toward authorization, tonight an fda advisory panel says some americans fully vaccinated with moderna should get its booster. the unanimous recommendation not yet green lit by the cdc applies to those 65 and older and others at higher risk of severe disease because of health conditions or exposure at their job. i think we all expected a third shot was going to be prescribed for those at high risk the question here is did the science appear to justify such a decision reporter: providing documents full of data, moderna argued the fda should authorize its booster for recipients at least six months after their second dose, citing break-through infections and waning immunity over time. but the fda notes even without a booster, vaccines still afford protection against severe covid-19 disease and death in the united states. there has been some push back against moderna because its efficacy against hospitalization remains high, so why the need for a booster? the vaccines are
that s what the debate is going to center around, does it the data justify the decision reporter: tonight the question, do boosters get us ahead of the virus or is the third dose ahead of the science? miguel, help me understand here. about two million americans have already gotten a third dose, most of them immunocompromised. are they seeing any safety issues with those? lester, all the clinical data shows there are no real safety concerns. the side effects from the third dose are similar to the second. the question here, are booster shots really necessary, especially as other countries are short on supply. lester that may be getting closer to an answer. miguel, thank you. one of the least vaccinated states, idaho expanded hulk health care rationing statewide today amid a surge of covid hospitalizations this comes as debate intensifies over vaccine mandate. two dozen republican attorneys general warning the white house of legal action if the proposed mandates take effect here
what i m hearing, mr. president. a blast in quadraphonic sound from nato allies concerned about a u.s. withdrawal according to the woodward-costa book reporter: blinken questioned today by nbc s andrea mitchell. views that we listened to not only very carefully, but we shared directly with president biden, and they very much factored into our thinking and into the decisions he made. reporter: the president has come under fierce criticism for a chaotic withdrawal that includes the deaths of 13 u.s. service members. there is nothing low grade or low risk or low cost about any war. reporter: the book contends defense secretary austin had urged president biden to extend the mission with u.s. troops in order to buy time for negotiations with an exit plan in three or four stages. we followed a rigorous process the president made his decision reporter: the white house would not say whether president biden accepted or rejected recommendations on afghanistan, but that
to mandate vaccines could be followed by many districts nationwide they ve done a great job trying to keep our kids educated and reopening schools in a safe way. reporter: the decision met with widespread but not full support from parents. it should be left up to the parents to make this decision reporter: with the white house pushing for mandatory vaccinations for all school employees, the cdc notes the unvaccinated are 11 times more likely to die from the disease in just the last month, covid clusters have triggered an estimated 1,400 school closures in 35 states. in kentucky, where icus are overwhelmed, the republican-led general assembly stripped the governor s power to issue statewide mask mandates, even in schools. if you don t have universal masking in your school system, your kids won t be in school because covid will spread too much it s happened in every school system that s tried to get by without it
kids under 17. now we re seeing more kids who are symptomatic and more kids being hospitalized due to the delta variant. tonight cities and states are issuing more mask mandates, including california and oregon hawaii s governor limiting social gatherings and california asking school staff to show proof of vaccination or submit to weekly testing. meanwhile, governors in seven states banning mask mandates in schools, including texas and florida. we believe that the parent rather than the government should ultimately be able to make that decision reporter: in texas, districts fighting the same battle, facing threats of fines our goal really is to keep school open. reporter: susana cordova, deputy superintendent of dallas school district says when it came to the more than 140,000 kids filling classrooms, masking up made the most sense. with the governor s executive order in place, was there any hesitation here? we obviously want to make sure that we re following the law.