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u.s. news Diamars 12 Januari 2021

Biden gets 2nd vaccine dose as team readies COVID-19 plan

(AP) — President-elect cedure. The virus has now testing.
Joe Biden on Monday re- killed nearly 375,000 people
ceived his second dose of in the United States — about Biden's transition team has
the coronavirus vaccine, 60,000 more than when the vowed to release as many vac-
three weeks after getting president-elect got his first cine doses as possible, rather
his first one with televi- round of vaccination — than continuing the Trump
sion cameras rolling in an and continues to upend life policy of holding back mil-
attempt to to reassure the around the globe. lions of doses to ensure that
American public that the there would be enough sup-
inoculations are safe. In brief comments to report- ply to allow those getting the
ers after his shot, Biden said first shot to get a second one.
Biden pulled off his sport he has confidence in his CO- Biden's goal is protect more
jacket to reveal a dark, short- VID-19 combating team to people, more quickly, his
sleeve T-shirt underneath and hit ambitious vaccination- team announced last week.
said, “Ready, set, go.” Chief rate targets after he takes of-
Nurse Executive Ric Cumin fice on Jan. 20. He also called The plan would not involve
administered the Pfizer vac- the current rate of thousands cutting two-dose vaccines
cine at Christiana Hospital in of people dying daily “be- in half, a strategy that top
Newark, Delaware, close to yond the pale.” government scientists rec- Mike Pence and other nation- his swift recovery. A Centers
president-elect's home. ommend against. Instead, it al leaders got pre-Christmas, for Disease Control and Pre-
The Pfizer-BioNTech vac- would accelerate shipment of first rounds of vaccinations. vention advisory board has
Scenes of the procedure aired cine requires a second shot first doses and use the levers President Donald Trump said people who received that
on cable news moments after about three weeks after the of government power to pro- did not, though he was hos- treatment should wait at least
it occurred. first vaccination. For another vide required second doses in pitalized with COVID-19 in 90 days to be vaccinated to
vaccine produced by Moder- a timely manner. October and given an experi- avoid any potential interfer-
Biden got his first shot on na, it's four weeks. One-shot mental monoclonal antibody ence.
Dec. 21 in a televised pro- vaccines are still undergoing Like Biden, Vice President treatment that he credited for

Young Chicago students begin return to classroom learning

(AP) — Chicago Public Schools students be- ing over safety concerns. CPS officials say teachers
gan their return to the classroom Monday “It is our city’s first day of embarking on our path who don't show up without prior approval will be
as school doors opened to thousands of pre- to returning to in-person learning,” Mayor Lori punished. About 4,300 teachers and staff were ex-
kindergarten and some special education stu- Lightfoot said at a Southwest Side elementary pected Monday.
dents. school where students wore face coverings and
desks had sneeze guard barriers. Union officials claim the district hasn’t done
The nation’s third-largest district, with about enough to protect teachers from COVID-19, pro-
355,000 students, plans a gradual return to in-per- Nearly 40% of eligible students, about 77,000, posing to continue distance learning until teachers
son instruction after going remote last March due expressed interest in returning, with about 6,000 are vaccinated.
to the coronavirus pandemic. Pre-kindergarten students in pre-kindergarten and special education
and some special education students can return expected Monday. District officials didn't immedi- District officials argue distance learning doesn’t
this week or continue online learning. Students ately release data on how many students returned work well for all, particularly many Black and La-
in kindergarten through 8th grade have the option or how many teachers reported to work. tino students who make up the majority of the dis-
Feb. 1. No date has been set for high school stu- trict. The district's safety plan includes purchasing
dents' return. The Chicago Teachers Union has opposed reopen- classroom air purifiers and a testing program.

Army investigating officer who led group to Washington rally

(AP) — The Army is investigat- she didn’t know of anyone who en- she tore down the tape closing off the nies related to assaults on police of-
ing a psychological operations tered the Capitol and that they were playground. ficers, possessing illegal weapons and
officer who led a group of people headed back to their buses hours be- making death threats against House
from North Carolina to the rally fore an emergency curfew took effect. The Army gave Rainey “appropriate Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
in Washington that led up to the Rainey, 30, is assigned to the 4th administrative action” for the inci-
deadly riot in the U.S. Capitol by Psychological Operations Group at dent and she submitted her resigna- Rainey said that her group and most
supporters of President Donald Fort Bragg, according to Maj. Dan- tion in September, according to Les- people who traveled to Washington
Trump. iel Lessard, a spokesman for 1st Spe- sard. He said the resignation process “are peace-loving, law-abiding people
cial Forces Command. Known as for an officer can take six months or who were doing nothing but demon-
Commanders at Fort Bragg are re- PSYOPS, the group uses informa- more and Rainey is set to leave the strating our First Amendment rights.”
viewing Capt. Emily Rainey’s in- tion and misinformation to shape the Army in April. Members of the U.S. military are per-
volvement in last week's events in the emotions, decision-making and ac- mitted to take part in political orga-
nation's capital, but she said she acted tions of American adversaries. In Washington on Wednesday, insur- nizations and events out of uniform.
within military regulations and that rectionists took over the House and However, there are caveats. The De-
no one in her group broke the law. This isn’t the first time Rainey’s ac- Senate chambers, smashed windows partment of Defense directive pro-
“I was a private citizen and doing ev- tions have come under scrutiny. In and waved Trump, American and hibits active-duty servicemembers
erything right and within my rights,” May, the captain made headlines af- Confederate flags. Five people, in- from sponsoring partisan organiza-
Rainey told The Associated Press on ter she posted a video online of her cluding a Capitol Police officer, died. tions. It is unclear if Rainey’s partici-
Sunday. pulling down caution tape at a play- The riot followed the rally where pation with her group on Wednesday
ground that was closed under North Trump repeated false claims that the went against DOD policy.
Rainey said she led 100 members of Carolina’s COVID-19 restrictions. election had been rigged against him Rainey said she attended the Trump
Moore County Citizens for Free- Police in Southern Pines, a commu- and urged his supporters to “fight like rally while on leave, didn’t advertise
dom, which describes itself online nity about 30 miles (48 kilometers) hell.” that she was an Army officer and told
as a nonpartisan network promoting west of Fort Bragg, charged her with her bosses ahead of time that she'd be
conservative values, to the Washing- injury to personal property. The po- So far, at least 90 people have been ar- going. "We are confident justice will
ton rally to “stand against election lice told WRAL-TV that they let her rested on charges ranging from mis- prevail proving our innocence,” she
fraud” and support Trump. She said off with warnings twice before after demeanor curfew violations to felo- told AP.