Pfizer 90% Effective in Kids; Mix and Match Confusion; Stranded by a Positive Test

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In briefing documents submitted ahead of an FDA advisory committee meeting, Pfizer said its lower-dose COVID-19 vaccine showed 90.7% efficacy (95% CI 67.7-98.3) against symptomatic infection for kids ages 5 to 11. Check back on MedPage Today later today for a detailed report.

No end in sight — at least, not yet — for emergence of new COVID variants. (AP)

India just passed the 1 billion-dose mark for COVID vaccinations. (NBC News)

Confused by all the recent activity involving boosters and mix and match? Here’s an explainer. (AP)

NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, MD, recommends people just stick with their original vaccine if available. (Reuters)

The world’s most locked-down city reopens. (Reuters)

As of Friday at 8 a.m. EDT, the unofficial U.S. COVID-19 toll reached 45,302,004 cases and 733,226 deaths, increases of 81,947 and 1,955, respectively, from this time yesterday.

You’re fully vaccinated and have a negative COVID test when you leave for a dream vacation overseas, but then test positive just before boarding your return flight home. What now? (CNN)

The NFL and attorneys representing more than 20,000 former players reached a tentative agreement about how to remove race norming from evaluation of claims related to the league’s concussion settlement. (Washington Post)

One member of a movie crew died and another was injured when a prop gun held by actor Alec Baldwin discharged on a set in New Mexico. (ABC News)

Merck voluntarily recalled a specific lot of daptomycin 500 mg for injection (Cubicin) mg after discovery of glass particles in the product.

Hyperthermia and dehydration are the “probable” causes of death for a California couple and their 1-year-old daughter whose bodies were found in August on a trail in the Sierra National Forest. (NBC News)

The Amsterdam City Council has unveiled a plan to encourage the Dutch city’s residents to make their diets be 50% plant-based by 2030. (Vegconomist)

The team looking for the fiance of the deceased Gabby Petito faced health threats from snakes, alligators, and mosquitoes during the month-long search through a swampy Florida nature preserve. (CNN)

Pro-China social media accounts have given life to a conspiracy theory that the novel coronavirus originated with lobsters from Maine. (NBC News)

A growing number of young people, especially women, report medical and behavioral changes associated with social media. (BuzzFeed News)

A seemingly healthy 22-year-old man from China reportedly died of acute liver injury at a Beijing hospital after drinking a 1.5-liter container of Coca-Cola in 10 minutes. (Tech Times)

For the second time this month, a Michigan city has reported elevated levels of lead in drinking water. (Newsweek)

Slow service, a delayed flight — how to cope with the everyday annoyances. (CNN)

Walking back previous statements on the issue, CEOs of American and Southwest airlines say their companies will not fire employees who do not comply with the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate. (CNBC)

In nearly every instance, COVID vaccine mandates are holding up in court. (Wall Street Journal)