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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

In this July 27, 2020, file photo, Nurse Kathe Olmstead, right, gives volunteer Melissa Harting, of Harpersville, N.Y., an injection as a study of a possible COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., gets underway in Binghamton, N.Y.  A letter from federal health officials instructing states to be ready to begin distributing a vaccine by Nov. 1 — two days before the election — has met, not with exhilaration, but with suspicion among public health experts and others. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)

Americans fear coronavirus vaccine will be based on politics over safety

Most Americans worry that political pressure will force the Food and Drug Administration to approve a coronavirus vaccine before ensuring its safety, and more than half say they wouldn't want a vaccine that is approved and available before Election Day, according to a poll underscoring fears that politics will override science in the scramble to end the COVID-19 pandemic.

September 10, 2020
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden departs after speaking at a campaign event on manufacturing American products at UAW Region 1 headquarters in Warren, Mich., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Biden: Trump ‘lied’ about threat of coronavirus

Joseph R. Biden pounced on the news Wednesday that President Trump purposely downplayed the threat of the coronavirus in the pandemic's early stages, calling his conduct a "life and death betrayal of the American people."

September 9, 2020
In this Monday, July 27, 2020, file photo, a nurse prepares a shot as a study of a possible COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., gets underway in Binghamton, N.Y. On Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, the top executives of nine drugmakers likely to produce the first vaccines against the new coronavirus said that they will stick to the highest ethical and scientific standards in testing and manufacturing and will make the well-being of those getting vaccinated their top priority. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Nine drug CEOs sign safety pledge on COVID-19 vaccine

Nine drugmakers pledged Tuesday to secure reliable data showing the safety and effectiveness of their coronavirus vaccines before seeking federal approval, hoping to reassure the public as the vaccine race becomes a political football in the homestretch of the 2020 presidential campaign.

September 8, 2020
"We're currently witnessing the fastest labor-market recovery from an economic crisis in history, world history," President Trump said at a White House press conference Monday. His Democratic opponent, Joseph R. Biden Jr., used Labor Day to reach out to union voters. (Associated Press)

Donald Trump, Joe Biden Labor Day messages clash

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden showcased his union support Monday while President Trump touted the rebounding economy, his get-tough policy on China and the rapid development of a coronavirus vaccine as the campaigns sought to woo American workers.

September 7, 2020
Engineers from La Sabana University demonstrate low-cost ventilators for patients with COVID-19 in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, July 6, 2020. The machine called the Heron looks like many other ventilators used to treat COVID-19 patients, but this device costs about $4,000, a fifth of the price of ventilators imported from China, and it's made in Colombia, where some hospitals have been overwhelmed by coronavirus patients. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Trump ventilator production order creates surplus

The U.S. has donated more than 4,500 ventilators to 27 countries through its global aid agency as part of President Trump's push to make America the "king of ventilators" after a crush of springtime COVID-19 cases led to fears of catastrophic shortages.

September 6, 2020
In this July 20, 2019, file photo, Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny gestures while speaking to a crowd during a political protest in Moscow, Russia. Attempts over the years to silence Navalny have all failed so far. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

Trump: Still looking into Navalny poison case

President Trump said Friday he's tough on Russia but he's still gathering information on what happened to Alexei Navalny, a key opponent of President Vladimir Putin who's reportedly been poisoned.

September 4, 2020
In this Monday, July 27, 2020, photo, a nurse prepares a shot as a study of a possible COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., gets underway in Binghamton, N.Y. On Sept. 4, 2020, President Trump said he was looking forward to preliminary numbers from a vaccine trial coming out in late October. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink) **FILE**

Trump says vaccine data could be in by October

President Trump said Friday the nation is "rounding the corner" on the coronavirus that's killed over 187,000 in the U.S. and he expects to see results of late-stage vaccine trials as soon as next month.

September 4, 2020
In this Thursday, June 11, 2009 file photo, the logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. An independent panel appointed by the World Health Organization to review the U.N. health agency’s coordination of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic said on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020 it would have full access to any internal U.N. agency documents, materials and emails necessary as the group begins their probe. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, file)  **FILE**

Panel set up to probe WHO response to coronavirus

An independent panel appointed to review the World Health Organization's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic named its members Thursday and said it will have free rein to examine the body's files and ask "hard questions" about the response.

September 3, 2020
In this Feb. 24, 2020, photo, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), addresses a press conference about the update on COVID-19 at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP) ** FILE **

Trump administration takes steps to untether from WHO

The Trump administration said Wednesday it will reprogram the $62 million in "annual dues" it owes the World Health Organization to pay other United Nations assessments, as it seeks to satisfy the terms of its year-long exit from the global public-health body.

September 2, 2020