Coronavirus vaccine and Delta variant updates for 11-11-2021

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for November 11th, 2021.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>So far, the White House is very happy with the whole get kids vaccinated thing. They say it’s off to a strong start, but they worry that so was the adult vaccination effort, then it peaked and lost momentum. About 900,000 kids aged 5 to 11 will have gotten their first dose in their first week of eligibility.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The World Health Organization gave us some bad news, coronavirus deaths rose by 10% in Europe in the past week. But they also gave us some good news, Europe is the only region in the world where cases and deaths are steadily increasing. WHO's Europe director warned if more actions aren’t taken, the continent could see another 500,000 deaths by February.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>A coalition of 10 states sued the federal government to try to block a vaccine requirement for health care workers. The suit contends the requirement threatens the jobs of millions of health care workers and could “exacerbate an alarming shortage” in health care fields, particularly in rural areas. Some states are also suing over the mandate that federal contractors’ workers be vaccinated, as well as businesses with more than 100 employees being mandated to make their workers get vaccinated or wear masks and get tested weekly.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It's amazing what a difference one little gene can make. In 2020, studies showed there were genetic differences that resulted in higher risk of severe COVID. Now researchers at Oxford have pinpointed one gene, LZTFL1, that’s mostly involved. It’s a gene more common in the ethnic communities that have been hardest hit, and it’s very active in the layer of cells lining the airways and lungs. This unlucky gene reduces lung cells’ ability to repair damaged tissue, and it causes more copies of the two proteins that allow the virus to infect cells to be made.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It might be a second blue Christmas in Germany, with its famous Christmas markets potentially being cl