 | | | | President Joe Biden on Thursday will ask every federal employee and onsite contractor to attest to their COVID-19 vaccination status and wear masks, physically distance and undergo regular testing if they are not vaccinated, the White House said. | | | | | | President Joe Biden is calling for state, local and U.S. territorial governments to provide $100 payments for every newly vaccinated American to boost COVID-19 inoculation rates, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday. | | | | | | Without Simone Biles, America's dominance of women's gymnastics continued on Thursday with a gold in the individual all-around competition for the fifth Olympics in a row. | | | | | | The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday that 69.3% of U.S. counties had transmission rates of COVID-19 high enough to warrant indoor masking in public spaces and should immediately resume the policy. | | | | | | Masks will be required indoors in Washington, D.C., for everyone 2 years and older starting Saturday, Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Thursday, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. | | | | | | Britain's U.N. ambassador warned on Thursday that half of Myanmar's 54 million people could be infected with COVID-19 in the next two weeks as Myanmar's envoy called for U.N. monitors to ensure an effective delivery of vaccines. | | | | | | A U.S. congressional panel has asked Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) to provide it all documents related to the company's plans to put its talc liabilities into bankruptcy, according to a letter sent on Wednesday and seen by Reuters. | | | | | | Portugal on Thursday announced a three-stage plan to lift COVID-19 restrictions, including scrapping a night-time curfew, as the country's vaccination rollout speeds up, helping to bring a recent surge in infections under control. | | | | | | Brazil plans to cancel a contract signed in March for 10 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said on Thursday, as the South American nation struggles with one of the worst outbreaks in the world. | | | | | | Merck & Co (MRK.N) reported quarterly revenue on Thursday that topped Wall Street estimates, as sales of its Gardasil vaccine bounced back and demand for blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda remained strong. | | | | | |
