THE BIG STORY

America’s COVID-19 death toll is so large that the numbers have lost meaning

Back in February, it was easier to grasp what was happening. The news brought stories of specific individuals dying of COVID-19, and we knew their names and the cities where they lived. Local health officials told us broad biographical information: she traveled, she died at home.

Ten months later, and it is virtually impossible to wrap your mind around the untold devastation the coronavirus has caused — and keeps causing every day. Where do you begin to make sense of more than 300,000 deaths? Where do you begin to ground yourself in the reality of 300,000 empty seats at the Christmas dinner table?

Scott Lucas wrote about the task of making real such an overwhelming number: “As the cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter once wrote, there are numbers so large after which it ‘is virtually impossible to keep on being more amazed.’ There are numbers so large after which it is impossible to keep on grieving.”

But as Lucas writes, the impossibility does not absolve us of the responsibility to try with all we can to comprehend all of this. His piece won’t suddenly solve the problem, but it’s a good place to start.

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Donald Trump has pardoned political allies and Blackwater contractors

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump pardoned two former House Republicans who were convicted of federal crimes while serving in Congress, as well as two key figures in the 2016 Russian election interference investigation.

Former California Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife were arrested after federal prosecutors accused them of spending more than $250,000 on family vacations, theater tickets, and meals. Former New York Rep. Chris Collins, the first Republican in Congress to back Trump in 2016, was serving a 26-month sentence for insider trading and lying to the FBI.

The president also pardoned four Blackwater contractors convicted of killing civilians in Iraq. The former mercenaries had been convicted for their role in the Nisour Square massacre that left 14 people dead in Baghdad in 2007.

SNAPSHOTS

Surprise medical billing is finally coming to an end after Congress reached a last minute deal. Congress ended surprise billing, but only after doctors won a series of concessions that may let them charge insurers higher prices.

More than 40 women are now speaking out about alleged medical misconduct in ICE detention. The women are speaking out against the federal government and a Georgia gynecologist, most of them alleging that they underwent unwanted and medically unnecessary procedures while in ICE detention.

The American teen who violated the Cayman Islands’ quarantine has had her jail sentence reduced. A court reduced Skylar Mack's prison sentence from four months to two after she violated the nation's COVID-19 quarantine protocols to watch her boyfriend compete in a Jet Ski competition.

Here’s what the grim reality of climate change looked like in 2020. In 2020, we learned that the truth of climate change is that it makes the weather more dramatic — more fires, more floods, more droughts, more heat, more extremes. Here is that reality in photos.

A boat motors by the Bidwell Bar Bridge, surrounded by fire in Lake Oroville during the Bear fire in Oroville, California, Sept. 9. Josh Edelson / Getty Images

IMBALANCE OF POWER

There is anger and resignation in the developing world as rich countries buy up all the COVID vaccines

In the US, mass vaccination could start reportedly as early as April of 2021. Canada plans to have all willing citizens vaccinated by September. But almost a quarter of the world’s population won’t have access to a vaccine until 2022.

Across much of Latin America, Africa, and large parts of Asia, news that vaccinations have begun in the UK and the US has been met with a mixture of resignation and anger.

Nations in the developing world are struggling for access to the vaccines after wealthy countries reserved enough doses to inoculate their populations several times over. For example, Canada has preordered at least four times the amount it needs to vaccinate its 38 million citizens. The UK has secured enough to cover nearly three times its population.

Mexico says it's wrong for wealthy countries to buy up more vaccines than they need, while others still don’t have access to a single dose. Read Karla Zabludovsky on the growing global vaccine access gap.

NEW TRADITIONS

Mindy Kaling revealed the cute Christmas tradition she’s starting with BJ Novak and her kids, and honestly I can’t take it

In a new interview, Kaling explained that part of the fun of celebrating Christmas with her kids is creating new family traditions. So, what does she have in mind? Well, it involves cookies, apple cider, and a very sleepy BJ Novak dressed up as Santa. It’s incredibly wholesome and lovely.

A LITTLE NOTE

Hey, friends. This newsletter will be off for a week, returning Wednesday Dec. 30 for an end-of-year edition. While we’re off, I hope you have a safe and warm and hopeful Christmas.

The holidays can be hard in a normal year, let alone in one like this one. So if you have the room to spare, stretch out and send a wish to a friend you haven’t heard from in a while. 2020 has taught us about all the ways we need each other, and this week would be a good time to put those lessons into practice.

For some of you reading, this will be the first Christmas without some loved ones. Sending condolences and strength, and thinking of you this week.

Be amazed at your own capacity for kindness, even in hard times,

Elamin