Live: Coronavirus daily news updates, September 21: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world

Pfizer announced Monday that it will apply for US approval for its COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11. With children at school and the contagious Delta variant, many parents are eagerly awaiting vaccinations.

Although the dose for elementary school children is a third of what is now in each dose, children ages 5-11 developed antibodies as potent as teenagers and young adults, Dr. Bill Gruber, senior vice president of Pfizer, told the Associated Press.

Anthony Fauci, the White House’s senior medical advisor on coronavirus, said the data on booster shots from Moderna or Johnson & Johnson could potentially be a few weeks away from review by the Food and Drug Administration.

An FDA advisory panel unanimously voted on Friday to approve a third inclusion of Pfizer-BioNTech for people 65 and over, anyone at risk of serious illness and whose work would put them at higher risk of exposure. The FDA is expected to release a decision on boosters this week.

We update this page with the latest news about the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the Seattle area, the US and the world. Click here to see the live updates from the past few days and all of our other coronavirus coverage, and here to see how we are tracking the daily spread in Washington.

Show caption 8:10 a.m.

Questions and Answers: America’s New COVID-19 Rules for International Travel

Show subtitles

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration is introducing new international travel policies that affect both Americans and non-citizens planning to fly to the United States.

The blanket rules coming into effect in November will replace a hodgepodge of confusing restrictions. Some details of the plan announced on Monday are currently being worked out, but here are some questions and answers about what to expect:

WHAT IS THE NEW POLICY IN BRIEF?

All adult foreigners traveling to the United States must be fully vaccinated before boarding their flight. This is in addition to the current requirement that travelers must provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of departing for the United States

Read the whole story here.

—David Koenig & Zeke Miller, The Associated Press

7:10 am

J&J: Booster dose of his COVID shot triggers strong reaction

Show subtitles

LONDON (AP) – Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that a boost to its one-shot coronavirus vaccine would provide a stronger immune response months after receiving the first dose.

J&J said in a statement that an additional dose – given either two months or six months after the first shot – increased protection. The results have not yet been published or verified by other scientists.

The J&J vaccine was considered an essential tool in the fight against the pandemic as it only requires one shot. But even as rollout began in the US and elsewhere, the company was already running a global test to see if a two-dose regimen might be more effective – the second dose was given 56 days after the first.

This two-dose approach was 75% effective in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 globally and 95% effective in the US alone, the company reported – a difference likely due to which variants were used during the month-long study were in circulation in different countries.

Read the whole story here.

-The Associated Press

6:25 am

Find out about the last 24 hours

A booster dose after the one-time J&J vaccination provides a strong immune response, the company said today as the FDA prepares to respond to boosters in many Americans.

COVID-19 has now killed about that many Americans like the 1918-19 Spanish flu, widely considered to be the worst pandemic in human history – maybe until now. The story provides context as we face a predicted winter surge.

COVID-19 hospital stays have declined in Washington, but one reason is that death rates are rising. “We don’t want to create hospital capacity with this,” says the head of the state hospital association, while the doctors are worried about the flu season (here are eight things you should know about this year’s flu vaccination). Governor Jay Inslee has asked the federal government to dispatch medical personnel.

Charlie Callagan was on his way to Portland for a bone marrow transplant when he received news that the hospital had canceled, inundated with COVID-19 patients. Patients scheduled for open heart surgery and brain tumors are also turned away. “You always hope they’ll come back,” says one doctor.

Unvaccinated American travelers will need COVID-19 tests before and after returning to US soil as part of a new rule by the Biden government, which also re-opens air travel to people from 33 countries. A Q&A is about how this will work.

An elementary school worker from Oregon showed up in Blackface apparently in protest against the school district’s vaccination mandate. It is the latest in a series of “deeply disturbing expressions of racism” in the district, says the local superintendent.

Samantha Wendell was supposed to marry her college sweetheart Last month. Instead, her funeral took place on Saturday in the same church where she was going down the aisle. Her cause of death was misinformation, says Wendell’s family, urging others to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

—Kris Higginson

Seattle Times staff and news services