Author: Associated Press

A federal panel of vaccination experts takes up that question at an emergency meeting this weekend. No matter what the committee decides, there will be differences from state to state.

Once FDA’s emergency use authorization is granted, Moderna will begin shipping millions of doses, earmarked for health workers and nursing home residents, to boost the largest vaccination effort in U.S. history.

Federal authorities expressed increased alarm Thursday about a long-undetected intrusion into U.S. and other computer systems around the globe that officials suspect was carried out by Russian hackers. The nation’s cybersecurity agency warned of a “grave” risk to government and private networks.

Congressional negotiators are closing in 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.

On Wednesday, Alabama health care officials were forced to debunk the latest false assertion after the state began distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to health care workers. This one claimed that a nurse had died after getting the shot. In fact, this didn't happen.

Adkins' flag-draped coffin sat at the front of an Arlington National Cemetery chapel decorated with Christmastime poinsettias as Lt. Col. Michael Shellman, an Army chaplain, described the retired Army command sergeant major as a decorated veteran and "a man well-loved."

Top Capitol Hill Republicans labored Tuesday to keep the price tag for a long-delayed COVID-19 aid package in check, seeking to prevail in a battle over help for state and local governments, while capping the cost of bonus jobless benefits and direct payments sought by Democrats.

Health care workers and a few others began receiving the first vaccinations against the new coronavirus in Alabama on Tuesday as cases of the illness caused by the virus soared.

The lawsuit was filed by former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore on behalf of state residents against Gov. Kay Ivey and the state health officer claiming the mask rule is unconstitutional.

Fending off a messy fight that could damage Republicans ahead of Georgia Senate runoffs, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned fellow GOP senators on Tuesday not to join President Donald Trump's extended assault on the Electoral College results.

Top Washington negotiators continued to reach for a long-delayed agreement on COVID-19 relief on Monday, but rank-and-file Democrats appeared increasingly resigned to having to drop, for now, a scaled-back demand for fiscal relief for states and local governments whose budgets have been thrown out of balance by the pandemic.

Regulators have loosened rules to make it easier for out-of-state doctors to work in Alabama as the coronavirus pandemic both fills hospital beds and strains medical staff by sickening doctors and nurses, officials said Monday as the first doses of vaccine arrived.

The presidential electors on Monday gave Biden a solid majority of 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232, the same margin that Trump called a landslide when he won the White House four years ago.

Attorney General William Barr, one of President Donald Trump's staunchest allies, is departing amid lingering tension over the president's baseless claims of election fraud and the investigation into President-elect Joe Biden's son.

"This can turn into one of the most impactful espionage campaigns on record," said cybersecurity expert Dmitri Alperovitch.