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| The FDA on Wednesday authorized booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine for people 65 and older and those whose jobs put them at high risk for exposure to COVID-19. |
| The boosters can't be made available to the public until a critical CDC committee votes on how to implement that expanded access. That vote is expected Thursday afternoon. |
| Afterward, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky is likely to quickly sign off, making boosters available to more people within a few days. More here. |
| It's Thursday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the USA TODAY Network. Here's more news you need to know. |
| • | New York state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, a central figure in COVID-19 related scandals that plagued former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has submitted his resignation, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul. | | • | Florida's new surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, an outspoken critic of lockdowns and COVID-19 mandates, signed new protocols allowing students exposed to COVID-19 not to quarantine if their parents choose. | | • | More Iowans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 than at any point earlier in 2021, according to state data. | | • | COVID-19 is driving both physical and mental health crises among kids, according to the leader of Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. | | • | A Kansas middle school student has died of COVID-19, making it the first reprted COVID-19 death of someone age 10 to 17 in Kansas and only the third reported for someone under 18 in the state, according to a state education official. Nationwide, more than 550 kids under 18 have died from COVID-19, according to CDC data. | |
| Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 42.5 million COVID-19 cases and 681,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 230 million cases and more than 4.7 million deaths. About 64% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 55% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Among U.S. adults, 77% have received at least one shot, and about 66% are fully vaccinated. |
| Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines. |
| – Grace Hauck, USA TODAY breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck |
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