About 10% of children 5 to 11 years old in US have first COVID-19 shots, says White House
- By the end of November 17, about 2.6 million kids from 5 to 11 years old will have received their vaccine shot, according to information from the White House
- On October 29, the vaccine was approved for kids in this age criteria by the CDC
- Pfizer said its smaller dose for kids is more than 90% effective at preventing symptomatic infection, and the shots were well tolerated with side effects similar to those experienced by people ages 16 to 25
Research finds that more Americans are planning holiday parties with no masks this year
- In a poll conducted by researchers at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, they studied 2,042 adults across the nation from October 29 to November 1 on their Covid precautions
- In the study, researchers found that 51% would ask partygoers to wear masks which is down from 67%
- 50% of those in the survey would ask their guest’ vaccination status and only 46% required a negative Covid test
Chancellor of Germany warns country of fourth wave of Covid
- Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, has said, “The fourth wave is hitting our country with full force,” at an event for the Association of German cities
- As of November 17, Germany has recorded more than 50,000 new cases and an additional 294 deaths
- Over the course of the pandemic, Germany has accumulated over 5.1 million COVID-19 cases and around 100,000 fatalities, according to John Hopkins University
Police in Austria start to conduct random vaccination status checks across the country
- Anyone in Austria who has not been vaccinated and has violated the lockdown rules may face fines of up to 500 euros ($567 USD) and those who refuse to comply with checks will be fined 1,450 euros ($1,641 USD)
- These restrictions only apply to anyone in the country over the age of 12 and have not had two doses of the vaccine
