teens have yet to get the shot. what you have now is you have an undervaccinated or relatively unvaccinated population of children with a highly contagious virus, and this virus is seeking out the susceptible. and that is children. reporter: massachusetts 12-year-old mikayla decelle has asthma. she was infected alongside her father mike. both of them are unvaccinated, and both were taken to intensive care. you got to really protect yourself, you know what i mean? even if you don t have any underlying health problems, you gotta protect yourself. get vaccinated. i should have did it. reporter: today in yonkers, new york, parents lining up with their kids, waiting for covid tests to return to school monday. but 1 in 4 of the district s tests are coming back positive. we want our kids in a classroom setting. we want them learning. but at the same time, we have to do so in a safe manner. reporter: today, the national case average climbing past its already record-breaking heights
major story. the explosion of covid cases across america. the u.s., for the third day in a row, reporting record numbers. the country now averaging more than 316,000 new cases per day. the new york times reporting the fda is expected to authorize the pfizer booster for children ages 12 to 15 as early as monday, as record number of children are now hospitalized with the virus. still, new york city pushing ahead with its new year s eve celebration in times square. dr. anthony fauci urging people, if you re going to celebrate tomorrow night, do it in smaller vaccinated groups. here s abc s trevor ault. reporter: tonight, a record number of children are going into the hospital with covid. 380 a day. now more boosters likely on the way. the new york times reporting the fda is expected to expand pfizer booster shots to 12 to 15 years as early as monday. and this news comes as a trio of new studies further show the vaccines are both safe and effective for children. but so far, 30 millio
110 years in prison for causing a deadly interstate crash. his sentence has now been reduced to ten years, writing in a letter, the governor called his crime unintentional and the original sentence sis proportion gnat. ll cool j will no longer perform in times square tomorrow night after testing positive for covid. he was supposed to take the stage just before midnight at park of dick collar eke nlark s eve with ryan seacrest. but other big performances are still a go. and a jeopardy! contestant is breaking ground and on a roll. amy schneider s latest victory marks her 21st in a row, the most wins by a woman in the show s history. last week, she became the show s highest earning woman and earlier this year, she became the first transgender contestant to make the tournament of champions. schneider s cash winknings tota $806,000. when we come back, a graduation 70 years in the making.
and with the record number of hospitalizations among children, reports tonight that booster shots for 12 to 15-year-olds could be authorized within days. the covid surge adding to the worsening travel nightmare. more than 1,000 flights grounded again today. the high stakes call between president biden and russian president vladimir putin. speaking for the second time this month. the call coming at putin s request, with nearly 100,000 russian troops at the ukraine border and fears of a full-scale invasion. gruesome new body camera images tonight. a tiger mauling a cleaning service worker at a florida zoo. a deputy forced to take drastic action. tonight, could that worker face criminal charges? survivors speaking out after the guilty verdict of ghislaine maxwell. now global scrutiny turning to her longtime friend prince andrew. news tonight on the urgent search for a 14-year-old boy. the prime suspect in a triple murder in texas.
and 21% of nypd now out sick. the city hit hard once again. trevor ault joins us once again right here in new york. and trevor, you re learning more from a new study showing the effectiveness of the johnson & johnson booster shot against omicron? reporter: that s right, whit. the study found that second j&j dose provides strong protection even against omicron and it cuts the risk of hospitalization by 85%. whit? encouraging news there. trevor, thank you. the covid surge combined with extreme weather in parts of the country are crippling the final days of the holiday travel season. more than 1,000 flights canceled again today, with luggage piling up. you see here, seattle s sea-tac airport reporting the most cancellations in the world for the third day in a row. jetblue today announcing they re preemptively canceling more than 1,200 flights over the next few weeks because of an increase of covid sickouts. we move on now to the high stakes call between president biden and russi