Axios

Lawmakers who are fully vaccinated will no longer be required to wear masks on the House floor, the Office of the Attending Physician, Brian Monahan, announced Friday, CNN reports.

Driving the news: A senior Democratic aide told CNN that the rule was changed due to the decrease in transmission and the increase in vaccination rates among lawmakers and staff on Capitol Hill, which has reached 85%.

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that it's allowing for the release of two batches of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine made at the Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore, where 100 million doses had been set aside for review after an accidental contamination.

Why it matters: The two authorized batches amount to approximately 10 million doses of J&J's single-shot vaccine, according to AP. The doses could end up being used in the U.S. or exported to other countries.

The Group of 7 wealthy nations on Friday pledged to deliver more than 1 billion doses of the coronavirus vaccine to lower-income countries beginning this summer.

Why it matters: The G7 countries have been criticized for not sharing vaccines with nations that have fewer resources and are struggling to contain new waves of the pandemic.

UnitedHealthcare is delaying a new policy that would have declined or limited coverage of an emergency room visit if the visit was found to be non-emergent after the fact.

Driving the news: The largest U.S. health insurer came under fire from provider and hospital groups who said the policy came at a particularly bad time, given that many patients might still be avoiding seeking appropriate care because of lingering COVID fears.

Two Biogen executives said in an interview the company's newly approved Alzheimer's drug is priced fairly, and that it didn't conduct another clinical trial before approval because the FDA didn't push them to do so.

Why it matters: The scientific consensus is the drug, Aduhelm, has not been proven to work. But Biogen and the FDA are content with "hopefully" validating the $56,000 drug's efficacy at some unknown point in the future.

The sharp decline in routine childhood immunizations following stay-at-home orders last spring reversed considerably by the fall. But it "was not sufficient to achieve catch-up coverage," a new report out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Thursday shows.

Why it matters: Children behind on their shots for preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough could pose a "serious public health threat" to themselves and others, especially if mask mandates are no longer in place by the return for in-person schooling this fall.

This year's global coronavirus death toll has already surpassed that of 2020's, with poor and developing countries accounting for a significant rise in coronavirus deaths in 2021, according to a Wall Street analysis of Johns Hopkins data.

Why it matters: While Americans are returning to activities they haven't done since before the pandemic, the reality is very different in many other parts of the world.

UnitedHealthcare is delaying a new policy, at least until the "end of the national public health emergency period," that would have declined or limited coverage of an emergency room visit if the visit was found to be non-emergent after the fact.

The big picture: Patients, doctors and hospitals slammed the policy, arguing it violated federal law that requires all emergency care to be covered as long as a "prudent layperson" believes it was an emergency.

The incidence of HIV across the U.S. has gone down 73% since the first cases were reported in the country four decades ago, but the virus continues to ravage Latino and Black populations.

By the numbers: The Latino communities face four times the rates of HIV infection than white non-Hispanics in the U.S., per the CDC.

Johnson & Johnson announced Thursday that the FDA has authorized an extension of its COVID vaccine's shelf life from three months to 4.5 months.

Why it matters: Amid a slowdown in vaccine uptake, a number of state health officials had been sounding the alarm that hundreds of thousands of single-shot J&J doses could expire this month.

Goldman Sachs is mandating its U.S. employees to report whether or not they've received a COVID-19 vaccine by noon Thursday, reports the New York Times.

Why it matters: The federal government has said it is legal for companies to require workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Yet vaccine "passports" are a point of controversy, with several Republican-led states forbidding some private businesses from using them.

BioNTech announced this week that it plans to establish mRNA vaccine production facilities in Africa, according to the Financial Times.

Why it matters: The blockbuster success of mRNA vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic could give a boost to efforts to use the adaptable technology to tackle cancers, malaria and other intractable illnesses, as Axios has previously reported.

Moderna announced Thursday it has requested an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its coronavirus vaccine for use in 12- to 17-year-olds.

Why it matters: The emergency use authorization would allow for the use of the vaccine in adolescents before Moderna receives full FDA approval, a key step in speeding up the country's race to herd immunity and reopening schools safely this fall.

White and Asian Americans' vaccination rates continue to outpace those of Black and Hispanic Americans, though racial gaps have improved over time, per KFF.

Why it matters: The pandemic is concentrated almost entirely within the unvaccinated population in the U.S., at least for now.

Virginia-based AllyAlign Health, a Medicare Advantage insurance company focused on senior housing, just raised a nearly $300 million funding round led by New Enterprise Associates.

Why it matters: It's the latest example of investor interest in the Medicare population, and more specifically, in Medicare Advantage.

The global vaccine supply is finally opening up for countries that desperately need the ammo in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Driving the news: The Biden administration will buy 500 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to share with countries around the world, with the option to buy an additional 200 million.

A new poll of more than 1,400 people who work in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries by John Carroll of Endpoints News reveals a clear consensus: The FDA made a big mistake approving Aduhelm, Biogen's Alzheimer's treatment, and the $56,000 price tag does not match any possible benefit.

Why it matters: Even the industry's own experts are not defending the FDA and Biogen.

Children's hospitals and pediatricians across the country are bracing for pediatric emergency visits after seeing an unseasonably high spike in cases of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

Why it matters: A year of masking and social distancing due to COVID led to an absence of other respiratory illnesses like RSV, which has no vaccine and can be dangerous in young children and the elderly. But that break appears to be over.

The Biden administration will ship the first batch of 500 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to 92 countries and the African Union from August, the White House announced Thursday morning.

Details: "200 million doses will be delivered by the end of this year and the remaining 300 million will be delivered in the first half of 2022," the White House said in a statement.