1 FDA Panel Votes For Boosters For Elderly And At Risk Only
The Food and Drug Administration rejected the plan to offer COVID-19 booster shots from Pfizer to all Americans. President Biden had planned to begin rolling out boosters for everyone, but with the FDA's rejection, that plan is now on hold. The panel did say it supports giving boosters to health care and other front-line workers, including teachers, as well as for older and high-risk people. After Friday’s vote, Pfizer says they’ll continue to work with the FDA to try to gain approval, but that isn’t the only step. If and when the FDA approves booster shots for all Americans, the move would still require approval from the CDC. Among the reasons why the panel refused to approve boosters were concerns by experts over the lack of safety data on young people.
2 FBI: Human Remains Found In Wyoming Likely Gabby Petito
The search for Gabby Petito has led to the discovery of human remains in Teton County, Wyoming yesterday. In a news conference, the FBI said the remains are “consistent with the description of” Petito. The cause of death hasn’t been determined, and while they were unable to “100% confirm” that the remains belong to Petito, the agency did notify her family of the discovery. The Teton County Coroner said yesterday that an autopsy on the remains is scheduled for tomorrow. The 22-year-old woman disappeared while on a road trip through several Western states with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, In Florida, authorities are continuing to search for Laundrie, who returned to his home at the beginning of September driving Petito’s white van. His family says he left home Tuesday with his backpack and told them he was going to a nature preserve in the area. Police have said Laundrie isn’t wanted for a crime at this time, but Petito’s family has issued a statement to CNN saying “All of Gabby’s family want the world to know that Brian is not missing, he is hiding. Gabby is missing.”
3 Tropical Storm Peter Forms Over The Weekend
The Atlantic hurricane season continues to churn storms out of an active tropical region; over the weekend, Tropical Storm Peter became the 16th named storm of the 2021 season. Peter is forecast by the National Hurricane Center to turn northward into the Atlantic thanks to a strong cold front moving eastward across the U.S. Peter’s not the only storm the NHC is tracking; a tropical depression far out in the eastern Atlantic is expected to become Tropical Storm Rose with no immediate threats to land. Only two other Atlantic hurricane seasons have had 17 named storms by September 19 since 1966…2005, the extremely active season that saw Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast, and 2020.