Hannah Adams ‘23
EE News/Feature Editor

As we celebrate a full year since Trumbull High shut down due to COVID-19, we begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel as vaccines are being distributed and rolled out throughout America.

This past month, our very own teachers received their vaccines and felt a rush of relief, despite their slight fear of needles. But as the demand for vaccines becomes greater, the government is revising plans and hoping they can fulfill the needs of those who want the vaccine.

In a recent report presented to Congress, entitled “From the Factory to the Frontlines,” a detailed outline of the planned distribution of vaccines is described. It discusses what is required, what the government is currently doing, and a phased structure of their plans. This 11-page report gives details of partnerships with the state and the importance of accommodation. 

In terms of the government’s requirements for an efficient and effective distribution plan, the report states that it “…must ensure safety of the products, maintain control and visibility, manage uptake and acceptance, ensure traceability of product, and maximize coverage…” This is an efficient, structured outline of the government’s goals and objectives when it comes to the distribution of a new vaccine to the public.

Along with an outline of the government’s objectives, the report included three key components of the distribution plan:

1. Partnerships with state, local, and tribal health departments and federal entities to allocate and distribute vaccines.
2. A centralized distributor contract for back-up distributors for storage and handling needs.
3. A flexible and secure web-based IT vaccine tracking system for ordering, uptake, and management of vaccines. 

Partnerships with all 50 states are imperative for an effective rollout of vaccines, especially if venues are needed to set up numerous vaccination stations. 

The report goes into more detail on these partnerships, stating that the CDC has awarded grants to limited dose areas as a part of the Coronavirus Aid to help fund immunization programs that allow enhanced capacity to support staffing, communication, pandemic preparedness, and mass vaccination.

Centralized distribution contracts will be drawn, which allows the government full visibility, control, and ability to shift assets and use data to optimize vaccine uptake. These contracts help with the legality in terms of the possession of the vaccines.

Jurisdiction will be assigned, meaning specific areas will be given control over vaccines and will distribute the vaccines to their designated locations.

The third component of the government’s plan discusses an easy-to-use web-based site, where they can monitor the orders being made by each state as well as the status of the vaccinations given in each state.

Isa Lee ‘23
EE Staff Writer

The fourth annual Business Oriented Leadership Development Conference (B.O.L.D.), an event for high school women interested in business, was held this year in a virtual format on January 30th and 31st.  The conference brings together speakers and panels made up of Harvard undergraduates and women leaders in the business world across a variety of industries ranging from finance and tech to fashion and entertainment.  

The conference exemplifies women’s empowerment and inspires young women on how they can lead. The panels were also important for the college application process, as they gave great advice and ideas on college admissions and insights into the business world. The women featured in the conference showed how they create an impact on our society and shared their incredible success stories and advancements. Sunday’s event consisted of seven inspiring panels. Each student was only able to attend a certain number because they overlapped. Listed below are 4 of the panels, 2 keynotes and a master class. 

Panel #1, Applying to College Panel: The 4 panelists, consisting of Harvard undergraduates,  each explained who they were and what they were studying. Most spoke about how they applied and chose early-decision to Harvard. They all advised students  to be prepared to have a list of colleges for regular decision applications as well, just in case. Lastly, college visits helped these undergraduates to decide where they wanted to go and determined a lot of their decisions. 

Panel #2, Technology: The panelists  were four technology co-founders of companies focused on developing, powering technology, and marketing. Mada Seghete grew up in Romania and followed  a computer engineering path. Then, she started product managing and joined a startup. Seghete didn’t initially see  an issue with the lack of women working in tech because she didn’t feel any different, even though her co-founders were all men. But, she found a group of female founder friends and saw that what they went through as women was incredible. She realized that it was harder to raise money as a woman and they did not have check-writing power like men. The second panelist,Vanessa Liu, was a social commerce CEO in entrepreneurship. Having a personal board of advisors was also important to Vanessa. They helped her succeed and created opportunities for her. Lastly, she explained that working with women and people of color changed her views and motivated her to make a social impact in a technology company. When she first started working in  business, she was oblivious to how the world worked. Women and diverse entrepreneurs were coming to her because she is a Chinese-American, and a plethora of these women could relate to her. Another panelist faced similar challenges in her journey through the industry: Neeti Mehta Shukla. She is from India and started product marketing and consumer behavior. She founded “Automatic Anywhere”. The fact that she was a woman in technology did not bother her or hold her back because she knew she had a place. In the end, technology has the responsibility to change jobs and create new improvements. Artificial intelligence may be causing mass job loss, but if the end goal stays  in perspective, then society as a whole is changing for the better. An important question to keep in mind is “Will jobs become obsolete due to these special advancements”? These educated women show that creating jobs for the future, and local users, create more products and services that were once impossible. “I almost envy all of you young kids because the sky’s the limit” Shukla said.