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Biden says 90% of Americans will have access to vaccine site within 5 miles by April 19

29 March 2021
Dan Ackermann

President Biden announced Monday that 90% of Americans will have a vaccination site within five miles of their homes by April 19.

Driving the news: The administration is increasing the number of pharmacies in the federal vaccination program from 17,000 to nearly 40,000 across the U.S., and plans to set up a dozen more mass vaccination sites by April 19.

Details: The federal mass vaccination sites will feature weekend and extended daytime hours, reserve slots for registration through faith-based and community-based organizations, and deploy mobile units to help vaccinate surrounding communities, according to the White House.

  • In partnership with states, these sites will be able to administer a total of 79,000 shots per day at full capacity.
  • Biden also plans to unveil "a new effort to fund community organizations to provide transportation and assistance for the nation’s most at-risk seniors and people with disabilities to access vaccines," according to the White House.

Why it matters: The Biden administration has steadily ramped up its vaccination campaign, but underserved communities are still lagging behind. The expansion of pharmacy sites will be part of an effort to boost vaccinations in the "highest-need neighborhoods," the White House said in a fact sheet.

The big picture: The White House estimates 90% of adults will be eligible to receive the vaccine by April 19, as states work to meet Biden's deadline of May 1 for universal eligibility.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly 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.