Meadows hints FDA chief's job is in jeopardy over coronavirus vaccine
11 December 2020
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows hinted to Food and Drug Administration commissioner Stephen Hahn on a phone call Friday that his job security might be in jeopardy as he pushed the FDA chief to approve Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine by the end of the day, according to two sources familiar with the call.
Why it matters: It's one more example of the White House putting political pressure on the FDA to expedite its green light on a coronavirus vaccine.
- The FDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A White House official replied, "We don't comment on private conversations, but the Chief regularly requests updates on progress toward a vaccine."
- The exchange was first reported by the Washington Post.
Where it stands: Pfizer's vaccine authorization was already on a fast track and the FDA's announcement was expected to come soon, perhaps over the weekend, following an advisory committee's recommendation on Thursday.
- Moving that timeline up by a day or two is unlikely to make a difference in how quickly people can actually receive the vaccine.
What's next: The administration has said that roughly 3 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine can be shipped immediately, once the FDA issues its authorization.
- Those doses will primarily go to health care workers. And because the Pfizer vaccine must be stored at sub-Arctic temperatures, it likely will be concentrated among research institutions that are equipped for ultra-cold storage.
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.