Biden’s approval rating falls below 50% for first time amid chaos in Kabul – live

The Pentagon will soon establish a mandate for all servicemembers to get vaccinated against coronavirus, following the Food and Drug Administration’s announcement that it was granting full approval to the Pfizer vaccine.

Defense secretary Lloyd Austin had previously indicated he would add the coronavirus vaccine to the list of troops’ required vaccinations, and Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby provided an update on those plans at the press conference today.

“Now that the Pfizer vaccine has been approved, the department is prepared to issue updated guidance requiring all service members to be vaccinated,” Kirby said.

The spokesperson said the required timeline for troops to get vaccinated would be “provided in the coming days,” and he emphasized that the health and safety of service members remains a “top priority” for the Pentagon.

“It’s important to remind everyone that these efforts ensure the safety of our servicemembers and promote the readiness of our force, not to mention the health and safety of the communities around the country in which we live,” Kirby said.

More vaccination mandates are expected to be announced in both the public and private sectors now that the FDA has issued its Pfizer approval.

All employees of New York public schools will now be required to get vaccinated against coronavirus, mayor Bill de Blasio announced at a press conference this afternoon.

De Blasio said the New York City department of health would soon be issuing an order requiring all public school employees — including teachers, principals and janitorial staff — to get at least one vaccine dose by September 27.

The mayor had previously said that all school employees would have to either get vaccinated or receive weekly coronavirus tests, but the latest update eliminates the testing option. It’s still unclear what the penalties will be for teachers who refuse to get vaccinated.

The new policy means that the nation’s largest school system will have a vaccination requirement in place for all employees as students look to return to the classroom this fall.

The mayor’s announcement comes on the same day that the Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.

Joe Biden will deliver remarks on his administration’s coronavirus vaccination efforts at 1:30 pm ET today, the White House has just announced in an update to the president’s schedule.

Biden will likely address the Food and Drug Administration’s announcement that it has granted full approval to the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.

The president’s senior advisers, including health and human services secretary Xavier Becerra, have used the announcement to once again encourage all eligible Americans to get vaccinated as quickly as possible.

The Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval to the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, after “an incredibly thorough and thoughtful evaluation” confirmed the treatment’s safety and effectiveness.

“The FDA’s approval of this vaccine is a milestone as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic,” the acting FDA commissioner, Dr Janet Woodcock, said in a statement.

Woodcock added, “While this and other vaccines have met the FDA’s rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product.”

The FDA’s announcement notes that the vaccine has been fully approved for those 16 and older, while it remains available to those between the ages of 12 and 15 under the company’s original emergency use authorization.

Following its FDA approval, the Pfizer vaccine will now be marketed under the name Comirnaty.

The blog will have more details coming up, so stay tuned.

The Guardian’s Lucy Campbell reports:

The Taliban has said it will not agree to an extension of the 31 August deadline for the current evacuation mission.

The 31st was “a red line”, Suhail Shaheen, a member of the delegation in Doha, told Sky News.

He said the US president Joe Biden had said troops would be out by that date, and extending it meant “extending occupation”. He warned of “consequences” if that were to change.

He said:

It’s a red line. President Biden announced that on 31 August they would withdraw all their military forces. So if they extend it that means they are extending occupation while there is no need for that.

If the US or UK were to seek additional time to continue evacuations – the answer is no. Or there would be consequences.

It will create mistrust between us. If they are intent on continuing the occupation it will provoke a reaction.

Follow more of Lucy’s updates on the Guardian’s Afghanistan live blog:

The US has helped evacuate about 37,000 people from Afghanistan over the past week and a half, according to the latest numbers from the White House.

“From August 22 at 3:00 AM EDT to August 23 at 3:00 AM EDT, 28 U.S. military flights (25 C-17s and 3 C-130s) evacuated approximately 10,400 people from Kabul. In addition, 61 coalition aircraft evacuated approximately 5,900 people,” a White House official told the press pool.

“Since August 14, the U.S. has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of approximately 37,000 people. Since the end of July, we have relocated approximately 42,000 people.”

The Guardian’s Peter Beaumont and Kate Connolly report:

A firefight between unidentified gunmen and US, German and Afghan guards at Kabul airport has left one Afghan guard dead and three wounded, underscoring the fragile security situation around the site.

The fight, which took place at just after 7am Kabul time at the north gate of the airfield, started when former Afghan security forces who are acting as guards exchanged fire with the gunmen. Then German and US forces became involved.

Scant details of the incident were disclosed in tweets from the official account of the German Joint Forces Operations Command, Bundeswehr im Einsatz (German forces in action).

“This morning at 04:13 [central European summer time], a firefight broke out between Afghan security forces and unknown assailants at the North Gate of #Kabul airport. One Afghan security force member was killed and three others wounded.”

It added: “The Afghan security forces are members of the Afghan army. They are involved in securing the airport in Kabul as part of the multinational operation.”

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Joe Biden is facing one of the most difficult points of his presidency so far — as he faces criticism over everything from Afghanistan to the coronavirus pandemic to infrastructure legislation.

An NBC News poll released yesterday showed Biden’s approval rating had fallen below 50% for the first time since he took office in January. Only 25% of Americans approve of his handling of the situation in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the House returns to session today, and the speaker Nancy Pelosi is reckoning with clashing demands from the moderate and progressive wings of her caucus.

While progressives want to prioritize Democrats’ $3.5tn spending package as the House resumes its work, several moderates are demanding an immediate vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which passed the Senate earlier this month.

A group of House moderates wrote a Washington Post op-ed over the issue, saying, “We can walk and chew gum, just as the Senate did. We can pass the infrastructure measure now, and then quickly consider reconciliation and the policies from climate to health care to universal pre-K that we believe are critical.”

So Biden has to simultaneously get more Americans out of Afghanistan and keep his own party together in Washington. He has quite the week ahead of him. Stay tuned.