Vox Sentences - The first FDA-approved booster

The FDA greenlights a booster shot for immunocompromised people; the UK has its first mass shooting since 2010.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum.

A Covid booster shot for the immunocompromised

Ariana Drehsler/AFP/Getty Images

• The Food and Drug Administration approved its first Covid booster shot yesterday, clearing a third dose for immunocompromised people. [WSJ / Felicia Schwartz and Stephanie Armour]
• FDA officials say the new authorization is meant to improve immunity for the most vulnerable. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory group must meet to decide on eligibility and administration in their recommendation, which would trigger sites to begin offering third shots. [CNBC / Berkeley Lovelace Jr.]
• The authorization only applies to the Pfizer and Moderna shots — there is no decision yet on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and no clear data on how many immunocompromised people received it. [STAT News / Helen Branswell]
• Not all immunocompromised people qualify for the booster, either. The FDA’s authorization applies to severely immunocompromised people, including those who have had an organ transplant or people with conditions that leave their immune systems similarly vulnerable. [BuzzFeed News / Clarissa Jan-Lin and Dan Vergano]
• While the current authorization is narrow, the Biden administration is becoming increasingly convinced that booster shots will be necessary for the broader population, particularly as the delta variant brings up case counts once again. [Washington Post / Laurie McGinley and Lena H. Sun]
• Studies show that the coronavirus vaccines continue to offer almost total protection against severe cases resulting in hospitalization and death. But some studies show their efficacy waning over time and against the delta variant. [Axios / Caitlin Owens and Sam Baker]
• Some people have taken matters into their own hands regarding boosters. The CDC estimates that 1.1 million people have gotten unauthorized boosters, but the real number is likely higher because that tally does not include Johnson & Johnson recipients who then got a Pfizer or Moderna shot as a booster. [Intelligencer / Matt Stieb]

Six dead in British mass shooting

• In a rare display of mass gun violence, a 22-year-old man in the English city of Plymouth is suspected of killing five people before killing himself Thursday evening. [Washington Post / Jennifer Hassan and Adela Suliman]
• It was the first mass shooting in Britain since 2010. The UK has strict laws banning most private gun ownership, requiring a license for a hunting rifle or shotgun. The alleged Plymouth shooter was a licensed gun owner. [CNN / Rob Picheta and Lauren Kent]
• Those killed in the shooting include a woman who police say was the suspected gunman's mother, as well as a 3-year-old girl and her father. [NYT / Daniel Victor and Stephen Castle]
• Police say they are still unclear as to what the killer’s motive was. They will also investigate whether he should have had a gun license. [Guardian / Matthew Weaver, Vikram Dodd, Lucy Campbell, and Steven Morris]

The US military is sending thousands of troops to Kabul to help evacuate civilians from the city’s American Embassy in advance of the anticipated Taliban capture of the Afghan capital. [Politico / Quint Forgey, Nahal Toosi, and Alexander Ward]

• New US Census data showed that Phoenix was the fastest-growing major city last decade, overtaking Philadelphia to become the nation’s fifth-largest city. [Arizona Republic / Geoff Hing]
• NASA has increased the odds that the Bennu asteroid will hit Earth by 2300, now placing them at 1 in 1,750. [The Hill / Caroline Vakil]
• Britney Spears’s father, Jamie Spears, has agreed to step down as her conservator "when the time is right." [BuzzFeed News / Leyla Mohammed]

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“Inevitably, there will be a time when we'll have to give boosts. What we're doing, literally, on a weekly and monthly basis is following cohorts of patients to determine if, when and whom should get it.”

[Dr. Anthony Fauci on the need for coronavirus vaccine booster shots]

Matt is joined by reporter Spencer Ackerman, author of the new book Reign of Terror. They discuss the treatment of Timothy McVeigh after the Oklahoma City bombing, and how it primed the political and cultural response to 9/11 and the war on terror. Ackerman also argues that the unlawful and immoral approach of the government laid the groundwork for Trump's presidency. [Spotify]

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