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Pfizer Says Covid-19 Vaccine Safe for Kids Ages 5 to 11

Photo Courtesy Pfizer 
Hope may finally be on the horizon for America’s kids. 

Monday, the same day data compiled by Johns Hopkins University confirmed Covid-19 as the deadliest pandemic in the country’s modern history with 675,000 U. S. fatalities reported, Pfizer announced a trial studying the effectiveness and safety of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 generated a "robust" antibody response.

“Over the past nine months, hundreds of millions of people ages 12 and older from around the world have received our COVID-19 vaccine. We are eager to extend the protection afforded by the vaccine to this younger population, subject to regulatory authorization, especially as we track the spread of the Delta variant and the substantial threat it poses to children,” Albert Bourla, the chairman and CEO for Pfizer, said in a statement touting the early victory. “Since July, pediatric cases of COVID-19 have risen by about 240 percent in the U.S. – underscoring the public health need for vaccination. These trial results provide a strong foundation for seeking authorization of our vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old, and we plan to submit them to the FDA and other regulators with urgency.”

The study was conducted on a group of 2,628 children 5 to 11 years of age using 10-microgram dosages —as opposed to the 30-microgram ones used for those 12 and older — of the vaccine administered three weeks apart. According to Pfizer and BioNTech the vaccine “was safe, well tolerated and showed robust neutralizing antibody responses.” The companies said side effects were generally comparable to those observed in participants 16 to 25 years of age.

The strong results are a reason for optimism at a time when a surge of pediatric infections has swept the nation, but it could be some time before a rollout of the vaccine. 

The companies expect to include the data in a “near-term submission” for Emergency Use Authorization while they continue to accumulate the data needed to file for FDA approval for those in the age group. Trial results for children 2-5 years of age and children 6 months to 2 years of age are expected as soon as the fourth quarter of this year.


Dr. Sian Proctor is the First Black Woman to Pilot a Space Mission

Dr. Sian Proctor Photo Credit SpaceX
For Elon Musk and the SpaceX team, Wednesday's successful launch of its first rocket into orbit — manned by four people who aren't professional astronauts — was just the next step in delivering on their promise of opening up space travel to the common man.  

For geoscientist Sian Proctor, however, it was a chance to make a different kind of history.

"There have been three Black female astronauts that have made it to space, and knowing that I'm going to be the fourth means that I have this opportunity to not only accomplish my dream, but also inspire the next generation of women of color and girls of color and really get them to think about reaching for the stars and what that means," Proctor said at a press conference Tuesday.

Wednesday, the 51-year-old South Mountain Community College professor became the first-ever Black female spacecraft pilot, as the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission launched successfully from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:02 p.m. CDT.

The crew will enjoy zero gravity and panoramic views in their capsule as it orbits Earth at around 17,500 miles per hour — circling the planet once every 90 minutes —before splashing down off the coast of Florida Saturday. 

Proctor, who is also the oldest Black woman to reach space, has already decided how she plans to use her time.

"I'm gonna sit in our cupola and write poetry as I look back at our amazing planet," Proctor — who brought some of her students’ art, as well as materials to create her own poetry and art on the mission —  said. 

The journey is the final step in a dream that began for Proctor as a child. Her father, Edward Langley Proctor Jr., worked for NASA and tracked Apollo program flights.

Having caught the space bug early, Proctor endeavored to reach it on her own, eventually becoming a finalist in NASA's 2009 astronaut candidate program. While she didn't make the final cut, she is a licensed pilot and has completed four astronaut training simulations sponsored by NASA, including a four-month mission to Mars.

She was chosen through an online business contest conducted by Shift4 Payments as part of the Inspiration4 crew selection.  Proctor competed against entrepreneurs across the country to bring in donations for St. Jude, before being chosen to fly on the mission. St. Jude is the charitable beneficiary of Inspiration4. Its goal is to raise $200 million for kids with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Read more about the all-civilian mission to space and how it came to be here.

 

Nicki Minaj's Cousin's Friend Can't Blame Bloated Balls on Covid Vaccine According to Fauci

Photo Credit @nickiminaj
Since the beginning of the global Covid-19 pandemic, misinformation has plagued efforts to keep the disease in check, especially when it comes to the vaccines that experts across the world have lauded as our best chance to control infection rates, reduce mortality and get the different strains in check.

Myths have spread across the internet like wildfire about them and in some cases have been perpetrated by its biggest personalities — including celebrities,  pundits, politicians and other influencers with large followings.

Former presidential candidate Kanye West called a coronavirus vaccine “the mark of the beast” in an interview with Forbes and said those pushing it “want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven.” 

Freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn, (R-N.C.) implied the vaccine effort was a way to build the infrastructure to confiscate people's guns and Bibles.

But recently rapper Nicki Minaj, whose previous attempt to "break the internet" fell somewhat shy of the mark, tweeted something so egregious about the covid vaccines currently in production, that it forced the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, to come out and personally debunk it Tuesday in an interview on CNN:

Internet experts and other bystanders quickly piled on to the statement by the "Chun Li" rapper who had been explaining to fans why she didn't plan to attend Monday's star-studded Met Gala previously in the thread.

They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. if I get vaccinated it won’t for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one,” she tweeted, before recommending that people get vaccinated and saying she would eventually do the same because she has to go on tour.

Several commenters claimed that her cousin's friend had most likely injured himself and or contracted a venereal disease. 

MSNBC's Joy Reid  was more direct, scolding the star for putting out spurious theories to her fan base.

You have a platform, sister, that is 22 million followers, OK? I have 2 million followers. You have 22 million followers on Twitter," Reid told Minaj. "For you to use your platform to encourage our community to not protect themselves and save their lives, my God sister, you can do better than that! You got that platform -- it's a blessing that you got that! The people listen to you -- and they listen to you more than they listen to me!"

"For you to use your platform to put people in the position of dying from a disease they don't have to die from, oh my God, sister. As a fan, as a hip-hop fan, as somebody who is your fan, I'm so sad that you did that, so sad that you did that, sister. Oh, my God," Reid added.  

So, what did Dr. Fauci have to say about the veracity of Minaj's claims? Replying to CNN's Jake Tapper who asked him “Is there any evidence that the Pfizer, the Moderna, or the J&J vaccines cause any reproductive issues in men or women?” The doctor said, “There’s no evidence that it happens, nor is there any mechanistic reason to imagine that it would happen. So the answer to your question is no.”

So, it appears for now at least that everyone who had concerns raised by Minaj's story can relax, well perhaps except for her cousin's friend and his now very famous balls. 


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