Why, hello there!
It's Monday, November 8. Here's what's been happening today:
One thing to know right now: There's new data about how much protection COVID-19 jabs gave people in NSW
Here's what the data collated by NSW Health showed:
- unvaccinated people were 16 times more likely to die or end up in ICU if they contracted the virus during the state's Delta outbreak
- most of the state's COVID-19 cases were in people who weren't vaccinated — of the 61,800 cases, just 3,736 had been fully vaccinated
- fully vaccinated young people experienced "almost no serious disease"
One thing we heard a lot about today: A WA nurse has been accused of faking giving a teen a vaccine
- Police allege she was observed filling a syringe with the vaccine and inserting it into the boy's arm, but not depressing it
- The clinic contacted police after she allegedly removed the needle and disposed of it with the vaccine still inside, claiming she had administered it
- She was arrested at her home yesterday and granted bail with strict conditions in the Perth Magistrates Court today
News alerts you might have missed:
- The NT has recorded no new local COVID-19 cases. Katherine's 'lockout' will lift this evening but Darwin's has been extended by another 24 hours
- Elon Musk asked Twitter if he should sell $US21b worth of Tesla stock, insisting he'd 'abide by' the result. Twitter said yes
- Jailed politician Eddie Obeid's family has been accused of targeting Aboriginal-owned land for multi-million-dollar property developments
The news Australia is searching for
- Asteroid: You might have heard about an asteroid that's going to get close to Earth on December 11. Some news outlets are putting its size in terms of footy fields and Eiffel Towers, but it's about 330 metres across. It's called 4660 Nereus and NASA classes it as a "potentially hazardous asteroid" due to how close it's predicted to come to Earth. But don't go recruiting oil drillers as hero astronauts just yet — it's expected to be about 3.9 MILLION kilometres away from Earth when it passes by so I think we're going to be fine.
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Frankie Edgar: Photographer Louis Grasse snapped a photo of the UFC fighter's face as he was being kicked by Marlon Vera in their fight at Madison Square Garden over the weekend. Grasse posted the pic to his Instagram account and it was soon widely shared across social media. You don't need me to tell you why it went viral:
One more thing: Big Bird got vaccinated over the weekend
Sesame Street promoted a program that aired on CNN over the weekend called The ABCs of COVID Vaccines, aimed at inviting and answering questions from both kids and parents about vaccination.
Big Bird, who is six years old, told CNN's chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta during the Town Hall for Families that he was "a little scared to get the shot because I don't like needles".
But the panel talked through ways to push through the nerves by singing songs or bringing a favourite toy from home.
Pfizer's COVID vaccine has been approved for children as young as five in the United States, so Big Bird was eligible for the jab.
But Elmo isn't vaccinated yet because at three, he's not quite eligible.
US President Joe Biden gave Big Bird the thumbs up for getting the jab.
But Republican senator Ted Cruz, conservative commentator Liz Wheeler and Republican senator for Arizona Wendy Rogers were deeply offended by a children's character sharing his experience with COVID vaccination.
Read the storyYeah, let's call it a night
We'll be back in the morning to do it all again!
ABC/wires
