Domestic

Election Day 2021 yielded sweeping GOP victories as Virginia elected Glenn Youngkin to the governor’s office. He is the first Republican governor in the state since 2009. Democrat Phil Murphy retained his seat as New Jersey’s Democrat governor after a close race with Republican Jack Ciattarelli.

Children ages 5-11 are now eligible to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in the US. According to the CDC, children are less likely to get severely ill from COVID-19, but a reported 6.4 million children have tested positive since the start of the pandemic.

International

The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) is now underway in Glasgow. According to The Guardian, dozens of countries have pledged to begin shifting away from coal as an energy source. Unaccounted for in this pledge are China, India, and the United States.

According to The Guardian, the United Kingdom has, per capita, rolled out more booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine than the African continent has. Our World in Data reported less than nine percent of people across Africa have received the first dose of the vaccine, while nearly one-tenth of UK citizens have received a booster shot. The Guardian also reported the UK has promised significantly less doses of the vaccine in comparison to other Western countries.