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Emily Kopp

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N95 face masks are displayed at a Home Depot store in Orlando, Fla., on the day that the CDC updated its guidance on masks for the general public.

CDC has backlog of applications from manufacturers of N95 masks

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf will make the final decision on removing the only available drug aimed at lowering the risk of premature births.

Senate Health panel advances Califf to lead FDA

The move comes as an omicron surge has driven case numbers to record highs. Above, a woman gets a booster on Capitol Hill in October 2021.

FDA lowers eligibility age for Pfizer-BioNTech boosters to 12

President Joe Biden speaks about the omicron variant of the coronavirus in the State Dining Room of the White House on Tuesday.

Biden issues dire warning for unvaccinated as omicron surges before holidays

Sgt. Demetrius Roberson administers a COVID-19 vaccine to a soldier on Sept. 9 in Fort Knox, Ky.

Biden to mobilize military to hospitals for omicron winter surge

Pharmacist Elizabeth Alvarez administers a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Grubb’’s Pharmacy in Washington on Nov. 8.

Burnout among pharmacists slows COVID-19 booster shots

Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine sit on a table.

Omicron partially evades protection from Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, earlier this year on Capitol Hill. During an interview with CQ/Roll Call Wednesday, Walensky called for funding and authority to better respond to public health crises.

Omicron could overtake delta within weeks, experts say

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, arrives earlier this year to testify before a House hearing. He spoke Wednesday about the new COVID-19 variant.

First US case of omicron variant detected

Hattie Pierce, 75,  gets a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster shot from Dr. Tiffany Taliaferro at the Capitol Hill Safeway in Washington on Oct. 4.

FDA to sidestep advisers on boosters-for-all approval

Robert Califf, shown at his previous confirmation hearing in November 2015, was nominated to again lead the FDA.

Biden taps Califf as FDA commissioner

A COVID-19 vaccination record card. Proof of vaccination or negative test results will be needed from workers at businesses that employ 100 workers or more under a new OHSA rule.

Employers must require COVID-19 shots or tests by January under federal rule

Colored tape on the floor guides COVID-19 vaccine recipients to the vaccine administration room and the post-vaccine waiting room at a neighborhood vaccination center in Washington earlier this year. The FDA on Friday authorized a COVID-19 vaccine for children who are 5 through 11 years old.

FDA authorizes COVID-19 vaccines for younger kids

Recent revelations complicate White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci’s previous statements that the NIH never funded research projects in Wuhan that gave pathogens new properties with the potential to cause any kind of pandemic.

NIH grantee in Wuhan faces questions, deadline for more information on research

A woman receives a Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot at the Safeway on Capitol Hill on Oct. 4.

FDA authorizes broad, flexible COVID-19 booster policy

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said the regulation is personal to him, as his mother had been hoodwinked and struggled to get her money back from an unscrupulous manufacturer.

FDA announces ‘landmark’ action to make hearing aids cheaper

Colored tape on the floor guides COVID-19 vaccine recipients at a neighborhood vaccination center in Washington earlier this year.

FDA advisers back Johnson & Johnson vaccine booster

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA’s decisions have faced scrutiny as its regulators have made crucial decisions over booster shots and pediatric vaccinations.

FDA advisers recommend Moderna COVID-19 booster shots

Robert Califf testifies during his nomination hearing to be Food and Drug Administration commissioner before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in November 2015. Califf is under consideration to again be nominated to lead the FDA.

Report: White House considering Robert Califf as FDA commissioner

A pharmacist prepares to give a COVID-19 booster vaccination.

Some health experts confused about administration’s booster goal

President Joe Biden acknowledged his stance on mandates has shifted.

Biden pushes back on opposition to vaccine mandates

Chaos at the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review comes amid a critical month for policymakers.

FDA’s internal turmoil could impact boosters, shots for kids

President Joe Biden is seen on a screen Monday receiving his COVID-19 booster shot at the White House.

White House says 2 million people got COVID-19 boosters this week

A woman fills a prescription at the Borinquen Health Care Center in Florida.

Nonprofit linked to PhRMA behind ads opposing drug pricing changes

Colored tape on the floor guides COVID-19 vaccine recipients to the vaccine administration room at a neighborhood vaccination center in Washington earlier this year. The FDA authorized a third shot for the Pfizer vaccine on Wednesday.

FDA authorizes Pfizer COVID-19 booster for people at high risk

Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine sit on a table.

FDA advisers reject third shots for all, back them for vulnerable

A nurse prepares to administer a Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot at UCI Medical Center in Orange, Calif., on  Aug. 19.

COVID-19 booster debate rages days before target rollout date

Doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine.

Biden plots vaccine booster shots

Pharmacist LaChandra McGowan prepares a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Aug. 12 in New Orleans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will revise its guidance and suggest that the most vulnerable patients get a COVID-19 booster shot.

CDC’s vaccine advisers back COVID-19 booster for the vulnerable

Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shown earlier this year.

CDC report shows vaccinated people can spread COVID-19

President Joe Biden is requiring federal workers and contractors to declare their COVID-19 vaccination or use additional public health precautions.

Biden asks federal workers to disclose vaccination status

Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Biden bid for federal workers to get COVID-19 shots prompts debate

Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci responds to accusations by Sen. Rand Paul as he testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee about the origin of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Experts weigh in on risky Wuhan study that Fauci, Paul debated

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., holds a model of a coronavirus spike protein at a news conference with the GOP Doctors Caucus on Thursday.

GOP pro-vaccine message clouded by emphasis on choice and privacy

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer holds a news conference Wednesday to unveil draft legislation that would decriminalize cannabis.

Senate Democratic leaders unveil draft bill to legalize marijuana

This aerial view shows the P4 lab on the campus of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China’s central Hubei province on May 27, 2020.

3 questions experts say need to be asked about pandemic’s origin

Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh speaks at a union rally June 2 in Allentown, Pa.

OSHA issues safeguards for health workers, but goals for others

President Joe Biden prepares to address U.S. Air Force personnel and their families stationed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, Suffolk, England on Wednesday.

Biden expected to announce US will buy 500 million Pfizer vaccine doses for the world

President Joe Biden speaks Wednesday from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington on a new effort to boost COVID-19 vaccinations over the next month.

White House dangles free child care and beer in vaccination push

A kindergartner removes her mask before having her portrait made during “picture day” at Rogers International School in Stamford, Conn., on Sept. 23, 2020.

COVID-19 forecast murky as states drop mask requirements

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) listens as Robert Kramer, president and CEO of Emergent BioSolutions, speaks via videoconference during the hearing on the company's handling of COVID-19 vaccines.

Executives defend quality control at troubled COVID-19 vaccine plant

Workers process meat at Old Fashion Country Butcher in Santa Paula, Calif., in May 2020. The North American Meat Institute is scheduled to meet with federal officials to discuss COVID-19 worker protection rules.

Delayed COVID-19 worker protections attract crush of lobbyists

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to the president, arrives Tuesday to testify before senators on 
the administration's coronavirus response.

Biden health team plans for potential COVID-19 vaccine booster shots

President Joe Biden at his address to the joint session of Congress on April 28.

Biden urges at least 70 percent of US adults to get first shot by July 4

More federal involvement in the vaccination push was a central component of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 plan, but FEMA has been under pressure since being deployed at mass vaccination sites nationwide.

FEMA’s tasks pit COVID-19 vaccinations against hurricane prep

Loaded doses of Johnson & Johnson Janssen COVID-19 vaccine are pictured at Grubb's Pharmacy on Capitol Hill April 12.

FDA finds more problems with Johnson & Johnson contractor

While vaccination was challenging in the early months because of low supply, a lack of vaccinators and varied eligibility, getting a vaccine has gotten simpler.

White House fears bumpy rollout deterring people from COVID-19 vaccine shots

Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine was paused after extremely rare reports of blood clots in six patients.

Johnson & Johnson pause slows vaccines for homeless, homebound

A box of Johnson & Johnson's Janssen COVID-19 vaccine doses are pictured at Grubb's Pharmacy on Capitol Hill.

White House resists pressure to space out COVID-19 vaccine doses

Phuc Tran of Northeast Washington, D.C., receives the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine from Heidi Johnson, pediatric nurse practitioner, at Grubb's Pharmacy on Capitol Hill on Monday, April 12, 2021.

States react to short Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine pause