Coronavirus Watch: White House releases plan to vaccinate 28M children

The Biden administration says it's ready to quickly and equitably distribute vaccine for 28 million children.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for kids 5 to 11 year could gain authorization in a couple weeks, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday, adding that 15 million vaccines would then be shipped in the first week alone.

Vaccines for youths will be the focus of an FDA advisory committee meeting Oct. 26 and the CDC's independent panel meeting Nov. 2-3.

"Our planning efforts mean that we will be ready to begin getting shots in arms in the days following a final CDC recommendation," the White House said in a statement. 

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

• All New York City workers will be required to be vaccinated by the end of the month, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.
• More than 20 Chicago police officers have been put on "no pay" status for refusing to comply with the city policy of disclosing their vaccine status, Police Superintendent David Brown said Tuesday.
• About 3% of Washington state workers have been fired, resigned or retired because of the state’s vaccination mandate, according to new data. 
• Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is fully vaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday morning.
• Brazilian lawmakers are expected to recommend President Jair Bolsonaro be indicted on criminal charges for his handling of the country's response to the pandemic. More than 600,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Brazil — an official death toll second only to the U.S. India has reported more than 450,000 deaths, but the true toll is likely higher.
• COVID-19 is killing about 20% fewer Americans now than during the recent peak of deaths four weeks ago, and cases are being reported at less than half the pace they were during an earlier part of the delta variant-driven wave.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 45 million COVID-19 cases and 726,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 241 million cases and more than 4.9 million deaths. About 66% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 57% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Among U.S. adults, 79% have received at least one shot, and about 68% are fully vaccinated.

Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See 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