walensky: yeah.hat's important in one of the things i think we've done even since i've been here is to understand and anticipate what questions people will be asking and what's the data we need to collect now to inform those decisions? sometimes the data aren't as we would want them. or they come to us and we say, oh, no, is that really what's happening? and maybe i'll sort of the take the description what happened in july when we saw breakthrough infections from massachusetts, a county in massachusetts. these breakthrough infections. so back in march when we said -- i should say may when we said vaccinated people could take off their mask. we had the alpha variant. breakthrough infection, you couldn't transmit to other people. so fast forward in july, we had the delta variant. we anticipated the vaccine would be working just as well. and in fact, they have been working well to prevent infection. but what we first found in the massachusetts outbreak was that the viral load was just as high as people

walensky. dr. walensky: thank you, jack. good morning, everyone. let's begin with an overview of the data. as of yesterday, the seven-day daily average of cases was about 75,500 cases per day, which represents a decrease of about 16% over the prior week. the seven-day average of hospital admissions was about 6,000 per day, also a decrease of about 11% from the prior week. and the seven-day average of daily deaths were about 1200 per day, a decrease of about 3% from the previous week. throughout the pandemic, cdc has continuously kept the country and the world updated with the most recent data, information, and science. a critical way we do this is through cdc's covid data tracker, a public data dashboard with information on covid-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths, and vaccinations broken down by race, ethnicity, gender, age, and many other demographics. and most of the data is available at the county level. recently, cdc added new data on our covid data tracker that reports covid-19 outcomes by vaccination status. here you can see some of the data

walensky. dr. walensky: thank you, jeff. good afternoon, everybody. it's good to back with you again today. i'll start with the data and today i want to provide you a closer look at the current state of the pandemic. let's start with cases. as of yesterday, the seven-day daily average of cases was about 65,900 per day. which represents about a 16% decrease over the previous week. down from our peak in early september, we are now heading in the right direction. and -- but with cases still high, we must remain vigilant heading into the colder, drier winter months. as we look at hospitalizations, we also see week-to-week decreases with a 54% decrease from our peak of august 28. as of said, the seven-day average of hospital admissions was about 5,500 per day which is about a decrease of 12% from the prior week. it's important to note that the hospitalization rate among unvaccinated adults is 12 times higher than those who are vaccinated. again, demonstrating the power and importance of vaccination.

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

walensky on schools? dr. walensky: yeah. maybe just picking up on that.er we have authorization from fda and recommendations from cdc, we will b,p just noted, as we head into these winter months, we know we cannot be complacent. we also know from previous data that schools that have had masks in place were three and a half times less likely to have school outbreaks requiring school closure. so right now we ar all schools for all people in those schools. we will look forward to scaling up pediatric vaccination dur mr. zients: i believe zeke's last question was about the federal mandates and possible impact on holiday travel. vaccination requirements will not impact holiday travel. vaccination requirements work. they've increased vaccination rates by 20 plus percentage points to over 90% in most organizations.an expect to see an increase in compliance toward the end of that deadline, as we approach the deadline. point number two is the deadline contractors is more than a month away. federal workers have until november 22nd to get fully vaccinated. the feder

walensky. dr. walensky: thank you, jeff. good morning. an overview of the data, end of last week, a seven-day daily average of cases of about 92,600 cases per day, a decrease of about 12% over the previous week. lastly, i was seven day average of hospital admissions was about 7080 per day, also a decrease of about 11% from the previous week. seven-day average daily deaths last week was about 1400 per day, a decrease of about 5% from the previous week. we are halfway through october and two months into the school year. at the start of the year, we made it clear our goal was to have children in school or in-person learning. we know it affects their education and social and emotional well-being. to keep kids in school, it is important we have the measures in place to protect children from covid-19. for those eligible, this means vaccinations. for those not yet eligible for vaccines, it means putting in place layered prevention strategies, including masks for all students, teachers, and staff, improved ventilation, increased access to testing

walensky. i would like to now provide three concise messages about how we can accelerate the end of the epidemic in our country and the pandemic globally with vaccinations. first, covid-19 vaccines are safe, effective, convenient, and free. they protect you, your loved ones, and your community. next slide. this is just one bit of data among many from a variety of local locations throughout the country. in this case it's from public health seattle in king county. this is covid-19 data over the past 30 days. essentially delta data. people who are not fully vaccinated are eight times more likely to test positive, 41 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 57 times more likely to die. compared to people who are vaccinated. next slide. next message, booster shots provide further protection against asker co-v two infection and symptomatic covid-19 disease for people at increased risk of severe covid-1919 degrees disees. next slide. this is a slide that showed at a prior press briefing. 12 days or m

walensky: yes, this is important.ast week, we took an important step in boosters in this country, and we have now recommendations for all three of our vaccines, for the j&j vaccine, the moderna, and the pfizer vaccine. to be clear as to what our booster recommendations are, for those who got the j&j vaccine, if you got that vaccine more than two months ago, we are seeing waning with that vaccine, and we do recommend a booster shot. for the pfizer and the moderna vaccines, if you're more than six months out of your second dose, we are absolutely recommending a booster shot for those over the age of 65, as well as for those over the age of 50 and have underlying medical conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to covid-19. and then the one thing i do really want to make sure is very clear is, we are working to optimize protection of our vaccine with these booster shots. but, really importantly, we still have 64 million americans who have not rolled up their sleeves for the initial vaccine, and that is criticall

walensky: thanks.ertainly, it is absolutely encouraging that our cases are coming down i want to highlight what dr. fauci said in his presentation, that despite the recent decrease in cases, most communities across the country are still experiencing substantial to high levels of community transmission, and we're certainly not at a place where our cases are in control area, as noted. so we absolutely need to stay focused on continuing to get covid under control around the country, especially as we head into the fall and winter season, respiratory virus season. and that is sticking with prevention measures that we know work, including masking and getting vaccinated, getting your family vaccinated, getting your booster, if eligible. dr. murthy: i would emphasize what they both said, which is we should focus on what we do know. and what we do know is that getting people vaccinated is the best way to accelerate the path out of the pandemic. and we talked about the progress, three out of four eligible americ

with that, over to you, doctor walensky. >> let's begin with an overview of the data. we ended with a seven day average of cases that's about 92,600 per day which represents a decrease of about 12% over the previous week. last week the average of hospitalof admissions was about 7,080 per day also a decrease of 11% in the previous week. the 70 average last week was about 1400 per day a decrease of about 5% in the previous week. we are halfway to october and at the start of the year we made it clear that the goal was to have children in school for in person learning. we know it's best for their education and social and emotional well-being. to keep kids at school it's important we have the measures ins place to protect children from ko vid 19 and from those eligible,th this means vaccinations. for those that are not yet eligible it means putting in place prevention strategies including masks for all students, teachers and staff, improved ventilation, increased access to testing and efforts to protect our children. cdc is working with school districts across the country t

walensky. dr. walensky: let's begin with the data. our 70 averages about -- a decrease of 12% over the previous week. the seven day average of hospital admissions is a decrease in about 14% from last week. the seven day average daily death remains constant at 1400 per day. each week we share with you the science of why vaccination is our most powerful tool to beat covid-19. we are committed to making sure all americans receive the best protection by getting vaccinated. 186 million americans are fully vaccinated against covid-19 and we are adding hundreds of thousands of more each day. i want to remind you that vaccination is not just important for covid-19, it is also important for preventing other infectious diseases, especially influenza, or the flu. the cdc has started collecting data for our influenza surveillance report which we will start publishing online beginning october 15 and will continue throughout flu season. each week, we publish comprehensive data on outpatient influenza like il

walensky. dr. walensky: thank you, jack. good morning, everyone. let's begin with an overview of the data. as of yesterday, the seven-day

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

walensky. >> thank you and want to get an overview of the data. at the end of last week with a seven day average daily of cases of 92,600 cases per day in which represents a decrease of about 12% over the previous weeks weeks. the 3% and averaged four of the hospital missions with 7080 perr erday also an increase of 11% -a decrease of 11%. the seven-day average daily -- was 1400 per day a decrease of 5% from previous weeks. we are halfway through october and two months into the school year. the start of the year we made it clear our goal is to have childrenyeye in school for an in-person learning and we know this is best for the education as well as their social and emotional well-being. to keep kids in school it's important to have the measures in place to protect children frome covid-19. for those who are eligible they can get the vaccination foret those not eligible use retention strategies including mask for all students teachers and staff improved ventilation increased access to testing and communitywide vaccination efforts to test their chil

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. 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. >>

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. 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

. >> walensky the definition? >> that's a great question. right now we don't have that for all people so we are going to, we've not yet changed the definition of fully vaccinated, we will continue to look at this, we may need to update fully vaccinated in the future but right now i would say if you're eligible for a booster, go ahead and get your booster and we will continue to follow. >> the current cdc dose is one dose of j&j? >> absolutely, thank you. >> thank you

director rashel walensky says it is designed to keep students who may have been exposed to covid-19 inely. >> rather than students quarantining after potential exposure, that they could potentially instead come back to school, but test so that we would know as they are returning to school on a frequent testing basis that they were safe coming back to school. >> walensky says guidance tonight promising new strategy will be forthcoming. the number of new covid cases among children remains exceptionally high according to the american academy of pediatrics. they account for 25% of the weekly reported cases. >>> the chief of chicago's police union is calling for officers to defy the requirement to report vaccination status. if enough officers refuse to comply, chicago will have a police force operating at 50% capacity or less by this weekend. officers who do not report their vaccine status tomorrow will be placed on unpaid leave in a city where deadly shootings tend to spike on weekends. several prominent labor unions have stood in the way of vaccine and mask requirements, which is just suc

. >> walensky the definition? >> that's a great question. right now we don't have that for all people so we are going to, we've not yet changed the definition of fully vaccinated, we will continue to look at this, we may need to update fully vaccinated in the future but right now i would say if you're eligible for a booster, go ahead and get your booster and we will continue to follow. >> the current cdc dose is one dose of j&j? >> absolutely, thank you. >> thank you announcer: c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more including comcast. >> do you think this is just a community center? it is more than that. >> comcast is partnering with community centers to create wi-fi live so students from low-income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. announcer: comcast support c-span is a public service along with these other television providers, having you a front row seat to democracy. ♪ announcer: c-span's "washington journal," every day taking your calls live on the

. >> walensky the definition? >> that's a great question. right now we don't have that for all people so we are going to, we've not yet changed the definition of fully vaccinated, we will continue to look at this, we may need to update fully vaccinated in the future but right now i would say if you're eligible for a booster, go ahead and get your booster and we will continue to follow. >> the current cdc dose is one dose of j&j? >> absolutely, thank you. >> thank you everybody for joining and i hope everybody has a good weekend and we look forward to seeing you next week. thank you. >> business officials testified about small business supply chain issues before a house subcommittee. march tonight 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2, online@c-span.org or are new video app, c-span now. ♪♪ >> book tv onto sunday's, leading authors for latest nonfiction books 2:00 p.m. eastern, the 33rd annual southern festival books from nashville. virtual event features, jesus john wade. tennessee cover bill discussing his book, facebook presence. 10:00 p.m. on "afte

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

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

walensky will approve it on tuesday night.ing, i expect children will start to receive the vaccine on wednesday. so i expect next week we'll start to get shots into arms. >> yeah. recent polling shows that a majority of parents say that they won't vaccinate their kids right away. with cases going down, some parents wouldn't ring if it's even worth it. i think the example of what i just said, you know, that's why it's worth it. but it wasn't just the two kids, right? my friend's two kids. the two kids got it from someone at school who got it from soccer practice, and so on and so forth. >> right. a million kids have gotten infected with this virus over the last six weeks or so. a million children. and children are -- you know, thousands of kids have been hospitalized in the you, and about 700 kids have died. so if you had told me 18 months ago when we were in the deep, darkest days of this pandemic, right at the beginning, when everything was unknown, that 18 months in the future we would be getting shots into kids' arms, first

walensky says it is in our hands.s. >> 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 -- 1918, 1919, that pandemic, you had a big surge around this time of year, john, but over the winter, it was actually pretty flat, you did

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

you got it. >> well, doctor walensky made another comment today. this getting a lot more attention. she says the definition of what it means to be fully vaccinated could change in the future. this as more people do get a booster shot kron four's amanda hari talked with local infectious disease experts who say. >> changing the definition of fully vaccinated might not be such a good idea. >> right now. we don't have booster eligibility for all people. i'm currently so we are going to have not yet changed the definition of fully vaccinated. we will continue to look at this. we may need to update our definition of vaccinated in the future. according to the cdc web site about 57% of people in the u.s. meet the current definition of fully vaccinated and only 6% have received a booster. i think the announcement came a little bit prematurely to tell you truth. i was surprised to hear that the fda and the cdc a cip, which is really our mean advisory committee for vaccinations are not at all convinced that everyone needs a 3rd shot, local infectious disease experts agree that this announcemen

walensky will get to make the final decision. dr. rainey, grateful for your time.e cdc to support the fda saying you should get a half doves moderna six months after your second dose if you're 65 or older or if you received moderna and you're at high risk and if you got the j&j vaccine and they think you should mix and match, if you got j&j last time it's okay to mix and match. what's the significance of this? >> took big takeaways. the 14 million recipients of the one dose of the j&j vaccine have been largely left out of the discussion about vaccine efficacy and vaccine boosters despite the fact that we know that j&j at this point is not quite as strong as the moderna and pfizer vaccines, so it's really important for those folks who showed up and got the one shot. the other really exciting thing about this news is that mix and match strategy which many of us in public health and medicine have been advocating for for months. there's great preliminary data from the uk on how well it works. i think that this is going to be our math forward. it's going to pave the way

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

walensky say today that last year, we all had masks, social distancing. flu season was not that bad. she said it could be difficult moving forward. >> yeah, so, good evening, david. thank you for having me here. i'm worried about the flu season this year. for all of those reasons. and many people did not get the flu shot last year i'm worried about lack of immunity. it's absolutely critical that people get the flu vaccine this year. >> what about this question, dr. jha about the covid vaccine, so many people have gotten vaccinated and now getting a flu shot, will there be any different side effects? >> there shouldn't be. there's very good data you can get them together, on the same day, you can space them out. there really is not a problem between getting both of those vaccines. >> and again, her concern is that so few of us were exposed to flu last year, that that's why we have to be extra careful going into this flu season? >> absolutely. i think this is going to be really an important year to get vaccinated and be careful. >> dr. jha, thank you. >>> w

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

walensky. plus, there will be exclusive interviews with senator angus king of maine. tune in to "meet the press" at 8:00 a.m. it's right after this newscast. >>> you can see here friends and colleagues gathered in new mexico yesterday to remember the cinematographer killed in thursday's accidental movie set shooting. halyna hutchins was shot in the chest and died after alec baldwin discharged a gun thought to not have live rounds inside. joel souza was shot in the shoulder and now is out of the hospital. he said he is, quote, gutted by the loss of his friend and colleague. alec baldwin was seen hugging match hutchins as they left the hotel. they are asking for privacy as the family tkpwraefz. our investigative unit learned enough signatures have been collected to give san francisco voters to recall the city's district attorney in the june election. officials still need to certify the signatures, but organizers say they collected about 40,000 more signatures than what they need. >> is the district attorney making san francisco safer? >> absolutely not. >> you honestly

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