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Pediatricians and pharmacists are preparing to crack down after the leading vaccine maker submitted an application for approval of its COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11.
More than 28 million children could become eligible to receive the vaccine in just a matter of weeks, and there is pent-up demand as many parents are eager to get their children vaccinated now that they are back to school.
“We have had families before that inquire when they come or call and ask if we are going to administer the pediatric dose,” said Dr. Sharon Marshall, professor of pediatrics at Wayne State University.
Pfizer-BioNTech submitted its request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory group on Friday announced plans to meet in early November to determine whether to recommend the vaccine for the children.
The decision to expand the vaccine authorization comes amid rising rates of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization among children. About 5 million children under the age of 18 have tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. Nearly 45 million people have tested positive across the country.
In August and September, hospitalizations of children with COVID-19 increased in the United States. Yet in more than a dozen states, including Michigan, Oklahoma, Utah, Delaware and Vermont, admission rates for children have increased in the past two weeks.
Pockets of low adult immunization rates, relaxed social distancing and the reopening of schools have resulted in more children with COVID-19 and more children ending up in hospital, said Dr Donna Tyungu, pediatric infectious disease physician at OU Health in Oklahoma City.
– Elizabeth Weise, Janie Haseman and Aleszu Bajak, USA TODAY
Also in the news:
►The youngest person who spoke in favor of masks at a recent school board meeting in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, decided she wasn’t going to let anti-masks steal her show. Kaylan Park, 10, faced off against the group.
►An Amur tiger named Keesa at the Great Plains Zoo in South Dakota has tested positive for COVID-19, a zoo veterinarian said. Several other big cats at the zoo, including two Amur tigers and two snow leopards, have since shown symptoms.
►In hopes of encouraging vaccinations, French authorities have announced that unvaccinated people will be charged for COVID-19 tests. Testing will remain free for those vaccinated, The New York Times reported.
►Hiring slowed again in September, as the increase in COVID-19 cases offset the reopening of schools and the expiration of unemployment benefits that were expected to prompt some Americans to return to work. The economy created 194,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell from 5.2% to 4.8%, the Labor Department said on Friday. The country still has 5 million jobs below its pre-crisis level.
►San Francisco announced Thursday his intention to relax the rules for indoor masks from October 15 if new infections and hospitalizations with COVID-19 decrease or remain stable. The rules will only be relaxed in well-ventilated environments and with no more than 100 fully vaccinated people over the age of 12.
►Adults over 40 had a harder time regaining loss of smell or taste after having COVID-19, and younger participants regained their sense of smell more quickly, according to a September study of 800 people and published in the American Journal Otolaryngology.
►Los Angeles’s vaccination mandate for indoor areas of bars, lounges, nightclubs, breweries, wineries and distilleries went into effect Thursday night. The city approved an even stricter measure earlier this week that requires vaccination of public places such as shopping malls, cinemas, restaurants, sports stadiums, museums and other venues. This will come into effect next month.
► Arkansas on Thursday became the 29th state to report at least 500,000 cases of COVID-19. The state has reported a total of 500,779 cases since the start of the pandemic.
►A Colorado health care system requires “nearly all” organ transplant patients to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before receiving their transplant.
Today’s numbers: The United States has recorded more than 44 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 710,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Global totals: Over 236 million cases and 4.8 million deaths. More than 186 million Americans – 56% of the population – are fully immunized, according to the CDC.
What we read: From sewers to golf courses, cities see the green as they start spending the first installment of COVID-19 relief money from the American Rescue Plan Act passed by Congress in March. Learn more about how some cities and counties are using the new federal relief dollars.
Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY’s Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates straight to your inbox and join our Facebook group.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Says He Won’t Enforce Agency Vaccination Warrant
The Los Angeles County Sheriff has said he will not enforce the county’s vaccination mandate in his agency.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who oversees the county’s largest sheriff’s department with around 18,000 employees, told a Facebook Live event on Thursday that he did not plan to fulfill the county’s mandate, under which employees of the Los Angeles County were to be fully immunized by October. . 1.
The warrant was issued by decree in August and only allows religious and medical exemptions. Villanueva said his employees were prepared to be made redundant rather than getting vaccinated.
“I don’t want to be able to lose 5.10% of my workforce overnight on a vaccination warrant,” the sheriff said.
– The Associated Press
Nursing shortage drives up hospital costs
Florida is among a number of states facing rising costs for temporary contract nurses as the COVID-19 pandemic depletes longtime staff and labor shortages grow. worsen.
As travel nurse recruiting agencies double and triple their fees at hospitals, the Florida Hospital Association is following complaints of price hikes in other states. The California Hospital Association last month asked the state Department of Justice to investigate on behalf of its 400 hospitals.
The Florida Hospital Association declined to say if price hikes were happening or if a statewide investigation was warranted, but “we are closely monitoring what is happening in California and others. States, ”said Mary Mayhew, group president and CEO.
“Statewide we hear about prices two to three times the price,” Mayhew added in an email. Read more here.
– Liz Freeman, Naples Daily News
New cases fall in the United States and around the world
The United States is once again reporting less than 100,000 cases in a typical day, according to USA TODAY analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. In the week ending Thursday, the country recorded 698,567 new cases of COVID-19. It had reported more than 1.1 million cases per week about a month ago.
Cases had passed the 100,000-a-day mark since Aug. 6, as the delta variant swept across the country. Even at current levels, the United States is still reporting an average of more than one case per second. The cases are still about 8 times higher than they were at the last relatively low level.
Meanwhile, cases around the world have also fallen to less than 3 million each week, with cases dropping to a level not seen since early July. Since then, the number of cases has peaked at 4.6 million per week. At the latest rate, five cases of coronavirus are reported every second on average around the world.
Limited access to testing and asymptomatic cases mean the true number of infections is almost certainly much higher.
Reported deaths have also declined and are now 50,818 per week. This is down from the more than 71,000 per week reported in late August.
– Mike Stucka, USA TODAY
Home health workers could lose jobs as New York vaccine mandate takes effect
Thousands of home health workers could lose their jobs under New York’s latest COVID-19 vaccine mandate requiring them to be vaccinated by Friday, home care industry executives said .
The mandate covers around 270,000 home care workers, and at least 11,900 of those workers have said they would rather resign or be made redundant than comply with vaccination requirements, according to a survey last month by New York State Home Care Association. .
In recent weeks, some home care providers have reported an increase in worker vaccinations, as the deadline for getting the first dose loomed, said Al Cardillo, president and CEO of the association.
“But at the same time, they are signaling that the (vaccination) gaps are still very large,” he said, adding that home care providers are calling on the administration of Governor Kathy Hochul to delay the implementation of the mandate to allow time to convince more workers to get photos and fill in staffing gaps, if necessary. Read more here.
– David Robinson, New York State Team
Investigation: pandemic contributed to tragedy of drowning soldiers
The coronavirus pandemic that slashed training in 2020 contributed to the drowning of nine servicemen off the coast of San Diego, a new military investigation into one of the Marine Corps’ deadliest training crashes in recent years, says years.
Senior commanders leading up to the crash were also tasked with “additional non-standard missions, including sending Marines to the U.S.-Mexico border as part of increased border security by the Trump administration and the United States. helping Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy, which has anchored off Los Angeles to relieve hospitals swamped with coronavirus cases, according to the inquest findings released Wednesday.
An amphibious assault vehicle sank on July 30, 2020, off San Clemente Island, trapping troops inside. A previous investigation found the deaths preventable and blamed the tragedy on inadequate training, poor maintenance of 35-year-old amphibious assault vehicles and poor judgment by commanders.
The results released Wednesday focused on the readiness of the troops prior to their participation in the exercise 70 miles off the coast of San Diego and noted that they should not take away from the previous investigation which revealed a multitude of missteps and oversights that left the crew in the dark. and using their cell phone lights to desperately try to find an unmarked escape hatch as they took to the water. There were also no security boats nearby to rescue them.
Contributors: Jeanine Santucci and Celina Tebor; Associated press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vaccines for Children May Arrive in Weeks: COVID Updates
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