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U.S. COVID Numbers Fall as Doctors Debate Vaccinating Kids Ahead of Vulnerable People Abroad

HeadlineMay 13, 2021

The United States reported over 800 deaths from COVID-19 Wednesday, as new infections continue to drop while vaccinations rise. Massachusetts reported zero coronavirus deaths for the first time since last June, while in Michigan a spring surge is rapidly subsiding. At the White House, President Biden urged parents to get their children vaccinated after a CDC panel approved use of Pfizer’s vaccine in adolescents 12 and older.

This comes as many public health officials are urging the United States to ship desperately needed vaccine doses overseas. British pediatric immunologist Dr. Adam Finn and Harvard Medical School pediatrician Dr. Richard Malley wrote in The Washington Post, “Crematoriums are working around the clock in India. Overwhelmed hospitals are running out of oxygen in Brazil. … In this context, it is difficult to justify using limited vaccine supplies to immunize young, healthy children at little risk of severe disease from COVID.”

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