Pediatrician explains why parents shouldn’t wait to give their kids the Pfizer vax

10/28/21 • 50 min

The FDA and CDC are expected to soon green-light the use of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11. California says it’ll be ready with more than 1 million doses when that happens.

“The part that the parents really need to realize is that your child might be one of the lucky ones who are asymptomatic,” says Dr. Katherine Williamson from Children’s Hospital of OC. “But as a pediatrician, I've seen so many kids who have had serious disease, and there are many children who have died from the COVID virus. It is time to protect them. And I tell parents — it's just not worth the risk.”

Meanwhile, President Biden left for Europe today to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow next week. But his climate agenda is on the line as Senate Democrats scramble to agree on a major social spending package.

DC Comics recently revealed a plot twist for its new Superman comic books: He’s bisexual. Many fans have said a leading queer character is a welcome and long-overdue addition. But columnist John Paul Brammer says it’s strange that Superman was straight in the first place.

The FDA and CDC are expected to soon green-light the use of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11. California says it’ll be ready with more than 1 million doses when that happens.

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Carson’s foul odor: Mayor pushes for resolution

Residents of Carson, a city in South LA, have spent the past several weeks enduring a smell they’ve compared to rotting eggs, vomit, and farts. The smell is coming from the Dominguez Channel, which is full of dead plants and rotting marine animals that are releasing hydrogen sulfide gas. Residents say they’re getting headaches and nausea, and now the city has declared a state of emergency.

“This to me is deferred maintenance and human error. … [This channel] needs to be completely remediated and … that's going to take a long process. That's why this proclamation was issued, so we could hopefully bypass some of these bureaucracies,” says Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes.

Memes can make people calmer, more content, and more confident in dealing with the pandemic, according to researchers Penn State and UC Santa Barbara. Meanwhile, financial incentives aren’t very effective in swaying skeptics to get vaccinated, says the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Spanx is now worth $1.2 billion, and the investment firm Blackstone is buying a majority stake in it. Founder Sara Blakely celebrated by giving each of her staff members $10,000 and a pair of first-class plane tickets to anywhere in the world.

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New doc dives into inmate riots for better living conditions at Attica state prison

At the maximum security state prison Attica in upstate New York, more than 1000 inmates overwhelmed dozens of guards and civilian prison workers, and took control of the prison 50 years ago. They killed one guard and took the rest hostage. The prisoners demanded better treatment and living conditions. A new documentary looks at the biggest prison uprising in U.S. history. It’s called “Attica,” and is directed by Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry.

Also, critics review the latest movie releases: “Last Night in SoHo,” “Antlers,” “Violet,” “Passing,” and “The Souvenir: Part II.”