Good morning. I'm James Holman from the Washington Post and this is the Daily

202 for Thursday, December 17th. In today's news, congressional leaders add stimulus checks to a draft relief bill as they near a deal.

Baseball is finally addressing its racist past in a long overdue way. And after that blast in Beirut

destroyed at church, volunteers race to rebuild it by Christmas Eve.

But first, the big idea.

The FDA says that pharmacists can draw additional doses from vials of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine,

potentially expanding the country supplied by millions of doses.

Pharmists begin to notice that vials contain more than the expected five doses. The supply of remaining vaccine could end up

being up to 40 percent greater, though the drug maker cautions it's uncertain how many

extra doses exactly are available. The FDA and Pfizer also cautioned that any leftover vaccine

from different vials that smaller than a full dose shouldn't be mixed together,

which experts say risks cross-contamination. A spokesman for Pfizer says the amount of vaccine remaining in vials after the removal of five doses varies depending on the type of needles and syringes used.

Joe Biden's team says the president-elect will get the vaccine. As soon as next week,

Vice President Pence will receive the Pfizer vaccine tomorrow morning live on camera.

So will his wife Karen and Surgeon General Jerome Adams.

Meanwhile, federal health officials said yesterday that they're in talks with Pfizer to purchase

tens of millions of additional doses this spring, after the drug company said the US probably would have to wait

until summer. Federal officials have insisted they have enough doses with the

other vaccines likely to receive emergency authorization, including the Moderna

vaccine, which is in line to get approved later this week.

Trump administration officials yesterday also defended their decision this summer to decline to purchase

the additional Pfizer vaccine doses when they had the chance. In Alaska, a health care worker had a severe allergic

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