Reuters US Domestic News Summary

J&J's COVID-19 shot gets CDC panel backing; vaccine near shipping A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel voted unanimously on Sunday to recommend Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 shot for widespread use, and U.S. officials said initial shipments would start on Sunday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Cuomo under pressure to refer probe of his alleged sexual misconduct to state prosecutor

New York's top prosecutor rejected a proposal by Governor Andrew Cuomo for her to pick a lawyer to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against him, after Cuomo's office backtracked on Sunday on a plan to choose its own investigator. State Attorney General Letitia James said it was essential that Cuomo's administration instead formally refer the matter to her office for investigation, which would give her subpoena power and ensure an impartial probe. Biden administration to appeal eviction moratorium ruling

The U.S. Justice Department said on Saturday it will appeal a judge's ruling that the nationwide eviction moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic is unlawful. The measure authorized by Congress and issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention covers most residential evictions in an effort to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. A federal judge in Texas ruled on Thursday that Congress did not have the power to authorize the moratorium under the U.S. Constitution. Trump to proclaim himself as the future for Republicans in speech

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday will declare himself the dominant figure in the fractured Republican Party and attack President Joe Biden in his first major appearance since leaving the White House nearly six weeks ago. "I stand before you today to declare that the incredible journey we began together four years ago is far from over," Trump will tell the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, according to speech excerpts released by his team. U.S. expects first shipments of J&J vaccine to be delivered Tuesday

Initial deliveries of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine should start on Tuesday, helping to boost vaccination rates across the country, senior administration officials said on Sunday. The officials acknowledged that vaccination rates among minorities were "not where we ultimately want them to be", but said federal officials were closely monitoring distribution to ensure it was equitable. Biden White House asks 'Trump who?' ahead of speech to conservatives

President Joe Biden's White House has made it clear it plans to ignore Donald Trump's speech on Sunday to a conservative conference in Florida, where the former president is expected to go on the attack against his successor. "Our focus is certainly not on what President Trump is saying" at the Conservative Political Action Conference, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. J&J's COVID-19 shot gets CDC panel backing; vaccine near shipping

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel voted unanimously on Sunday to recommend Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 shot for widespread use, and U.S. officials said initial shipments would start on Sunday. Providing a final clearance for the vaccine a day after it was authorized by U.S. regulators, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 12-0 to recommend the vaccine from J&J as appropriate for Americans 18 and older. There was one abstention due to prior conflicts of interest. Arrest warrant issued for suspect in murder of Yale student

Police investigating the fatal shooting of a Yale University student have officially named a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a murder suspect, intensifying a nationwide manhunt. The New Haven Police Department said in a Facebook post on Saturday that it had secured an arrest warrant charging Qinxuan Pan with murder, and that it would provide additional information on Monday. Pan remained at large, it said. Fauci urges Americans to get any of the three COVID-19 vaccines available

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official, said on Sunday he would take the newly approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, as he encouraged Americans to accept any of the three approved shots. "All three of them are really quite good, and people should take the one that's most available to them. If you go to a place and you have J&J, and that's the one that's available now, I would take it," Fauci said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Hyatt calls hate symbols 'abhorrent' after CPAC stage compared to sign used by Nazis

Hyatt Hotels Corp called symbols of hate "abhorrent" on Sunday after the design of a stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference at one of its hotels drew comparisons to a Norse rune used by Nazis during World War Two. High-profile Republicans including former President Donald Trump are attending the four-day event in Orlando, Florida, as conflict rages between Trump allies and establishment politicians trying to distance the party from him. U.S. administers 75.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines: CDC

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 75,236,003 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in the country as of Sunday morning and it had distributed 96,402,490 doses. The tally is for both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, vaccines as of 6 a.m. ET Sunday, the agency said. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines involve two doses.