Buoyed by a surge in vaccine shipments, states and cities are rapidly expanding eligibility for COVID-19 shots to teachers, 55-and-over Americans and other groups as the U.S. races to beat back the virus and reopen businesses and schools.
by MARK PRATT and TAMMY WEBBER / Associated Press 2 hours agoJust over two months into community vaccination efforts, operations at Hamilton County's largest vaccination site at Enterprise South Nature Park are helping officials to vaccinate more than 1,300 new people a day.
by Elizabeth Fite and Wyatt MasseyBeginning the week of March 15, Hamilton County Schools will no longer use its "phase tracker," a data-centered approach to the COVID-19 pandemic that has been used to provide weekly updates on community spread and make decisions about school openings and closings.
by Anika ChaturvediMore than one-third of U.S. nonprofits are in jeopardy of closing within two years because of the financial harm inflicted by the viral pandemic, according to a study released Wednesday by the philanthropy research group Candid and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.
by GLENN GAMBOA / AP Business WriterPresident Joe Biden and Democrats agreed Wednesday to tighten the upper income limits at which people could qualify for stimulus checks, a Democratic official said, a major concession to moderates as party leaders prepared to move their $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill through the Senate.
by ALAN FRAM / Associated PressPresident Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccines for all adults by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated, as his administration announced that drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson's newly approved shot.
by ZEKE MILLER, LINDA A. JOHNSON and JONATHAN LEMIRE / Associated PressDolly Parton has written hundreds of songs over her decades-long career and it turns out her tune "Jolene" is the just right one for getting her COVID-19 vaccine.
by KRISTIN M. HALL / Associated PressTexas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to end an order intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has killed more than 42,000 Texans.
by PAUL J. WEBER / Associated PressThe story first appeared on CNN's website Tuesday morning.
by Mark WiedmerThe plane laden with vaccines had just rolled to a stop at Santiago's airport in late January, and Chile's president, Sebastián Piñera, was beaming. "Today," he said, "is a day of joy, emotion and hope."
by HUIZHONG WU and KRISTEN GELINEAU / Associated PressMore than 1 million Tennesseans will soon become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine after the Department of Health announced Tuesday it was expecting a large supply of the immunizations.
by Elizabeth FiteI can tell the pandemic is affecting my young children. What can I do as a parent to help them get through it?
by Dr. Fernando UrregoDrugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson's newly approved coronavirus vaccine in an effort to expand supply more quickly, the White House said Tuesday.
by ZEKE MILLER / Associated PressA senior World Health Organization official said Monday it was "premature" and "unrealistic" to think the pandemic might be stopped by the end of the year, but that the recent arrival of effective vaccines could at least help dramatically reduce hospitalizations and death.
by MARIA CHENG and JAMEY KEATEN / Associated PressWhile new COVID-19 cases fell throughout the Chattanooga region in February, the long-lasting effects of the winter surge continued with 366 people dying from the virus last month.
by Elizabeth Fite and Wyatt MasseyIn an industrial neighborhood on the outskirts of Bangladesh's largest city lies a factory with gleaming new equipment imported from Germany, its immaculate hallways lined with hermetically sealed rooms.
by MARIA CHENG and LORI HINNANT / Associated PressRita Fentress was worried she might get lost as she traveled down the unfamiliar forested, one-lane road in rural Tennessee in search of a coronavirus vaccine. Then the trees cleared and the Hickman County Agricultural Pavilion appeared.
by TRAVIS LOLLER, JONATHAN MATTISE and GILLIAN FLACCUS / Associated PressLooking beyond the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, President Joe Biden and lawmakers are laying the groundwork for another top legislative priority — a long-sought boost to the nation's roads, bridges and other infrastructure that could run into Republican resistance to a hefty price tag.
by KEVIN FREKING, HOPE YEN and JOSH BOAK / Associated PressWith the floodgates set to open on another round of unemployment aid, states are being hammered with a new wave of fraud as they scramble to update security systems and block scammers who already have siphoned billions of dollars from pandemic-related jobless programs.
by GEOFF MULVIHILL and ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS / Associated PressA third COVID-19 vaccine option and the first to come in a single dose in the United States could be on the ground in Tennessee as early as Monday, according to the state's top health official.
by Elizabeth FiteThe House approved a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill that was championed by President Joe Biden, the first step in providing another dose of aid to a weary nation as the measure now moves to a tense Senate.
by ALAN FRAM / The Associated PressThe National Guard moved eight transport coolers for COVID-19 vaccines from Chattanooga to Shelby County on Wednesday to help vaccination efforts in Memphis as the county health department there is under investigation for vaccine stockpiling and mismanagement resulting in around 2,500 wasted or missing doses and another 51,480 unused doses held in inventory.
by Elizabeth Fite and Wyatt MasseyThe House is expected to pass a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package early Saturday that includes $1,400 checks for most Americans and billions of dollars for schools, state and local governments and businesses.
by KEVIN FREKING / The Associated Press