announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening, everyone the wait for a covid vaccine for the youngest americans may soon be over moderna today says it s asking the fda to green light its vaccine for children under 6. approval of a two-dose shot would extend covid protection to the last group of currently ineligible americans, the very young. delays in fielding a vaccine for young kids have proven frustrating for many parents, especially as more americans drop their guard against the virus. according to the american academy of pediatrics, covid cases in younger children have increased by 43% over the last two weeks moderna says trials suggest its vaccine is less effective than the adult version but does well preventing severe illness stephanie gosk has more on today s announcement reporter: a year and a half after the first covid-19 vaccine for adults was
said that supply chain issues from china may persist through the year amazon reported slowing sales as americans start to get back to their pre-pandemic shopping habits a lot to cover tonight on the economy. tom, thank you. in 60 seconds, gun deaths at an all-time high in this country and the ban on menthol cigarettes in the works. how it could save hundreds of thousands of lives
black smokers who use them most heavily. we get more from rehema ellis. reporter: the fda has talked about the dangers of menthol cigarettes for years today the agency is proposing to ban them. the proposed product standards would, among other things, improve the health and reduce the mortality risk of current smokers of menthol cigarettes or flavored cigars. reporter: menthol makes up one-third of all cigarettes sold in the united states, and a ban would overwhelmingly impact black and young people i was planning on quitting anyway. reporter: research shows 85% of black smokers use menthol cigarettes, compared with 29% of white smokers. the cdc says smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, and black men have the highest rates of that disease. if this ban goes through, how significant would it be in terms of affecting the health of all americans this is a landmark regulation that fda is proposing. our projections are that 1.33 million
my dad s 85 my mom s 83. as each day ticks by, there may be fewer opportunities for them to actually see paul ever again. reporter: the u.s. says whelan is being held on false accusations of spying. espionage charge is clearly designed to extract some benefit from the united states, no question about it. reporter: u.s. officials say russia arrests americans on trumped-up charges just to have hostages to trade when they want to get a russian back lester okay, andrea. thank you. a rally on wall street the dow, s&p, and nasdaq all up. it comes on the heels of some surprising economic news. new data showing the u.s. economy shrank in the first quarter after strong growth at the end of 2021. it s the weakest performance since the start of the pandemic. tom costello on what s behind it. reporter: tonight, further evidence of the economic paradox americans are living with every day strong consumer demand is sending prices skyrocketing for
does it give them and how soon could shots go into arms also tonight, the new missile strike in the ukraine capital of kyiv the race to rescue survivors trapped in the rubble it comes just hours after a visit by the u.n. secretary-general. and the massive request, president biden asking congress for $33 billion in additional aid for ukraine. the marine veteran returning home to the u.s. after that prisoner swap with russia the homecoming three years in the making. but what about the other americans russia is still holding the surprise slowdown the u.s. economy shrinking for the first time since the pandemic hit are we headed for a recession. the fda moving forward with a long-expected ban on menthol cigarettes how many lives the agency says it would save. and our series the climate challenge. my report on california s mega drought. what s causing it, and how it s impacting the food you put on your table.