U.S. surpasses 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered
12 March 2021
The U.S. has now administered more than 101 million doses of coronavirus vaccine — with almost 20% of the population having received at least one dose and over 10% of the population fully vaccinated.
Why it matters: The milestone comes the U.S. speeds up its vaccine rollout. President Biden on Thursday directed states and tribal governments to designate all adult Americans eligible for a vaccine no later than May 1.
The big picture: Pfizer — the first available COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. — received its emergency use authorization in December. Moderna received its EUA a few weeks later and Johnson & Johnson got its green light in February. The three vaccines have helped speed up rollout.
- Biden said in early March that the U.S. would have enough vaccine doses for 300 million Americans by the end of May. His previously promised timeline was the end of July.
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.