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US vaccination rate is at its highest in weeks. But mandates may be needed for kids going back to school, expert says

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By Madeline Holcombe As Americans gear up for a new school year against a backdrop of rising Covid-19 cases, experts say there is no time to waste in getting already rising vaccination rates even higher. The US is currently averaging 486,332 people initiating vaccinations a day, which is a 10% increase over last week’s pace and the highest daily average since June 18, according to data published Monday by the CDC. Though the improvements are promising, more Americans still need to get vaccinated as quickly as possible, especially considering that it takes six weeks from the first injection for people to be

‘The difference between life and death.’ Black leaders step up vaccine campaigns as Delta variant hits the unvaccinated

By Nicquel Terry Ellis Jeniffer Hall was hesitant to get vaccinated until early July when a Detroit pastor convinced her that she needed the shot to protect herself and her brother — who she has cared for since he suffered an aneurysm — from Covid-19. After surviving Covid-19 herself in 2020, Hall said she decided to follow the science instead of listening to her adult children who say the US government can’t be trusted. “The way I felt when I had Covid was the weakest I had ever been and I don’t want to experience that anymore,” Hall said. “I

Parents and students caught in political skirmishes over mask and vaccine mandates

Analysis by Maeve Reston The back-to-school season is turning into a frightening one for parents and children as they find themselves in the middle of political skirmishes over mask and vaccine mandates, leaving students’ safety determined more by geography and the political whims of governors than the science that should be guiding best practices. In this dangerous new phase of the pandemic, when the seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases is topping 100,000, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other acolytes of former President Donald Trump have made school mask requirements the new front in the Covid culture wars. Republicans like DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott,

FBI selects first Black woman to join a bureau SWAT team: ‘She has what it takes’

By Alaa Elassar An FBI agent in Puerto Rico is believed to be the first Black woman to be selected to train for any of the bureau’s SWAT teams. The newly chosen agent, who has only been identified as Tai, will be undergoing New Operator Training School (NOTS), a 10-week course that prepares selectees for SWAT field operations, the FBI said in a news release. If Tai passes NOTS, she will join the San Juan Division’s SWAT team as a probationary member. Within six to 18 months, she will undergo more training to become officially certified, according to the FBI. Despite

FDA approval of the Covid-19 vaccine could mean more people will get vaccinated for an unexpected reason

By Jen Christensen Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine is currently only authorized for emergency use in the United States, but its full approval by the US Food and Drug Administration could happen within weeks. The ramifications could alter the course of the pandemic in several ways. First, full approval of a Covid-19 vaccine could persuade more people to get vaccinated. More than 30% of the eligible population in the United States still hasn’t gotten a vaccine. To qualify for emergency use authorization, Covid-19 vaccine makers submitted about three months of clinical trial data. This included at least 2 months of safety data on

Policing isn’t the only root cause of Black rebellion

Analysis by Brandon Tensley This week marks the start of Black August. The annual commemoration originated in California’s prisons in the 1970s following the deaths of brothers Jonathan and George Jackson and other incarcerated Black men who protested prison conditions. Black August is a time to revisit the rich history of Black resistance. Historically and ironically, August has long been an active month for Black rebellion. In 1791, enslaved people in what is today Haiti launched a successful revolt against French colonial rule in a “revolutionary fight for freedom” that “helped make the United States the country that it is today,” as

House select committee begins taking over January 6 investigation from other committee

By Ryan Nobles, Zachary Cohen and Whitney Wild The newly formed House select committee is taking the lead on investigating January 6 going forward, consolidating the investigation, as other committees looking into the matter begin handing over their work, according to a multiple sources familiar with the matter. That includes interviews with key figures related to that day that were already scheduled to meet with other committees but were postponed. “The Select Committee will, as part of its ongoing comprehensive investigation mandated by House Resolution 503, conduct interviews related to January 6th and the events leading up to it. The Committee will announce additional

Biden signs bill to award Congressional Gold Medal to police who responded to insurrection

By Maegan Vazquez and Donald Judd President Joe Biden signed a bill into law at the White House on Thursday to award congressional gold medals to the police forces that responded to the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6. The Congressional Gold Medal is the US Congress’ “highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions,” according to the US Senate. Biden thanked the officers in a Rose Garden ceremony “for protecting our Capitol, and maybe more importantly, for protecting our Constitution, and saving the lives of duly elected members of the Senate, in

‘A moral obligation’: Black ministers are leading rallies for voting rights just as they did during the civil rights era

By Nicquel Terry Ellis The Rev. Jesse Jackson marched alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other Black faith leaders in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 in a push for voting rights that had been largely galvanized by the Black church. Jackson was still a seminarian at the time, but said he understood that religious leaders had a “moral obligation” to fight for justice. “Preachers stand up, people listen to them, they hear them and they respond,” Jackson said. Today, Jackson is still marching and rallying for voting rights, but with a new generation of Black pastors answering to a call similar

Boston Mayor compared vaccine policy to slavery-era freedom papers and birtherism

By Melissa Alonso After New York City announced people will need proof of Covid-19 vaccination to enter some indoor facilities, acting Boston Mayor Kim Janey likened the rule to the slavery-era freedom papers. “There’s a long history in this country of people needing to show their papers,” Janey told CNN affiliate WCVB on Tuesday when asked by reporters about New York City’s announcement. Janey then listed several examples of how people in the United States have been asked for documentation in the past, “during slavery, post-slavery, as recent as…what [the] immigrant population has to go through here. We heard Trump with the

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