Tom Howell Jr.

HHS reports 940K new Obamacare customers in a ‘special’ enrollment period

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Thursday that 940,000 people have selected health coverage on the main Obamacare sign-up website since the start of a special enrollment period in February.

May 6, 2021

Pfizer, IOC strike vaccine deal for Summer Games in Tokyo

Olympics organizers struck a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech on Thursday that will offer a COVID-19 vaccine to athletes before they head to the Summer Games in Tokyo.

May 6, 2021

Tom Carper, John Cornyn: U.S. must reengage with Asian trade partners

The Biden administration must reengage in the Asia-Pacific region by striking multilateral trade deals, a bipartisan group of lawmakers said Thursday, arguing U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership in January 2017 was "misguided" and emboldened China.

May 6, 2021

Epic Stuffed Earnings: Papa John’s reports sustained demand as pandemic wanes

Papa John's pizza beat Wall Street expectations for the first quarter Thursday even though it is starting to face increased competition from reopened restaurants.

May 6, 2021

Brian Higgins of N.Y.: Give a $5K tax credit to health workers

Rep. Brian Higgins of New York announced a bill Thursday that provides a $5,000 tax credit to frontline health workers after many of them risked their personal safety to navigate the U.S. through the COVID-19 pandemic.

May 6, 2021

EU open to COVID-19 vaccine waiver after Biden move

The European Union said Thursday it is ready to consider waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines after President Biden threw his support behind the idea.

May 6, 2021

Moderna: COVID-19 vaccine 96% effective in kids ages 12 to 17

Drugmaker Moderna said Thursday its COVID-19 vaccine was 96% effective in a study involving adolescents ages 12 to 17.

May 6, 2021

Google now expects 20% of workers to stay home

Tech giant Google said it now expects roughly 20% of its employees to keep working from home after a new policy goes into effect in September.

May 6, 2021

Yankees, Mets: Get your COVID-19 vaccine at the ballpark and get a free ticket

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday said Yankee Stadium and Citi Field will begin to offer normal seating for fully vaccinated fans and give a free ticket to people who get a COVID-19 shot at the ballparks' vaccination sites.

May 5, 2021

White House on McConnell’s opposition: ‘100% of our focus is on delivering relief’

The White House delivered a soft rebuke to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday after the Kentucky Republican said he is completely focused on "stopping" the Biden administration.

May 5, 2021

Dr. Fauci: FDA approval of Pfizer vaccine for ages 12-15 likely imminent

Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Wednesday for emergency use in children ages 12 to 15 and the U.S. should be right behind it, bolstering immunity to COVID-19 and making it easier for schools to reopen.

May 5, 2021

Steny Hoyer: Democrats ‘open’ to splitting up infrastructure package

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Wednesday said Democrats are open to splitting President Biden's big-spending infrastructure plan into smaller pieces to get it across the finish line but that it is not the preferred option.

May 5, 2021

Trump allies launch election-security group, latest in a growing roster of MAGA advocacy groups

Former President Donald Trump's allies launched an "election integrity alliance" Wednesday to keep tabs on key states as the ex-president continues to air unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

May 5, 2021

GM beats profit forecast despite chip shortage, cites strong market in China, North America

General Motors posted a $3 billion first-quarter profit Wednesday, beating Wall Street expectations amid a semiconductor shortage that held back operations.

May 5, 2021

Indian minister pivots to virtual G-7 meeting after COVID-19 exposure

India's external affairs minister attended Group of 7 meetings in London virtually Wednesday after learning he might have been exposed to the coronavirus by other members of his delegation.

May 5, 2021

South Korea health agency: One dose of Pfizer, AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine highly effective

A single dose of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca was highly effective in staving off infection among people aged 60 and older, South Korea said Wednesday, adding to the bank of data that show the shots are working in the real world.

May 5, 2021

Coronavirus vaccine incentives offered for holdouts: Money, beer, gift cards

Still leery of the COVID-19 vaccine? State workers in Maryland will be $100 richer if they get a shot, while Connecticut residents will be drinkin' good in the neighborhood if they flash their vaccination card at Applebee's and other eateries.

May 4, 2021

Joe Biden wants 70% of U.S. adults to get one COVID-19 vaccine dose by July 4

President Biden said Tuesday he wants at least 70% of U.S. adults to be partly vaccinated with one COVID-19 shot by July 4, the holiday he pinpointed as a starting point for normalcy after the globally disruptive pandemic.

May 4, 2021

Joe Biden to let other states tap into unordered COVID-19 vaccines

The Biden administration will start to offer unordered COVID-19 vaccines to states that want them, a major attempt to address regional mismatches in demand.

May 4, 2021

Joe Biden wants to make Obamacare subsidies permanent

President Biden wants his supersized Obamacare subsidies to last forever, proving his push to inject cash into the program was not so much a balm for pandemic pains as a push to fix glaring affordability gaps in the 2010 law.

May 3, 2021