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| THE BIG STORY
All US adults will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine by May 1, Joe Biden said
In a national address on the one-year anniversary of the pandemic, President Joe Biden announced that he’s directing states, tribes, and territories to make all adults in the US eligible for COVID-19 vaccination by May 1.
The announcement is a big deal because it marks a sharp shift toward federal control over the pandemic response. So far, individual states have largely been tasked with leading vaccine rollout and setting eligibility requirements.
Biden reminded Americans, “that doesn't mean everyone's going to have that shot immediately, but it means you'll be able to get in line beginning May 1.” The president stressed that they expect the US won’t have enough vaccine supply for all adults until the end of May.
Expanded vaccine eligibility is just the start. The administration will also begin to ramp up vaccination sites, doubling the number of pharmacies where people can get vaccinated and doubling the number of federal mass vaccination sites.
The Biden administration hopes this next push will help get the nation back to a more normal place by July 4. President Joe Biden speaks at an event on March 10 in Washington, DC. The Washington Post via Getty Images GET ON BOARD AS WE FIGHT FOR TRANSPARENCY
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Biden is vetting BIPOC judicial nominees after Trump filled the courts mostly with white men
Former president Donald Trump’s federal court nominees, overwhelmingly, had the same background: white men, with experience as prosecutors or corporate lawyers. Joe Biden has resolved to turn to a more diverse slate of candidates, and to that end, his administration has been vetting potentially history-making candidates.
For example: the White House is expected to announce US District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as Biden’s nominee for the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, sources say. She would be the third Black woman to serve on that court.
This nomination is significant, because Biden has vowed to nominate a Black woman to the US Supreme Court. Jackson has for years been considered a frontrunner for the Supreme Court under a Democratic administration, and a spot on the powerful DC Circuit would further cement that status. SNAPSHOTS
Mississippi is banning trans girls and women from school sports. The law is set to take effect July 1 and will apply to interscholastic teams from elementary school all the way up to the collegiate level. Opponents of the law — including hundreds of college athletes — say it's simply discrimination.
Homeland Security officials considered using a Trump-era policy to turn back unaccompanied teens at the border. US officials are considering a number of options for dealing with the recent increase of unaccompanied immigrant children in Border Patrol custody.
What was your experience getting the COVID-19 vaccine? More than 95 million doses of the vaccine have been administered. Are you among them? We want to hear about your experience.
These photos capture the first year of the pandemic. We collected photos that reflect some of the wild realities we’ve had to adjust to. Squares painted on the ground to encourage people experiencing homelessness to keep to social distancing at a city-sanctioned encampment in San Francisco. Josh Edelson / Getty Images DIGITAL LETDOWN
Our technological dystopian future is here, and I hate it
We’ve been building towards a digital future for a long time. The promise of technology, for decades, has been about bridging the gap between us when we’re apart. Yes, we may not be together, but look at all these tools that could make it feel like we are!
Because of the pandemic, we’ve had a year of putting those tools to the test. We have FaceTime, Zoom, Signal, iMessage, Google Hangouts, Skype, Facebook Portal — they’ve all made it possible for us to never feel too far from anyone we love.
The point is this: we have every tool to allow a digital approximation of our friends and families and loved ones. But as Scaachi Koul writes, a year into transporting our lives to the digital realm, we can definitively say: this existence...sucks?
From the piece: “After a year of reaping what we sowed, I am desperate for any kind of in-person, tangible, human experience, even if it’s a clearly negative one.” HIT THE PAUSE BUTTON
Let the week go and dive into these weekend longreads
Netflix’s Marriage or Mortgage couldn’t come at a worse time. The new reality show where people decide between a dream wedding and a forever home feels different in our pandemic era, writes Lauren Strapagiel. She writes that some moments “feel so jarring that I was yelling at the screen mere moments into the first episode.”
Coming 2 America is not perfect, but it’s funny. It’s been 33 years since Eddie Murphy’s hit film. But as Michael Blackmon writes, the sequel “proves comedians can still be funny even while adapting their art for a culture whose social mores have drastically shifted.”
“I was the one who broke Broadway”: Meet the first usher to test positive for COVID-19. When usher Peter McIntosh started feeling sick a year ago, he never imagined he’d become the first confirmed COVID-19 case on Broadway — or that theaters would close the next day. Wishing you access to your inner well of patience, Elamin 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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