The latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic from Monday, Oct. 11, 2021.
INDIANAPOLIS — Here are Monday’s latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic, including the latest news on COVID-19 vaccinations and testing in Indiana.
Registrations for the vaccine are now open for Hoosiers 12 and older through the Indiana State Department of Health. This story will be updated over the course of the day with more news on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Latest US, world numbers
There have been more than 44.33 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States as of 3:30 a.m. Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 713,300 deaths recorded in the U.S.
Worldwide, there have been more than 237.87 million confirmed coronavirus cases with nearly 4.85 million deaths. More than 6.47 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness like pneumonia, or death.
COVID-19 shots for ages 5-11 won’t have CDC authorization by Halloween
A panel of vaccine experts will meet in early November to consider whether to recommend the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children younger than 12.
The Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices scheduled a two-day meeting for Nov. 2-3, health officials said Friday. The Pfizer topic is expected to take up part of the agenda.
The experts are anticipating the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will have decided by then whether to authorize use of the Pfizer vaccine for children between ages 5 to 11. The committee’s job is to help the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention develop recommendations for doctors and the public about which vaccines should be used and how they should given.
Currently, Pfizer vaccines are authorized only for people 12 and older.
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said their research shows younger children should get one-third of the dose now given to everyone else. After their second dose, the 5- to 11-year-olds developed virus-fighting antibody levels just as strong as those that teens and young adults get from regular-strength shots.
New Zealand’s doctors and teachers must soon be vaccinated
Most of New Zealand’s health care workers and teachers will soon be legally required to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
A new government mandate compels doctors, pharmacists, community nurses and many other health care workers to be fully vaccinated by December. Teachers and other education workers must be vaccinated by January.
COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said many in those professions are already vaccinated but the country can’t leave anything to chance.
The announcement comes as New Zealand battles an outbreak of the highly transmissible delta variant in its largest city, Auckland.
