Coronavirus Vaccine

President Biden appealed to U.S. companies “to do the right thing to protect Americans’ health and economy” after the Supreme Court blocked the vaccine mandate.

The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job.

Police filmed the nurse apparently squirting the needle’s contents into the medical waste bin before pretending to inject the patient’s arm, and then putting a bandage on their arm.

Pfizer confirmed it plans to start human trials of its omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine later this month, potentially making it available to the public as soon as March.

COVID hospitalizations of children under 5 have soared in recent weeks to their highest level since the pandemic began. Children under 5 are the only age group in the U.S. not yet eligible for the vaccine.

New York plans to require health care workers to get a COVID-19 booster.

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments about the vaccine-or-testing requirement for large employers and a separate mandate for health care workers.

The CEO of Moderna says that a fourth coronavirus vaccine shot may soon be necessary due to declining efficacy of booster shots: "I still believe we’re going to need boosters in the fall of ’22 and forward," CEO Stephane Bancel said. "This virus is not going away. We’re going to have to live with it."

The CDC’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, will weigh the panel’s advice before making a final decision soon.

The injunction is a new challenge to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's decision to make vaccinations mandatory for all members of the military.

People might mistakenly think the COVID-19 vaccines will completely block infection, but the shots are mainly designed to prevent severe illness, says Louis Mansky, a virus researcher at the University of Minnesota.

The agency also recommended that severely immunocompromised kids ages 5-11 should get an additional primary dose of the Pfizer vaccine 28 days after their second shot.

The FDA expanded Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine booster for kids as young as 12. Final approval from the CDC is still needed.

Dozens of Marines have been discharged over the past week for their refusal to comply with the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Israel approved a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose for people most vulnerable to the virus, the first country to do so.

The health order now includes booster requirements for people who work in higher-risk settings, including adult care facilities, adult day programs, dental offices, home health care workers and pharmacists, as well as workers who visit such settings, like police officers, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and lawyers whose clients are in jails.

Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 booster shot was found to reduce the risk of omicron-related hospitalization by about 85%, according to a South African clinical trial.

Mexico’s health safety council has approved the use of Cuba’s three-dose Abdala coronavirus vaccine.