Margaret Keenan, 90, is applauded by staff as she returns to her ward after becoming the first person in the United Kingdom to receive the Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at University Hospital. Credit: Getty images pool

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Margaret Keenan, 90, is applauded by staff as she returns to her ward after becoming the first person in the United Kingdom to receive the Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at University Hospital.
Margaret Keenan, 90, is applauded by staff as she returns to her ward after becoming the first person in the United Kingdom to receive the Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at University Hospital. Getty images pool

Good morning, Portland. If, like me, you sometimes wake up in the morning wondering what you’re going to have for lunch: May I suggest these local BIPOC-owned takeout options?

Okay, here are the headlines.

• A 90-year-old British woman has become the first person to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials, as the UK kicks off its mass immunization campaign. Margaret Keenan, who received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on Tuesday, had this to say to reporters: “I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against COVID-19. It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year.” I’m not crying, you’re crying!

• Here in the states, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found that the Pfizer vaccine is both safe and highly effective—clearing another hurdle in the push to start distributing the vaccine to high-priority recipients across the country this month.

• This is all great news—but for now, COVID-19 is very much still here to stay. In fact, Portland’s Columbia River Correction Institute (a men’s minimum security prison) confirmed its first case of COVID-19 among its incarcerated population yesterday. “It’s nerve-racking,” on inmate told the Mercury. “I’m about 30 days from my release date. I don’t want to bring anything home to my family… I just want to get out of here.”

• Meanwhile, in Florida:

• And here in Oregon, the Oregon Health Authority reported 1,331 new COVID-19 cases and 12 more deaths on Monday. That includes the death of a 37-year-old man who had no underlying medical conditions. Nearly 700 of the new cases were from the Portland metro area alone.

• Worth a read/watch today:

• Chuck Yeager, a military test pilot who was the first person to break the sound barrier, died yesterday at 97 years old. From the Washington Post’s obit:

For his prowess in flight, Gen. Yeager became one of the great American folk heroes of the 1940s and 1950s. A self-described West Virginia hillbilly with a high school education, he said he came “from so far up the holler, they had to pipe daylight to me.” He became one of the greatest aviators of his generation, combining abundant confidence with an innate understanding of engineering mechanics — what an airplane could do under any form of stress.

• Today marks an important milestone in the presidential election: It’s the “safe harbor deadline,” meaning state’s vote counts are now considered conclusive. The Electoral College will vote on December 14—so the clock’s really ticking on the jankiest coup attempt in history.

• A little bit of good news:

• This holiday season isn’t exactly the merriest—but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it as an excuse to treat yourself to some delicious food, luxury cocktails, or high quality edibles. I think we all deserve that much! Check out the Mercury’s holiday food and drink guide to get some good ideas for your at-home holidays.

Blair Stenvick is a former news reporter and culture writer for the Portland Mercury.