White House plans major expansion of COVID vaccine production
The Biden administration, under pressure to increase the supply of coronavirus vaccines to poor nations, plans to spend billions of dollars to expand manufacturing capacity, with the goal of producing at least 1 billion additional doses a year beginning in the second half of 2022. The investment is part of a new plan, announced Wednesday by White House officials, for the government to partner with industry to address immediate vaccine needs in the United States and overseas and to prepare for future pandemics. It comes at a time when Americans are desperate for normalcy and caseloads are creeping up with winter’s approach.
FDA could soon authorize Moderna boosters for all adults
Moderna has asked federal regulators to authorize booster shots of its coronavirus vaccine for all adults, a request that the Food and Drug Administration could grant as early as this week along with a similar request from Pfizer, according to people familiar with the planning. If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also signs off, every adult who was fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna shot at least six months ago would not only be eligible for a booster but could choose which vaccine. The agency’s committee of independent experts is set to meet Friday to discuss booster shots.
2 men convicted of killing Malcolm X will be exonerated decades later
Two of the men found guilty of the assassination of Malcolm X are expected to have their convictions thrown out Thursday, the Manhattan district attorney and lawyers for the two men said, rewriting the official history of one of the most notorious murders of the civil rights era. For decades, historians have cast doubt on the case against the two men, Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam, who each spent more than 20 years in prison. Their exoneration represents a remarkable acknowledgment of grave errors made in a case of towering importance: the 1965 murder of one of America’s most influential Black leaders.
House censures Gosar for violent video
The House of Representatives voted narrowly Wednesday to censure Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., for posting an animated video that depicted him killing a Democratic congresswoman and assaulting President Joe Biden. The formal rebuke — the first censure since 2010 and only the 24th in the history of the republic — also stripped Gosar of his committee assignments. The vote was 223-207, with just two Republicans, Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, joining Democrats in favor. Republicans said the rapid move to pass a censure resolution belied the Democrats’ true agenda: silencing conservatives and tarring all Republicans with the violent wishes of a few.
Jan. 6 defendant ‘QAnon Shaman’ sentenced to 41 months
Jacob Chansley, the former actor and Navy sailor better known as the QAnon Shaman, who was portrayed by a prosecutor as “the flag-bearer” of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, was sentenced Wednesday to 41 months in prison. Chansley, 34, emerged as one of the riot’s most familiar figures, largely because of the outlandish costume he wore that day: a horned helmet, a fur pelt draped across his shoulders and red-white-and-blue face paint. Chansley pleaded guilty in September to a single felony count of obstructing an official proceeding before Congress.
Rittenhouse lawyers ask judge to declare mistrial over video
Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorneys asked the judge to declare a mistrial even as the jury in the murder case was deliberating Wednesday, saying the defense received an inferior copy of a potentially crucial video from prosecutors.Judge Bruce Schroeder did not immediately rule on the request, the second mistrial motion from the defense in a week. The jury deliberated a second full day without reaching a verdict and will return in the morning.
By wire sources
© 2021 The New York Times Company
