Milestones

On this day, Monday, December 14, I note several milestones worth remembering:

Joe Biden was officially elected president and Kamala Harris vice president with the vote of the Electoral College — actually 50 separate tallies, one in each state. The totals were 306 to 232, coincidentally the same split as in 2016, when Donald Trump was elected.

The first SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations, developed by Pfizer, were given across the U.S. after the FDA approved use of the vaccine late Friday. The U.S. has ordered some 100 million doses, enough to cover 50 million people, each requiring two shots 21 days apart. Vaccines being developed by several other companies are being tested, with Moderna’s version set to be reviewed by an independent panel of the FDA this Thursday.

That is a hopeful sign in the face of the grim milestones that more than 300,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, over 110,549 are now in the hospital, and 1,358 died so far today, according to data on The COVID Tracking Project website.

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Another positive milestone would have been President Trump conceding the election and graciously congratulating the new president and vice president. He didn’t. Even before the election, he was claiming voter fraud and a stolen election, offering no proof to support his wild claims. Is Donald Trump delusional or just a massively sore loser, intent on destroying as much of the government as he can on his way out of Washington?