FDA may approve Pfizer boosters for all adults today – National & International News – THU 18Nov2021

FDA may approve Pfizer boosters for all adults today. Activists call on OK governor to halt execution of man who may be innocent. Belarus shelters migrants stranded on Polish border.

NATIONAL NEWS

Pfizer booster eligibility for all adults come come as early as today

The FDA is likely to authorize Pfizer COVID boosters for all adults who have been fully vaccinated for at least six months. The announcement could come as soon as today. The governors of some states have already expanded booster access to all adults, despite federal guidelines making them available only to adults with high-risk jobs or health conditions.

Moderna has also applied the the FDA for emergency authorization of its booster.

White House advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has said that hospitalizations are on the rise among fully-vaccinated who have not yet received boosters. There is some evidence to suggest that the protection from the vaccines wanes after a time. This drop-off in efficacy seems to vary from individual to individual. There is also some debate among scientists about how to measure this efficacy. But with cases on the rise once again and the holidays upon us, many health professionals think it’s time to allow all previously vaccinated adults to get an added immunity boost.

Fauci has also suggested that at some point, a booster may be a requirement to consider someone fully-vaccinated.

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Activists call on OK governor to halt imminent execution of man many believe was wrongly convicted

Many fear that Oklahoma will execute an innocent man today unless the state’s governor intervenes. Julius Jones, now 41, was convicted of the murder of businessman Paul Howell in 1999. Jones was 19 at the time. Jones’ family has maintained consistently that Jones was at home with them when the murder took place. For some reason, the jury in Jones’ trial never heard this testimony.

Jones’ attorneys have also pointed out that the description of the assailant given by Howell’s family more closely resembled his co-defendant, Christopher Jordan, who testified against Powell.

Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole board have already recommended clemency for Powell based on questions surrounding the conduct of the trial, including evidence not presented at trial that pointed away from Jones.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Belarus shelters migrants stranded on Polish border

For the last several months, Belarus, a non-EU country, has been admitting refugees with tourist visas and transporting them its border with EU-member Poland. Human rights groups have accused Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko of weaponizing the refugees in an effort to force the EU to lift sanctions on Belarus.

Last year, Lukashenko claimed a controversial electoral victory. The EU imposed sanctions when Lukashenko brutally suppressed protests of what many considered a rigged result.

As a result of this political chess game, thousands of migrants, including many very young children have had to camp out on the border. With the weather getting colder and some migrants having already died due to poor conditions, Belarus has admitted about a thousand of them to a temporary shelter. Critics say the highly publicized move to the shelter was another bit of political theater by Lukashenko.

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