World News: One and done 💉

Wednesday, February 24

Johnson & Johnson's vaccine raises no safety concerns. Tiger Woods had a rod inserted into his leg. It's Wednesday's news.

Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine is looking quite promising. Tiger Woods is awake and responsive following a brutal car crash. And more and more Americans are waving their LGBTQ flags high. 🏳️‍🌈

It's Ashley with the news to know.

But first, Baarack is looking baaaeutiful: A sheep named Baarack who was rescued in Australia with over 75 pounds of wool, is "getting more confident every day."

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Johnson & Johnson's got one shot

There's one big difference between Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 candidate vaccine and others: It only requires one dose instead of two. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday announced that the vaccine also raises no safety concerns, clearing the way for an expected authorization for the vaccine in adults within the next few days. The vaccine was shown to be 72% effective in a trial in the United States, with all ethnic, racial and age groups benefitting about the same. J&J has agreed to provide 100 million doses of its vaccine in the United States by June, including 20 million by the end of March. Those doses will add to the 300 million doses Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna each have promised to deliver to the U.S. government by the end of July.

•	The Biden administration will be distributing 25 million masks to community health centers, food pantries and soup kitchens in an effort to reach underserved communities.
•	Moderna, which makes one of the two authorized COVID-19 vaccines, is set to launch a clinical trial of a new vaccine designed to combat a variant of the virus.
•	CVS is expanding COVID-19 vaccine rollout to 6 more states: Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Alabama and Louisiana.
•	Are you on Clubhouse? If so, tune into our live discussion with two health experts about COVID-19 on Thursday at 7 p.m. EST.

Tiger had a rod inserted into his leg, but is 'awake, responsive'

The golfer escaped a Tuesday morning car accident with his life but suffered "significant" leg injuries that required extensive surgery and a rod being inserted into his lower right leg. Woods, 45, suffered "comminuted open fractures affecting both the upper and lower tibia and fibula," said Dr. Anish Mahajan, interim CEO and chief medical officer of Harbor-UCLA Hospital, where Woods was taken to the trauma center and treated. Woods also suffered injuries to the bones in his right foot and ankle, which were stabilized using screws and pins, and to muscle and soft tissue in the leg. Woods' team said in the statement that the golfer was "awake, responsive and recovering" following the surgery.

•	Was Woods' SUV safe? His car accident has called attention to the Genesis GV80.
•	We can't stop talking about Woods and his golf career, even when we should.

Workers move a vehicle after a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in the Rancho Palos Verdes section of Los Angeles.

Mark J. Terrill, AP

What everyone's talking about

•	A former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo has accused him of what she called a series of sexual harassment incidents, including an unwanted kiss on the lips.
•	Young Black men and teens are killed by guns 20 times more than their white counterparts, CDC data shows.
•	Bruce Springsteen pleaded guilty to alcohol consumption in a closed area but his DWI charge was dropped.
•	'Home Improvement' star Zachery Ty Bryan was convicted on two counts in a domestic violence case.
•	Navy vet suffering a mental health crisis died after police knelt on his neck, his family says.

5 board members of Texas utility grid operator quit

Five members of the board of directors at the entity that operates the state's electrical grid resigned on Wednesday. None of them lives in Texas. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has come under fire for its handling of widespread blackouts that left millions of Texans (including some Short List readers) without power and water as the Deep South faced a brutal freeze that resulted in more than 80 deaths. In a joint resignation letter, Board Chairwoman Sally Talberg, Vice Chairman Peter Cramton and members Terry Bulger and Raymond Hepper acknowledged "the pain and suffering of Texans during this past week" and cited objections to their residency as a motivating factor for their resignations. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who charged state lawmakers with making changes at the utility grid operator after the outages, said he welcomed the resignations.

'System is broken'

After news that a grand jury announced no criminal charges would be brought against the Rochester, New York, officers whose restraint of Daniel Prude may have caused his death, members of the city's Black community expressed grief, anger and fatigue, along with a determination to set a new path forward. More than 100 people in Rochester took to the streets Tuesday where Prude had encountered the police, expressing frustration with the Rochester Police Department and the ruling. The grand jury's decision comes on the heels of similar findings in the high-profile cases of Jacob Blake and Breonna Taylor. Prude's death last year set off nights of protest in Rochester after activists contended that police should not have been the primary responders to what was a mental health episode.

Rochester police officers whose physical restraint of Daniel Prude may have caused his death will not face criminal charges, Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday.

Shawn Dowd/Democrat and Chronicle

Real quick

•	Former LSU football coach Les Miles was investigated for sexual harassment in 2013.
•	Here's where Congress stands on legislation that includes a coronavirus aid check.
•	Ashley Judd provided a health update after shattering her leg in a rainforest.
•	'A loud bang was heard': Here's what federal investigators know so far about United Airlines' Boeing 777 engine failure.
•	YouTube to launch supervised accounts for kids under 13 years old.

A record 5.6% of US adults identify as LGBTQ. Thanks, Gen Z. 🏳️‍🌈

A record number of U.S. adults – 5.6% – identify as LGBTQ, an increase propelled by a younger generation staking out its presence in the world, a poll released Wednesday shows. The survey by Gallup marks more than a 1 percentage point jump from the last poll in 2017 in which 4.5% of adults identified as LGBTQ. The estimated 18 million adults who identify as LGBTQ represent a continued upward trajectory since Gallup started tracking identification in 2012. One of the biggest headlines in the 2020 poll is the emergence of Generation Z adults, those 18 to 23: 1 in 6, or 15.9%, identify as LGBTQ. In each older generation, LGBTQ identification is lower, including 2% or less of respondents born before 1965.

A break from the news

•	💰 The 5 best Amazon deals you can get today.
•	🧹 20 things under $20 that will help you clean your home.
•	🚲 This high-end exercise bike gives Peloton a run for its money.

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for The Short List newsletter here.