ROCHELLE WALENSKY

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,.

This expands coronavirus vaccine offerings to children as young as 6 months.

Roughly 18 million kids will be eligible, but it remains to be seen how many will ultimately get the vaccines.

CDC advisers are recommending the use of two separate COVID-19 vaccines for the youngest children made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, paving the way for vaccine rollout as early as next week.

The final signoff is expected later in the day from CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

U.S. health officials recommended COVID-19 vaccines for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

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

The CDC committee voted unanimously to recommend the shots for use in infants through preschoolers after two days of meetings that were open to the public.

The vaccinations for children as young as 6 months old could start next week. But first, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must sign off.

The FDA's action allows the companies to begin shipping millions of preordered doses across the country.

The FDA's action allows the companies to begin shipping millions of preordered doses across the country.

U.S. regulators on Friday authorized the first COVID-19 shots for infants and preschoolers, paving the way for vaccinations to begin next week.

The White House expects vaccinations to begin as soon as Tuesday.

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

COVID cases are trending upward again in the U.S. averaging over 100,000 new daily cases, up from under 30,000 in April, according to CDC data.

COVID cases are trending upward again in the U.S. averaging over 100,000 new daily cases, up from under 30,000 in April, according to CDC data.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said some patients with monkeypox also had syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea or chlamydia infections.

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

Florida has reported a fourth case of monkeypox, just as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is raising the alert level nationally and recommending travelers avoid close contact with anyone with skin lesions.

Rebound symptoms have been reported to occur two to eight days after a patient initially recovers.

Rebound symptoms have been reported to occur two to eight days after a patient initially recovers.

About 200 confirmed cases and more than 100 suspected cases of monkeypox have been detected outside of countries where it usually circulates.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, is urging older Americans to get Covid booster shots as hospitalizations rise substantially.

The CDC published updated data Thursday on counties at "medium" and "high" levels of COVID-19.

Less than a third of children ages 5 to 11 years old are fully vaccinated and will become eligible for the third shot.

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

More than 8,000 children have developed MIS-C since the start the pandemic, with kids ages 5 to 11 most commonly affected at 46% of reported cases, according to CDC data. Currently, only 29% of children ages 5 to 11 in the U.S. have complete their first Pfizer vaccination series, according to the CDC. Since the pandemic began, more than 4.8 million kids in the age group have caught Covid and more than 15,000 have been hospitalized, according CDC data. The overwhelming majority of reactions to the vaccine, 97%, were not serious, according to CDC data. The CDC has verified 20 cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, in kids ages 5 to 11 as of April following Pfizer vaccination.

During the White House COVID-19 briefing Wednesday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky urged Americans who live in areas with high community levels of COVID to wear masks. She said Americans in areas with medium COVID community levels should consider wearing masks based on their risk factors.

Some experts are worried the country now is seeing signs of a sixth wave, driven by an Omicron subvariant.

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.

COVID-19 cases are increasing in the United States – and could get even worse over the coming months, federal health officials warned Wednesday in urging areas hardest hit to consider reissuing calls for indoor masking. Increasing numbers of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are putting more of the country under guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that call for masking and other infection precautions. “(But) prior increases of infections, in different waves of infection, have demonstrated that this travels across the country,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said at a White House briefing with reporters.

Dr. Ashish Jha will lead the briefing for the first time in his role as the White House Covid-19 response coordinator. White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will provide updates as usual. Hospitalizations have also increased 18% over the past week with about 3,000 people admitted with Covid every day on average, according to CDC data. With infections and hospitalizations rising, the Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer booster doses for children ages 5 to 11 this week. The FDA could authorize Covid vaccines for children under age 5, the only group left in the U.S. not eligible, as soon as next month.

The CDC director said she has been "masking more" because of upcoming events she did not want to miss.

The CDC director said she has been "masking more" because of upcoming events she did not want to miss.

Missteps during the pandemic have eroded the agency’s reputation as competent and dependable.

In the wake of the Omicron variant wave over the winter, more than half of Americans are estimated to have antibodies from a previous infection.

In the wake of the Omicron variant wave over the winter, more than half of Americans are estimated to have antibodies from a previous infection.

Roughly 58% of people in the U.S. now have antibodies from previous Covid infection, demonstrating how widespread the virus was during the winter omicron surge.

CDC defends Covid isolation guidelines amid omicron variant surge.

BA.2 makes up a growing a proportion of variants in the U.S., but new infections are still falling at the moment.

Do I need a 2nd booster shot? CDC director says omicron infection may act as 'natural booster'.

The CDC director cited improving pandemic conditions, including increased vaccination rates in the U.S. and migrants' home countries.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will lift a sweeping public health order that has allowed the U.S. to expel more than 1.7 million migrants, mostly at the southern border, since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Last year, dozens of leading health experts from across the U.S. condemned Title 42 as "discriminatory and unjustifiable" with "no scientific basis as a public health measure." Leading Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have repeatedly called on Biden to rescind Title 42. The CDC is easing public health measures as Covid infections and hospitalizations have plummeted more than 90% since the peak of the omicron surge in January. The public health agency ended its warning system for cruise ship this week.

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.

A 25-year-old Wekiva High School teacher was arrested on a sex charge Tuesday, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said.

People would be able to get the second boosters at least four months after receiving the first.

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.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention two weeks ago announced a one-month extension to the mask mandate.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention two weeks ago announced a one-month extension to the mask mandate.

The rise of the more infectious BA.2 variant in the U.S. — plus signals in the sewage — also point to a possible uptick in cases, and have health officials on alert.

The rise of the more infectious BA.2 variant in the U.S. — plus signals in the sewage — also point to a possible uptick in cases, and have health officials on alert.

This comes on the heels of new data that shows the Omicron sub-variant BA.2 is spreading quickly.

After what felt like a letdown last summer, Americans are revving up for the most normal summer yet.

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.

The CDC tells 60 Minutes what it thinks "the new normal" will look like as COVID-19 cases fall following the Omicron surge.

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.

U.S. health officials are endorsing “test-to-stay” policies that allow close contacts of students infected with the coronavirus to remain in classrooms if they test negative.

The new omicron coronavirus mutant speeding around the world may bring another wave of chaos, as it threatens to further stretch hospital workers already struggling with a surge of delta cases and upend holiday plans for the second year in a row.

The U.S. is expanding COVID-19 boosters, opening a third dose of Pfizer's vaccine to people as young as age 16.

The chief of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 40 people in the country have been found to be infected with the omicron variant so far and more than three-quarters of them had been vaccinated.

As more cases of Omicron are detected, the President faces a slow job growth report for November.

The Biden administration is moving to toughen testing requirements for international travelers to the U.S., for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, amid the spread of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Dr. Cameron Webb of the White House COVID-19 Response Team told Local 10 News that current vaccines could provide some protection against the omicron variant.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is blasting Sen. Ted Cruz for suggesting that Fauci be investigated for statements he made about COVID-19.

The U.S. is in better shape approaching its second Thanksgiving of the pandemic, thanks to the vaccine.

The U.S. is opening COVID-19 vaccine boosters to all adults, and urging them for anyone 50 and older.

A federal advisory committee has recommended that all U.S. adults younger than 60 be vaccinated against hepatitis B.

Schoolchildren take the spotlight this week as the U.S. enters a new phase in COVID-19 vaccination aimed at curbing deaths, hospitalizations and more than a year of disrupted education.

As of Tuesday afternoon, minors age 5 and older were closer to being able to get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in South Florida.

US health officials have given the final OK to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as 5.

The director of the CDC tells Local 10 about the importance of getting the green light for the COVID-19 vaccine for 28 million kids in the United States, ages five to 11 years old.

The White House says the Biden administration is already assembling and shipping millions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11.