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CDC requests states ready COVID-19 vaccine distribution by November

02 September 2020
Dan Ackermann

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week "urgently" requested governors to speed up their permit applications so vaccine distribution sites are operational by early November, McClatchy reports.

Why it matters: When a vaccine is ready, distribution is a major challenge the Trump administration is working to address. Supplies will be limited initially and even if the most at-risk populations are given priority, that group still numbers in the tens of millions.

What they're saying: “The normal time required to obtain these permits presents a significant barrier to the success of this urgent public health program," according to a letter from CDC director Robert Redfield to state governors.

  • "CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities and, if necessary, asks that you consider waiving requirements that would prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by November 1, 2020.”

The big picture: Several vaccines have already begun phase-3 trials. The U.S. has contracts in place to purchase hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine if any are successful.

What to watch: Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said earlier this week he would be willing to fast-track the vaccine approval process with an emergency use authorization before phase 3 trials are over.

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.