Three things for March 24
1. Final juror selected for former officer Derek Chauvin’s trial
On Tuesday, the full jury for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was selected. In May 2020, police arrested Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd after he kneeled on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.
The jury will now consist of three white men, six white women, two women of mixed race, three black men and one black woman, according to NBC News.
The jury selection took 11 days and 95 potential jurors were dismissed. The trial will begin with opening statements on Monday, March 29.
2. IRS announces more stimulus checks
The IRS recently announced more stimulus checks will be deposited as soon as March 24.
The $1400 checks are being distributed to provide relief to Americans as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
In a statement issued by the IRS on Monday, March 22, the organization said, “More information about when these payments will be made will be provided on IRS.gov as soon as it becomes available.”
3. AstraZeneca vaccine trial results questioned by medical experts
After promising results from AstraZeneca about the accuracy rate of its COVID-19 vaccine, the company is facing accusations from a private group of medical experts.
The accusations made on Tuesday, March, 23 claim AstraZeneca did not use the full amount of data results gathered from test trials of the vaccine, which predicted an accuracy rate of 69%-74% against the virus. Allegedly, they used a partial amount of data to show a 79% accuracy rate.
The different accuracy rates come from whether the company includes the most recent COVID cases from participants in the trial. When the company revealed the results on Monday, March 22, they did not include the recent cases.
According to the New York Times, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said a public airing of doubt about the vaccine’s strength against the virus could make it harder for the public to trust the process.
“Any type of thing like this could, unfortunately, contribute to a lack of confidence in the process,” Dr. Fauci said.
AstraZeneca has since stated they will present updated data within the next 48 hours.
