It’s Your Week. Everyone’s talking about Pfizer. – USA TODAY
Think we talk a lot about vaccines? Well, get ready to hear a whole lot more about one in particular: Pfizer.
With boosters on the horizon, the FDA issued its full stamp of approval for the Pfizer vaccine Monday. With that approval, it’s expected that vaccination will soon be required by many companies, schools and other entities – and it’s cleared to be marketed.
What’s this mean? The Pfizer vaccine is safe, effective and can be reliably produced. (Still unsure – or have hesitant friends and family? Here are answers to commonly voiced concerns about the vaccine.)
Welcome to Your Week. I’m Alex, and this exclusive newsletter combines USA TODAY’s top content into a quick, digestible Monday email for you, our subscribers. I’m thankful you’re here, and happy to share the best of the best. Let’s get to it.
Headlines you might have missed
- Wildfires are burning up trees meant to fight climate change: ‘It’s definitely not working.’
- Cassette tapes, reunion shows and lots of denim: Here’s the reason these retro trends are back, back, back again.
- Puerto Rico has some of the best COVID-19 vaccination rates in the US. Here’s how the island did it.
- Millennial parents are joining the crypto craze. Should you? Here’s what experts say.
- ‘It was a life or death decision’: Elite athletes face stigma, physiological challenges when taking antidepressants.
- HIPAA was enacted 25 years ago. Today, it’s wrongly being used to justify keeping vaccine status secret.
The Afghanistan finger-pointing begins
A policy failure? A rushed withdrawal? Incorrect intelligence?
As the Taliban returns to power in Afghanistan, the blame game in Washington has only just begun.
President Joe Biden has sought to spin the spiraling crisis as one that was inevitable and largely out of his control. But a wide variety of experts counter that the White House had ample warnings of impending catastrophe.
USA TODAY’s Josh Meyer and Courtney Subramanian spoke with U.S. intelligence and military officials to answer the question: How did Afghanistan end this way?
Our coverage of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan has been comprehensive, and there’s too many stories to drop in this newsletter, so I’ve rounded up the latest. As you read, know that this reporting is made by possible by your subscription.
- Polls show the United States’ reputation improved on the world stage had after Biden took office. Will the turmoil in Afghanistan hurt its reputation?
- The Taliban vowed that women’s rights would be respected within the norms of Islamic law. Experts say, ‘it’s just rubbish.’
- In Opinion: As the Taliban asserts authority in Afghanistan, let us not fall prey to simply demonizing Islam and Islamic law.
- Safe, but still scared: Afghans who worked with Americans fear for family left behind.
- US lacks leverage over Taliban amid chaotic Afghanistan exit: ‘They have us in a corner.’
You can find our full coverage here.
Stories we can’t get enough of
Daters, beware | Are you dating a narcissist? USA TODAY’s Charles Trepany spoke with Dr. Ramani Durvasula, a clinical psychologist, on what you should know — especially if you’re getting back into the dating game. Essentially: They want to open up too much too soon, they make your connection sound too good to be true, they bad-mouth their exes and they’re snobby about appearances.
‘Trust in my self-expression’ | Anyone can be a dancer, and TikTok proves it every day. For many, the app offers space to learn about dance history and styles. For those who may have not been able to learn about dance because of their age, gender or socioeconomic status, TikTok breaks through those barriers to expose them to dance styles, like ballet, that upholds elitism. “TikTok has brought to life this performance quality that you should strive for instead of the perfection aspect,” dancer Ava Gordy said.
In Opinion | To COVID-19, there are no red states. No blue states. Just the United States. Columnist Jason Sattler writes, “The delta variant doesn’t care what news channel we watch, which candidates we back or which ones we laugh at. It only cares where it can land just enough droplets. We need to see the mistakes being made in Florida, Texas and Mississippi not as blunders to mock but as our Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.”
In the news today
- One year after the shooting of Jacob Blake, some in Kenosha ‘don’t want to move on.’
- Tropical Depression Henri stalls over Northeast, drenching region and flooding communities ‘in the blink of an eye.’
- Devastating scenes of ruin with at least 22 dead, about 20 missing in Tennessee flooding.
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As always, thanks for reading!
Alex
