Japan. Japan’s culture encourages consideration for other people. Mask-wearing is at about 100%. Most of the businesses in Tokyo are open. We are free to move about. And since most people are wearing masks it feels safe to be out. Kids are in school, movie theaters are open, and we can go to restaurants. Sporting events have about fifty percent spectators who are asked not to cheer out loud. Watching sumo on television it’s amazing to see the fans celebrate a victory by clapping but not cheering. Workers are encouraged to work from home, but some still commute into the city for work. Homes in Tokyo are for the most part very small, and it may be hard to find privacy and space to work remotely. The biggest impact has been the borders being closed to tourists and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Summer Games to 2021. Tourism to Japan has been booming these past few years, and sadly many have been affected. We are seeing the trickle-down effect as hotels and restaurants lose business but also suppliers for food and sake. Local festivals and events where people gather have been canceled. Museums are open, but many now require reservations made in advance. Sadly, some restaurants and businesses have closed. Others are on the brink of closing as the borders are still closed to nonresidents. It feels that most people are following the request of the government to not gather in large groups and to limit family gatherings to immediate family. Sadly I have not seen my elderly family in almost a year. We’ve decided to wait until it’s safer to meet, so will not see each other during the New Year as is our tradition. The government introduced a campaign with discounted vouchers for travel and eating at restaurants. The “Go To” project was very popular, but it is halted as coronavirus numbers are on the rise. Some businesses are holding seminars on Instagram Live. Two sake breweries Masumi and Dewazakura did a joint event with two brewers sharing tasting notes of their sakes. Sou Sou, a fabric shop from Kyoto, holds seminars, including one on their materials and using the fabric for making masks. These are saved so that viewers can watch later if they missed it. As for dealing with mental health and isolation, I think more could be done. October saw more deaths due to


How the pandemic changed six cities in 2020, according to locals

suicide than by coronavirus. We are eating most of our meals at home, and I have been testing recipes for a cookbook. I have been riding my bicycle and exploring new areas in my part of Tokyo. I’ve discovered a bamboo forest and charming gardens that are brand new to me. That is one of the amazing things about Tokyo — there are many hidden gems throughout the metropolis. Eating for your health, more fruit, vegetables and fermented foods. Learning not to sweat the small stuff — except for stocking up on toilet paper. Hoping that the borders reopen to tourists. It would be nice if the Olympic Games isn’t canceled. Having tourists return to Japan will help many businesses return to normal. As with many places, the situation has been fluid for months now, and restrictions are changing on a regular basis. November saw a second national lockdown in England, but just before that the government introduced a tier system, whereby different areas face different restrictions depending on how high the case level is. This was initially a three-tier system, with one being the most relaxed and three being the harshest. However, cases have seen a massive spike in recent weeks, not to mention the variant of covid-19 that has surfaced in Britain. On Dec. 19, prime minister Boris Johnson introduced a fourth tier, in which he placed London and much of the southeast of England. It came into effect just hours later. Life in Tier 4 is not dissimilar to a full lockdown. Londoners and others in Tier 4 were not allowed to mix with anyone indoors over the festive period, except for those in their “support bubble.” As of Dec. 26, millions more people in England have moved into Tier 4 in a bid to get a handle on infections. There is no indication of when this might change and whether children will be able to return to school next month. Businesses are obviously struggling, as I’m sure they are all over the world. It has been particularly hard for the hospitality industry, which has been operating on a stop-start basis. It has been really sad to see the posters on the Underground, which usually keep us informed about all the great shows and events coming up in this wonderful city. Now, on the odd occasion that I go on the Tube into Central London, all I


doors and disappearing businesses. Restaurants are doing their very best to stay afloat, and it can be tough. On a positive note, there is much more outdoor life and outdoor seating. Everyone (who can) is taking advantage and expanding or creating great outdoor areas. Cafes, which traditionally offer indoor counter service, now have outdoor spaces. Evening bars are offering brunches and early afternoon aperitivi. The cultural changes are how we greet each other. No more “baci e abbracci,” or hug and kiss. Now we elbow bump and always give each other space. Italy’s museums have done an incredible job of bringing its visitors “into” their spaces with virtual tours, behind-the-scenes visits to show what goes to make a great show or maintain a great site, creative social media, and clever digital events — all of which is and will be a great resource to future visitors. Anything to get off the devices: reading more (actual print books), a variety of indoor exercise, and I feel like we clean and reorganize at least once a week. Take every day one hour at a time. As more and more people are focused on eco-minded transport like scooters and bikes, I hope Rome finally implements a viable bike-lane network. And I hope the city institutes more incentives to keep residents and local businesses in the center. Dublin and the rest of Ireland have gone back into Level 5 restrictions because of a new wave of coronavirus cases — people are being asked to stay at home and exercise within five kilometers (three miles) of home. Household visits and social gatherings are banned. We are not allowed to travel to any other county in Ireland. Museums, libraries, hair salons and gyms are closed, and from midnight on Dec. 31, all shops except essential retail are closed. Restaurants, cafes and pubs that operate as restaurants can only do takeaway food or delivery, and hotels are limited to essential (non-tourist) travel only. The pub scene has always been a big part of Dublin’s culture, and one of the biggest changes in 2020 is that many of Dublin’s traditional old pubs have not reopened since March. Only pubs that served food were allowed to reopen after the first lockdown, under various levels of restrictions (depending on coronavirus numbers), but all pubs are closed under Level 5. Limited indoor or outdoor dining were allowed at various times, but


William Beaver, groundbreaking painkiller researcher who drafted the initial rules for FDA clinical drug trials, dies of covid complications

William T. Beaver, a medical educator and researcher who helped establish a scientific basis for the use of painkilling drugs from aspirin to morphine and later chaired a federal panel on the medical use of marijuana, died of complications from covid-19 on Nov. 12 at a care facility near his longtime home in Waterford, Va., his family said. He was 87. Beaver was the clinical pharmacologist at Georgetown University who is credited with drafting the initial federal regulations defining “adequate and controlled” clinical studies, according to a 2008 history of clinical trials and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Anyone who takes medication for pain benefits from the rules the FDA set based on Beaver’s guidelines for those early drug safety and efficacy trials, said his younger daughter, Hilary A. Beaver, a Houston ophthalmologist. Most older studies were “inadequate beyond belief,” recalled Robert Temple, who joined the agency in 1972 and is now the senior adviser for clinical science at the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. As late as the 1960s and early 1970s, Temple once wrote, “You would be horrified [at the clinical trial data] submitted to the agency. There was often no protocol at all. . . . It was a very different world.” In 1970, Beaver set out principles that evolved into today’s standard for how proposed new drugs for human use are to be tested. Those early research guidelines assisted his life’s work, testing analgesics to relieve acute post-surgical pain and chronic suffering among cancer patients while addressing addiction, Hilary Beaver said. “He was indeed wonderful and probably does not get enough credit for shaping the FDA’s understanding of trial designs and data,” Temple said. The content of federal trial design regulation “is largely what he wrote in about 1970, WAY ahead of where the rest of us were,” Temple wrote in an email to Beaver’s family. Beaver performed much of the original research into painkilling drugs commonly used today, including narcotics such as synthetic opioids; a generation of nonsteroidal drugs such as ibuprofen; and combination medications including codeine, hydrocodone and oxycodone with aspirin, and acetaminophen. His work also addressed problems of drug dependence. Beaver was born on Jan. 27, 1933, in Albany, N.Y. He was one of 40 U.S. high-schoolers to win a trip to D.C. as a finalist for the Westinghouse Science Talent Search in 1950, and he graduated from Princeton University


These were our 10 most popular posts of 2020

As part of that, President Trump banned Europeans — but not people from the United Kingdom — from the United States. TMC editor in chief Henry Farrell explained why that wasn’t as arbitrary as it seemed, outlining the politics of the “Schengen Area” and the idea of free travel within the European Union. 5. Here’s what Pelosi could do if Republicans tried to manipulate the presidential election’s outcome By August, Trump was steadily (and with no evidence) predicting “massive voter fraud” during the November election. Many observers were concerned that Republicans might try to override a potential Biden win through “democratic hardball” moves. Daniel Carpenter examined some possible scenarios, and suggested how House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could respond, in a piece that attracted readers steadily until after the election. 4. Bolivia dismissed its October elections as fraudulent. Our research found no reason to suspect fraud. After then-President Evo Morales declared victory in his fourth election in October 2019, despite a two-term constitutional limit, the opposition cried fraud. Massive protests erupted. An Organization of American States (OAS) report found irregularities and questioned the result. The military installed a new government, and Morales fled to Mexico. John Curiel and Jack R. Williams examined the OAS audit and found problems in its statistical analysis. Their post sparked heated discussion. 3. China is reporting big successes in the coronavirus fight. Should we trust the numbers? By late March, when Americans were still focused on the pandemic elsewhere, China was reporting that it had slowed the virus’s spread. Jeremy Wallace explained the various reasons to be skeptical, including Chinese officials’ incentives to downplay the virus. 2. This is what was so unusual about the U.S. Navy making Captain Brett Crozier step down. But Chinese officials weren’t the only ones trying to minimize the virus. By April, passengers on large ship were getting sick in vast numbers. When three covid-19 cases on his aircraft carrier swiftly became 100, Capt. Brett Crozier wrote asking his Navy superiors to evacuate and quarantine the sailors. The Navy relieved him of command, which Lindsay Cohn, Alice Friend and Jim Golby explained revealed a captain’s conflicting loyalties — and suggested conflict in the Navy’s upper echelons. 1. What happens if a U.S. presidential candidate withdraws or dies before the election is over? But by far our biggest hit of the year was TMC editor Joshua Tucker’s interview with Richard Pildes


2020: The year of the virus

The year began with the spread of the novel coronavirus in China’s Hubei province. In the months that followed, the virus swept around the world, disrupting life nearly everywhere, leaving sorrow in its wake. As 2020 comes to a close, the pandemic has not abated, but mass vaccination campaigns now underway spell the early beginnings of an end now possible to foretell — more imminent for some countries than for others. Major coronavirus news bookended the year. An onslaught of developments punctuated the intervening months, each event often eclipsing the one before it. Here is a look back at some of the key moments that held the world’s attention as the pandemic unfolded. At the beginning of January, as the busy Lunar New Year travel season approached, concerns begin to percolate about a pneumonia-like virus thought to be linked to an animal market in Wuhan. The unidentified illness has afflicted dozens, according to health officials, but it’s not yet clear how it spreads, or how contagious it is. Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines announce plans to scan travelers for symptoms and set up quarantine zones. Cases in Wuhan, a city of more than 11 million, continue to climb. Officials scramble to contain and learn about the outbreak, which had taken the lives of at least nine people in all of China, by imposing quarantine measures and rules on travel from the city. By the end of the month, Chinese authorities had imposed a strict lockdown affecting more than 30 million people. Holed-up Wuhan residents experience cabin fever, while the rest of the world looks on with trepidation, at early inklings of what the future might hold. The virus has already traveled far. A resident of Snohomish County, Wash., in his 30s returns from a trip to Hubei province on Jan. 15. After landing in Seattle he starts to feel ill. He is confirmed as the first known coronavirus case in the United States. Experts later determine that the virus was spreading undetected and uncontrolled early on. Li Wenliang, a Chinese doctor based in Wuhan who spoke out about the threat of the virus long before Chinese authorities were willing to acknowledge it, dies of the coronavirus on Feb. 6. The 34-year-old ophthalmologist had been detained by Chinese officials on Jan. 1 for “rumor mongering.” In death, he becomes a national icon, celebrated by Chinese social media


2020: The year of the virus

March, leaders implement piecemeal restrictions targeting hotspots. But as infections continue to soar, many countries return to lockdowns. In the bleakness of winter, a glimmer on the horizon: Pharmaceutical companies around the world have been working under unprecedented pressure, with unprecedented access to resources, to produce a vaccine candidate. Those efforts see their first major payoff when Pfizer and BioNTech announce that their vaccine candidate is more than 90 percent effective in initial trials. Health officials hail the news. “The results are really quite good, I mean extraordinary,” says Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Days later, Moderna releases similarly promising trial results. Britain announces it has approved for use the Pfizer vaccine, becoming the first country in the world to do so. “We’ve been waiting and hoping for the day when the searchlights of science would pick out our invisible enemy and give us the power to stop that enemy from making us Ill. And now, the scientists have done it,” Johnson says. Britain defends its swift approval processes even as the move draws some criticism from the United States and the European Union, who say their regulators are following more thorough processes. As case numbers and hospitalizations spike, residents in parts of Southern California and the Bay Area prepare for a second stay-at-home order that bars dining out and gathering with people outside one’s household. Although the pandemic is worse in the United States than it ever has been, other states and cities decline to do the same. Some implement rules on indoor dining or gatherings, but nothing matching the restrictions of the spring. Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old British grandmother and retiree, makes history by becoming the first person to receive the Pfizer vaccine outside clinical trials. She’s followed by William Shakespeare, 81. The moment is seen as the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Less than a week later at a hospital in Queens, front-line nurse Sandra Lindsay is one of the first people in the United States to receive the vaccine. But across the globe, other countries will be waiting, some for years, for their own vaccine supply. And that means the virus is not going anywhere for the foreseeable future. Story editing by Benjamin Soloway. Copy editing by Paula Kelso. Design and development by Garland Potts. Photo editing by Chloe Coleman. Project management by Julie Vitkovskaya.


2020 was a remarkably difficult year — not only because of the pandemic

to be build bombs, had sat in the warehouse for six years. The explosion struck Beirut as Lebanon was already grappling with a devastating economic crisis, made worse by the pandemic and related restrictions that had forced many businesses to close or limit their hours. Many Lebanese saw the blast — and the government negligence experts say made the disaster possible — as the final straw and began making plans to leave the country and search for better opportunities abroad. In late September, fighting broke out in Nagorno-Karabakh, an area within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan but controlled for decades by pro-Armenian political forces. The two countries have long disputed each other’s claims to the region, and the latest tensions burst into a war that lasted through early November. A total of more than 5,000 troops and hundreds of civilians are reported to have died on both sides. Thousands of people were also displaced. Russia eventually brokered a cease-fire that allowed Azerbaijan to take control of significant territory and deployed Russian peacekeepers to the region. Experts have warned, however, that the agreement reached in November leaves many key aspects of the simmering conflict unresolved. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan described the terms of the truce as “incredibly painful both for me and both for our people.” In early November, conflict broke out between Ethiopian government troops and forces from the country’s northern Tigray region. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that forces from the country’s Tigray region had attacked a national military base. He responded to the attack with a military offensive against Tigray. Soon, tens of thousands of people were fleeing their homes in the northern region — many spilling over the border in neighboring Sudan. Tensions had been brewing between Tigray and the central government and were intensified after Abiy — who came to power in 2018 and won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize — dismantled a ruling coalition long led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, a once powerful political party. The Ethiopian government in Addis Ababa then refused to acknowledge the results of elections held in Tigray, adding to hostilities. Abiy eventually declared victory in Tigray, but reports of clashes continued into December. Relief groups warned that a humanitarian crisis was brewing as aid groups struggled to reach the region. Several humanitarian workers have been killed in the past two months, the Associated Press reported.


George R. Carruthers, scientist who designed telescope that went to the moon, dies at 81

George R. Carruthers, an astrophysicist and engineer who was the principal designer of a telescope that went to the moon as part of NASA’s Apollo 16 mission in 1972 in an effort to examine the earth’s atmosphere and the composition of interstellar space, died Dec. 26 at a Washington hospital. He was 81. His brother Gerald Carruthers confirmed the death, saying his brother had dementia and other ailments. Dr. Carruthers, who built his first telescope when he was 10, had a singular focus on space science from an early age and spent virtually his entire career at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. He was one of the country’s leading African American astrophysicists and among the few working in the space program. He began working on his Apollo telescope in 1969, when NASA posted what was called an “announcement of opportunity” to design experiments for Apollo space flights. In November 1969 — four months after the first astronauts walked on the moon — Dr. Carruthers received a patent for an “Image Converter for Detecting Electromagnetic Radiation Especially in Short Wave Lengths.” In other words, it was a specialized kind of ultraviolet telescope, or spectrograph, that could observe radiation and other properties in space. (Another scientist, Thornton Page, proposed a similar idea, and the two joined forces for the NASA project, with Dr. Carruthers as the principal investigator.) Assuming the dual roles of conceptual scientist and practical engineer, Dr. Carruthers led a team that designed a telescope that could electronically amplify images from space through a series of lenses, prism and mirror, just three inches in diameter. Then, by converting photons to electrons, the images could be recorded on film. In 1970, an early model of his telescope was included in an unmanned rocket flight that found the first evidence of hydrogen in interstellar space. The instrument — sometimes called an electronographic camera — had to be small enough to fit aboard a spacecraft, strong enough to withstand the rigors of being on the lunar surface and precise enough to measure materials that could be observed only in ultraviolet light. Plus, it had to be manipulated by an astronaut wearing a spacesuit and thick gloves. “There was still a dichotomy between engineers and scientists” in his early years at the Naval Research Laboratory, Dr. Carruthers said in a 1992 oral history interview with the American Institute of Physics. “When I talked


After a catastrophic 2020, the big story of 2021 could be a hopeful one

research pipeline. Though delivery of these scientific wonders is off to a predictably slow start, there is an $8 billion jolt coming via the new covid relief package, and President-elect Joe Biden has laid down a marker to deliver 100 million doses in his first 100 days. The end of the pandemic, in other words, is a matter of when, not if. Covid-19 won’t be entirely eradicated in 2021, but the tables will turn. We know this from experience, for these vaccines are just as effective as the vaccines that tamed smallpox, polio and measles. In the coming year, the cloud of grief, frustration, resentment and even helplessness bred from the pandemic will lift. That’s the promise of a 90 to 95 percent effective vaccine. Arm by arm, syringe by syringe, it corners a virus and traps it there. The numbers will be astonishingly large: billions of doses eventually, around the world. But the arithmetic of eradication is straightforward. There likely will be problems of production and distribution, continued resistance to basic public health measures, and further spread of conspiracy theories cynically fomented by enemies foreign and domestic. Without a doubt, there will be sorrow — oceans of it — for those who will die of covid-19 before the end is reached. Still, no matter how poorly the pandemic is handled in the United States and across the world this winter, by next winter things will be better. That’s vaccination math. We might even emerge from this ordeal having learned a few lessons about public health and responsible leadership that will make us better prepared for the next emergent pathogen, foreseeable but unforeseen. And there might be even more to hope for. Covid-19 is not the only fever burning across the United States. Blind partisanship, fractured trust and a widespread belief in the nation’s decline are sapping America’s energy. Successful deployment of safe and effective vaccines could be help to douse those fires as well. Of all the disheartening facts of 2020, perhaps the gloomiest was the transformation of simple masks into partisan weapons. It hurts to think of sacrifices nobly borne by past generations: lives and limbs lost in battle, the hardships of rationing. “We shall pay any price, bear any burden,” a president once pledged on behalf of the American people. But for many of us, in these troubled times, it was too much to wear a lightweight


A new frontier is opening in the search for extraterrestrial life

of instruments, including the soon-to-be-launched James Webb Space Telescope, should enable them to explore the atmospheres of smaller, Earthlike planets and search for the chemical imprint of an exo-biosphere. But why stop at biosignatures? The presence of technology on a planet might be as, or far more, detectable than that of just biology. The large-scale deployment of solar energy collectors by a civilization, for example, would leave an imprint on the planet’s reflected light. Telescopes on the drawing boards right now might have the capacity to see city lights on distant worlds. All this means that the search for technosignatures is becoming just as plausible and just as important as the search for biosignatures, to which the astronomical community is already deeply committed. Technosignatures represent the thrilling new face of SETI, embracing both anomaly-based searches and targeted explorations of exoplanets and their environments. NASA has been an essential part of this recognition: At the behest of Congress, the space agency convened its first meeting on what is now called “Technosignatures” Science in 2018. In 2019, my colleagues and I were awarded NASA’s first-ever research grant to study atmospheric technosignatures, and this year, NASA funded two other technosignature studies. If the trend continues, the search for intelligence in the universe may finally escape the giggle-factor that for so long left it associated with bad sci-fi shows and generic UFO nuttiness. The field — which was pursued in the past almost exclusively by older, established scientists with less to lose — may finally establish a community of researchers at all levels of age and expertise. That last step is crucial. While news of candidate signals like BLC-1 will always generate buzz, the truth about the search for intelligence — the search for exo-civilizations — is that it’s probably going to take a lot of time and effort. That’s the price you pay for great science; it’s the price you pay to know something extraordinary. Getting used to that reality means paying as much attention to the journey as to the awaited results. That extraordinary journey — the one taking us to the shores of alien worlds — is really only just getting started. Read more: What it means for us to actually ‘see’ a black hole Why scientists sometimes make extraordinary claims Reframing climate change as a story of human evolutionary success UFOs exist and everyone needs to adjust to that fact


Only one covid-19 treatment is designed to keep people out of the hospital. Many overburdened hospitals are not offering it.

Azar lamented a surprising surplus of the medications, partly because “people are waiting too long to seek out the treatments.” Such delays, he warned, meant that, for some patients, “it may be too late in order to get the benefit of these antibody treatments that beat back the spread of the virus.” Experts say states’ experiences vary, with some, including Louisiana, Nebraska and Texas, embracing the treatment and others showing little interest. HHS has predicted that the pace will pick up as more facilities, including nursing homes, begin administering the drugs and mandatory reporting begins early in January. Monoclonal antibodies are proteins created in the laboratory to mimic the human immune system. The treatment works by imitating natural defenses instead of waiting for the body to mount its own response and make it harder for the coronavirus to infect human cells. The Lilly product, called bamlanivimab, is a single antibody cleared by the FDA on Nov. 9. Regeneron’s cocktail, made up of two monoclonal antibodies, casirivimab and imdevimab, was authorized less than two weeks later. At UCLA Health, four or so patients a day are being given the antibody treatments, according to Tara Vijayan, an infectious-disease specialist there. “Implementation has been difficult to say the least,” with lively debates about how to allocate space and staff, she said. “It took a month of constant meetings for a drug that doesn’t have a lot of data.” Still, she said, with intensive care units reaching capacity amid a covid-19 surge in Los Angeles, “if there are ways to reduce that, we will try it.” Operation Warp Speed’s Woodcock acknowledged the difficulties of administering the antibody treatments for hospitals under stress from a raging pandemic. “It is not easy,” she said. “These hospitals are being hammered.” But, she said, the medications could ease hospitals’ burdens by reducing admissions. Although the clinical trials for the treatments are not large, she said, “the totality of evidence is very convincing” that the drugs can keep people out of the hospital. “This is the only thing we have for outpatients, other than just telling them to stay home and isolate,” she said. She added that the government is planning steps to increase uptake of the treatments. Mark McClellan, a former FDA commissioner who has been working to increase use of the drugs, said: “If it were my mom, I would want her to get it.” But many


Around the world, many are having ‘the quietest’ New Year’s Eve in memory

It has been a brutal year around the world. But even if revelers are keen to see the back of pandemic-overwhelmed 2020, the continued coronavirus threat has led to cautious and muted New Year’s Eve celebrations worldwide. In Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand and one of the first major international hubs to cross into 2021, thousands thronged the streets, and a fireworks display from the landmark Sky Tower lighted the skies as the clock struck midnight. Unlike many other nations, New Zealand has beaten back the coronavirus. “We are very blessed to be in New Zealand,” Taufau Aukuso told the NZ Herald as she celebrated with her teenage daughter. But such a sentiment isn’t evinced in other parts of the world. Even in neighboring Australia, which has not experienced the same scale of covid-19 cases as Western Europe and the Americas, the iconic Sydney New Year’s Eve celebrations were scaled back, and only a few hundred people were allowed into the harbor. Photographs showed areas teeming with people last year now largely empty under new coronavirus-related restrictions. “In the end, Sydney made the most of a bad situation,” the Sydney Morning Herald noted in an article, pointing to new covid-19 cases in the state of New South Wales, of which Sydney is capital. Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, had canceled its fireworks display. “What a hell of a year it’s been,” said Gladys Berejiklian, the premier of New South Wales. “Hopefully, 2021 will be easier on all of us.” Across much of Asia, there was similar caution. In Japan, where new cases hit a record high on New Year’s Eve, a traditional event with the imperial family has been canceled. Events across China were canceled, while Hong Kong called off its iconic harbor fireworks display and directed restaurants to close by 6 p.m. Restrictions were in place in South Korean and Indian cities, too, though there were reports in local media outlets of foreigners traveling to the Indian state of Goa, where there is no curfew, to celebrate. Even in Taiwan, one of the best-performing countries during the pandemic, signs of caution were evident. The size of the crowd gathering to view a planned fireworks display from the Taipei 101 skyscraper was cut from 80,000 to 40,000 amid strict restrictions, while a flag-raising ceremony in front of the Presidential Office Building on New Year’s morning was limited to guests.


Vaccination is going slowly because nobody is in charge

Vaccine development for covid-19 has occurred at a remarkable pace, thanks in large part to the careful work of the scientific community, both in the United States and around the globe. Operation Warp Speed played a key role in accelerating the creation of vaccines without cutting corners, and producing millions of doses. As a result, the two vaccines that have been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration are safe and highly effective against the disease. That’s why we want them to reach people’s immune systems as quickly as possible — and why the current delays in getting people vaccinated are so disappointing. Let’s start with a quick recap: As recently as early October, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said we’d have 100 million doses of vaccine by the end of 2020. One month later, that was reduced to 40 million doses. As recently as Dec. 21, Vice President Pence, the head of the White House coronavirus task force, said that we were on track to vaccinate 20 million Americans by Dec. 31. Unfortunately, 20 million doses haven’t even gotten to the states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting that we have vaccinated about 2.6 million people. Assuming the reporting lags by a few days, we might be at 3 or 4 million total. This is striking. We’ve known for months that vaccines were coming. We know that vaccines only work when people get vaccinated. Every dose of vaccine not given risks more illness and potential death. The failure to vaccinate more quickly is tragic given that more than 3,000 Americans are dying of covid-19 every day. At the current rate, we will surpass 400,000 deaths by Inauguration Day. Operation Warp Speed now says it aims to vaccinate all Americans by June. But we will not get there unless we understand what is happening and what we need to do to fix it. How did we get from 100 million promised doses to just a few million people vaccinated? It is a lesson in misunderstanding American federalism and a failure of national leadership. The federal government and Operation Warp Speed saw their role as getting vaccines to the states, without considering what supports states would need to get vaccines to the people. The Trump administration is now blaming the slow rollout on states. This is political theater and obviously untrue. States undoubtedly have a critical


Brexit poised to become reality — after Britain’s final, mad dash to the finish line

time now to put Brexit behind us. Our future is made in Europe,” von der Leyen tweeted, along with a picture of her holding the treaty. The E.U. legislature in Brussels also will need to vote on the deal, but it will do so in the new year after “provisionally” backing it for now. The flurry of developments Wednesday marked a shift from the rancor that long filled the Palace of Westminster over the Brexit imbroglio, when Conservative rebels in the House of Commons attacked their own prime minister, Theresa May, who was eventually tossed out of 10 Downing Street. In quick order, the lawmakers debated — made speeches — via video link from their homes, as most of Britain is in a strict Tier 4 lockdown because a mutated variant of the coronavirus is surging out of control here, threatening to overwhelm ambulance services, hospitals and ICUs. Britain on Wednesday recorded 981 deaths, the highest number since April, and 50,023 new coronavirus cases. Speaking to a mostly empty House of Commons, Johnson said that with the coming of Brexit on New Year’s Day, Britain was going to “open a new chapter in our national story, striking free-trade deals around the world and reasserting global Britain as a liberal, outward-looking force for good.” It was a speech Johnson has been giving since he won the 2019 election in a landslide, under the banner “Get Brexit Done.” Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, called the deal thin and flawed and worried aloud that it would result in businesses facing “an avalanche of checks.” But Starmer said Labour was backing the legislation because it did not have any other option. It was a binary choice, he said, and a far better thing than leaving the bloc with no deal. Plus, he added, there is “no better deal coming in the next 24 hours.” Some Labour lawmakers defied their leadership and either abstained or voted against the bill. Rebecca Long-Bailey, a former Labour leadership contender, said the trade deal will cause her constituents “great hardship.” She complained that “the minuscule amount of time dedicated by government to its debate today infringes upon democratic accountability.” Members of Parliament from the Scottish National Party, which favors independence for Scotland, where the majority of voters opposed Brexit, described the new trade and security deal in the lowest terms. SNP lawmaker Kirsty Blackman said, “I refuse


U.K. authorizes Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine

2 million people a week — 10 times the current rate — to beat back the pandemic. The National Health Service will start inoculating with the AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday, with nursing home residents, health-care workers and people over 80 at the front of the line. There are plans to deliver the vaccine in mass immunization centers, such as sporting arenas and convention halls. The urgency is especially great with a new variant of the virus spreading rapidly. Researchers have found no indication the variant is deadlier, but it appears to be 50 percent more transmissible. Britain recorded more than 53,000 cases on Tuesday — the highest in a single day. British hospitals have more coronavirus patients than when the first wave gripped the country in April. As of Thursday, 8 in 10 people in England will be under the highest tier of restrictions. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have enacted tight restrictions, as well. Hancock said having both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines means the government now has “a very high degree of confidence that we can be out of this by spring.” Hancock said that in the interest of injecting as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, it would be sufficient to give a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and allow more than the usual 21 days between shots. “In the data, the scientists and the regulators have found the immunity comes from around two weeks after the first dose, and then the second dose should be taken up to 12 weeks later to give you that long-term protection,” Hancock said. “This means we can spend the first three months vaccinating people with the first doses, getting them that immunity, getting people protection quicker than we possibly could have done otherwise,” he said. Britain bet the house on the AstraZeneca vaccine, ordering 100 million doses, compared with 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 7 million doses of Moderna, which the United Kingdom has not yet reviewed for emergency authorization. AstraZeneca says it can deliver about 2 million doses a week initially. It has pledged 40 million doses by the end of March. The company has manufacturing facilities in Britain. June Raine, chief executive of the British regulator, said “no corners were cut” in the rapid review of the vaccine, even though it was developed at Oxford and backed by the British government. Raine


Yes, the new variant of coronavirus is alarming. But kids should stay in school.

Joseph G. Allen is an associate professor and director of the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He co-wrote “ The emergence of a new variant of coronavirus has the world’s attention — and rightly so. The new variant seems significantly more transmissible than earlier strains of viruses, leading some scientists — including those who discovered that the new variant spreads faster — to make a bold but shortsighted recommendation: Close the schools. That’s the wrong answer. The right answer is enhanced controls in schools. Calls for school closures do not factor in the alarming risks for kids: reports of hundreds of thousands of kids missing from the U.S. school system; drops in literacy gains; billions of missed meals, kids failing. These impacts are compounding over time, and we’re on the verge of some kids being out of school for a year or more. While the extent to which this new variant is more transmissible in kids in still unknown, even if it ends up being more transmissible in school-age children, the evidence so far is that it won’t be deadlier for them. And there’s research suggesting a biological reason that this is so. Before we get into that, let’s acknowledge that kids can get covid-19 and that kids can die from covid-19. But it’s extremely rare. How rare? Literally one in a million for kids 14 and younger, according to a new JAMA study. For those ages 15 to 24, the risk of dying from covid-19 is 1 in 100,000. To put this in context, the study reported that school-age kids are 10 times more likely to die by suicide than covid-19. The biology of kids explains why this is so — and why this new variant likely won’t change the risk of dying. The novel coronavirus is dangerous only when it latches on to a part of a cell known as an ACE2 receptor. That’s the lock-and-key mechanism for how this virus gets into our cells. But new research published as a preprint found that the cells in an immature lung have fewer of these ACE2 receptors than those in adults do (the formal way of saying this is that the cells express less of the gene that produces the ACE2 receptor). The same is true in cells lining the inside of the nose. The virus is left holding a key to


California, Colorado confirm infections with U.K. coronavirus variant

to boost staffing and were not the cause of the outbreak, which began much earlier. Herlihy added that it was not clear where the two people might have been exposed. Both are in isolation and recovering, officials said. The fact that the individual with the confirmed infection, described as a man in his 20s, had no known travel history “logically implies that there’s more spread throughout the state,” said Anuj Mehta, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Denver Health who has been involved in the state’s pandemic response. “We have to assume he got it from community spread,” Mehta said. “That could mean two other people had it, or it could mean 200 other people had it. Time will tell how widespread it is.” Most mutations have no practical consequence. Since all viruses mutate, there are many variants of the coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2. But one mutation that appeared early this year is now seen in all new coronavirus cases, and many scientists say it enhanced infectivity. Now the United Kingdom and South Africa variants are seizing the attention of scientists and public health officials. “We expect to see new variants emerge over time,” Walke said. The U.K. variant, which contains 17 mutations, including some affecting the spike protein on the exterior of the virus, first appeared there in September and has become dominant across the country, leading to a lockdown in London and southern England and travel bans by other countries hoping to prevent its importation. Officials in the United States, where surveillance of viral sequences is spotty, say they are not surprised it has been detected in this country. “I would have been amazed if this variant was not present in the U.S. given that it’s been bouncing around in the U.K. since September and people do go back and forth,” Collins said. At least one epidemiologist said it is unlikely the new variant is a driving force in the disease surges in Los Angeles and other locations. Although the United States is sequencing only a small fraction of cases — and missing many infections because people are asymptomatic — the new strain would probably have been picked up if it had spread at that scale, said John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer of Boston Children’s Hospital. But given the paucity of sequencing, finding one or two cases in Colorado suggests there are several hundred


force in the disease surges in Los Angeles and other locations. Although the United States is sequencing only a small fraction of cases — and missing many infections because people are asymptomatic — the new strain would probably have been picked up if it had spread at that scale, said John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer of Boston Children’s Hospital. But given the paucity of sequencing, finding one or two cases in Colorado suggests there are several hundred that have been missed, he said. “It could drive a future surge, especially given the challenges with the vaccine rollout,” Brownstein said. He added that greater numbers of infections also translate to additional opportunities for the virus to mutate in potentially problematic ways. “The sheer amount of transmission allows more chances for it to mutate,” he said. Among those problems could be reduced effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies, as mutations may affect how they neutralize the virus, said Jesse Goodman, who directs the COMPASS program at Georgetown University, which focuses on science-based public health policy. Some monoclonal antibody treatments, such as the one President Trump received when he had covid-19 and hailed as a cure, contain more than one antibody, making resistance less likely to develop. Goodman said that although preliminary evidence suggests the changes in the new variant are unlikely to reduce the vaccines’ effectiveness, that may not be true of future mutations. Still, the messenger RNA platform used in two newly authorized vaccines is comparatively easy to modify to handle mutant strains, he said. “We are still learning every day about this virus,” Goodman said. “We don’t know when or how often we may need to make changes in a coronavirus vaccine.” Bruce Gellin, president of global immunization at the Sabin Vaccine Institute, said the shifts in the coronavirus reflect a pattern that mimics what goes on with influenza, where scientists routinely monitor changes in the strain. With other coronaviruses — such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), the current strain of the novel coronavirus and now the new variant — scientists are constantly playing catch up, said Gellin, who advocates a Manhattan Project-type approach to produce a universal vaccine that could protect against any strain of the coronavirus or flu. “We need to have an approach that will prevent these problems before they show up, rather than quash after they arrive,” he said.


SMU becomes the latest school to cancel its women’s basketball season

a small spike in new daily cases earlier this month, before it paused updates while university offices are closed. “This was not a decision our student-athletes took lightly,” SMU Director of Athletics Rick Hart said in a statement. “It was a difficult decision for them to make. That said, we support them, as we have supported the choices of our student-athletes in all sports whether they have elected to compete or to opt out. Our priority is their health, safety and well-being. We look forward to our women’s basketball program resuming competition in 2021-22.” Duke became the first Power Five program to cancel its season on Dec. 25, citing “health and safety concerns stemming from covid-19.” The Raleigh News & Observer reported Monday that players opted to cancel their season after the ACC and NCAA did not grant Blue Devils players’ request to have opponents tested daily, as they are. ACC protocols call for testing at least three times a week. The Mustangs, who last played against American Athletic Conference foe Temple on Dec. 20, concluded their 2020-21 campaign six games into a winless season. They played two conference games, more than other programs that pulled out before competition began. The Ivy League opted out of winter sports competition Nov. 12. On the same day, Cal State Northridge announced the cancellation of its season after six players withdrew citing covid-19 concerns and another could not enter the country in time for preseason camp due to travel constraints. Historically Black universities Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M and Maryland-Eastern Shore also canceled their seasons before they began. No. 22 Syracuse paused basketball activities Sunday following a positive coronavirus test. Oregon State, which paused team activities Dec. 20 following a positive covid-19 case, is not scheduled to return to play until Jan. 8. In the SEC, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and the University of Mississippi postponed their conference openers. Following Duke’s last game, a Dec. 9 loss to Louisville, Blue Devils Coach Kara Lawson told reporters, “I don’t think we should be playing right now.” Entering the new year, her team won’t be the only one on the sidelines. Read more A smashed whiteboard and a rowdy bench helped power Maryland to a crucial road win Florida’s Keyontae Johnson is back with team and even ‘talking a little trash,’ coach says Top-ranked Gonzaga shows No. 16 Virginia how far it has to go in a 98-75 drubbing


Calls are growing for Biden to do what DeVos did: Let states skip annual standardized tests this spring

in the way they collect and report such data.” The CCSSO said it wants to work with the Biden administration “on a streamlined, consistent process that gives states the flexibility they need on accountability measures in the coming year.” Others were more direct, including the two major teachers unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. In a letter to the Biden transition team, Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, wrote: “We know there are concerns that not having this data will make student achievement during covid-19 and particularly deeply troubling equity gaps less visible, that this will mean two years of lost data. However, there is no way that the data that would come out of a spring 2021 testing cycle would accurately reflect anything, and certainly not accurate enough to hold school systems accountable for results. But curriculum-linked diagnostic assessment is what will most aid covid-19 academic recovery, not testing for testing’s sake. “This is why a waiver strategy is so necessary,” it says. Another issue is whether the tests can be administered to all students safely this spring. Millions of students are still learning remotely from home as the pandemic continues to infect and kill Americans. Though Biden has called for the safe reopening of most schools within 100 days of his inauguration, it is not clear whether that will happen or whether the tests can be securely administered online. Bob Schaeffer, interim director of a nonprofit called the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, which works to stop the misuse of standardized tests, noted that DeVos recently sought the cancellation of the 2021 administration of the national test known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) because it could not be administered effectively and securely. “IF NAEP is cancelled for 2021 due to pandemic-related concerns, how can federal and state mandated exams be administered safely and accurately this academic year?” Schaeffer said. Meanwhile, his group, FairTest, has launched a national effort for a suspension of all high-stakes standardized tests scheduled for spring 2021. It’s not only state superintendents, teachers unions and testing critics who are looking for flexibility from the federal testing mandate. As early as June, officials in Georgia said they would seek a waiver from the spring 2021 tests. DeVos’s Education Department denied the request, so this month, state officials agreed to dramatically reduce the


Joe Biden can save restaurants with the stroke of a pen. Here’s how.

Kwame Onwuachi, based in Washington, D.C., is a James Beard Award-winning chef and author of “Notes from a Young Black Chef.” Alice Waters is a chef, author, food activist, and the founder and owner of the restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif. Restaurants have tried virtually everything to survive the pandemic. They’ve increased outdoor seating and added plexiglass screens between tables to reassure diners. They’ve adopted no-contact ordering apps and ramped up takeout. And they’ve expanded delivery options. But their balance sheets remain bleak. Even some of the most popular establishments haven’t made it. Chicago’s Michelin-starred Blackbird, which served French-influenced American food for more than two decades, closed in June. So did New Orleans’s Cake Café, whose founder got his start selling desserts door-to-door. Philadelphia’s V Street, a hip bar and restaurant offering vegan street food, shuttered in July. These closures are gut-wrenching for restaurateurs like us. It’s tough to watch friends and colleagues lose everything — especially when it’s due to circumstances outside their control. The sheer magnitude of the carnage is staggering. More than 110,000 U.S. restaurants have permanently closed since March. Many were cherished neighborhood landmarks, valued employers and were a boon to other local businesses since they drew diners from near and far. And sadly, more closures are right around the corner. While the new coronavirus relief package includes important provisions to help businesses continue paying their workers, the bill falls short of a separate measure — the Restaurants Act — that would have set aside $120 billion to help the nation’s smallest restaurants and bars. Fortunately, President-elect Joe Biden doesn’t need to wait on lawmakers. He could take executive action the day he takes office to bring some immediate relief — and help ensure that many of our Main Street anchors survive until we can safely gather again. That action would be to reverse a blow that many restaurateurs suffered months before covid-19 struck: In October 2019, the Trump administration imposed a 25 percent tariff on European food imports. It affects wine from France, Spain and Germany, whiskey from Ireland and Scotland, and Spanish olives and olive oil, along with cheeses from all over the continent, pork, and much more. At restaurants serving European foods and wines, owners had to choose between absorbing the cost of the 25 percent tariffs themselves — in an industry where margins are razor-thin even in good times — or


Nashville police defend response to 2019 tip that Christmas bomber was building explosives

had threatened her in the past but declined to offer details about what happened. Investigators said this week they were still in the early stages of determining a motive and cautioned that Warner may not have had a rational reason for his actions. Meanwhile, evidence teams from the FBI and ATF were still combing through the mounds of rubble and mangled metal at the blast site Wednesday, starting at the outer perimeter and working their way inward. Other federal agents, including members of the FBI’s behavioral analysis unit, are interviewing Warner’s associates, while lab technicians in Quantico, Va., are trying to determine what explosives were used in the bomb, according to Nashville police. David Hyche, an explosives expert who worked at ATF for 31 years, said that based on video recordings of the blast, the material used was not military-grade. Instead, he said, it was likely either “a homemade pyrotechnic mixture, or possibly smokeless powder.” Purchases of large quantities of common precursors used in explosives are supposed to trigger attention from investigators. But determined bombmakers who plot their attacks over a long period of time — as Warner appeared to have done — can evade detection. “If you’re willing to take the time and purchase small quantities, you can make your own explosives very easily,” said Hyche, who estimated that the Nashville blast contained hundreds of pounds of material. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, by comparison, involved nearly 5,000 pounds of explosives. Hyche, who is now the police chief in Calera, Ala., said with the bomber dead, the investigation will focus heavily on how the bomb came together — and whether there are lessons to be learned in thwarting future attacks. “They’re going to process this thing like a who-done-it,” he said. “They’re going to learn where every single component came from.” Over the weekend, law enforcement agents searched Warner’s home, which sits about 12 miles southeast of the blast site in a middle-class suburb lined with single-family brick houses and duplexes. Investigators removed a computer motherboard, among other effects, Warner’s next-door neighbor told The Washington Post. The bombing shocked neighbors, who described Warner as an intensely private person who seemed obsessed with home security and rigged his property with cameras and “no trespassing” signs. Some residents said they remembered seeing his RV parked in the backyard months before the explosion. Devlin Barrett and Louie Estrada contributed to this report.