Axios

The Biden administration on Friday reversed Trump-era restrictions on federal funding for fetal tissue medical research by government scientists.

Background: The Trump administration in 2019 announced it would no longer fund research that used fetal tissue from elective abortions. Outside research proposals were also subject to ethics reviews. Scientists at the time condemned the move and argued it could hinder lifesaving medical research.

The U.S. has administered more than 202 million coronavirus vaccine doses since the start of its inoculation campaign, with nearly 4 million vaccinations reported on Friday alone, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Why it matters: The numbers indicate Biden is on track to fulfill his promise of 200 million vaccinations within his first 100 days in office. The president set a new goal late last month after it became clear the U.S. was outpacing his initial goal of 100 million doses.

Home cooks who can't smell have an influx of new recipes to choose from as COVID-related anosmia spurs innovation in the kitchen.

• Recipes focus on foods with bright colors, contrasting textures and geometric shapes, drawing on senses besides smell and taste to help anosmics enjoy eating.

Why it matters: For people with smell loss or distorted smell and taste (parosmia) — common COVID-related symptoms — coffee is simply hot water, popcorn is "thorny foam," or food smells like literal garbage.

The White House announced Friday that the federal government will invest $1.7 billion in funding from the American Rescue Plan to "improve the detection, monitoring, and mitigation" of COVID-19 variants.

Why it matters: New and dangerous virus strains make up half of all cases in America today and risk prolonging the pandemic. Some are more contagious than the original virus.

The CEO of the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines, asked President Biden on Friday to lift a U.S. export embargo on raw materials for vaccines, saying it is hampering vaccine production in other parts of the world.

Why it matters: Equitably producing and distributing coronavirus vaccines may be the defining global challenge of 2021 and a crucial step to controlling the pandemic, as prolonged unequal access to vaccines may allow the virus to spread and dangerously mutate in unvaccinated parts of the world.

A Wall Street Journal piece on UnitedHealth's quarterly results shows a first-quarter profit that was better than expected.

Driving the news: That profit was driven in part by the fact that its COVID costs declined — and the company now expects to do better for the rest of the year too, the Journal reports.

Americans' confidence in the safety of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine took a big dip this week after the pause in its use, per new YouGov polling, even though the risk of blood clots following the shot is extremely low, if it exists at all.

Why it matters: For the majority of people, particularly high-risk Americans, getting the J&J shot is almost certainly less dangerous than remaining vulnerable to the coronavirus.

Transgender women in the U.S. are contracting HIV at extremely high rates, as they face poverty, discrimination, and gaps in gender-affirming medical treatment, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds.

Why it matters: Two-thirds of Black trans women and more than one-third of Hispanic trans women surveyed across seven major cities have HIV, in what the CDC called one of the most comprehensive surveys of trans women in the U.S.

People will "likely" need a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine as a booster within 12 months of being fully vaccinated, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC on Thursday.

Why it matters: COVID-19 vaccine boosters are expected to become a regular part of life for years to come, as variants continue to spread and become dominant strains in some countries.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified about 5,800 fully vaccinated people who have contracted COVID-19 so far, a fraction of the 66 million Americans who have been vaccinated.

Why it matters: The infections, called "breakthrough cases," are rare. The findings are consistent with previous studies that indicate positive coronavirus cases are extremely unlikely among vaccinated people, and that the vaccines prevent severe disease.

Many private businesses and some states are plowing ahead with methods of verifying that people have been vaccinated, despite conservative resistance to "vaccine passports."

Why it matters: Many businesses view some sort of vaccine verification system as key to getting back to normal. But in the absence of federal leadership, a confusing patchwork approach is likely to pop up.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has told hospitals they can't hide their prices from web searches, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The big picture: New federal rules require hospitals to post their pricing information online, but some large systems were using code that prevented that information from appearing in search results.

The number of new coronavirus infections in the U.S continues to rise, making a quick, clean end to the pandemic less and less likely.

The big picture: Much of the U.S. is relying almost exclusively on vaccines to control the virus, abandoning social distancing and other safety measures. And that’s helping the virus to steadily gain ground even as vaccinations barrel ahead.

One of Sweden's most populous regions has asked residents to enter a "personal lockdown" in order to curb soaring COVID-19 cases, Euronews reported Wednesday.

Why it matters: Sweden's more relaxed approach to the pandemic prompted libertarians and conservatives, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), to argue the U.S. should've adopted a similar strategy. But the country this week reported the highest infection rate in the EU.