| Biden expands the US refugee program after Trump's drastic reductions; Covax will ship 300 million vaccine doses to lower-income countries by summer. Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum. | | | | | | | Under Biden, the US will accept more refugees | | | | | Paul Ratje/Agence France-Presse/AFP via Getty Images | | - After four years of cuts from former President Trump, President Joe Biden will issue an executive order raising the refugee ceiling, allowing the US to accept more global refugees. [Reuters / Steve Holland and Ted Hesson]
- The Trump administration set a historically low cap of 15,000 refugees for this year. On the campaign trail, Biden pledged to raise it to 125,000 while campaigning, but plans to wait until the new fiscal year begins in October. He has not specified how many refugees he plans to accept. [CNN / Priscilla Alvarez and Kevin Liptak]
- Trump's actions will take time to undo. In order to increase the refugee ceiling, Biden will need to reopen the more than one-third of offices Trump closed and workers he let go of. [The Associated Press / Matthew Lee and Julie Watson]
- Biden's plan was praised by the UN's refugee agency. Refugee advocacy groups praised the move, but called for urgency in repairing the damage Trump had done. [The Independent / Mayank Aggarwal]
- Experts say the global refugee situation is worsening, with the UN estimating there are 26.3 million in the world. Further complicating matters, some 40,000 refugees have already been screened but are stuck in limbo due to Trump's gutting of the relevant agencies. [The New York Times / Lara Jakes, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Maggie Haberman and Michael D. Shear]
- The backlog created by Trump means Biden is unlikely to hit his target of 125,000 refugees, even though his plan is to prorate the number between two fiscal years. [The Associated Press]
- Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also said the US may join the United Kingdom in adding people fleeing Hong Kong to the list of refugees the country should accept. [The New York Times]
- For more policy analysis, don't miss our Weeds newsletter. Every Friday we break down the biggest policy stories of the Biden administration. Sign up here.
| | | Covax makes a 330 million dose commitment | | - The Covax initiative, which aims to promote equity in vaccine access through securing inoculations for lower and middle-income countries, released its first distribution list, with 145 countries expected to begin receiving doses in late February. [Al Jazeera]
- The goal is to deliver 337.2 million doses by the end of June: 336 million from AstraZeneca and 1.2 million from Pfizer/BioNTech. [Euronews]
- Countries will receive doses proportional to their populations. By the end of June, 3.3 percent of the 145 countries' citizens are expected to be vaccinated. [Devex / Sarah Jerving]
- The plan is unbinding, and is part of a larger goal to deliver 2 billion doses by the end of the year — an unlikely reality given funding challenges the initiative has faced, including a lack of US support when Trump pulled the country out of the World Health Organization. [CNN / Nectar Gan]
- Almost 90 million doses will go to African countries, which have lamented limited access as other continents have begun vaccination campaigns. The African Union has negotiated an additional 670 million doses for the next two years, which it will deliver to member nations as they secure funding. [Africanews]
- A few wealthy countries' acceptance of Covax vaccines has raised eyebrows, including Canada, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore. Despite claiming to have no cases, North Korea will also accept shots from the program. [Axios / Dave Lawler]
| | | | | | | The House impeachment managers called on former President Donald Trump to testify under oath at his Senate trial next week. | | | [The New York Times / Nicholas Fandos] - The House voted to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments on partisan lines. [Vox / Gabby Birenbaum]
- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed a repeal of anti-loitering statutes largely known as "walking while trans" laws, which had been used to defend profiling and arresting primarily trans women of color, after years of activism. [19th News / Mariel Padilla]
- Rapper Lil Uzi Vert had a $24 million pink diamond pierced into his forehead. [Vulture / Zoe Haylock]
| | | | | "The party of Lincoln is becoming the party of violent conspiracy theories. And apparently, the leaders of the Republican Party in the House today aren't going to do a damn thing about it." | | | | | | | | | | |
Vox's Dylan Matthews talks with author and Revolutions podcaster Mike Duncan about what history can tell us about the insurrection at the US Capitol. Is America experiencing a true moment of revolution? So many republics throughout history have crumbled — could this one be next? [Spotify / Dylan Matthews] | | | | | | | | |  | This email was sent to edwardlorilla1986.paxforex@blogger.com. Manage your email preferences, or unsubscribe to stop receiving all emails from Vox. If you value Vox's unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036.
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