Vaccinations

A committee of experts voted unanimously to recommend that the Food and Drug Administration authorize COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for children as young as 6-months-old.

Households in the U.S. will receive eight test kits via the U.S. Postal Service. The release comes as cases have risen over 60% in the U.S. over the past two weeks.

A large share of the nearly 1 million people who died of COVID in the U.S. may have lived if they'd gotten vaccinated. A new analysis shows how many lives could have been saved across the country.

Politics, religion, distrust and disinformation all play a role. "I've realized that there's no convincing somebody once they have their mind made up," says a social worker in Beaumont, Texas.

The company says this version targets both the original coronavirus and the beta variant, and appears to provide broader and longer-lasting protection against different strains, including omicron.

The state's top expert said nearly 99 percent of the population has developed some immune response to COVID-19. But other public health experts caution the virus can be unpredictable.

Federal health officials are convening with outside advisers April 6 to talk about a vaccine plan, whether that's another booster in the fall, an omicron shot or one that targets more than one strain.

People 50 and older — who are at least four months removed from their first booster dose — can get an additional shot.

People who are 50 and older and certain immunocompromised individuals may get a second Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine booster four months after they received the first.

No deaths were reported in tests, and there were no signs of myocarditis, or heart inflammation, as a side effect.