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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

In this Dec. 22, 2020, photo, provided by Richard Chung, his son Caleb Chung receives the first dose of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine or placebo as a trial participant for kids ages 12-15, at Duke University Health System in Durham, N.C.  Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12. The announcement Wednesday, March 31, 2021 marks a step toward possibly beginning shots in this age group before the next school year. (Richard Chung via AP)

Pfizer: COVID-19 vaccine 100% effective in ages 12-15

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was 100% effective in teens ages 12 to 15, the company said Wednesday, providing hope there will be an option for people under age 16 before the next school year.

March 31, 2021
A man wearing a protective outfit stands in an area where people who have just been injected with the AstraZeneca vaccine have to wait for 15 minutes to make sure they don't develop immediate side effects at a vaccination center in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. AstraZeneca's repeated missteps in reporting vaccine data coupled with a blood clot scare could do lasting damage to the credibility of a shot that is the linchpin in the global strategy to stop the coronavirus pandemic, potentially even undermining vaccine confidence more broadly, experts say.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Fauci expects ‘modified statement’ from AstraZeneca amid vaccine data dust-up

American regulators will scrutinize every bit of trial data from AstraZeneca before approving its COVID-19 vaccine, the White House said Wednesday, hoping to stem the fallout from a series of public relations blunders around a promising vaccine that would bolster U.S. supply and give poor nations a much-needed weapon against the virus.

March 24, 2021
President Barack Obama walks with Vice President Joe Biden back to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, June 25, 2015, after speaking in the Rose Garden. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Biden extends ‘special’ Obamacare signup period to August

President Biden reprised his role as Obamacare salesman Tuesday in a bid to reach people who've been left in the cold by the durable-yet-faulty law, extending a special enrollment period by three months and betting enhanced subsidies will make a dent in the roughly 30 million who remain uninsured.

March 23, 2021
President Joe Biden walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, March 21, 2021, after stepping off Marine One. Biden is returning to Washington after spending the weekend at Camp David. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Joe Biden to address Colorado shooting

President Biden on Tuesday will address the mass shooting in Colorado before he departs for an Ohio trip to promote his coronavirus-relief package, the White House said.

March 23, 2021
A person recieves the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. American federal health officials say results from a U.S. trial of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine may have included "outdated information" and that could mean the company provided an incomplete view of efficacy data. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

AstraZeneca faces questions over COVID-19 vaccine results

AstraZeneca on Tuesday said it will share up-to-date vaccine data with federal advisers "within 48 hours" after federal officials -- in a highly unusual move -- said promising results from the company's COVID-19 trial might have been based on outdated information.

March 23, 2021
In this Friday, March 19, 2021, file photo Medical staff members administer the AstraZeneca vaccine at La Nuvola (The Cloud) convention center that was temporarily turned into a COVID-19 vaccination hub, in Rome. AstraZeneca said Monday, March 22, 2021, that advanced trial data from a U.S. study on its COVID vaccine shows it is 79% effective. The U.S. study comprised 30,000 volunteers, 20,000 of whom were given the vaccine while the rest got dummy shots. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

AstraZeneca: COVID-19 vaccine is 80% effective, averts severe disease

The U.S. could add COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax to its storehouse by midspring, giving Americans more options while heaping pressure on President Biden to overcome hesitancy about the shots and share the largesse with the rest of the world.

March 22, 2021
In this March 18, 2021, photo, pre-kindergarten students work on their school work at West Orange Elementary School in Orange, Calif. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its social distancing guidelines for schools Friday, March 19, saying students can now sit 3 feet apart in classrooms. The new guidelines also remove recommendations for plastic shields or other barriers between desks. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

CDC: Students can be 3 feet apart instead of 6 feet

Students can be only 3 feet apart instead of 6 when they return to elementary, middle and high schools amid the coronavirus pandemic so long as everyone in the classroom is wearing masks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

March 19, 2021
Vaccination interlopers forced California to revamp its vaccine system so that appointment codes would be tied to specific people and wealthy folks didn’t get their hands on them. (Associated Press)

Vaccine line jumpers force states to rethink distribution

The COVID-19 vaccine is a tiny vial of liquid, but it is the hottest commodity of 2021. It has turned internet operators into access-code hunters and tempted the wealthy and connected to hop the line or tread where they don't belong.

March 18, 2021