Source: Caribbean island residents told to evacuate as dormant volcanoes come back to life | The Independent

COVID-19 cases in Mexico City continue to increase, resulting in supply shortages in oxygen as reported by medical supply stores that refill oxygen tanks.

Source: People in Mexico Line up for Hours To Get Oxygen Amid COVID-19 Surge : US News : Latin Post – Latin news, immigration, politics, culture

Another worker for American poultry company Foster Farms died from complications due to COVID-19 over the weekend, making him the 12th employee of the California-based corporation to die after contracting the corona

Source: Twelfth worker at California poultry company dies of COVID-19 | TheHill

A judge on Friday rejected a lawsuit filed by a U.S. lawmaker from Texas and other Republicans against Vice President Mike Pence who is set to preside Wednesday over a joint session of Congress to formalize the results of the 2020 presidential election. US District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle said Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas and the slate of Republican presidential electors for the state of Arizona who filed suit Sunday lack standing to bring the legal action seeking to overturn the election of President-elect Joe Biden.

Source: US judge dismisses lawmaker lawsuit against Pence over electoral count – The Jerusalem Post

Source: How Long Does It Take for the COVID-19 Vaccines to Work? – VAXOPEDIA

Ireland’s ports prepare to bypass post-Brexit Britain with more direct sea routes to Europe

Source: Ireland to bypass post-Brexit Britain with more direct sea routes to Europe | Euronews

As of Monday, about 11.4 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been distributed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But only 2.1 million people have been vaccinated.

By the administration’s own standards, this is a massive failure. On Dec. 10, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar promised that 20 million Americans would be vaccinated in “the next several weeks.”

experts say that leaving vaccine administration solely to the states is no answer at all. What was needed—and isn’t coming—is federal coordination.

There has been “no real planning on what happens when vaccines arrive in state,” Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, tweeted this week. “No plan, no money, just hope that states will figure this out.”

Source: Hiltzik: Trump’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution fiasco – Los Angeles Times

Having spent many hours with the innocent Iraqi victims who are permanently maimed and crippled because of the actions of these Blackwater guards, and the heartbroken family members of those killed, I am embarrassed for our country. I believe we will pay a heavy price in our relationships with other countries as a result of these pardons.

I’m so glad that I’m retired and will never again be asked to risk my life and those of my fellow investigators, only to have killers pardoned for purely political reasons.

Source: BioNTech admits it will struggle to fill COVID vaccine ′gap′ | News | DW | 01.01.2021