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That sound you heard around 3 p.m. yesterday was the collective exhale of many parents of young children. In an address to the White House Press Corps, White House COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha announced that if the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee approves the COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5 at its meetings on June 14 and 15 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the vaccines, these kids could be vaccinated beginning later this month. This announcement comes more than a year after vaccines became available for adults and more than seven months after vaccines became available for kids between the ages of 5 and 11.
Jha says officials expect most children under 5 to receive vaccinations through their primary care physicians. Initially, the federal government will make 10 million doses, specially formulated for young children, available to states, pharmacies, and community health centers and states can start placing orders today.
In D.C., COVID case numbers are down from where they were on May 21. As of May 28, the weekly case rate was 282.5 per 100,000 residents. That’s still considered in the medium zone but down from the 299.6 per 100,000 and 340.7 per 100,000 recorded as of May 14 and 21, respectively. COVID-related hospital admissions also continue to drop, from 0.6 per 100,000 residents as of May 21 to 0.3 per 100,000 residents as of May 28.
The pandemic is by no means over and precautions should still be taken, but the potential for more vaccines is another step forward.
—Caroline Jones (tips? cjones@washingtoncitypaper.com)
- To see today’s COVID-19 data, visit our coronavirus tracker.
- Heavy storms across the region resulted in downed trees, flooding, and power outages. [Post]
- Look out for enhanced signs the next time you pass through National Airport. Gates that were previously numbered are now getting letters added in front of them. [WTOP]
- Three of the four men charged in the 2020 shooting death of 11-year-old D.C. resident Davon McNeal received prison sentences. [WJLA]
By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)
- As the three remaining candidates for attorney general—Ryan Jones, Brian Schwalb, and Bruce Spiva—seek to stand out, the endorsement of former frontrunner and Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie is a hot commodity. All three contenders say they’ve spoken to McDuffie about the race, though he has yet to make a decision. [Post]
- Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen is introducing a bill to reform D.C.’s troubled, de-accredited crime lab by making it an agency independent from the mayor. [DCist]
- Mayor Muriel Bowser held a “boomer to millennial” fundraiser at the home of top adviser Beverley Perry last night. Other backers of the event included former Mayor Sharon Pratt, Cora Masters Barry, former Ward 4 Councilmembers Brandon Todd and Charlene Jarvis, and Armstrong Williams, the conservative strategist and pundit who once contemplated buying City Paper. [Twitter]
By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)
- Coldplay, H.E.R., and BTS walk into downtown hotspot RPM Italian… [Eater]
- This week, Dish City tells listeners everything they need to know about blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay. [WAMU]
By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)
Spanish Cinema Now: A Provocative and Edgy Film Fest Returns to AFI Silver
The films in Spanish Cinema Now, the collaboration between AFI Silver and the Cultural Office […]
William Shakespeare and Toni Morrison Share a Stage in OTHELLO/DESDEMONA
The latest IN Series production is the result of something resembling a game of telephone […]
- Living dead girl: The U.S. Botanic Garden’s corpse flower is blooming three days ahead of schedule! [PoPville]
- Pro-abortion, pro-gun control, anti-displacement, and anti-police: The DC Dyke March returns. [DCist]
By Sarah Marloff (tips? smarloff@washingtoncitypaper.com)
- Mega gym The St. James will open a tinier outpost in Bethesda. [WBJ, Washingtonian]
- The Catholic University of America Cardinals are playing in the Division III World Series for the first time. [Post]
By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)
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