The Second-Generation COVID Vaccines Are Coming

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January 20, 2021

Dear Reader, Joe Biden has been sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. When Scientific American endorsed Biden in the October 2020 issue, it was the first time we ever backed a presidential candidate in our 175-year history. Now, for our February 2021 issue, we've produced a special report that highlights four urgent priorities for the new administration: climate change, the COVID pandemic, misinformation and mistrust, and restoring the role of science in the federal government. President Biden will spend his first day in office trying to obliterate much of Trump's deregulatory agenda. His plan to rejoin the Paris agreement and reestablish the U.S. as a global leader on climate change policy is outlined in our story below. Plus, the administration will take on the COVID vaccine rollout, which is reaching Black Americans at dramatically lower rates than white Americans.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Medicine The Second-Generation COVID Vaccines Are Coming After Pfizer and Moderna, a slew of other candidates could fill gaps in efficacy, production, or distribution By Zoe Cormier

Policy & Ethics The Four Most Pressing Science Priorities for the Next President By THE EDITORS

Policy & Ethics Biden's First Climate Actions Include Rejoining Paris Agreement He will also rescind a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and order a review of Trump administration environmental rollbacks By Scott Waldman,E&E News

Public Health Black Americans Are Getting COVID Vaccines at Lower Rates Than White Americans In 16 states that have released data by race, white residents are being vaccinated at much higher rates—in many cases two to three times higher By Hannah Recht,Lauren Weber,Kaiser Health News

Space NASA Ends Efforts to Deploy Mars InSight's 'Mole' After two years of futile struggles to penetrate surprisingly sticky soil, the heat probe's demise leaves large gaps in our understanding of the Red Planet's interior By Robin George Andrews

Evolution The Evolutionary Origins of Friendship The emergence of this crucial kind of relationship relied on the ability to recognize the unique benefits others have to offer By Debra Lieberman

Public Health The White House--Scene of COVID Outbreaks under Trump--Will Get a Deep Clean for President-Elect Biden Fears about lingering coronavirus are prompting a massive disinfection initiative before the Bidens move in By Phil Galewitz,Kaiser Health News

FROM THE STORE Ask the Experts: The Environment The fourth eBook in our Ask the Experts series, The Environment tackles questions about the world around us. In these pages, our experts field queries on the weather, natural disasters, natural resources, climate change and unusual phenomena.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY "Folks, this is a time of testing. We face an attack on our democracy and on truth. A raging virus, growing inequity, the sting of systemic racism, a climate in crisis. America's role in the world. Any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways. But the fact is, we face them all at once. Presenting this nation with one of the gravest responsibilities we've had. Now we're going to be tested. Are we going to step up, all of us?" Joe Biden, President of the United States, in his inaugural address

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