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New research from a team of scientists at four leading universities has shed new light on the effectiveness of social advertising in specific product categories to learn which product categories tend to benefit more from social advertising, and which may not. “Social advertising is the placement of social cues or endorsements in ads shown to friends of those who have engaged with a brand or product,” said Huang. “Some examples include Facebook’s social advertising that places the images and names of Facebook friends who have liked a brand in their ads. 

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee was meeting Thursday to discuss whether the agency should grant emergency use authorization for Pfizer Inc.'s coronavirus vaccine candidate. Later this month, members will meet on a vaccine from Moderna. In short, a vaccine is likely to be on its way to specific members of the public very soon.

The nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine stands on the verge of approval, yet the complex distribution of the product — and the risk along the way — is keeping some logistics and public health professionals up at night. The stakes could not be higher. This vaccine represents what one freight industry executive has termed “the biggest product launch in history.” Within 24 hours of emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, the vaccine maker Pfizer plans to move the product to patients nationwide.

Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is all but assured to become the first in the U.S. to win an emergency use authorization after an FDA panel voted to recommend the vaccine for widespread use. The company’s vaccine needs to be stored at ultra-low temperatures, which will require special freezers and shipping methods in order to ensure the vaccine remains potent.

More than 68 million infected with the novel coronavirus and more than 1.5 million dead. 2020 has been a year defined by global sickness and loss. In the face of this extraordinary threat, it’s easy to forget how much we have accomplished. Doctors, nurses and staff in hospitals around the world have learned how to better care for those sick with COVID-19. Researchers have uncovered secrets of a virus that, not so long ago, was wholly unknown.