COVID-19

Pfizer agrees to let other companies make its COVID-19 pill

Pfizer agrees to let other companies make its COVID-19 pill

By MARIA CHENG, Associated Press Troy Warren for CNT #COVID-19 LONDON — Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. has signed a deal with a U.N.-backed group to allow other manufacturers to make its experimental COVID-19 pill, a move that could make the treatment available to more than half the world’s population. In a statement issued Tuesday, Pfizer said it would grant a license for the antiviral pill to the Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool, which would let generic drug companies produce the pill for use in 95 countries, making up about 53% of the world’s population. The deal excludes some large countries that have suffered…
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Why can’t some COVID-19 vaccinated people travel to the US?

Why can’t some COVID-19 vaccinated people travel to the US?

By Victoria Milko, Associated Press Troy Warren for CNT #COVID-19 #Travel The United States opened its borders to people fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but some who got the shots are finding they’re still not eligible to visit Why can’t some COVID-19 vaccinated people travel to the U.S.? Because they might not be vaccinated with shots recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the World Health Organization. When lifting overseas travel restrictions in November, the U.S. required adults coming to the country to be fully vaccinated with shots approved or authorized by the FDA or allowed by WHO. Among the most widely…
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Boosters for all adults in U.S. closer with panel meeting set

Boosters for all adults in U.S. closer with panel meeting set

By MIKE STOBBE, Associated Press Troy Warren for CNT #COVID-19 NEW YORK — An influential U.S. advisory panel will discuss expanding eligibility for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to all adults Friday, a move that could make the shots available nationwide as early as this weekend. Some cities and states already allow all adults to get boosters of Pfizer's vaccine, but it is not yet official U.S. policy. In the last week, California, New Mexico, Arkansas, West Virginia and Colorado expanded the shots to all adults. New York City made a similar move. Pfizer asked U.S. regulators last week to allow boosters of its…
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CDC Puts Three Popular European Countries on ‘Very High’ Risk Alert

CDC Puts Three Popular European Countries on ‘Very High’ Risk Alert

RICH THOMASELLI | TravelPulse.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Travel   A COVID-19 surge in parts of Europe has forced the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to designate three popular countries as ‘very high’ risk. Iceland, Czech Republic and Hungary, as well as the small island nation of Guernsey, were all moved to Level 4 by the CDC on Monday, according to multiple reports including CNN. Level 4 is the highest risk category on the CDC’s scale, described as “Very high level of COVID-19, avoid travel to this destination.” Places put on the Level 4 list have more than…
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Dr. Fauci says he won’t step down until COVID is in ‘rearview mirror’

Dr. Fauci says he won’t step down until COVID is in ‘rearview mirror’

By Shant Shahrigian, New York Daily News (TNS) Troy Warren for CNT #COVID-19 He’s not going anywhere. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert who has provided reassurance to many Americans during the pandemic, says he won’t quit until the country gets past COVID-19. “I’m the head of an institute that actually played the major role in the development of the vaccines that have saved now millions of lives from COVID-19,” he told CBS’ “Face the Nation” in an interview that aired Sunday. “I’m the director of the institute that has now been very important in the basic research…
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Southwest Executive Talks Travel Advisors, Business Travel, COVID-19 Impact

Southwest Executive Talks Travel Advisors, Business Travel, COVID-19 Impact

DONALD WOOD | TravelPulse.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Travel #COVID-19   The airline industry continues to bounce back from the devastation of the coronavirus outbreak, and Southwest Airlines is at the forefront of the travel resurgence. Southwest Business Vice President Dave Harvey recently spoke with TravelPulse about a multitude of topics impacting both the airline and the entire industry, including business travel, COVID-19’s impact on travel advisors and long-term changes implemented during the pandemic. Here is the full Q&A session with Harvey: TravelPulse (TP): Can you name some of the protocols or changes made during the pandemic that the company…
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White House: About 900,000 kids got virus shots in first week

White House: About 900,000 kids got virus shots in first week

By ZEKE MILLER, Associated Press Troy Warren for CNT #COVID-19 WASHINGTON — About 900,000 kids ages 5-11 will have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in their first week of eligibility, the White House said Wednesday, providing the first glimpse at the pace of the school-aged vaccination campaign. Final clearance for the shots was granted by federal regulators Nov. 2, with the first doses to kids beginning in some locations the following day. Now nearly 20,000 pharmacies, clinics and physicians’ offices are administering the doses, and the Biden administration estimates that by the end of Wednesday more than 900,000…
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Lawmakers’ Letter Asks Biden to Mandate COVID Vaccination or Negative Test to Fly

Lawmakers’ Letter Asks Biden to Mandate COVID Vaccination or Negative Test to Fly

RICH THOMASELLI | TravelPulse.Com Troy Warren for CNT #Travel   A United States Senator and 35 members of the House of Representatives have sent a letter to President Joe Biden, asking him to implement a mandate that all domestic airline passengers provide proof of vaccination or a negative test against COVID-19 in order to fly. The letter, dated on Thursday and published into the record on Friday, wants requirements put into place prior to the holiday season that begins in two weeks – but carefully avoids wording whether a mandate would just be for the holidays or would extend beyond that.…
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Big Bird backlash: Vaccine lands even Muppet in political flap

Big Bird backlash: Vaccine lands even Muppet in political flap

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI, Associated Press Troy Warren for CNT #COVID-19   NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Smokey Bear taught kids the importance of preventing wildfires. McGruff the Crime Dog warned them not to talk to strangers. And in 1972, Big Bird lined up on “Sesame Street” to receive a measles vaccine as part of a campaign to get more youngsters inoculated against the disease. But when that same iconic, 8-foot children’s character tweeted last weekend that he had been vaccinated against COVID-19, conservative politicians immediately pushed back. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican, grilled Big Bird for what he called "government propaganda." Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe described it as "brainwashing children"…
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Widespread coronavirus infection found in Iowa deer, new study says

Widespread coronavirus infection found in Iowa deer, new study says

By Andrew Jacobs, The New York Times Troy Warren for CNT #COVID-19 #EditorsPicks A new study of hundreds of white-tailed deer infected with the coronavirus in Iowa has found that the animals probably are contracting the virus from humans and then rapidly spreading it among one another, according to researchers. Up to 80% of deer sampled from April 2020 through January 2021 in the state were infected, the study indicated. Scientists said the findings pose worrisome implications for the spread of the coronavirus, although they were not able to identify how the deer might have contracted the virus from humans. There…
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