The U.K. became the first Western nation to vaccinate patients against Covid-19. WSJ explains how the country is planning to roll out the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine at record speed, making it a test case for the rest of the world.
Photo: Jacob King/Bloomberg News
First person in the world given Pfizer’s vaccine, Georgia again certifies Joe Biden’s win, and here’s your guide to holiday tipping during the pandemic.
A.M. Edition for Dec. 7. What to expect from stimulus negotiations in Washington. China’s rising exports generate a record trade surplus. Rudy Giuliani tests positive for Covid-19. Plus, tips for staying safe in the break room. Marc Stewart hosts.
OraSure Technologies has blazed a trail in at-home diagnostic tests. Now, the Pennsylvania-based biotech company is working to produce a quick, over-the-counter coronavirus test that consumers can take in the privacy of their home with results available in minutes. NPR’s Allison Aubrey reports.
Staff Writer Meredith Wadman and host Sarah Crespi discuss what to expect from the two messenger RNA–based vaccines against COVID-19 that have recently released encouraging results from their phase III trials and the short-term side effects some recipients might see on the day of injection.
Sarah also talks with researcher Xing Chen, a project co-leader and postdoctoral scientist at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, about using brain stimulation to restore vision. Researchers have known for about 70 years that electrical stimulation at certain points in the brain can lead to the appearance of a phosphene—a spot of light that appears not because there’s light there, but because of some other stimulation, like pressing on the eyeball. If electrical stimulation can make a little light appear, how about many lights? Can we think about phosphenes as pixels and draw a picture for the brain? How about a moving picture?
We’re getting closer to the vaccine finish line with three promising candidates. Distributing this vaccine will be a challenge everywhere but especially in states that have large rural areas like Alabama where a three-phase plan to get the state vaccinated is being finalized next week.
Guests: Alabama Public Health state health officer Dr. Scott Harris and Axios’ Sam Baker and Jennifer Kingson.
Travel bubbles are under development in some places in an effort to revive air travel, which has plummeted during the pandemic. WSJ explains how reopening the skies without quarantine requirements at both ends of a trip could help reboot the global economy.
Illustration: Crystal Tai
