A Look Into Some of the Happiest Events in the World

By: Allyssa Lessinger

Number of Vaccine Administerings Soaring!

Last week, the United States of America successfully administered over 200 million COVID-19 vaccines, officially reaching President Biden’s goal of 200 million vaccines in his first 100 days. Vaccine supplies have continued to increase, with even a surplus of vaccines in some areas of the US! Because of this, focuses on the vaccine have now shifted towards achieving vaccinations for people of all ages, instead of just the ones most at risk. The USA is now in talks of sending surplus vaccines to other countries, in order to help those countries with more need for vaccines.

California Moving Towards Ethnic Studies

About a month ago, the California State Board of Education approved a nearly 900 page ethnic studies model curriculum for K-12 students to use. Although it has been highly contentious, this action shows that even if the model curriculum is not as extensive as many people were hoping for, it is still a large step in showing California educators that ethnic studies a large priority. Many believe that the approval of the model curriculum will be followed by the suggestion to look at making ethnic studies a high school graduation requirement in California. With the latest events of increased violence against Asian Americans, it becomes even more imperative to teach students about ethnic groups that may be different than them. This statewide model curriculum is the first of its kind throughout the whole country and shows that a step forward is being made towards an ethnic studies requirement.

COVID-19 Tax Credit for Small Businesses

Last week, President Biden announced a new tax credit for reimbursing small businesses that gave workers paid time off to get the COVID-19 vaccine. This tax credit would be funded by the new coronavirus relief bill and will be given to small businesses who employ less than 500 employees. The credit would allow for up to $511 per day for each employee. This paid time off effort is aimed at addressing concerns about obstacles to getting the vaccine, as President Biden said, “No working American should lose a single dollar from their paycheck because they chose to fulfill their patriotic duty of getting vaccinated.”