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(CNN)First lady Jill Biden and US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy will make a push for boosting the number of Covid-19 vaccination sites for children Monday as they kick off a nationwide administration effort to encourage vaccines for the nation's youngest and newly eligible candidates.
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At long last, kids are starting to filter into pharmacies and clinics for COVID-19 shots.
The Food and Drug Administration authorized a lower dose of Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use in children ages 5 to 11 in October. Then last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially greenlit the shot for this younger age group — nearly a year after the first Americans started receiving COVID-19 vaccines.
Kids receive one-third of the standard dose of the mRNA shot given to adults: 10 micrograms versus 30 micrograms. Because of that, children can generally expect fewer side effects.
The chart below shows the most common side effects among kids ages 5 to 11 in Pfizer's clinical trial.
Fatigue was by far the most prevalent side effect: More than one-third of kids reported it after the first or second dose. Roughly one-quarter of kids also reported headaches after getting either dose. Read More
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There's one number heard more than any other from the podiums at the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland: 1.5 degrees Celsius.
That's the global climate change goal world leaders agreed to strive for. By limiting the planet's warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, by 2100, the hope is to stave off severe climate disruptions that could exacerbate hunger, conflict and drought worldwide.
The 1.5 degree target has long been championed by developing nations, where millions of people are among the most vulnerable to climate change. At the 2015 Paris climate negotiations, they pushed industrialized countries to improve on the 2 degree Celsius goal held at the time, since wealthier nations are responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions since the Industrial Revolution.
At the climate negotiations now underway, nations are touting new commitments to cut their heat-trapping emissions by switching to clean energy and reducing deforestation. India is pledging, for the first time, to be carbon neutral by 2070. More than 100 countries, including the United States, joined a global pact to cut methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Read More
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Robinhood said Monday it was hit by a data breach earlier this month that exposed information on millions of customers and that hackers later demanded an extortion payment.
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NASA almost launched a crew of astronauts to space on Halloween. That group, Crew-3, would have completed a formal handoff with the Crew-2 astronauts who returned to Earth on Monday night. But weather conditions and a minor health issue, according to NASA, prevented Crew-3 from leaving on time.
On Wednesday night, Crew-3 could head to orbit. If their mission begins on time, they will lift off at 9:03 p.m. Eastern time, and arrive at the space station the next day.
The four members of Crew-3 are:
Raja Chari, the mission’s commander, is 44 and will be the fifth astronaut of Indian descent to go to space. Raised in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and educated in aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he was a test pilot and an Air Force colonel who flew combat missions in Iraq before joining NASA’s astronaut corps in 2017.
Matthias Maurer, Crew-3’s mission specialist, is a German astronaut representing the European Space Agency. Mr. Maurer, 51, joined the European astronaut corps in 2015 after roles as a paramedic, a materials scientist and an engineer. Read More
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New Zealand beefed up security measures at its parliament as thousands of people gathered to protest against compulsory COVID-19 vaccination and government lockdowns.
All but two entrances to the parliament building, known as the Beehive, were closed off on Tuesday, and unprecedented levels of police and security personnel deployed, as mostly unmasked protesters marched peacefully through central Wellington and congregated outside parliament.
Many people were seen holding signs and placards with messages like “Freedom” and “Kiwis are not lab rats” and shouting slogans as they demanded the government roll back compulsory vaccination and lifts restrictions.
“I will not be coerced and I will not be forced into taking something I don’t want in my body,” a protester said outside parliament. Read More