Biden tells family of officer killed in Capitol car attack: ‘Your Dad was a hero’ – live - The Guardian

The White House press briefing has now concluded.

A senior administration official echoed comments from White House press secretary Jen Psaki on the US military’s path forward in Afghanistan.

Joe Biden is expected to announce tomorrow that he is setting a deadline of September 11 to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan.

But the White House press secretary did say this: “The president has been consistent in his view that there is not a military solution to Afghanistan, that we have been there for far too long.”.

White House Covid-19 task force coordinator Jeff Zeints said a “pause” in Johnson & Johnson vaccine administration would not affect national vaccine distribution, despite that some officials expected to rely on the one-shot vaccine in rural and isolated communities.

“We have enough to continue the current pace of about 3 million shots per day, 200 million shots by [Joe Biden’s] 100th day in office,” Zeints said in the White House briefing room.

Six cases of blood clots and low platelet counts in women between 18 and 48 caused the CDC and FDA to recommend states pause administration of the vaccine while potential links between the vaccine and very rare syndrome are investigated.

Health authorities said it was also important to pause the administration and announce it to the public because of the treatment needed for patients who may be suffering from such clots.

The White House had “no involvement” in the announcement about a “pause” in administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the US.

As to whether the very rare potential side effect could increase vaccine hesitancy, particularly in rural areas where the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was expected to be deployed, Zeints and Fauci said the pause represents how seriously the FDA takes patient safety.

Joe Biden will deliver a speech tomorrow on the US military’s strategy in Afghanistan, the White House press secretary just announced.

“The president will deliver remarks tomorrow at the White House on the way forward in Afghanistan,” Jen Psaki said.

The announcement comes as a senior administration official has confirmed to the Guardian’s Julian Borger that Biden intends to set a September 11 deadline for all US troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan.

Jeff Zients, the White House pandemic response coordinator, said his team did not know about the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine pause until this morning, when the Food and Drug Administration released its announcement.

“We didn’t know about anything in terms of the announcement until last night, and we didn’t even know the content of the announcement until this morning, when everyone else read it,” Zients said in the White House briefing room.

The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, is now holding her daily briefing with reporters.

Psaki was joined by Jeff Zients, the White House pandemic response coordinator, and Dr Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, to discuss the news that the Food and Drug Administration is calling for a pause in administration of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine.

The pause comes after six cases of blood clots were reported in women who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, out of more than 6 million doses administered.

Zients emphasized the US still has enough vaccine doses to continue administering 3 million shots a day, even with Johnson & Johnson on pause, because the country has “plenty of supply” of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The infectious disease expert said the Johnson & Johnson pause will allow the FDA to “further investigate these cases”.

Joe Biden will withdraw all the remaining US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the al-Qaida terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, a senior administration official has confirmed

The drawdown of US troops will begin by 1 May, the withdrawal deadline the Trump administration agreed with the Taliban last year, and will be completed by the 9/11 anniversary

“We went to Afghanistan to deliver justice to those who attacked us on September 11th and to disrupt terrorists seeking to use Afghanistan as a safe haven to attack,” a senior administration official said

interests, and proposed a summit meeting in a third country in the coming months to discuss the full range of issues facing the United States and Russia,” the White House said in a readout of the call

It’s unclear whether Putin agreed to the proposal on the call, during which Biden also “emphasized the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” according to the White House

“The President voiced our concerns over the sudden Russian military build-up in occupied Crimea and on Ukraine’s borders, and called on Russia to de-escalate tensions.” the White House said

The decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan represents a reversal for Joe Biden, who previously said he supported keeping a small American footprint in the country

Speaking to CBS News last year, Biden said he believed the US should maintain “a very small presence” in Afghanistan, meaning several thousand troops, to ensure Al-Qaida and the Islamic State don’t regain a foothold there

Joe Biden is reportedly expected to announce he will withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11 of this year, which will mark the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks

The Biden administration has repeatedly dodged questions about when specifically all US troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan, although senior officials have acknowledged they will not make the May 1 deadline

Asked about the US troop presence in Afghanistan at his press conference last month, Biden said, “We will leave