“Help is on the way”

The FDA is likely to issue its first emergency use authorization for a Covid-19 vaccine; the Justice Department is set to carry out another execution on Friday. Join Dr. Anthony Fauci and Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram for a live conversation on Monday, December 14. [RSVP now.]( Tonight's Sentences was written by Cameron Peters. TOP NEWS A vaccine at last? Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images - The Food and Drug Administration is expected to issue an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine later Friday night, setting up a first round of much-needed vaccinations starting as early as next week. [[NYT / Sharon LaFraniere, Noah Weiland, and Katie Thomas](] - The anticipated authorization would follow a Thursday meeting by an independent FDA advisory panel, which voted 17 to 4 — with one abstention — to recommend that the agency issue an EUA. [[Politico / Sarah Owermohle and Zachary Brennan](] - And it would come shortly after two other Western countries — the United Kingdom last week and Canada just this Wednesday — approved the Pfizer vaccine for use. [[Guardian / Leyland Cecco](] - If the EUA is issued as expected, the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine could be administered as early as this coming Monday, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. [[Reuters / Maria Caspani and Brendan O’Brien](] - According to Pfizer, some 25 million doses of the vaccine, which requires two shots to be completely effective, will be delivered by the end of December. Health care workers and nursing home residents will take first priority. [[AP / Lauran Neergaard and Matthew Perrone](] - And an EUA can’t come too soon. The rolling seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases in the US rose to unprecedented levels this week — well over 200,000 cases per day — and the country reported more than 3,000 deaths in a single day for the first time. [[New York Times](] - Worse, that unprecedentedly bad week could become status quo soon. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, the US could see “more deaths per day than we had in 9/11” for each of the next 60 to 90 days. [[Twitter / Ryan Struyk](] - Though an EUA isn’t the same thing as a full approval of the vaccine — that’s likely still quite a ways down the road — it will be a historic achievement. Never before has a vaccine been produced so quickly. [[Vox / Umair Irfan](] - The Pfizer vaccine, however, won't spell an immediate end to the pandemic. Public health experts say that mask-wearing, social distancing, and other simple public health measures will remain vital well into next year. [[NBC News / Erika Edwards](] [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Trump's "sickening spree of executions" goes forward - On Thursday night, the Justice Department executed Brandon Bernard, 40, after an eleventh-hour effort to obtain clemency or a stay of execution from the Supreme Court failed. [[CNN / Christina Carrega](] - In 2000, at just 18 years old, Bernard was sentenced to death for his role in the murders of Todd and Stacie Bagley. Since his conviction, five of the nine jurors who sentenced him to death have said they regret their decision in light of new evidence. [[CBS News / Paulina Smolinski and Clare Hymes](] - Bernard’s last words were addressed to the family of the victims. “I’m sorry,” he said shortly before his death. “That’s the only words that I can say that completely capture how I feel now and how I felt that day.” [[Guardian / Tom McCarthy](] - Under Attorney General Bill Barr, the DOJ this summer resumed carrying out executions for the first time in 17 years. Already, nine people have been executed. [[HuffPost / Jessica Schulberg](] - The execution of Orlando Hall, a Black man, on November 19 was the first in more than a century to have been carried out in the lame-duck period. President-elect Joe Biden has indicated he would end the federal death penalty — but four more people are scheduled to be executed before he takes office. [[Vox / Rachel Ramirez](] - The DOJ is set to carry out another execution on Friday night. Barring clemency or a stay of execution, Alfred Bourgeois, 56, will be executed for murdering his daughter. [[NYT / Hailey Fuchs](] MISCELLANEOUS [President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are Time’s Person of the Year.]( [[Time / Charlotte Alter](] - House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has joined an amicus brief in support of the Texas lawsuit attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. [[Axios / Jacob Knutson](] - Argentina, the home country of Pope Francis, is on the verge of becoming the fourth and largest country in Latin America to legalize abortion, though hurdles remain. [[Washington Post / Ana Vanessa Herrero and Ruby Mellen](] - “What’s Fauci Reading?”: An exercise in Zoom bookshelf sleuthing from the New York Times. [[NYT / Gal Beckerman and Noor Qasim](] - A Friday gift from the Oregon Zoo: Lincoln, Prince of Sea Pups. [[Twitter / Oregon Zoo](] [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( CROSSWORD OF THE DAY [Can you solve today's crossword?]( What's a five-letter word for a skewered meat dish? [Solve today's new Vox crossword puzzle](, and stay tuned for more puzzles coming out Monday through Saturday. VERBATIM "Texas seeks to invalidate elections in four states for yielding results with which it disagrees. Its request for this Court to ... anoint Texas's preferred candidate for President is legally indefensible and is an affront to principles of constitutional democracy." [[Pennsylvania responds in a court filing to a Texas lawsuit attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in four key states / CNN](] LISTEN TO THIS [The vaccine, explained by Martin (who got it)]( Martin Kenyon was one of the first people to get the Covid-19 vaccine this week. He talks about his experience, and an epidemiologist explains how to talk to the "vaccine hesitant" people in your life. [[Spotify / Sean Rameswaram](] [Read more from Vox](#) [The debate over Joe Biden canceling student debt, explained]( [The world’s problems overwhelmed me. This book empowered me.]( [Here are 6 things to consider about holiday travel]( [How to find fitness motivation after this train wreck of a year]( [The Paris climate pact is 5 years old. 5 youth activists share their hopes for what’s next.]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Manage your [email preferences](, or [unsubscribe]( to stop receiving all emails from Vox. If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Notice]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved.