obviously we all want children back in school, we want children learning and we want them with their friends but we want to do it safely. masks are an additional layer of protection and with omicron raging around the country is this important to make sure we do everything to help children learn safely but it is unfortunate the government has failed to heed the warnings from sage, last may, not even 2021 by 2020, that ventilation in schools is vital because i haven t addressed that. it is also important they address the other factors involved in the spread of omicron so that children can get back to learning as safely as possible. here we are one year on from skills being told one thing and then another right at the end of school holidays just about to go back to school, so whilst i am pleased that children will be able to continue learning in person because learning at home is not good for their mental well being and it is deeply unsafe and unsatisfactory,
tom costello is covering it all. reporter: breaking tonight, a cdc panel now recommending a single pfizer booster shot for 12 to 15-year-olds five months after their second dose. it comes after the fda approved the shot on monday full cdc approval is imminent meanwhile, with new covid cases up 98% in just one week, the omicron surge forced another major event, this time the grammys, to postpone. the january 31st show now on indefinite hold as hospitalizations are up 63%, deaths up 5% to 1,200 each day most of those patients never vaxxed. without a doubt, unequivocally, we are dealing with a highly highly transmissible variant that spreads rapidly. reporter: the good news is that research shows that vaccines and boosters offer strong protection. but the cdc is also under fire for offering confusing mixed messages on its own isolation guidance tracking back to december with omicron
by the teaching unions. if this is a short term fix as the government says and one of a number of different measures including ventilation and moving ofsted to the sidelines, if that s going to do what we all want and keep young people in their school or in their college, that, i think, will be a price worth paying. no one wants to return to remote learning where children were isolated, some put at risk. but headteachers are looking at contingency plans in case staff are hit covid when schools return next week. sanchia berg, bbc news. thangam debbonaire is labour s shadow leader of the house of commons. what do you make of this move with facemasks being required in classrooms? facemasks being required in classrooms? , ., ., ., classrooms? obviously we all want children back classrooms? obviously we all want children back in classrooms? obviously we all want children back in school, classrooms? obviously we all want children back in school, we - classrooms? obviously we all wan
pelosi. i hope you get this through. too many people go to d.c. and come out millionaires. it s suppose to be public servants. no way they should be getting wealthy in that job. representative roy, we have to leave it there. thanks so much. i miss you. have to get you on making money soon. thanks. god bless you. charles: folks, we re reaching out to speaker pelosi s office to come on this show. we would love her have this. covid still rocking the boat for cruise lines with omicron raging. phil keating is in the port of miami. phil? exciting parents and kids on board the disney magic as we speak getting ready to sail tonight. this as covid cases are surging over the past few weeks on cruise ships. just in two days, the cdc will let expire a strict requirement on vaccines and negative tests.
if the fda and the cdc give the green light, there are 4 million children ages 12 to 15 who are already oeligible for a booster shot because they re at least six months past their initial shots. another 4.7 million have received their shots but received their shots more recently so they would be eligible in the weeks to months to come. boosters are great, but as children are going back to school, ages 5 to 11, 14% only 14% of children that age have been fully vaccinated. if you are looking at 12-year-olds to 17-year-olds, only 53% have been vaccinated. to in other words, when they go back to school next week with omicron raging, only that percentage are fully vaccinated. and this as hospitalizations among children are on the rise. let s take a look. the peak for children being admitted to the hospital was in september. that was an average of about 342 children being admitted per day.