Biden to detail new vaccination initiatives as COVID cases surge
29 July 2021
President Biden will detail several new initiatives on Thursday to get more Americans vaccinated and slow the spread of the Delta variant.
Why it matters: The plan outlines aggressive next steps from the federal government as COVID-19 cases surge across the country due to the contagious Delta variant and as demand for vaccines has tapered off.
Driving the news: The five initiatives Biden will outline in his speech include:
- Requiring federal workers and contractors to declare their vaccination status, and those not fully vaccinated will be required to wear face masks at work;
- Directing the Department of Defense to look into adding COVID-19 vaccination to the list of mandatory inoculations for people in the military;
- Expanding paid leave for families to get vaccinated by reimbursing small-and-medium sized businesses who allow their employees and their families to get paid time off for vaccinations;
- Calling on states, territories, and local governments to offer $100 to newly vaccinated individuals, as an additional vaccine incentive;
- Increasing vaccination rates among teens by calling on pharmacies to hold pop-up vaccination clinics at schools and colleges.
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.