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A health-care worker in Los Angeles fills a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. (Robyn Beck/AFP)

NIH begins testing vaccine boosters in people with autoimmune disease

Updated August 27, 2021 at 6:41 p.m. EDT|Published August 27, 2021 at 6:39 p.m. EDT

The National Institutes of Health on Friday started testing coronavirus vaccine booster shots for people with autoimmune diseases to see if they can help those who have not developed enough protection after their initial doses.

The clinical trial is the federal government’s latest move toward offering additional vaccine shots in hopes of shielding people from the delta variant and other highly infectious versions of the virus.  

Here’s what to know

  • The U.S. intelligence community has ruled out the possibility that the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 4 million people globally was developed as a bioweapon by China, but the agencies failed to reach consensus on the virus’s origin, according to key takeaways from a classified report delivered to President Biden this week.
  • A judge in Florida has quashed the state’s ban on school districts issuing mask mandates, finding that officials overstepped their authority. The ruling bars enforcement actions against school districts that decide to require face coverings.
  • President Biden on Friday signaled an openness to beginning coronavirus booster shots earlier than planned. Biden said he spoke to Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Friday morning about the timing of booster shots.
  • For the fourth day in a row, coronavirus-related hospitalizations in the United States exceeded 100,000 as infections continued to climb and medical systems in some hot spots buckled under the influx of patients, per a Washington Post tracker.
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The U.S. intelligence community has ruled out the possibility that the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 4 million people globally was developed as a bioweapon by China, but the agencies failed to reach consensus on the virus’s origin, according to key takeaways from a classified report delivered to President Biden this week.
A judge in Florida has quashed the state’s ban on school districts issuing mask mandates, finding that officials overstepped their authority. The ruling bars enforcement actions against school districts that decide to require face coverings.
President Biden on Friday signaled an openness to beginning coronavirus booster shots earlier than planned. Biden said he spoke to Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Friday morning about the timing of booster shots.
For the fourth day in a row, coronavirus-related hospitalizations in the United States exceeded 100,000 as infections continued to climb and medical systems in some hot spots buckled under the influx of patients, per a Washington Post tracker.

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Coronavirus: What you need to know

End of the public health emergency: The Biden administration ended the public health emergency for the coronavirus pandemic on May 11, just days after WHO said it would no longer classify the coronavirus pandemic as a public health emergency. Here’s what the end of the covid public health emergency means for you.

Tracking covid cases, deaths: Covid-19 was the fourth leading cause of death in the United States last year with covid deaths dropping 47 percent between 2021 and 2022. See the latest covid numbers in the U.S. and across the world.

The latest on coronavirus boosters: The FDA cleared the way for people who are at least 65 or immune-compromised to receive a second updated booster shot for the coronavirus. Here’s who should get the second covid booster and when.

New covid variant: A new coronavirus subvariant, XBB. 1.16, has been designated as a “variant under monitoring” by the World Health Organization. The latest omicron offshoot is particularly prevalent in India. Here’s what you need to know about Arcturus.

Would we shut down again? What will the United States do the next time a deadly virus comes knocking on the door?

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