Latest Coronavirus News

WASHINGTON — As reports continue to circulate about a “mysterious respiratory illness” in China that particularly affects children, a group of Republican U.S. senators sent an open letter Friday to President Joe Biden, urging him to restrict travel between the U.S. and China “until we know more about this disease.”

“We should not wait for the WHO (World Health Organization) to take action, given its track record of slavish deference to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party). We must take the necessary steps to protect the health of Americans, and our economy,” the letter reads, in part. It was signed by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Mike Braun (R-IN).

Anthony Fauci, former chief White House medical adviser, is expected to testify before Congress early next year as part of Republicans' yearslong investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and the U.S. response to the disease.

Fauci, who served as the nation's top infectious disease expert before retiring last year, will sit for transcribed interviews in early January and a public hearing at a later date. It will be his first appearance before the Republican-controlled House.

Americans can order more free COVID-19 tests online for home delivery.

The U.S. government is offering to send another round of four at-home virus tests ahead of the typical surge in cases during the winter holiday season.

OHIO — The latest COVID-19 vaccine has been rolled out, but the Cleveland Department of Public Health said they’ve heard some people are not able to get their shot covered by insurance. Marlene Martin, with Summit County Public Health, explained why.

“When the public health emergency authorization ended, then the free vaccine, the ability to offer the COVID vaccine for free ended as well,” she said.

The federal government restarted its program Monday of providing free at-home COVID-19 tests to Americans.

Households can now request four rapid tests each by completing a form at COVIDTests.gov. The tests will then be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service beginning Oct. 2.

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Children's Hospital said all employees will be mandated to wear masks once again because of an increase in respiratory illnesses, including the flu, COVID and respiratory synclinal virus.

The mandate goes into effect on Monday, Sept. 25.

COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths have been on the rise over the past few months. In response, there have been several incidences of private companies, health care systems and a few schools that have brought masking requirements back.

A group of Republicans on Capitol Hill say that is a step in the wrong direction.

Amid a summer uptick in COVID hospitalizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s newly-minted director Dr. Mandy Cohen stressed “we are in our strongest position yet to fight COVID-19,” as the agency prepares to recommend updated – and potentially annual – vaccines in just weeks.

On a call with reporters to discuss the Biden administration’s strategy around the virus heading into the fall, Dr. Cohen said the new COVID booster shots – which are currently going through FDA regulatory review – should be available by mid-September.

CLEVELAND — Compared to recent years, COVID-19 isn’t something that’s been top of mind for many recently.

But, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID cases are back on the rise. And related hospitalization rates are also up across the United States, including here in Ohio.

In an interview with Spectrum News, Dr. Mandy Cohen, the new Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that her agency is likely to come out with guidance in the fall that Americans should get an annual COVID-19 booster to protect against the coronavirus.

The new recommendation, which the agency is finalizing and is expected to announce in early September, is the first such guidance on how to protect against COVID-19 long-term.

The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is no longer available in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A post on the CDC's website says that all remaining U.S. government stock of the vaccine expired on May 7, and directed providers to dispose of any remaining stock in accordance with local, state and federal regulations.

CLEVELAND — As the COVID-19 public health emergency expires Thursday, the Ohio Department of Health discussed next steps and what the public should expect.

Last week, the World Health Organization said COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency — a symbolic end to the pandemic that triggered lockdowns, upended economies around the world and has killed at least 7 million people across the globe.

CLEVELAND — When Dr. Hassan Khouli reflects on the last three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, he recalls a war zone.

“I get a chill just thinking through that," he said.

CLEVELAND — The staff at Hail Mary’s has to take a cover down from their expansion at the end of every workday.

"Depends on how many people you have," Owner Julie Novak said when asked how long it takes to assemble. "But probably a good 40 minutes." Novak said they had been able to leave it up at all times, but that was while Westlake was under a COVID emergency. Novak said that was lifted on May 1, so they now won’t be able to leave the covers up because of zoning regulations. “We could use it all year long as long as weather permitted," Novak said. "It’s heated. Now we have to, from now until December, take it down and put it up every day.” Novak said the restaurant spent about $70,000 to build the expansion, and they were about to open it in time for St. Patty’s Day weekend in 2020. But they had to shut down just days before they could use it. Luckily, they were able to open up again and keep the covers up. “We really haven’t looked beyond the last few years," Novak said. It ended up saving their business, doubling their seating capacity, and using it for outdoor seating in warmer months by removing the covers. “The winters, it really didn’t matter to people," Novak said. "They would just bundle up and sit outside cause they felt safe that way. It saved our business to have it during COVID, for sure.” Novak said since the warmer months are coming, they may only cover this space if it’s raining or windy out. Novak is glad their new dining space is larger and more spaced out. “People like to be spread out now and not feel like they’re on top of each other," Novak said. "So had we not had this space, not only would we have a limited space inside, but it would be a really tight and probably not desirable space during COVID.” They didn’t get an immediate return on investment, but the expansion ended up quickly paying for itself. It got them through a difficult time for the industry.

CINCINNATI — As the public health emergency surrounding COVID-19 officially ends on Thursday, businesses are working to get back into the office. One Cincinnati business is opening a new office after leaving theirs in 2020.

Walking into Andre Johnson’s apartment, it’s more than just his home.

The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies worldwide and killed at least 7 million people worldwide.

WHO said that even though the emergency phase was over, the pandemic hasn't come to an end, noting recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The U.N. health agency says that thousands of people are still dying from the virus every week.

An emerging COVID-19 strain appears to cause conjunctivitis — also known as pink eye — especially in children, doctors say.

The XBB.1.16 subvariant — which has been nicknamed “arcturus” on social media — was first detected in January. It has been found in 42 countries, with India accounting for its biggest hotspot.

President Joe Biden's order that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 has been blocked by a federal appeals court.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, in a decision Thursday, rejected arguments that Biden, as the nation's chief executive, has the same authority as the CEO of a private corporation to require that employees be vaccinated.

CLEVELAND — Eliana Rosario, a resident of northeast Ohio, had a mild case of COVID-19 at the end of 2020 when she was 14 years old.

"We had symptoms of losing sense of smell and taste, chills, aches, fevers," she said.

President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill Monday that directs the federal government to declassify as much intelligence as possible about the origins of COVID-19 more than three years after the start of the pandemic.

The legislation, which passed both the House and Senate without dissent, directs the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify intelligence related to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. It cites “potential links” between the research that was done there and the outbreak of COVID-19, which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The law allows for redactions to protect sensitive sources and methods.

OHIO — It’s been three years since the first person tested positive for COVID-19 in Ohio.

While the deaths continue to add up, numbers from the Ohio Department of Health show most of them are people who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine. ODH reports nearly 27,000 COVID-19 deaths in the state since January 1st, 2021, but fewer than 1,500 of them received a vaccine.

The Biden administration is preparing to relax COVID-19 testing restrictions for travelers from China as soon as Friday, according to two people familiar with the decision.

The people, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the administration has decided to roll back the testing requirements as cases, hospitalizations and deaths are declining in China and the U.S. has gathered better information about the surge.

If elected president again, Donald Trump says he’ll push for China to pay damages to countries around the world for the spread of COVID-19.

In an op-ed for The Daily Mail on Saturday, Trump wrote, “nothing should be off the table—tariffs, taxes, and a global summit on reparations.

CINCINNATI — The fallout from the COVID crisis is still affecting colleges in Ohio and across the country, and some experts say it will be felt for years.

According to the National Student Clearing House, since 2020, a million fewer students have enrolled in college than before the pandemic.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Sunday called Moderna’s plan to more than quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine “enormously greedy.”

Sanders has been railing against the planned price hike since Moderna’s CEO told The Wall Street Journal last month the company is considering raising the price to $110 to $130 per dose after the government-purchased supply runs out later this year.

Ohio — Learning loss because of the pandemic set a lot of school districts across the country into recovery mode to make sure kids didn’t get left behind.

High school students, in particular, faced some of their own challenges. Arvin Vhora, an Education Consultant and Learning Gap Tutor, said Algebra I is an area where they struggled the most with learning gaps.

She'd be a senior right now, preparing for graduation in a few months, probably leading her school's modern dance troupe and taking art classes.

Instead, Kailani Taylor-Cribb hasn't taken a single class in what used to be her high school since the height of the coronavirus pandemic. She vanished from Cambridge, Massachusetts' public school roll in 2021 and has been, from an administrative standpoint, unaccounted for since then.

The triple whammy of RSV, flu and COVID-19 has been felt in nearly 40% of U.S. households, according to a survey published Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed told the health policy think tank that someone in their household had been infected by one of the viruses in the previous month or so and the holiday season. The survey was conducted from Jan. 17-24.

OHIO — Over the past several weeks, Ohio has documented a decrease in COVID-19 cases. But Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said Ohioans still need to stay vigilant, especially those who are older than 65 or have a higher risk of infection.

“We need to recognize that none of these respiratory viruses have not disappeared," Vanderhoff said in reference to COVID-19 and influenza.

The Food and Drug Administration wants to simplify the COVID-19 vaccination process by making it more like the one used for the flu.

The agency is proposing that a single COVID shot be approved each year for most people, one targeting a specific strain or strains of concern at the time of approval. A panel of independent advisers is set to consider and vote on the proposal Thursday.

More than four months after the first updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters became available to the public, uptake has been abysmal.

Just 16% of Americans ages 5 and older have received the bivalent booster, which targets the original COVID-19 strain and the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. Among adults 18 and older, the number isn’t much better — 18%.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 deaths in people who had COVID-19 since early December, offering hard numbers for an unprecedented surge that was apparent in overcrowded hospitals and packed crematoriums, even as the government released little data about the status of the pandemic for weeks.

Those numbers may still underestimate the toll, though the government said the “emergency peak" of its latest surge appears to have passed.

CINCINNATI, Ohio — An appeals court has affirmed a ban in three states on enforcing a federal vaccine mandate for workers who contract with the federal government.

A panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Thursday affirmed a lower court’s ruling that said the mandate was unconstitutional. President Joe Biden’s administration is not enforcing the rule while legal battles play out around the country.

The latest COVID-19 strain spreading around the United States could be the most transmissible variant or subvariant yet, health experts say.

XBB.1.5, an omicron subvariant, has been detected in 38 countries, but 82% of known cases are in the U.S., according to the World Health Organization.

CLEVELAND — It’s a new year, and with it comes a new COVID-19 strain, a contagious strain expected to soon spread rapidly throughout Ohio.

The new omicron subvariant is known as XBB.1.5. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention it accounts, right now, for almost 41% of confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide.

Dr. Anthony Fauci will step down from his roles as the president’s chief medical adviser and top infectious disease expert at the end of this year, closing out more than half a century in public service, defined by his legacy as a leading physician, researcher and national voice on diseases in the United States.

Though his national presence ascended in 2020 with the emergence of COVID-19, Fauci has spent more than half his life working for the U.S. government, after he first began in 1968 as a clinical associate at the National Institutes of Health, under Lyndon Johnson.

Nine in 10 American children have been infected at least once by COVID-19 since the pandemic began nearly three years ago, according to an updated estimate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC tracks “seroprevalence” — the proportion of a population with antibodies from a previous virus infection. In data posted Thursday, the agency estimated that 90.3% of children 6 months to 17 years old had evidence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in their blood. That amounts to nearly 65 million children.

The Biden administration is again making some free COVID-19 tests available to all U.S. households as it unveils its contingency plans for potential coronavirus surges this winter.

After a three-month hiatus, the administration is making four rapid virus tests available through covidtests.gov starting Thursday. COVID-19 cases have shown a marked increase after the Thanksgiving holiday, and further increases are projected from indoor gathering and travel around Christmas and New Year's.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A commercial insurance policy doesn’t cover the income a business lost when the governor ordered a shutdown early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ohio Supreme Court said Monday in a decision consistent with multiple court rulings nationally weighing similar questions.

The state’s high court found that the temporary presence of COVID-19 in a community or at a business and the temporary presence of an infected person don’t amount to a direct physical loss that might be covered.

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden on Friday urged Americans over 50 to prioritize getting their updated COVID-19 vaccine before the holidays, speaking at the White House alongside the administration’s medical advisers and in tandem with the AARP.

With a focus on seniors, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, and Dr. Ashish Jha, who oversees the COVID-19 response, took questions gathered by the AARP from around the country — such as why they recommend another booster after last year’s or whether people should get their flu shot at the same time.

China rolled back rules on isolating people with COVID-19 and dropped virus test requirements for some public places Wednesday in a dramatic change to a strategy that confined millions of people to their homes and sparked protests and demands for President Xi Jinping to resign.

The move adds to earlier easing that fueled hopes Beijing was scrapping its "zero COVID" strategy, which is disrupting manufacturing and global trade. Experts warn, however, that restrictions can't be lifted completely until at least mid-2023 because millions of elderly people still must be vaccinated and the health care system strengthened.

The United States is seeing its highest level of flu hospitalizations in a decade as it continues to grapple with a surge of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, cases and COVID-19 infections are again on the rise, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Monday.

Walensky and Dr. Sandra Fryhofer, board chair of the American Medical Association, kicked off National Influenza Vaccination Week by holding a call with reporters in which they provided an update on the triple whammy of respiratory illnesses filling many hospitals and urged unvaccinated people to get their shots, both for flu and COVID. There is no RSV vaccine.

Chinese authorities eased some anti-virus rules but affirmed their severe "zero COVID" strategy Monday after protesters demanded President Xi Jinping resign in the biggest show of opposition to the ruling Communist Party in decades.

The government made no comment on the protests or the criticism of Xi, but the decision to ease at least some of the restrictions appeared to be aimed at quelling anger. Still, analysts don't expect the government to back down on its COVID strategy and note authorities are adept at stifling dissent.

A year after omicron began its assault on humanity, the ever-morphing coronavirus mutant drove COVID-19 case counts higher in many places just as Americans gathered for Thanksgiving. It was a prelude to a wave that experts expect to soon wash over the U.S.

Phoenix-area emergency physician Dr. Nicholas Vasquez said his hospital admitted a growing number of chronically ill people and nursing home residents with severe COVID-19 this month.

Pandemic lockdowns are expanding across China, including in a city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as the number of COVID-19 cases hits a daily record.

Residents of eight districts of Zhengzhou, home to 6.6 million people, were told to stay home for five days beginning Thursday except to buy food or get medical treatment. Daily mass testing was ordered in what the city government called a “war of annihilation” against the virus.

In probably his final time briefing reporters at the White House podium, the nation’s top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday ticked through data showing how the updated COVID boosters are safe and effective – an effort to inform that has drawn both praise and ire for the top doctor over the last two-and-half years.

Dr. Fauci will step down in December, he announced this summer, ending a five-decade career in government service, 38 years as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He also serves as President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser.

The Biden administration on Tuesday launched a six-week campaign to encourage Americans to get their updated COVID-19 vaccine dose before the end of the year, with a focus on seniors and others most at-risk of severe illness.

The goal, according to a White House fact sheet, is to “help avoid thousands of preventable COVID-19 deaths,” which have typically spiked after holiday gatherings.

Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine booster generated a significantly greater antibody response in clinical trials than its original shot, the company announced Monday.

The data are noteworthy because the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off in early September on reformulated boosters by Moderna, as well as Pfizer and BioNTech, without clinical trial data available.

But for millions of Americans who got sick with COVID, life is still anything but.

Long COVID is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but not everyone qualifies.

The World Health Organization chief on Wednesday said a nearly 90% drop in recent COVID-19 deaths globally compared to nine months ago provides “cause for optimism,” but still urged vigilance against the pandemic as variants continue to crop up.

The COVID-19 pandemic devastated poor children's well-being, not just by closing their schools, but also by taking away their parents' jobs, sickening their families and teachers, and adding chaos and fear to their daily lives.

The scale of the disruption to American kids' education is evident in a district-by-district analysis of test scores shared exclusively with The Associated Press. The data provide the most comprehensive look yet at how much schoolchildren have fallen behind academically.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday received his updated COVID-19 booster shot on Tuesday, unveiling his administration’s latest efforts to encourage Americans to do the same and calling for the country to "start fresh" in this new phase of the pandemic.

Biden painted the shots as Americans' best bet to stay safe from the virus this fall and winter, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

The COVID-19 pandemic spared no state or region as it caused historic learning setbacks for America's children, erasing decades of academic progress and widening racial disparities, according to results of a national test that provide the sharpest look yet at the scale of the crisis.

Across the country, math scores saw their largest decreases ever. Reading scores dropped to 1992 levels. Nearly four in 10 eighth graders failed to grasp basic math concepts. Not a single state saw a notable improvement in their average test scores, with some simply treading water at best.

ATLANTA (AP) — The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tested positive for COVID-19.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who is up to date on her vaccinations, tested positive Friday night and had mild symptoms, the CDC said in a statement.

OHIO — Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff warned Ohioans to get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 ahead of the holiday season as new variants emerge across the world.

More specifically, Vanderhoff pointed to two subvariants that could evade antibody protections: BQ.1.1. and XBB.

Driven by politics, Trump administration officials repeatedly interfered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s efforts to provide the public with information about the COVID-19 pandemic, a report released Monday by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis found.

The Democratic-led panel charged that the Trump White House blocked the CDC from conveying accurate information to the public in the early months of the pandemic, installed political operatives who sought to downplay the risks of the coronavirus and retaliated against CDC scientists who contradicted the administration’s talking points.

CLEVELAND — While the pandemic is not quite over, scientists are already investigating how coronavirus works and the best ways to treat it.

University Hospitals recently received a $200,000 grant from the American Lung Association to study COVID-19's long-term consequences and outcomes.

COVID-19 vaccines saved the lives of more than 300,000 seniors and other Americans enrolled in Medicare last year, according to a report released Friday by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Vaccines also were credited for more than 650,000 fewer COVID hospitalizations and a savings of $16 billion in direct medical costs, the report found.

More than four out of five American adults who are living with long COVID say they’re experiencing some level of disability as a result.

According to CDC data released Wednesday, 81.4% of U.S. adults with long COVID, or roughly 18.5 million people, reported having their ability limited by the condition. Twenty-five percent of those adults describe those limitations as significant.

Amid concerns about another COVID-19 surge this fall and winter, a trio of new omicron subvariants are becoming more prevalent in the United States.

The BA.5 subvariant has been the dominant strain since early July and at one point accounted for 87% of new infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At 82%, it remains the most common version of the virus, but cases involving a handful of other subvariants are on the rise, leaving scientists wondering if one will emerge as the next dominant strain.

TORONTO (AP) — The Canadian government announced Monday it will no longer require people to wear masks on planes to guard against COVID-19.

Transport Canada said the existing rules for masks will come off Oct. 1

Pfizer and BioNTech announced Monday morning they have applied for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 booster shots that target the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants in children ages 5 to 11.

U.S. regulators earlier this month approved updated boosters by Pfizer and BioNTech as well as Moderna. Both of the shots are bivalent, targeting the original 2019 strain as well as BA.4 and BA.5, which today account for 96% of new COVID-19 infections in the United States. The Pfizer shot is authorized for people ages 12 and older, while the Moderna booster is approved for 18 and older.

U.S. health officials say 4.4 million Americans have rolled up their sleeves for the updated COVID-19 booster shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted the count Thursday as public health experts bemoaned President Joe Biden's recent remark that "the pandemic is over."

The White House said more than 5 million people received the new boosters by its own estimate that accounts for reporting lags in states.

TORONTO (AP) — Canada will likely drop the vaccine requirement for people who enter Canada by the end of September, an official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Canada, like the United States, requires all people to be vaccinated when entering the country. It is not immediately known whether the U.S. will make a similar move by Sept. 30.

In an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, President Joe Biden declared that "the pandemic is over."

“We still have a problem with COVID,” the president added. “We’re still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over.”

The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday that the number of coronavirus deaths worldwide last week was the lowest reported in the pandemic since March 2020, marking what could be a turning point in the years-long global outbreak.

At a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world has never been in a better position to stop COVID-19.

OHIO — Samantha Leszkowicz takes meticulous notes of everything, every day.

“I won’t remember if I took my supplements, or I don’t remember if I turned the stove off, or just day-to-day basic tasks that I was once able to remember is just very difficult for me now," she said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced last week that it has distributed over $2.7 billion to help Americans pay for the funerals of more than 441,000 who have died from COVID-19.

More than one million Americans have died from COVID-19. FEMA has helped pay funeral and cemetery costs for the families of more than 441,000 people who have died from COVID-19.

The number of American adults seeking mental health treatment has increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and younger adults appear to be struggling the most, according to new federal data.

Nearly one in four Americans — 23% — ages 18 to 44 reported in a survey they had received mental health treatment in the previous 12 months, according to a study published Wednesday by the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The United States has likely entered a new phase in which receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is recommended annually, much like a flu shot, federal health officials said Tuesday.

That was the message from Biden administration officials during a COVID-19 news briefing, just days after the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on new Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus booster shots that target both the original 2019 strain as well as the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized Pfizer’s and Moderna’s updated COVID-19 booster shots that target the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron variants.

On Thursday, an advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommended the vaccines. The CDC signed off on the panel's recommendation shortly after, meaning shots could be available as soon as Friday.

On Monday, the White House announced it would pause sending out free at-home COVID-19 tests this coming Friday.

According to COVID.gov, every home is eligible to order a third round of free at-home tests before the looming deadline.

The Department of Defense on Monday announced it is now offering Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine to service members a little over a month after U.S. health regulators approved the shot for adults aged 18 years and up.

The Food and Drug Administration updated the emergency use authorization to include individuals aged 12 and older. Novavax is the third vaccine to be approved for individuals 12 and up after the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna jabs; the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says should “only be considered in some cases,” is authorized for those aged 18 and older.

Moderna is suing Pfizer and BioNTech, accusing the companies of infringing on Moderna’s patents when they partnered to develop their own COVID-19 vaccine.

Moderna claims it spent years developing the mRNA technology used in the shots, that Pfizer and BioNTech had limited experience with the technology when the pandemic began and that the companies followed Moderna’s lead in developing their vaccine, marketed under the name Comirnaty.

Updated COVID-19 booster shots are a step closer to being available in the United States after Pfizer and Moderna applied this week for emergency use authorizations.

Both of the shots are bivalent, targeting the original 2019 strain of the virus as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants, which today account for 99.5% of COVID-19 infections in the country.

First lady Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 again in an apparent "rebound" case, after she initially tested negative for the virus over the weekend.

President Joe Biden, three days with his wife at their Rehoboth Beach, Del. vacation home, continues to test negative, the White House said. He also suffered a rebound case earlier this month after an initial recovery from the virus.

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — First lady Jill Biden left COVID-19 isolation on Sunday after twice testing negative for the coronavirus and reunited with President Joe Biden at their Delaware beach home.

She had been isolating in South Carolina, where she tested positive for the virus as the couple wrapped up a vacation there last week. The president made a brief stop at the White House before going to Wilmington, Delaware. He arrived in Rehoboth Beach on Saturday night.

CLEVELAND — To get people vaccinated against COVID-19, a church in Cleveland’s Slavic Village is hosting “Dollars for Doses,” where participants can get paid to be vaccinated.

Elizabeth Baptist Church, at 6114 Francis Avenue, is hosting a clinic on Saturday, Aug. 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters are expected to be rolled out “in a few short weeks,” the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator said Wednesday.

In June, the Food and Drug Administration directed vaccine manufacturers to change their designs to start targeting the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.

First lady Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, her communications director said Tuesday.

Biden, 71, tested negative during a regular screening Monday but began to experience symptoms later in the day. She then initially tested negative on a rapid antigen test before testing positive on a PCR test, Communications Director Elizabeth Alexander said in a statement.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday streamlined its COVID-19 guidance in an attempt to make it easier for people to know what to do if they’re exposed or test positive for the virus.

The agency also updated its guidance for people who are not up to date on their vaccines and are exposed to COVID-19. They are no longer advised to quarantine at home for at least five full days.

KENT, Ohio — Kent State University joins other Ohio universities in requiring facemasks indoors as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

According to the university's Coronavirus Updates page, several campuses will be requiring masks as the county levels rise.

President Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 Sunday for the second day in a row, allowing him to leave isolation at the White House and travel to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

“I’m feeling great,” Biden told reporters before leaving the White House and boarding Marine One.

President Joe Biden continued to test positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, but he "continues to feel well" and even completed a "light workout," his physician said in an update.

Dr. Kevin O'Connor wrote in a memo Wednesday that Biden "is still experiencing an occasional cough, but less frequently than" Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 for the second straight day, in what appears to be in a rare case of “rebound” following treatment with an anti-viral drug.

In a letter noting the positive test, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, the White House physician, said Sunday that the president “continues to feel well” and will keep on working from the executive residence while he isolates.

U.S. regulators said Friday they are no longer considering authorizing a second COVID-19 booster shot for all adults under 50 this summer, focusing instead on revamped vaccines for the fall that will target the newest viral subvariants.

Pfizer and Moderna expect to have updated versions of their shots available as early as September, the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement. That would set the stage for a fall booster campaign to strengthen protection against the latest versions of omicron.

As Sen. Rand Paul is reiterating his intention to investigate him if Republicans win back the Senate this fall, Dr. Anthony Fauci, arguably the face of the federal government’s COVID-19 response, said Tuesday he has nothing to hide.

Paul, R-Ky., told The Hill this week, “One way or another, if we are in the majority, we will subpoena his records and he will testify in the Senate under oath.”

Sen. Joe Manchin tested positive Monday for COVID-19, the West Virginia Democrat said on Twitter.

Manchin, 74, said he’s fully vaccinated and boosted and is experiencing mild symptoms.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden continues to “improve significantly” despite a lingering sore throat from his coronavirus infection, according to an update Sunday from his doctor.

“The president is responding to therapy as expected,” wrote Dr. Kevin O’Connor in his latest note. Biden has been taking Paxlovid, an antiviral drug that helps reduce the chance of severe illness.

In an update on Saturday, President Joe Biden's physician said that his symptoms "continue to improve," though he now also has sore throat and body aches.

Dr. Kevin O'Connor wrote in a letter to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre that the president was "most likely" infected by the BA.5 variant, currently the most common strain in the United States, based on preliminary sequencing.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, told Spectrum News on Friday that President Joe Biden is "doing fine" after his COVID-19 diagnosis.

“The good news is that [Biden is] in generally good health," Dr. Fauci told Spectrum News' Kevin Frey, mentioning he spoke with President Biden's physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor on Friday morning. "He's been vaccinated, he's been doubly boosted. And he's on an antiviral drug, Paxlovid, which clearly has a very positive impact in preventing people from progressing to severe disease.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Public Health issued a mask advisory for Franklin County on Friday because of an increase in COVID-19 transmission levels.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved Franklin County to the “high” level on its COVID-19 data tracker. It is one of more than 40 counties in Ohio to be labeled as high transmission.

President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House announced on Thursday.

In a video posted to social media Thursday afternoon, President Biden gave an update on his condition.

CINCINNATI — There are currently more than 2.8 million COVID-19 cases across Ohio, according to the latest data from the Ohio Department of Health. At-home COVID-19 tests are in high demand, with covid cases continuing to rise across the state.

Hamilton County is one area where these tests are in high demand, according to Hamilton County Public Health. As of Sunday, the county is at the “medium” COVID-19 community level- meaning people should be more cautious about protecting themselves against the virus.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — For Ohioans, COVID-19 vaccinations are available as walk-in appointments at pharmacies and local health clinics.

Vaccines are now recommended for children between six-months-old to four-years-old. Everyone age five and older is eligible for a booster shot.