US to join global coronavirus vaccine program

GENEVA (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci says U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday will order the United States to support projects to deploy COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics to people in need around the world. Fauci also says the United States will cease reducing U.S. staff counts at the World...

Dr. Anthony Fauci says the US will join World Health Organization project to deploy vaccines around the world

Biden's first act: Orders on pandemic, climate, immigration

In his first official acts as president, Joe Biden is signing executives orders on a broad range of issues, from the coronavirus pandemic to climate change and immigration, to fulfill campaign promises. Highlights of actions Biden is taking Wednesday: THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC MASK REQUIREMENT: Biden is requiring...

The Latest: Hawaii says scarcity hinders vaccination efforts

HONOLULU — Hawaii’s leaders say limited supply is the main thing constraining distribution of the coronavirus vaccine in the state. Hawaii received 59,000 doses of the vaccine last week, but expects to get only about 32,000 this week. Still, Lt. Gov. Josh Green says the state expects to be able to...

Panel: China, WHO should have acted quicker to stop pandemic

GENEVA (AP) — A panel of experts commissioned by the World Health Organization has criticized China and other countries for not moving to stem the initial outbreak of the coronavirus earlier and questioned whether the U.N. health agency should have labeled it a pandemic sooner. In a report issued to the...

The Latest: China grapples with virus outbreaks in northeast

BEIJING — China is now dealing with coronavirus outbreaks across its frigid northeast, prompting additional lockdowns and travel bans. The country reported a total of 118 newly confirmed cases Tuesday — most of them in Jilin province, the Hebei region just outside Beijing and Heilongjiang province...

Coronavirus deaths rising in 30 US states amid winter surge

NEW YORK (AP) — Coronavirus deaths are rising in nearly two-thirds of American states as a winter surge pushes the overall toll toward 400,000 amid warnings that a new, highly contagious variant is taking hold. As Americans observed a national holiday Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pleaded with...

WHO raises 'concerns' about Mideast vaccine inequity

JERUSALEM (AP) — The World Health Organization has raised "concerns" about the unequal distribution of coronavirus vaccines in Israel, which has given shots to more than 20% of its population, and the occupied territories, where Palestinians have yet to receive any, an official said Monday. Rights groups...

WHO chief lambasts vaccine profits, demands elderly go first

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization chief on Monday lambasted drugmakers' profits and vaccine inequalities, saying it’s “not right” that younger, healthier adults in wealthy countries get vaccinated against COVID-19 before older people or health care workers in poorer countries...

Israel trades Pfizer doses for medical data in vaccine blitz

JERUSALEM (AP) — After sprinting ahead in the race to inoculate its population against the coronavirus, Israel has struck a deal with Pfizer, promising to share vast troves of medical data with the international drug giant in exchange for the continued flow of its hard-to-get vaccine. Proponents say the...