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COVID-19

US sends Taiwan 2.5 million vaccine doses, tripling pledge

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. sent 2.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan on Sunday, tripling an earlier pledge in a donation with both public health and geopolitical meaning. The shipment arrived on a China Airlines cargo plane that had left Memphis the previous day. Health Minister Chen Shih-chung and Brent Christensen, the top U.S. official in Taiwan, were among those who welcomed the plane on the tarmac at the airport outside of the capital, Taipei. Chen said that America was showing its friendship as Taiwan faces its most severe outbreak. “When I saw ...

Democrats see springboard for health care in high court win

WASHINGTON — With the Affordable Care Act now secure in the framework of the nation’s health care programs, Democrats are eager to leap above and beyond. They want to expand insurance coverage for working-age people and their families, add new benefits to Medicare for older people and reduce prescription drug costs for patients and taxpayers. But health care is expensive, there’s concern about deficits and with Democrats holding only bare majorities in Congress, a winnowing down of expectations seems likely later this year For now, Democrats are savoring Thursday’s Supreme ...

Elder-care COVID rules under fire

Barbara and Christine Colucci long to remove their masks and kiss their 102-year-old mother, who has dementia and is in a nursing home in Rochester, New York. They would love to have more than two people in her room at a time so that relatives can be there too. “We don’t know how much ...

In poorest countries, surges worsen shortages of vaccines

KAMPALA, Uganda — Hati Maronjei once swore he would never get a COVID-19 shot, after a pastor warned that vaccines aren’t safe. Now, four months after the first batch of vaccines arrived in Zimbabwe, the 44-year-old street hawker of electronic items is desperate for the shot he can’t ...

UK records over 10,000 virus cases for first time since Feb

LONDON — The U.K.’s latest surge in coronavirus infections gathered pace Thursday with new confirmed cases rising above 10,000 for the first time in nearly four months as a result of the spread of the more contagious delta variant. Government figures showed another 11,007 cases were ...

US to spend $3.2B on treatments for COVID-19, other viruses

WASHINGTON— The United States is devoting $3.2 billion to speed development of antiviral pills to treat COVID-19 and other dangerous viruses that could turn into pandemics. The new program will invest in “accelerating things that are already in progress” for COVID-19 but also would work to come up with treatments for other viruses, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert. He announced the investment Thursday at a White House briefing. “There are few treatments that exist for many of the viruses that have pandemic potential,” he said, including ...