Pfizer vaccines for kids under 5 could be approved this month – National & International News – TUE 1Feb2022

Pfizer vaccines for kids under 5 could be approved this month. N. Carolina: Thousands evacuate fearing explosion at burning chemical plant. Myanmar: Civil war rages as junta marks one-year anniversary.

NATIONAL NEWS

Pfizer vaccines for kids under 5 could be approved this month

The FDA has urged Pfizer to apply for emergency use authorization for its COVID vaccines formulated for children under 5. Pfizer may submit its application along with initial findings from its ongoing trials as early as today. This may potentially clear the way for approval as early as the end of February. With this approval, all segments of the population will be eligible for a course of two vaccinations. Approval for boosters for kids under 5 will have to await further trials and findings.

Late last year, administration officials were predicting that approval for vaccines for young children might come through in March or April. The push to move up this timeline reflects renewed urgency on the part of the White House and pharmaceutical companies due to the omicron variant and the potential emergence of other variants.

Approval for children under 5 will be a welcome relief to many parents and childcare providers. As more mothers, particularly, have been eager to re-enter the workforce, they’ve often found it difficult owing to shortages in childcare. Many experienced daycare workers have retired or left the profession due to the stress of continual quarantines and outbreaks, as well as pressure from parents to remain open despite the risks.

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N. Carolina: Thousands evacuate fearing explosion at burning chemical plant

A chemical plant in the vicinity of Winston-Salem has been burning out of control for some hours. Firefighters abandoned efforts to extinguish the blaze due to the danger of a powerful explosion. They’ve left a lone automated firetruck to continue spraying water on the blaze. Meanwhile, firefighters and emergency responders have focused their efforts on evacuating homes within a one mile radius of the plant. First responders have been going door-to-door informing residents of the danger and urging them to flee.

The blaze took hold at the Winston Weaver Company fertilizer plant late last night. Explosions at similar facilities in Texas in recent years have impacted areas for miles around and claimed the lives of workers. The Winston Weaver plant contains at least 600 tons of ammonium nitrate. This is the same compound that was responsible for the devastating blast in Beirut in 2020 that killed hundreds of people and left thousands homeless. However, the Winston Weaver plant contains less than a quarter of the 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate that was stored in Beirut’s port.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Myanmar: Civil war rages as junta marks one-year anniversary

One year ago today, Myanmar’s military (known as the Tatmadaw) staged a coup in which the country’s democratically-elected government was deposed. This came after a disputed election in late 2020 in which the pro-military parties won an embarrassingly small portion of the vote. The leaders of the Tatmadaw alleged election fraud, with no proof. The junta took the country’s democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi into custody. Suu Kyi has since been in court, brought up on numerous trumped up charges.

The country’s populace has not taken the overthrow of their elected government lying down. Immediately following the coup last year, students and minority activists took to the streets in their thousands. The military responded with a brutal crackdown, gunning down hundreds of protesters in the streets. Military police also conducted raids in neighborhoods and homes where they suspected activists were hiding. They arrested thousands and tortured many to death.

The military has also waged all out war on minority groups like the Karen who live along the country’s borders. These groups have been fighting the military for years. Over the summer, soldiers raided rural villages, rounding up, torturing and slaying the men and setting the villages alight. Protesters in cities have since joined forces with the minority militias and are now engaged in fully armed conflict with the Tatmadaw.

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