(WASHINGTON) — If it’s been six months or more since your second COVID-19 vaccine shot, you may be wondering whether you qualify for a booster.
In September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed an independent panel’s recommendation that older adults, along with those as young as 18 who have an underlying medical condition, receive a Pfizer booster shot.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky also added a recommendation for a third dose for those in high-risk jobs or settings, such as nursing and teaching. Immunocompromised Americans, like those undergoing cancer treatment, have been able to get a third dose of the Moderna or Pfizer mRNA vaccines since mid-August.
But there has been a lot of public debate and there are different rules for Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer boosters, all of which can add to confusion. So, when is it your turn?
ABC News answers a wide variety of scenarios in the table below to let you know whether you qualify — and if you don’t today, when you might.
New booster recommendations are expected after the CDC advisory panel’s meetings on Oct. 20 and 21.
Boosters are intended to return the level of protection to the vaccine’s optimal level. Mixing and matching vaccines are not authorized or recommended at this time, but may be in the near future, and if your vaccine or demographic isn’t yet eligible for a booster, experts say it’s best to wait.
Appointments for all vaccines and boosters can be found at vaccines.gov.
(WASHINGTON) — In a private phone call Tuesday with the nation’s governors, the White House said states should prepare to begin vaccinating elementary-aged kids against COVID-19 in early November and that it would work with local health officials in the coming days to identify which sites will receive the first doses.
In audio obtained by ABC News, White House officials told the governors it had enough pediatric doses on hand for the 28 million children ages 5 through 11 expected to become eligible once federal regulators give the green light.
Once that happens, the pediatric Pfizer vaccine will be distributed in 100-dose packs. The doses, which are about a third of what is given to adults, will be sent to thousands of sites, including pediatricians, family doctors, hospitals, health clinics and pharmacies enrolled in a federal program that guarantees the shots are provided for free.
Some states are planning to provide the vaccine through schools as well.
“We’ve secured plenty of supply, and we’ll be putting in place an allocation, ordering and distribution system similar to what we’ve used for the other vaccines,” said President Joe Biden’s White House COVID coordinator, Jeff Zients, on the phone call to governors.
Zients said states should expect an initial rush for shots and ensure parents can easily schedule appointments.
“It’s important that all of us recognize that parents have been waiting for a pediatric vaccine for a long time so they will understandably be very eager to get their kids vaccinated or kids vaccinated right away,” he said.
Pfizer’s study on elementary-aged kids included 4,500 volunteers from the U.S., Finland, Poland and Spain. Precise details on the effectiveness of the vaccines in clinical trials involving kids has not been publicly released, although Pfizer says the study showed the smaller dosage was safe and effective.
Separate vaccine trials are under way for toddlers and preschoolers, with results expected by the end of the year. A Pfizer vaccine for kids under 5 is expected to become available in early 2022.
Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must agree the pediatric COVID vaccines are safe and effective before any shots are given to kids.
Key meetings with independent advisers to those agencies are scheduled for later this month and the first week of November.
In anticipation of the FDA and CDC authorizing the vaccine for kids, the federal government purchased 65 million pediatric two-shot doses from Pfizer. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 70% of providers who administer vaccines to kids are enrolled to offer COVID shots.
Whether parents will embrace the vaccines for their kids is still a question and could depend upon details released in coming weeks on the clinical trial. In a September poll, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that about a third of parents with kids ages 5-11 were willing to vaccinate their kids right away, while another third wanted to “wait and see.” The figures represented a slight uptick in vaccine acceptance among parents of elementary-aged kids since July.
Overall, children are still considered significantly less likely than adults to experience bad outcomes from COVID-19. According to an estimate by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, less than 2% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization.
Still, health officials warned that the sudden spike in COVID cases this summer and fall resulted in an alarming number of hospitalizations among kids. Since late August, the U.S. reported more than 1.1 million pediatric cases.
ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Infants born to mothers with COVID-19 are significantly more likely to experience health problems, such as difficulty breathing, compared to infants born to mothers without COVID-19, according to a new study published Monday.
The study, published in the Journal Of Maternal-Fetal And Neonatal Medicine, adds a new layer onto the growing body of research showing the potential complications COVID-19 can cause for both pregnant people and babies.
As COVID-19 continues to affect more expectant people in the United States, especially those who are unvaccinated, here are seven questions answered about pregnancy and the coronavirus.
1. Are pregnant people at higher risk?
Yes, pregnant people are at higher risk for complications from COVID-19.
Since the onset of the pandemic, more than 127,000 pregnant people have tested positive for COVID-19, 22,000 pregnant people have been hospitalized nationwide and at least 171 pregnant people have died as result of COVID-19, according to federal data.
COVID-19 causes a two-fold risk of admission into intensive care and a 70% increased risk of death for pregnant people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Research published last month in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a medical journal, also found that pregnant people infected with the delta variant are more likely to have severe COVID-19 cases, and the variant leads to even worse outcomes for unvaccinated pregnant people.
2. What risks does COVID-19 bring to the fetus?
Pregnant people with COVID-19 are more likely to experience preterm birth, or delivering the baby earlier than 37 weeks, according to the CDC.
Poor pregnancy outcomes, such as pregnancy loss, have also been reported. There have been at least 266 pregnancy losses in the U.S. since the onset of the pandemic, according to federal data.
infants with COVID-positive mothers had two times greater odds of developing any type of adverse health complication during the birth process compared to infants with COVID-negative mothers, according to the research published in Journal Of Maternal-Fetal And Neonatal Medicine.
3. Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe for pregnant people?
Yes, the vaccines are safe for people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant or might become pregnant in the future, according to data compiled over the past nearly one year.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use mRNA technology, which does not enter the nucleus of the cells and doesn’t alter the human DNA. Instead, it sends a genetic instruction manual that prompts cells to create proteins that look like the virus a way for the body to learn and develop defenses against future infection.
They are the first mRNA vaccines, which are theoretically safe during pregnancy, because they do not contain a live virus.
Messenger RNA vaccines for COVID-19, such as those produced by Moderna and Pfizer, showed no obvious safety concerns for pregnant women, according to a preliminary report published in April in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology does not enter the nucleus of the cells and doesn’t alter the human DNA. Instead, it sends a genetic instruction manual that prompts cells to create proteins that look like the virus a way for the body to learn and develop defenses against future infection.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses an inactivated adenovirus vector, Ad26, that cannot replicate. The Ad26 vector carries a piece of DNA with instructions to make the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that triggers an immune response.
This same type of vaccine has been authorized for Ebola, and has been studied extensively for other illnesses — and for how it affects women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
The CDC as well as the nation’s two leading health organizations focused on the care of pregnant people — American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) — have all issued guidelines calling on all pregnant people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, citing the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.
The COVID-19 vaccines can be taken during any trimester.
Just 25% of pregnant people in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 49 are currently vaccinated with at least one dose, according to the CDC.
4. What precautions should pregnant people take?
The most important thing pregnant people can do to protect themselves is to get vaccinated, and to make sure their loved ones are vaccinated too, medical experts say.
Pregnant people who are fully vaccinated should wear a face mask indoors when in public in areas of substantial or high transmission, avoid crowds and poorly ventilated indoor spaces and wash hands often with soap and water, according to the CDC.
Unvaccinated pregnant people should get vaccinated and continue masking until fully vaccinated, while also following safety guidelines like avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated indoor spaces, washing hands often with soap and water and staying six feet apart from people not in their households, according to the CDC.
5. Should pregnant people travel?
There is no guidance that pregnant people should not travel, so it’s ultimately a personal decision.
Pregnant people should consult with their doctors first. Factors to consider include where you’re considering traveling, how far along in your pregnancy you are and what your backup plan would be.
When traveling, pregnant people should wear a face mask that covers their nose and mouth.
In addition to considering whether the country in question has seen a significant influx of COVID-19 cases, think about the situation on ground. Has travel within the country been disrupted? How would you feel about potentially being quarantined upon returning to the United States? Is there a risk you could be grounded due to canceled flights or quarantines and not be able to travel home? Would you have access to medical care at your destination?
The U.S. State Department provides travel advisories that include up-to-date recommendations about which countries have reported cases of COVID-19 and how widespread infections have been. The situation is fluid and rapidly evolving, so you should check back often and use that information to inform what’s essentially a personal decision.
6. Can coronavirus be transferred to the fetus?
There is still more research to be done to determine whether a pregnant person could pass the virus to her fetus before, during or after delivery.
One small study in Italy last year found that a pregnant person infected with the coronavirus might be able to spread it to her fetus, but the study’s leader said it was still “too early to make guidelines” or to change care.
According to the CDC, some newborns have tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after birth but it is not known if the newborns got the virus before, during, or after birth.
7. Is it safe for a person with COVID-19 to breastfeed?
It is safe, in general, to breastfeed when you have COVID-19, according to both the CDC and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
The CDC recommends that people with COVID-19 wash their hands before breastfeeding and wear a mask when breastfeeding and whenever they are within six feet of the baby.
It is not likely that COVID-19 can pass through breast milk.
Recent studies have shown though that people who are vaccinated against COVID-19 may be able to pass along protection from the virus to their infant through breastfeeding.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani face no criminal charges but their names will figure into the trial that starts Tuesday in Manhattan of Soviet-born and Florida-based businessman Lev Parnas, who has been associated with Giuliani and now stands accused of making unlawful campaign donations.
Before they hear any evidence, prospective jurors are being asked about the former president and his personal attorney since federal prosecutors have said Parnas allegedly shared photos of himself with Trump and Giuliani to raise his profile.
When asked about the extent to which their names were going to come up by Judge Paul Oetken during a recent court hearing, assistant U.S. attorney Hagan Scotten replied, “They will come up really only peripherally.”
Parnas, 49, allegedly made unlawful donations totaling more than $350,000 to two pro-Trump super PACs and former Texas Congressman Pete Sessions in 2018. Another part of the case involves Parnas and co-defendant Andrey Kukushkin being charged with acting as straw donors for a wealthy Russian who wanted to enter the burgeoning marijuana market in the United States.
Parnas and Kukushkin have each pleaded not guilty to all charges. Prosecutors have said the recipients of the donations did not know the source of those donations to be the wealthy Russian.
The alleged illicit donations overlapped with Giuliani’s quest in Ukraine to unearth information that could damage then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, an effort in which Parnas allegedly positioned himself as a middleman.
During Trump’s first impeachment, a defense attorney for Parnas cast him as someone who could shed light on the ousting of ex-ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Prosecutors have since eliminated allegations involving Yovanovitch’s firing to “streamline” the case, as they put it to the judge.
In recent weeks, Parnas has claimed he can no longer afford to travel to New York. The U.S. Marshals were ordered to send a plane to bring him Florida and taxpayers will pay his hotel bill for the duration of the trial.
(NEW YORK) — A Wyoming coroner on Tuesday said Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old travel blogger whose remains were recovered in September in a national park, died by strangulation.
Petito’s boyfriend and cross-country traveling companion, Brian Laundrie, has been named by investigators as a person of interest in her death and is the subject of a massive nationwide search being directed by the FBI.
Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue told reporters Petito’s manner of death was homicide.
Her body was discovered on Sept. 19 in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near Jackson.
Blue’s announcement comes amidst a nationwide search the FBI is leading for Laundrie, who drew suspicion after returning to his parents’ North Port, Florida, home on Sept. 1 without Petito but driving her van, authorities said.
Laundrie’s parents told police they last saw their son on Sept. 13, two days after Petito’s parents, who live in Long Island, New York, reported her missing. Laundrie’s parents told investigators their son may have been headed to the Carlton Reserve, a 25,000-acre wildlife preserve near their home.
(LONDON) — The Nobel Prize Foundation is facing pushback after saying it would not implement gender or ethnicity quotas in selecting nominees. Only 59 women, or 6.2% of total winners, have ever received a Nobel Prize since its inception in 1901.
Göran Hansson, the secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science and vice chairman of the board of directors for the Nobel Foundation, told the AFP in an interview published on Tuesday: “We have decided we will not have quotas for gender or ethnicity. We want every laureate [to] be accepted … because they made the most important discovery, and not because of gender or ethnicity. And that is in line with the spirit of Alfred Nobel’s last will.”
UN Women, the UN branch dedicated to promoting gender equality around the world, criticized Hansson, saying in a statement, “Unfortunately, the underrepresentation of women Nobel laureates over the years is just another indicator of the slow progress on gender equality.”
Historically, women have been underrepresented in the scientific categories. Only 23 women have ever won Nobel Prizes in medicine, physics and chemistry.
Over the years, the Nobel Foundation has put in place some measures to increase the representation of female scientists in the nomination process. In a 2019 interview with Nature, Hansson explained that the committee asked nominators to consider diversity of gender, geography and topic when proposing candidates. The committee also tried to increase the number of female nominators, raise nominations for up to three different discoveries and even submit several names for the same award.
“It’s sad that there are so few women Nobel laureates and it reflects the unfair conditions in society, particularly in years past but still existing. And there’s so much more to do,” Hanson said in 2019.
But since those remarks were made, Maria Ressa, the journalist who won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Dimitri Mouratov, is the only female winner in all categories.
Tennis player and gender equality advocate Billie Jean King spoke out on social media to denounce the decision, saying, “Women’s accomplishments are routinely erased from the history books in which they belong. Gender equality is something we all must work toward, today & every day.”
(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.
More than 714,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 66% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.
Latest headlines:
-Some states with colder climates begin to see an uptick in infections
-Nets’ Kyrie Irving, who isn’t vaccinated, won’t play until he can be a full participant
-Pediatric infection rates trending down
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 12, 1:59 pm
American Airlines continues with vaccine mandate despite governor’s executive order
Texas-based American Airlines is sticking to its plan to require vaccines for employees under the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate, despite a new executive order from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott banning mandates.
American said in a statement, “We are reviewing the executive order issued by Gov. Abbott, but we believe the federal vaccine mandate supersedes any conflicting state laws, and this does not change anything for American.”
On Monday, Abbott issued an executive order banning vaccine mandates “by any entity” in the state. Abbott said, “The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced.”
ABC News’ Sam Sweeney
Oct 12, 12:58 pm
Some states with colder climates begin to see an uptick in infections
While infection rates are plummeting in the South, causing national metrics to fall, some states in colder climates are beginning to see an uptick in cases, despite some impressive vaccination rates.
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNN on Monday,” “You’re starting to see an uptick in cases in the colder parts of the country and as people are driven indoors without masks on.”
These states have seen case rates jump by 20% or more in the last month, according to federal data: Colorado (22%), Idaho (21.6%), New Hampshire (54%), Vermont (42.6%), Montana (82.6%), Michigan (90.9%) and Minnesota (75.9%).
Alaska currently has the country’s highest infection rate, followed by Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho, according to federal data. California currently has the nation’s lowest infection rate.
Death rates remain high with about 1,400 deaths reported each day, according to federal data. But daily COVID-19 related hospital admissions down nationally by 13.4% in the last week.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Oct 12, 11:14 am
Nets’ Kyrie Irving, who isn’t vaccinated, won’t play until he can be a full participant
Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving, who has refused to get vaccinated, won’t “play or practice with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant,” General Manager Sean Marks said in a statement Tuesday.
Barclays Center, home to the Nets, requires proof of vaccination for entry.
“We respect his individual right to choose,” Marks said, but “the choice restricts his ability to be a full-time member of the team, and we will not permit any member of our team to participate with part-time availability.”
“It is imperative that we continue to build chemistry as a team and remain true to our long-established values of togetherness and sacrifice,” Marks said.
Oct 12, 11:07 am
Federal judge sides with NY health care workers who object to vaccine mandate on religious grounds
A federal judge in Utica, New York, sided Tuesday with 17 health care workers who object to the state vaccine mandate for health workers on religious grounds, granting their request for an injunction.
Unlike other judges who have heard similar cases about vaccine mandates, Judge David Hurd concluded “the public interest lies with enforcing the guarantees enshrined in the Constitution and federal anti-discrimination law” and not the wider public health.
The plaintiffs said they hold the sincere religious belief that they “cannot consent to be inoculated … with vaccines that were tested, developed or produced with fetal cell line[s] derived from procured abortions.” According to plaintiffs, the COVID-19 vaccines that are currently available violate these sincere religious beliefs “because they all employ fetal cell lines derived from procured abortion in testing, development or production.”
(TETON COUNTY, Wyo.) — A Wyoming coroner is expected to announce the results of an autopsy Tuesday on Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old travel blogger whose remains were recovered in September in a national park.
Petito’s boyfriend and cross-country traveling companion, Brian Laundrie, has been named by investigators as a person of interest in her death and is the subject of a massive nationwide search being directed by the FBI.
Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue said in a media alert Monday night that he plans to discuss “the ruling on the autopsy of Gabrielle Petito.”
After Petito’s body was discovered on Sept. 19 in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near Jackson, Blue said the manner of Petito’s death was a homicide.
Blue’s announcement will come amidst a nationwide search the FBI is leading for Laundrie, who drew suspicion after returning to his parents’ North Port, Florida, home on Sept. 1 without Petito but driving her van, authorities said.
Laundrie’s parents told police they last saw their son on Sept. 13, two days after Petito’s parents, who live in Long Island, New York, reported her missing. Laundrie’s parents told investigators their son may have been headed to the Carlton Reserve, a 25,000-acre wildlife preserve near their home.
(NEW YORK) — The Lego Group says it will remove gender bias from its iconic toys.
The Danish toymaker announced in a statement Monday, that it will get rid of gender references among its famous building block sets, after new research in a study commissioned by Lego found that “girls today feel increasingly confident to engage in all types of play and creative activities, but remain held back by society’s ingrained gender stereotypes as they grow older.”
The study carried out by the Geena Davis Institute in recognition of the UN’s International Day of the Girl also marked the launch of Lego’s new Ready for Girls campaign, which celebrates girls who rebuild the world through creative problem-solving.
“What we found is not only from the parents, but also from the boys that they were worried — that they would be teased or made fun of for playing with toys that would be say, associated with girls, so it was the fear of being shamed and made fun of,” Madeline Di Nonno, CEO of the Geena Davis Institute told Good Morning America. “With girls, they felt more confident than boys to engage in a variety of playing activity.”
According to the research, 4 in 10 girls and nearly 3 in 4 boys surveyed said they felt uncomfortable to play with toys presumably targeted to the opposite gender.
Parents are four times more likely to encourage girls to engage in dress-up than boys and twice as likely to encourage boys in computer coding than girls, according to the survey, which also noted that the boys and girls surveyed agreed with the idea that some activities are gender-specific.
Another toymaker, Hasbro, recently rebranded its iconic Mr. Potato Head toy earlier this year and introduced a new gender-neutral potato head family with diverse body parts and clothes. And in 2019, Mattel released its first gender-neutral doll.
Retail giant Target announced in 2015 that its stores would not classify toy aisles by gender, a move that also paved the way for proposed legislation requring large retailers to provide gender-neutral toy sections.
A California law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom over the weekend makes it the first state that mandates large department stores to display products like toys and toothbrushes in gender-neutral ways.
“This isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for every family — and parents should encourage what their kids love and what they’re interested in,” parenting expert Ericka Souter told GMA. “We want the world to be open to our children and don’t want them to feel limited by their gender — companies are responding to this growing demand.”
Lego said in a statement that it is “committed to making LEGO play more inclusive and ensuring that children’s creative ambitions – both now in the future – are not limited by gender stereotypes. We know there is work to do which is why from 2021, we will work closely with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and UNICEF to ensure LEGO products and marketing are accessible to all and free of gender bias and harmful stereotypes.”
(NEW YORK) — Southwest CEO Gary Kelly apologized to the tens of thousands of passengers who were stranded at U.S. airports over the weekend due to widespread flight cancellations.
“I want to apologize to all of our customers, this is not what we want,” Kelly said in an interview on Good Morning America Tuesday. “Unfortunately, it just takes a couple of days to get things back on track.”
One of those passengers, Fabricia Amara, couldn’t take her 14-year-old daughter to see her neurosurgeon in Miami because of the operational meltdown.
“They did not handle it properly,” Amara told ABC affiliate KTRK. “They have no answers for you, they tell you that there’s nothing we can do.”
Amara’s flight was just one of more than 2,200 flights Southwest has canceled since Saturday.
The airline initially blamed the multi-day mess on air traffic control issues, bad weather and “other external constraints.”
But the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement that “there had been no air traffic control shortages since Friday,” adding, “Some airlines continue to experience scheduling challenges due to aircraft and crews being out of place.”
Kelly acknowledged air traffic control issues were not the cause, saying “a series of FAA Florida delay programs” on Friday contributed to the cancelled flights.
“There were no ATC issues over the weekend. That’s absolutely true,” Kelly said. “But I think any industry expert knows that it takes several days, if you have that large of an impact on the operation, to get the airplanes where they need to be and then to match the crews up with that.”
The head of Southwest’s pilot union blamed bad staffing for the disruptions.
“Until the company makes some changes in how they’re doing business internally and scheduling our pilots, we’re going to continue to see the problem,” Capt. Casey Murray told ABC News.
Kelly said operations are “back to normal.” According to FlightAware, there were 87 canceled Southwest flights as of 8 a.m. ET Tuesday.
“Things are much smoother today,” he said. “We have a few more cancellations than we would normally have, but things are pretty well back to normal.”
