COVID-19 updates: Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico leading nation in cases

Michigan has the highest infection rate, followed by Minnesota and New Mexico.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: November 22, 2021, 1:33 AM EST

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.1 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 771,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Just 69% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Nov 15, 2021, 7:17 AM EST

Israel approves COVID-19 vaccination for younger children

Israel's Ministry of Health announced Sunday that children ages 5 to 11 would be eligible for vaccination against COVID-19.

The decision follows an advisory panel's approval last week of the low-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds.

"The majority of experts on the committee were of the opinion that the benefit of vaccinating this age group outweighed any risk," the health ministry said in a statement Sunday.

In this file photo on on July 30, 2021 an Israeli health worker administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine on a 12-year-old boy at the Maccabi Health Service in Jerusalem.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

A starting date for the inoculation campaign will be announced soon, the health ministry said. COVID-19 vaccination for this age group will not be made mandatory and parents will be given the choice to decide.

More than 62% of Israel's 9.2 million people have already received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, while nearly 44% have also gotten a booster shot, according to data from the health ministry.

-ABC News' Bruno Nota

Related Topics