A physician holds the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Credit: Getty Images / WPA Pool

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A physician holds the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
A physician holds the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Getty Images / WPA Pool


Good morning, Portland! We’re kicking off yet another cold, drippy week with some classic 2020 terrible news and some *actual* good news (!!!).

– It’s a particularly historic day in this annoyingly historic year: This morning, the first COVID-19 vaccination was administered in the United States. The Pfizer vaccine was approved for emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday night. By Sunday evening, boxes of the long-awaited vaccine had been shipped to all 50 states (Oregon’s expected to receive its delivery today). The first vaccination was given to Sandra Lindsay, an intensive-care nurse at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens. While each state has its own vaccine distribution plan, the majority of the initial vaccines shipped are expected to go to high-risk health care workers.

– After the New York Times reported that White House staffers would be some of the first people to receive the vaccine, Donald Trump tweeted otherwise, noting that his staff would be receiving vaccinations “somewhat later” in the rollout.

– Checking in on how COVID-19 vaccination’s going in the UK:

– On Saturday, thousands of Trump supporters—including members of the Proud Boys—attended a Washington, DC “Stop the Steal” rally to support Trump’s false claims of a stolen election. The group clashed verbally and violently with a group of left-wing counter-protesters. The day ended with four people stabbed and 33 people arrested.

– Trump fans also gathered in Olympia, WA to hold a similar demonstration Saturday—which also ended in bloodshed. After a series of escalating confrontations between protesters and counter-protesters, a right-wing organizer was charged for shooting a left-wing demonstrator. The victim survived the shooting, and was taken to a hospital.

– The musician FKA twigs has filed a lawsuit against Shia LaBeouf, accusing the actor of physically and mentally abusing her when the two dated in 2019. Other women, including musician Sia, have come forward with their own stories of abuse involving LaBeouf.

– In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, some sad man argued that Dr. Jill Biden—who he referred to as “kiddo”—isn’t a REAL doctor because she lacks a degree in medicine. Feminist academics destroyed him. Goodbye, sad man.

– A thing happened decades after it should have. PLEASE CLAP:

– We’re at the point in perpetual shutdown where people have begun constructing outdoor dining environments for chipmunks. Which brings us to the quote of the day: “He’ll do anything for a hazelnut.”

– Neither the US Congress nor the Oregon Legislature have settled on whether they’ll be extending COVID-19 relief programs set to expire at the end of the year. One fallback plan: If Oregon lawmakers are unable to agree on extending the state’s eviction moratorium into the new year, Gov. Kate Brown will probably push it forward through an executive order.

– The family who previously resided in the “Red House,” a foreclosed-on home on N Mississippi that’s become the focus of anti-eviction protests has purportedly reached a deal with the City of Portland. In exchange for the city not enforcing the foreclosure eviction, Red House supporters have begun taking down the barricades blocking the streets surrounding the house. The city has promised to help negotiate steps forward to help the multi-generational North Portland family stay housed.

Alex Zielinski is a former News Editor for the Portland Mercury. She's here to tell stories about economic inequities, cops, civil rights, and weird city politics that you should probably be paying attention...