The latest on COVID-19; health officials don’t recommend booster shots

While the students at Monroe are getting back to some kind of normalcy, the world is still trying to find ways to tame the COVID-19 virus.

Pfizer now says that the Pfizer-BioNTech is effective and safe for children aged 5 to 11. With companies coming out with this information, they hope to get the vaccine authorized for children before we reach the end of October and apply to the FDA by the end of the month (nytimes). 

Including the New York Times, the Delta variant is hospitalizing more children than before. 

Johnson and Johnson came out and said on Tuesday that its booster vaccine for COVID-19 is 94-percent effective when given two months after the first dose; the first dose is 75 percent effective (CNBC). 

J&J says that side effects resulting from the shot should not differ from side effects from your first shot.

So what makes the booster so important? Dr. Paul Stoffels, Johnson and Johnson chief scientific officer, said in a statement, “We now have generated evidence that a booster shot further increases protection against COVID-19 and is expected to extend the duration of protection significantly.”  

CNBC says in an article that the American health officials need more information and data on the booster before they can suggest citizens get the booster shots.

Going back to school should be a fun time for students, you get to see your friends and teachers, but this year it has been hard for many students, as they are getting covid or quarantined. 

Mlive.com says that the state of Michigan has discovered 99 new COVID-19 outbreaks in schools last week.

At least 412 students and staff have been infected by the virus.

The Michigan department of health reported 228 ongoing school outbreaks in the state. 

At this time around 1,730 students and staff have been infected. 

To learn more about students and teachers safety the Michigan state health department puts its information on their online school outbreaks report (mlive.com).