The Latest: Arizona ordered to stop giving anti-mask grants

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WASHINGTON -- The Biden medication connected Tuesday ordered Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to halt utilizing the state’s national pandemic backing connected a brace of caller acquisition grants that tin lone beryllium directed to schools without disguise mandates.

In a missive to Ducey, the Treasury Department says the assistance programs are “not a permissible use” of the funding. The Treasury Department says the conditions “undermine evidence-based efforts to halt the dispersed of COVID-19.”

Ducey, a Republican, created the assistance programs successful August. He launched a $163 cardinal assistance programme utilizing national backing helium controls, but helium made it disposable lone to schools without disguise mandates.

Education advocates person filed a suit implicit Arizona’s disguise prohibition and respective different authorities laws that restrict the powerfulness of section governments and schoolhouse districts to enforce COVID-19 requirements.

Those policies struggle with guidance from the CDC, which recommends cosmopolitan disguise wearing for students and teachers successful the classroom. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo asked Arizona officials to explicate however it volition remedy the occupation wrong 30 days.

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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

— J&J seeks US clearance for COVID-19 vaccine booster doses

— AstraZeneca asks FDA to authorize COVID-19 antibody treatment

— Russia deed grounds for microorganism deaths for 3rd clip this month

— US unveils guidance for national vaccine mandate, exemptions

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See each of AP’s pandemic sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

WASHINGTON — The manager of the National Institutes of Health says he’s stepping down.

Dr. Francis S. Collins has led the probe halfway for 12 years, directing probe into the quality genome and the combat against superior diseases that see cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and COVID-19.

The 71-year-old Collins says, “it’s clip to bring successful a caller idiosyncratic to pb the NIH into the future.”

President Barack Obama selected Collins arsenic manager successful 2009. Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden asked Collins to stay successful the job. The Bethesda, Maryland-based NIH is the nation’s aesculapian probe bureau and operates much than 2 twelve institutes and centers.

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GENEVA — The World Health Organization says it’s inactive reviewing information astir Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine arsenic portion of hopes that it tin beryllium approved for exigency usage against the coronavirus, but nary determination is imminent.

The clarification comes aft Russia’s Health Minister Mikhail Murashko successful caller days said administrative issues were the main holdup successful the WHO decision-making process astir whether to springiness an exigency usage listing to Sputnik V — arsenic it has for astir a half-dozen different COVID-19 vaccines.

WHO spokeswoman Daniela Bagozzi said Tuesday lone the WHO’s method advisory radical connected exigency usage listings -- not the WHO director-general -- has last accidental astir whether a vaccine obtains exigency approval.

Such support would beryllium a amusement of planetary assurance successful the Russian vaccine aft a rigorous reappraisal process. It could pave the mode for its inclusion into the COVAX programme organized by WHO and cardinal partners shipping COVID-19 vaccines to scores of countries astir the satellite based connected need.

The vaccines WHO has approved are Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Sinovac and Sinopharm.

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DALLAS — Southwest Airlines has go the latest U.S. hose to necessitate its employees to beryllium vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Dallas-based institution said its workers indispensable beryllium afloat vaccinated by Dec. 8 to proceed moving astatine the airline. Employees tin question exemptions owed to aesculapian oregon spiritual reasons.

Southwest says it volition mandate vaccines due to the fact that of caller rules from the Biden medication that companies with national contracts indispensable person a vaccinated staff. Southwest’s enactment for the authorities includes flying the subject successful emergencies and carrying message for the U.S. Postal Service. Southwest has 54,000 employees.

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LISBON, Portugal -- Portugal volition commencement administering booster shots of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to radical ages 65 and older starting adjacent week.

That’s according to the Assistant Secretary of State and Health, António Sales.

The determination follows a proposal by the European Union’s cause regulator to usage booster shots successful adults, a determination the European Medicine Agency says it based connected grounds that antibody levels emergence successful radical aged 18 oregon older erstwhile they are fixed an other dose astatine slightest six months aft their past one.

The World Health Organization’s main had urged affluent nations not to usage booster doses this twelvemonth successful a wide way, calling for vaccines disposable successful processing countries first. But immoderate of the 27 EU subordinate nations had already begun administering booster shots.

With 85% of Portugal’s 10 cardinal residents afloat vaccinated, it is starring the world’s vaccination charts.

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NEW YORK -- New York state’s largest wellness attraction supplier has announced 1,400 employees person been terminated for refusing to beryllium vaccinated against COVID-19.

Northwell Health officials says the terminations correspond little than 2% of its full workforce. They accidental they regret losing immoderate employees and their extremity was to comply with the New York authorities mandate to get radical vaccinated.

A statewide vaccination mandate for each infirmary and nursing location workers took effect connected Sept. 27. It volition beryllium expanded to see location care, hospice and big attraction installation workers connected Thursday.

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MOSCOW — Coronavirus deaths successful Russia person deed a grounds for the 3rd clip this month, and cases person exceeded 25,000 a time arsenic vaccination rates successful the state stay low.

Russia’s authorities coronavirus task unit reported 25,110 cases connected Tuesday and 895 deaths.

Officials person blamed debased vaccine uptake. Only 33% of Russia’s colonisation of 146 cardinal person received astatine slightest 1 changeable of a coronavirus vaccine and conscionable 27% person been afloat vaccinated.

Russia’s vast, yet severely underfunded wellness attraction strategy has started to amusement signs of being overwhelmed by the outbreak. Russian media person reported agelong lines of ambulances erstwhile again forming successful beforehand of hospitals successful St. Petersburg, the nation’s second-largest city. The Kremlin has said it’s not considering a nationwide lockdown oregon immoderate different nationwide measures contempt the surge.

Some Russian regions person constricted attendance of wide events and restricted entree to immoderate nationalist places, specified arsenic theaters, cinemas, restaurants and bars, to those who are vaccinated, precocious recovered from COVID-19 oregon precocious tested negative. Critics reason these measures aren’t capable to dilatory the surge.

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NEW YORK — A COVID-19 vaccine request for teachers and different unit members has taken effect successful New York City’s million-plus-student nationalist schoolhouse system.

Mayor Bill de Blasio says 95% of the city’s astir 148,000 nationalist schoolhouse staffers had received astatine slightest 1 vaccine dose arsenic of Monday. The nation’s largest schoolhouse strategy is 1 of the archetypal successful the state to necessitate inoculations for each its staffers. A akin mandate is acceptable to spell into effect successful Los Angeles connected Oct. 15.

Some 43,000 doses person been administered since the mandate was announced Aug. 23, de Blasio says.

Vaccination rates roseate successful each schoolhouse occupation class aft the mandate was announced. District Council 37 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents immoderate 20,000 metropolis Department of Education employees, says 93% of those workers had provided impervious of astatine slightest 1 COVID-19 vaccine dose arsenic of Sunday, up from 68% astatine the commencement of September.

Roxanne Rizzi, who teaches astatine an simple schoolhouse successful Queens, waited until Friday to get her archetypal shot. The 55-year-old had resisted the vaccine due to the fact that she contracted the coronavirus successful November and believed earthy immunity would support her. She says she got the changeable “for the finances of my family.”

The CDC says radical should get vaccinated adjacent if they person already been infected by the virus. The bureau says COVID-19 vaccines connection amended extortion than earthy immunity and assistance forestall getting infected again.

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BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania deed a grounds of much than 15,000 regular coronavirus cases arsenic the country’s intensive attraction units scope capacity.

Last month, Romania had 1,000 regular cases. But it registered 15,037 caller infections Tuesday, astir 3,000 cases much than its erstwhile high.

The surge prompted authorities Monday to suspend non-emergency aesculapian treatments for 30 days to effort to easiness unit connected hospitals. Raed Arafat, the caput of Romania’s Department for Emergency Situation, says, “We bash not yet spot a inclination of capping oregon falling.”

Romania is the second-least vaccinated federation successful the European Union, with lone 33% of adults afloat vaccinated. It has registered much than 37,000 confirmed deaths since the commencement of the pandemic.

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The Norwegian authorities recommended aged implicit the property 85 and nursing location residents should get a 3rd changeable six months aft having received the 2nd dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Health Minister Bent Hoeie says the Pfizer vaccine should beryllium given, and those ages 75 to 84 and 65 to 74 should beryllium adjacent successful line.

The announcement came aft the Scandinavian state had said it would connection radical with terrible weakened immune systems a 3rd dose of the vaccine. That radical includes patients with immune deficiency diseases, organ transplants and crab patients.

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WASHINGTON — Johnson & Johnson has asked U.S. regulators to let booster shots of its COVID-19 vaccine arsenic the U.S. authorities moves toward shoring up extortion successful much vaccinated Americans.

J&J says it filed information with the Food and Drug Administration connected giving a booster dose betwixt 2 to six months aft vaccination. The U.S. authorities past period authorized booster doses of Pfizer’s vaccine successful susceptible groups.

A sheet of FDA advisers meets adjacent week to see boosters for some J&J and Moderna vaccines. It’s portion of a sweeping effort by the Biden medication to boost extortion amid the delta variant and imaginable waning of vaccine strength.

The FDA is convening its extracurricular sheet of advisers adjacent week to reappraisal booster information from some J&J and Moderna. It’s the archetypal measurement successful a reappraisal process that besides includes sign-off from the enactment of some the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If some agencies springiness the go-ahead, Americans could statesman getting J&J and Moderna boosters aboriginal this month.

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LONDON — Officials with drugmaker AstraZeneca person asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize the exigency usage of an antibody attraction to forestall COVID-19.

The institution says the treatment, known arsenic AZD7442, volition beryllium the archetypal long-acting antibody operation to person an exigency usage authorization for COVID-19 prevention. AstraZeneca says the cause whitethorn assistance support radical whose immune systems don’t afloat respond to vaccination.

U.S. request for antibody treatments soared implicit the summer, peculiarly successful Florida, Louisiana and Texas, wherever hospitalizations among unvaccinated patients threatened to overwhelm the wellness attraction system.

The drugs are laboratory versions of virus-blocking antibodies that assistance combat disconnected infections. The treatments assistance the diligent by supplying concentrated doses. The main antibody attraction utilized successful the U.S. is Regeneron’s dual-antibody cocktail.

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WASHINGTON — The authorities is outlining procedures for national employees to petition aesculapian oregon spiritual exemptions from COVID-19 vaccinations.

The Office of Management and Budget released the caller guidance Monday up of the Nov. 22 deadline for national workers to beryllium afloat vaccinated, outlining circumstantial aesculapian conditions that would warrant an exemption. They besides accidental national agencies whitethorn contradict aesculapian oregon spiritual exemptions if they find that nary different information protocol is adequate.

New investigating guidance for those who are granted exemptions is expected to beryllium unveiled successful the coming weeks. The Biden medication is drafting connected CDC guidance to find approved aesculapian exemptions, including a past of allergic absorption to the vaccines. Other conditions, including being treated with monoclonal antibodies oregon having a past of multisystem inflammatory syndrome, warrant a 90-day hold successful vaccination, successful accordance with CDC advice.

Meanwhile, backstage companies with much than 100 employees volition beryllium taxable to a forthcoming regularisation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requiring each employees to beryllium vaccinated oregon get tested weekly.

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