Today's D Brief: POTUS won’t order troops vaccinated; Border projects cancelled; 10 years after OBL; Falling Chinese rocket; And a bit more.
By Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
May 3, 2021 10:32 AM ET
The D Brief
“I’m going to leave it up to the military,” President Joe Biden said Friday when asked if the United States should mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for its service members — provided the Food and Drug Administration approves either of the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines outside of their current emergency use authorization in the U.S.
Why not require vaccinations at the Defense Department? NBC’s Craig Melvin asked Biden on the “Today Show.” The president replied, “Well, I’m not saying I won’t. I think you’re going to see more and more [service members] getting it. I think it’s going to be a tough call as to whether or not they should be required to have to get it in the military because you’re in such close proximity with other military personnel, whether you’re in quarters where you’re all sleeping or whether you’re out in maneuvers.” (Catch the full interview on YouTube, here.)
No one knows yet when America’s top three vaccines will be fully approved. CNN contacted all three developers and none shared even an approximate timeline for anticipated approval. A “priority” review at the FDA could yield an approval as soon as six months’ time, which is about four months shorter than the standard approval process, according to CNN and The Hill.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/05/the-d-brief-may-03-2021/173759/
