i am joined today by the director of the katherine: i am joined by rochelle walensky, the director ofhe cdc and we will talk about covid guidance and guidan. dr. walensky, thank you so much for being here. dr. walensky: thank you for having me, i am delighted to be here. katherine: you've clearly inherited an incredibly difficult job dr. walensky: i inherited an agency of people who have been working tirelessly for the last 18 months to protect public health. to me if you're not a little bit afraid if your next job perhaps the job isn't big enough so i took it out when i was here, i was a little afraid of the strap has been a daunting task in the middle of a pandemic. it's been hard, i inherited an agency both people's working tirelessly for the last 18 months to protect public health. it's all during their work remotely so getting to know the people doing that work has been hard diving in and recognizing so much of the public and public health and they hands of these -- this agency. i've taken on the task with that work in hand and a feeling of great gift of inheriting incredible peo

last night cdc director rochelle walensky approved a plan that makes as many as 100 million americans eligible for another dose. the cdc is recommending booster shots for moderna recipients 65 and up and for younger individuals at a higher risk because of their job, living situation, or underlying health condition. the third shot should be at least six months after the second. the agency also recommended that all johnson & johnson recipients get a booster two months after their initial dose. the new rules allow those eligible to choose which booster they want, even if they originally received a different brand. >> i really appreciated that we were finally able to look at, consider, and recommend a mix-and-match approach. >> reporter: last night president biden told a televised town hall that vaccines for children should soon be available. >> unlike past administrations, science will dictate this. the expectations are it will be ready in the near term meaning weeks, not -- not months and months. >> reporter: pfizer is awaiting authorization for its reduced dose covid vaccine for 5 to 1

rochelle walensky.erna and johnson & johnson boosters available today. >> that's big news. >>> we begin with that breaking news overnight. a fatal shooting on the set of alec baldwin's new movie. in new mexico, the actor and producer fired the prop firearm that killed the director of photography, and injured the director. kaylee hartung is outside the sheriff's office in sante fe. good morning, kaylee. >> reporter: good morning, george. a prop gun should be loaded with blanks, but something went horribly wrong on the set of alec baldwin's new western film, "rust." this morning, a young and hopeful cinematographer is dead. the director of the film is injured. production has been halted. the cast and crew are devastated. a movie set turning into real-life tragedy. this morning, an urgent investigation into how a prop gun that police say was fired by actor alec baldwin, killed one and injured another on the set of "rust." baldwin, a producer and star of the movie, visibly distraught outside the santa fe co

rochelle walensky. that's all right here 2:00 p.m. eastern. the final stretch of governor race where education and critical race theory are playing a big role. more on that next. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> mike: election day in virginia shaping up to be a nail biter as gubernatorial candidates terry mcauliffe and youngkin play it out. tiffany, welcome. >> thank you for having me on today. >> let's play a clip from former president obama. >> as far as i can tell, the big message of terry's opponent is that he's a regular guy because he wears fleece and he's accusing schools of brainwashing our kids. mike: tiffany, how do you respond to that attack? >> well, we have chapters in virginia, we have chapters in bedford, one starting in loudoun next week and what i'm hearing from moms for liberty they are happy that glen youngkin is focusing on issues of virginia rather than pulling politicians from across the united states to try to help sinking numbers. mike: some of the polling suggests there's enthusiasm gap. republicans are fired up to vote for glen youngkin whil

rochelle walensky. welcome back to "meet the press." >> thank you. good morning, andrea. >> good morning to you. it's good to see you. let's talk about the boosters. the approval for booster shots this week makes a big difference. there's a lot of confusion, first of all, for johnson & johnson recipients. why is it so important that they consider boosters, and do you recommend themrna boosters, getting moderna or pfizer for them? >> this has been a really important next step in our booster campaign across america because we now have a boosz center plan for all three of our vaccines, from moderna and pfizer if you're more than six months out; you may be eligible for a booster. what we said for j&j, if you're two months out from your last shot, you are eligible for a booster. finally this plan to have recommendations towards mix and matching. the fda and the cdc saw a lester holt lot of data over the last week. we saw data from the nih oons on mix and match that antibody levels for tb mrna vaccines boosting the j&j were high. we saw that if you're boos

rochelle walensky, the director of cdc, we thank you so much.udy: days before a global climate summit is set to begin, the leaders of major oil and gas companies testified today at a tough public hearing on capitol hill about their companies' roles in greenhouse gas emissions, the acceleration of climate change, and allegations of past deception and misinformation. william brangham has our report. rep. maloney: for far too long, big oil has escaped accountability for its central role in bringing our planet to the brink of a climate catastrophe. that ends today. william: executives from exxon, chevron, shell, and bp america, some of the biggest players in the oil and gas industry, faced a grilling on capitol hill today. rep. khanna: i don't believe you purposely wanted to be out there spreading climate disinformation, but you're funding these groups. william: the companies are accused of funding and waging a decades-long disinformation campaign to mislead the public on the connections between the burning of fossil fuels and climate change. the ex

rochelle walensky. welcome back to "fox news sunday." >> thanks for having me back, good morning, chris. >> chris: it's this week the cdc approved the modernity and at j&j vaccines for millions more americans as well as approving mix and match. you say that it's a personal option as to the individual, whether they want to get the initial dose of one vaccine and then the booster of another vaccine. but isn't the data clear that if you got the j&j booster first, you get much more product protey getting a booster from either pfizer or an mode or not? >> dr. walensky: this is an important next step in our booster plan across the country because right now we have a blister plan for every one of the vaccines that we are using. as you noted, the moderna will be available for boosting as well as the j&j two months after the initial dose. we also developed a plan where we can work forward for mix and match but specifically to your question, the fda and cdc saw important date of from the nih oon the mix-and-match

rochelle walensky, the director of the centers for disease control. dr. walensky, thank you so much for joining us again. >> thank you so much for having me. >> woodruff: so we than we are getting closer to seeing approval for vaccines for young children, five to 11. and we also know that many parents are eager for their children to get the vaccine. but there are also a number of parents who are worried, who are concerned. are you going to be urging every parent of a child in this age group to get vaccinated, get their child vaccinated? >> right, so we heard from the f.d.a. advisory committee, and we're wauthorization. and next week, i'm really looking forward to the conversations and deliberations of the advisory committee at the c.d.c., after which i'll make my recommendations. and i'll make my recommendations based on those deliberations. i don't want to get ahead of the process. but what i do want to say is after we hear those deliberations and should all of this move forward, we have work to do, the same work that we have done with the general public

we speak with rochelle walensky about the push to get more shots into arms. white house scrambles to put together a scaled back social spending plan and break the gridlock among democrats. >> the bills are not about left versus right or of moderate versus progressive. chris: the president working on concessions to keep his divided party at the table and get a stalled domestic agenda through congress. >> negotiations are ongoing. >> we're getting to a compromise and i'm hopeful by the end of next week. chris: we'll talk with progressive congressman, ro khanna, a key democrat working with the white house to bridge the divide. plus, in virginia, the race for governor growing tighter and drawing national attention in the home stretch. >> we don't need a donald trump in khakis. >> this is our moment to come together like never before and choose a path that stands for liberty, not government control. chris: we bring in our sunday panel to break down the ramifications of the vote ahead of next year's midterm elections. and our power player of the week, an elite trai

rochelle walensky backed an advisory panel's recommendation for moderna and johnson & johnson boosterssays it is ok to mix and match different brands. those who received moderna and pfizer six months ago can get a booster shot if they are 65 years old or younger and at high risk of infection. anyone 18 and over who received the johnson & johnson vaccine can get a booster two months after their initial job. joining me for more is dr. paul off it a part of the fda's advisory committee and is also director of the vaccine education center at the children's hospital of philadelphia. thank you for being with us. the cdc did not necessarily recommend mixing and matching, but left it open for people to decide. do you see any reason at all wife mixing and matching might be more beneficial? >> it was largely a matter of convenience. if you got two doses of the pfizer vaccine and are over 65 and you go to a site that only has moderna vaccine, get the third dose is moderna. that was largely at. there was data showing that if you got theohnson & johnson vaccine and got an mrna containing -- you had

dan: to the pandemic, cdc director rochelle walensky endorsed the recommendation for moderna and johnson & johnson covid-19 booster shots. the recommendation is for people six to five years of age and older, and people 18-64 have underlying conditions or who work in high-risk settings. those who received the moderna vaccine are recommended to get the booster shots six months after their second dose. people who got the single dose johnson & johnson vaccine, two months after their first shot. >> the boosters are really helpful. while the vaccines are working well in preventing severe infections, we are seeing breakthroughs and we are seeing clear evidence that boosters are making an enormous difference in reducing those infections. dan: eligible individuals may choose which vaccine to choose as a booster. they can be available as soon as this weekend. ama: on the spot interviews, signing bonuses, and more, the school district is doing what it can, desperate to fill staff additions amid the ongoing pandemic. education is a key part in building a better bay area. abc 7 news reporter amanda d

rochelle walensky. >> the boosters are really helpful. while the vaccines are working well and preventing severe infections, we are seeing breakthroughs and we see very clear evidence now that boosters, especially for high risk individuals, make an enormous difference in reducing those infections. >> reporter: according to the cdc, nearly 15 million americans who got the j&j shots, at least two months ago, can now get in line for boosters. those who got the moderna shots however have to wait at least six months after their initial vaccination, be at least 65 years old, or be at high risk of contracting the virus. in a much anticipated decision, the cdc also says those eligible for the extra doses can mix and match vaccine brands. in one limited study, those who got the johnson & johnson shots saw their antibodies increase four fold with the j&j booster. a 35 fold increase with the pfizer booster. with moderna, the antibodies increased 76 times. >> what we know about mixing and matching is the following. first of all, it is very safe to do

rochelle walensky must sign off. every indication that she will and quickly. and that means millions of americans could be getting their boosters by this weekend. dr. ashish jha standing by to answer your questions in a moment. we'll ask him about mixing and matching. but first, whit johnson here and what this key cdc panel just decided. >> reporter: tonight, those long awaited recommendations for moderna and johnson & johnson booster shots, along with guidance forxing and matching boters. >> vote number one passes with 15 yeses and 0 nos. >> reporter: for people who got today voting unanimously to oos least six months after vaccination for people over 65 and any adult whose health or work puts them at higher risk. and for the 15 millipients, a sd dose recommended at least two months after vaccination for anyone over 18. the panel also allowing americans to have flexibility to choose a different vra bne nd >> well, i think we've gotten more clarity because it's leveling the playing field across all three vaccines. now there's an openness to boosting no matter

chief rochelle walensky, who is not bound by the panel, but is expected to follow its recommendation.ued in new york city over the mayor's new vaccine mandate for the city's more than 300,000 municipal workers who face mandatory unpaid leave if theyef xt wee with barely half of all firefighters vaccinated, there is already talk of firehouses closing. >> the chiefs are hearing from members that are saying they will absolutely not comply. and what happens in two weeks will be anyone's guess. >> reporter: covid has been the leading cause of death among firefighters nationwide for them past two years. here in new york city, if they have to start closing here in new york city, if they have to s firehouses, today, the mayor said they have a contingency plan in place to protect the city. norah. >> o'donnell: all right, meg oliver, thank you very much. also breaking tonight, the f.b.i. says that the skeletal remains found in a nature preserve in florida on wednesday are, in fact, those of brian laundrie. dental records confirm the match today. the 23-year-old had been missing for more than a

rochelle walensky, is now saying about the flu s shot, as well. and how soon you should get it. abc's erielle reshef leading us off tonight. >> three, four -- >> reporter: tonight, a critical step on the road to vaccinating younger children. pfizer asking for emergency authorization for 5 to 11-year-olds after reporting the shots were safe and generated a robust antibody response with one-third of the adult dose. >> the immune response or protection that you get from the vaccine appears to be just as good as it is in adolescents and young adults. >> reporter: side effects similar too, like fever, headache and sore arm. all eyes now on an fda panel which will review the data on october 26th. and within days, the cdc could sign off on the vaccine for 28 million more children. >> after everything is reviewed and looks good, i'm hopeful that we'll see something in november. >> reporter: 9-year-old luke moore wanted to join the pfizer trial after his parents and friends volunteered. >> honestly, i don't really think it's going to be dangerous and also, i feel good about it. >> report

starting today a cdc panel voted unanimously to recommend boosters and the cdc director doctor rochelle walensky authorized extra dose late thursday, the agency recommends people stay with the same vaccine. they already received says it's okay to mix and match when it comes to the booster shot depending on preference or availability at that time. this decision also comes as a new study finds the pfizer which was approved last month is more than 95% effective against covid-19 10,000 people who had received 2 doses of pfizer took part in the study half were given the booster while the other half got a placebo 5 people got the booster ended up catching the virus while a 109 people in the placebo group. got it. the study did not describe the severity of infections. it also remains unclear how long the booster will be. effective right now. only certain groups are eligible to get a booster shot is not clear when the boosters might be made available to the general public. coming up on the cross, a morning news, the search for brian laundrie comes to weigh in. >> why many are even more suspicious of his

rochelle walensky. what she said about this year's flu season, what they're most concerned about and what about the flu shot after you've had the vaccine? dr. jha is standing by to answer questions on that. but first, abc's kaylee hartung in l.a. >> reporter: tonight, the city of los angeles passing a sweeping new vaccine mandate. customers will now need to show proof of vaccination or a negative covid test not only at bars, clubs and big events but also at indoor restaurants, gyms, shopping malls, nail salons, movie theaters and venues like the staples center starting november 4th. l.a. joining new york to become one of the strictest cities in the nation. hair stylist fred herdst knows he may lose customers, but he sees the new rules as a way out of the pandemic. now the city of l.a. is saying you must require proof of vaccination. and you'll ask without hesitancy? >> yes i will. i've been hoping kind of for this to happen, because this needs to stop. this needs to stop. it's getting out of control. >>

rochelle walensky joins us this morning on her decision, and when younger kids might finally be eligible the gang believed to have taken those 17 hostages in haiti now saying he'll kill them if he's not paid $17

on thursday, live on c-span3, covid-19 and the next steps in the response with testimony from rochelle walensky anthony fauci before the senate health committee. on friday the memorial service for retired army general and former secretary of state colin powell, live from the washington national cathedral. watch next week on the c-span networks, or you can watch our coverage on c-span now, our new mobile video app. also head over to c-span.org for scheduling information or to stream video anytime.

the final decision in the hands of rochelle walensky, who is not bound by the panel but is expected toout continued in new york city over the mayor's new vaccine mandate for city's more than 300,000 municipal workers who face mandatory unpaid leave if they are not vaccinated by the end of next week. with barely half of all firefighters vaccinated, there is already talk of firehouses closing. >> the chiefs are hearing from members that are saying they will absolutely not comply. and what happens in two weeks will be anyone's guess. >> reporter: covid has been the leading cause of death among firefighters nationwide for the past two years. here in new york city, if they have to start closing firehouses, today the mayor said they have a contingency plan in place to protect the city. norah? >> all right, meg oliver, thank you very mh. aking tonight, the fbi says that the skeletal remains found in a nature preserve in florida on wednesday are in fact those of brian laundrie. dental records confirm the match today. the 23-year-old had been missing for more than a month and was wanted for que

rochelle walensky to weigh in on this. if everyone gives a green light dr. anthony fauci is optimistic that shots could go into children's arms in the first or second weelkk of november. we could see children getting the pfizer vaccine. victor, alisyn. >> we are standing by for the decision by this panel. elizabeth, thank you. >> joining us now is dr. suesana hill. dr. hill, it's great to have you here. assuming this actually gets passed, do you think that it would be a challenge to get a large number of kids vaccinated and the reason i ask is because at the moment, we can put up our latest graph, roughly half of young people, aged 12 through 17 who are eligible are actually vaccinated. so do you think it will be harder to get younger children vaccinated, easier, what's your thinking? >> well, alisyn, i think it's perfectly natural for parents to have questions. it's normal to have concerns. and that is likely why the numbers that you just put up are what they are. we're not quite at 50% in terms of vaccinations for kids, for adolescents who are in the eligi

rochelle walensky she is going to make a decision this week.ts, how likely is a child to have a reaction to the vaccine? what are the potential reactions? given what scientists know at this point, possible reactions or long-term effects of covid in children. >> there's no comparison. there's no question. the benefit of children getting vaccinated far, far, far outweighs the risk of getting long covid or covid-19 disease. even though children do better than results, we have over 700 children that died, almost 6.2 million children have been infected by covid. they can get long covid symptoms. they're not completely immune. children tended to get headaches, arm pain, some got fever. with the lower dose, children were able to mount a robust immune response while have few side effects. it looks great and effective for children age. >> arthel: -1 -- ages. >> arthel: -11. arthel: pfizer vaccine with moderna booster, and vice versa, is there any scientific proof of this? >> there is some scientific evidence. it's not new. we've been doing it for years.

rochelle walensky was asked today about what being fully vaccinate means.e a listen. >> right now we don't have booster eligibility for all people currently. so we're going to -- we have not changed the definition of fully vaccinated. we will continue to look at this. we may need to update our definition in the future. >> charles: i'm not 100% clear what she's trying to say there. >> charles, i think her -- what she's trying to convey is thatter with seeing some evidence that the vaccines get less effective over time. that is why there's recommendations now for people that got the one does j&j or for people far enough out in higher risk groups that the the two-doses mrna to get up to the high level of protection that we saw early on. and i don't expect that definition to change right away. but if we keep seeing a decline in the effectiveness of the vaccine over more time and for more people including and lower risk groups, that's when the public health guidance would change to say hey, it's not only suggested you get a booster dose but to consider yourself

on thursday, live on c-span3, covid-19 and the next steps in the response with testimony from rochelle walensky and dr. anthony fauci before the senate health committee. on friday the memorial service for retired army general and former secretary of state colin powell, live from the washington national cathedral. watch next week on the c-span networks, or you can watch our coverage on c-span now, our new mobile video app. also head over to c-span.org for scheduling information or to stream video anytime. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> washington journal continues. chris riley, the internet governance senior fellow at the archery institute. good morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: remind our viewers exactly what the r street institute is question mark -- is? guest: it's a nonprofit free-market free tank -- think tank. we have a lot of different issues and we are happy to be part of the elegy and innovation team. host: where does it get its funding? guest: a mix of sources, which is pretty typical of d.c. organizations. during my time -- [indiscernible] we are supported

rochelle walensky this morning. >> we'll not boost our way out of this pandemic. even after you boost, it remains important for us to remain smart about our prevention strategies while we still have over 93% of our counties with high or moderate community transmission. >> how much urgency should people eligible for a booster shot take to get that extra dose? >> i think they should do it right away. what we know is after six months the efficacy of this -- of these vaccines to prevent infection wanes significantly. and the sooner you get boosted, the more your protection is. i think if you've been -- not i think. we know if you've been vaccinated, you're very unlikely to get severely ill, should you get a breakthrough infection. but it's going to take you out of action for a couple of weeks. and more importantly, it then makes you more likely to infect somebody else who may be vulnerable. either unvaccinated or immunocompromised. so everyone who is eligible for a booster should get a booster. >> the cdc's official stance on mixing and matching. so if you got a pfize

rochelle walensky for the final okay. so who is eligible for these boosters? for pfizer. anyone 65 or older, anyone 18 years and older who has a preexisting condition or anyone whose job puts them at higher risk for covid exposure. for johnson & johnson booster shots it is different. they're recommended for anyone 18 years and older who got a j&j shot more than two months ago. these booster shots could be available theoretically as soon as this weekend. now to our politics lead president biden will join virginia democratic candidate for governor terry mcauliffe for a campaign stop next week in the d.c. suburb of arlington. the governor's race is getting too close for comfort for democrats. a new monmouth poll shows republican candidate for governor glen youngkin has seized the momentum and is improving his numbers so much he is now neck and neck with mcauliffe the final few weeks of campaigning before election day are crucial in every race but they're especially crucial in this race because early voting began in mid september as cnn's jeff zelle anyreports tha

the cdc director doctor rochelle walensky got her flu shot as the cameras were rolling today. she says it's important to get the shot before the flu season. peaks. this winter. even if you might be spexperiencing so-called vaccin fatigue. >> i get we are all tired of not talking about vaccines. i get that we are all doing our best to protect their health and the health of our families. i also want to make sure we all get it. that we don't get how serious flu and this can be. >> flu cases dropped to historically low levels last year. but that was largely due to masking and other precautions against covid. but doctors warn with schools and businesses reopening travel resume, maine and the lifting of mask mandates. the flu could make a comeback. you can get the flu shot and the covid vaccine at the same time. >> other news tonight, road rage and gun violence in oakland of cost a 15 year-old girl. her life. that's according to police. chief leronne armstrong. the team was riding in the passenger seat of a car when she was shot to death in east oakland late last night. this is vide

rochelle walensky will give her green light and that will be the final green light. so all of this, what it adds up to is with dr. anthony fauci said a few days ago, which he said he is optimistic that children will be vaccinated with pfizer, have the opportunity to be vaccinated with pfizer sometime in the first two weeks of november. so let's look at the data that the experts will be looking at today. the data, according to pfizer, shows for children ages 5 to 11, that this vaccine is 90.7% effective against symptomatic covid-19. what they did is they gave about 1300 children the vaccine in a clinical trial and over time 3 of them became sick with covid-19. they gave 763 children a placebo that does nothing. a far smaller number, not 50/50, a far smaller number and 16 of those children became sick. those numbers are telling. far more children became sick who received the placebo, even though fewer received the pla placebo. the bottom line is these advisers will look at that data and dr. paul offett, he put it very succinctly. let's take a listen. >> can promise you

rochelle walensky, the director of the cdc, would give her thoughts on whether this should be approved the way the fda had laid it out. that's the time line. let's take a look at what the advisers will be looking at specifically. it's a large clinical trial where some children were given the vaccine and other children were given the placebo. they followed them for a period of time to see who got sick with covid-19. this is how they did wit adults last year. let's take a look at what they found. according to pfizer's documents, they say the vaccine is 90.7% effective against preventing symptomatic covid-19, in other words, 91% almost effective at keeping kids from getting sick with covid-19. what they did is that a little over 1,300 children received vaccine in the clinical trial. only three became sick with covid-19. 663 children received a placebo, a shot of saline that does nothing, a much smaller number, but look how many more children became sick with covid. 16 became sick with covid. over the next day we'll be hearing lots of epidemiological nitty-gritty about these numbers. reall

rochelle walensky, the head of the cdc, these are expected to be -- these are going to be rigorous reviewse. i want to emphasize here how many reviews this vaccine has had for children. first, external advisers for the fda that happened earlier this week, and they have a team of experts and the cdc itself, every little piece of evidence, every clinical trial, everything that's been done that shows so far that this vaccine is safe and effective in children. if you want to save your child's life, get them vaccinated. nearly 800 children have died from covid-19, and plenty of them were perfectly healthy children, you would have had no way of knowing that covid would kill them. that's in addition to thousands who were hospitalized and that's in addition to even more who got covid and had long-term effects like fatigue and brain fog and other issues. why you wouldn't want to vaccinate your child, truly as a mom is beyond me. >> one step closer to protection for young children, again, the fda has now authorized pfizer's covid-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11. elizabeth just laid out the steps bet

i think rochelle walensky said, the cdc director, said walk, don't run.nd dose . the one hedge -- young women who are pregnant where the risk of getting thrombotic disease, clotting disease is higher. we know that's a rare effect of the j&j vaccine. maybe i'd recommend one of the mrna vaccines. >> sorry to cut you off, dr. -- >> the two doses of the j&j are good. >> okay. wonderful. thank you so much. great to see you. >>> a shocking admission coming from longtime nike's jordan brand chairman larry miller says he murdered someone when he was a teenager. it is a secret he has kept until now. more ahead. to run a growing business, is to be on a journey. and along the ride, you'll find many challenges. your dell technologies advisor is here to help. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. if you're on medicare, remember, the annual enrollment period is here. the time to choose your coverage... begins october 15th... and ends december 7th. so call unitedhealthcare... and take advantage of a wide choice of plans... including an aarp medicare advantage p

the cdc director rochelle walensky said just 31% of pregnant women in the u.s. are vaccinated.o you make of that number? why is this such a concern? >> i think to put this in perspective, what we know is about 75% of the population has received at least one dose. so this is staggeringly low for pregnant people. and i think it really is fear and fear of harming your baby and i understand hesitation against things. however, the consequences are so different because your body is different in pregnancy. you have decreased immune system and your lung capacity is lower and there is extra strain on your heart and kidneys and what we're seeing right now that the delta infection is deadly. pregnant people compared to non-pregnant age related peers with covid has a 70 percent increased chance of dying and a double-digit chance of being admitted into icu andin tube ated and there is fetal death and still birth and these are things we want to avoid. we truly, truly are asking pregnant patients to talk to their doctors about this and the cdc urgent guideline is stressing how important this

rochelle walensky will have the final word.er that vaccination can begin in the following days. >>> now, the cdc is also updating vaccine guidance for some people with compromised immune systems. the agency now says they could benefit from getting a vaccine booster at least six months after their third shot. back in august, the cdc said a third dose was needed to fully protect people for those weakened immune system. that includes patients who have been through cancer treatment, people with advance hiv and organ transplant recipients. >>> those getting the third vaccine is plummeting. it is over 200,000 vaccinations a day. you can see it on your screen. that is a 15% drop really from last week, and now the lowest number on record right now at just over two-thirds of americans are fully vaccinated. we'll stay on that story for you. >>> meanwhile, china is clamping down to stop a growing covid outbreak just 100 days before the winter olympic games begin. cases have been reported in nearly a third of china's province including bei

now have mister recommendations for all 3 authorized covid-19 vaccines, cdc director doctor rochelle walenskych booster you receive. there may be some people might prefer another vaccine over the one that they received and the current cdc recommendations now make that possible anyone who received johnson and johnson can get a booster. 2 months later for pfizer and moderna those 65 and older or 18 and older who live or work in a high-risk location or have common underlying medical conditions can get a booster 6 months after their last shot walensky is especially concerned about pregnant individuals because their vaccination rate remains low. you should also get your business during that period of time. and i would say for nursing as well. white house covid-19 response coordinator jeff zients says locations, including pharmacies doctors offices and rural health centers can provide the boosters to eligible americans starting today. we have ample supply of all 3 vaccines. but ultimately the priority remains getting the unvaccinated their first shots. we will not our way out of this pandemic. and

rochelle walensky addressed booster shot confusion. >> we saw data from the nih on mix and match that were very high. if you're boosted with j&j, you actually do quite well as well. any one of these vaccines can really be used to boost any one of the others. >> joining me now nbc news medical contributor. good to see you, my friend. lots of questions. millions more people are eligible for boosters. so how do you decide which one to get? is it better to get a different vaccine? and where do you go to either get it or get the information you need? >> alex, i think what i'd like to do is divide it into what the nih study told us and what we still don't know. the nih study was simply what we call an immunogenicitiy study which means they took all these different combinations of primary vaccines and then boost it with all three of the vaccines. and what we found was is that if you mixed and matched, you got the same or better antibody response at two weeks. what we don't know, however, and this is the key thing, is whether or not those higher antibodies measured at two weeks actually trans

rochelle walensky earlier today. >> if you are eligible for a boost and you're pregnant, you should alsoat period of time and i would say for nursing as well. >> would you also encourage pregnant women to get a booster? >> yeah, jaike. absolutely. pregnant women are at high risk of bad complications of covid. it's very dangerous in pregnancy. i agree with the cdc director. if you're pregnant and have been vaccinated, good time to get a boost if you're six months out from your second shot. >> pfizer has data showing its smaller dose vaccine, about one-third of the size of the vaccine, for kids is nearly 91% effective in preventing the kids from getting any sort of symptomatic covid infection. put that in perspective for us. how promising might this be for ending the pandemic? >> two things on this. first of all, it's phenomenal. a high level of efficacy. this is the kind of stuff we saw early days of pfizer before the delta variant and other variants of concern came into effect. that was pretty compelling. kids need to get vaccinated because it's going to be good for them and protect them

rochelle walensky will officially sign off on the agency's recommendations.teven romo joining us in new york city. welcome. what are you hearing from health officials about this? >> reporter: alex, good afternoon. health officials are saying there's so much interest in those boosters right now. people are showing up to vaccination sites like the one here at the american museum of natural history in new york and asking about them. soon even more people will be eligible for them likely, as you mentioned. the fda has to sign off on both the moderna vaccine boosters as well as the johnson & johnson boosters. for the j&j booster, it's for anyone over 18 who had the shot as recently as two months ago. new york health officials here tell us they are ready for a surge of people coming to get those boosters. >> we are expecting a surge of individuals that will come by to receive our ask about the moderna booster. for the is i didn't do depending on what the fda and cdc guidance say, it was administered much later in the rollout of the vaccine, so we'll see what they s

overnight, cdc director rochelle walensky endorsed booster shots for both moderna and johnson & johnson. giving millions of americans more options in fighting the pandemic. at the top of the next hour, the white house covid-19 response team will brief the nation on this news and address the mix and match strategy, which would allow you to get a different vaccine dose for your booster than your initial shot. director walensky was on the "today" show this morning and here's part of what she had to say. >> what i would say, as i mentioned with, the vast majority of people will probably select the one that they loirnl received and did really well with. but there may be some people who would prefer a different vaccine, or if you go into a pharmacy and they don't have the vaccine that you originally got, it really is fine to get a different vaccine. >> joining me now is dr. uche blackstock, the founder and ceo of advancing health equities. she's also an msnbc medical contributor. doctor, good to see you. can you kind of explain exactly what was announced? what does this mean for us? >> thank

rochelle walensky says the virus has killed more than 7 hung children in the u.s. they must remain vigilant heading into the winter months. here's her message to paris. take a listen. >> as we anticipate authorization for vaccines for children, i want to emphasize ways we can continue to protect our children today. so having our children with people who are vaccinated helps protect them against covid-19. it's important that we continue to vaccinate as many adults as possible, to provide protection to children in the community, especially those who may not be eligible for vaccination themselves. >> well, data from johns hopkins university shows cases in the u.s. are declining as you can see there on your screen. but america's top health expert says it is still a good idea to get children vaccinated. >> all you need to do is go to the pediatric hospitals around the country, and you see particularly with the delta variant which has a much greater chance of transmitting, that more kids are getting infected. and as more kids get infected, some of them, maybe a small pro

if that group votes yes then the recommendation will go to cdc director rochelle walensky's desk forhe final okay. those eligible could get their boosters as soon as this weekend. >> reporter: decision day the cdc vaccine advisers set to vote this hour on whether to recommend covid vaccine booster shots from moderna and johnson & johnson and who should get them after the fda authorized emergency use. if the cdc panel and the cdc director sign off, people could start getting the additional shots within days >> i think there is growing recognition that the vaccines we have are excellent but they'll provide you with even better protection and longer lasting protection if you were to get a booster dose. >> reporter: the cdc also expected to recommend mixing and matching of vaccines meaning people could get a booster dose of any of the three approved vaccines after the fda okay'd it. >> the mix and match really gives a good deal of flexibility to people in whatever it is that they want to choose. >> reporter: this as new data from pfizer show a booster dose of the company's vaccine is 95.

cdc director rochelle walensky says when it comes to mixing and matching booster doses, it's a personalse important decisions about how best to protect themselves with these booster shots? >> i'm very glad that the cdc came out with this permissive recommendation, basically empowering people to make the best decisions for their own health in consultation with their providers. so here is the way that i recommend for people to think about it. it depends on whether you got pfizer, moderna, initially, or johnson & johnson. if you got pfizer or moderna initially, unless you have a real reason to switch to a different vaccine, i recommend that you stick with what you got initially. pfizer/moderna itself are fairly interchangeable, there's no particular reason to switch between the two. unless you have a very specific reason to switch to johnson & johnson, for example you have a severe allergy to pfizer or mon moderna, i would not recommend you switch at this time. people who got the one-dose johnson & johnson vaccine, and i'm one of them, especially for women 18 to 49, i strongly encourage th

cdc advisory panel will review the data on tuesday and then soon after possibly cdc director rochelle walenskyreports. >>> trick-or-treat -- >> reporter: finally time for costumes and candy. of course, with covid-19 still lingering, masks have a double meaning this halloween. p pediatricians say the urge to enjoy the spooky tradition widely canceled or scaled down last year should come with precautions this weekend. >> you sort of notice the clustering of kids in front of doors, 14, 15 kids altogether. there is some risk for viral transmission in those cases. i still recommend masking outdoors. definitely recommend masking indoors. >> reporter: even though kids are less likely to have severe complications from covid-19 compared to adults. >> right now, about 25% of viral transmission is occurring in children, particularly grade-school children. the exact same children that are not vaccinated or have the option of being vaccinated. >> reporter: but that could soon change. friday the fda issued emergency use authorization of pfizer's covid-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11. welcome news to dr. wil

a cdc panel voted unanimously to recommend the boosters and the cdc director doctor rochelle walensky extra dose late today. >> the agency recommends people stick with the same vaccine. they already receive but says it is okay to mix and match when it comes to the booster shot depending on your preference or availability. this decision comes as a new study finds the pfizer booster which was approved last month is more than 95% effective against covid 10,000 people who had received 2 doses of pfizer took part in the study half were given the booster while the other half got a placebo 5 people who got the booster ended up catching the virus while 109 people in the placebo group. got it. the study did not describe the severity of the infections. it also remains unclear how long the booster will be. effective but infectious disease experts are hopeful. one thing that we know about booster says they will temporarily stratified east. the question is do they fundamentally. >> increase your ability to form t cells and b cells which are long lasting memory cells that will protect you in the fu

rochelle walensky on the definition of fully vaccinated.le to get boosters. the fda authorized the use of moderna and johnson & johnson boosters last week. joining us now is dr. marty makary, professor at johns hopkins school of medicine, also a fox news contributor. i guess she answered the question. i guess if you got your one shot of johnson & johnson or two shots of the others, you are fully vaccinated, under the cdc guidelines. but that could change, doctor, that's what she said. >> well, people are understandably apprehensive about the cdc changing their definition because so much of society is adjudicated based on whether or not you meet that criteria of being fully vaccinated. so when she clearly suggested that last week, today she's really walking it back and trying to make it clear that it's not true. the risk is not equally distributed in the population which is why many of us are very concerned about fully vaccinated meaning that you've got a booster as well. >> jon: because you've suggested that the government is pursuing this

a cdc advisory panel will review the data on tuesday, approximate & soon after, rochelle walensky willdecision. with us professor and dean of medicine at baylor. what will be the biggest immediate impact of this decision? >> well, the biggest impact will be protecting children who are in school and reducing the likelihood that they're going to go to the hospital or get very sick or get long covid. i think this is the narrative that's not been sufficiently emphasized is how devastating this delta variant has been across the southern states over the summer. we've had 8,300 hospitalizations of kids 5 to 11. a third of them in the intensive care unit. many with that multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. we had 170 deaths. we filled up pediatric hospitals, children's hospitals, even pediatric icus, which i had never seen before. and then all the long covid, maybe as much as 14% of kids getting long covid after more than 15 months. those numbers are not out there. all we're hearing about are the risks of the vaccine, which are quite modest. and i think that's going to be the hard pa

rochelle walensky says the positive trends will all depend on human behavior, which she cautions hasef medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. sanjay, dr. walensky says it is in our hands. it depends what we do where this pandemic goes. >> it has been in our hands all along. i hesitate to bring up the fact there are countries that were diagnosed, had their first patients diagnosed in the same day as we did and had a very different trajectory. but i think the indicators look positive, if you look at this just from an objective standpoint and people bring up the idea that, look, we're going into winter. that's when respiratory pathogens spread. that's true. but when it comes to pandemics, because you get so much widespread immunity, some from vaccines and some from the disease spreading, you get dropoffs around this time of year. look back at 2009, the big surge of that pandemic was right around this time. the numbers eventually dropped. and then they sort of stayed low after that. you can see that. that's far right of the screen. >> oh, wow. >> they came down, stayed down. 2018 -- 191