9 employees of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office have died from the coronavirus: COVID-19 updates – USA TODAY

COVID-19: What to know about vaccines for children 5-11

COVID-19 vaccinations for children ages 5 to 11 have begun across the country. Heres what we know about the risks and side effects.

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A bell solemnly tolled nine times in Broward County, Florida, at a memorial service Tuesday for sheriff's department employees who died from the coronavirus.

Sheriff Gregory Tony was flanked by an honor guard as American flags were placed in the hands of the victims' relatives.

We didnt lose one, two, three we lost nine, the sheriff said.

Tony said more than half the the departments 5,600 employees have been exposed, and 32% 1,800 employees have contracted the disease that has killed more than 60,000 Floridians and more than 750,000 Americans.

The county does not require employees to be vaccinated, but offers a$500 bonus for those who provide proof of vaccination. Unvaccinated employees facea biweekly surcharge of $20 toward the additional cost of health insurance as well asweekly COVID testing.

Tony didnt mention vaccines, but he urged the memorial crowd of several hundred that the pandemic is not over and to remain vigilant.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has bannedvaccine mandates and has called a special legislative session for next week to tighten rules against requiring vaccines and masks.

"We must protect the jobs of Floridians and preserve the ability of Floridians to make their own decisions regarding what shots to take," he said last month.

Also in the news:

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona toldCBS's "Face the Nation" that given the widespread availability of vaccines and improved treatment against COVID-19,there "should be no need for remote or hybrid learning."

The NFL fined Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers for violating COVID-19 protocols.The league conducted a review of Rodgers and the Packers' activities related to protocol after the quarterbacktested positive for COVID last week.

Today's numbers:The U.S. has recorded more than 46.6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than757,000 deaths,accordingtoJohns Hopkins Universitydata. Global totals: More than 251million cases and 5 million deaths. More than 194.1 million Americans58.5% of the populationare fully vaccinated,according to theCDC.

What we're reading:Are you vaxxed? Some families face fraught divide over jabs.

Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more?Sign up forUSA TODAY's Coronavirus Watch newsletterto receive updates directly to your inbox, andjoin ourFacebook group.

"Professionals" who purposely spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines are criminals, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla says.In an interview with the Atlantic Council think tank, Bourla said the world has become divided into two groups: those who are vaccinated and those who are not. Both groups, he said, are driven by fear vaccinated people are afraid of contracting COVID-19 and unvaccinated people are skeptical of the vaccine and mad that people are pressing them to get it. Those I understand. They are very good people, decent people.

But Bourla has less empathy or understanding for what he said are the small number of people who have knowingly circulated misinformation. Those people cant be qualified just bad people, he said, adding: They are criminals. They have literally cost millions of lives.

The interview was live-streamed online and the replay is available to watch here.

More than 3,100 claimsalleging injuries from COVID-19 vaccines and treatmentshave been filed with the federal Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program duringthe pandemic.Of the 3,158 claims, 1,357 allege injuries or deaths from the COVID-19 vaccine.So far, none of the claims have been paid, and only two vaccine cases have been rejected.Just one COVID-19 claim has been deemed eligible for compensation, but program staffers are reviewing allowable expenses.That leaves more than 3,000 cases still under review. Read more here.

"We work to process claims as expeditiously as possible," said Christy Choi, a spokeswoman for the Health Resources and Services Administration, which runs the compensation program. "About 90% of claims are awaiting medical records for review."

Ken Alltucker

People who trust Fox News Channel and other media outlets that appeal to conservatives are more likely to believe misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines than those who primarily go elsewhere for news, a study has found.Viewers who trust information from CNN, MSNBC, NPR, network news and local TV news were less likely to be misled, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation study released this week. But the study took no stand on whether the coverage was responsible for viewer beliefs.

It may be because the people who are self-selecting these organizations believe (the misinformation) going in, said Liz Hamel, vice president and director of public opinion and survey research at Kaiser.

A police officer who was placed on leave for missing San Franciscos deadline to be inoculated has died after being stricken by COVID-19, theSan Francisco Chroniclereported.Officer Jack Nyce, 46, tested positive on Nov. 2 and died Saturday at a hospital in Manteca, his wife, Melissa Nyce, told the newspaper.The Chronicle said Melissa Nyce declined to say whether her husband was vaccinated. However,the vice president of the Police Officers Association, Lt. Tracy McCray, said Jack Nyce was on a 30-day stint of paid administrative leave because he had not received the vaccination required by the city.

The Police Department said last week that as many as 70 sworn and civilian workers had been placed on leave for not meeting a Nov. 1 vaccination deadline. As of Nov. 2, 97.5% of department employees were fully vaccinated.

If youre taking your child to get vaccinated against COVID-19, experts say there areapproaches that can make it easier for you both you and your child. It starts with maybe the oldest rule in the book: Honesty is the best policy.Adam Keating, a general pediatrician with Cleveland Clinic Childrens, told USA TODAY that parents canform a strategy to talk about the COVID-19 vaccine and vaccines in generalwith their children.

Anytime you're doing a vaccine with a kid, it's worth having a conversation beforehand and a strategy before they get the vaccine, Keating said.

In general, my preference is that this is a conversation that the kid has time to prepare for beforehand, and they don't learn about it 30 seconds before it happens, he said. That doesn't give the kid control over the vaccine. And so much of the worry and the pain that happens with vaccines is about the lack of control and the lack of time to prepare. Read more here.

Marina Pitofsky, USA TODAY

Republican lawmakers in Kansas are pushing to enact new state laws before Thanksgiving to protect workers financially if they refuse to comply with federal mandates to get vaccinated against COVID-19.Top GOP legislative leaders called Tuesday for lawmakers to have a special session to consider proposals making it easier for workers to claim religious exemptions from vaccine mandates and providing unemployment benefits to workers who are fired for refusing to get inoculated. Both proposals emerged from a legislative committee meeting Tuesday and come in response to vaccine mandatesannounced in Septemberby President Joe Biden.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly last weekwent public with her oppositionto the Democratic president's mandates, but she also said she didn't think a special session is warranted. Lawmakers can force one if two-thirds of them sign a petition, and Republicans have big enough majorities.Lawmakers adjourned for the year in May and aren't scheduled to reconvene until January.

The NFL and NFLPA agreed to modifications to the COVID-19 protocols and informed teams in a memo, but there were no changes to the requirements about mask use for unvaccinated players.Instead, the memo included a reminder that such players are required to adhere to those requirements in all cases inside of facilities.

Clubs are reminded that any individual who is not fully vaccinated is required to wear a mask at all times when inside the club facility. This includes while giving media interviews or participating in media briefings conducted indoors either at the club facility or at the stadium on game day, the memo read.

It added: Individuals who are not fully vaccinated may conduct media interviews outdoors or in the practice bubble without wearing a mask, provided that physical distancing is maintained at all times.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers lack of mask use at news conferences made this a renewed topic of scrutiny last week after hetested positive for COVID-19.

Mike Jones, USA TODAY

Contributing: The Associated Press

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9 employees of the Broward County Sheriff's Office have died from the coronavirus: COVID-19 updates - USA TODAY