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

Daily 202 for Tuesday, December 15th. In today's news, the Electoral College makes Joe Biden's victory official.

Bill Barr is stepping down as Attorney General, and a group of senators agrees to an important

compromise that increases the odds a stimulus bill can pass before Christmas.

But first, the big idea.

With a jab to a nurse's left deltoid on Monday, we entered a new phase in our war against the coronavirus.

The injection to Sandra Lindsay's arm at Long Island Jewish Medical

Center makes her the first American to receive the vaccine outside a clinical

trial. The small dose of MRNA represents a giant leap in efforts to beat back the virus.

A moonshot worth of hope amid a pandemic that is infected more than 16 million and killed more than 300,000 of our fellow Americans.

Sandra dreamed her whole life since she was a six-year-old in her home country of Jamaica

of finding a way to help others. Now 52, she oversees five units

of critical care nurses who have been helping COVID patients since the worst weeks in New York

this spring.

Her staff worked 16 hour days, even when at the end of their shift,

pain and hurt were visible in their eyes.

Reflecting back, Sandra admitted during an interview with my colleagues Ben Guarino and William Wan that she's been

scared the past nine months. She said she's had to remain numb sometimes just so that she can

push forward to make it through the day.

Vaccines rolled out across the country Monday with doctors and nurses at hospitals

just like Sandra nationwide injecting one another as part of a federal plan to prioritize frontline workers.

Some said they dedicated the experience to patients they lost or to family members.

...