Coronavirus

LIVE VIDEO: Biden Unveils Plan To Boost Vax Supplies

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration said Tuesday it will seek to buy another 200 million doses of the two coronavirus vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use in the United States. The purchases would increase available supply by 50 percent, bringing the total to 600 million doses by this summer. Because both products — one developed by …

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Biden To Reopen Federal Obamacare Marketplaces

The Washington Post reports: President Biden is scheduled to take executive actions as early as Thursday to reopen federal marketplaces selling Affordable Care Act health plans and to lower recent barriers to joining Medicaid. The orders will be Biden’s first steps since taking office to help Americans gain health insurance, a prominent campaign goal that has assumed escalating significance as …

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Florida Offers To Host Olympics If Japan Backs Out

Agence France-Presse reports: Florida’s chief financial officer on Monday told the International Olympic Committee that the state would be happy to host the Olympics Games amid speculation that current hosts Japan may back out. Jimmy Patronis sent a letter to Thomas Bach, the head of the IOC, “to encourage you to consider relocating the 2021 Olympics from Tokyo, Japan to …

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Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte To Resign

The Wall Street Journal reports: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is set to resign on Tuesday, his office said, as Europe’s underlying problems of economic stagnation and political fragmentation start to reassert themselves amid the gruelling pandemic. The fall of Italy’s government, in office for just 17 months, is a symptom of the continuing fissures in Italian and European politics. …

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California Gov Lifts Statewide Stay-At-Home Order

ABC News reports: California health officials have lifted the regional stay at home order for all areas statewide on Monday morning, including the San Joaquin Valley, Southern California and the Bay Area. In a press release, health officials said the four-week projection for ICU capacity in the three areas were above 15%. The counties within the three regions will return …

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NBA Team To Use COVID-Sniffing Dogs To Screen Fans

CBS News reports: The Miami Heat are bringing back some fans, with help from some dogs. The Heat will use coronavirus-sniffing dogs at American Airlines Arena to screen fans who want to attend their games. They’ve been working on the plan for months, and the highly trained dogs have been in place for some games this season where the team …

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Budweiser Drops Super Bowl Ads For Vax Campaign

The New York Daily News reports: Budweiser is pulling big bucks from the big game. For the first time in 37 years, Anheuser-Busch InBev will not air a commercial during the Super Bowl, typically one of the most talked-about ads the day after with their Clydesdale horses and, in recent years, puppy pals. Instead, the funds typically allocated to the …

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Moderna Says Its Vax Is Effective Against New Strains

The New York Times reports: Moderna’s vaccine is effective against new variants of the coronavirus that have emerged in Britain and South Africa, the company announced on Monday. But it appears to be less protective against the variant discovered in South Africa, and so the company is developing a new form of the vaccine that could be used as a …

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Merck Drops Development Of Its Two COVID Vaccines

STAT News reports: Merck said Monday it will stop developing both of the current formulations of the Covid-19 vaccines the company was working on, citing inadequate immune responses to the shots. Work will continue on at least one of the vaccines, which is being developed in partnership with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), to see if using a different …

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Covidiot Mexican President Is Sick With Coronavirus

CNN reports: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has tested positive for Covid-19, he said on Sunday evening. The President, who tweeted from his official Twitter account, said his symptoms are mild and that he was receiving medical treatment. “I regret to inform you that I have contracted Covid-19. The symptoms are mild, but I am already receiving medical treatment. …

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Biden To Reinstate Travel Ban Scrapped By Trump

Reuters reports: President Joe Biden will impose a ban on most non-U.S. citizens entering the country who have recently been in South Africa starting Saturday in a bid to contain the spread of a new variant of COVID-19, a senior U.S. public health official told Reuters. Biden on Monday is also reimposing an entry ban on nearly all non-U.S. travelers …

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Feds Arrest Man For Selling Unapproved COVID Vax

The New York Daily News reports: A Washington entrepreneur who branded himself a biotech expert and sold an alleged COVID-19 “vaccine” he created in his personal lab has been arrested. Johnny Stine, 56, has been charged with introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce after he advertised his concoction for between $400 and $1,000, according to the Department of Justice. The …

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Chicago Bars/Restaurants Allowed Some Indoor Service

The Chicago Sun-Times reports: Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s health team officially gave the green light Saturday for restaurants and most bars across Chicago and suburban Cook County to invite customers back inside for indoor service. A day after officials said both regions were “on track” for limited reopening, the city and Cook County suburbs saw their coronavirus infection rates improve for …

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Birx: I Always Thought About Quitting Trump [VIDEO]

CBS News reports: Dr. Deborah Birx, the former coordinator of the Trump White House’s Coronavirus Task Force, says nothing in her four decades of public service prepared her for the chaotic Trump White House or the politically charged handling of the pandemic, telling “Face the Nation” she “always” considered quitting her post. In an interview to air on Sunday’s “Face …

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200 National Guard Members In DC Test COVID+

The Wall Street Journal reports: Nearly 200 members of the National Guard deployed to Washington in the days leading up to Wednesday’s presidential inauguration have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and some officials fear cramped rest and working quarters contributed to the spread, defense officials said. Approximately 26,000 Guard members from all 50 states, three territories and the District …

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ICUs “Completely Full” At Dozens Of Texas Hospitals

The Texas Tribune reports: Across Texas, hospital intensive care units are being battered as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in a post-holiday surge. Dozens of facilities have reported that their ICUs have been at or above 100% capacity for weeks, leaving staff overworked and stretched thin. More than 50 Texas hospitals are currently reporting that their ICUs are 100% full …

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Pennsylvania Moves Smokers To Vaccine Priority List

Pittsburgh’s CBS News affiliate reports: Smokers are now among a new group of Pennsylvanians at the front of the line to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The Pennsylvania Department of Health includes smoking on its list of qualifying conditions for those a part of Priority Group 1A. The department said in part: “Pennsylvania has chosen to follow the CDC’s recommendations and …

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Fauci: “Lack Of Facts” Under Trump Likely Cost Lives

The Hill reports: Anthony Fauci on Friday said that a lack of facts “likely did” cost lives over the last year in the nation’s efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic. In an appearance on CNN, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert was directly asked whether a “lack of candor or facts” contributed to the number of lives lost during the …

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Biden Orders To Increase Pandemic-Related Food Aid

Reuters reports: President Joe Biden on Friday will sign two executive orders aimed at speeding pandemic stimulus checks to families who need it most and increasing food aid for children who normally rely on school meals as a main source for nutrition. “Many Americans faced challenges receiving the first round of direct payments and as many as 8 million eligible …

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Biden Pledges “Wartime Effort” Against COVID, Signs Executive Order Activating Defense Production Act

The New York Times reports: President Biden, pledging a “full-scale wartime effort” to combat the coronavirus pandemic, signed a string of executive orders and presidential directives on Thursday aimed at combating the worst public health crisis in a century, including new requirements for masks on interstate planes, trains and buses and for international travelers to quarantine after arriving in the …

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