The total number of global COVID-19 infections has topped 29 million with nearly 930,000 dead. The CEO of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer — Serum Institute of India — has told the Financial Times it might take up to five years to vaccinate everyone in the world — once a COVID-19 vaccine is approved, if it is a two-dose vaccine.

In other COVID-19 news, infection levels are spiking in the Midwest as North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri and Iowa report record levels of infections.
In New York City, at least 55 public school staff have recently tested positive for COVID-19. One New York City public school in the Bronx was forced to close temporarily, before students even entered the building for the new school year, after two coronavirus cases were confirmed there.

Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital Association is estimating nearly 550,000 children in the United States have tested positive for the virus since the beginning of the pandemic. This comes as the U.S. death toll approaches 195,000 — the highest in the world.