Tuesday, November 10, 2020
The same day that Pfizer announced its preliminary vaccine test results, the numbers of Covid-19 infections continued to rise. In an interview Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer pointed out that there is still a lot to be done. This vaccine holds promise he reported and by the end of this year–– that’s only six weeks––Pfizer will be able to produce 50 million doses.
Bioethicists, religious leaders, and politicians have been asking: who gets it first? It makes sense that health care workers should be the first; they take care of the rest of us. And even if Bourla’s hopeful predictions of a billion units in 2021 come to pass, the next question is who should pay for this and how?
In spite of claims that our government funded Pfizer’s research, the funding actually came from Germany, not the U.S. What we did was to commit to the purchase of vaccine units once developed, which means that the government will decide who gets the vaccine first. Let’s pray that these decisions are ethically and wisely made.
Prayer for the Day
In this week after, there is much to pray for, O God:
Justice, peace, understanding, civility.
May we find ways to heal the deep divisions in our Nation
As we struggle to restore trust In each other.
Help us to talk to each other again
Enabling us to rebuild hope and community.
In the name of him who is our hope,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
History is the best antidote to delusions of omnipotence and omniscience. Self-knowledge is the indispensable prelude to self-control, for the nation as well as for the individual, and history should forever remind us of the limits of our passing perspectives.
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., historian (1917–2007)
One faces the future with one’s past.
Pearl S. Buck, writer ( 1892–1973)
Out of my distress, I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
With the Lord on my side I do not fear.
What can mortals do to me?
The Lord is on my side to help me;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in mortals.
Psalm 118: 5–8