Lessons from the 24-hour walk-up vaccine clinic | Morning Newsletter
And, a vaccine tug of war for doctors.
The Morning Newsletter
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Good morning from The Inquirer newsroom. Here’s what the weather’s looking like from today through Saturday.
First: Get a look inside the 24-hour walk-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic that vaccinated nearly 4,000 people, with 75% of those vaccinated being people of color. It wasn’t without its issues, leading some to wonder, where was the city?
Then: A Republican state legislator in Pa. has supported legalizing marijuana for recreational use. That’s a first.
And: Could that massive electric bill that hit Texans happen here? It can and it has.
— Ashley Hoffman (@_ashleyhoffman, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
On average, lately the city’s providers vaccinate 3,500 people a day. The Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium topped that when it vaccinated close to 4,000 people in 24 hours. And three out of four Philly residents vaccinated were people of color — a notable feat, considering that it happened in a city where 55% of people who have received the vaccine are white even though white people make up only 40% of residents.
The hundred people who work for the consortium made it happen independently, opening the clinic specifically for elderly Philadelphians and those in “hardest hit” zip codes. As with any ambitious swing in our extraordinary circumstances, there were lessons. Founder Ala Stanford, a physician, says the biggest setback was the weather. The circumstances led some to wonder why the city couldn’t help out with the critical mass of people waiting out in the cold in a line that, at times, wrapped around eight blocks.
The consortium wants to make things run more smoothly next time with a number of solutions. Read on for the whole story about that plan.
There’s something different in the air.
For the first time, a Pa. Republic legislator has endorsed a change in state law to allow use of recreational marijuana by adults — but with a conservative stamp on it.
State Sen. Dan Laughlin, who is from Erie, teamed up with Philly Democratic Sen. Sharif Street to sponsor the proposal. In the past, only Democrats had endorsed the idea. With the GOP controlling both houses of the legislature, that had doomed any attempt to pass legislation on it.
His proposal comes during the same week that cannabis was legalized for adults in New Jersey. Laughlin said he expects that more Republicans will eventually cosponsor it. Here’s what to know about this first for legal weed in Pa.
Where can you get a vaccine in the Philly area if you’re eligible? Use our lookup tool and find out.
Here are the updated coronavirus case numbers, as COVID-19 spreads in the region.
Pa. and N.J. reported their lowest COVID-19 case numbers since November, but variant strains are still a reason to be cautious.
This is how pandemic loneliness, anxiety, depression and a sedentary lifestyle could put our heart health at risk.
What you need to know today
Could people in the Philly region be vulnerable to a Texas-sized electric bill? It happened here when the polar vortex rolled through the Northeast in January 2014. Here’s how to look into that for yourself.
Some county Republican parties censured Toomey for voting to convict Donald Trump in his impeachment trial, but others in the GOP argued that the move was too divisive. Here’s what we know so far about censure in Pa.
Tony Brown, the longtime host of WDAS-FM’s ‘Quiet Storm’ radio program, has died at 75.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
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That’s interesting
🎥 For Atlantic City locals, the implosion of Trump Plaza was the emotional end of an era. My colleagues explore what the implosion of Trump Plaza really means for A.C. in a new documentary.
🍅 A villainous type of caterpillar’s saliva silences a tomato’s cry for help when it’s under stress, scientists have found. And this is why no tomato is safe from these critters in this tomato killer horror movie scenario.
🛏️ The IKEA catalog is no more.
🎞️ The director of the buzzy Frances McDormand-led flick Nomadland, Chloé Zhao, talked to us about the truly deep immersion into the culture of the story.
❄️ A snow record was confirmed for Delaware. It just took 11 years and a federal investigation.
Opinions
“He should be thanked for understanding that following his conscience, rather than pandering to some of the loudest voters, is the essence of the job of someone elected in a representative government,” Indigo Global CEO Craig Snyder writes that Sen. Pat Toomey should not be censured.
The clock is ticking on this homicide that has gone unsolved for five years, columnist Helen Ubiñas writes.
“No constitutional right is so absolute that a mild inconvenience, such as storing a gun safely, is a price too high to prevent the death of a child,” the Inquirer Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom, writes.
What we’re reading
A pair of Birkenstock sandals made from Hermès bags that costs $76,000 has set the internet ablaze, and Vanity Fair can take you there if you like.
One man’s trash is another man’s ... very interesting collection of stuff, such as a 12-foot replica of the William Penn statue atop City Hall. Meet “the Kensington Pickers.” The two friends are black belt-level collectors with a penchant for acquiring really, really weird stuff.