In the hustle of daily life, it is often difficult to sit down and read or watch the news. It is often dark and negative, but it’s still a fundamental part of our everyday lives. Here are some important news stories from the past week that you might have missed.
Eight Dead, Hundreds Injured at Travis Scott Concert:
On November 6th, Houston, Texas, hosted the third-annual Astroworld Festival. This festival was held by rapper Travis Scott and featured performances from him and numerous other famous artists.
While many were excited about the event, what was supposed to be a fun night turned into a nightmare. When Scott himself went to perform, a massive crowd of people stormed his stage during the night.
Along the way, many fell and were trampled by the raging crowd. Those towards the front would be compressed against the stage by the roughly 50,000 in attendance.
Ultimately, eight people would lose their lives at the event. Nurses treated around 300 other attendees for minor to severe injuries.
The following day saw the first lawsuits come from the families of the victims. Most of them currently list Scott and the company in charge of security for the event as entities subject to litigation.
Organizers canceled the remaining days of the multi-day festival. Scott also posted on his Instagram story following the event stating his remorse for the situation and his ongoing cooperation with authorities.
COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in children ages 5-11:
The FDA has given the green light to Pfizer to start using their vaccines for Americans ages five through eleven years. This decision came after an FDA approval of the company’s vaccine and a study that showed no serious harmful effects for that age group.
While children ages five to eleven will only be receiving a third of the typical dose of the vaccine, the FDA still expects it to be nearly 90% effective in preventing COVID-19. Recent reports put the number of fully-vaccinated Americans at 192 million, with the vaccine now being open to the 40 million people between the newly-approved ages; scientists expect that figure to climb over the 200 million mark very soon.
Getting kids vaccinated became a hot topic earlier this year. A reopening of public schools led to increased cases among children. While kids are generally safer from the effects of the disease, many still believe it is a significant public health issue.
Besides a spike that occurred earlier in the year when schools reopened and worries surrounding the spread during the coldest parts of winter that are still to come, nearly all states are seeing a downturn in daily COVID-19 cases. This statistic, paired with the new availability to younger Americans, gives much hope that we could see a return to normalcy in 2022.
