JEFFREY ZIENTS

Joe Biden’s long arc in public life has always had one final ambition: to sit behind the Resolute Desk of the Oval Office.

Two brand-new COVID-19 pills that were supposed to be an important weapon against the pandemic in the U.S. are in short supply and have played little role in the fight against the omicron wave of infections.

Officials across the U.S. are again weighing how and whether to impose mask mandates as COVID-19 infections soar and the American public grows weary of pandemic-related restrictions.

President Joe Biden announced last month that the federal government will buy half a billion COVID-19 rapid test kits and distribute them free to people to use at home.

It's far too simple to suggest a repeat of Reagan and the air traffic controllers. That doesn't mean there isn't peril in it for Democrats.

U.S. health officials say they are not changing the definition of being “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19.

President Joe Biden is urging concern but not alarm as the United States set records for daily reported COVID-19 cases and his administration struggles to ease concerns about testing shortages.

The new omicron coronavirus mutant speeding around the world may bring another wave of chaos, as it threatens to further stretch hospital workers already struggling with a surge of delta cases and upend holiday plans for the second year in a row.

The Biden administration’s plan for health insurers to reimburse consumers for over-the-counter COVID-19 tests is recalling the model of a bygone era when the companies processed large volumes of claims from individuals — with paper receipts.

The U.S. has reached a COVID-19 milestone of 200 million fully vaccinated people, but cases and hospitalizations are still spiking, even in highly immunized pockets of the country like New England.

Inflation is soaring, businesses are struggling to hire and President Joe Biden’s poll numbers have been in free fall.

The White House says about 10% of eligible kids aged 5 to 11 have received a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine since its approval for their age group two weeks ago.

The contagious delta variant is driving up COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Mountain West and fueling disruptive outbreaks in the North.

The White House says President Joe Biden is extending the federal government’s 100% reimbursement of COVID-19 emergency response costs to states, tribes and territories through April 1, 2022.

The White House says the Biden administration is already assembling and shipping millions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11.

President Joe Biden is championing COVID-19 vaccination requirements and is determined that the roughly 67 million unvaccinated American adults must get the shot even as he acknowledges that mandates weren't his “first instinct.”.

The investment is a response to an ongoing national shortage and follows a $2 billion investment in September to supply rapid tests to community health centers, food banks and schools.

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren,File) (Ted S. Warren)American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue are joining United Airlines in requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, as the Biden administration steps up pressure on major U.S. carriers to require the shots. Earlier, White House coronavirus adviser Jeffrey Zients talked to the CEOs of American, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines about vaccine mandates. The employee vaccination rate is higher than Denver’s latest overall vaccination rate of 76% and the statewide rate of 70%. Gavin Newsom says the mandate won’t take effect until the COVID-19 vaccine has received final approval from the U.S. government for various grade levels. The state’s vaccine mandate would take effect the semester after the federal government grants final approval.

Alaska has activated emergency crisis protocols that allow 20 health care facilities to ration care if needed.

Alaska Airlines and JetBlue are joining United Airlines in requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, just as the Biden administration steps up pressure on major U.S. carriers to require the shots. White House coronavirus adviser Jeffrey Zients talked to the CEOs of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines about vaccine mandates, according to three people familiar with the situation. Airlines are large employers that fall under President Joe Biden's sweeping order that companies with more than 100 workers require employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing for the virus. Alaska Airlines and JetBlue Airways said Friday they will require employees to be vaccinated as soon as Dec. 8 because they will be treated as federal contractors. That would meet the Biden test for large employers but not the stricter rules for federal contractors.

A second hospital in Alaska is beginning to ration health care as the state deals with a spike in coronavirus cases.

Officials in the northeast China city of Harbin say national level health officials have been sent to the city to deal with what may be a coronavirus outbreak.

(AP Photo/Vincent Thian) (Vincent Thian)OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington state’s governor is asking the federal government to provide military personnel to help in staffing hospitals and long-term care facilities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of June, the state was reporting 253 virus cases per week and 28 people were hospitalized statewide. ___ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s COVID-19 health advisory body has recommended expanding the country’s booster shot program to people aged over 60, care home residents and health employees. The lowest number of vaccinated students are at UW-Parkside where only 38% have been inoculated. The campaign is offering 70 scholarships worth $7,000 to vaccinated students who attend system universities, other than UW-Madison, that reach a 70% student vaccination threshold.

(AP Photo/Vincent Thian) (Vincent Thian)OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington state’s governor is asking the federal government to provide military personnel to help in staffing hospitals and long-term care facilities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of June, the state was reporting 253 virus cases per week and 28 people were hospitalized statewide. ___ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s COVID-19 health advisory body has recommended expanding the country’s booster shot program to people aged over 60, care home residents and health employees. The lowest number of vaccinated students are at UW-Parkside where only 38% have been inoculated. The campaign is offering 70 scholarships worth $7,000 to vaccinated students who attend system universities, other than UW-Madison, that reach a 70% student vaccination threshold.

Fully vaccinated international travelers will have to present proof of vaccination and get tested before flying. The policy, which takes effect in November, is a shift after months of travel bans.

In a major easing of pandemic travel restrictions, the U.S. will allow foreigners to fly into the country this fall if they have vaccination proof and a negative COVID-19 test.

Biden White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients attends a meeting with President Joe Biden, business leaders and CEOs on the COVID-19 response in the library of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON — (AP) — The Biden administration is considering requiring vaccinations against COVID-19 and contact tracing of international visitors after the U.S. revamps current broad restrictions that bar many foreigners from traveling to the U.S., a top White House adviser said Wednesday. Jeffrey Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said that because of the recent increase in COVID-19 cases, current travel restrictions will remain in place until the administration rolls out a “new system” for regulating international travel. The system will include a prominent role for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Airlines and other travel companies have pushed the administration to ease the restrictions, particularly on U.K. visitors.

The Biden administration is considering requiring that international visitors be vaccinated against COVID-19.

President Joe Biden's administration is gearing up for another major clash between federal and state rule over its sweeping new vaccine requirements that have Republican governors threatening lawsuits.

President Joe Biden's administration is gearing up for another major clash between federal and state rule over its sweeping new vaccine requirements that have Republican governors threatening lawsuits.

President Joe Biden’s plans to start delivery of booster shots by Sept. 20 for most Americans who received COVID-19 vaccines are facing new complications that could delay the availability for those who received the Moderna vaccine.

This summer’s coronavirus surge has been labeled a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” by government officials from President Joe Biden on down.

The COVID-19 surge is stretching oxygen supplies tight and sending hospitals scrambling for more ventilators, even as there are glimmers of hope in some hotspots.

Officials are offering new hope for the safety of U.S. schoolchildren threatened by COVID-19.

The U.S. is projected to see nearly 100,000 more COVID-19 deaths between now and Dec. 1.

New Zealand has detected its first community transmission of the coronavirus in months, triggering urgent meetings among top lawmakers.

Even as President Joe Biden becomes more aggressive in pressuring Americans to get vaccinated, he has refrained from using all his powers.

The COVID-19 surge that is sending hospitalizations to all-time highs in parts of the South is also clobbering states like Hawaii and Oregon that were once seen as pandemic success stories.

It's a major milestone as the nation battles another surge in new infections fueled by the delta variant.

In the last week, 3 million Americans got their first shot. On Tuesday, the U.S. hit President Biden's July Fourth goal of 70% of adults receiving at least one shot.

Vaccinations are beginning to rise in some states where COVID-19 cases are soaring.

Two weeks after celebrating America’s near “independence” from the coronavirus, President Joe Biden is confronting the worrying reality of rising cases and deaths.

Mississippi’s only level-one trauma hospital and academic medical center will require all employees and students who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 to wear an N95 mask while inside, a decision that a top official acknowledged would not be popular with everyone in the country’s least vaccinated state and may result in the loss of employees.

The Biden White House is no longer refraining from criticizing Republican officials who play down the importance of coronavirus vaccinations or seek to make political hay of the federal government’s all-out effort to drive shots into arms.

President Joe Biden celebrated the second July Fourth holiday of the coronavirus pandemic by declaring that “America is coming back together.”.

The following is a transcript of an interview with White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeffrey Zients airing Sunday, July 4, 2021, on "Face the Nation."

Seven weeks ago, President Joe Biden laid out a lofty goal to vaccinate 70% of all American adults by July Fourth.

President Joe Biden is facing a formidable to-do list now that he’s back from his eight-day trip to Europe.

The Australian government will release its big-spending economic plan for the next fiscal year on Tuesday designed to create jobs and repair pandemic damage and with an eye toward winning votes at looming general elections. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the economy was already recovering from the pandemic and his economic blueprint for the fiscal year starting on July 1 would create more economic strength.

President Joe Biden is entering the next phase of his administration with the steady approval of a majority of Americans.

India has added more than 320,000 new coronavirus cases as a grim surge weighed on the country's sinking health system.

President Joe Biden spent his first 100 days in office encouraging Americans to mask up and stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The White House says the U.S. will begin sharing its entire stock of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines with the world once it clears federal safety reviews.

President Joe Biden’s vaccination campaign hit a snag when federal regulators recommended a “pause” in administering Johnson & Johnson shots.

President Joe Biden’s vaccination campaign hit a snag when federal regulators recommended a “pause” in administering Johnson & Johnson shots.

All six cases occurred in women ages 18 to 48, with symptoms developing six to 13 days after they received the shot.

President Joe Biden says he's bumping up his deadline by two weeks for states to make all adults eligible for coronavirus vaccines.

Nearly half of new coronavirus infections nationwide are in just five states — a situation that is putting pressure on the federal government to consider changing how it distributes vaccines by sending more doses to hot spots.

Walensky is making an impassioned plea to Americans not to let their guard down in the fight against COVID-19. If the Trump briefings made for more stirring television, the Biden ones are designed to showcase the science-based side of the crisis, with a tone based more on facts than flourish. There’s a political aim too, as the White House works to maintain its high approval ratings with the public for Biden’s handling of the virus. Next slide.”AdFauci and Walensky have autonomy as to what they’re briefing on, according to a senior administration official, with the White House only having a sense of what they plan to discuss. The Biden administration sessions typically livestream on whitehouse.gov at midday and sometimes don’t make the cut on cable TV.

Airlines and other tourism-related businesses are pushing the White House to draw up a plan in the next five weeks to boost international travel and eliminate restrictions that were imposed early in the pandemic. More than two dozen groups made their request in a letter to the White House on Monday, March 22, 2021. More than two dozen groups made their request in a letter to the White House on Monday. They set a May 1 target for the government “to partner with us” on a plan to rescind year-old restrictions on international travel. The White House did not comment but referred to remarks by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Monday.

U.S. airlines and more than two dozen other industry groups on Monday urged the Biden administration to form a plan by May to lift international travel restrictions, including digital vaccine passport standards, after cross-border travel was devastated in the Covid pandemic. In the meantime, airlines and officials have been looking at ways to use digital vaccine or health passports to help spur travel and eventually replace travel restrictions. The European Union last week proposed a digital health certificate with a QR code that contains vaccine and Covid-19 test results. Delta Air Lines' CEO Ed Bastian last week told "NBC Nightly News" that he expects digital vaccine passports will be required for international travel. The White House declined to comment and pointed to a recommendation against travel that CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky gave Monday.

WASHINGTON – At least one group in America is unlikely to get any money from President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan — his own top aides. Most of Biden’s senior West Wing advisers made far more than the threshold that would qualify them for direct payments from the president’s COVID-19 relief bill, according to White House financial disclosure forms released Saturday. Others in the West Wing — whose positions don't require Senate confirmation — have had deep ties to the business world. He was listed as having a salary of $1.8 million, according to his disclosure form. Brian Deese, head of the national economic council, was previously global head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, according to his disclosure.

President Joe Biden's closest advisors have ties to big business and Wall Street, with some making millions of dollars in their careers leading up to entering the White House, new financial disclosures show. These disclosures were provided by the White House to CNBC early Saturday morning after requesting the documents a day earlier. A White House spokesperson did not return a follow up request for comment. His new financial disclosure form shows that Sullivan, from 2017 until last year, was a member of the Microsoft advisory council. The report says Sullivan was on the "policy advisory council advising the president of Microsoft on key policy developments."

At the same time, more than 4 million residents with certain disabilities or health concerns become eligible for a vaccine. In Virginia, state vaccine coordinator Dr. Danny Avula said the state could hit Biden’s goal earlier. But several governors cautioned it must come with a dramatic increase in vaccine supply. Now, an average of 2.2 million doses are being administered per day. By April 30, the state has set a goal of being able to give 4 million doses weekly.

In Virginia, state vaccine coordinator Dr. Danny Avula said the state could hit Biden’s goal earlier. But several governors cautioned it must come with a dramatic increase in vaccine supply. “It could be a delay for people to actually get a vaccine because of the operational constraints," she said. We can’t disappoint people who eagerly want a vaccine,” said Pat Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority. Elsewhere, governors met Biden's goal with enthusiasm.

The Biden administration will be delivering the COVID-19 vaccine directly to retail pharmacies across the country, the White House and federal health officials announced Tuesday. For now, however, the supply is limited, and vaccinations will initially only be available at a few thousand sites. And in the early phase, many pharmacies across the country will not have vaccine or may have very limited supply." The Biden administration says it wants reach 100 million vaccinations within President Biden's first 100 days in office. While some pharmacies have already been involved in distributing the vaccine, the Biden administration intends to supply pharmacies with the vaccine directly, rather than going through states.

Mr. Biden promised that his administration's 200-page plan matches the gravity of the moment, calling it a "war-time undertaking." But 100 million doses only means 50 million people vaccinated, since both authorized vaccines require two injections to be effective. "The brutal truth is, it's going to take months before we can get the majority of Americans vaccinated," Mr. Biden reiterated Thursday. Under the Biden administration, vaccine doses will no longer be held back by the government, except for a small strategic reserve. The Biden administration is also putting a spotlight on racial and geographic disparities in healthcare.

Washington — President Joe Biden is signing 10 executive orders Thursday as part of his strategy to combat COVID-19, which has now claimed 400,000 American lives. How to watch Biden sign executive orders on COVID-19 todayWhat: President Joe Biden signs 10 executive orders as part of his strategy to combat COVID-19President Joe Biden signs 10 executive orders as part of his strategy to combat COVID-19 Date: Thursday, January 21, 2021Thursday, January 21, 2021 Time: 2 p.m. "What we're inheriting [from the Trump administration] is so much worse than we could have imagined," Zients said. Under the Biden administration, vaccine doses will no longer be held back by the government, except for a small strategic reserve. The Biden administration is also putting a spotlight on racial and geographic disparities in healthcare.