Summary
- Joe Biden said his administration is “ready to move immediately” if coronavirus vaccines are approved for young teenagers. The president’s comments come as the Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon authorize administering Pfizer’s vaccine to those between the ages of 12 and 15.
- The president set a goal of administering at least one vaccine shot to 70% of American adults by 4 July. Biden added that he hopes to see 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by the time America celebrates its independence day. “In two months, let’s celebrate our independence as a nation and our independence from this virus,” Biden said in remarks this afternoon. “The light at the end of the tunnel is actually growing brighter and brighter.”
- The White House told states it will implement a new system to create a federal pool for unclaimed vaccine doses. If a state does not claim all of the coronavirus vaccine doses available to its residents, other states will have the opportunity to request unused shots. The change comes amid declining vaccination rates in many states.
- House minority leader Kevin McCarthy signaled openness to ousting Liz Cheney from her leadership position. “There’s no concern about how she voted on impeachment. That decision has been made,” McCarthy said of Cheney this morning. “I have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair, to carry out the message.” McCarthy’s comments come amid efforts by some House Republicans to remove Chenery as conference chairwoman.
- A federal judge ordered the Justice Department to release a legal memo cited as justification for clearing Donald Trump of obstruction of justice charges following the Mueller investigation.The 2019 memo was cited by former attorney general Bill Barr, who said that Trump was cleared of obstruction based on “consultation with the Office of Legal Counsel” but did not release the full memo detailing the reasoning.
- Lawyers for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who last month was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, are asking for a new trial. Chauvin’s legal team is asking for a new trial on multiple grounds, including jury misconduct.
– Joan E Greve and Maanvi Singh
‘We’re terrorized’: LA sheriffs frequently harass families of people they kill, says report
Los Angeles sheriff deputies frequently harass the families of people they have killed, including taunting them at vigils, parking outside their homes and following them and pulling them over for no reason, according to a new report from the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The LA sheriff’s department (LASD), which has faced national scrutiny for its corruption scandals and killings of young Black and Latino men, has routinely retaliated against victims’ relatives who speak out, the groups said in the report released on Tuesday.
The authors collected detailed accounts of alleged harassment from the families of Paul Rea, an 18-year-old killed during a traffic stop in 2019, and Anthony Vargas, a 21-year-old shot 13 times in 2018. The report, also produced by Black Lives Matter LA and Centro Community Service Organization, alleges:
- LASD deputies regularly drive by or park in front of the Rea and Vargas families’ homes and workplaces and at times have taken photos or recorded them for no reason.
- Deputies have repeatedly pulled over relatives, searched their cars and detained and arrested them without probable cause, allegedly in retaliation for their protests.
- Officers have shown up to vigils and family gatherings, at times mocking and laughing at them or threatening to arrest them, and have also damaged items at memorial sites.
“Since my son’s death, we have been terrorized. Every day, we’re watching our backs,” said Leah Garcia, Rea’s mother. “We are scared because we know what their capabilities are.”
Read more:
Florida’s Ron DeSantis said an election for the race to succeed the late congressman Alcee Hastings will take place on 11 January.
That means that Hastings’ seat will remain vacant for the next eight months, narrowing Democrats’ majority in the House. Hastings, a Democrat, died last month. He will likely be replaced by another Democrat in the Blue district he represented.
“I am going to be doing an executive order to set the special election for Congressional District 20, Alcee L Hastings’s seat,” Desantis, a Republican, said at a press conference. “I know there’ll be a lot of folks that want to run for it. So hopefully, that gives them enough time to be able to get on the ballot and do whatever they need to do to be competitive.”
Updated
Political animal: California governor hopeful greets voters with 1,000lb bear
The businessman John Cox lost California’s last governor’s race to Gavin Newsom by 24 points. Now he’s back, and this time, he’s got a bear.
As Newsom faces a recall election, the Republican has launched a new campaign against him, attempting to portray the well-groomed governor as a “beauty” and himself as a “beast”. To drive home this message, he has employed some nonhuman staff, including an enormous bear – an apparent homage to the California flag.
The bear appeared at a press event on Tuesday in Sacramento. The campaign had hyped the moment by promising the 1,000lb creature as a “special guest”. As part of his Meet the Beast Bus Tour, Cox appeared at a podium in front of a vehicle emblazoned with his face next to that of a ferocious-looking bear. In reality, however, the animal appeared fairly uninterested in politics, lumbering around a few feet behind Cox before flopping on to the ground, panting heavily. It did not offer an endorsement, unless not eating the candidate counts as support.
Read more:
Lawyers for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who last month was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, are asking for a new trial.
Chauvin’s legal team is asking for a new trial on multiple grounds, including jury misconduct.
“The jury committed misconduct, felt threatened or intimidated, felt race-based pressure during the proceedings, and/or failed to adhere to instructions during deliberations, in violation of Mr. Chauvin’s constitutional rights to due process and a fair trial,” wrote attorney Eric Nelson in the filing requesting a new trial.
A federal judge ordered the Justice Department to release a legal memo cited as justification for clearing Donald Trump of obstruction of justice charges following the Mueller investigation.
The 2019 memo was cited by former attorney general Bill Barr, who said that Trump was cleared of obstruction based on “consultation with the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) and other department lawyers”. A liberal watchdog group Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to have the OLC’s memo released.
Following the Mueller investigation, which looked into Russian interference in the 2016 US elections, Barr sent Congress a four-page summary of the investigation which has been widely criticized for spinning its findings. At the time, he also told Congress he had consulted with the OLC and concluded there was no justification for obstruction of justice charges against Trump.
The memo has been partially released, with redactions. The DOJ said the redacted portions should remain so due to attorney-client privilege.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson disagreed. In her decision, she said: “not only was the attorney general being disingenuous then, but DOJ has been disingenuous to this court with respect to the existence of a decision-making process that should be shielded by the deliberative process privilege.”
Updated
LA reports no Covid deaths for two days in a row in major pandemic milestone
Jack Herrera reports:
Just months after ICU capacities were at zero in Los Angeles, the county has made a turnaround. But officials advise caution, and warn that vaccine hesitancy is catching up.
In January, LA buckled under the weight of a monumental Covid-19 surge: ambulances circled from emergency room to emergency room in search of empty beds, and ICU capacity in the county plunged to zero. With morgues overloaded, the national guard was mobilized to aid with the handling of bodies. Now, less than four months later, the county has reached a proud milestone. For two days in a row, LA reported zero Covid-19 related deaths.
Sunday became the first day since March 2020 that county officials reported no daily Covid-19 deaths. The welcome news repeated itself on Monday, when the county again reported no daily deaths.
LA officials cautioned that the reporting of Covid-19 fatalities can lag behind actual deaths: reporting delays over the weekends have meant that Sundays and Mondays regularly show lower tallies of deaths than other days of the week. But caveats aside, the atmosphere in the city was celebratory. After a brutal winter – when it regularly saw more than 200 people die each day – LA has entered spring with a steadily declining death rate.
At the root of the turnaround is a successful vaccine rollout, officials say. Los Angeles county alone has administered more than 7.8m doses of the vaccine. According to the county’s department of public health, almost 54% of residents over the age of 16 had received at least one dose of a vaccine before the end of April.
Read more:
Updated
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Joe Biden said his administration is “ready to move immediately” if coronavirus vaccines are approved for young teenagers. The president’s comments come as the Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon authorize administering Pfizer’s vaccine to those between the ages of 12 and 15.
- The president set a goal of administering at least one vaccine shot to 70% of American adults by 4 July. Biden added that he hopes to see 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by the time America celebrates its independence day. “In two months, let’s celebrate our independence as a nation and our independence from this virus,” Biden said in remarks this afternoon. “The light at the end of the tunnel is actually growing brighter and brighter.”
- The White House told states it will implement a new system to create a federal pool for unclaimed vaccine doses. If a state does not claim all of the coronavirus vaccine doses available to its residents, other states will have the opportunity to request unused shots. The change comes amid declining vaccination rates in many states.
- House minority leader Kevin McCarthy signaled openness to ousting Liz Cheney from her leadership position. “There’s no concern about how she voted on impeachment. That decision has been made,” McCarthy said of Cheney this morning. “I have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair, to carry out the message.” McCarthy’s comments come amid efforts by some House Republicans to remove Chenery as conference chairwoman.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Updated
Donald Trump is expanding his website to include a “new communications platform” to help him speak directly to his supporters.
The platform, titled From the Desk of Donald J Trump, includes tweet-length statements with some of the former president’s thoughts on US politics.
However, as tech reporter Charlie Warzel pointed out, the interface could use ... a little bit of work.
it is kind of interesting though that the idea is to bypass the bans by letting other people tweet out his message on his behalf but...the integration looks pretty janky/poorly designed to make shit go viral, this is what it looked like when i used the 'twitter' share button pic.twitter.com/QqR0pqKvjK
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) May 4, 2021
Trump lost access to his Facebook and Twitter accounts after the deadly 6 January insurrection, and this new system appears to be his attempt to circumvent those bans.
Facebook is scheduled to announce tomorrow whether it will allow Trump to rejoin its platform, although Twitter executives have indicated that its ban is permanent.
Updated
Elise Stenafik has been making calls to fellow House Republicans to push for the conference chair job if Liz Cheney is ousted, according to Politico.
NEWS: Elise Stefanik has been making calls to GOP members in a bid to replace to Cheney as conf chair, sources tell me & @Olivia_Beavers.
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) May 4, 2021
Also hearing GOP leaders have been whipping against Cheney, which isn't terribly surprising given McCarthy's recent public comments. story TK
Stefanik’s name had already been floated for the job as more House Republicans have called for Cheney to be removed from her leadership position over her criticism of Donald Trump’s lies about widespread fraud in the presidential election.
Stefanik became a fierce defender of Trump during his first impeachment inquiry, and she is seen by many Republicans as a rising star in the party.
Taking questions from reporters after his prepared remarks, Joe Biden acknowledged the next phase of US vaccination efforts will present unique challenges because most adults who want the vaccine have already gotten it.
The president said the next phase of his administration’s vaccination strategy will focus on “convincing the American people, rather than guaranteeing them we’d have the supply for them”.
Asked by @karentravers about the next phase of COVID-19 vaccine rollout, Pres. Biden says, "Most people will be convinced by the fact that their failure to get the vaccine may cause other people to get sick and maybe die."https://t.co/65DAtdSQBT pic.twitter.com/AX7wHVJVyQ
— ABC News (@ABC) May 4, 2021
“I think at the end of the day, most people will be convinced by the fact that their failure to get the vaccine may cause other people to get sick and maybe die,” Biden said.
He added, “It’s easier because I don’t have to put together this massive logistical effort, but in the other sense, it’s harder [because] it’s beyond my personal control.”
In his remarks that concluded moments ago, Joe Biden confirmed his administration is aiming to have 70% of American adults at least partially vaccinated by July 4. He also set a goal of having 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by then.
As of today, 246,780,203 vaccine shots have been administered in the US, according to the Bloomberg vaccine tracker. About 44% of the US population has received at least one shot, and 32% are fully vaccinated.
According to the White House pandemic response team, the US will need to administer about 100 million shots over the next two months to meet Biden’s goals.
The President has set a goal of having 70% of U.S. adults with at least one shot and 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by July 4 -- and we'll need to administer close to 100 million shots in arms over the next 60 days to meet it.
— White House COVID-19 Response Team (@WHCOVIDResponse) May 4, 2021
Joe Biden took a handful of questions from reporters after concluding his prepared remarks on the coronavirus pandemic and vaccine distribution.
Asked about whether he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin while in Europe next month, Biden said he hoped to do so.
“That is my hope and expectation,” Biden said. “We’re working on it.”
The US president is currently scheduled to attend the G-7 summit in Cornwall, England, next month, followed by a visit to Brussels.
Joe Biden noted today marks two months until July 4, when America celebrates its independence day.
By that point, 70% of adult Americans will hopefully have received at least one of their vaccine shots, Biden said. The president also set a goal of having 160 million Americans fully vaccinated by then.
Our goal by July 4th is to have 70% of adult Americans with at least one shot — and 160 million Americans fully vaccinated. It’s another huge goal, and a serious step toward a return to normal.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 4, 2021
Get vaccinated, keep following CDC guidance. We can do this.
“In two months, let’s celebrate our independence as a nation and our independence from this virus,” Biden said. “The light at the end of the tunnel is actually growing brighter and brighter.”
The president acknowledged it will “take time to get everything back to normal,” and he urged every American to get vaccinated as quickly as they are able to.
The Biden administration has launched a website, www.vaccines.gov, to help Americans locate a coronavirus vaccine near them.
Joe Biden confirmed his administration will be winding down mass vaccination sites to shift its focus to smaller sites that are closer to communities with lower vaccination rates.
It’s easier than ever to find a vaccine appointment. Go to https://t.co/4MYpWqXVVo, find a location to get the shot, and make an appointment. pic.twitter.com/XPjrDgUvGD
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 4, 2021
“Now we’re going to have to bring the vaccine to people who are less eager,” Biden said. “We also know that there are millions of Americans who just need a little bit of encouragement to get the shot.”
Biden pledged that his administration would look at “creative ways to make it easier and more fun to get vaccinated” for reluctant Americans, particularly younger citizens.
“Even if your chance of getting seriously ill is low, why take the risk when you have a safe, free and convenient way to prevent it?” Biden said. “This is your choice, it’s life or death.”
US is 'ready to move immediately' if vaccine approved for young teens, Biden says
Joe Biden is now delivering remarks on the coronavirus pandemic and his administration’s vaccine distribution.
The president celebrated that more than 220 million shots had been administered by his 100th day in office, which occurred last week. About 150 million Americans now have at least one shot, and 105 million Americans are fully vaccinated. Cases and deaths have also declined significantly since he took office in January.
Biden described the trend in coronavirus cases and vaccination rates as a “dramatic turnaround from where we were in January”.
The president also acknowledged that the federal government’s vaccination program is pivoting to a “new phase” as vaccination rates fall in many states.
“As anticipated, the pace of vaccination is slowing,” Biden said. “Soon, we’ll have reached the adults who are most eager to get vaccinated. And at that point, this effort will shift to a new phase.”
The president noted the Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing data to determine if and when to authorize vaccine shots for those between the ages of 12 and 15.
Although that decision will be entirely up to the FDA, Biden said his administration is “ready to move immediately” if the vaccines are approved for young adults.
The president said his administration would quickly move to make 20,000 pharmacies across the country ready to vaccinate adolescents if the approval comes through. Vaccine shots will also be shipped directly to pediatricians.
The US is currently administering first doses of coronavirus vaccine at a rate of about 965,000 per day.
That is half the rate of three weeks ago, but nearly twice as fast as needed to meet Joe Biden’s target that he’ll be officially discussing at the White House moments from now of vaccinating 70% of adults in the US by Fourth of July.
Biden’s new move to shift vaccine supply from states where demand is falling short of supply to other states where demand is high and unfulfilled is now a key priority.
Governors were informed of the chance by the White House this morning, and the adjustment was first reported by the Washington Post.
Biden to set new target of vaccinating 70% of adult Americans by July 4
Joe Biden is setting a new vaccination goal to deliver at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine to 70% of US adults by the Fourth of July, independence day, the White House has just said.
This as the administration pushes to make it easier for people to get shots and to bring the country closer to normality.
The Associated Press reports:
The new goal, which also includes fully vaccinating 160 million adults by July 4, comes as demand for vaccines has dropped off markedly nationwide, with some states leaving more than half their vaccine doses unordered.
Biden will call for states to make vaccines available on a walk-in basis and will direct many pharmacies to do the same.
Already more than 56% of adults in the US have rreceived at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and nearly 105 million are fully vaccinated.
Senior administration officials previewed the announcement before Biden’s planned speech from the White House this afternoon. It comes as the administration moves away from the target of “herd immunity” and focuses on delivering as many shots into arms as possible.
Officials said that Biden’s vaccination target would result in significant reduction in Covid-19 cases heading into the summer.
This comes amid a new move to shift vaccine orders and doses away from states with over-fulfilled demand to states with higher demand and a need for more supply.
Updated
The US top public health official, Anthony Fauci, is steering the American public away from the idea of “herd immunity” against the coronavirus, as an official goal or a signal the pandemic is over.
Fauci, along with other members of the White House coronavirus team, under both this regime and the Trump administration, regularly talk to state governors and he’s now called herd immunity (the point when a sufficient percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, whether through vaccination or previous infections) an elusive concept.
ABC reporter says:
On call w/govs, Dr Fauci seemed to downplay notion of herd immunity, calling it “an elusive concept of a number” per @KFaulders @AnneKFlaherty
— Karen Travers (@karentravers) May 4, 2021
I asked @PressSec if herd immunity is no longer WH goal
Psaki: “We will leave the definition of that to our health & medical experts.”
This echoes a theme the New York Times explored yesterday (subscription) and the sort of thing that medical experts or well-informed observers have been saying for a long time, basically that coronavirus isn’t going way and we’ll be living with it in some form going forward.
It’s interesting to wonder if there will be a point where the Biden administration will declare (at least for the time being) that coronavirus is under control in the US, on a national basis, at least.
The pandemic has not been under control in the US at any time since the first coronavirus infections in early 2020.
Updated
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Joe Biden will deliver remarks on the coronavirus pandemic and his vaccine distribution strategy in about an hour. The president is expected to outline a new “use it or lose it” policy that will allow states’ unclaimed coronavirus vaccine doses to go into a federal pool for other states.
- The FDA will likely soon authorize administering Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to those between the ages of 12 and 15. Biden’s remarks this afternoon will probably also touch on the FDA’s timeline for authorizing the Pfizer shot for young teens.
- House minority leader Kevin McCarthy signaled openness to ousting Liz Cheney from her leadership position. “There’s no concern about how she voted on impeachment. That decision has been made,” McCarthy said of Cheney this morning. “I have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair, to carry out the message.” McCarthy’s comments come amid efforts by some House Republicans to remove Chenery as conference chairwoman.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
A reporter noted Facebook will issue a decision tomorrow on whether Donald Trump can rejoin the platform, after his account was suspended in response to the January 6 insurrection.
Asked whether the White House will change its messaging strategy if Trump is allowed to rejoin Facebook, Jen Psaki offered a one-word response: “No.”
Facebook will make a decision this week on whether to reinstate fmr. Pres. Trump's account. When asked if Trump rejoining and expressing his views on the platform will change how the Biden administration runs things, Psaki gives a simple "no" https://t.co/H9n7JKbYS7 pic.twitter.com/1gqbQ3Zypc
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 4, 2021
America’s total assistance to India amid the country’s coronavirus surge is expected to exceed $100 million, Jen Psaki told reporters.
The White House press secretary said the US is sending about 1,500 oxygen cylinders and 550 oxygen concentrators to India, among other supplies.
A number of countries have sent aid to India as the country grapples with the rapid spread of the virus.
The Guardian’s Hannah Ellis-Petersen reports from Delhi:
India has passed a grim milestone of 20 million Covid-19 cases amid growing calls for the country to go into a national lockdown.
On Tuesday, India reported 357,229 new cases over the last 24 hours, while the number of deaths rose by 3,449 as a deadly wave of the virus showed no signs of relenting. Many health experts believe India’s true death toll to be five to 10 times higher than official data.
As the country continued to grapple with oxygen shortages and a lack of hospital beds and ICU facilities for coronavirus patients, as well as crematoriums overloaded with bodies, the Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called for a nationwide lockdown.
‘The only way to stop the spread of corona now is a full lockdown,’ said Gandhi on Twitter. He said the government’s ‘inaction is killing many innocent people’.
Biden to outline plans to make vaccines 'more available and accessible across the country'
The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, is now holding her daily briefing with reporters.
Psaki opened the briefing by noting the federal government will distribute 29 million coronavirus vaccine doses this week.
Asked what Joe Biden will say in his remarks on the pandemic this afternoon, Psaki said the president will describe “our goals for vaccinating Americans by middle of this summer” and plans to make vaccines “more available and accessible across the country”.
Multiple reports indicate the president will outline a new vaccine distribution strategy to allow states’ unused vaccine doses to go into a federal pool for other states.
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to lift Covid restrictions on businesses
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will allow businesses to operate at full capacity for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the governors of the three US states have announced.
Capacity restrictions will be lifted for businesses, including restaurants, theaters, museums and gyms, marking a return to normal for an area that was once the center of the coronavirus pandemic. Combined, the three states have seen more than 85,000 deaths over the course of the pandemic.
“Today is a milestone for New York state and a significant moment of transition,” New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, said at a recent press conference. The governor said that “life should be returning to normal” for those who are vaccinated, and those who are not vaccinated should see a return to normalcy as an incentive to get inoculated.
Cuomo also announced that New York City’s subway system will return to its 24-hour service beginning on 17 May, the first time since it ended the around-the-clock service in May 2020. Monday marked the first day when New Yorkers could sit at a bar after Cuomo lifted restrictions on food and beverage services last week.
Reports of the Biden administration’s new “use it or lose it” vaccine distribution strategy come as demand for coronavirus vaccines has declined across the US.
The Guardian’s Jessica Glenza reports:
For most of 2021, the story of the vaccine campaign has been overwhelming demand. Emergency authorities took over stadiums, big-box stores and community centers staffed with dozens of nurses and volunteers to inoculate thousands of people per day.
But in the last two weeks daily vaccination rates in the US have peaked and declined from a high of 3.2m daily vaccine administrations per day to 2.5m. Now, health authorities nationally are experiencing what red states such as Mississippi and Wyoming began to see early signs of – a major slowdown.
‘Across the country we started out with mass clinics and those mass clinics worked very well for the older individuals,’ said Gary Edwards, executive director of the Salt Lake County health department in Utah.
However, he said, ‘we’ve reached a point, and it’s been very interesting how quick that happened, that the mass-clinic model is not reaching the segment of the population we’re trying to reach,’ said Edwards.
White House to shift unused vaccine doses to other states - report
The Biden administration is adopting a “use it or lose it” policy when it comes to states’ unused coronavirus vaccine doses, according to a new report.
The Washington Post reports:
The White House on Tuesday told states vaccine supply they leave unordered will become available to other states — the most significant shift in domestic vaccine distribution since President Biden took office, and part of an effort to account for flagging demand in parts of the country.
Each state’s share of the total U.S. adult population will still determine weekly allocations. But instead of allowing unordered doses to carry over week-to-week, the White House will steer untapped vaccine into a federal bank available to states where demand continues to outstrip supply. Those states will be able to order up to 50 percent above their weekly allocation.
The use-it-or-lose-it strategy has the potential to transform how vaccine flows across the country. In recent weeks, numerous states have begun leaving significant quantities of doses on the shelves. Last week, officials in Arkansas declined their entire share, the state confirmed.
Joe Biden will likely explain the new policy when he delivers remarks on the pandemic and vaccine distribution strategy at the White House later this afternoon.
Michael Sainato reports for the Guardian:
Maureen Haley, 66, lost her home in Florida in the wake of the 2008 recession. She now lives in a camper near Greensboro, North Carolina, relying on social security and Medicare to make ends meet and pay for healthcare.
But Haley has problems with her teeth, and cannot afford to see a dentist to have them fixed.
“My teeth problems are the biggest problem I have each day,” said Haley. “I need root canals and implants. I have a tooth impaction. I have to massage the heck out of it to get the air out of my gums and cheek after chewing a meal. Painful is an understatement, and the worry of how this may affect my heart compounds it.”
She worries about remaining independent, and not ending up in a nursing home. On a limited income, her decisions revolve around what is most pressing, such as fixing her vehicle and drug prescriptions. The last time she was able to visit a dentist was three years ago, and she was given an estimate of over $8,500 for the work she needs.
Haley is one of millions of Americans who have no dental insurance coverage and cannot afford to pay out of pocket for extensive dental care needs, including nearly two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries – about 37 million people. An estimated 74 million Americans have no dental insurance coverage. A survey by CareQuest Institute for Oral Health released in April found an estimated 6 million Americans lost their dental insurance during the pandemic.
A spokesperson for congresswoman Liz Cheney indicated she has no plans to step down from her role as House Republican conference chairwoman.
“This is about whether the Republican Party is going to perpetuate lies about the 2020 election and attempt to whitewash what happened on Jan 6,” the spokesperson said, per CNN. “Liz will not do that. That is the issue.”
Cheney spox responds to McCarthy: “This is about whether the Republican Party is going to perpetuate lies about the 2020 election and attempt to whitewash what happened on Jan 6. Liz will not do that. That is the issue.” (She has no intention of stepping down as the No. 3) https://t.co/7cpbdmGZRZ
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 4, 2021
The statement comes hours after House minority leader Kevin McCarthy questioned Cheney’s ability to “carry out the message” of the Republican party, amid her public sparring with Donald Trump over the January 6 insurrection.
“There’s no concern about how she voted on impeachment. That decision has been made,” McCarthy told Fox News when asked about Republican efforts to oust Cheney from her leadership role.
The Republican leader added, “I have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair, to carry out the message.”
US drugmaker Pfizer expects to make $26bn (£19bn) in revenues from sales of its Covid-19 vaccine this year, with its soaraway product accounting for more than a third of the company’s annual income.
The vaccine, which was developed with Germany’s BioNTech, contributed $3.5bn in global revenues at Pfizer in the first three months of the year, and the company had expected it to bring in $15bn over the course of 2021.
Now the jab, priced at $39 for two doses in the US and about $30 in the EU, will generate 73% more than forecast. The company said takings from the jab would boost profits.
The new prediction is based on contracts signed until mid-April, for the delivery of 1.6bn doses globally this year. Pfizer is already supplying the US, the UK, the EU, Japan and Israel, among other markets, and is reportedly close to signing a contract with Brazil for 100m doses. It has also struck deals with Canada and Israel to supply the jab beyond this year.
The New York-based company expects to make revenues of between $70.5bn and £72.5bn this year, with the coronavirus jab accounting for $26bn of that sum. Adjusted earnings per share are forecast at $3.55 to $3.65. Previously, it forecast total annual revenues of up to $61.4bn and adjusted earnings per share of $3.10 to $3.20.
Kamala Harris is traveling to Wisconsin today to tout Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposals, marking her first visit to the battleground state since becoming vice-president.
Harris is scheduled to tour clean energy laboratories at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and participate in a roundtable on research and development investments in the American Jobs Plan.
Kamala Harris, who has traveled recently to Maryland, Ohio and Illinois, is off to Wisconsin, her 1st visit there as @VP.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) May 4, 2021
She’s going to the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee for a tour focused on clean energy, the impact of science on communities and federal funding. pic.twitter.com/YU4GtNzpch
At least 23 dead as Mexico City metro overpass collapses
A partially collapsed metro overpass has claimed at least 23 lives in Mexico City, where rescuers worked through the night to free trapped passengers and search for victims.
Mexico City’s mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, said via Twitter that at least 65 people had been taken to hospital after the collapse near the Los Olivos metro station, which occurred at about 10.30pm on Monday.
Videos on Mexican television and social media showed train cars hanging in mid-air as sirens blared nearby. Footage from security cameras showed the overpass collapsing on to a busy thoroughfare as a pair of wagons fell on to passing traffic.
PRECAUCIÓN: Ambulancias y bomberos en camino por accidente en la estación del metro Olivos, línea 12. 🚑⚠️🚒🚨 pic.twitter.com/UFkcB1llju
— SUUMA Voluntarios 🚑 (@SUUMA_CDMX) May 4, 2021
Another video showed emergency medical crews and firefighters combing through wreckage looking for survivors. Families of people unaccounted for also searched the scene.
“We only heard a thunderous noise and everything started coming apart,” a survivor identifying herself as Mariana told the newspaper El Universal. “We were sent flying and hit the ceiling.”
Sheinbaum said a support beam had given way, causing the overpass to collapse. “Firefighters, public safety personnel are working. Various hospitals attending. We will give more information shortly,” she added.
Harris: 'Our fates are intertwined' with Latin America
Kamala Harris delivered virtual remarks to the Washington Conference on the Americas at the White House this morning.
The vice-president emphasized the importance of the relationship between the US and its Latin American neighbors, saying the countries’ “fates are intertwined”.
VP Harris: "The strength of the U.S. depends on the strength of all of the Western hemisphere. In so many ways, our fates are intertwined. That is especially true with Latin America...I want to make clear that our administration firmly believes in the potential of the region" pic.twitter.com/PKqcG8F5ty
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 4, 2021
“The strength of the United States of America depends on the strength of all of the Western Hemisphere,” Harris said. “In so many ways our fates are intertwined. That is especially true with Latin America.”
The vice-president added that the Biden administration “firmly believes in the potential of the region”.
Harris’ remarks come more than a month after Joe Biden put the vice-president in charge of addressing the root causes of migration to the US, which has risen this year.
Although Harris has had the job for a matter of weeks, Republicans have wasted no time in criticizing the vice-president for her handling of immigration, already accusing her of failing to lower the number of migrants attempting to enter the US.
Some House Republicans are already floating names for potential replacements if Liz Cheney is ousted as conference chairwoman.
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican who became a fierce defender of Donald Trump during his first impeachment inquiry, is among those being named, according to Punchbowl News.
In @PunchbowlNews this morning, we listed some candidates for Cheney’s job. it needs to be a woman, because McCarthy and Scalise are two men.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) May 4, 2021
Top tier: @EliseStefanik. This is who most people seem to want.
Other names @MaElviraSalazar, @YoungKimCA, @RepAshleyHinson, @NancyMace
Liz Cheney, the third most senior membership of the GOP’s House leadership, has been heavily criticized by fellow Republicans in recent months for pushing back on Donald Trump’s nonsense claims that the election was stolen, and for her impeachment vote.
Trump-supporting representatives in Congress have been pushing for Cheney, the House Republican conference chair, to be removed from that powerful position, which could be achieved if House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy called for a vote on Cheney’s future. Shortly after her vote to impeach Trump, the Wyoming GOP had also voted to censure her.
Some Republicans, however, have come to Cheney’s defense. “Liz Cheney is a woman of strength and conscience, and she did what she thought was right, and I salute her for that,” Senator Susan Collins from Maine said on CNN this weekend.
The tension between the most-extreme and less-extreme members of the Republican party has increased in recent days, after Cheney – a member of the latter group – said those who supported the Trump-backed challenges to the certification of the 2020 election should be disqualified from becoming the 2024 Republican nominee.
McCarthy says members worried about Cheney's ability to 'carry out the message'
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy appeared open to the idea of ousting Liz Cheney from Republican leadership over her continued criticism of Donald Trump for peddling the “big lie” that there was widespread fraud in the presidential election.
While speaking to Fox News this morning, McCarthy was asked about some House Republicans’ efforts to push Cheney out of her role as Republican conference chairwoman.
“I have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair, to carry out the message,” McCarthy said. “We all need to be working as one if we’re able to win the majority.”
"I have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair, to carry out the message" -- Kevin McCarthy indicates on Fox & Friends that Liz Cheney is likely toast as House Republican Conference Chair pic.twitter.com/afP2D971Zq
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 4, 2021
McCarthy insisted the opposition to Cheney was not related to her vote in support of impeaching Trump after the January 6 insurrection. McCarthy resisted calls to oust Cheney after the impeachment vote, but he now seems to be softening on that.
McCarthy’s comments come amid Cheney’s latest dust-up with the former Republican president. Trump put a statement yesterday morning saying, “The Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!”
Of course, the “big lie” has come to refer to Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the election, and Cheney pointed that out in a tweet sent shortly after the statement was released.
“The 2020 presidential election was not stolen,” Cheney said on Twitter. “Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system.”
The 2020 presidential election was not stolen. Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system.
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) May 3, 2021
US pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens are responsible for the vast majority of wasted vaccine doses, which total more than 180,000 reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to a story from Kaiser Health News.
As of late March, the CDC recorded 182,874 tossed doses. CVS and Walgreens combined wasted 128,500 doses – CVS wasted about half and Walgreens 21%.
CVS and Walgreens, which have outlets across the US, were tasked by the federal government to help distribute vaccines to residents and staff of long-term care facilities in the weeks after the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were approved for emergency use by the FDA.
CVS told Kaiser Health News that “nearly all” of its reported wasted vaccines came from that time. Both companies were initially criticized for the slow administration of the vaccines at these facilities.
Biden expected to address FDA's likely approval of Pfizer shot for 12- to 15-year-olds
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
Joe Biden will deliver remarks on the coronavirus pandemic and the US vaccination strategy at the White House later this afternoon.
The president will likely address the news that the Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon authorize administering Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to those between the ages of 12 and 15.
The AP has more details:
The announcement is set to come a month after the company found that its shot, which is already authorized for those age 16 and older, also provided protection for the younger group.
The federal official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to preview the FDA’s action, said the agency was expected to expand its emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine by early next week, and perhaps even sooner. The person familiar with the process, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, confirmed the timeline and added that it is expected that the FDA will approve Pfizer’s use by even younger children sometime this fall.
The FDA action will be followed by a meeting of a federal vaccine advisory committee to discuss whether to recommend the shot for 12- to 15-year-olds. Shots could begin after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopts the committee’s recommendation. Those steps could be completed in a matter of days.
According to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker, the US has already administered 246,780,203 vaccine doses, and 44.4% of Americans have received at least one shot.
The blog will have more details on Biden’s speech coming up, so stay tuned.
Updated
