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More time between COVID vaccine doses may help build more durable immunity, experts say.

Why it matters: The three- or four-week interval between the first and second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines was relatively short — and may help explain why the U.S. is now preparing for third doses.

What they're saying: "When you make that decision to do a three- or four-week interval, it sacrifices length of protection and durability of protection," said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College.

  • He said it was a smart decision to pursue that vaccine interval early on, "because so many Americans were losing their lives from COVID — 3,000 deaths per day — and we had to get people fully immunized."
  • But it also made boosters much more likely, he said.
  • Longer intervals between doses may allow the immune system time to mature, or allow antibodies to improve in quality while dwindling in number, John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Cornell, told MedPage Today.

Between the lines: On Thursday, a report from U.K. health officials offered similar observations.

  • COVID vaccines were more effective against symptomatic disease with at least six weeks between doses than with only three to four weeks between doses, the paper says.

What we're watching: Experts say the eight-month gap the U.S. is planning before third doses could offer a significant boost.

  • "That may be it for a while, we may not need annual boosters," Hotez told MedPage. "This could be the third and done."

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.