Coronavirus Watch: FDA authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds

Adolescents ages 12 to 15 could qualify for COVID-19 shots as soon as Thursday.

Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for the age group, and an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was expected to meet Wednesday to review the recommendation.

Have questions about the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in younger teens? Ask us here, and we answer several top questions here.

It's Tuesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the USA TODAY Network. Here's more news you need to know:

• Vaccine hesitancy: Just 11% of American adults who remain unvaccinated say they definitely will get the shot, while 34% say they definitely won’t, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Another 27% say they probably will and 27% say they probably won’t.
• That's why President Joe Biden was expected to talk with three Democratic and three Republican governors Tuesday about innovative ways to get more people vaccinated.
• Publix pharmacies are now accepting walk-ins for the COVID-19 vaccine at all locations across seven states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
• The Education Department will release $36 billion to colleges nationally to help universities and students struggling during the pandemic. The funds are a part of the American Rescue Plan, and half of the funding is meant to go directly to students.
• The World Health Organization designated the B.1.617 variant first discovered in India as a "variant of concern." India has been experiencing a deepening pandemic crisis as the variant runs rampant through the country, which has since been found in 32 countries, including the United States.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 32.7 million COVID-19 cases and 582,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 159 million cases and more than 3.3 million deaths. About 46% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and nearly 35% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

See the numbers in your area here. Check out where cases are rising here. See state and county-level vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines.

– Grace Hauck, USA TODAY breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck