ROCHELLE WALENSKY

Health officials are redoubling calls for Americans to get vaccinated, with flu shots lagging previous seasons.

Covid, flu and respiratory syncytial virus are circulating at the same time, putting strain on hospitals.

The Covid-19 pandemic severely disrupted vaccination services, resulting in millions of kids missing their measles shots.

The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say measles immunization has dropped significantly since the coronavirus pandemic began, resulting in a record high of nearly 40 million children missing a vaccine dose last year.

President Joe Biden’s education secretary has tested positive for COVID-19.

The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tested positive again for COVID-19.

The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tested positive again for COVID-19. Dr. Rochelle Walensky had mild symptoms Sunday and is isolating at her home in Massachusetts, the CDC said Monday. Walensky, 53, first tested positive on Oct. 21.

Their focus is on getting reformulated booster shots to seniors and the immunocompromised to avert thousands of preventable deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky had tested positive for COVID-19, despite being up to date with vaccines.

According to a statement, the public health agency's director is up to date with her vaccines.

CDC director Rochelle Walensky's sole meeting with parents before issuing school reopening guidance turned out to be with a handful of progressive activists, documents reveal.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are urging Americans to get their flu shots before the end of the month amid fears of a severe season.

A higher share of Americans plan to mask at least sometimes this flu season to avoid germs than plan to get vaccinated, according to a survey from the NFID.

The spread of monkeypox is slowing in the U.S., but the virus is so widespread that full elimination is unlikely, the CDC said, noting it will continue to be a threat for the next few years.

Early data, based on people who were eligible for the shots, found the unvaccinated are 14 times more likely to catch monkeypox.

U.S. public health officials say at-risk people who have received just one dose of the monkeypox vaccine have appeared to be significantly less likely to get sick from the virus.

These are the first real-world findings on how well the vaccine is working in the current outbreak

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky avoided explaining on Thursday whether or not the coronavirus pandemic was over after President Biden’s previous declaration.

U.S. health officials are warning doctors against overusing the lone drug available to treat monkeypox.

The rate of new monkeypox cases in the U.S. is slowing, according to an official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Updated COVID boosters are now available for anyone age 12 or older. The CDC is urging anyone who is eligible to sign up but some vaccine experts say some people might want to wait.

Omicron-specific Covid boosters were cleared by the CDC yesterday. And the shots could be available as early as this weekend or next week — here's what to know.

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about the CDC's authorization of new omicron-specific booster shots.

People can get the Moderna booster if they're 18 or older, and the Pfizer-BioNTech version if they're 12 and up. In both cases, they must wait at least two months since their last COVID vaccine.

The CDC's vaccine advisors meet to consider new COVID-19 shots that are designed to target the BA.5 Omicron strain.

Vaccinations are expected to start next week after CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signs off.

New COVID-19 boosters that target today's most common omicron strains are set to begin soon.

Pfizer and Moderna have released a new COVID booster shot that will target the highly contagious BA.4 and BA.5 omicron variant.

The agency I used to lead is beset by slowness, impracticality, and lack of strategic thinking.

The first shots in the Biden administration's fall booster campaign could start in days, after a vote by the CDC's advisers.

CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says new BA.5-specific Covid booster shots need to roll out quickly, even if they aren't fully tested in humans yet. Here's why.

The CDC said the drop in life expectancy was largely driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rates of new cases are declining in major cities, suggesting public health campaigns are working.

New monkeypox cases are starting to fall in major cities such as New York and Chicago.

Infectious disease control may be in CDC's DNA, but the agency's capabilities have not evolved to keep up with the faster speed and higher stakes of germs in the modern world.

The first step for reform is to be transparent about what the public health agency got wrong during the pandemic.

The CDC is now changing how it releases information to the public due to recent criticism from Americans.

To combat monkeypox, the White House announced today that 1.8 million more doses of the monkeypox vaccine are being sent out cross country and will be ready as early as Monday.

The U.S. has delivered more than 1 million doses of the monkeypox vaccine across the country since the outbreak started in May, according to HHS.

U.S. health officials are making extra monkeypox vaccine available to places with upcoming gay pride events.

The organizational changes are focused on sharing data more quickly, and making public health guidance easier for people to understand.

Walensky vows changes to ensure faster release of data and practical, easy-to-understand guidance.

The head of the nation’s top public health agency is shaking up the organization with the goal of making it more nimble.

The Jynneos vaccine can now be administered between layers of skin instead of underneath layers, allowing for a smaller dose.

Sexual health clinics are facing a surge of patients seeking testing, vaccines and treatment for monkeypox.

Declaring a public health emergency can free up resources to help the administration respond to the monkeypox outbreak. So far more than 6,OOO people in the U.S. have been infected.

President Joe Biden’s administration is launching a renewed push for COVID-19 booster shots for those eligible, pointing to the enhanced protections they offer against severe illness as the highly-transmissible BA.

The two young children, believed to have gotten infected through household transmission, ‘are doing well,’ CDC director says.

The spread of monkeypox in the U.S. could represent the dawn of a new sexually transmitted disease, though some health officials say the virus that causes pimple-like bumps might yet be contained before it gets firmly established.

CDC officials said between 26 million and 37 million adults haven’t had a single dose of any COVID vaccine.

Health officials say U.S. adults who haven’t gotten any COVID-19 shots yet should consider a new option from Novavax.

Adults who haven't gotten any COVID-19 shots should consider the new option, the agency said Tuesday. The spike protein vaccine is more typical than the mRNA types being broadly used against COVID.

Sixteen percent of unvaccinated Americans say they would "probably" or "definitely" get a protein-based vaccine like Novavax.

Novavax uses different technology than Pfizer and Moderna. U.S. health officials hope Novavax's shots might convince skeptics to get vaccinated.

Public health experts know what it takes to control a disease outbreak: access to testing and vaccines. But in the last two months of the monkeypox outbreak, the response has not met the need.

COVID positivity rates, an indicator of the spread of the disease, increased in South Florida, according to the state’s Department of Health’s report of July 8-14 data published on Friday.

The Biden administration announced more vaccine doses and increased testing capacity this week amid a growing demand.

The U.S. has tallied at least 1,470 cases in the monkeypox outbreak so far.

U.S. health officials say more than 100,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine are on the way to states in the next few days.

The federal government has made more than 300,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine available to states since May, but demand is outstripping current supply.

The White House COVID Response Team addressed the wave of new infections during a briefing Tuesday. Officials said the new BA.5 subvariant is spreading fast and causes more infection.

The Biden administration is calling on people to exercise renewed caution about COVID-19, emphasizing the importance of getting booster shots and wearing masks indoors.

The Department of Health and Human Services will make 296,000 doses available in the coming weeks, and expects a total of 1.6 million doses to be available in the U.S. by the end of the year.

White House pushes new strategy as cases climb.

Moderna's request had been stalled for months as regulators studied whether it posed a higher risk of rare heart inflammation side effects.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky is expected to sign off on the recommendation later Thursday,.

U.S. health officials have opened COVID-19 vaccines for infants, toddlers and preschoolers — the last group without the shots.

U.S. regulators have authorized the first COVID-19 shots for infants and preschoolers.

Next week brings a marathon of hearings as the U.S. decides whether to open COVID-19 vaccinations to kids under 5.

U.S. health advisers are urging a booster dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11.

COVID-19 cases are increasing in the United States – and could get even worse over the coming months, federal health officials warned in urging areas hardest hit to consider reissuing calls for indoor masking.

The Biden administration is expected to end the asylum limits at the U.S.-Mexico border by May 23 that were put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

COVID-19 rates are plunging among migrants crossing the border from Mexico as the Biden administration faces a decision to end or extend sweeping restrictions on asylum that are aimed at limiting the virus’ spread.

Federal officials are extending the requirement for masks on planes and public transportation through mid-April while taking steps that could lead to lifting the rule.

U.S. officials say most Americans live in places where healthy people can safely take a break from wearing masks.

Despite the pandemic, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced that all members of Congress are invited to attend President Joe Biden’s upcoming State of the Union address in the House chamber.

President Joe Biden is hoping to use his upcoming State of the Union address as a chance to nudge the pandemic into the nation’s rear-view mirror.

The nation’s top federal health official says the U.S. is moving closer to the point that COVID-19 is no longer a “constant crisis” as more cities, businesses and sports venues began lifting pandemic restrictions around the country.

Facing growing pressure to ease up on pandemic restrictions, the White House is insisting it is making plans for a less-disruptive phase of the national virus response.

The highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus is driving the daily American death toll higher than during last fall’s delta wave.

The top U.S. public health agency has long been criticized as too slow to collect and act on new information.

The Biden administration will begin making 400 million N95 masks available for free to Americans starting next week.

The White House says the federal website where Americans can request free COVID-19 tests will begin accepting orders on Wednesday.

ABC News is under fire for how it edited an interview that CDC Director Rochelle Walensky gave to “Good Morning America.”.

Delta Air Lines is reporting a $408 million loss for the final quarter of 2021, dragged down by a COVID-19 surge that rocked the airline in December, and the carrier expects to suffer one more quarterly loss before travel picks up in the spring and summer.

When it comes to those in the hospital, recent data documents shorter stays with omicron versus delta.

Officials across the U.S. are again weighing how and whether to impose mask mandates as COVID-19 infections soar and the American public grows weary of pandemic-related restrictions.

The Biden administration is increasing federal support for COVID-19 testing for schools in a bid to keep them open amid the omicron surge.

Hospitalizations of U.S. children under 5 with COVID-19 have soared to unprecedented levels, a worrisome trend in youngsters too young to be vaccinated.

An influential government advisory panel is recommending COVID-19 boosters for younger teens.

U.S. health officials say they are not changing the definition of being “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19.

Some school systems around the U.S. have extended their holiday break or switched back to online instruction because of the explosion in COVID-19 cases.

The U.S. is expanding COVID-19 boosters as it confronts the omicron surge.

The highly contagious omicron variant causes mostly milder COVID-19 symptoms and makes the patient more contagious for about five days — during the first few days before symptoms and up to three days afterward, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

U.S. health officials’ decision to shorten the recommended COVID-19 isolation and quarantine period from 10 days to five is drawing criticism from some medical experts and could create confusion among many Americans.

U.S. health officials are cutting isolation restrictions for asymptomatic Americans who test positive for the coronavirus and shortening the time that close contacts have to quarantine.

Children younger than 5 can’t get COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. yet, but there are steps you can take to protect them from infection over the holidays.

U.S. officials are loosening rules that call on health care workers to stay out of work for 10 days if they test positive for COVID-19.

President Joe Biden promised to distribute hundreds of millions of free COVID-19 tests and to open more testing sites, but the stepped-up efforts will not come in time for the holidays.

Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S. Federal health officials said Monday that omicron accounted for an estimated 73% of new infections last week.