HEALTH

An influential federal advisory panel has overwhelmingly rejected a plan to give Pfizer booster shots against COVID-19 to most Americans, but it endorsed the extra doses for those who are 65 or older or run a high risk of severe disease.

Slovenia will start mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for all government employees, further tightening anti-virus measures that sparked a major riot in the small Alpine state earlier this week.

A civil trial has opened in Austria over the government's handling of a coronavirus outbreak at an Alpine ski resort during the early stages of the pandemic that relatives say resulted in unnecessary infections and deaths.

Cambodia is vaccinating 6-to-11-year-olds so students can safely return to schools that have been closed for months due to the coronavirus.

After almost two years, an unmarried Chinese woman suing for the right to freeze her eggs is getting her case heard in a Beijing court in a rare legal challenge against the country’s restrictions on unmarried women in reproductive health.

American Samoa has reported its first case of coronavirus.

As coronavirus outbreaks driven by the delta variant lead school districts around the U.S. to abruptly shut down or send large numbers of children into quarantine, some students are getting minimal schooling at home.

In another ominous sign about the spread of the delta variant, Idaho public health leaders expanded health care rationing statewide and individual hospital systems in Alaska and Montana have enacted similar crisis standards.

The European Union says it will fund its new health preparedness and rapid response agency to the tune of 30 billion euros over the next six years.

Irish airline Ryanair is planning to create 5,000 jobs over the next five years as part of its recovery from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says dozens of his staff have been infected with the coronavirus and that he will continue his self-isolation because of the outbreak.

Hospitalized Czech President Milos Zeman has undergone medical checks that haven't revealed any problems or disease that would threaten his life.

Pope Francis says he doesn't understand why people refuse to take COVID-19 vaccines.

Pope Francis says Catholic bishops must minister to politicians who back abortion rights with “compassion and tenderness,” not condemnation.

President Joe Biden says nearly 3 million consumers took advantage of a special six-month period to sign up for subsidized health insurance coverage made more affordable by his COVID-19 relief law.

Officials say infections following monsoon rains have led to a fever outbreak in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state, killing at least 114 people in the past three weeks.

Alaska is reporting its highest number of new coronavirus cases a day after the state’s largest hospital announced it had entered crisis protocol and started rationing care because of a flood of COVID-19 cases.

The economic ravages of COVID-19 are forcing some families in Zimbabwe to abandon the age-old tradition of taking care of their older people.

The European Union is committing 200 million more vaccine doses to Africa and low-income nations to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic on a global scale.

Health care workers in France face suspension from their jobs if they haven't been vaccinated against COVID-19.

China is imposing lockdowns and ordering mass testing in cities along its east coast amid the latest surge in COVID-19 cases.

An AP analysis shows that 26 of 50 largest public university campuses in the U.S. are not mandating that students receive vaccinations against the coronavirus.

Idaho’s public health officials say crisis standards of care are imminent for the state’s most populated region as hospitals continue to be overrun with unvaccinated coronavirus patients.

COVID-19 deaths and cases in the U.S. have climbed to levels not seen seen since last winter, wiping out months of progress and potentially bolstering President Joe Biden’s argument for sweeping new vaccination requirements.

The World Health Organization and its partners hope to provide Africa with about 30% of the COVID-19 vaccines the continent needs by February.

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Czech President Milos Zeman has been hospitalized while predecessor Vaclav Klaus is undergoing tests at the same hospital.

The Dutch government says social distancing will end in the Netherlands on Sept. 25.

Nigeria is seeing one of its worst cholera outbreaks in years, with more than 2,300 people dying from suspected cases as Africa’s most populous country struggles to deal with multiple disease outbreaks.

Alaska’s largest hospital has begun rationing care, saying it has been overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.