Pfizer (PFE) said Friday morning that children’s doses of its Covid vaccine are safe and nearly 91% effective in preventing infections in elementary school children. Injections for children ages 5 to 11 could start early next month. The FDA is expected to release its initial review of the company’s safety and efficacy data later Friday. Next week, agency advisers will publicly debate the evidence. (PA)

The CDC authorized booster injections of the Moderna (MRNA) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday evening. Moderna was approved for the elderly and at-risk adults six months after their second injection. This is in line with Pfizer’s recall authorization last month. The CDC has approved a J&J booster for all people 18 and older who received the first injection at least two months ago. The agency also gave people the freedom to mix and match any of these three vaccines approved for use in the United States (CNBC)

* “UK is really in trouble”: Doctors warn of serious Covid crisis as authorities reject restrictions (CNBC)

President Joe Biden said on Thursday he was set to strike a deal to pass important infrastructure and social spending measures, with only a handful of issues still up for debate, after weeks of intra-party wrangling among fellow Democrats. Biden also said corporate tax rates likely wouldn’t be raised in a spending bill. Instead, he said a separate corporate minimum tax proposal could fund social programs. Negotiations are now focused on four or five issues, Biden said, declining to give further details.

Digital World Acquisition (DWAC) nearly doubled again during Friday’s pre-release. It climbed more than 350% on hugely large trading volume on Thursday after news of PSPC’s merger with former President Donald Trump’s planned media network, which includes a social media platform, was announced. (CNBC)

* WeWork surges again, a day after its public market debut via a PSPC deal (CNBC)

General Motors (GM) is rolling out two new top-of-the-line GMC Sierra 1500 pickups, including one called Denali Ultimate that will start at over $ 80,000, making it the most expensive from the market. (CNBC)

China Evergrande has handed over the funds for a key interest payment that was due on September 23, ahead of a 30-day grace period that ends Saturday, Chinese state media Securities Times reported on Friday. This will allow the indebted Chinese real estate developer to avoid a widely expected default. (CNBC)

Actor Alec Baldwin fired a gun on a film set Thursday, killing the film’s cinematographer and injuring its director, police said. Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed and Joel Souza, 48, was injured on the set of “Rust,” a western filmed at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Sante Fe. (CNBC)

Boston Beer, the brewer of Sam Adams, reported an unexpected quarterly loss, due to declining sales of its Truly hard seltzer brand despite efforts to grow in this category. Boston Beer shares fell 3.3% before market.

Whirlpool fell 3.4% in pre-market, following a warning of “high” supply constraints. Whirlpool reported adjusted quarterly earnings of $ 6.68 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $ 6.12, but sales were lower than expected.

Digital World Acquisition – The SPAC which merges with Trump Media & Technology Group is soaring an additional 59.8% in the pre-market after more than quadrupling in Thursday’s trading. The company formed by former President Trump is planning a beta rollout of its social network next month.

Mattel jumped 7.5% in pre-market trading after the toy maker said supply chain disruptions would not prevent it from having a good holiday season. Mattel also beat estimates on financial results, reporting adjusted quarterly earnings of 84 cents per share compared to a consensus estimate of 74 cents.

Urban Outfitters added 2.7% in the pre-market after Citi upgraded it to “buy” from “neutral,” citing a more favorable risk-reward profile after the stock has fallen 25% since Urban Outfitters released their latest quarterly results in August.

JP Morgan Securities upgraded Zoom Video Communications (ZM) from “overweight” to “neutral,” saying the stock already reflects a post-pandemic slowdown in remote video communications. Zoom gained 3% in pre-market trading.

VF Corp., behind The North Face and other clothing brands, fell 8.1% in pre-release, after missing earnings estimates for its last quarter. VF said it was witnessing an acceleration in demand, but its recovery had been affected by further disruptions related to the pandemic.