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8.26pm BST
House speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Republican congressman Matt Gaetz should be removed from the judiciary committee if the sex-trafficking allegations against him are true.
“If in fact these allegations are true, of course being removed from the judiciary committee is the least that could be done,” the Democratic speaker said during her weekly press conference.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) “would be a matter for the Ethics Committee.” pic.twitter.com/TvdF4fUU9W
The Florida politician, a close ally of Donald Trump, claimed during a Tuesday night interview that he was the victim of an extortion plot by a former justice department official, and questioned the motivation behind Tuesday’s original reporting by the New York Times.
Gaetz, 38, claimed his lawyers had been informed that he was the subject of an FBI inquiry ‘regarding sexual conduct with women’ and that the official was attempting to extort $25m from his family ‘in exchange for a commitment that he could make this investigation go away’.
Related: Matt Gaetz claims ‘extortion’ amid reported investigation into relationship with teenage girl
8.00pm BST
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech protects against symptomatic Covid for up to six months, an updated analysis of clinical trial data has found.
In a statement released on Thursday, the companies reported efficacy of 91.3% against any symptoms of the disease in participants assessed up to six months after their second shot. The level of protection is only marginally lower than the 95% achieved soon after vaccination.
Related: Pfizer vaccine has 91% efficacy for up to six months, trial shows
