analysis, and vital guidance that will help you flourish on a changing planet. Sign up to get The Weekly Planet, our guide to living through climate change, in your inbox.Last week, China released the draft summary of its next five-year plan, its comprehensive economic planning document for 2021 to 2025. It’s an important document, a kind of “plan of plans” for the country’s provinces and agencies.
After making good on their promise to expand Obamacare, Democrats are weighing a divisive fight over the public option.
The ex-president was notably absent from a recent ad campaign. But he told Fox News that getting shots in arms was important.
