C M Y K Nxxx,2020-11-18,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

U(D54G1D)y+[!/!%!?!"

DANIELE VOLPE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Even as it weakens, Hurricane Iota could cause flooding and landslides in Central American coun-tries, including Honduras, above, that are still reeling from Hurricane Eta’s fury two weeks ago.

No Shelter From the Storms

The promising news that notjust one but two coronavirus vac-cines were more than 90 percenteffective in early results hasbuoyed hopes that an end to thepandemic is in sight.

But even if the vaccines are au-thorized soon by federal regula-tors — the companies developingthem have said they expect to ap-ply soon — only a sliver of theAmerican public will be able to getone by the end of the year. The twocompanies, Pfizer and Moderna,have estimated they will have 45million doses, or enough to vacci-nate 22.5 million Americans, byJanuary.

Industry analysts and companyexecutives are optimistic thathundreds of millions of doses willbe made by next spring. But thecompanies — backed with billions

of dollars in federal money — willhave to overcome hurdles theyhave encountered in the earlydays of making vaccines. Moder-na’s and Pfizer’s vaccines use newtechnology that has never beenapproved for widespread use.They are ramping up into the mil-lions for the first time. Other chal-lenges include promptly securingraw vaccine ingredients and mas-tering the art of creating consis-tent, high-quality batches.

“The biology of scaling manu-facturing is a very temperamentalactivity, and there were many,many different attempts over themonths until we cracked it,” saidPaul Mango, deputy chief of stafffor policy at the Department ofHealth and Human Services.

Operation Warp Speed — the

Quest for Vaccine Was a Race.Availability Could Be a Crawl.

By KATIE THOMAS

Continued on Page A6

For millions of working women,the coronavirus pandemic has de-livered a rare and ruinous one-two-three punch.

First, the parts of the economythat were smacked hardest andearliest by job losses were oneswhere women dominate — restau-rants, retail businesses and healthcare.

Then a second wave began tak-ing out local and state govern-ment jobs, another area wherewomen outnumber men.

The third blow has, for many,been the knockout: the closing ofchild care centers and the shift toremote schooling. That has sad-dled working mothers, muchmore than fathers, with over-whelming household responsibil-ities.

“We’ve never seen this before,”said Betsey Stevenson, a profes-sor of economics and public policyat the University of Michigan andthe mother of a second grader anda sixth grader. Recessions usuallystart by gutting the manufactur-ing and construction industries,where men hold most of the jobs,she said.

The impact on the economicand social landscape is both im-mediate and enduring.

The triple punch is not justpushing women out of jobs theyheld, but also preventing manyfrom seeking new ones. For an in-dividual, it could limit prospectsand earnings over a lifetime.Across a nation, it could stuntgrowth, robbing the economy ofeducated, experienced and dedi-cated workers.

Inequality in the home — interms of household and child careresponsibilities — influences in-equality in the workplace, MistyL. Heggeness, a principal econo-mist at the Census Bureau, con-cluded in a working paper on thepandemic’s impact for the FederalReserve Bank of Minneapolis.Without a more comprehensivesystem of support, she said,

“mothers will forever be vulnera-ble to career scarring during anymajor crisis like this pandemic.”

The latest jobs report from theLabor Department showed thatsome of the damage was reversedlast month as the service industryrevived, nudging down the joblessrate for women to 6.5 percent,slightly below men’s. But therewere still 4.5 million fewer womenemployed in October than therewere a year ago, compared with4.1 million men.

And according to the Census

Bureau, a third of the workingwomen 25 to 44 years old who areunemployed said the reason waschild care demands. Only 12 per-cent of unemployed men citedthose demands.

Laci Oyler has felt that pres-sure. Her husband, employed by aprinting company, was alreadyworking from home when the pan-demic shuttered day care andschools in Milwaukee. After twodays of taking care of their twoyoung sons, “he said, ‘Absolutelyno way,’” Ms. Oyler explained. Soshe cut her weekly hours as amental health counselor forAlverno College, a small Catholicinstitution, to five from 32.

Recession’s Toll on WomenPoints to a Lasting Setback

After Losing Jobs to Pandemic, Many FaceLimited Prospects and Earnings

By PATRICIA COHEN

Andrea Poe and her daughterCheyenne, 15, spent five nightsin a Walmart parking lot.

ADRIANA ZEHBRAUSKAS FOR THE NYT

Continued on Page A9

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan —Had it not been for dozens of U.S.airstrikes in recent weeks, thesouthern hub city Kandaharwould be under siege, after Tal-iban fighters threatened to over-run several surrounding districts,security officials say.

Now with President Trump’s or-ders to cut American forces in Af-ghanistan by roughly half — from4,500 to 2,500 — Kandahar’s fate,and the fate of the Afghan securityforces spread across the country,are once more in question.

“If it were not for the air supportof U.S. forces, the Taliban would be

sitting inside Kandahar city now,”Col. Zabiullah Ghorzang, an Af-ghan Army regimental command-er in Kandahar Province, saidTuesday.

The Pentagon on Tuesday for-mally announced those troop cuts,stopping short of the full with-drawal by Christmas that Mr.Trump had mused about publiclyand ensuring that the war in Af-ghanistan will transition to afourth American administration

over almost 20 years of conflict.Mr. Trump’s withdrawal will

leave President-elect Joseph R.Biden, without his consultation,the smallest force in Afghanistanenvisioned by American counter-terrorism planners. But in push-ing for the reduction before heleaves office, Mr. Trump has facedresistance from some prominentmembers of his own party in Con-gress — and on Tuesday from ran-kled NATO allies as well.

The reduction, though expectedby Afghan officials, is coming at adesperate time for Afghanistan:Peace negotiations in Qatar be-tween the Afghan governmentand the insurgency are stalled,Taliban offensives are surging

U.S. to Halve Afghan Force by Inauguration DayThis article is by Thomas Gib-

bons-Neff, Najim Rahim and Fati-ma Faizi.

Trump Faces ResistanceFrom Legislators of

His Own Party

Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, which an Afghan Army official says the Taliban would have overtaken if not for U.S. air support.JIM HUYLEBROEK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A11

Efforts to restore buffalo to tribal landsare seen by many Native Americans asvital to addressing inequities and theerasure of a cruel history. PAGE D1

FOOD D1-12

Re-examining ThanksgivingThe Democrats spent big, hoping tounseat Senator Susan Collins. But allthat cash may have backfired. PAGE A15

NATIONAL A14-21, 24

Too Much? Maybe for MaineUntil Tuesday, Loving County, in WestTexas, could claim to be the last in thecontinental U.S. with no cases. PAGE A8

TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-9

In Texas County, the Inevitable

The N.B.A. draft will be held onWednesday, and the Minnesota Timber-wolves have the top choice. They’vehad a long time to prepare. PAGE B7

SPORTSWEDNESDAY B7-9

Will It Be Worth the Wait?The Palestinian Authority said it wouldresume cooperating with Israel, endinga desperate protest of Israeli plans toannex parts of the West Bank. PAGE A10

INTERNATIONAL A10-13

Palestinians Change Course

Beijing has made its unproven vaccinecandidates widely available, but expertswarn of the risks. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-6

Sprinting for Vaccines in China“The Witches,” a film in which AnneHathaway’s character has disfiguredhands, has resurfaced the debate overdepicting evildoers as disabled. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-6

A Villainous Storytelling Trope

The lawmakers outlined a legislativeagenda that could restrain Facebookand Twitter. PAGE B1

Senators Grill Tech Leaders

Sarah Vowell PAGE A23

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23The U.S. will drop drug charges againsta former Mexican defense minister toallow for an investigation. PAGE A19

Reversal on High-Profile CaseSenator Charles E. Grassley of Iowaand Representative Don Young ofAlaska, both 87, are infected. PAGE A5

Mini-Cluster on Capitol Hill

ATLANTA — There is no worsetime for Georgia Republicans tobe engulfed in a civil war. Theirpresidential candidate just nar-rowly lost the state, which haslong been a conservative safespace, while two competitive run-off races are looming in Januarythat could determine control ofthe U.S. Senate — and the direc-tion of the country for the firstpart of this decade.

And yet the war has come, full ofdouble-crossing, internecine ac-cusations of lying and incompe-tence and a bitter cleavage intofactions over the question of howmuch fealty should be shown toPresident Trump — and the ex-tent to which Republicans shouldamplify his false argument thatthe election in this fast-changingSouthern state was stolen fromhim.

Republicans in Georgia andelsewhere are now faced with astark choice. They can stick by Mr.Trump and his rash claims offraud, and risk alienating moder-ate voters who may have had theirfill of Trumpism — including thethousands who helped turn Geor-gia blue this month. Or they canbreak with Mr. Trump, invite hiswrath and risk throwing the politi-cal equivalent of a wet blanket onconservative turnout for the Sen-ate runoffs in January.

“This is clearly a divisive issuefor Republicans in Georgia,” saidAshley O’Connor, a Republicanstrategist. “But the balance of theSenate is at stake here for Repub-licans so everybody would do bet-ter reminding themselves what’s

Georgia FeudOffers G.O.P.Peek at Future

By RICHARD FAUSSETand JONATHAN MARTIN

Continued on Page A16

WASHINGTON — The morn-ing after Election Day, as voteswere still being counted, diplo-mats from more than 20 foreigngovernments logged into a video-conference to hear Joe Lockhart, aveteran Democratic operative,provide what his consulting firm’sinvitation described as “insider

tips on how to make YOURagenda happen in the aftermath ofan election.”

Over the next few days, as Jo-seph R. Biden Jr. accumulated thevotes necessary to become the

next president, representativesfrom countries and companiesaround the world began scram-bling to secure representationfrom well-connected Democratslike Mr. Lockhart.

Manny Ortiz, a Democratic lob-byist with ties to the party’s con-gressional leaders, said he re-ceived a string of inquiries fromrepresentatives for foreign gov-ernments — including Qatar,

Companies and Countries Rush to Lobby BidenBy KENNETH P. VOGEL

and ERIC LIPTONHighlighting Their Ties

to a Political Veteran

Continued on Page A20

DETROIT — Republican mem-bers of a key Michigan electionsboard refused on Tuesday to cer-tify Detroit’s election results in anakedly partisan effort to hold upJoseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory overPresident Trump — only to re-verse themselves after an outcryfrom the city’s voters and state of-

ficials.The initial deadlock and pres-

sure-packed turnaround capped achaotic day of repeated Republi-can misfires in the party’s attemptto undermine the election results.

Republicans lost a case before thePennsylvania Supreme Court andfaced a skeptical reception in aseparate hearing in federal courtin Pennsylvania, and an audit inGeorgia confirmed there was nofoul play with voting machines.

The Republican gambit in De-troit was among the starkest ex-amples of how previously routineaspects of the nation’s voting sys-tem have been tainted by Mr.

Republicans Briefly Block Detroit Vote ResultsThis article is by Kathleen Gray,

Jim Rutenberg and Nick Corasaniti.Deadlock and Reversal

in Bid to Flip Election

Continued on Page A21

Late Edition

VOL. CLXX . . . No. 58,881 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Today, mostly sunny, windy, cold,high 40. Tonight, clear, cold, lightwind, low 30. Tomorrow, sunshineand patchy clouds, not quite so cold,high 48. Weather map, Page A24.

$3.00