FEMA mass clinic extended through May | Morning Newsletter
Plus, Kenney’s proposed budget.
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The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Good morning from The Inquirer newsroom.
First: In a reversal, the Philly mass vaccination clinic at the Convention Center will continue through May after FEMA agreed to supply more vaccines.
Then: While your Inquirer delivery service will not be disrupted, this visual narrative takes you inside the end of an era, as the Inquirer printing presses close.
And: Mayor Jim Kenney’s budget would use stimulus money to cut taxes and return Philly to pre-pandemic spending.
— Ashley Hoffman (@_ashleyhoffman, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
The FEMA mass vaccination site currently operating at the Convention Center is going to stay open with the agency supplying doses through late May.
FEMA originally planned to close this clinic and stop providing vaccines beyond April 26. Federal authorities reversed that decision in light of this week’s abrupt pause of Johnson & Johnson vaccinations across the country, as they investigate rare cases of blood clots.
FEMA will provide the clinic with 4,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine every day through May 26. That’s about two-thirds of what FEMA has provided there since the clinic opened six weeks ago. The city will provide an additional 2,000 doses a day out of its own vaccine supply, which will allow the clinic to continue vaccinating people at its current rate.
Read on for reporter Jason Laughlin’s story on the vaccine plan at the mass clinic and the latest on vaccine efforts elsewhere in the region.
The suspension of the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will continue because yesterday, a federal vaccine advisory committee decided it could not make recommendations without more information about a possible link between the vaccine and an ultra-rare, life-threatening blood-clotting disorder.
This is what to do if you were scheduled for a Johnson & Johnson vaccine appointment.
“This was a thundering production theme park of impossible intricacy, where paper-carrying freight cars rumbled and rammed into the rail bay, where newspaper pages rolled off presses that collectively weighed as much as a Navy destroyer. They were folded and collated, and commuted on cars and conveyors as though they had purchased tickets on amusement rides. Ultimately they landed in trucks that ferried The Inquirer and Daily News to hundreds of locations while most readers slept,” so begins reporter Anthony R. Wood’s report on the closure of The Inquirer’s printing presses.
The outsourcing of print operations is in line with newspapers across the country that are cutting costs and fighting a shifting media universe. But the 500 people who lost their jobs at The Inquirer’s Schuylkill Printing Plant in Upper Merion Township didn’t just leave behind a structure built 30 years ago. They left what felt like “family.” That’s the word that kept coming up as we sought to tell this story.
Read on for a visual narrative of the end of an era.
Am I eligible to get vaccinated? Know the requirements for Philly, Pa., and New Jersey.
Where can I get a COVID-19 vaccine in the Philly area? Use our lookup tool.
Here’s how to prepare for a vaccine appointment.
What can I do once I’m fully vaccinated? Here’s a full breakdown.
Can I go on vacation yet? This is how to know what’s safe.
What you need to know today
Mayor Jim Kenney’s budget proposal would use stimulus money to reverse pandemic budget cuts and revert back to pre-pandemic spending while keeping police funding flat. He formally delivers that proposal today to City Council, which will hold a series of hearings this spring and can make changes before approving a budget by the end of June.
And how does Philly set its budget anyhow? This guide answers common questions about budget decisions.
A Philly woman was pulled over in Virginia for driving a “stolen” car — that was hers — after a botched “courtesy” tow.
76ers coach Doc Rivers spoke out about police unions in the wake of the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, who was shot and killed by police during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minn.
Hundreds of companies and corporate leaders, including Merck’s CEO, Philly-area law firms, and Wharton professors, have lifted their voices against Republican efforts to restrict voting access by signing a joint statement.
Bernie Madoff, known as the face of the 2008 financial crisis, died Tuesday at 82 in prison, leaving Philly’s victims of his fraud with mixed emotions.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
It’s all about perspective. Thanks for sharing.
Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we’ll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout-out!
That’s interesting
🎥 The one and only Kate Winslet spoke to us about her Philly-filmed show, HBO’s Mare of Easttown, and nailing that Delco accent.
🎨 This is the latest on the London oat milk company that came under fire for plastering ads all over Philly’s iconic street art that championed things like voting rights and essential workers.
🚌 The “official” worst bus stops in North America have been crowned by a news site, and you’ll never guess where one is.
😅 Ditch your stale workout, and add a much more playful piece of equipment.
📚 In South Philly, you’ll find free books in Spanish in huacales, wood crates that typically carry fruits now turned into pieces of art.
Opinions
“Gun violence is indeed an international embarrassment and a national tragedy. There is finally national leadership to promote change — but Congress and the statehouse must act,” — The Inquirer Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom, writes.
Trans-inclusive policies serve trans students by boosting self-esteem. And trans sports bans would almost definitely harm students, who are already less likely to play sports than their cis counterparts, freelancer Catherine Caruso writes.
Feeling freed by the COVID-19 vaccination, Jason Han’s patients just want to get back to normal. But based on what he knows, there are no absolute assurances in medicine, the cardiac surgery resident writes.
What we’re reading
This 2-acre urban farm in Chester is determined to feed public housing residents, on WHYY.
North Korean refugees are sharing their important stories on YouTube, the L.A. Times reports.
Get in, we’re going on a stargazing trip across the American Southwest with Conde Nast Traveler.
Your Daily Dose of | Courage
In December, Derek Fitzgerald celebrated 17 years in remission after surviving non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This year, he’s a triathlete. On May 22, he’ll be riding a Peleton bike for 24 hours straight to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. His goal? Raise $57,000 — the same number of dollars as the number of people lost to blood cancers every year in the United States. Read on for how he’s inspiring others.