Vaccines

North Carolina has announced the next round of funding aimed at ensuring an equitable response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. has pledged to deliver 1.1 billion doses of COVID vaccines to countries in need. Billions more are needed. NPR interviewed the State Department's global vaccine coordinator to learn more.

The White House says the U.S. has enough doses for the country's 28 million kids age 5 to 11 and has laid out a plan to get them inoculated as soon as the vaccine is authorized for the age group.

Cone Health is planning a return to normal surgical schedules by the end of October. This comes as the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 has declined.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to be escorted from a Mass in Rome on Saturday after major protests against Italy's new vaccine mandates broke out.

The site announced that videos that contain vaccine misinformation will be removed.

Johnson & Johnson shared data from its Phase 3 trial of the company's booster shot on Tuesday. The data showed a booster shot at six months provided a 12-fold increase in antibodies.

Pfizer and BioNTech say that early trial results show their vaccine established a strong antibody response against the coronavirus. FDA review is still needed.

Public health officials and infectious disease experts say requiring vaccination for domestic air and rail travel would help slow COVID-19's spread, but the travel industry opposes a vaccine mandate.

Another round of funding has been released to help ensure an equitable response to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina.