The U.S. government will pay the vaccine maker Moderna $176 million to accelerate development of a pandemic influenza vaccine.

Asian shares have churned higher after the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to another record high.

Americans can now get an updated COVID-19 vaccine.

The next round of COVID-19 vaccines will target one of the latest versions of the coronavirus.

Moderna’s CEO is defending a plan to more than quadruple the company’s COVID-19 vaccine price.

Shares of Merck and Moderna jumped early Tuesday after the drugmakers said a potential skin cancer vaccine they are developing using the same technology behind COVID-19 preventive shots did well in a mid-stage study.

The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths reported globally continued to fall nearly everywhere in the world in what the World Health Organization described as a “welcome decline” at a media briefing on Wednesday.

U.S. regulators have authorized updated COVID-19 boosters, the first to directly target today's most common omicron strain.

COVID-19 vaccines tweaked to better match today’s omicron threat are expected to roll out in a few weeks but how much will they help.

Pfizer has asked U.S. regulators to authorize its combination COVID-19 vaccine that adds protection against the newest omicron relatives.

New coronavirus cases reported globally in the last week dropped by nearly a quarter while deaths fell by 6%.

British drug regulators have become the first in the world to authorize an updated version of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine that includes protection against the omicron variant, which the government said would now be offered to people aged 50 and over in the fall.

A court ruling is back in effect that blocks President Joe Biden from requiring federal employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Pfizer says tweaking its COVID-19 vaccine to better target the omicron variant is safe and boosts protection.

The nation’s youngest children are getting their chance at vaccines for COVID-19.

U.S. health officials have opened COVID-19 vaccines for infants, toddlers and preschoolers — the last group without the shots.

U.S. regulators have authorized the first COVID-19 shots for infants and preschoolers.

A government advisory panel has endorsed a second brand of COVID-19 vaccine for school-age children and teens.

A review by federal health officials says that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine appears safe and effective for children under 5, the only group not currently eligible for vaccination.

Next week brings a marathon of hearings as the U.S. decides whether to open COVID-19 vaccinations to kids under 5.

Moderna says its experimental COVID-19 vaccine that combines its original shot with protection against the omicron variant appears to work.

Parents hoping to get their youngest children vaccinated against COVID-19 have some encouraging news.

U.S. regulators are strictly limiting who can receive Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine due to a rare but serious risk of blood clots.

Pfizer now hopes to tell U.S. regulators how well its COVID-19 vaccine works in the littlest kids by early June.

The Food and Drug Administration has set tentative dates in June to publicly review COVID-19 vaccines for the youngest American children.

Moderna is asking U.S. regulators to open its COVID-19 vaccine to the nation's youngest children.

Many Americans can now get a second COVID-19 booster, but it’s hard to tell who really needs another shot right now and who could wait.

Americans age 50 and older can get a second COVID-19 booster if it’s been at least four months since their last vaccination.

Moderna says it will ask regulators to authorize its COVID-19 vaccine for children under 6 but several hurdles need to be cleared before the shots could become available.

Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine works in babies, toddlers and preschoolers.

Drugmaker Moderna has asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize a fourth shot of its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster dose for all adults.

Moderna says it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kenya’s government for the drugmaker's first mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Africa.

The World Health Organization is creating a global training center to help poorer countries make vaccines, antibodies and cancer treatments using the messenger RNA technology used to make COVID-19 vaccines.

Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia will be the first African countries to receive the technology required to produce mRNA vaccines on the continent.

Tokyo has launched a mass inoculation drive for COVID-19 booster shots at a temporary center operated by the military as Japan tries to speed up delayed third jabs to counter surging infections.

Moderna has begun testing an omicron-specific version of its COVID-19 vaccine in healthy adults.

The Navy said Tuesday that it has discharged 23 active duty sailors for refusing the coronavirus vaccine, marking the first time it has thrown currently serving sailors out of the military over the mandatory shots.

Haiti's health minister says the country is fighting a rise in COVID-19 cases as the government struggles to convince people to get vaccinated.

U.S. officials are loosening rules that call on health care workers to stay out of work for 10 days if they test positive for COVID-19.

Moderna said Monday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine should offer protection against the rapidly spreading omicron variant.

U.S. health officials say most Americans should get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines instead of the Johnson & Johnson shot.

Vaccine makers are racing to update their COVID-19 shots against omicron even before it’s clear a change is needed, just in case.

Asian shares are mixed as investors continue to cautiously weigh how much damage the new omicron coronavirus variant may unleash on the global economy.

The NBA has told its players, coaches and referees that they should receive booster shots against the coronavirus, with particular urgency for those who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Moderna is scaling back expectations for the number of COVID-19 vaccine deliveries it expects to make this year and the revenue it will record from them.

Booster shots for all three COVID-19 vaccines are now available at three mobile vaccination clinics in the Pittsylvania/Danville Health District.

Nearly 2.2 million people nationwide are now eligible to receive COVID booster shots after the CDC authorized extra doses of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines Thursday night.

Moderna says its low-dose COVID-19 vaccine is safe and appears to work in 6- to 11-year-olds.

A team of young scientists in South Africa is assembling the equipment needed to reverse engineer Moderna's coronavirus vaccine.

Millions more Americans are now eligible for COVID-19 boosters, and they can get a different vaccine than their first shots.

Federal health officials say millions more Americans can get a COVID-19 booster and choose a different vaccine for that next shot.

U.S. regulators are extending COVID-19 boosters to Americans who got the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Federal regulators are expected to authorize the mixing and matching of COVID-19 booster shots this week.

COVID-19 booster shots are an extra dose of the original vaccine, and some experts wonder why they weren't updated to better match the delta variant.

A panel of U.S. health advisers has endorsed booster doses of Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine.

A panel of U.S. health advisers has endorsed booster shots for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.

With many Americans who got Pfizer vaccinations already rolling up their sleeves for a booster shot, millions of others who received the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine wait anxiously to learn when it’s their turn.

The chairman of Moderna says the company has no plans to share the recipe for its COVID-19 vaccine because executives have concluded that scaling up their own production is the best way to increase the global supply.

The United Nations chief says the pandemic has forced more than 100 million people into poverty and left over 4 billion people with little or no social support, health care or income protection.

The European Union’s drug regulator has given its backing to booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people 18 and older.

A Hawaii judge issued a bench warrant for an Illinois woman after she failed to appear for a virtual court hearing Wednesday following her arrest for an alleged fake COVID-19 vaccination card that misspelled Moderna as “Maderna.”

In a story published September 27, 2021, about vaccine mandates for health care workers, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Dr. Jeff Smith was the CEO of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Millions of Americans are now eligible to receive a Pfizer booster shot to help increase their protection against the worst effects of the coronavirus.

Vietnam is speeding up its vaccination program in an effort to loosen coronavirus lockdown restrictions in major cities by the end of the month.

Africa’s already thin supply of COVID-19 vaccines has taken another significant hit.

COVID-19 booster shots may be coming for at least some Americans but there's still important science to be worked out about who really needs them and when.

A 24-year-old Illinois woman submitted a fake COVID-19 vaccination card to visit Hawaii with a glaring spelling error that led to her arrest: Moderna was spelled “Maderna,” according to court documents.

Liberty University attempted to slow the on-campus spread of the Delta variant by hosting a COVID-19 vaccine clinic for students, faculty, and staff.

The Africa director of the World Health Organization says the continent was able to triple its COVID-19 vaccination rate over the past week, helped by growing numbers of donations of doses from developed countries.

Japan is suspending use of about 1.63 million doses of Moderna vaccine after contamination was found in some unused vials.

Newly released data shows Johnson and Johnson vaccine recipients could be next in line for a booster shot.

Pfizer is seeking U.S. approval of a booster dose of its two-shot COVID-19 vaccine.

Asian shares are gaining, boosted by a near-record rise on Wall Street.

The U.S. is planning booster doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, but if you got the one-dose Johnson & Johnson shot instead, stay tuned.

The Virginia Department of Health announced that the Commonwealth will make third doses of both the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for immunocompromised people this month.

Americans at high risk from COVID-19 because of severely weakened immune systems are now allowed to get a third vaccination in hopes of better protection.

A COVID-19 vaccine “breakthrough” case is when a vaccinated person gets infected with the coronavirus.

A top official at the European Medicines Agency says a decision on whether to recommend that Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine be authorized for children is expected late next week.

As many Asian countries battle their worst surge of COVID-19 infections, the slow flow of vaccine doses from around the world is finally picking up speed, giving hope that inoculation rates can increase and help blunt the effect of the rapidly spreading delta variant.

The top health official in Australia's Queensland state is advising adults under age 40 not to take the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine because of the risk of a rare blood clotting disorder, even though the Australian government is making those shots available to all adults.

Moderna President Dr. Stephen Hoge says his company is working on developing COVID-19 vaccine booster shots while also trying to harness the genetic code technology it helped pioneer to fight other diseases.

How soon vaccines expire is a critical question as the Biden administration prepares to send tens of millions of unused COVID-19 doses abroad to help curb the pandemic.

The world’s leading COVID-19 vaccines may offer lasting protection that diminishes the need for frequent booster shots.

Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine strongly protects kids as young as 12.

Japan mobilized military doctors and nurses to give shots to elderly people in Tokyo and Osaka as the government desperately tries to accelerate its vaccination rollout and curb coronavirus infections just two months before hosting the Olympics.

Japan has expanded a coronavirus state of emergency hours after it approved the use of two more vaccines in an effort to contain a worrying surge in infections nine weeks ahead of the opening of the Tokyo Olympics.

Britain has sent public health officials, backed by the army, to distribute coronavirus tests door-to-door in two northern England towns to contain a fast-spreading variant that threatens the country's lockdown-easing plans.

Ontario will be getting help from Canada’s military in dealing with a surge of coronavirus infections, while several other Canadian provinces are tightening health restrictions in hopes of avoiding a similar situation.

Open to anyone in the area looking to get their first dose of Moderna, Roanoke Alleghany Health District hosted a walk-in clinic at the Berglund Center Thursday.

The Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts are offering their first walk-in clinic in Roanoke on Thursday.

Asian stock markets are mixed after Wall Street retreated from a record high as major banks announced strong profits.

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

Asian stock markets have risen after Wall Street hit a record high following an uptick in U.S. inflation and a order by regulators to suspend use of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine.

New versions of COVID-19 vaccines are now being tested in case they ever are needed to protect against mutated versions of the virus.

Here's a look at some of the stories we'll be following today as they make headlines across the country and Southwest Virginia.

If you’re in need of a COVID-19 vaccine, the West Piedmont Health District will be hosting three drive-thru clinics over the next two weeks where no appointments are necessary.

Bedford County leaders teamed up to vaccinate 1,200 residents this week.

“We have a vaccine that’s working very well.”The study is the government’s first assessment of how the shots have been working beyond the drugmakers' initial experiments. The study included roughly 2,500 volunteers who had completed two vaccine doses, about 500 who got one dose and about 1,000 who did not get vaccinated between mid-December and mid-March. Besides the 90% figure for two doses, the study found it was 80% effective for participants two weeks or more after a first dose. She added that over 93 million Americans have received at least one vaccine dose and over 51 million people have been fully vaccinated. The company said it expects to meet its next deadlines, of delivering another 100 million doses by the end of May and its final 100 million by the end of July.

ROANOKE, Va. – While some areas are moving forward to Phase 1c with vaccine distribution, Roanoke Alleghany County Health District is still far from it. Waiting for more Johnson and Johnson vaccines, Dr. Cynthia Morrow said an extra 1,000 Moderna vaccines are expected to be added to the next shipment. A necessary supply as Morrow said a reduction of vaccine allocation from the state was not expected. “You know all of us were a little bit disappointed when we learned the state allocation was 49,000 not the over 100,000 we were expecting,” she said. That’s why on Wednesday a hotline was created to help register 65 and up.

The infection resurgence is being fueled by loosened restrictions, a more infectious variant and pandemic fatigue. Gretchen Whitmer, who does not plan to tighten restrictions on indoor dining, sports and other activities that were eased in recent months. Michigan reported more than 5,200 new cases Thursday, the most in over three months. Dawn Misra, an epidemiology and biostatistics professor at Michigan State University. But the reopening was pushed off to April 12, after spring break, because of rising virus cases in the community.