CDC panel to vote on who gets COVID-19 booster, tropical depression could become hurricane: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: CDC panel will vote on who should get the COVID-19 booster shots. There's also new data out this week about the effectiveness of a second Johnson & Johnson shot. Plus, President Joe Biden's approval rating hits a new low, we hear about a USA TODAY project focused on the civil rights movement in 1961, a tropical depression could be a hurricane by the weekend and the WNBA Playoffs tip off.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Thursday, the 23rd of September, 2021. Today, a check in on booster shot authorizations. Plus, President Joe Biden's approval rating hits a new low, and more.

Taylor Wilson:

Here are some of the top headlines.

1. The search continues for Brian Laundrie, the fiance of homicide victim Gabby Petito. His family says he left on September 14th for a nature reserve. Victim's advocate and TV host John Walsh told USA TODAY yesterday that law enforcement should have requested proof of life of Laundrie when he returned from a cross-country trip without Gabby.

2. The head of the UN Food Agency is warning that 16 million people in Yemen are heading for starvation. Food rations for millions in the war torn country will be cut next month unless new funding arrives.

3. And the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic committee will require all of its athletes at the 2022 winter games in Beijing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. 83% of Team USA's Olympic athletes were vaccinated at this summer's games in Tokyo, though it's not clear what that percentage was for Paralympic athletes.

Taylor Wilson:

A CDC panel will vote today on who should be eligible for a booster shot of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA yesterday authorized the booster doses for people aged 65 and older and for people whose jobs put them at a high risk of COVID-19 exposure. Nearly six weeks ago, the FDA authorized the same for people who are immunocompromised. But the FDA authorization was not what Pfizer and BioNTech originally asked for. They submitted an application nearly a month ago to get boosters approved for everyone aged 16 and up six months after their second vaccine dose. As for today's CDC decision, Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky is expected to sign off on whatever the panel decides, meaning boosters may be available to more people within just a few days. The FDA previously also authorized an extra shot of the Moderna vaccine for immunocompromised people, but health officials want more data before doing so for the rest of the population.

Taylor Wilson:

Meanwhile, the third authorized vaccine in the U.S. from Johnson & Johnson has new data out this week. The company said on Tuesday that a booster of its single dose vaccine two months after the initial shot offers 94% protection against moderate to severe COVID-19 illness. That's up from 66% one shot protection worldwide and 72% in the U.S. The company also said the booster shot gives 100% protection against severe or critical symptoms.

Taylor Wilson:

President Joe Biden's approval rating has hit a new low. The Gallup data out yesterday shows that the president's approval rating fell six percentage points from August to 43%, the lowest of his eight month presidency, and a majority 53% disapprove of his performance for the first time. Opinions of Biden have dropped most dramatically among independents. Out of that group, only 37% approve of how he's managing the country, down from 55% in June. Ratings among Democrats and Republicans are polar opposites, but both groups have seen drops. 90% of Democrats still approve, though that's an eight point drop from early February, and only 6% of Republicans down from 12% in February. Polling took place from September 1st to September 17th.

Taylor Wilson:

This month has seen the President face backlash from the withdrawal and Afghanistan, a slew of migrants celled up at the Southern border, and a surgeon COVID-19 pandemic. He's also faced criticism at this week's United Nations meetings as the U.S. Is rolling out booster shots while the vast majority of Africa and other parts of the world have not even received a first dose. To answer those critiques, Biden announced yesterday a new massive order of vaccine shots to share with the world: half a billion.

Biden:

To beat the pandemic here, we need to beat it everywhere. And I've made, and I'm keeping the promise, that America will become the arsenal of vaccines as we were the arsenal for democracy during World War II. We've already shipped nearly 160 million doses to 100 countries, more than every other country has donated combined. America's donations of a half a billion Pfizer vaccines through COVAX have already begun to ship. Today, I'm announcing another historic commitment. The United States is buying another half billion doses of Pfizer to donate to low and middle income countries around the world. This is another half billion doses that will all be shipped by this time next year.

Taylor Wilson:

Biden's poor approval ratings might not be urgent for his presidency yet. But, they could spell problems for Democrats in some state and local elections. And, it could make passing his $3.5 trillion budget and $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan even harder.

Taylor Wilson:

Sixty years ago, in 1961, the civil rights movement was spreading across the south. That year, young activists helped change the course of American history through demonstrations demanding equal rights and they risked their lives doing it. A new project from USA TODAY explores the personal stories of activists who played a role in these monumental civil rights struggles. We chose seven days to highlight seven days of 1961 that were turning points in a fight for justice. USA TODAY correspondent Deborah Barfield Berry, who conceptualized the project, told us the story of how she wanted to bring together personal stories from civil rights heroes.

Deborah Barfield Berry:

So years ago, I teamed up with a videographer, the late Maria Fowler, who worked at USA TODAY. And she and I would go sit down in kitchens. We would go sit down in Capitol Hill offices. We would go to living rooms. And we would talk to veterans of the movement. And they, oh man, they had powerful stories to tell. They would tell their stories. And we would just be kind of just caught up in hearing the history firsthand from these veterans who lived it, who could tell it, who remembered it, who shared it, and made it relevant to today.

Deborah Barfield Berry:

One time in particular that stood out was when we went to go interview a veteran named Lawrence Guyot who had worked in the heart of Mississippi. He was from Mississippi, worked in the heart of Mississippi with Fannie Lou Hamer. It was that... he had been on the frontline for real. We went to go interview him and his wife had asked us if we could wait a few minutes before we come in. And because I knew he said he wasn't feeling well. And I said, "Well, do you want me to come back?" He's like, "No, no, no. We want you to... I want you to come now. I want you to come now." We were working on a piece about Fannie Lou Hamer.

Deborah Barfield Berry:

And we went and she asked us to wait outside a little bit. Come to find out the reason she asked us to wait a few minutes was because his hospice nurse was there. We had no clue that that's where he was in life. But, what stood out to us is that even in the middle of that, he felt it was important to be able to tell not even his story. It was a story about Fannie Lou Hamer and other veterans who were there on the frontline with him.

Deborah Barfield Berry:

And that... I never forgot that moment because I was realizing they're leaving here, and they have so much to say, and if we don't get it... not we meaning the media, but we, all of us, don't get their stories and capture them, we may not. And that night, we always said that one day we're going to try to tell their stories.

Taylor Wilson:

We feature stories from dozens of veteran civil rights activists from across the country. You can find a link to the project in today's show notes and look out for more seven days of 1961 content on usatoday.com, including an original podcast series from my team coming out later this year.

Taylor Wilson:

Tropical Depression 18 has formed in the Atlantic. The depression formed yesterday and it's still thousands of miles from the Caribbean. But, current tracking models from the National Hurricane Center show it forecast to move west toward Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. And it could move further north toward the United States. The Hurricane Center says it'll likely become a tropical storm today and could be hurricane strength by the weekend. If it does strengthen into a tropical storm, it will be called Sam. The depression follows two other storms in the Atlantic, Tropical Depression Rose and Tropical Depression Peter. Though, Peter dissipated last night. Neither storm is expected to make landfall.

Taylor Wilson:

It's time for the WNBA playoffs. The top competition and women's basketball begins its post-season tonight with a pair of single elimination games. First, the number six seed Chicago Sky hosts number seven Dallas Wings. Then, it will be the number five Phoenix Mercury hosting number eight, New York Liberty. The winners then head to a second single elimination round on Sunday featuring the lowest remaining seed against the number three Minnesota Lynx and highest seed against number four Seattle Storm, the reigning champions. Meanwhile, top seated Connecticut Sun and number two, Las Vegas ACEs, have playoff byes until the best of five semi-finals which begin next week. The WNBA finals then tip off on October 10th. You can tune into tonight's action beginning at 8:00 PM Eastern, 5:00 PM Pacific on ESPN2.

Taylor Wilson:

And you can find new episodes of Five Things every morning, seven days a week, right here wherever you're listening right now. Thanks as always to Shannon Green and Claire Thornton for their great work on the show. I'll be back tomorrow with another edition of Five Things, part of the USA Today network.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID-19 booster shots, Hurricane potential: 5 Things podcast