The U.S. has agreed to pay Pfizer and BioNTech nearly $2 billion to secure 100 million doses of their experimental coronavirus vaccine. It still needs to go through phase three trials and be approved by the FDA, but the race is on to secure as many doses as possible. Operation Warp Speed has struck similar deals with other vaccine developers as well. Jared Hopkins, Pharma reporter at the WSJ, joins us for all the money being poured into vaccines.




Next, Congress continues to debate what to do about enhanced jobless benefits that are set to expire at the end of next week. Some 25 million Americans are set to lose an extra $600 a week that were given out to help keep people afloat during the pandemic shutdowns. Also on the table is whether to dish out more individual stimulus payments. Eric Morath, labor economics and policy reporter at the WSJ joins us for more.




Finally, the culture war over wearing face masks continue, and in California, the city of Huntington Beach has become the symbol of mask resistance. Despite evidence that face coverings help limit the spread of the coronavirus, some residents think the virus is over hyped, others are just fed up with constantly changing restrictions. Jake Sheridan, reporter at the LA Times, joins us for why face masks continue to be a point of contention.

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