A shot of hope

A nurse rolled up 90-year-old Margaret Keenan's sleeve and administered a shot watched round the world—the first jab in the United Kingdom's COVID-19 vaccination program, kicking off an unprecedented global effort to try to end a pandemic that has killed 1.5 million people. With the vaccine approved by British regulators last week, the UK became the first Western country to deliver a broadly tested and independently reviewed vaccine to the general public. The COVID-19 shot was developed by Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve it in the U.S. as early as Thursday. —Associated Press

• — There's just one catch... Pfizer has informed the Trump Administration that it cannot provide substantial additional doses of its vaccine to the U.S. until late June or July because other countries have rushed to buy up most of its supply. The company reportedly offered the administration the chance to lock in supplies beyond the 100 million doses the pharmaceutical maker agreed to sell the government as part of a $1.95 billion deal months ago. But the administration never made the deal. —The Washington Post
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• — America first? At a White House "summit" today, which Trump used to highlight the development of several vaccine candidates and their impending FDA authorization, Trump signed an executive order ensuring that Americans have access to the vaccine before it is shipped to other countries. But the practical implications of the order and how it would be enforced are unclear given that drug manufacturers are obligated to honor contracts signed with other governments. —USA Today
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• — Not everyone is on board. A doctor skeptical of coronavirus vaccines is the lead witness at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing today. Dr. Jane Orient is the executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a group that opposes government involvement in medicine and views federal vaccine mandates as a violation of human rights. Sen. Mitt Romney said it was "nuts" to invite her participation. —The New York Times

Gamberini: Russia's bioweaponization of disinfo

"[Russia's] attacks on public health present a threat to homeland and national security. The anti-vaxxer movement risks increasing U.S. vulnerability to infectious diseases. Looking forward to how these same tactics may be used against a COVID-19 vaccine once it is available, we must consider the implications of malignant messaging about vaccines from both domestic and foreign sources. Beyond propagating doubt in U.S. institutions (for example, hospitals/testing and government organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), these campaigns result in doubt of basic science (for example, people not wearing masks and possibly not trusting a future vaccine).

By amplifying public health debates and not advocating for one side, Russia has helped normalize a previously fringe discussion rejecting basic science underlying vaccines and disease prevention. U.S. health institutions are faced with a crisis of trust as scientific facts about these contagious diseases are degraded by both intentional and inadvertent lies." —Sarah Jacobs Gamberini in Eurasia Review

Sarah Jacobs Gamberini is a policy fellow in the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Institute for National Strategic Studies, at the National Defense University.

MORE: In 2020, disinformation broke the U.S. —BuzzFeed News

'Completely unacceptable'

"Unacceptable" doesn't appear to be a word in Donald Trump's vocabulary. But that didn't stop Pennsylvania's top Republican, Sen. Pat Toomey, from using it to describe Trump's actions when reports emerged that the president twice contacted the speaker of Pennsylvania's House of Representative to urge him to stop the state's electors from backing President-elect Joe Biden. There is no evidence of any widespread voter fraud in Pennsylvania's presidential election, and Trump's campaign hasn't presented any such evidence in its numerous legal challenges contesting the result. "It's completely unacceptable, and it's not going to work, and the president should give up trying to get legislatures to overturn the results of the elections in their respective states," Toomey said. —The Philadelphia Inquirer

• — A new war between the states. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued the states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin, saying they "exploited COVID-19" to make "unconstitutional changes" to their laws ahead of the 2020 election. Paxton, who himself has been indicted twice for securities fraud, is getting an assist from Sen. Ted Cruz, who says he'll gladly present the case against Pennsylvania if the Supreme Court decides to hear it (it won't). Nearly 9,000 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Cruz's state, and Congress hasn't passed any meaningful legislation in four months. —CBS News
  
  — Kicking it up a dangerous notch. In Arizona, it's even crazier. The Arizona Republican Party is urging people via Twitter to fight to the death on behalf of Trump's attempts to overturn the election. Yes, you read that right. The organization's official account retweeted Ali Akbar, an alt-right Trump supporter with a history of anti-Semitic comments, who said, "I am willing to give my life for this fight." The group asked, "He is. Are you?" —Mediaite
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• — Threats to public officials continue. Michigan state Rep. Cynthia Johnson, a Detroit Democrat, is the latest public official to reveal that she has been threatened in the aftermath of the election. She has received multiple threatening calls after questioning Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani at a hearing on voter fraud last Wednesday. In one message, a man used vile language to describe women and threatened Johnson, who is Black, with being lynched, telling her: "Your time is coming ... from the (expletive) gallows you'll be hanging." —The Detroit News

Biden nominates Pentagon chief

President-elect Joe Biden has selected Gen. Lloyd Austin (ret.) to serve as his secretary of Defense. A barrier-breaking former four-star officer who was the first Black general to command a U.S. Army division in combat and the first to oversee an entire theater of operations, Austin would be the first Black person to lead the Pentagon, if confirmed.

• — Austin, who ran U.S. Central Command before retiring in 2016, emerged as a top-tier candidate in recent days, beating out Michèle Flournoy, former President Barack Obama's Pentagon policy chief, who was widely expected to get the nod. Biden trusts Austin, as they worked closely together when Biden served as vice president and had a large foreign policy portfolio.
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• — Austin's nomination may run into trouble on Capitol Hill. He has not been out of the military for the required seven years and would need a waiver from Congress to serve in the secretary role. Lawmakers have already signaled their wariness of granting exception for a retired general to lead the Pentagon just four years after President Trump sought one for Gen. Jim Mattis.
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• — Austin's candidacy has also been met with resistance from some national security experts, who have expressed concern about the balance of civil-military power in the Pentagon under another retired military officer. —Politico

Ramírez: No winners in Venezuelan election

"December 6 will go down in Venezuelan history as a somber day of defeat. The parliamentary elections held by the authoritarian head of state, Nicolas Maduro, are a disgrace for the South American country, run down over the course of decades by caudillos, dictators, and corrupt politicians. Both the government and the opposition emerged as losers on Sunday, the day of the election. All of Latin America and the international community lost, too, but the most painful loss is that of the 30 million Venezuelans who suffer daily under the endless crisis, and of those who fled the chaos and live scattered around the world." —Johan Ramírez in Deutsche Welle

Johan Ramírez is a Deutsche Welle correspondent for Latin America. He also writes for National Geographic Traveler.

MORE: Legislative election leaves Venezuela in political standoff —Associated Press

Navarro cited for Hatch Act violations

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel urged President Trump yesterday to take "appropriate disciplinary action" against White House trade adviser Peter Navarro for violating the Hatch Act. The Office of Special Counsel is an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency, whose responsibilities include enforcing the Hatch Act, which bars White House and other executive branch officials from engaging in political activity.

• — "From May 26 through October 19, 2020, during at least six media interviews where he appeared in his official capacity as assistant to the president and director of the Office on Trade and Manufacturing Policy, Dr. Navarro repeatedly attacked presidential candidate Joe Biden and/or vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris," the office said in a report to Trump. Navarro also made frequent use of his Twitter account to attack both Biden and Harris.
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• — Under the relevant statute, the punishments for a Hatch Act violation can include removal from office, a reduction in grade, debarment from federal employment for up to five years, suspension, or reprimand. Navarro could also face a fine of up to $1,000 or some combination of a fine and employment action.
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• — It's unlikely that Trump will take any action against Navarro before leaving office. Trump refused to fire senior adviser Kellyanne Conway after the OSC recommended that he take that action for her repeatedly breaking the Hatch Act. —Politico

Rosenthal: It's time to scare people about Covid

"As the U.S. faces out-of-control spikes from COVID-19, with people refusing to take recommended, often even mandated, precautions, our public health announcements from governments, medical groups, and healthcare companies feel lame compared to the urgency of the moment. ... Once a vaccine has proved successful and enough people are vaccinated, the pandemic may well be in the rearview mirror. In the meantime, the creators of public health messaging should stop favoring the cute, warm, and dull. And—at least sometimes—scare you." —Elisabeth Rosenthal in The New York Times

Elisabeth Rosenthal is a former emergency room physician and current health journalist. She is the author of "An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back."

MORE: Former Alabama state senator dies of Covid at 78, warns in last words, 'We messed up' —NBC News

"I'm alarmed. I'm not alarmed Trump will succeed in overturning the election. But I'm alarmed about possible violence. I'm alarmed about damage to our polity and society. I'm alarmed about the Republican Party failing to stand up for democracy. I'm alarmed." —Bill Kristol, conservative political analyist and editor-at-large of The xxxxxx (@BillKristol)

I feel compelled to remark on Stephen Miller and Katie Waldman Miller's announcement of the birth of their daughter, born on November 19, 2020. This child will have everything it could ever want or need in its privileged life. However, her father is the architect of the separation of families at the southern border; her mother once said, when the Department of Homeland Security sent her "to the border to see the separations for myself—to try to make me more compassionate," that "it didn't work."

Having seen the photo of the beaming new parents with their daughter, it appears they have heart, just none for the children or families at the border. I do wonder, however, if having become a parent, his attitude about his prior actions has softened; I'm thinking not, but would love to be wrong. Good luck to this new little citizen and the attitudes and ideology with which she'll be inculcated. —Marylea L., New York

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.