npr--2020-11-16--Trump's Border Wall Builders Carry On Even Though Projects May Never Be Completed

Trump 's Border Wall Builders Carry On Even Though Projects May Never Be Completed Work crews are dynamiting mountains and bulldozing access roads in the badlands of southeastern Arizona , while government lawyers have acquired a beloved birding preserve along the Rio Grande in South Texas — all to make way for a border wall that may never get built .
The completion of President 's Trump 's signature wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is very much in doubt .
Before winning the presidential election , Joe Biden flatly told NPR : `` There will not be another foot of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But that has n't stopped Trump 's wall builders , who are hurrying to get as many miles completed as they can before the next president can cancel their contracts .
That 's happening from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to Arizona 's stunning Coronado National Memorial and Guadalupe Canyon , a wildlife corridor for Mexican gray wolves and endangered jaguars .
At $ 41 million a mile , the Arizona sections are the most expensive projects of the entire border wall .
`` Every single day , the Department of Homeland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up these rugged mountains in order to clear a path for a wall that , in all likelihood , will never be built , '' says Laiken Jordahl , with the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson , Ariz. `` So now it 's just destruction for destruction 's sake . ''
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , which oversees the wall project , said it expects contractors to continue work through the remaining two months of Trump 's term and `` will not speculate on actions the administration may or may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his critics and beat back nearly every court challenge to his border wall .
Currently , 11 different contractors are at work on 27 separate construction contracts , including the demolition in Arizona , according to the Army Corps .
So far , $ 8 billion has been spent , part of the $ 15 billion that has been set aside for the gargantuan project — more than the price tag for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier .
Cranes and concrete trucks are erecting steel panels from the subtropics of the Texas Gulf all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ San Diego .
Last month , acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf stood in the shadow of the iron bollard wall in the Rio Grande Valley to announce the completion of nearly 400 miles since Trump came into office .
`` While this is an important milestone , we 're building even more wall , '' Wolf said .
`` Currently we have nearly 210 more miles under construction and expect to complete 450 miles by the end of this calendar year . ''
And the pace is quickening .
In the week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a `` motion for immediate possession '' against an elderly landowner in Mission , Texas , to quickly seize a strip of his family 's ancestral land to raise the border wall .
`` We 're still seeing filings , '' says Roberto Lopez , community organizer with the Texas Civil Rights Project that represents the property owner .
`` And the government is n't stopping or slowing .
It seems like they 're trying to speed up . ''
Another case in point is the Salineño Wildlife Preserve on the banks of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Valley in Texas .
`` The Salineño preserve in Starr County — which is 2 1/2 acres of some of the best bird habitat , brings in birders from all over the country and the world — has been acquired by the Army Corps of Engineers and is set to be destroyed for the border wall , '' says Scott Nicol , a longtime conservation activist in the region .
Customs and Border Protection says the sale was completed on Election Day , Nov. 3 .
After a public outcry over the voluntary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which owns the preserve , announced Friday that it had decided to cancel the whole deal and fight the government to keep out the bulldozers .
A CBP statement said the property `` is necessary for the execution of planned border barrier in support of U.S. Border Patrol 's operational requirement in the Rio Grande Valley . ''
A spokesman added that the agency , at present , has no plans to stop construction of the border wall because of the incoming administration .
Immigration hawks want Biden to keep building Trump 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do what President Barack Obama did in 2009 when he allowed border fence construction contracts signed under President George W. Bush to be completed .
Bush and Obama together installed 654 miles of barriers .
Obama wanted to show he was serious about border security so that a divided Congress would pass comprehensive immigration reform , which it did n't .
`` It should not be a , 'Hey , I made a political commitment and therefore on Jan. 20 at 12:01 I 'm shutting this down . '
I would have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ David Aguilar , national chief of the Border Patrol who oversaw completion of the border fence under Obama .
`` What needs to happen , '' Aguilar continues , `` is take a step back , take a look at what is in place and what the appropriate path forward should be . ''
Early termination of contracts can be costly , says Scott Amey , general counsel of the Project on Government Oversight , a watchdog group in Washington , D.C .
Setting aside the overwhelming opposition to the wall in U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It may be easier , especially if the money has already been appropriated , to finish and complete those sections of wall to ensure we have a decent barrier down there . ''
Rep. Henry Cuellar , D-Laredo , is among the members of Congress who represent districts along the U.S.-Mexico border , all of whom are dead-set against the wall .
He says Biden 's new CBP chief can simply call for a `` termination for convenience , '' which is the right of a government agency to sever a contract , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ penalty fee .
Cuellar says this is what he expects of the new administration : `` One , tell the Department of Justice to stop all the condemnation lawsuits .
And the second thing is send instructions to the Army Corps of Engineers to tell all those contractors to stop construction of the wall .
They will have to pack up and leave . ''
In Texas , where most of the borderlands are in private hands , the progress of the wall has been slowed by the tedious condemnation process that winds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signed four contracts to build 121 miles of wall in the Laredo region , for instance , but they have n't acquired a single acre of land to erect it on .
Many landowners have fought the government in court , hoping to run out the clock on Trump 's time in office .
The delay tactics appear to have worked .
`` Our coalition feels confident that the wall is dead and that nothing more will happen between now and the inauguration , '' says Tricia Cortez , co-founder of the local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ De Anda , a local lawyer representing property owners : `` Landowners have been involved in hand-to-hand fighting against the government lawyers for over a year now , denying them access to their property .
There 's no way CBP can get a bulldozer down on the river between now and the swearing-in . ''
That comes as a huge relief to Sacred Heart Children 's Home , a Catholic orphanage in Laredo situated on the Rio Grande .
The tall steel panels , along with a 100-foot-wide enforcement zone , would have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is run by an order of nuns .
`` I 'm very happy for that , '' said Tomás Rodriguez Jr. , secretary of the Sacred Heart board of directors .
`` The wall , it seems , will not be built , and that will help our cause because we would not lose any property , and we would be able to help young boys and young girls . ''
That is , if Joe Biden follows through on his promise to stop Donald Trump 's wall and abandon the unfinished project @ @ @ @

Trump's Border Wall Builders Carry On Even Though Projects May Never Be Completed
Enlarge this image toggle caption John Kurc John Kurc
Work crews are dynamiting mountains and bulldozing access roads in the badlands of southeastern Arizona, while government lawyers have acquired a beloved birding preserve along the Rio Grande in South Texas — all to make way for a border wall that may never get built.
The completion of President's Trump's signature wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is very much in doubt. Before winning the presidential election, Joe Biden flatly told NPR: "There will not be another foot of wall constructed in my administration."
But that hasn't stopped Trump's wall builders, who are hurrying to get as many miles completed as they can before the next president can cancel their contracts. That's happening from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to Arizona's stunning Coronado National Memorial and Guadalupe Canyon, a wildlife corridor for Mexican gray wolves and endangered jaguars. At $41 million a mile, the Arizona sections are the most expensive projects of the entire border wall.
"Every single day, the Department of Homeland Security continues to dynamite, to blow up these rugged mountains in order to clear a path for a wall that, in all likelihood, will never be built," says Laiken Jordahl, with the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, Ariz. "So now it's just destruction for destruction's sake."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the wall project, said it expects contractors to continue work through the remaining two months of Trump's term and "will not speculate on actions the administration may or may not take."
Enlarge this image toggle caption John Kurc John Kurc
Trump has ignored his critics and beat back nearly every court challenge to his border wall. Currently, 11 different contractors are at work on 27 separate construction contracts, including the demolition in Arizona, according to the Army Corps. So far, $8 billion has been spent, part of the $15 billion that has been set aside for the gargantuan project — more than the price tag for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
Cranes and concrete trucks are erecting steel panels from the subtropics of the Texas Gulf all the way to the Pacific hills of San Diego.
Last month, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf stood in the shadow of the iron bollard wall in the Rio Grande Valley to announce the completion of nearly 400 miles since Trump came into office.
"While this is an important milestone, we're building even more wall," Wolf said. "Currently we have nearly 210 more miles under construction and expect to complete 450 miles by the end of this calendar year."
And the pace is quickening. In the week after the election, government lawyers filed a "motion for immediate possession" against an elderly landowner in Mission, Texas, to quickly seize a strip of his family's ancestral land to raise the border wall.
"We're still seeing filings," says Roberto Lopez, community organizer with the Texas Civil Rights Project that represents the property owner. "And the government isn't stopping or slowing. It seems like they're trying to speed up."
Another case in point is the Salineño Wildlife Preserve on the banks of the international river in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.
"The Salineño preserve in Starr County — which is 2 1/2 acres of some of the best bird habitat, brings in birders from all over the country and the world — has been acquired by the Army Corps of Engineers and is set to be destroyed for the border wall," says Scott Nicol, a longtime conservation activist in the region.
Customs and Border Protection says the sale was completed on Election Day, Nov. 3. After a public outcry over the voluntary sale, the Valley Land Fund, which owns the preserve, announced Friday that it had decided to cancel the whole deal and fight the government to keep out the bulldozers.
A CBP statement said the property "is necessary for the execution of planned border barrier in support of U.S. Border Patrol's operational requirement in the Rio Grande Valley." A spokesman added that the agency, at present, has no plans to stop construction of the border wall because of the incoming administration.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images
Immigration hawks want Biden to keep building Trump's border wall. They want Biden to do what President Barack Obama did in 2009 when he allowed border fence construction contracts signed under President George W. Bush to be completed.
Bush and Obama together installed 654 miles of barriers. Obama wanted to show he was serious about border security so that a divided Congress would pass comprehensive immigration reform, which it didn't.
"It should not be a, 'Hey, I made a political commitment and therefore on Jan. 20 at 12:01 I'm shutting this down.' I would have to say that's irresponsible," says David Aguilar, national chief of the Border Patrol who oversaw completion of the border fence under Obama.
"What needs to happen," Aguilar continues, "is take a step back, take a look at what is in place and what the appropriate path forward should be."
Early termination of contracts can be costly, says Scott Amey, general counsel of the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group in Washington, D.C.
Setting aside the overwhelming opposition to the wall in U.S. border communities, Amey said: "It may be easier, especially if the money has already been appropriated, to finish and complete those sections of wall to ensure we have a decent barrier down there."
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, is among the members of Congress who represent districts along the U.S.-Mexico border, all of whom are dead-set against the wall. He says Biden's new CBP chief can simply call for a "termination for convenience," which is the right of a government agency to sever a contract, though it will likely include a termination penalty fee.
Cuellar says this is what he expects of the new administration: "One, tell the Department of Justice to stop all the condemnation lawsuits. And the second thing is send instructions to the Army Corps of Engineers to tell all those contractors to stop construction of the wall. They will have to pack up and leave."
In Texas, where most of the borderlands are in private hands, the progress of the wall has been slowed by the tedious condemnation process that winds through federal court. The government has signed four contracts to build 121 miles of wall in the Laredo region, for instance, but they haven't acquired a single acre of land to erect it on.
Many landowners have fought the government in court, hoping to run out the clock on Trump's time in office. The delay tactics appear to have worked.
"Our coalition feels confident that the wall is dead and that nothing more will happen between now and the inauguration," says Tricia Cortez, co-founder of the local No Border Wall Coalition.
Added Ricardo De Anda, a local lawyer representing property owners: "Landowners have been involved in hand-to-hand fighting against the government lawyers for over a year now, denying them access to their property. There's no way CBP can get a bulldozer down on the river between now and the swearing-in."
That comes as a huge relief to Sacred Heart Children's Home, a Catholic orphanage in Laredo situated on the Rio Grande. The tall steel panels, along with a 100-foot-wide enforcement zone, would have plowed right through the campus, which is run by an order of nuns.
"I'm very happy for that," said Tomás Rodriguez Jr., secretary of the Sacred Heart board of directors. "The wall, it seems, will not be built, and that will help our cause because we would not lose any property, and we would be able to help young boys and young girls."
That is, if Joe Biden follows through on his promise to stop Donald Trump's wall and abandon the unfinished project in the borderlands.


npr--2020-11-16--A Comic Just For Kids: How To Stay Safe From The Coronavirus

A Comic Just For Kids : How To Stay Safe From The Coronavirus This comic was originally published on Feb. @ @ @ @ @ has been updated .
Kids , this comic is just for you .
The coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ in many countries , thousands and thousands of people are getting sick .
You may @ @ @ @ @ this virus is — and how to stay safe .
Here are some answers .
@ @ @ @ @ version of this comic here .
Here are directions on how to fold it .
@ @ @ @ @ interviews conducted by NPR 's Cory Turner with Tara Powell at the University of Illinois @ @ @ @ @ Joy Osofsky at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans , Krystal Lewis at @ @ @ @ @ Health , Dr. Ashish Jha , dean of Brown 's School of Public Health and @ @ @ @ @ president of curriculum and content at Sesame Workshop .

A Comic Just For Kids: How To Stay Safe From The Coronavirus
This comic was originally published on Feb. 28, 2020, and has been updated.
Kids, this comic is just for you.
The coronavirus pandemic started in March and in many countries, thousands and thousands of people are getting sick. You may have questions about what exactly this virus is — and how to stay safe. Here are some answers.
Print and fold a zine version of this comic here. Here are directions on how to fold it.
This comic is based on interviews conducted by NPR's Cory Turner with Tara Powell at the University of Illinois School of Social Work, Joy Osofsky at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Krystal Lewis at the National Institute of Mental Health, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown's School of Public Health and Rosemarie Truglio, senior vice president of curriculum and content at Sesame Workshop.
Enlarge this image Malaka Gharib/ NPR Malaka Gharib/ NPR
Malaka Gharib/ NPR
Malaka Gharib/ NPR
Malaka Gharib/ NPR
Malaka Gharib/ NPR
Malaka Gharib/ NPR


npr--2020-11-16--Coronavirus Is Surging: How Severe Is Your State's Outbreak?

Coronavirus Is Surging : How Severe Is Your State 's Outbreak ?
More than 11 million people in the U.S. have had confirmed coronavirus infections and more than 245,000 have died of COVID-19 .
Tens of thousands of new cases are reported daily nationwide .
In the graphics below , explore the trends in your state .
View the data via a heat map ( immediately below ) , curve charts , a table of state-by-state trends over four weeks , or a map of total cases and deaths .
The map above shows the risk of infection in each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capita .
The consortium of researchers and public health experts who developed these risk levels advises states in the red category to issue stay-home orders .
They advise orange states to consider stay-home orders , along with increased testing and contact tracing .
Yellow states need to keep up social distancing and mask usage , and all states should continue testing and contact tracing .
To compare state outbreaks , the chart above graphs trend lines for average new daily cases and deaths against each state 's totals to date .
This type @ @ @ @ @ @ @ growth or decline relative to the overall size of its outbreak .
When both new and total case and death counts grow quickly , the curves bend upward .
As new cases and deaths slow , the curves level or bend down .
In New York , the curve rose sharply before reaching over 170,000 total cases in April .
New cases fell from about 10,000 per day in mid-April to under 900 a day most of the summer , before starting to rise in the fall .
Explore the map above to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country for both new confirmed cases and reported deaths from COVID-19 .
New York was the original epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. As of mid October , California , Florida and Texas surpass New York for total cases to date , though New York still has the highest death total .
Click here to see a global map of confirmed cases and deaths .
To show trends , the table below shows the change in average new cases per day in each state , week over week for the last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of red have growing outbreaks ; those in shades of green , are declining .
The graphics on this page pull from data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources , including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ; the World Health Organization ; national , state and local government health departments ; 1point3acres ; and local media reports .
The JHU team automates its data uploads and regularly checks them for anomalies .
This may result in occasional data discrepancies on this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and updates its feeds .
State-by-state recovery data are unavailable at this time .
There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department 's website .
Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships .
Fluctuations in the numbers may happen as health authorities review old cases and or update their methodologies .
For example , in early June , Michigan health authorities started including probable cases in its totals .
This resulted in a brief spike in the state 's daily numbers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reconcile the historical data .
On June 25 , New Jersey included 1,854 previously-unreported probable deaths in its totals , resulting in a spike in the state 's daily death numbers .
On Sept. 2 , Massachusetts changed its methodology for counting probable cases , which lowered its overall case and death numbers .
The JHU team maintains a list of such changes .
This story was originally published on March 16 , 2020 .
Elena Renken was a co-author on that version .
Sean McMinn and Audrey Carlsen contributed to this story @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Tracking the coronavirus around the U.S.: See how your state is doing
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Note: This page was last updated on Feb. 1, 2023. It will no longer be updated. For current data on COVID cases and deaths, demographics, and hospitalizations, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Feb. 1, there have been more than 101 million confirmed coronavirus infections in the U.S. and more than 1 million people have died of COVID-19. In the graphics below, explore the trends in your state.
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The above charts show average new cases per 100,000 people for each state over the last 12 months.
Note: Actual cases may be substantially higher, since many who test positive with at-home tests don't report their cases.
For additional data about COVID-19 in the U.S, including cases and deaths, demographics, and hospitalizations, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
To show trends, the table below shows the change in average new cases per day in each state, week over week for the last 28 days. States marked in shades of red have growing outbreaks; those in shades of green, are declining.
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Methodology
The graphics on this page pull from data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the World Health Organization; national, state and local government health departments; 1point3acres; and local media reports.
The JHU team automates its data uploads and regularly checks them for anomalies. This may result in occasional data discrepancies on this page as the JHU team resolves anomalies and updates its feeds. There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department's website. Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships.
Fluctuations in the numbers may happen as health authorities review old cases, process testing backlogs or update their methodologies. The JHU team maintains a list of such changes.
This story was originally published on March 16, 2020. Elena Renken was a co-author on that version. Sean McMinn and Audrey Carlsen contributed to this story. Carmel Wroth edited this story.


npr--2020-11-17--Coronavirus World Map: Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak

Coronavirus World Map : Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak On Sept. 28 , the world marked a tragic milestone : 1 million deaths from COVID-19 .
That 's according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University .
And public health experts believe the actual toll – the recorded deaths plus the unrecorded deaths – is much higher .
While the number of cases has slowed in many countries that were hit hard early on by coronavirus , the number of new cases continues to increase .
Since early July , new daily cases averaged over 200,000 worldwide .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ country-by-country breakdown of new and total cases since January .
At over 9 million cases , the United States leads the world 's COVID-19 crisis .
In late spring and early summer , new COVID-19 cases were largely driven by cases in the Americas .
While the U.S. has consistently had the most new daily cases of coronavirus in the region , Brazil 's new daily cases increased rapidly between May and August .
However , in September , several countries that had previously flattened their curve saw a resurgence in cases , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , daily case counts have risen swiftly since June , without signs of slowing down .
Explore how the number of coronavirus cases have shifted in different parts of the world over time .
The first chart compares each continent to each other , while the next charts highlight the number of cases in select countries by region .
To compare country outbreaks , the chart below graphs trend lines for average new daily cases and deaths against each country 's totals to date .
This type of visualization highlights a state 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overall size of its outbreak .
When both new and total case and death counts grow quickly , the curves bend upward .
As new cases and deaths slow , the curves level or bend down .
In countries like Israel , which is seeing a second wave of case growth after an initial wave in April , the line forms a V-shape , as the initially bent curve spikes upwards again .
Click here to see the state-by-state breakdown of cases in the United States .
This story was originally published on @ @ @ @ @

Coronavirus world map: We've now passed the 600 million mark for infections
Editor's note: This page is no longer being updated. The last update was Sept. 5, 2022. For current data about COVID-19 cases and deaths around the world, Johns Hopkins University and Our World in Data are useful resources.
In late January 2020 only a few dozen COVID-19 infections had been identified outside of China. A year later, the world tallied its first 100 million cases. It took the globe just 7 more months to pass the 200 million mark— then another 5 months to hit 300 million, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Now the virus has spread to every corner of the globe and has been blamed for more than 6 million deaths.
The United States, India and Brazil in that order have had the most COVID cases and the three nations collectively account for almost half of all recorded infections so far in the pandemic.
Explore the chart below to find a country-by-country breakdown of new and total cases since January 2020.
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Explore how the number of coronavirus cases have shifted in different parts of the world over time. The first chart compares each continent to each other, while the next charts highlight the number of cases in select countries by region.
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This story was originally published on March 30, 2020.


npr--2020-11-17--Coronavirus Is Surging: How Severe Is Your State's Outbreak?


npr--2020-11-17--How The GOP Defied Expectations Down The Ballot

How The GOP Defied Expectations Down The Ballot Democrats held on to the House majority in 2020 , but in the weeks since , it 's Republicans who have been celebrating the election results .
`` Pundits doubted us .
Polls were stacked against us , and I do n't believe one person in this room believed we 'd win one race , '' boasted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy , R-Calif. , at his weekly news conference last week .
House Republicans did far better than election forecasts predicted .
Not one Republican incumbent has lost .
A dozen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Monday evening , but Democrats are on track to have a single-digit House majority that 'll be the narrowest in two decades when the new Congress convenes in January .
`` The first building block of how we got here was recruitment , '' said Dan Conston , who runs the Congressional Leadership Fund , the top House Republican super PAC .
Of the seats Republicans flipped , the winning candidate was either a woman , a minority , a veteran or some combination of the three .
Conston contends that Republicans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ message — on the economy and cultural issues — for undecided swing voters .
CLF spent $ 140 million on ads this year that sounded similar to the message used in an ad against freshman Rep. Joe Cunningham , D-S.C. , that said he was `` backed by lobbyists and radicals who want to defund the police .
And he backs Biden .
That means higher taxes . ''
Cunningham lost .
The coronavirus pandemic also made campaigning itself a cultural and tactical issue in competitive races .
Many Republicans continued to hold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ran traditional door-knocking campaigns to get out the vote , all things Democrats more often avoided over concerns about public safety .
Republican Beth Van Duyne won an open seat in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs .
She credited her ground game with her narrow victory .
She told NPR she never saw her Democratic opponent on the campaign trail .
`` Her point was , she was concerned about COVID .
You know what ?
That 's fine .
But in an elected position role , a public servant role , we do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in . ''
Van Duyne 's was one of six Republican-held suburban Texas seats that Democrats made a play for in 2020 ; they lost in all of them .
Liesl Hickey and Robert Blizzard are veteran Republican Party strategists who have been conducting a focus group with suburban swing voters across the U.S. since late May .
`` This doom and gloom that we were going to get slaughtered in the suburbs obviously did not materialize , and this research suggests why , '' Blizzard said .
Hickey said that while Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that fatigue did not drag down House Republicans on the ballot who focused on issues and not the president .
`` A center-right agenda , that 's what suburban voters are looking for , and when we 're on offense on policy , that 's when we win . ''
And it 's why House Republicans are celebrating 2020 , even though they technically lost .
This election did n't send the party off searching into the political wilderness but , rather , provided what many see as a shorter path back to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we have a great opportunity to create a choice between Republican policies and Democrat policies , and that will be a very clear choice as we go into the new year , '' Hickey said .
President-elect Joe Biden won a historic victory , but he had no coattails for his party and now he faces an emboldened House Republican minority .

How The GOP Defied Expectations Down The Ballot
Enlarge this image toggle caption J. Scott Applewhite/AP J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Democrats held on to the House majority in 2020, but in the weeks since, it's Republicans who have been celebrating the election results.
"Pundits doubted us. Polls were stacked against us, and I don't believe one person in this room believed we'd win one race," boasted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., at his weekly news conference last week.
House Republicans did far better than election forecasts predicted. Not one Republican incumbent has lost. A dozen races had still to be called as of Monday evening, but Democrats are on track to have a single-digit House majority that'll be the narrowest in two decades when the new Congress convenes in January.
"The first building block of how we got here was recruitment," said Dan Conston, who runs the Congressional Leadership Fund, the top House Republican super PAC. Of the seats Republicans flipped, the winning candidate was either a woman, a minority, a veteran or some combination of the three.
Conston contends that Republicans had better messengers for a more persuadable message — on the economy and cultural issues — for undecided swing voters. CLF spent $140 million on ads this year that sounded similar to the message used in an ad against freshman Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., that said he was "backed by lobbyists and radicals who want to defund the police. And he backs Biden. That means higher taxes." Cunningham lost.
The coronavirus pandemic also made campaigning itself a cultural and tactical issue in competitive races. Many Republicans continued to hold in-person events, rarely wore masks and ran traditional door-knocking campaigns to get out the vote, all things Democrats more often avoided over concerns about public safety.
Republican Beth Van Duyne won an open seat in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs. She credited her ground game with her narrow victory. She told NPR she never saw her Democratic opponent on the campaign trail. "Her point was, she was concerned about COVID. You know what? That's fine. But in an elected position role, a public servant role, we do not have the luxury of calling it in." Van Duyne's was one of six Republican-held suburban Texas seats that Democrats made a play for in 2020; they lost in all of them.
Liesl Hickey and Robert Blizzard are veteran Republican Party strategists who have been conducting a focus group with suburban swing voters across the U.S. since late May. "This doom and gloom that we were going to get slaughtered in the suburbs obviously did not materialize, and this research suggests why," Blizzard said.
Hickey said that while Trump fatigue was real for suburban voters, that fatigue did not drag down House Republicans on the ballot who focused on issues and not the president. "A center-right agenda, that's what suburban voters are looking for, and when we're on offense on policy, that's when we win."
And it's why House Republicans are celebrating 2020, even though they technically lost. This election didn't send the party off searching into the political wilderness but, rather, provided what many see as a shorter path back to the majority. "Going into 2022, we have a great opportunity to create a choice between Republican policies and Democrat policies, and that will be a very clear choice as we go into the new year," Hickey said.
President-elect Joe Biden won a historic victory, but he had no coattails for his party and now he faces an emboldened House Republican minority.


npr--2020-11-17--'We Are Shipping To The U.S.': Inside China's Online Synthetic Drug Networks

'We Are Shipping To The U.S. ' : Inside China 's Online Synthetic Drug Networks He is a slight , bespectacled man .
Colleagues at the industrial materials company where he works describe him as a humorous but diligent employee , known for driving his white Jeep around town in northwestern China 's Ningxia region to meet potential clients .
Unbeknownst to them , he goes by Benjamin Chen online , where he has a whole other business : He is a popular seller of the chemicals used to make the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl .
NPR has identified him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because of the illegal activity in which he 's involved .
Chen is one of more than 100 vendors who market fentanyl or related chemicals out of facilities across China , and his story illustrates how networks are getting around international efforts to crack down on the supply chain of lethal synthetic opioids .
In an interview with NPR , however , Chen categorically denied that he manufactures or sells any illegal substances .
For years , China has been a primary source of fentanyl trafficked into the United States .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that 's made and sold illegally .
It led to more than 37,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2019 , part of a national opioid crisis that has worsened this year during the coronavirus pandemic , according to federal health authorities .
Under international pressure , China 's government banned the production and sale of fentanyl and many of its variants in May 2019 , resulting in a significant reduction in China 's illicit fentanyl trade .
But more than a year later , Chinese vendors have tapped into online networks to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chemicals used to make fentanyl , and ship them directly to customers in the U.S. and Europe as well as to Mexican cartels , according to an NPR investigation and research from the Center for Advanced Defense Studies , or C4ADS , a nonprofit data analysis group .
( The center receives some of its funds from the U.S. and U.K .
governments . )
Some of the substances are outlawed in China and internationally .
Others are so new they are not yet banned , are harder to detect and regulate , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chemical processes to produce illegal drugs .
Chinese vendors are often camouflaged by a complex network of corporate entities registered in far-flung cities along China 's interior , where they use sophisticated shipping methods to bypass screening measures and where law enforcement scrutiny is often laxer than in bigger cities such as Beijing or Shanghai .
Thousands of doses can be shipped together in small , hidden packages .
`` Many Chinese networks involved in the production and advertising of fentanyl quickly adapted to increased legal constraints by modifying their techniques to exploit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activities , '' said Michael Lohmuller , a C4ADS analyst and report co-author .
When China began banning fentanyl-related compounds , it was hailed as a major victory for U.S. narcotics authorities and diplomats , who had lobbied China for years to strictly regulate the substances more broadly as a class .
Previously , Chinese narcotics authorities criminalized only specific fentanyl offshoots .
Months after China 's class ban last year , as tensions escalated between the Trump administration and the government under China 's leader Xi Jinping , Chinese-made fentanyl compounds once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Xi said this would stop — it did n't , '' President Trump tweeted in August 2019 .
China 's government refutes this , saying its ban and crackdown on Internet advertising , sales and shipments have been effective .
`` Currently , there is basically no information related to the illegal sales of fentanyl-class chemicals on websites within Chinese borders or pharmaceutical and chemical platforms , '' China 's National Narcotics Control Commission said in a statement to NPR .
`` But due to the openness , anonymity , convenience , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country would have a difficult time completely eradicating illegal information . ''
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration notes that the detected amount of Chinese fentanyl shipments has dropped dramatically since the ban .
`` It was all coming through the mail , aircraft , not in large quantities because it was so pure the fentanyl that they were making over in China ... but once they classified entire analogs of fentanyl , it made a huge difference , '' said Matt Donahue , the DEA deputy chief of operations who oversees the agency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in fentanyl shipments from China , nimble Chinese vendors have developed new distribution strategies by producing and selling the precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl .
Some of these are banned in China .
Benjamin Chen is among the many vendors in the country who adopted these new strategies .
He and his colleagues built up a robust online synthetic drug operation over the last decade at Shanghai Huilitongda Biological Technology Co. Ltd. , which is registered as a pharmaceutical company , according to Chinese corporate records .
On Facebook , where he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had a reputation as a fast and reliable vendor , according to social media reviews left by nearly a dozen customers .
`` Benjamin Chen is the real deal , '' someone identified as a customer wrote in a Facebook post in December 2018 .
`` If he ca n't do it , nobody can . ''
Potential clients could inspect grainy snapshots of nondescript powders and pills on Facebook .
Occasionally , Chen replied directly to loyal customers , even paying for a Lyft ride to the hospital as compensation when one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's product .
Sometimes operating under the pseudonym `` King Sun '' or `` Sun King , '' he also advertised his chemical wares openly on LinkedIn , Twitter and Vimeo before and after the class ban last year .
Chen adapted to the ban by selling fentanyl precursors , or what he called `` hot products for research chemicals '' — compounds that are only a few chemical steps away from a fentanyl analog and that are not always criminalized .
Other substances on sale included a sometimes deadly synthetic opioid also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ synthetic cannabinoids .
C4ADS found at least 31 vendors on Alibaba , the Chinese wholesale e-commerce platform , selling four fentanyl precursors under shortened chemical serial numbers in September 2019 , more than three months after the fentanyl class ban went into effect .
Alibaba has since taken down nearly all listings for those four precursors .
Since April , however , C4ADS has identified 32 vendors on Alibaba advertising two other precursors that can be used to make fentanyl but are not banned in either the U.S. or China .
In a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it `` prohibits the listing by third-party sellers of any controlled substances '' and that the company cooperates with law enforcement when needed .
While stricter regulation has not wiped out the fentanyl-related industry in China , it has made it more difficult for illicit vendors to operate .
A salesperson for Hebei Aicrowe Biotech Co. Ltd. , a pharmaceuticals maker registered in Shijiazhuang , the capital of Hebei province , said the company had drastically reduced the number of synthetic opioids and other compounds it offered because of the heightened legal scrutiny @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the company in November 2019 , the salesperson confirmed it still sold `` 99918 , '' which is code for a popular fentanyl precursor , according to C4ADS analysts , and was banned in China in 2018 .
`` The customer has the responsibility to guarantee the compound is legal where the receiving address is , '' the salesperson said .
Most of the chemicals salespeople NPR spoke to for this story did not give their names .
Their work could lead to harsh punishment in China , where drug trafficking is punishable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continue apace in obscure Chinese cities .
One laboratory in Hebei province was tucked inside a sprawling industrial warehouse complex .
Inside , narcotics investigators found a prolific fentanyl production operation — all contained within two small rooms with `` product drying on tape in sheet cake pans , '' said a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official posted in China .
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly to a reporter about his work on the case .
In November 2018 , Chinese police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. — seized more than 26 pounds of fentanyl and 42 pounds of other drugs from the lab and eventually sentenced nine people from the city of Xingtai in Hebei a year later in a major Chinese-U.S. joint drug takedown .
The Xingtai government declined to be interviewed .
The successful bust won international praise but also drew attention to how easily synthetic opioids can be manufactured in small , clandestine spaces with rudimentary equipment .
`` With globalization and supply chain management run by Web-savvy criminals , you do n't have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' said the ICE official , who participated in the joint investigation .
`` You just have to be able to run a business and take advantage of modern technology . ''
Synthetic opioid vendors favor working out of China 's industrial hinterlands , where policing can be less strict .
Of the 92 fentanyl and fentanyl-analog selling entities C4ADS was able to identify with location details , 41 % listed their corporate address in Shijiazhuang .
The provincial capital , in northeastern China , is known for its once-thriving coal , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has a vast pharmaceuticals and bulk chemical manufacturing sector , making compounds sold globally intended for legitimate purposes in medicine and industrial processes .
Synthetic opioid vendors shield themselves behind layers of interlinked companies registered in these sectors or related fields such as biotechnology .
The drug vendors NPR visited worked out of offices tucked away in shopping malls , residential towers and industrial complexes .
`` You can do this sort of business from anywhere , '' said a salesperson at Crovell Biotech Co. Ltd. , a fentanyl-analog vendor in Shijiazhuang .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ said they market and export their drugs in-house from Shijiazhuang , but the riskiest part — manufacturing the synthetic compounds themselves — was done by Crovell employees `` not near here . ''
Chen chose to operate from a base in Ningxia , where he worked at a company selling materials used in steelmaking .
Corporate records seen by C4ADS and NPR show Chen also registered a string of export and pharmaceutical companies linked to his opioid-selling operation in Ningxia .
In September 2019 , NPR managed to meet Chen at the industrial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wore sneakers and a black zip-up hoodie .
When asked about his online accounts , Chen ushered the reporter into a private conference room and quickly closed the door .
His eyes darted around nervously , and he cleared his throat repeatedly When confronted about his illicit business , Chen told NPR he did not sell fentanyl or precursors and denied he was the person behind the moniker `` King Sun . ''
`` I have never done anything illegal , and my work is all within legal bounds , '' Chen said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ small-time sellers in China transnational reach to market and ship their potent products .
Vendors continue to operate openly on platforms , including Facebook , Twitter , Wickr , MeWe and Vimeo , advertising a head-spinning array of chemicals tagged with an obscure but internationally used numerical naming system .
`` Sellers and buyers know the obscure acronyms , code names , chemical registration numbers and the like , and are able to change on a dime when one trusted member of a group is raided or arrested , '' said Logan Pauley @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the report .
Facebook said in a statement to NPR that its online standards explicitly say `` buying , selling or trading non-medical or pharmaceutical drugs is not allowed on Facebook .
Any time we become aware of content on Facebook that is facilitating activity like drug sales , we remove it and have taken numerous measures to minimize the opportunity for these activities to take place on our platform . ''
( Facebook is a financial supporter of NPR . )
Twitter said it does not allow its platform to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its advertisement policy prohibits the promotion of drugs and paraphernalia .
The video platform Vimeo said it `` bans users from uploading or sharing content on Vimeo that violates any applicable law , '' including fentanyl and fentanyl-related compounds .
The social media company MeWe said that `` any group , page , or member reported on MeWe that is found to be selling any sort of illegal drug is swiftly removed by MeWe 's Trust and Safety Team and may be reported to the authorities . ''
Wickr did not respond to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ acknowledged struggling to curb this online fentanyl marketplace , in part because many of the transactions are encrypted .
`` We know it 's happening .
We still can not get cooperation from major Internet companies , service providers , to be able to get into those devices that we know [ drug cartels ] are utilizing , '' the DEA 's Donahue said .
He pointed to the Chinese social media platform WeChat as particularly problematic .
WeChat 's parent company , Tencent , did not respond to NPR 's request for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like we do , '' Donahue said .
`` The Chinese have great intelligence .
They know we ca n't get into this stuff .
That 's why they utilize those methods of communication to be able to ship drugs .
They know law enforcement does n't have the means or the know-how or the resources to infiltrate . ''
In August 2019 , more than three months after China 's class ban , the U.S. government issued an advisory warning federal agencies of continued shipments of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and private express mail services .
The Treasury Department has also used bank data to identify fentanyl vendors .
In 2019 , the department sanctioned three Chinese nationals accused of trafficking the synthetic opioids .
However , vendors still manage to send the packages within aluminum alloy bags through international mail carriers complete with tracking numbers , so customers can monitor the itinerary from halfway around the world .
`` Our company [ is a legal business ] in China .
We offer [ discreet ] and reliable packaging and delivery .
Fast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ using courier service , DHL , EMS , TNT , FedEx , UPS , '' Gaosheng Biotechnology Co. Ltd. coached its sales associates to say on more than 100 social media and advertising sites , according to a company document seen by NPR .
The company has advertised an array of drugs , including a popular fentanyl analog called furanyl fentanyl , according to C4ADS .
Data from 2017 and 2018 show the volume and absolute number of U.S. seizures of fentanyl-related compounds shipped by mail dropping drastically after U.S. Customs and Border @ @ @ @ @ @ @ international packages .
But vendors in China said they have managed to work around the extra hurdles .
`` We ship a special way , can ensure you can receive the goods .
We have the product in stock , '' a salesperson for Hebei Speedgain Biotechnology Co. Ltd. said via WhatsApp in May .
The company describes itself as a maker of drug and pesticide intermediates .
The salesperson said the company also sold a banned fentanyl precursor , at $ 1,100 a kilogram .
A salesperson at a different company , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said in May that it was still selling two fentanyl precursors and a range of synthetic cannabinoids to customers in the United States .
`` We are shipping to the U.S. and have success with deliveries to your country and others , '' the salesperson said .
One possible way around the screening is for vendors to ship large volumes of illicit synthetic opioids disguised within lawful bulk cargo to the U.S. , where a distributor can then fulfill individual American orders domestically .
In 2017 , the DEA arrested a Chinese national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warehouse of synthetic opioids and other drugs obtained from China .
`` It could be that the mail shipments are down in part because what has happened is that the vendors have moved to shipping it through cargo to the United States .
... That data is not being collected because all the seizures that I see are only from [ U.S. ] ports of entry , '' said Bryce Pardo , who researches drug policy at Rand Corp. Drug supply chains are changing in other ways as traffickers engage in a cat-and-mouse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year , the coronavirus pandemic temporarily paralyzed the trade .
Many ingredients behind synthetic opioids are made in Wuhan , the city where the coronavirus was first discovered and which authorities completely locked down for more than two months .
`` The cutoffs were temporary , '' said Louise Shelley , a George Mason University professor who researches fentanyl supply chains and studied the impact of the pandemic on sales .
`` The problem has not ended .
[ Fentanyl sales ] are still going on the open Web . ''
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states have reported spikes in opioid-related deaths this year , according to the American Medical Association .
Fentanyl , which is up to 100 times stronger than morphine , is a leading cause of overdoses .
Mexican cartels have also begun distributing fentanyl products , using ingredients largely made in China .
`` Now the role of China — and the growing role of India — is sending precursor chemicals directly to cartels in Mexico to produce the fentanyl in clandestine labs , '' the DEA 's Donahue said .
`` You push @ @ @ @ @ @ @ else . ''
More Chinese vendors are moving to password-protected websites , where access is given only to trusted customers .
They are moving away from public social media accounts , for security reasons and because many companies , including Instagram and Reddit , have implemented rules that make it harder for illicit drug vendors to operate .
Chen 's Facebook accounts were shut down last year , but he has created a new account .
Analysts said an entire new class of synthetic opioids — a family of compounds called benzimidazoles — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ busts and leading to overdose deaths .
The drugs are completely different in chemical structure from fentanyl , but experts warn they can be just as deadly .
Initial seizures of the drugs come from mailed packages originating in China , where their production is not controlled .
`` It 's still a small amount , but it 's alarming because benzimidazoles could be the kind of new pathway illicit chemists have identified , a new chemical structure that 's not controlled yet and that 's harder to detect because it 's new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` At the end of the day , these chemists will figure out new things to get around these laws . ''
NPR Beijing bureau producer Amy Cheng contributed research from Beijing .
NPR addiction correspondent Brian Mann contributed reporting from New York .

'We Are Shipping To The U.S.': Inside China's Online Synthetic Drug Networks
Enlarge this image Kim Ryu for NPR Kim Ryu for NPR
He is a slight, bespectacled man. Colleagues at the industrial materials company where he works describe him as a humorous but diligent employee, known for driving his white Jeep around town in northwestern China's Ningxia region to meet potential clients.
Unbeknownst to them, he goes by Benjamin Chen online, where he has a whole other business: He is a popular seller of the chemicals used to make the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl. NPR has identified him but is not using his real name because of the illegal activity in which he's involved.
Chen is one of more than 100 vendors who market fentanyl or related chemicals out of facilities across China, and his story illustrates how networks are getting around international efforts to crack down on the supply chain of lethal synthetic opioids. In an interview with NPR, however, Chen categorically denied that he manufactures or sells any illegal substances.
For years, China has been a primary source of fentanyl trafficked into the United States. It is a powerful prescription drug for severe pain that's made and sold illegally. It led to more than 37,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2019, part of a national opioid crisis that has worsened this year during the coronavirus pandemic, according to federal health authorities.
Under international pressure, China's government banned the production and sale of fentanyl and many of its variants in May 2019, resulting in a significant reduction in the country's illicit fentanyl trade.
But more than a year later, Chinese vendors have tapped into online networks to brazenly market fentanyl analogs and the precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, and ship them directly to customers in the U.S. and Europe as well as to Mexican cartels, according to an NPR investigation and research from the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, or C4ADS, a nonprofit data analysis group. (The center receives some of its funds from the U.S. and U.K. governments.)
Some of the substances are outlawed in China and internationally. Others are so new they are not yet banned, are harder to detect and regulate, and they can be used in basic chemical processes to produce illegal drugs.
Chinese vendors are often camouflaged by a complex network of corporate entities registered in far-flung cities along China's interior, where they use sophisticated shipping methods to bypass screening measures and where law enforcement scrutiny is often laxer than in bigger cities such as Beijing or Shanghai. Thousands of doses can be shipped together in small, hidden packages.
"Many Chinese networks involved in the production and advertising of fentanyl quickly adapted to increased legal constraints by modifying their techniques to exploit loopholes in chemical restrictions and disguise their activities," said Michael Lohmuller, a C4ADS analyst and report co-author.
Hard to ban
When China began banning fentanyl-related compounds, it was hailed as a major victory for U.S. narcotics authorities and diplomats, who had lobbied China for years to strictly regulate the substances more broadly as a class. Previously, Chinese narcotics authorities criminalized only specific fentanyl offshoots.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Emily Feng/NPR Emily Feng/NPR
Months after China's class ban last year, as tensions escalated between the Trump administration and the government under China's leader Xi Jinping, Chinese-made fentanyl compounds once again became a divisive topic.
"President Xi said this would stop — it didn't," President Trump tweeted in August 2019.
China's government refutes this, saying its ban and crackdown on Internet advertising, sales and shipments have been effective.
"Currently, there is basically no information related to the illegal sales of fentanyl-class chemicals on websites within Chinese borders or pharmaceutical and chemical platforms," China's National Narcotics Control Commission said in a statement to NPR. "But due to the openness, anonymity, convenience, cross-border nature of the Internet, any country would have a difficult time completely eradicating illegal information."
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration notes that the detected amount of Chinese fentanyl shipments has dropped dramatically since the ban.
"It was all coming through the mail, aircraft, not in large quantities because it was so pure the fentanyl that they were making over in China ... but once they classified entire analogs of fentanyl, it made a huge difference," said Matt Donahue, the DEA deputy chief of operations who oversees the agency's work abroad.
Vendors create new distribution strategy
Despite the drop in fentanyl shipments from China, nimble Chinese vendors have developed new distribution strategies by producing and selling the precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl.
Benjamin Chen is among the many vendors in the country who adopted these new strategies. He and his colleagues built up a robust online synthetic drug operation over the last decade at Shanghai Huilitongda Biological Technology Co. Ltd., which is registered as a pharmaceutical company, according to Chinese corporate records.
On Facebook, where he did much of his advertising, Chen had a reputation as a fast and reliable vendor, according to social media reviews left by nearly a dozen customers. "Benjamin Chen is the real deal," someone identified as a customer wrote in a Facebook post in December 2018. "If he can't do it, nobody can."
Potential clients could inspect grainy snapshots of nondescript powders and pills on Facebook. Occasionally, Chen replied directly to loyal customers, even paying for a Lyft ride to the hospital as compensation when one customer complained he had overdosed on Chen's product.
Sometimes operating under the pseudonym "King Sun" or "Sun King," he also advertised his chemical wares openly on LinkedIn, Twitter and Vimeo before and after the class ban last year.
Chen adapted to the ban by selling fentanyl precursors, or what he called "hot products for research chemicals" — compounds that are only a few chemical steps away from a fentanyl analog and that are not always criminalized. Other substances on sale included a sometimes deadly synthetic opioid also known as "pink," and synthetic cannabinoids.
Enlarge this image Kim Ryu for NPR Kim Ryu for NPR
C4ADS found at least 31 vendors on Alibaba, the Chinese wholesale e-commerce platform, selling four fentanyl precursors under shortened chemical serial numbers in September 2019, more than three months after the fentanyl class ban went into effect. Alibaba has since taken down nearly all listings for those four precursors.
Since April, however, C4ADS has identified 32 vendors on Alibaba advertising two other precursors that can be used to make fentanyl but are not banned in either the U.S. or China.
In a statement to NPR, Alibaba said that it "prohibits the listing by third-party sellers of any controlled substances" and that the company cooperates with law enforcement when needed.
While stricter regulation has not wiped out the fentanyl-related industry in China, it has made it more difficult for illicit vendors to operate.
A salesperson for Hebei Aicrowe Biotech Co. Ltd., a pharmaceuticals maker registered in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province, said the company had drastically reduced the number of synthetic opioids and other compounds it offered because of the heightened legal scrutiny in China.
But when NPR visited the company in November 2019, the salesperson confirmed it still sold "99918," which is code for a popular fentanyl precursor, according to C4ADS analysts, and was banned in China in 2018.
"The customer has the responsibility to guarantee the compound is legal where the receiving address is," the salesperson said.
Most of the chemicals salespeople NPR spoke to for this story did not give their names. Their work could lead to harsh punishment in China, where drug trafficking is punishable by death.
Easy to make, easy to hide
Fentanyl production and exports continue apace in obscure Chinese cities. One laboratory in Hebei province was tucked inside a sprawling industrial warehouse complex.
Loading...
Inside, narcotics investigators found a prolific fentanyl production operation — all contained within two small rooms with "product drying on tape in sheet cake pans," said a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official posted in China. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly to a reporter about his work on the case.
In November 2018, Chinese police — acting on a tip from the U.S. — seized more than 26 pounds of fentanyl and 42 pounds of other drugs from the lab and eventually sentenced nine people from the city of Xingtai in Hebei a year later in a major Chinese-U.S. joint drug takedown. The Xingtai government declined to be interviewed.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jin Liangkuai/Xinhua via AP Jin Liangkuai/Xinhua via AP
The successful bust won international praise but also drew attention to how easily synthetic opioids can be manufactured in small, clandestine spaces with rudimentary equipment.
"With globalization and supply chain management run by Web-savvy criminals, you don't have to have this big, scary criminal network," said the ICE official, who participated in the joint investigation. "You just have to be able to run a business and take advantage of modern technology."
Synthetic opioid vendors favor working out of China's industrial hinterlands, where policing can be less strict. Of the 92 fentanyl and fentanyl-analog selling entities C4ADS was able to identify with location details, 41% listed their corporate address in Shijiazhuang. The provincial capital, in northeastern China, is known for its once-thriving coal, steel and other heavy industries.
China has a vast pharmaceuticals and bulk chemical manufacturing sector, making compounds sold globally intended for legitimate purposes in medicine and industrial processes. Synthetic opioid vendors shield themselves behind layers of interlinked companies registered in these sectors or related fields such as biotechnology. The drug vendors NPR visited worked out of offices tucked away in shopping malls, residential towers and industrial complexes.
"You can do this sort of business from anywhere," said a salesperson at Crovell Biotech Co. Ltd., a fentanyl-analog vendor in Shijiazhuang. To keep operations secure, Crovell employees said they market and export their drugs in-house from Shijiazhuang, but the riskiest part — manufacturing the synthetic compounds themselves — was done by Crovell employees "not near here."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Emily Feng/NPR Emily Feng/NPR
Chen chose to operate from a base in Ningxia, where he worked at a company selling materials used in steelmaking.
Corporate records seen by C4ADS and NPR show Chen also registered a string of export and pharmaceutical companies linked to his opioid-selling operation in Ningxia.
In September 2019, NPR managed to meet Chen at the industrial materials company where he works. He wore sneakers and a black zip-up hoodie. When asked about his online accounts, Chen ushered the reporter into a private conference room and quickly closed the door. His eyes darted around nervously, and he cleared his throat repeatedly
When confronted about his illicit business, Chen told NPR he did not sell fentanyl or precursors and denied he was the person behind the moniker "King Sun."
"I have never done anything illegal, and my work is all within legal bounds," Chen said.
Direct trade
Access to the Internet gives even small-time sellers in China transnational reach to market and ship their potent products.
Vendors continue to operate openly on platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Wickr, MeWe and Vimeo, advertising a head-spinning array of chemicals tagged with an obscure but internationally used numerical naming system.
"Sellers and buyers know the obscure acronyms, code names, chemical registration numbers and the like, and are able to change on a dime when one trusted member of a group is raided or arrested," said Logan Pauley, a former C4ADS analyst who worked on the report.
Facebook said in a statement to NPR that its online standards explicitly say "buying, selling or trading non-medical or pharmaceutical drugs is not allowed on Facebook. Any time we become aware of content on Facebook that is facilitating activity like drug sales, we remove it and have taken numerous measures to minimize the opportunity for these activities to take place on our platform." (Facebook is a financial supporter of NPR.)
Enlarge this image Kim Ryu for NPR Kim Ryu for NPR
Twitter said it does not allow its platform to be used to facilitate illegal transactions and that its advertisement policy prohibits the promotion of drugs and paraphernalia.
The video platform Vimeo said it "bans users from uploading or sharing content on Vimeo that violates any applicable law," including fentanyl and fentanyl-related compounds.
The social media company MeWe said that "any group, page, or member reported on MeWe that is found to be selling any sort of illegal drug is swiftly removed by MeWe's Trust and Safety Team and may be reported to the authorities."
Wickr did not respond to requests for comment.
U.S. law enforcement acknowledged struggling to curb this online fentanyl marketplace, in part because many of the transactions are encrypted. "We know it's happening. We still cannot get cooperation from major Internet companies, service providers, to be able to get into those devices that we know [drug cartels] are utilizing," the DEA's Donahue said.
He pointed to the Chinese social media platform WeChat as particularly problematic. WeChat's parent company, Tencent, did not respond to NPR's request for comment.
"Traffickers have intelligence just like we do," Donahue said. "The Chinese have great intelligence. They know we can't get into this stuff. That's why they utilize those methods of communication to be able to ship drugs. They know law enforcement doesn't have the means or the know-how or the resources to infiltrate."
Drugs by mail
In August 2019, more than three months after China's class ban, the U.S. government issued an advisory warning federal agencies of continued shipments of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, including via the U.S. Postal Service and private express mail services. The Treasury Department has also used bank data to identify fentanyl vendors. In 2019, the department sanctioned three Chinese nationals accused of trafficking the synthetic opioids.
However, vendors still manage to send the packages within aluminum alloy bags through international mail carriers complete with tracking numbers, so customers can monitor the itinerary from halfway around the world.
"Our company [is a legal business] in China. We offer [discreet] and reliable packaging and delivery. Fast and reliable shipping within 48 hours, using courier service, DHL, EMS, TNT, FedEx, UPS," Gaosheng Biotechnology Co. Ltd. coached its sales associates to say on more than 100 social media and advertising sites, according to a company document seen by NPR. The company has advertised an array of drugs, including a popular fentanyl analog called furanyl fentanyl, according to C4ADS.
Data from 2017 and 2018 show the volume and absolute number of U.S. seizures of fentanyl-related compounds shipped by mail dropping drastically after U.S. Customs and Border Protection stepped up its screening of incoming international packages.
But vendors in China said they have managed to work around the extra hurdles.
"We ship a special way, can ensure you can receive the goods. We have the product in stock," a salesperson for Hebei Speedgain Biotechnology Co. Ltd. said via WhatsApp in May. The company describes itself as a maker of drug and pesticide intermediates.
The salesperson said the company also sold a banned fentanyl precursor, at $1,100 a kilogram.
A salesperson at a different company, Shunwei Biological, based in Shijiazhuang, said in May that it was still selling two fentanyl precursors and a range of synthetic cannabinoids to customers in the United States. "We are shipping to the U.S. and have success with deliveries to your country and others," the salesperson said.
One possible way around the screening is for vendors to ship large volumes of illicit synthetic opioids disguised within lawful bulk cargo to the U.S., where a distributor can then fulfill individual American orders domestically. In 2017, the DEA arrested a Chinese national living in Massachusetts and operating such a warehouse of synthetic opioids and other drugs obtained from China.
"It could be that the mail shipments are down in part because what has happened is that the vendors have moved to shipping it through cargo to the United States. ... That data is not being collected because all the seizures that I see are only from [U.S.] ports of entry," said Bryce Pardo, who researches drug policy at Rand Corp.
Drug supply chains are changing in other ways as traffickers engage in a cat-and-mouse game to evade law enforcement.
This year, the coronavirus pandemic temporarily paralyzed the trade. Many ingredients behind synthetic opioids are made in Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus was first discovered and which authorities completely locked down for more than two months.
"The cutoffs were temporary," said Louise Shelley, a George Mason University professor who researches fentanyl supply chains and studied the impact of the pandemic on sales. "The problem has not ended. [Fentanyl sales] are still going on the open Web."
You push on a balloon, it pops somewhere else.
In the U.S., meanwhile, more than 40 states have reported spikes in opioid-related deaths this year, according to the American Medical Association. Fentanyl, which is up to 100 times stronger than morphine, is a leading cause of overdoses.
Mexican cartels have also begun distributing fentanyl products, using ingredients largely made in China. "Now the role of China — and the growing role of India — is sending precursor chemicals directly to cartels in Mexico to produce the fentanyl in clandestine labs," the DEA's Donahue said. "You push on a balloon, it pops somewhere else."
More Chinese vendors are moving to password-protected websites, where access is given only to trusted customers. They are moving away from public social media accounts, for security reasons and because many companies, including Instagram and Reddit, have implemented rules that make it harder for illicit drug vendors to operate. Chen's Facebook accounts were shut down last year, but he has created a new account.
Analysts said an entire new class of synthetic opioids — a family of compounds called benzimidazoles — is now showing up in U.S. drug busts and leading to overdose deaths. The drugs are completely different in chemical structure from fentanyl, but experts warn they can be just as deadly. Initial seizures of the drugs come from mailed packages originating in China, where their production is not controlled.
"It's still a small amount, but it's alarming because benzimidazoles could be the kind of new pathway illicit chemists have identified, a new chemical structure that's not controlled yet and that's harder to detect because it's new," said Pardo of Rand Corp. "At the end of the day, these chemists will figure out new things to get around these laws."
NPR Beijing bureau producer Amy Cheng contributed research from Beijing. NPR addiction correspondent Brian Mann contributed reporting from New York.


npr--2020-11-17--Why Does Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine Need To Be Kept Colder Than Antarctica?

Why Does Pfizer 's COVID-19 Vaccine Need To Be Kept Colder Than Antarctica ?
Two drugmakers , Pfizer and Moderna , have announced promising interim results for their vaccine candidates , raising hopes in the U.S. and abroad that the end of the pandemic may be in sight .
But , if and when the vaccines are authorized by the Food and Drug Administration , distributing them presents a daunting challenge .
One big reason ?
One of the front-runners in the vaccine race — the one made by Pfizer — needs to be kept extremely cold : minus 70 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ winter in Antarctica .
Moderna has said that its vaccine needs to be frozen too , but only at minus 20 Celsius , more like a regular freezer .
Since there will be limited vaccine doses at first , immunization managers across the country will need to have plans to distribute any and all vaccine doses that are available .
For months , they 've been puzzling over the particular challenges presented by the Pfizer vaccine , which requires these ultra-cold conditions .
`` I believe it can be done , '' says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccine innovation and supply chains at PATH , an international nonprofit focused on public health .
`` Ebola vaccine , for example , was successfully used in a few African countries and also required this ultra-cold chain storage . ''
Distributing vaccines in these conditions `` is possible , but it 's definitely going to be much more expensive and more difficult , '' she says .
Pfizer has tried to calm concerns about the challenges presented by these cold temperatures .
It has designed its own packaging to keep doses super cold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can be stored for a few weeks without specialized freezers ( the packaging has been informally nicknamed `` the pizza box '' ) .
Moderna 's vaccine , Kristensen explains , `` can be distributed in more of a standard fashion — health workers are used to it , facilities are used to it — it 's more normal . ''
Here 's some background on why these vaccines need to be kept so cold — and how they differ .
Why the deep freeze ?
Think about M & Ms To understand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it helps to understand a bit about how they work .
Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine candidates use a new approach to unlock the body 's immune defenses .
The approach uses messenger RNA , or mRNA , to turn a patient 's cells into factories that make one particular coronavirus protein .
That protein kicks off an immune response as if there was a real coronavirus infection ( to be clear , since it 's only one virus protein , there 's no way the vaccine could actually infect someone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Then , if someone who was immunized gets exposed to the coronavirus later on , their body 's immune system will be able to fight it off more easily and they 're more likely to avoid serious illness .
It 's a vaccine technology that 's so new , no mRNA vaccines have ever been approved by the Food and Drug Administration .
Vaccines made from mRNA can be made much faster than older vaccines could , explains Margaret Liu , a vaccine researcher who chairs the board of the International Society @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The problem , says Liu , is that mRNA is `` really easily destroyed , and that 's because there are many , many enzymes that will just break it apart . ''
Here 's an analogy : Think of the vaccine as a chocolate bar that melts easily .
Just as there are ways to keep the chocolate from melting into goo , there are things the drugmakers did to protect their COVID-19 vaccines .
The first step , Liu says , was to modify the mRNA nucleosides — the `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` They 've used modified versions because those are more stable , '' she says .
This would be like changing the chocolate recipe so it 's not quite so melty .
The next step was to use lipid nanoparticles , which , Liu explains , `` is kind of like putting your chocolate inside a candy coating — you have an M & M , so the chocolate does n't melt . ''
But even with the stabilized building blocks and lipid coating , the mRNA could still fall apart easily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frozen .
`` Everything happens more slowly as you lower the temperature , '' Liu says .
`` So your chemical reactions — the enzymes that break down RNA — are going to happen more slowly . ''
It 's the same idea as freezing food to keep it from spoiling .
Because the specific formulations are secret , Liu says , it 's not clear exactly why these two mRNA vaccines have different temperature requirements .
`` It just comes down to what their data is , '' she says of Moderna @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shows that it 's more stable at a certain temperature , that 's it . ''
`` Stress testing '' to tease out these temperatures It 's possible that Pfizer 's vaccine could eventually be shown to be stable in somewhat warmer conditions — or for longer times out of the freezer .
To figure out a vaccine 's temperature requirements , drugmakers do extensive , time-consuming thermostability studies .
That research involves keeping the vaccine `` at other temperatures to see how much you can stress the system , '' explains Liu @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ultra-cold temperatures , then try regular freezer temperature , then refrigerator temperature , and finally room temperature .
You might also put the vaccine at fluctuating temperatures `` to sort of mimic what would happen if [ a vaccine shipment ] got left on a loading dock and something went wrong , '' Liu says .
Then drugmakers have to analyze the vaccine samples that have been put through all that and do tests ( usually in mice ) to see if the vaccine still works the way it 's supposed to .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ time .
`` If a vaccine has a two-year shelf life at refrigerator temperatures , then the manufacturer actually needs to put the vaccine at that refrigerated temperature for two years and see if at the end the product is still effective , '' Kristensen explains .
`` Given the urgent need for these COVID-19 vaccines , manufacturers will likely begin releasing them with shorter shelf lives and then they 'll expand the shelf life durations as they gather more data . ''
Pfizer spokesperson Jerica Pitts told NPR `` there are ongoing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did not answer whether any imminent changes to the temperature requirements might be coming as a result of those studies .
`` I doubt that [ Pfizer ] will be able to move away from the ultra-cold conditions during initial transport and storage , '' says Kristensen .
`` But if they can prove that the vaccine can be kept at refrigerated temperatures for some time after being removed from frozen storage , that helps facilitate distribution and administration out to more remote areas and to specific groups of people . ''
Right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius and can last in a specialty freezer for up to six months .
The specialty shippers can hold up to five `` pizza box '' trays of vials and be refreshed with dry ice every five days for up to 15 days to keep the vaccine at the right frozen temperature .
Even that presents challenges , though — a Pfizer scientist told a CDC advisory council in August that it 's not supposed to be opened more than twice a day and needs to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Once it 's thawed , the vaccine can be refrigerated for five days .
Moderna says its vaccine candidate is stable at regular freezer temperature — minus 20 degrees Celsius — for up to six months , and after thawing it can last in the refrigerator for 30 days .
It can also be kept at room temperature for up to 12 hours .
This , explains Kristensen , is useful for health care workers in the field , `` because now the vaccine does n't need to go in and out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administered . ''
Given the demand , if both Pfizer and Moderna 's vaccines are authorized around the same time , states will figure out how to use both in different settings .
Christine Finley , the immunization manager in Vermont finalizing that state 's distribution plan , says it makes sense to think about distributing Pfizer 's vaccine to larger population centers , not just because of its temperature , but because the smallest amount you can order is 975 doses ( usually it 's more like 100 doses or fewer ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a large university where you 're going to be able to reach a larger number of people , that would make sense that you might consider distributing your ultra-cold there , '' she says .
The Moderna will work better , she says , `` in areas where it might be more difficult to use up such a large order or they may not have the [ cold ] storage . ''
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , the federal agency in charge of vaccine distribution and decisions about which groups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to discourage health departments and hospitals from going out and buying expensive freezers to accommodate the Pfizer vaccine .
But according to a recent report in Stat , wealthier hospitals are buying up specialized freezers , raising concerns that hospitals with fewer resources or in rural areas will be left behind .
Moderna 's announcement may temper those fears , although since Pfizer 's vaccine doses will be urgently needed as well , it does n't mean that ultra-cold storage is no longer an issue .
`` I think the best news is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are effective because that means we can reach more people , '' says Finley .
`` We still need to show that they 're safe and they 're effective and we need to build trust with the public — so there 's still a ways to go , but this is good news . ''
Despite the excitement and hopes riding on Pfizer and Moderna potentially having the first authorized COVID-19 vaccines , `` this really is n't a race , '' says Liu .
`` Just by sheer numbers , we probably @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And in the end , she says , `` it may be that the second one or the 50th one is actually a better vaccine . ''

Why Does Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine Need To Be Kept Colder Than Antarctica?
Enlarge this image toggle caption Leon Neal/Getty Images Leon Neal/Getty Images
Updated 11:55 a.m. ET
Two drugmakers, Pfizer and Moderna, have announced promising interim results for their vaccine candidates, raising hopes in the U.S. and abroad that the end of the pandemic may be in sight. But, if and when the vaccines are authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, distributing them presents a daunting challenge.
One big reason? One of the front-runners in the vaccine race — the one made by Pfizer — needs to be kept extremely cold: minus 70 degrees Celsius, which is colder than winter in Antarctica. Moderna has said that its vaccine needs to be frozen too, but only at minus 20 Celsius, more like a regular freezer.
Since there will be limited vaccine doses at first, immunization managers across the country will need to have plans to distribute any and all vaccine doses that are available. For months, they've been puzzling over the particular challenges presented by the Pfizer vaccine, which requires these ultra-cold conditions.
"I believe it can be done," says Debra Kristensen, a 30-year veteran of vaccine innovation and supply chains at PATH, an international nonprofit focused on public health. "Ebola vaccine, for example, was successfully used in a few African countries and also required this ultra-cold chain storage."
Distributing vaccines in these conditions "is possible, but it's definitely going to be much more expensive and more difficult," she says. Pfizer has tried to calm concerns about the challenges presented by these cold temperatures. It has designed its own packaging to keep doses super cold with dry ice, so that they can be stored for a few weeks without specialized freezers (the packaging has been informally nicknamed "the pizza box").
Moderna's vaccine, Kristensen explains, "can be distributed in more of a standard fashion — health workers are used to it, facilities are used to it — it's more normal."
Here's some background on why these vaccines need to be kept so cold — and how they differ.
Why the deep freeze? Think about M&Ms
To understand why these vaccines need to be frozen, it helps to understand a bit about how they work.
Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine candidates use a new approach to unlock the body's immune defenses. The approach uses messenger RNA, or mRNA, to turn a patient's cells into factories that make one particular coronavirus protein.
That protein kicks off an immune response as if there was a real coronavirus infection (to be clear, since it's only one virus protein, there's no way the vaccine could actually infect someone or make them sick with COVID-19). Then, if someone who was immunized gets exposed to the coronavirus later on, their body's immune system will be able to fight it off more easily and they're more likely to avoid serious illness.
It's a vaccine technology that's so new, no mRNA vaccines have ever been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Vaccines made from mRNA can be made much faster than older vaccines could, explains Margaret Liu, a vaccine researcher who chairs the board of the International Society for Vaccines and specializes in genetic vaccines. The problem, says Liu, is that mRNA is "really easily destroyed, and that's because there are many, many enzymes that will just break it apart."
Here's an analogy: Think of the vaccine as a chocolate bar that melts easily. Just as there are ways to keep the chocolate from melting into goo, there are things the drugmakers did to protect their COVID-19 vaccines.
The first step, Liu says, was to modify the mRNA nucleosides — the "building blocks" of the RNA vaccine. "They've used modified versions because those are more stable," she says. This would be like changing the chocolate recipe so it's not quite so melty.
The next step was to use lipid nanoparticles, which, Liu explains, "is kind of like putting your chocolate inside a candy coating — you have an M&M, so the chocolate doesn't melt."
But even with the stabilized building blocks and lipid coating, the mRNA could still fall apart easily, which is why the vaccine is frozen.
"Everything happens more slowly as you lower the temperature," Liu says. "So your chemical reactions — the enzymes that break down RNA — are going to happen more slowly." It's the same idea as freezing food to keep it from spoiling.
Because the specific formulations are secret, Liu says, it's not clear exactly why these two mRNA vaccines have different temperature requirements.
"It just comes down to what their data is," she says of Moderna's vaccine. "If their data shows that it's more stable at a certain temperature, that's it."
Moderna spokesperson Colleen Hussey explained to NPR in an email that its vaccine doesn't need to be kept so cold because of its particular "lipid nanoparticle properties and structure," and because the company has learned from experience — it's developed ten mRNA vaccine candidates already. "Now we don't need [ultra-cold conditions] as the quality of product has improved and [it] doesn't need to be highly frozen to avoid mRNA degradation," Hussey explained.
"Stress testing" to tease out these temperatures
It's possible that Pfizer's vaccine could eventually be shown to be stable in somewhat warmer conditions — or for longer times out of the freezer.
To figure out a vaccine's temperature requirements, drugmakers do extensive, time-consuming thermostability studies.
That research involves keeping the vaccine "at other temperatures to see how much you can stress the system," explains Liu. She says you would start at ultra-cold temperatures, then try regular freezer temperature, then refrigerator temperature, and finally room temperature.
You might also put the vaccine at fluctuating temperatures "to sort of mimic what would happen if [a vaccine shipment] got left on a loading dock and something went wrong," Liu says.
Then drugmakers have to analyze the vaccine samples that have been put through all that and do tests (usually in mice) to see if the vaccine still works the way it's supposed to.
All of this is measured in real time. "If a vaccine has a two-year shelf life at refrigerator temperatures, then the manufacturer actually needs to put the vaccine at that refrigerated temperature for two years and see if at the end the product is still effective," Kristensen explains. "Given the urgent need for these COVID-19 vaccines, manufacturers will likely begin releasing them with shorter shelf lives and then they'll expand the shelf life durations as they gather more data."
Pfizer spokesperson Jerica Pitts told NPR "there are ongoing studies on this front," but did not answer whether any imminent changes to the temperature requirements might be coming as a result of those studies.
"I doubt that [Pfizer] will be able to move away from the ultra-cold conditions during initial transport and storage," says Kristensen. "But if they can prove that the vaccine can be kept at refrigerated temperatures for some time after being removed from frozen storage, that helps facilitate distribution and administration out to more remote areas and to specific groups of people."
Temperature requirements call for different distribution plans
Right now, Pfizer says its vaccine needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius and can last in a specialty freezer for up to six months. The specialty shippers can hold up to five "pizza box" trays of vials and be refreshed with dry ice every five days for up to 15 days to keep the vaccine at the right frozen temperature.
Even that presents challenges, though — a Pfizer scientist told a CDC advisory council in August that it's not supposed to be opened more than twice a day and needs to be closed within one minute of opening. Once it's thawed, the vaccine can be refrigerated for five days.
Moderna says its vaccine candidate is stable at regular freezer temperature — minus 20 degrees Celsius — for up to six months, and after thawing it can last in the refrigerator for 30 days. It can also be kept at room temperature for up to 12 hours. This, explains Kristensen, is useful for health care workers in the field, "because now the vaccine doesn't need to go in and out of the refrigerator each time it's administered."
Given the demand, if both Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines are authorized around the same time, states will figure out how to use both in different settings.
Christine Finley, the immunization manager in Vermont finalizing that state's distribution plan, says it makes sense to think about distributing Pfizer's vaccine to larger population centers, not just because of its temperature, but because the smallest amount you can order is 975 doses (usually it's more like 100 doses or fewer).
"[If] you have a large university where you're going to be able to reach a larger number of people, that would make sense that you might consider distributing your ultra-cold there," she says. The Moderna vaccine will work better, she says, "in areas where it might be more difficult to use up such a large order or they may not have the [cold] storage."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal agency in charge of vaccine distribution and decisions about which groups receive the first shots, has tried to discourage health departments and hospitals from going out and buying expensive freezers to accommodate the Pfizer vaccine. But according to a recent report in Stat, wealthier hospitals are buying up specialized freezers, raising concerns that hospitals with fewer resources or in rural areas will be left behind.
Moderna's announcement may temper those fears, although since Pfizer's vaccine doses will be urgently needed as well, it doesn't mean that ultra-cold storage is no longer an issue.
"I think the best news is that there may be two vaccines that are effective because that means we can reach more people," says Finley. "We still need to show that they're safe and they're effective and we need to build trust with the public — so there's still a ways to go, but this is good news."
Despite the excitement and hopes riding on Pfizer and Moderna potentially having the first authorized COVID-19 vaccines, "this really isn't a race," says Liu. "Just by sheer numbers, we probably need multiple, multiple vaccines."
And in the end, she says, "it may be that the second one or the 50th one is actually a better vaccine."