It was the best of times, but not before the worst of times took its toll. That could be the way history remembers the next few months in America. In short, scientists are doing their jobs but the rest of us aren’t. “The nation now must endure a critical period of transition, one that threatens to last far too long, as we set aside justifiable optimism about next spring and confront the dark winter ahead. Some epidemiologists predict that the death toll by March could be close to twice the 250,000 figure that the nation surpassed only last week. ‘The next three months are going to be just horrible.'” Donald G. McNeil Jr. who has covered this pandemic as accurately as anyone (mostly by talking to the experts who have been remarkably right): Vaccines Are Coming, but Pandemic Experts Expect a ‘Horrible’ Winter. Consider this stat: Six million Americans took flights over the Thanksgiving weekend.

+ It takes a village. But it also takes the next few villages over. One of the biggest problems is that we have no national plan. So even if your state or county leaders are doing a good job, it doesn’t provide much protection. ProPublica: States With Few Coronavirus Restrictions Are Spreading the Virus Beyond Their Borders.

+ OK, maybe it’s a little misleading to say we don’t have a national plan. WaPo: White House planning a packed season of holiday parties.

+ “Moncef Slaoui said he signed on to co-lead Operation Warp Speed as chief science adviser under two conditions: there would be no political interference in his work and no bureaucracy to slow him down. Both conditions were met, he said, and science, not politics led the way.” USA Today: Deliver a safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine in less than a year? Impossible. Meet Moncef Slaoui.

+ While most of the pandemic news is mixed, this news is undeniably 100% positive. Dr. Scott Atlas, Special Coronavirus Adviser To Trump, Resigns. (Dr Kevorkian had a better life-saving track record than this guy.)