FDA discusses vaccine boosters, France COVID test fee, NBA season starts, Russia invites Taliban to talks, Lebanon power outages

Factal Forecast

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will meet on Thursday to review safety and efficacy data for potential booster doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine. The panel will reconvene the next day for similar discussions regarding the Johnson & Johnson shot.
• Unvaccinated French citizens will no longer be able to get free coronavirus tests starting Friday as Paris’ attempts to encourage the population to get vaccinated escalate. Tests for vaccinated citizens will remain free.
• The NBA season kicks off Tuesday with questions about the vaccination status of one of its star players.
• Russia will invite Taliban representatives to talks on Afghanistan in Moscow on Wednesday, according to President Vladimir Putin’s envoy to Afghanistan.
• Lebanon power outages -- an interview with Factal Editor Ahmed Namatalla.

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This episode was produced with work from Factal editors Awais Ahmad, Alex Moore, Jeff Landset, Imana Gunawan and Ahmed Namatalla. Music courtesy of Andrew Gospe.

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