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“When you get any vaccine from a doctor or pharmacist, you talk through risks and benefits and get your questions answered. It’s no different than before.” DR. JENNIFER AVEGNO, director of the New Orleans Health Department
COVID vaccines become easier to find in Louisiana
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Feds link Lafayette resident to massacre Man accused of participating in Hamas-led attack in Israel makes court appearance
BY CLAIRE TAYLOR
Staff writer
A man living and working in Lafayette who federal authorities say is a member of a terrorist organization and participated in the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel appeared in court for the first time Friday. Gaza-born Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub al-Muhtadi, 33, also known as Abu Ala, was arrested on a federal warrant and jailed in St. Martin Parish on Thursday. He faces federal charges of supporting a terrorist organization and visa fraud for providing false information June 26, 2024, on his visa application to enter the United States and obtain legal permanent resident status. He allegedly indicated he had not ever served in a paramilitary or terrorist group. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. The FBI’s criminal complaint, which al-Muhtadi
ä See MASSACRE, page 5A
STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD KEMP
Pharmacies and clinics across the state are offering the updated COVID-19 vaccines without a prescription, following new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released earlier this month.
Updated CDC guidance eases confusion BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer
After weeks of confusion about access to the latest COVID-19 vaccine and murky guidance from federal officials, Louisiana residents should now find it much easier to get a shot. Pharmacies and clinics across the state are offering the updated vac-
cines without a prescription, following new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released earlier this month. The agency said that anyone 6 months and older can receive the vaccine through “shared clinical decisionmaking” with a provider — essentially, a conversation between patients and their providers about personal risk and benefit. In practical terms, that shouldn’t look any different from the usual process of getting a vaccine from a provider, whether that’s in a pharmacy or at a doctor’s office, said Dr. Jennifer Avegno, director of the
New Orleans Health Department. “When you get any vaccine from a doctor or pharmacist, you talk through risks and benefits and get your questions answered,” said Avegno. “It’s no different than before.” The clarification marked the end of several weeks of uncertainty over who could get the updated vaccine and how. After the Food and Drug Administration approved this fall’s updated COVID-19 shots on Aug. 27, it narrowed use to seniors 65 and older and to people from 6 months to
ä See VACCINE, page 4A
State education leaders focus on absenteeism
Basing funding on attendance could backfire, some say BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer
Several members of a new study group to examine Louisiana’s high rates of student absenteeism pushed back this week against proposals to tie school district funding to attendance, warning that doing so could backfire without addressing the root causes of why students miss school. Louisiana’s absenteeism rate rose between 2022 and 2024 before dropping slightly last year. Members of the state’s new Truancy Study Group suggested brainstorming ways for school systems
ä See EDUCATION, page 4A
Trump tells Zelenskyy he’s reluctant to sell him missiles President had previously warned Russia he might
BY AAMER MADHANI, SEUNG MIN KIM and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signaled to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday that he’s leaning against selling him long-range Tomahawk missiles, while offering optimism that the war is moving toward an end that would mitigate a need for the powerful weapon. Zelenskyy at the start of the
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White House talks said he had a “proposition” in which Ukraine could provide the United States with its advanced drones, while Washington would sell Kyiv the Tomahawk cruise missiles that Ukrainian officials say they desperately need to motivate Russian President Vladmir Putin to get serious about peace talks. But Trump said he was hesitant to tap into the U.S. supply, a turnabout after days of suggesting he was seriously weighing sending the missiles to help Ukraine beat back Russia’s invasion. “I have an obligation also to make sure that we’re completely stocked up as a country, because you never know what’s going to happen in war and peace,” Trump
said. He added, “We’d much rather have them not need Tomahawks. We’d much rather have the war be over to be honest.” Following the meeting, Trump called on Kyiv and Moscow to “stop where they are” and end the war. “Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide!” Zelenskyy told reporters after the meeting it was time for a ceasefire and negotiations, but appeared to stop short of embracing Trump’s call for an immediate end
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, sits before a meeting with President Donald Trump, from right, Vice President JD Vance and Treasury ä See MISSILES, page 5A Secretary Scott Bessent in the White House on Friday.
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