Ep. 103: News Roundup Week of 9/27/21

Heart & Home

U.S. President Biden received his booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, several days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared a booster developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for people 65 and older and certain other adults at high risk of severe illness. The 78-year-old president appealed to unvaccinated Americans to protect themselves against the virus. ————— Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Pfizer submitted research to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine in children 5 to 11 years old but the shots may not be available until November. —————- Thousands of unvaccinated healthcare workers across the state of New York lost their jobs this week when a new vaccine mandate went into effect. This week, 593 United Airlines workers face dismissal for not complying with the requirement to get a Covid-19 vaccine. ———- Then on Wednesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an urgent recommendation for pregnant women and those who have recently given birth to get vaccinated against coronavirus. Pregnant women are also urged to get flu shots. This warning from the CDC comes after 22 pregnant women died in August — the worst month yet of the pandemic. ————— On Thursday, news was announced of the first antiviral pill people can take at home to reduce by 50% their risk of winding up in the hospital or dying from the coronavirus. The pill is by pharmaceutical companies Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. These pills should not be taken as an alternative to vaccines. Pfizer and Roche, are also working on antiviral pills for patients already diagnosed with COVID-19. ————- On Friday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state will require COVID-19 vaccines for all school children ages 12-17 once the FDA grants full approval, becoming the first state in the country to move forward on mandating vaccines for school children. The mandate will be implemented after January, when the next school term starts, and could come as late as July 2022, depending on when the FDA gives full approval for vaccines for kids under 16 years old. ———— Overseas, Japan came out of a coronavirus state of emergency on Thursday for the first time in more than six months as Covid-19 infections slowed. The emergency measures were in place for more than half of the country including Tokyo. ————- Still overseas, after eight years of planning and billions of dollars in spending, the Middle East’s first ever World Fair opened on Friday in Dubai. Expo 2020 was postponed by a year due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. ———— Back in this country, a slow down in U.S. mail deliveries took effect Friday under a 10-year cost-cutting plan by the USPS chief. ————- And finally, the movie No Time To Die hit cinemas in the U.K. this week with the world premier at Royal Albert Hall, and opens in theaters Wednesday.