January 1, Millions of Coronavirus Vaccine Doses Expected by Start of 2021

This Day in History | 1945

The United States becomes the first and only nation to use nuclear weapons during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people are killed, and another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout.

Good morning Middle Americans, 

Finally some good news, we think when it comes to the coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci, says he expects Drugmakers will likely have tens of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines in the early part of next year. That said, Those goals are only possible because drugmakers have agreed to manufacture large supplies of their vaccines even before they know whether they work in order to save time.

Also today we are learning that Youtube dumped nearly 2,600 Chinese-linked channels> They were taken down in June, according to a report by Google’s Threat Analysis Group, which combats government-backed hacking and attacks. Many of the channels were dedicated to stirring up the racial violence in the wake of George Floyds death. That’s what they do y’all. Stirr the pot here in the U.S., to make our lives worse. Or more accurately, make our live worse than we think they are. Nothing can be worse than living in a communist nation, right? 

Things are also starting to move forward with the next round of Coronavirus relief funding. This means Mitch McConnell is probably going to have to cave on something. And that something is the continuation of a $600 extra a month unemployment benefit. It’s been a point of contention for fiscal hawks, who’ve rightly pointed out that this number makes it so a lot of people are making more money -while not working, than they did when they were working. Sen. Rand Paul had some things to say about this. And he’s not wrong. Finally, we don’t normally cover foreign stories too closely here on his platform, but we’re sure most of you saw that crazy video from Beirut, Lebanon. The explosion has leveled parts of the city, and shaken the confidence of the people who live there. 

Read all about it. 

-Fraser Dixon

Fauci Expects Tens of Millions of Coronavirus Vaccine Doses at Start of 2021

(Reuters) – Drugmakers will likely have tens of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines in the early part of next year, Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases official, said in a Reuters interview on Wednesday, offering a more conservative view of the ramp up than some Trump administration officials.

Fauci said there could be a billion vaccine doses available by the end of 2021, and that he is hopeful the world could get past the pandemic that has claimed more than 700,000 lives worldwide by then, with the help of a vaccine.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said last month the U.S. would have hundreds of millions of vaccine doses by early in 2021.

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YouTube Bans Almost 2,600 Chinese Channels for Influence Operations

(CNET) – Google on Wednesday said it banned almost 2,600 Chinese channels from YouTube during the second quarter as part of investigations into “coordinated influence operations” on the platform.

Roughly half of the channels were taken down in June, according to a report by Google’s Threat Analysis Group, which combats government-backed hacking and attacks. Most of the channels posted only spam and nonpolitical content, Google said, but some of them posted content about the racial justice protests in the US that were spurred by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The content was primarily posted in Chinese.

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Rand Paul: Republicans Should Apologize to Obama for Complaining About Spending

(Axios) – Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tore into his fellow Republicans on Fox News Wednesday for considering a coronavirus relief package that could cost more than $1 trillion, calling on them to apologize to President Obama “for complaining that he was spending and borrowing too much” during his time in office.

Paul’s comments, while tongue-in-cheek, underscore the divisions within the Senate Republican conference, where as many as 20 GOP senators are likely to vote against any coronavirus relief bill — even if a deal is reached between Democrats and the Trump administration.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that she’s willing to settle for a price tag of $3.4 trillion, which is the cost of the relief package that House Democrats passed in May. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Wednesday that he’s “extremely doubtful” the two sides will reach a deal if negotiations continue past Friday.

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Huge Blast in Beirut Leaves Cities Future in Doubt

(AP) – As black smoke billowed into the sky, Shiva Karout stepped out of his gym with his colleagues and customers to watch. His gym, Barbell House, sits just across the coastal highway from Beirut’s port where a fire raged. They were curious.

Then a first boom shook them, and curiosity turned to fear realizing how close they were. “We got a bit scared, and we all went back in,” Karout recounted. Tense moments passed, waiting inside, and one of his customers panicked and ran out. Karout went after him.

That was when hell erupted. A gigantic explosion threw up a towering mushroom cloud and sucked out the air, and a wave of destructive energy shot across Lebanon’s capital.

The force threw Karout to the ground. He was cut and bruised, his full arm and leg tattoos of the Hindu god Shiva, after whom he is named, were punctured with lacerations and clotted blood.

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