Joe Biden wants Americans to wear a mask for the first 100 days of his administration. "The first day I'm inaugurated [I'm going] to say I'm going to ask the public for 100 days to mask. Just 100 days to mask, not forever. One hundred days. And I think we'll see a significant reduction if we occur that, if that occurs with vaccinations and masking to drive down the numbers considerably" Biden said, adding that he'll take a vaccine after Dr. Anthony Fauci declares it safe and that he's asked Fauci to stay on as his chief medical adviser. (CNN) Separately, Fauci rescinded criticism he made of the UK's vaccine approval process, which authorized a vaccine Wednesday. Fauci had said UK officials did not review the vaccine "as carefully" as US regulators. But on Thursday, he pulled that back; "I have a great deal of confidence in what the UK does both scientifically and from a regulator standpoint." (BBC) UK education secretary Gavin Williamson had a different take; "I just reckon we've got the very best people in this country and we've obviously got the best medical regulator[s], much better than the French have, much better than the Belgians have, much better than the Americans have," he said in a radio interview Thursday, adding that "[it] doesn't surprise me at all because we're a much better country than every single one of them." (LBC)
Yesterday's virtual PRWeek Hall of Fame gala was one of the best ever, with CEOs, celebrities and even a past president on hand to help us recognize the six communications professionals inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. Also, as part of the event, PRWeek VP and editorial director Steve Barrett spoke with four of the honorees as well as four of the prior year's Hall of Fame alum about their careers, lessons learned, and predictions for the future.
A PR holding company has purchased a European soccer team. North Sixth Group is the holding company recently formed by the founder of North 6th Agency Matt Rizzetta. The agency is its first asset but the second is SS Campobasso ("Campobasso") a team located in the Molise region of Italy. North Sixth Group announced it acquired an ownership stake in the club Friday.
LGBTQ organizations are helping the media cover actor Elliot Page's transgender announcement. On Instagram Tuesday the star of "The Umbrella Academy," and Oscar-nominated actor posted about the transgender and non-binary journey and then advocacy groups offered advice on using the correct terminology and how to avoid hurtful language.
The Christmas Star, or "Star of Bethlehem," will appear in the night sky Dec. 21 for the first time in almost 800 years. The event occurs when Jupiter and Saturn align so closely in the sky — as seen from Earth — that they appear as one very bright star. The two planets do line up every 20 years, but in this rare event, called the "great conjunction," they will appear only 0.1° or one fifth of a full moon's diameter apart. The last great conjunction occurred on March 4, 1226. The next one will happen on March 15, 2080. (The Tennessean)
