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WASHINGTON (AP) — The declaration of a COVID-19 public health emergency three years ago changed the lives of millions of Americans by offering increased health care coverage, beefed-up food assistance and universal access to coronavirus vaccines and tests. Much of that is now coming to an end, with President Joe Biden’s administration saying it plans […]

NEW YORK (AP) — If another pandemic happens, the world will again be unprepared. That’s the bleak assessment of former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, who co-chaired the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, after the U.N. General Assembly held a high-level summit aimed at heading off another pandemic. The upshot: Have another […]

LONDON (AP) — For years, global health officials have used billions of drops of an oral vaccine in a remarkably effective campaign aimed at wiping out polio in its last remaining strongholds — typically, poor, politically unstable corners of the world. Now, in a surprising twist in the decades-long effort to eradicate the virus, authorities […]

Doctors are used to seeing the flu spike this time of year. But this time, COVID-19 and RSV have joined the fray.

COVID-19 vaccines tweaked to better match today’s omicron threat are expected to roll out in a few weeks but still up in the air is how much benefit the booster shots will offer, who should get one — and how soon. Pfizer and rival Moderna both asked U.S. regulators this week to authorize modified versions […]

China’s strategy of controlling the coronavirus with lockdowns, mass testing and quarantines has provoked the greatest show of public dissent against the ruling Communist Party in decades. Most protesters on the mainland and in Hong Kong have focused their anger on restrictions that confine families to their homes for months. Global health experts have criticized […]

White House coronavirus response coordinator Ashish Jha said Wednesday evening that updated COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be available in “a few short weeks” for everyone over the age of 12.  

Some costs have gone down, others have increased, and there are some notable tweaks to how Medicare works.

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A World Health Organization official in Africa is urging more support to countries facing cholera outbreaks, saying the disease has the potential to “quickly explode” as rainfall persists in some areas. Dr. Patrick Otim, a WHO official monitoring emergencies, said cholera outbreaks were potentially dangerous because of the short incubation period […]

On Tuesday, White House officials announced a renewed push for more Americans to get the latest shots.

LONDON (AP) — Pfizer and BioNTech have asked the European Medicines Agency to authorize their updated coronavirus booster vaccine that includes the most recent omicron subvariants. In a statement Friday, Pfizer said it is requesting that the EU drug regulator OK its combination COVID-19 vaccine that targets the original coronavirus and BA.4 and BA.5, the […]