All U.S. adults now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine, meeting Biden's April 19 deadline
19 April 2021
All 50 U.S. states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, have now made U.S. adults over the age of 16 eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, meeting President Biden's April 19 deadline.
Why it matters: The landmark speaks to the increased pace of the national vaccination campaign, but will increase pressure on the federal government, states and pharmaceutical companies to provide adequate vaccine supply and logistics.
- More than half of the country's adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine and about a third are fully vaccinated.
- The U.S. is now administering some 3.2 million doses daily, up from about 2.5 million a month earlier, according to the New York Times.
The state of play: Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont were the last states to make the vaccine available to all adults on Monday.
Between the lines: The U.S. is on pace to vaccinate 70% of its population by mid-June, according to the Times. But vaccine hesitancy and the lack of FDA-authorized vaccines for children could prove to be hurdles on the country's path to herd immunity.
Go deeper: White House pushing vaccine eligibility with media blitz
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.