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Today: The White House presses for an independent investigation and more data from China on the origins of COVID-19. The U.S. advises against going to Japan two months ahead of the Olympics, and the World Health Organization’s director-general aims for all countries to vaccinate at least 10 percent of their population by September.
We’ll start with the still unknown origins of COVID-19:
White House pushes for independent investigation on COVID-19 origins
The White House on Monday said that officials cannot draw a conclusion about the origins of COVID-19 without an independent investigation and more data from China.
FDA authorizes Pfizer vaccine for adolescents
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday gave the green light for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to be used in adolescents 12-15 years old, a move that will make millions more people eligible for a vaccine.
The highly anticipated decision is a key step toward ensuring middle and high schools can operate for full in-person learning next fall and a major boon to parents concerned about the safety of summer activities.
FDA has been reviewing the amended application from Pfizer and BioNTech for more than a month. The companies cited research from their clinical trial in late March that found the vaccine was effective in the younger population, and produced strong antibody responses. The side effects were also about the same as the older population.
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Today: The WHO-backed Covax initiative will get a boost from Moderna, but it won t do much for short-term supply issues. Speaker Pelosi said a return to normalcy won t happen until more lawmakers get vaccinated, and the CDC said a brief Ebola epidemic in the Congo is now over.
Moderna providing up to 500M vaccine doses to Covax program for lower-income countries
Moderna committed to providing up to 500 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to a United Nations-backed initiative designed to supply vaccinations to middle- and low-income countries.
The company announced an agreement with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to sell an initial 34 million doses to COVAX at the lowest tiered price within the fourth quarter of this year. The deal also permits Gavi to purchase 466 million additional vaccine doses in 2022.
Today: The U.S. finally said it will share excess COVID-19 vaccines with other countries, but questions remain as to the specifics. The CDC is poised to offer an updated guidance on masking, likely about being outdoors, with details outlined Tuesday. And a new poll found widespread concerns about Johnson & Johnson s vaccine.
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US to share millions of AstraZeneca vaccine doses with other countries
The Biden administration on Monday announced that it will move to donate millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to other countries, after pressure from lawmakers and advocates.
The United States has millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not yet authorized in the US, but is in other countries, and could play a key role amid worsening spikes in cases abroad, particularly in India.
Overnight Health Care: All adults in US now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine | White House launches media blitz to promote vaccines msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.