On the recordDecember 19, 2020
as we all know by now, yesterday brought even more great news on the vaccine front. The FDA has now issued an emergency approval for a second COVID-19 Vaccine. This one will be developed by the American biotech company Moderna and millions of doses will be distributed across the country. I should say millions more doses will be distributed across the country in the coming days. As we know, the first vaccine approved, which was created by Pfizer and BioNTech, was approved just over a week ago, and already thousands of healthcare workers have been vaccinated. In my State, we expect a million people--a million Texans--to be vaccinated by the end of this month, which is a remarkable achievement and one we ought to celebrate. Both of these vaccines will be extraordinarily effective, estimated to be 95 percent effective. If you think about the seasonal flu vaccine, for example, it is, generally speaking, no more than 60 percent effective and many times far less. So 95 percent represents an amazing accomplishment. So the American people have every reason to be optimistic about our ability to put this virus in the rearview mirror, once and for all. As we now know, the first round of Pfizer vaccines were sent to major hospitals across the country, including more than 100 in my State. Unfortunately, rural areas were almost entirely excluded.…
