Wednesday morning news - October 27, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

FDA panel backs Pfizer’s low-dose COVID-19 vaccine for kids>>

The United States moved a step closer Tuesday to authorizing COVID-19 vaccines for millions of young children.

A panel of advisers for the FDA voted to endorse kid-size doses of Pfizer's shots for 5- to 11-year-olds.

Pediatrician Dr. Paul Offit was one of those advisers.

OFFIT: It’s always nerve racking I think when you’re asked to make a decision for millions of children based on studies of only a few thousand children. I guess the way I struggle - or try to deal it is it’s never when you know everything. You never know everything. The question is whether you know enough.

Serious illness from COVID-19 among young children is rare. But Dr. Offit says it’s not rare enough. He added that officials do know “that there are many children between 5 and 11 years of age who are susceptible” to hospitalization or death from COVID.

Out of 18 voting members, 17 voted yes to endorsing the shots for young kids. One member abstained.

Trials for 5-to 11-year-old children have thus far shown the vaccine to be safe with some normal and relatively mild side effects. But the sample wasn’t large enough to reveal any possible rare side effects.

Another FDA adviser, Dr. Eric Rubin said Tuesday …

RUBIN: We’re never going to learn about how safe this vaccine is unless we start giving it. That’s just the way it goes. That’s how we found out about rare complications of other vaccines.

Tuesday’s vote was not the final step. Next week, the CDC will have to decide whether to recommend the shots and which youngsters should get them.

Democrats tout progress toward deal on spending package>>

Democratic leaders continue to negotiate with more moderate Democrats on a nearly $2 trillion dollar spending package. And party leaders said Tuesday that they believe they’re close to a deal.

SCHUMER: We remain confident that a final deal is within reach.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer heard there. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she thinks they’re about 90 percent of the way there.

But even if that’s accurate, the other 10 percent looms large. One of the key sticking points … tax hikes.

President Biden’s original plan raised the corporate tax and taxes on individuals earning more than $400,000 per year, but a pair of moderate Democrats in the Senate opposed that plan. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is one of them.

MANCHIN: We’re all working in good faith. I’ve been talking to everybody as you know, and I think that we’ve got a good understanding of each other now, better than we’ve ever had.

Democrats are now working on an alternative plan that would tax billionaires’ public assets and require a minimum 15 percent tax on corporations.

Republicans worry billionaires could move their assets to avoid taxation, and legal scholars say such a tax may be unconstitutional.

Powerful nor’easter blasts Northeast states>>

A powerful nor’easter began barreling up the Atlantic coastline in the Northeast on Tuesday.

Forecasters warned of possible intense flooding and hurricane-force wind gusts that could knock out power to thousands.

Kelly Clark of Burlington, New Jersey said she’s still working to repair damage to her home after an earlier storm. The remnants of Hurricane Ida clashed with another storm front last month, triggering deadly floods in the Northeast.

CLARK: Now I’m just terrified. Every time the wind picks up now, I’m scared.

Strong winds are expected to continue lashing the region throughout the day today.

Wind gusts as high as 75 mph were forecast on Massachusetts’ Cape Cod, with sustained winds as high as 45 mph. The National Weather Service warned that waves off the state’s coast could reach 19 feet.

Possible cyberattack cripples Iran gas stations >>

A possible cyberattack shut down gas stations across Iran on Tuesday. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KF: Thousands of drivers in Iran pulled up to gas stations and inserted their government-issued electronic cards to buy fuel … only to be declined. A message then flashed on the pump screen that read “cyberattack 64411.”

The semiofficial news agency reported on the cyberattack message but then took down the article and claimed it had also been hacked.

No one has claimed responsibility for an attack, but the number is the same message that hackers displayed during a railroad hacking in July.

An Israeli cybersecurity firm tracked down the culprits as an Iranian dissident group. And that number that flashed on the screens, “64411,” is associated with an Islamic law hotline in the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

150 people arrested in US-Europe darknet drug probe>>

Law enforcement officials in the U.S. and Europe have arrested 150 people in a massive international drug bust.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said authorities arrested 65 people right here in the United States.

MONACO: It represents global cooperation and the recovery of more than 500 pounds of illegal drugs, drugs which contained enough fentanyl for more than 4 million lethal doses.

Authorities also seized $31 million dollars globally. The arrests are connected to an international drug trafficking investigation … hunting down traffickers on the dark web. Prosecutors say those arrested are connected to tens of thousands of illegal sales globally.

I'm Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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