Vox Sentences - America's plan to vaccinate young kids

The Biden administration announced its strategy to vaccinate kids ages 5 to 11 against Covid-19; Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro has been accused of crimes against humanity for his Covid-19 response.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Ellen Ioanes. 

Biden's big vaccine rollout for young kids

Xavier Caivinagua/Agencia Press South/Getty Images

• The Biden administration announced on Wednesday its plan for inoculating children ages 5 to 11 against Covid-19. The FDA and CDC haven’t yet recommended vaccination for this age group,but are expected to in the coming weeks after meeting with their respective advisory boards. [The White House]
• Pfizer/BioNTech has submitted its clinical trial data to the FDA so its vaccine can be approved for emergency use. The trials show the vaccine was effective and well-tolerated in children in that age group, with few side effects. [WSJ / Sabrina Siddiqui and Jared S. Hopkins]
• The dose for this age group is 10 micrograms, smaller than the adult-size dose of 30 micrograms, with immune responses mirroring those in vaccinated adults. Pfizer/BioNTech is still conducting clinical trials for the vaccine’s use in children ages 6 months to 5 years. [Pfizer]
• The federal government says it is ready to ship vaccine packages out to states within hours of emergency use authorization, should it be granted. Vaccines will be administered at more than 25,000 pediatricians and primary care offices, as well as FEMA-funded school and community clinics, and the tens of thousands of pharmacies already vaccinating teenagers and adults. [The Guardian / Jessica Glenza]
• Starting in November, the administration plans to set up vaccination sites in 100 children’s hospital systems. The US Department of Health and Human Services will also be carrying out an aggressive public service campaign to educate parents about the vaccine. [CNN / Jeremy Diamond, Kaitlan Collins, and Kate Sullivan]
• Public health officials are putting measures in place, like having vaccines available at pediatricians’ offices, to reassure parents about having their children vaccinated and to combat vaccine misinformation. About two-thirds of parents with children in this age group will not immediately have their kids vaccinated, according to a September Kaiser Family Foundation poll. [Roll Call / Ariel Cohen]
• While Covid-19 hasn’t affected school-age children as seriously as other age groups, the hyper-transmissible delta variant, along with arguments over vaccinations and masking policies, has caused a surge in cases among children. While they are less likely to die from Covid-19 than older adults, they can still get quite sick. [AP / Zeke Miller and Lindsey Tanner]

Brazil’s Senate accuses Bolsonaro of crimes against humanity in pandemic response

• A congressional panel in Brazil will recommend that the country’s right-wing populist president Jair Bolsonaro be charged with crimes against humanity for allowing hundreds of thousands of Brazilians to die of Covid-19. Bolsonaro’s government refused to implement public safety measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing, mishandled vaccine acquisition, and pushed bogus treatments for the virus, according to a six-month investigation by the committee. [NYT / Jack Nicas]
• The 11-member committee is made up of seven opposition members and four who side with the government — including Bolsonaro’s own son, Flavio. Its draft report also found dozens of Bolsonaro’s allies and three of his sons responsible for Brazil’s deeply inadequate response to the pandemic, which so far has killed more than 600,000 Brazilians, a death toll second only to the US. [Al Jazeera]
• The report initially accused Bolsonaro of homicide and genocide but dropped those terms for what one senator called “technical reasons.” “We can’t run the risk of the report being thrown out by a judge because the characterization of the crimes was not precise,” Sen. Humberto Costa said. [Reuters / Lisandra Paraguassu]
• Bolsonaro reacted harshly to the report, saying, “We know that we are guilty of absolutely nothing,” calling one of the senators on the panel “dirty” and making light of the accusations against him. Bolsonaro faces decreasing poll numbers, largely due to his government’s pandemic response; the final report, which has not yet been released, could further hurt his chances of reelection in 2022. [BBC]
• However, the likelihood of serious legal action against Bolsonaro is slim since the attorney general — a Bolsonaro appointee — would have to recommend charges against him if the Senate does approve the report. The panel has said that it will pursue other avenues to hold the president accountable. [Axios]

Democrats have cut plans for two years of free community college from their massive spending bill in an effort to get the price tag under $2 trillion and pull moderate Democrats on board. [NBC]

• Jonathan and Diana Toebbe, the Maryland couple charged with attempting to sell nuclear secrets to a foreign country, were indicted in West Virginia on a single count of conspiracy to communicate restricted data and two counts of communication of restricted data. [NYT / Julian E. Barnes and JoAnna Daemmrich]
• Jailed Russian dissident and Putin critic Alexei Navalny, who narrowly survived poisoning last year, has been awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the European Union’s top human rights award — a slap in the face to the Putin regime. [AP / Raf Casert]
• North Korea has launched a ballistic missile from a submarine — at least its fifth weapons test since September — indicating that it is diversifying its weapons supply in accordance with a plan laid out by leader Kim Jong Un in January. [Washington Post / Michelle Ye Hee Lee]

“He has fought tirelessly against the corruption of Vladimir Putin’s regime. This cost him his liberty and nearly his life. Today’s prize recognizes his immense bravery and we reiterate our call for his immediate release.”

[David Sassoli, president of the European Parliament, in a tweet announcing Alexei Navalny as the winner of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the EU’s highest human rights award]

The current US debt is nearing $29 trillion. Yes, trillion with a T. Should you be worried? [YouTube]

Read more from Vox

The Freedom to Vote Act is almost certainly doomed

Facebook’s name change plan is a reflection of its real priorities

The animals that may exist in a million years, imagined by biologists

Dave Chappelle vs. trans people vs. Netflix

The Supreme Court floats a startling expansion to police immunity from the law

This email was sent to you. Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe. If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution.

View our Privacy Notice and our Terms of Service.

Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 11, Washington, DC 20036.
Copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.