Putin says Russia will begin large-scale COVID-19 vaccination next week
02 December 2020
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that he has directed officials to begin large-scale vaccination against COVID-19 as early as next week, according to state media.
Why it matters: Russia, which has the fourth-largest coronavirus caseload in the world with more than 2.3 million infections, would be the first country to begin mass vaccination. Experts have criticized the lack of scientific transparency around the vaccine and the haste with which the Kremlin approved it.
- Putin said doctors and teachers will be first in line for the inoculation, and that Russia has produced about 2 million doses of its vaccine.
- The news came the same day that the U.K. became the first country in the world to clear Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine for mass distribution.
The big picture: Russia earlier this month announced that its Sputnik V vaccine is 92% effective, a day after Pfizer announced its trials showed 90% efficacy. Several countries, including Brazil, India, Mexico and Egypt, have already lined up to buy the vaccine, despite the lack of clarity about whether it is safe or effective.
Go deeper:As countries line up for Russia's vaccine, not everyone is buying it
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.