THE BIG STORY

The first shipments of the coronavirus vaccine are on their way to all 50 states

On Friday evening, the FDA authorized emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID 19 vaccine. By Sunday, the first shipments of the vaccine began their journey to all 50 states. It’s a pivotal moment in a pandemic that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.

The shipments left Pfizer’s facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and are expected to reach every state sometime today. They’ll arrive at 145 distribution sites across the country by the end of Monday. Another 425 sites will receive shipments on Tuesday, and the remaining 66 will get them on Wednesday.

On Sunday morning, workers at Pfizer's facility took a moment to clap for the historic moment as the first boxes of the vaccine were being loaded on to the trucks.

Boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped. Morry Gash / AP

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Four people were stabbed and one shot during Pro-Trump rallies

Supporters of President Donald Trump, including far-right groups, rioted on the streets of Washington, DC and Olympia, Washington, on Saturday night, resulting in violence, injuries, and multiple arrests.

The supporters, encouraged by Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the election, took to the streets as part of a so-called “Stop The Steal” rally and clashed with counterprotesters, two days before the electoral college is set to confirm that Joe Biden is the next US president.

Four people were stabbed in DC and one person was shot in Olympia as thousands of Trump supporters gathered across several state capitals to protest against what they falsely claim was a "stolen election.”

In Olympia, police declared the pro-Trump protest outside the state Capitol to be a riot on Saturday afternoon, following outbreaks of violence between the president's supporters and counterprotesters.

SNAPSHOTS

The Supreme Court rejected Texas’s last-ditch legal challenge to Biden’s win. The justices found that Texas lacked standing to sue other states that President-elect Joe Biden won.

Trump’s legal arguments are getting more delusions, but support from Republicans just keeps on growing. Despite Trump’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric, increasingly absurd legal filings, and growing lineup of legal defeats, more and more Republicans are lining up behind him.

Charley Pride, Country music’s first major breakout Black star, has died of COVID-19. Online, fans and fellow country musicians mourned the death of a trailblazer.

FKA Twigs says in a lawsuit that Shia LaBeouf abused her and infected her with an STI. The singer’s lawsuit says, “Shia LaBeouf hurts women. He uses them. He abuses them, both physically and mentally. He is dangerous.”

Congress has passed sweeping anti-money laundering legislation. Now it’s up to Trump. The new law would force shell companies, and criminals who may hide behind them, into view — if it survives Trump’s veto.

Disney+ just announced a bunch of new Marvel shows. It’s honestly kind of exhausting how many there are. But if that’s your thing, have at it.

GOODBYE TO ALL THAT

After the US election, key people are leaving Facebook and torching the company in departure notes

“With so many internal forces propping up the production of hateful and violent content, the task of stopping hate and violence on Facebook starts to feel even more sisyphean than it already is,” wrote one Facebook employee in their farewell message to colleagues. “It also makes it embarrassing to work here.”

In just the past few weeks, at least four people involved in Facebook’s work related to reducing violence and incitement, crafting policy to reduce hate speech, and tracking content that breaks Facebook’s rules have left the company.

In farewell posts on the company’s internal message board, obtained by BuzzFeed News, each person expressed concerns about the company’s approach to handling US political content and hate speech, and called out Facebook leadership for its unwillingness to be more proactive about reducing hate, incitement, and false content.

Craig Silverman and Ryan Mac, who have covered the internal affairs of Facebook closely, have the details.

SHAPING JOY

People are getting emotional over Seth Rogen’s pottery journey in 2020, and it’s all so wholesome

In a year that lacked bright spots, one of the most consistent sources of joy has been Seth Rogen’s instagram account. The actor has taken up pottery recently, but upped his game in 2020, and has been sharing his masterpieces online.

He’s been sharing everything from ashtrays to soap dispensers to sake sets. But the true masterpieces are his vases, of which I would like to own five. Seth, if you’re reading this, I really mean it.

Anyway: people have been loving the joy with which Rogen has been sharing his creations, and it’s just nice to have something to rally around.

I hope you get a chance to surprise yourself,

Elamin