Data from two leading COVID-19 vaccine trials indicate they may be between 90 and 95% effective. Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientist in charge of the U.S. government's vaccine development program, Operation Warp Speed, tells NPR he's optimistic there is "a light at the end of the tunnel."
Dr. Anthony Fauci told NPR the results are worth celebrating — but that they should not be seen as a signal to pull back on public health measures. He also said the first vaccine doses may be available next month.
But it will still be months longer before any vaccine is widely available. Two former government health officials — Scott Gottlieb and Andy Slavitt — tell NPR that in the meantime, the pandemic is could kill 200,000 more Americans.
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Short Wave - Trump Administration Lifts Protections For Largest National Forest In US
The Trump administration has officially eliminated federal protections for Alaska's Tongass National Forest, the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world. With the rollback of the Roadless Rule, nine million previously-protected acres are now open further to potential development. What does that mean for trees that have been storing carbon for centuries?
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For more on this story, check out the episode page. You can email the show at shortwave@npr.org.
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Consider This from NPR - Barack Obama On Trump’s Defeat And Cooperation In A Divided America
Former President Barack Obama talks with NPR's Michel Martin about his time in office, President Trump's pandemic response, the 2020 election and what he thinks President-elect Joe Biden says about the United States right now.
In Obama's new memoir, A Promised Land, he writes about his first term in the White House.
Read NPR's full interview with Obama here.
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In Obama's new memoir, A Promised Land, he writes about his first term in the White House.
Read NPR's full interview with Obama here.
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
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Short Wave - Who Gets The Vaccine First? And How Will They Get It?
Developing a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine will be crucial to getting the pandemic under control. Also important, distributing it throughout the country once it's been approved. NPR science reporter Pien Huang tells us which high risk groups will get it first, how the vaccine will be distributed (including some challenges), and who's footing the bill for all of this.
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Consider This from NPR - Pandemic Fatigue Q & A: Mental Health, Processing The News, And Staying Occupied
The U.S. is entering the worst of the pandemic. For many, pandemic fatigue set in months ago. Others are struggling anew with cases spiking dramatically almost everywhere in the country.
Psychotherapist Gina Moffa and NPR's Linda Holmes answer listener questions about mental health, processing the news, and keeping ourselves occupied.
Linda hosts NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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Psychotherapist Gina Moffa and NPR's Linda Holmes answer listener questions about mental health, processing the news, and keeping ourselves occupied.
Linda hosts NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
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Consider This from NPR - ‘There’s No Transition’: Trump’s Non-Existent National Security Handoff
President Trump's refusal to engage in any meaningful national security transition is dangerous, say two former national security officials.
Kori Schake with the American Enterprise Institute served on George W. Bush's National Security Council and in senior posts at the Pentagon and the State Department. Harvard's Nicholas Burns served at the State Department and on the National Security Council in every administration from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush.
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Kori Schake with the American Enterprise Institute served on George W. Bush's National Security Council and in senior posts at the Pentagon and the State Department. Harvard's Nicholas Burns served at the State Department and on the National Security Council in every administration from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush.
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Short Wave - The COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Results: What They Mean, What Comes Next
Interim results are in from a large trial of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. Drug maker Pfizer, working with German company BioNTech, says its vaccine appears to be working really well — it was found to be more than 90 percent effective. Today on Short Wave, host Maddie Sofia talks to NPR science correspondent Joe Palca about what that efficacy number means, details of the study and what more information about the vaccine researchers are awaiting.
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Consider This from NPR - Hospitals Pushed To The Brink, Governors Warn Of Health Care Shortages
The governors of North Dakota, Ohio and Utah all delivered the same message this week: hospital resources normally used for patients with heart attacks, strokes or emergency trauma will soon be overrun by patients with COVID-19.
KCUR's Alex Smith reports on rural hospitals that are already at capacity, forcing them to transfer patients to city hospitals.
Lydia Mobley, a traveling nurse working in central Michigan, says she sees multiple patients every shift who say they regret not taking the coronavirus more seriously.
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KCUR's Alex Smith reports on rural hospitals that are already at capacity, forcing them to transfer patients to city hospitals.
Lydia Mobley, a traveling nurse working in central Michigan, says she sees multiple patients every shift who say they regret not taking the coronavirus more seriously.
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
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Short Wave - A Call For Equity In Genomics Research
In the future, genomic research could lead to new treatments for human disease. It turns the data in our DNA into a global commodity. But historically, minoritized communities have been left out of this research. Keolu Fox is a genome scientist trying to change that and advocate for a more equitable approach when Indigenous and other underrepresented communities do participate.
Read Keolu's paper, "The Illusion of Inclusion", in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Read Keolu's paper, "The Illusion of Inclusion", in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Consider This from NPR - The Consequences Of Election Denialism
We know President Trump lost the election. What we don't know is what will happen between now and Inauguration Day if he refuses to accept the results.
In the short term, the Biden transition team cannot access certain government funds, use office space or receive classified intelligence briefings without official recognition of Biden's victory from a government agency called the General Services Administration. NPR's Brian Naylor has reported on the delay.
At the Department of Justice, the top prosecutor in charge of election crimes, Richard Pilger, resigned from his position this week. A former DOJ colleague of Pilger's, Justin Levitt, tells NPR that the department is enabling the president's baseless claims of widespread election fraud.
And Washington Post columnist David Ignatius explains what might be happening at the Department of Defense, where Trump's election denialism has coincided with a number of high-level firings and a debate over the release of classified information.
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In the short term, the Biden transition team cannot access certain government funds, use office space or receive classified intelligence briefings without official recognition of Biden's victory from a government agency called the General Services Administration. NPR's Brian Naylor has reported on the delay.
At the Department of Justice, the top prosecutor in charge of election crimes, Richard Pilger, resigned from his position this week. A former DOJ colleague of Pilger's, Justin Levitt, tells NPR that the department is enabling the president's baseless claims of widespread election fraud.
And Washington Post columnist David Ignatius explains what might be happening at the Department of Defense, where Trump's election denialism has coincided with a number of high-level firings and a debate over the release of classified information.
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
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