(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 4.9 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 737,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 67.2% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Latest headlines:
-Biden administration to ship vaccines for children as soon as FDA approves them
-FDA panel hours away from vote on Pfizer vaccine for kids
-US sees 7th straight week of drop in daily pediatric cases
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 26, 2:37 pm
Biden administration to ship vaccines for children as soon as FDA approves them
The Biden administration will begin shipping vaccine doses for kids ages 5 to 11 as soon as the Food and Drug Administration gives the green light in coming days, White House officials told governors on a private phone call Tuesday.
Doing so will allow children to begin receiving shots as soon as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off, which is expected around Nov. 4.
Jeff Zients, the White House coordinator on the federal response to COVID-19, said one big concern is the shorter shelf life for pediatric doses. In trying to make the vaccine easier for pediatricians to handle, the doses for kids 5 to 11 can be kept for only 10 weeks, compared with six to nine months for adult doses.
“We don’t want to have wastage, so we encourage you to build flexibility into your distribution systems you can move around within your state or territory,” he told the governors. Audio of the call was obtained by ABC News. “Just order what you need. We have plenty of supply. We can always get you doses on short notice.”
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Oct 26, 12:00 pm
Kids 5 to 11 account for 8,300 hospitalizations
Officials with the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opened Tuesday’s FDA panel meeting by explaining how children 5 to 11 years old are impacted by the pandemic. They have accounted for over 1.9 million infections and over 8,300 hospitalizations, about a third of which have required ICU stays, officials said.
Nearly 100 children in that age group have died from COVID-19, making the virus one of the top 10 causes of death in this age range at this time, officials said.
The independent FDA advisory panel on Tuesday is debating whether to authorize the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. The panel’s nonbinding vote is expected Tuesday evening.
After the panel votes on whether or not to recommend Pfizer, the FDA will make a decision. Then, the matter heads to the CDC’s independent advisory panel to deliberate and vote, which is scheduled for Nov. 2 and Nov. 3. Once the CDC panel votes, the CDC director is expected to make the final signoff.
ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Oct 26, 10:18 am
Unvaccinated Americans continue to drive infection, death rates: Federal data
The five states with the highest death rates over the last week — Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, West Virginia and Idaho — are also among the states with the lowest full vaccination rates, according to federal data.
People who have not been fully vaccinated are 6.1 times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 and 11.3 times more likely to die from the virus, according to federal data.
Approximately 63.2 million eligible Americans have yet to get the shot, according to federal data.
But hospitalization rates are continuing to steadily trend down, with just over 51,000 Americans now hospitalized with the virus, compared to 104,000 people hospitalized in late August, according to federal data.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Oct 26, 9:11 am
FDA panel hours away from vote on Pfizer vaccine for kids
An independent FDA advisory panel on Tuesday will debate and vote on whether to authorize the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. The nonbinding vote is expected between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. ET.
Pfizer data submitted to the FDA has shown that this vaccine, which would be administered to children at one-third of the adult dosage, is nearly 91% effective against symptomatic COVID-19. There were no reported adverse side effects in the clinical trial group.
After the panel votes on whether or not to recommend this vaccine for children 5 to 11, the FDA will make a decision.
Then, the matter heads to the CDC’s independent advisory panel to deliberate and vote, which is scheduled for Nov. 2 and Nov. 3. Once the CDC panel votes, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is expected to make the final sign-off.
The earliest shots could be in arms is the first week of November.
(CHICAGO) — Jelani Day’s death is said to have been caused by drowning, according to the LaSalle County Coroner’s Office. The 25-year-old college student went missing in August, while studying to be a doctor at Illinois State University.
Day was last seen on Aug. 24 at the university’s campus in Bloomington, Illinois. His parents reported him missing on Aug. 25 and his car was found two days later in Peru, Illinois.
Day was found dead, floating in the Illinois River on Sept. 4. His body was not identified until weeks later by the LaSalle County Coroner, on Sept. 23.
“Unfortunately, there is no specific positive test at autopsy for drowning,” coroner Richard Ploch’s statement read Tuesday. “Drowning is considered a diagnosis of exclusion with supporting investigation circumstances when a person is found deceased in a body of water.”
The coroner did not find any evidence of intoxication or injury in the forensic autopsy — no signs of an assault, altercation, strangulation or more — and it remains unknown how Day ended up in the Illinois River.
Day’s family still suspects foul play in the young man’s death, and said that his personal belongings were found scattered away from where his body was found.
“Jelani did not just disappear into thin air. Somebody knows something, somebody seen something and I need somebody to say something,” Day’s mother, Carmen Bolden Day, told “Good Morning America” on Sept. 29.
The case is still being investigated by local police jurisdictions in the area, along with the FBI.
(YAKUTSK, Russia) — Thirty years ago, the road out from the village of Mai was flat. So were the fields around it, enough that local people used to play football on them.
But today, the road and fields around this town in the remote Siberian region of Yakutia, are strangely warped, an expanse of wavy ground and weird bubble-like mounds, that a drive over will bounce passengers out of their seats.
“This plot of land was very flat. In 1994, we played football, volleyball on it,” Petr Yefremov, a local scientist who grew up in the village, told ABC News. “And you see, in that time, it’s fallen like that.”
The odd ground around the village is a sign of how in Siberia climate change is literally re-shaping the landscape, as rapidly warming temperatures start to alter what has long been a given in much of Russia’s vast hinterland: that the ground is frozen.
Around two-thirds of Russia is covered by permafrost — permanently frozen ground that never thaws, even during summers. It runs from just below the surface of much of Siberia for sometimes thousands of meters underground, kept frozen by the region’s fierce colds.
But Siberia is warming and faster than almost anywhere else on Earth. Russia’s average annual temperatures are currently rising two and a half times faster than the global average, according to Russian government data.
In Yakutia, the vast region where Mai is located, the warming is causing permafrost to start thawing. As it does, swamps and lakes are mushrooming around the region, as well as the strange landscapes like that around the village.
“The changes are noticeable,” Pavel Konstatinov, head of the laboratory at the Melnikov Permafrost Institute in Yakutia’s capital Yakutsk, about 3,000 miles from Moscow, told ABC News.
Stretching down from the Arctic, Yakutia would be larger than most countries if it was independent and is one of the coldest inhabited places on Earth, with winter temperatures routinely reaching below -70 Fahrenheit.
But Yakutia’s average temperatures have risen by around 2 to 3 degrees Celsius in the past 40 years, according to local scientists. Like much of the Arctic, it is already well ahead of the 1.5 degrees Celsius that scientists have said the earth’s temperature must not breach to avoid already catastrophic climate change.
Yakutia is seeing milder winters — though still bitterly cold — and in summer increasingly extreme heat, according to Russian government meteorological data. For the past four years, it has suffered record drought and heatwaves, which this summer contributed to colossal wildfires, some of the biggest ever anywhere in recorded history.
“Since the start of the 1980s, it has very sharply increased and the average annual air temperature for five years has jumped up 2, 3 degrees and until now stands at that level,” said Konstantinov.
Yefremov, also a scientist at the Permafrost Institute, has studied permafrost for three decades. He and a team from the institute have sunk temperature monitors several meters into the permafrost near Mai.
Yefremov said that when the team first took measurements in the mid-1990s, the frozen soil’s temperature 10 meters below ground was around -3. Now, it is closer to -1, he said.
“You see already how much it has fallen. Within 30 years, it’s fallen from -3 to -1 degrees,” he told ABC News during a visit to the monitors in August.
As the permafrost melts, it retreats further beneath the surface. In places like Mai, the receding ice leaves hollows underground. Over time, the top layer of earth begins to fall in, leaving little valleys that create the strange, uneven mounds. From above, the files look almost like giant scales. Eventually, the mounds all fall in together to form large pits that usually become lakes.
The land affected becomes largely useless for agriculture or building.
The amount of thawing in Yakutia varies drastically from place to place, depending on other ground conditions. It is far faster in areas where the permafrost is mixed with unfrozen ground and where there is water and some human activities.
Vladimir Romanovsky, a professor of geophysics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said that there was not yet “massive thawing” of permafrost but that we are now crossing the threshold into it.
“Ten or 20 years from now, that will be a different picture,” he told ABC News. “If the trajectory will continue the same— we will have massive thawing of permafrost in warmer, discontinuous permafrost zone.”
“Discontinuous” permafrost refers to areas where it is mixed with stretches of unfrozen land, unlike parts of the Arctic where the permafrost stretches as an unbroken mass.
Romanovsky said in Alaska, where conditions are somewhat different to Yakutia, he estimated around 50% of permafrost in the state’s interior had begun to show signs of thawing in the past five years.
Scientists at Yakutia’s Permafrost Institute this year estimated as much of 40% of Yakutia’s territory is at risk of “dangerous” melting. Permafrost Konstantinov said some projections suggested even in moderate scenarios, a third to a quarter of southern Yakutia’s permafrost would melt by the end of the century.
Some scientists worry that it also poses a profound threat for the rest of the world. The frozen soil holds hundreds of billions of tons of greenhouse gases, like methane and CO2, which are released as it slowly thaws.
The fear is that as the thawing unlocks more of the gases, they will further warm the planet, in turn triggering more melting. The amount of gases held in the permafrost dwarf those already put into the atmosphere by humans, and the fear of a cataclysmic feedback loop has led some scientists to call Siberia’s melting permafrost a possible “methane time bomb.”
Scientists caution there is still insufficient evidence to know how much melting greenhouse gas could be released by melting permafrost, but most experts believe it is a concern.
In Russia, the shifting ground is already posing enormous consequences, putting at risk roads, buildings and infrastructure across Siberia.
When frozen, permafrost is as hard as concrete and so most buildings in Yakutsk are constructed without foundations.
For that reason in Yakutsk, most buildings sit on stilts that raise them about a meter off the ground. Otherwise, heat from the buildings would thaw the permafrost beneath them, essentially turning their foundations into sand and causing them to subside.
Some older buildings in Yakutsk give a preview of what happens when the permafrost melts under them.
On a central street, one block is slowly collapsing. Huge cracks started appearing in the walls around five years ago. Local authorities declared the building unsafe for habitation a few years ago. Residents said and some of them had already been re-settled, but others remained, unable to find anywhere else to go.
Fedor Markov lives and works in a studio in one of the building’s upper floors. He is a sculptor of miniatures made from mammoth tusks, fragments of which are widely found across Yakutia, where the permafrost sometimes preserves Ice Age creatures almost entirely intact. Markov’s studio has large cracks in its walls and ceiling, including a gaping hole in its plaster, he said was caused by the building subsiding.
“The house is shaking,” said Markov.
In another neighborhood further out of the city, residents have had to abandon a group of older barracks buildings. One building has a huge crack running to the roof, splitting the structure almost in half.
Russia’s government has estimated the damage from the melting ground could cost tens of billions of dollars and there are increasing calls for action to mitigate the effects.
“Yakutia is already not like Yakutia,” Markov said. “In general, nature was excellent in my childhood. Summer was summer, winter was winter. Even though it was strong frosts, the people all the same could put up with it. Now we’re starting to get scared,” he said.
(BOISE, Idaho) — Two people were killed and four others, including a Boise police officer, were injured in a shooting at a mall in Boise, Idaho, police said.
One person is in custody, Boise police said. Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee told reporters that police were working to notify the victims’ families.
“I cannot stress enough how traumatic enough this event was for the community at large,” he said at a news conference.
Police responded to reports of shots fired at the Boise Towne Square Mall on N. Milwaukee Street around 1:50 p.m. local time, authorities said.
When officers arrived at the scene they found someone matching the description of the suspect and there was an “exchange of gunfire” that took place, Lee said. One officer was injured and the suspect was taken into custody, according to Lee.
Both the FBI and ATF are assisting in the investigation. Authorities closed the roads leading to the mall following the shooting.
Officers were working to clear each business in the mall, police said, adding that there’s no indication there are additional threats or additional shooters.
The investigation is ongoing and Lee said the police would release more information about the incident as it becomes available.
Boise Mayor Lauren McClean offered her condolences to the victims and her thanks to those in the mall who came to the aid of people inside the shopping complex.
“I want to thank the shopkeepers, the people in the mall that reacted so quickly to take care of folks who were there,” she said. “You showed in a tough and chaotic moment how much you care, and what you are willing to do to support and care for strangers.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — COVID-19 vaccine shots for kids ages 5 to 11 may be available as soon as November, depending on the outcome of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel hearing happening Tuesday.
At the hearing, the FDA’s independent advisory committee is expected to have a public discussion and hold a non-binding vote on whether to authorize the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for the approximately 28 million children in the United States ages 5 to 11.
Once the FDA decides to authorize the vaccine, the issue goes before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory group.
That group, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, is set to meet on Nov. 2 and 3, and from there, the CDC director must sign off on the recommendation.
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), said on “Good Morning America” Tuesday that getting more kids vaccinated will be key to ending the pandemic.
“If we can create a situation where more of these kids are not getting infected, we should be able to drive this pandemic down which is what we really hope to do, even as we face the cold other and other concerns about whether we might see another surge,” said Collins. “We don’t want that, and this would be one significant step forward in getting our country really in a better place.”
As the countdown begins, here are five things parents should know about COVID-19 vaccines and kids under the age of 12.
1. Kids ages 5 to 11 are still not yet eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Tuesday’s public hearing does not mean that children under age 12 will immediately be eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
The final vote on whether the vaccine is authorized for use in kids ages 5 to 11 will happen in early November, and will come from the CDC director.
Once that decision is made, the vaccine would be able to be administered relatively quickly to children across the country.
At the same time, the FDA will continue to review data to decide whether to grant full FDA approval for the vaccine in kids ages 5 to 11.
The FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine for people ages 16 and older in August. It is currently authorized for emergency use in children ages 12 to 15.
The two other vaccines currently available in the U.S., Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, are currently available only for people 18 years and older.
Moderna said Monday it plans to submit data to the FDA soon showing its vaccine for children ages 6 to 11 produces a strong immune response and appears safe.
2. The Pfizer dose is different for kids under age 12.
In Pfizer and BioNTech’s clinical trial of more than 2,200 children, the COVID-19 vaccine was administered in two doses, but the doses were one-third the amount given to adults.
The clinical trial results, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, showed the antibody response in children at that dose was at least as strong as the full adult does in patients ages 16 to 25.
Pfizer and BioNTech say the vaccine produced minimal side effects in children ages 5 to 11, and the side effects were similar to those experienced by adults and older children.
For 12- to 15-year-olds, the FDA has authorized the same dosing as adults with the Pfizer two-dose vaccine.
3. The vaccine’s focus is on kids’ immune systems.
Children have different immune systems than adults, so it should be reassuring for parents that the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has been shown to be safe in kids.
Differing immune systems among people of different ages also help explain why the cutoffs for vaccine eligibility rest on age and not body size.
In addition to the COVID-19 vaccine, other immunizations are also scheduled and administered based on age and not weight. This is partially due to the fact that the body’s immune responses to vaccinations and infection are known to be different based on age.
4. The vaccine will be distributed to kids through pediatricians, pharmacies, health clinics and more.
Once greenlighted, the pediatric doses of the vaccine will be sent to thousands of sites across the country, including more than 25,000 pediatricians’ offices, more than 100 children’s hospitals, tens of thousands of pharmacies, and hundreds of school and community-based clinics, the White House announced Oct. 20th.
Within days, more than 15 million doses are set to begin distribution across the country.
Though the White House has purchased 65 million Pfizer pediatric vaccine doses — more than enough to fully vaccine all children ages 5-11 in America — the first launch will dole doses out in waves based on states’ eligible population of kids. Shipments can recalibrate based on shifting demand.
The distribution plan will also include a national public education campaign to “reach parents and guardians with accurate and culturally-responsive information about the vaccine and the risks that COVID-19 poses to children,” according to the White House.
White House officials told the nation’s governors on Oct. 12th that it has enough pediatric doses on hand for the 28 million children ages 5 through 11 expected to become eligible once the FDA gives the green light.
To troubleshoot any confusion in distribution, federal health officials are outlining a new color-coded cap system for each formulation of the vaccine, though still “preliminary.” Purple-capped vials will contain doses for adult and older adolescents, a chart offered to states said; orange-capped vials will contain doses for kids aged 5-11.
5. Families need to remain vigilant against COVID-19.
While there is a light at the end of the tunnel with younger kids having access to a COVID-19 vaccine, families need to stay vigilant against the virus as they wait for FDA authorization.
Unvaccinated children can not only become ill from COVID-19 themselves, but they can also spread the virus to more vulnerable family members and other adults with whom they interact.
Both the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend universal mask-wearing in schools to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Experts said that in addition to unvaccinated children wearing face masks, parents and siblings who are vaccinated should also continue to wear face masks indoors because of the rates of breakthrough infections in the U.S.
Families should also continue to follow other safety guidelines shared throughout the pandemic, including social distancing and hand washing.
(WASHINGTON) — Brihanna Sims, a 27-year-old school bus driver and mother of a 7-year-old daughter, faces a financial pinch each summer when the number of routes are scaled back.
In summer 2020, classes held virtually because of COVID-19 meant even fewer routes and more strain. Although she received the Child Tax Credit before this year, the regular monthly payments and larger sum from the expanded Child Tax Credit became a “safety blanket” for Sims and her daughter, Addilynn, Sims said.
“She doesn’t have to see me stress about, ‘Oh my goodness, I didn’t get enough hours this month. Am I gonna make enough? Am I gonna make rent? Are we gonna be OK?'” Sims said.
Under a provision in the American Rescue Plan, 39 million families are now eligible for the expanded Child Tax Credit, according to the IRS, but the current program is set to lapse at the end of the year. President Joe Biden had proposed extending it through 2025, but it now may be extended only one additional year as Democrats pare back their social spending package amid pressure from moderates to cut the cost of the president’s plan.
Emma Mehrabi, director of poverty policy at the Children’s Defense Fund, said the monthly payments have benefited children, parents and caregivers in different ways — from monthly rent to groceries to newly established savings accounts.
“They’ve never experienced this type of income predictability each month, that has maybe given them a little bit of extra boost, a sense of security and relief and joy,” Mehrabi said.
Mehrabi also said the monthly payments, rather than the smaller payouts that used to come only during tax season, can make a life-changing difference.
“That can mean something to somebody who has felt disillusioned and fearful of the government,” Mehrabi said.
The first Child Tax Credit payment alone lifted 3 million children above the poverty line from June to July, according to a Columbia University study.
Kris Cox, deputy director of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the expanded program is an opportunity for the U.S. to get up to speed with other nations.
“Many other developed countries have had child allowances that recognize that parents and families have particular financial obligations to raise children,” Cox said.
“We know that kids who grew up in homes with more income are healthier, that they do better in school, that they earn more as adults,” Cox added. “It’s just so important to give children a strong start in life.”
Sims said she’s being realistic and planning for what happens if the expanded Child Tax Credit payments disappear.
She also channels her energy into activism, volunteering for a coalition in Minnesota called the Barbershops and Black Congregation Cooperative that works to inform people in the community about political figures and policies, including the Child Tax Credit.
“Right now, I am preparing myself for things to go back to the norm,” Sims said. “Going back to that kind of budget that I had before, and putting a real tightening on things. But I’m also keeping myself positive that maybe this can change.”
(LONDON) — Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is back at work less than a week after an overnight hospital stay.
The 95-year-old monarch was seen smiling on Tuesday as she held a virtual audience at Windsor Castle to receive South Korea’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Gunn Kim.
The queen, wearing a yellow dress and a pearl necklace, spoke with the ambassador via video link from the royal residence in England’s Berkshire county, where she has been staying since her hospitalization.
Last week, Queen Elizabeth was forced to cancel a trip to Northern Ireland under orders from her medical team to rest.
She was hospitalized on the night of Oct. 20 for “preliminary investigations,” according to a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace.
By the following afternoon, the queen was back at her desk at Windsor Castle and undertaking light duties, the spokesperson said.
No further details about her condition were released by the palace.
The day before her hospitalization, Queen Elizabeth hosted a reception at Windsor Castle for a global investment summit where she met with leaders, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry.
She did not attend church on Sunday, so Tuesday’s appearance was the first public sighting of the queen since her hospitalization.
Queen Elizabeth is still scheduled to travel to Glasgow, Scotland, next week with other members of the British royal family for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 4.9 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 736,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 67.2% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 26, 9:11 am
FDA panel hours away from vote on Pfizer vaccine for kids
An independent FDA advisory panel on Tuesday will debate and vote on whether to authorize the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. The nonbinding vote is expected between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. ET.
Pfizer data submitted to the FDA has shown that this vaccine, which would be administered to children at one-third of the adult dosage, is nearly 91% effective against symptomatic COVID-19. There were no reported adverse side effects in the clinical trial group.
After the panel votes on whether or not to recommend this vaccine for children 5 to 11, the FDA will make a decision.
Then, the matter heads to the CDC’s independent advisory panel to deliberate and vote, which is scheduled for Nov. 2 and Nov. 3. Once the CDC panel votes, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is expected to make the final sign-off.
The earliest shots could be in arms is the first week of November.
Oct 26, 8:14 am
US sees 7th straight week of drop in daily pediatric cases
The past week marked the seventh consecutive week that the United States has seen a drop in pediatric COVID-19 infections since the pandemic peak of nearly 252,000 cases in early September.
Last week, the U.S. reported approximately 118,000 new COVID-19 cases among children, compared to 131,000 cases the previous week, according to a weekly joint report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA).
But even with the decline, children still accounted for about a quarter of reported weekly COVID-19 cases. People under the age 18 make up roughly 22% of the U.S. population. Regionally, the Midwest continues to see the highest number of pediatric COVID-19 cases as the area experiences the beginnings of a viral resurgence.
The AAP and CHA wrote in the report that the case rate remains an “extremely high number” of newly diagnosed children, with over 1 million cases added over the past six weeks.
Since the onset of the pandemic, nearly 6.3 million children across the nation have tested positive for COVID-19.
In a similar trend, the rate of pediatric hospital admissions per 100,000 people also continues to decline, alongside other age groups. In the last month, the pediatric hospital admission rate fell by more 43.5%.
Currently, severe illness due to COVID-19 remains “uncommon” among children, the two organizations wrote in the report. According to the nearly two dozen states that reported COVID-19 hospitalizations among children, 0.1% to 2% of all pediatric COVID-19 infections resulted in hospitalization. Similarly, in states that reported virus-related deaths by age, 0% to 0.3% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death.
However, AAP and CHA warned in the report that there’s an urgent need to collect more data on the long-term consequences of the pandemic on children, “including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects.”
Less than 45% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to federal data, and more than 48 million children under 12 remain unvaccinated. But that could soon change, should the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention green light COVID-19 vaccinations for kids ages 5 to 11 in the coming weeks.
Oct 26, 5:30 am
Moderna to supply Africa with up to 110 million doses at ‘lowest tiered price’
Moderna announced Tuesday that it will make up to 110 doses of its COVID-19 vaccine available to African nations at the company’s “lowest tiered price.”
The Massachusetts-based biotechnology firm said it is prepared to deliver the first 15 million doses by the end of this year, with 35 million doses in the first quarter of 2022 and up to 60 million doses in the second quarter.
“All doses are offered at Moderna’s lowest tiered price,” the company said in a press release Tuesday.
Africa, the world’s second-largest and second-most populous continent, remains the least-vaccinated region of the world against COVID-19, with just over 5% of its 1.3 billion people fully inoculated.
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said the new agreement with the African Union, a continental bloc consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of Africa, was facilitated in part by the White House. The deal is separate from the company’s agreement with the global vaccine-sharing initiative COVAX to supply up to 500 million doses from late this year through 2022, according to the press release.
“This is the first step in our long-term partnership with the African Union,” Bancel said in a statement Tuesday. “We believe our vaccine can play an important role in addressing the needs of low-income countries given its combination of high Phase 3 efficacy against COVID-19, strong durability in the real-world evidence, and superior storage and handling conditions. We recognize that access to COVID-19 vaccines continues to be a challenge in many parts of the world and we remain committed to helping to protect as many people as possible around the globe.”
Moderna is also working on plans to allow it to fill doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in Africa as early as 2023, in parallel to building an mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility on the continent with the goal of producing up to 500 million doses each year, according to the press release.
Oct 25, 8:48 pm
South Florida schools may amend mask mandates as cases decline
Two South Florida school districts may be changing their polices on mask mandates in schools as COVID-19 cases decline.
A Broward County Public Schools spokesperson told ABC affiliate WPLG that an item could be added at a school board meeting Tuesday “regarding district’s COVID-19 protocols including the use of face coverings.”
The district had said it would revisit the mask mandate when the COVID-19 positivity rate reached 3% or lower for 10 consecutive days. Broward County has reached that threshold, the county’s health department data shows.
Miami-Dade County Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho also indicated there may be a change to its mask mandate policy.
The school board is looking at several metrics including hospital admissions, community transmission and daily student cases. Carvalho said Friday would be a benchmark day.
Carvalho said last week that a new plan could entail “a mandatory mask policy but with an unrestricted, unrestricted, parent opt-out provision.”
Oct 25, 2:20 pm
European Medicines Agency approves Moderna boosters for adults
The European Medicines Agency on Monday approved the Moderna booster (which is a half dose of the initial booster) for people 18 and older.
The booster “given 6 to 8 months after the second dose led to a rise in antibody levels in adults whose antibody levels were waning,” the EMA said.
Oct 25, 2:03 pm
US releases details of vaccine, testing requirements for international travelers
The federal government on Monday released more details about how foreign tourists and other non-citizen, non-immigrant people flying to the U.S. can comply with recently-announced rules requiring them to be fully vaccinated.
These rules go into effect on Nov. 8.
People will be able to submit proof of vaccination to airlines electronically or via paper, an official said.
All vaccinated people — Americans and non-Americans — need to show proof of a negative test taken within three days before departure.
For unvaccinated people — both Americans and non-Americans — you need to show proof of a negative test within one day before. Children ages 2 to 17 must take a test but those under 2 don’t need to test.
Vaccine exemptions include: children under 18; some medical exemptions; and people traveling on non-tourist visas from countries with low availability of vaccines (signified by a country having a vaccination rate less than 10%). The U.S. will follow a list maintained by the WHO and these people will need have a “specific, compelling reason” for coming to the U.S., a senior administration official said.
The exemptions will represent a “very, very small number” of travelers to the U.S., a senior administration official said.
Oct 25, 10:23 am
Cases dropping across US but rising in some Midwest, Northeast states
In the last month, the daily case average in the U.S. has dropped by nearly 43% thanks to falling metrics in states like Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana, which have all seen their case averages drop by nearly 90% or more since August, according to federal data.
But in recent weeks, cases have been creeping up in several states in the Northeast and the upper Midwest, including Minnesota and Michigan.
Alaska currently has the country’s highest infection rate, followed by Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and North Dakota, according to federal data.
About 52,000 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized across the U.S., a major drop from the 104,000 hospitalized patients in late August.
But the U.S. death toll remains persistently high, with nearly 1,300 new deaths being reported each day, according to federal data.
(NEW YORK) — A nor’easter is pummeling New Jersey and the New York City area, drenching roadways with up to 4 inches of rain.
Flash flooding was reported early Tuesday in the Metuchen, New Jersey, area, prompting a flash flood warning. Water rescues were reported in New Jersey from Union Beach to Middletown.
The bulk of the heaviest rain and flooding will shift Tuesday morning to New York City, Long Island and Connecticut.
The governors of New York and New Jersey declared states of emergency.
Flood and wind alerts have been issued from North Carolina to Maine.
The nor’easter is expected to sit off the coast all day Tuesday and strengthen, blowing gusty winds to the coastline, including in major cities like New York City and Boston.
Damaging winds gusting to 40 to 60 mph are possible Tuesday night in the Northeast.
(WASHINGTON) — An advisory panel at the Food and Drug Administration will vote Tuesday on whether to move forward with authorizing vaccines for children ages 5-11.
The vote will be the first step in a regulatory process for the two-shot Pfizer vaccine for kids. If the panel votes in favor of the vaccine after reviewing Pfizer’s data from clinical trials, the process will move to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If both agencies support the data, kids could be able to get their first shots in early November.
“If all goes well, and we get the regulatory approval, and the recommendations from the CDC, it’s entirely possible, if not, very likely, that vaccines will be available for children from 5 to 11 within the first week or two of November,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser for the White House, said in an interview on Sunday on ABC’s This Week.
Many parents are desperate to protect their children after the delta surge over the summer led to increased cases and hospitalizations among kids. Though the variant is not more deadly, it is more transmissible — and because kids are unvaccinated, the variant rocketed through schools and camps.
The most recent data from Pfizer’s clinical trials found that the vaccine for 5-11 year olds was nearly 91% effective against symptomatic illness.
The vaccine also appeared safe. None of the children in the clinical trials experienced a rare heart inflammation side effect known as myocarditis, which has been associated with the mRNA vaccines in very rare cases, mostly among young men.
The Pfizer vaccine, if authorized for kids, will be given at a smaller, one-third dose.
The White House has purchased enough pediatric doses to vaccine all 28 million children ages 5 to 11. If authorized, it will be distributed 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.
The 5-11 age group would be the youngest and latest to receive eligibility. The Pfizer vaccine has already been authorized for adolescents 12 and up, and everyone 18 and older is eligible for all three vaccines, Pfizer, Moderna and J&J.
Whether parents will embrace the vaccines for their kids is still a question. 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-school-aged kids since July.
Although children are less likely to die of COVID-19 than older adults, pediatricians say there is still an urgent need for a safe vaccine for children. Children can still become very sick and spread the virus to others. So far, more than 6 million children have tested positive in the United States, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Trials for children 2 years and up, the next age group that could become eligible, are ongoing. Data from the clinical trials is expected sometime this winter.
