Coronavirus

CBS News reports: COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna will make a third booster shot for its two-dose vaccine available to Americans by the fall, CEO Stéphane Bancel said this week. Moderna’s vaccine is more than 90% effective against the coronavirus six months after the second shot, studies show. What remains unclear is how long immunity from the virus lasts. The same …

CNBC reports: The global death toll from the coronavirus topped a staggering 3 million people Saturday amid repeated setbacks in the worldwide vaccination campaign and a deepening crisis in places such as Brazil, India and France. The number of lives lost, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the population of Kyiv, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; or metropolitan …

Politico reports: Fox News host Brett Baier took to social media Friday to document his COVID-19 vaccination experience, giving a thumb’s up to the camera in the process. “Vaccinated & ready to go,” Baier captioned the photo he posted on Instagram. The posts are just the latest for anchors and reporters at Fox News highlighting their vaccinations. They come the …

The CBC reports: We still don’t know exactly how it started — a runner on a treadmill, or perhaps someone lifting weights — but an outbreak at a gym in Quebec City has become one of the largest recorded COVID-19 superspreading events in Canada. The Mega Fitness Gym 24H, tucked behind a busy highway in an industrial section of the …

Michigan Live reports: A group of more than 50 people – most not wearing masks – showed up to the April 15 Hudsonville Board of Education meeting where they planned to present board members with their request to remove mask rules. But because of capacity limits, most of those participants were kept out of Monday’s meeting. But many parents grew …

Forbes reports: Chelsea Clinton said Thursday that former President Donald Trump should do “the right thing” and release photos of himself getting vaccinated against coronavirus, which, she argued, would encourage Republicans, who are disproportionately hesitant to be immunized, to get the shot. During an appearance on ABC’s The View, Clinton said, “Given that we know white Republican men are currently …

The Guardian reports: Peddlers of industrial bleach who urge Americans to drink the fluid as a “miracle cure” for cancer, HIV/Aids and other diseases have begun touting the product illegally as a treatment for the latest variants of Covid-19. Chlorine dioxide, a powerful bleaching agent used in textile and paper manufacturing, is being compounded and sold out of a makeshift …

The Hill reports: Chelsea Clinton is calling on Facebook to ban Fox News host Tucker Carlson from the platform following a surge in online engagement with a post that included the conservative television personality’s speculation on the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines. Clinton on Wednesday tweeted a screenshot of a Facebook post that included Carlson’s monologue from the night before, in …

Reuters reports: The Olympic Games scheduled to be held in Tokyo this summer may have to be canceled depending on the coronavirus situation, a senior member of Japan’s ruling party said Thursday. The remarks were the first public admission by the ruling party that cancellation or postponement were under serious consideration, though the challenges of holding the Games have become …

Axios reports: The number of new coronavirus infections in the U.S continues to rise, making a quick, clean end to the pandemic less and less likely. Much of the U.S. is relying almost exclusively on vaccines to control the virus, abandoning social distancing and other safety measures. And that’s helping the virus to steadily gain ground even as vaccinations barrel …

The Associated Press reports: Out in front is New Hampshire, where 65% of the population age 18 and older has received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Following close behind are New Mexico, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts at 55% or greater. Meanwhile, at the bottom are five states where fewer …

Reuters reports: More than 60 former heads of state, including former leaders of Britain and France, and over 100 Nobel Prize winners called on U.S. President Joe Biden to back a waiver of intellectual property rules for COVID-19 vaccines. A waiver would boost vaccine manufacturing and speed up the response to the pandemic in poorer countries which otherwise might have …

The Associated Press reports: Ivanka Trump has received her first COVID-19 shot and is encouraging others to get vaccinated as quickly as they can. She received the Pfizer vaccine in Florida, where individuals age 16 and older are eligible to be vaccinated. She was eligible to get vaccinated along with other White House staff when she worked as a senior …

The Hill reports: Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, pushed back Wednesday on remarks from Fox News host Tucker Carlson that appeared to question the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccines. “That’s just a typical crazy conspiracy theory,” Fauci said during an appearance on CNN’s “New Day” on Wednesday. “Why would we not tell people if it doesn’t work?” …

MarketWatch reports: Pfizer Inc. Chief Executive Albert Bourla tweeted late Tuesday that the pharma company has “ramped up” production of its COVID-19 vaccine, and will be able to deliver 10% more doses to the U.S. by the end of May than a previously agreed total of 220 million doses, as well as supply “the full (300 million doses) agreed on …

The Detroit News reports: Jason Watts, an Allegan County Republican and the treasurer for the 6th District Republican Committee, has been in the hospital for five days. He tested positive for COVID-19 on April 1 and is certain he was exposed to the virus at the regular meeting of the district organization, he said in a Tuesday phone interview from …

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: Silversea Cruises became the second major cruise line to announce it will require COVID-19 vaccinations for all passengers when it resumes global itineraries on June 5. The decision could set up a confrontation with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when the luxury cruise line is scheduled to sail from Port Everglades in December. DeSantis’ press office …

The Miami Herald reports: Florida’s U.S. Senators introduced legislation Tuesday to override the Centers for Disease Control’s existing framework cruise ships must follow to resume operations and replace current regulations with a new set of recommendations to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 aboard ships. Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, along with Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, all Republicans, introduced the …

The New York Times reports: Federal health agencies on Tuesday called for an immediate pause in use of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose coronavirus vaccine after six recipients in the United States developed a rare disorder involving blood clots within about two weeks of vaccination. All six recipients were women between the ages of 18 and 48. One woman died and …

The Hill reports: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) escalated his feud with the federal government’s leading infectious disease expert on Monday, calling Anothony Fauci a “petty tyrant” for suggesting Americans vaccinated against the coronavirus should not eat or drink indoors. “Fauci continues to ignore 100 years of vaccine science,” Paul wrote in a tweet Monday morning. “His only real theme is …