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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

President Donald Trump departs behind Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar as Azar puts on a face mask to protect against the spread of the coronavirus after a roundtable discussion on the coronavirus outbreak and storm preparedness at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla., Friday, July 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Alex Azar, health secretary: Already briefing Biden team on COVID-19

The government is preparing to ship the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines in "just a few weeks," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II said Tuesday as the Trump administration started to brief presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden's transition team on coronavirus planning.

November 24, 2020
This Thursday, April 23, 2020, file screen grab taken from video issued by Britain's Oxford University shows a person being injected as part of the first human trials in the U.K. to test a potential coronavirus vaccine, untaken by Oxford University in England. AstraZeneca says late-stage trials of its COVID-19 vaccine were “highly effective’’ in preventing disease. A vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford prevented 70% of people from developing the coronavirus in late-stage trials, the team reported Monday, Nov. 23, 2020. (Oxford University Pool via AP, File)

AstraZeneca reports promising results from coronavirus vaccine trial

A coronavirus vaccine from AstraZeneca was "highly effective" and staved off severe disease in an early look at trial data from the U.K. and Brazil, the company said Monday, signaling there could be a vaccine that's easier to store than two versions nearing approval in the U.S.

November 23, 2020
In this Nov. 18, 2020, file photo, people line up to be tested for the coronavirus at a free testing site in Seattle. With coronavirus cases surging and families hoping to gather safely for Thanksgiving, long lines to get tested have reappeared across the U.S. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)  **FILE**

CDC ‘strongly’ recommends against travel on Thanksgiving

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday strongly recommended against travel this Thanksgiving, urging families to celebrate within their households or hold online gatherings as the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus surpassed a quarter-million.

November 19, 2020
Mendy McNulty swabs the nose of her husband, Joe, in their home in Mount Juliet, Tenn., Tuesday, July 28, 2020. The family is participating in testing done twice a month to help answer some of the most vexing questions about the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) **FILE**

FDA approves first rapid at-home test for coronavirus

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first at-home test for the coronavirus, allowing people to self-collect a swab and get results in 30 minutes to determine if they are positive and need to isolate themselves from society.

November 18, 2020
This May 4, 2020, file photo provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, shows the first patient enrolled in Pfizer's COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine clinical trial at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.  Pfizer announced Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020, more results in its ongoing coronavirus vaccine study that suggest the shots are 95% effective a month after the first dose. (Courtesy of University of Maryland School of Medicine via AP, File)

Pfizer seeks approval for 95% effective COVID-19 vaccine

Two drugmakers in the race for a COVID-19 vaccine are on track for emergency approval before the end of the year, the Trump administration said Wednesday, with Pfizer reporting its shots were 95% effective in a final analysis and Moderna set to follow close behind.

November 18, 2020
A mannequin wears a face mask in front of outdoor seating at the Wipeout Bar and Grill at Pier 39 during the coronavirus outbreak in San Francisco, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Coronavirus spread in U.S. alarms officials as Americans grow weary of limits

The coronavirus is racing through the U.S. with alarming speed, with more than 150,000 cases of COVID-19 detected for three days running and hospitalizations at their highest levels since the pandemic began, prompting governors to plead for pre-vaccine discipline or issue the types of restrictions Americans were hoping to avoid.

November 15, 2020
President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Trump: ‘I concede NOTHING!’

President Trump appeared to acknowledge Sunday that presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden "won" but quickly signaled he will keep fighting, saying he concedes "nothing" because it was a "rigged election."

November 15, 2020
Medical works operate a testing tent at a COVID-19 mobile testing site, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Restaurants, bars and gyms will have to close at 10 p.m. across New York state in the latest effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday. Cuomo said the new restrictions, which go into effect Friday, are necessary because new coronavirus infections have been traced to those types of activities. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Coronavirus hospitalizations in U.S. surpass pandemic record

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have reached the highest point of the pandemic, forcing leaders from Alaska to Massachusetts to propose stringent mask rules and limits on gatherings while avoiding, at least for now, the sweeping lockdowns that ruined the economy in the spring.

November 11, 2020