Coronavirus Watch: Moderna says its vaccine is safe, effective for kids

Moderna's vaccine for kids ages 6 through 11 shows a "robust" immune response, the Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical giant said Monday.

Moderna said it plans to submit the data to the FDA "in the near term." The randomized study of more than 4,500 youth involved a two-dose vaccine. The dosage is half that of the adult vaccine.

The majority of adverse events were mild or moderate in severity, the company said, and the most common were fatigue, headache, fever and injection site pain.

Remember: The FDA still hasn't announced a decision on Moderna's vaccine for youths ages 12 through 17. And a panel of FDA advisers is expected to vote this week on whether to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in children 5 to 11.

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

• Long-term COVID-19 side effectscould include memory loss and other cognitive dysfunctions commonly labeled as "brain fog," according to a study that examined 740 patients in the Mount Sinai Health System.
• Fentanylhas become the leading cause of overdose deaths in America along with other synthetic opioids, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Overdose deaths hit a new record in the U.S. from March 2020 to March 2021, driven in part by the pandemic, according to the CDC.
• An overwhelming majority of registered nurses say they are experiencing increased levels of stress, anxiety and burnout since the start of the pandemic, according to a survey by the New York Professional Nurses Union.
• Florida's top health official was asked to leave a meetingafter refusing to wear a mask at the office of a state senator who had cancer. Tina Polsky, a Florida senator, recently received a breast cancer diagnosis and asked state surgeon general Joseph Ladapo to wear a mask when he arrived. He refused to wear one. 

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 45 million COVID-19 cases and 736,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 243 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 69% 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