COVID-19 vaccine will arrive to states by Monday
12 December 2020
Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, which was authorized for emergency use on Friday night, is expected to arrive throughout the U.S. by Monday to administer to health care workers, U.S. officials said Saturday.
Why it matters: The administration green-lighting shipments and distribution this weekend comes as the U.S. topped more than 3,000 deaths a day — more than 9/11 or D-Day.
The state of play: Army Gen. Gustave Perna, who is with Operation Warp Speed, said Saturday that UPS and FedEx will deliver 2.9 million doses of the vaccine to about 150 state locations by Monday and to another 450 sites between Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Perna said many governors are planning to simultaneously administer the vaccine to health care workers and those at long-term care facilities.
- Pfizer also told reporters on Saturday that it expects the first shipments of its coronavirus vaccine to leave the Michigan facility Sunday morning
Go deeper:Pfizer board member confirms U.S. government turned down offer for more vaccine doses
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.