Biden to put spotlight on new gun safety law at White House event
Biden to put spotlight on new gun safety law at White House event The Washington Post
Today, President Biden heralded last month’s passage of a law that includes the most significant firearms restrictions enacted by Congress in decades but renewed his call for additional actions, including an assault weapons ban, saying, “We’re living in a country awash in weapons of war.”
“It matters, but it’s not enough. And we all know that,” Biden said of the new law as he addressed a crowd outside the White House that included survivors and family members of victims of mass shootings.
Meanwhile, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection is preparing more hearings, including one on Tuesday that will focus on former president Donald Trump’s connections to the far-right and political extremist groups that participated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Jason Van Tatenhove, a former spokesman for the Oath Keepers, is expected to testify.
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The latest: Second booster shot for adults may come soon, administration says
Biden administration officials are working on a plan that would allow all adults in the United States to receive a second coronavirus booster shot, Dan Diamond, Laurie McGinley and Lena H. Sun report.
The plan, which is pending federal agency sign-offs, comes as the White House and health experts seek to blunt a virus surge that has sent hospitalizations to their highest levels since March 3.
As our colleagues write:
Virus levels have risen across the country, fueled by ever-more-contagious omicron subvariants such as BA. 5 that evade some immune protections and have increased the risk of reinfections. About 112,000 new cases have been reported per day, according to The Washington Post’s rolling seven-day average — with the true number many times higher, say experts, as most Americans test at home. Hospitalization and death levels are mounting, although they remain significantly below January peaks, with about 38,000 people hospitalized with covid as of Sunday, and an average daily death toll of 327 as of Monday.
Only those 50 and older, or those 12 and older who are immunocompromised, can receive a second booster shot. But administration officials are concerned by data that suggests immunity wanes within several months of the first booster shot. In addition, officials want to use vaccine doses that are reaching their expiration dates and would otherwise be discarded.
And, according to an administration official, who spoke with our colleagues on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the issue, some administration experts are worried the BA. 4 and BA. 5 subvariants of omicron “might be a little worse” than earlier virus lineages, citing the modest increase in hospitalizations and concerns the trend might worsen.
Officials hope that the eligibility to these boosters will be broadened within the next few weeks.
Read more about these efforts here.
