Houston Methodist suspends 178 hospital workers for not complying with COVID vaccine mandate
09 June 2021
Houston Methodist on Tuesday suspended 178 workers without pay for 14 days for failing to comply with the Texas hospital's COVID-19 vaccine requirement.
Driving the news: Houston Methodist CEO Marc Boom said in an internal staff message shared with Axios that 24,947 staff had been vaccinated against the virus by Monday’s deadline. 27 of those who didn't get fully vaccinated "have received one dose of vaccine, so I am hopeful they will get their second doses soon," Boom said.
What else he's saying: "I know that today may be difficult for some who are sad about losing a colleague who’s decided to not get vaccinated," Boom said.
- "We only wish them well and thank them for their past service to our community, and we must respect the decision they made."
- The Washington Post first reported the news.
Go deeper: 117 staff sue Houston Methodist over COVID vaccine requirement
Editor's note: This a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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.