WASHINGTON (AP) — A government advisory panel endorsed a second COVID-19 vaccine Thursday, paving the way for the shot to be added to the U.S. vaccination campaign. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to follow the recommendation and quickly OK the vaccine from Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. The FDA advisers, in […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Dr. Anthony Fauci still wants you to wear a mask. But he took a quick break in his schedule to deliver a video message to a Maryland synagogue earlier this week and weigh in on the ongoing Jewish food debate made famous through a decades-long tradition at the University of Chicago: latkes or […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is isolated in his Jerusalem residence after coming into contact with a person infected with COVID-19. Netanyahu tested negative on two tests for the virus but is still staying in isolation until Friday according to health ministry directives. In this iconic picture which he published in his Twitter […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional negotiators closed in Wednesday on a $900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package that would deliver additional help to businesses, $300 per week jobless checks, and $600 stimulus payments to most Americans. But there was no deal quite yet. The long-delayed measure was coming together as Capitol Hill combatants finally fashioned difficult […]

JERUSALEM (JTA) — As Jerusalem prepares for the planned rollout of its national COVID-19 vaccination campaign next week, Israeli health officials are grappling with how to convince a largely skeptical population to receive shots whose rapid development has raised concerns over the possibility of side effects. Israel has ordered millions of doses of the vaccine, […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say they’re actively negotiating for additional purchases of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine after passing up a chance to lock in a contract this summer since it was still unclear how well the shots would work. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and special adviser Dr. Moncef Slaoui also told reporters […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department said Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had come into contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 and was quarantining. The department said Pompeo had tested negative for the virus but was being monitored by medical professionals. It said it would not identify the infected person […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is distributing 5,000 body bags mostly to the hard-hit Los Angeles and San Diego areas and has 60 refrigerated trailers standing by as makeshift morgues in anticipation of a surge of coronavirus deaths. The precautions come from hospitalizations that now are double the summertime peak and threaten to soon overwhelm the […]

CHICAGO (JTA) – Officials in the Chicago area are struggling to uncover whether an Orthodox Jewish wedding that violated public health restrictions led to new COVID-19 cases in the hard-hit city. About 150 guests attended the wedding in a Chicago suburb on Dec. 2 at a time when 14.8% of COVID tests in the surrounding […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top negotiators reported progress on a long-delayed COVID-19 aid package Tuesday after a rare meeting of Capitol Hill’s four most senior lawmakers. The quartet, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, said they would reconvene Tuesday night in hopes of sealing an agreement soon. “I think there’s progress,” […]