Advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have unanimously supported broad use of Pfizer's and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11, with shots potentially being administrated as soon as today.
They said the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.
Much of their discussion stemmed from rare cases of heart inflammation that have been linked to the vaccine, particularly in young men.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky must sign off on the recommendations before the US can begin administering the vaccine to children in the age group.
The US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorisation of the vaccine in 5 to 11-year-olds on Friday.
The FDA authorised a 10mg dose of Pfizer's vaccine in young children. The original shot given to those age 12 and older is 30mg.
At the outset of the meeting, Dr Walensky said that paediatric hospitalisations had surged during the recent wave driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
The risk from Covid-19 "is too high and too devastating to our children and far higher than for many other diseases for which we vaccinate children", she said.
Dr Walensky said school closures have had detrimental social and mental health impacts on children.
The CDC presented data suggesting that every million shots of the vaccine administered could prevent between 80 to 226 hospitalisations in children age 5 to 11. Once authorised, some 28 million children will be eligible for the shot.
Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccine showed 90.7% efficacy against the coronavirus in a clinical trial of children aged 5 to 11.
The US government and Pfizer have already begun distributing the vaccine in preparation for a widespread rollout for children, many of whom are back in school for in-person learning.
Only a few other countries, including China, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates, have so far cleared Covid-19 vaccines for children in this age group and younger.
Italy's medicines agency recommends a booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine to those who received J&J shot
Italy's medicines agency, the AIFA, has recommended a booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine to those who have been inoculated with the Johnson & Johnson shot.
The agency said in a statement that all those who have had a single shot of the J&J vaccine, regardless of age - about 1.6 million people in Italy - will be eligible to receive the booster from six months after the first dose.
It said it considered the booster necessary because the J&J vaccine had showed a slow decline in efficacy against mild and moderate forms of the disease as the months went by.
Italy started to inoculate vulnerable groups and the over 60s with a third vaccine dose in September.
More than 44.8 million Italians, or 83% of the population over the age of 12, are fully vaccinated against Covid.
Italy has registered 132,161 deaths linked to Covid-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world.
The country has reported 4.78 million cases to date.
The National Health Institute said in a report on Friday that the weekly incidence of cases, after months of decline, has been rising rapidly since last week.
In Europe, Spain and Germany, have already authorised boosters for those who have had the J&J vaccine.
On 20 October, the US Food and Drug Administration authorised booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Moderna and Johnson &Johnson, and said Americans can choose a different shot from their original inoculation as a booster.
Polish daily Covid case count tops 10,400, highest since April
Poland reported more than 10,400 Covid-19 cases today, a 24% rise week on week, government spokesman Piotr Muller said.
The last time the number of daily infections in Poland was above 10,000 was in late April.
"Unfortunately over 10,400 infections have been reported today, that's over 24% more than last week," Mr Muller told RadioPlus.
South Korea to ramp up Covid testing in schools
South Korea said it would ramp up Covid-19 testing at schools after a sharp rise of infections among children, weeks ahead of a plan to fully reopen schools nationwide.
The surge comes as new social distancing rules aimed at a phased return to normal came into effect on Monday as a part of the country's plan to gradually move toward living with Covid-19 on the back of high vaccination rates.
South Korea has fully vaccinated nearly 90% of its adult population, but only began inoculating children aged between 12 and 17 in recent weeks, administering just 0.6% of the age group with both doses so far.
"There is a growing concern as the frequency of new cluster outbreaks has been increasing, centred on educational facilities such as private tuition centres and schools," said Interior and Safety Minister Jeon Hae-cheol.
The government would expand the use of portable PCR diagnostic tests for Covid-19 in schools in Seoul and neighbouring regions, and mobilise more virus-prevention personnel in overcrowded schools, he said.
South Korea plans to fully reopen schools nationwide from 22 November.
The country reported 2,667 new cases for yesterday, an increase of more than 1,000 from the day earlier.
Nearly one fourth of the new cases were found in teenagers, officials said.
"The teenagers spend a lot of time in communal living such as schools and tuition centres and they are also active in social activities," Son Young-rae, a senior health ministry official, told a briefing.
"We believe that the risk of infection will inevitably rise and the confirmed cases will continue to surge stemming from these teenagers."
South Korea has not seen a noticeable increase in seriously ill cases among teens, with just one out of 378 severe Covid-19 patients being treated in hospitals.
South Korea has also reported a relatively low mortality rate of 0.78%. Vaccination for the 12-17 age group began in October, using Pfizer/BioNTech, shots.
Pandemic in Britain is not over, hard months to come, says deputy medical officer
The Covid-19 pandemic is not over in Britain and there are hard months to come as winter nears, England's deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has said.
"Too many people believe that this pandemic is now over. I personally feel there are some hard months to come in the winter and it is not over," he said.
"The caution that people take or don't take in terms of interacting with each other: That is going to be a big determinant in what happens between now and the darkest months of the winter."
Professor Van-Tam said he is worried that increasing numbers of deaths show "the infection is now starting to penetrate into older age groups".
"Deaths are increasing - there might be some artefacts in the very latest figure - but essentially deaths are increasing," he told BBC Breakfast and BBC Radio 5 Live.
"If you then look at hospital admissions, those have plateaued in the last four days. And if you look at the total number of patients in hospital with Covid, those have gone down in the last two or three days, but only a small bit.
"So what that tells me is that we have to just wait and see a bit longer - this could be a pause before things go up, it could be the very first signs that things are beginning to stabilise but at a high rate.
"On cases, they are now starting to fall, but that mainly reflects the fact that this big wave we've had in teenagers is now starting to slip away.
"But my worry is that the deaths are increasing and that shows that the infection is now starting to penetrate into those older age groups.
"And that's why the really key thing is that if you are called for your booster, if you are called for your flu vaccine, please go and get them - this could be really very important this winter, it is not the time to be complacent."
Hong Kong to launch Covid-19 booster campaign from next week
Hong Kong will roll out booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines from next week, Health Secretary Sophia Chan said, as authorities ramp up efforts to convince Beijing to allow cross border travel to mainland China.
The vaccination campaign in the global financial hub has lagged many other developed economies, with about 65% of the eligible population fully vaccinated with shots from either Sinovac, or BioNTech.
About 85% of those older than 80 in the Chinese-ruled city of 7.5 million have not been vaccinated.
The elderly will get priority for the booster shots, along with health workers, cross-border truck drivers and others in categories deemed to be at higher risk of getting the disease.
About 1.86 million people are eligible for the booster, which they can start booking from 5 November, to receive it as soon as 11 November.
Hong Kong is following Beijing's lead in retaining strict travel curbs, in contrast to a global trend of opening up and living with the coronavirus.
International business lobby groups have warned Hong Kong could lose talent and investment, as well as competitive ground to rival finance hubs such as Singapore, unless it relaxes its restrictions on travel.
Despite barely any recent local cases and an environment virtually free of Covid-19, Hong Kong has imposed mandatory hotel quarantine of up to 21 days for arrivals from most countries at the travellers' cost.
Those who test positive are immediately admitted to hospital regardless of their condition. Since last month they have been required to spend a further 14 days in a designated facility after leaving the hospital.
Two Hibernian games postponed after Covid outbreak
Hibernian's next two Scottish Premiership fixtures have been postponed after a coronavirus outbreak left the Edinburgh club unable to field a team.
Trips to Ross County tonight and Livingston on Saturday were pushed back following discussions with the Scottish Professional Football League, the clubs and local health authorities, Hibernian said.
The club said a "significant number" of players and staff tested positive in recent days and are now self-isolating.
"By following all the guidelines, we wouldn't be able to field a team for either game, which has led us to no other alternative than to postpone the fixtures," a Hibernian statement read.
The club will give its training ground a deep clean and open an internal investigation into the outbreak.
The Ross County game had already been re-arranged after two Hibs players tested positive shortly before kick-off on Saturday.
Coronavirus disruption has become rarer in Scotland's top flight after several matches were postponed during the 2020/21 season as the country entered and exited lockdowns.
