As the U.S. passes 500,000 COVID-19 deaths, we speak to New York emergency room doctor Craig Spencer about the pandemic and how to make vaccines available to more people around the world; To mark Black History Month, we remember the visionary Black science-fiction writer Octavia Butler, who gave one of her last interviews before her death to Democracy Now! in 2005, and we speak with Octavia Butler scholar adrienne maree brown about the writer’s lasting influence.