Kids Shots Coming ‘Soon,’ Pfizer Says; Booster Fallout; House Passes Abortion Bill

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Pfizer will ask for authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in kids ages 5-11 in “days, not weeks,” the company’s CEO, Albert Bourla, said. (CNN)

The World Health Organization has assembled a new team of scientists to study the origins of COVID-19. (Wall Street Journal)

The 2021 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award went to two scientists instrumental in developing mRNA technology, which laid the foundation for Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines.

The House passed a bill that would ensure healthcare providers can perform abortions despite restrictions imposed by individual state laws, though the bill seems unlikely to advance in the Senate. (NPR)

Two differing takes on booster shots from the editorial boards of two major newspapers, with the New York Times‘ suggesting politics got in the way of science in authorizing boosters, and the Wall Street Journal‘s calling the decision from CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, her “finest hour.”

Meanwhile, burnout and fatigue plagues the CDC’s pandemic response team, according to sources. (Politico)

What exactly does “self-attestation” mean in terms of being able to get booster shots? (Washington Post)

And what exactly does “fully vaccinated” mean now? (The Atlantic)

As of Monday at 8:00 a.m. EDT, the unofficial U.S. COVID-19 toll reached 42,932,211 cases and 688,041 deaths, up about 850,000 cases and 14,000 deaths since this time a week ago.

Arizona counties requiring masks for students at the start of the school year had fewer COVID outbreaks. (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)

In a letter to President Biden, congressman Steve Cohen (R-Tenn.) argued that monoclonal antibody therapies for COVID-19 should not be prioritized for unvaccinated individuals, as has been proposed in his state. (WBTV)

Another blow to the new Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab (Aduhelm), as “some troubling safety signals” are being reported in FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System. (Endpoints News)

The FDA approved evolocumab (Repatha) for treating heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia in kids age 10 and up, Amgen announced.

Generic drug companies want to help make the COVID vaccines, but so far vaccine manufacturers have refused to license the technology. (Axios)

Some laboratories are now charging up to $380 for a rapid COVID test. (New York Times)

A daily antiviral to help treat early COVID-19 symptoms could be mere months away. (NBC News)

New York said healthcare workers fired for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be able to collect unemployment benefits. (Insider)

In entertainment news, Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview on The View was postponed on Friday after two of the show’s hosts tested positive for COVID. (AP)

And in sports, here’s how the anti-vaxxer movement has taken over the NBA. (Rolling Stone)

India removed both ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine from its revised clinical guidance on how to manage COVID-19. (Hindustan Times)

Meanwhile, New Mexico linked misuse of ivermectin to two COVID-19 deaths. (New York Times)

Freddie Fu, MD, a pioneering orthopedic surgeon in sports medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, died on Friday at age 70, having recently been treated for melanoma and kidney bleeding. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)