Biden says U.S. will have enough vaccines for 300 million Americans by end of May
02 March 2021
President Biden on Tuesday said that ramped-up coronavirus vaccine production will provide enough doses for 300 million Americans by the end May.
Why it matters: That's two months sooner than Biden's previous promise of enough vaccines for all American adults by the end of July.
- The accelerated timeline also comes on the heels of pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck teaming up with Johnson & Johnson to quickly produce its one-shot COVID-19 vaccine.
- J&J's vaccine received its emergency use authorization last Saturday, joining Pfizer and Moderna on the vaccine market.
The big picture: Coronavirus cases and deaths have ticked down since the holiday season but public health officials continue to urge Americans not to let their guards down.
- Yet on Tuesday, both Mississippi and Texas' governors lifted all mask distancing restrictions in their states. Local ordinances may still apply.
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.