National

Health Care Policy

The Biden administration plans to end the COVID-19 public health emergency and national health emergency designations on May 11, the White House announced Monday. 

The state of play: The move shifts the debate around GOP resolutions ending the two emergencies, which were set to be voted on in the House this week as a referendum on the incompatibility between President Biden’s statements on the pandemic and the administration’s policy.

Instead of acting as a check on sweeping emergency powers and the administration’s COVID posture, the votes are now a question of whether the emergencies should be ended immediately or several months from now — likely limiting the prospect of bipartisan support.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in its statement announcing the plan to end the two emergencies, argued they should be phased out with advanced warning rather than terminated suddenly.

“An abrupt end to the emergency declarations would create wide-ranging chaos and uncertainty throughout the health care system,” the OMB said.

Zoom in: The Biden administration is also accusing Republicans of contravening their party’s support for Title 42, a Trump-era policy facilitating the expedited expulsion of migrants that has been kept in place by the Supreme Court despite the administration’s attempts to end it.

Voting to terminate the public health emergency immediately, the OMB claimed, “would lift Title 42 immediately, and result in a substantial additional inflow of migrants at the Southwest border.”

Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), who introduced the bill ending the public health emergency, told Axios, "It absolutely does not end Title 42. That's just not accurate."

The other side: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Axios the House will move forward with the votes.

“Why would you allow 47% of the government to stay home for another five months,” he said, adding, “The president said in September [the pandemic] was over.”

Guthrie said the House should still pass it so Congress can be prepared to push back "if for some reason [the White House's plans] don't come to fruition."

Where it stands: For health care providers, ending the public health emergency will bring big changes. 

They've had significant leeway on reporting requirements, physical environment standards, patients’ rights and other policies over the last three years due to the emergency. 

Congress extended telehealth flexibilities in December and laid out a plan for states to start removing ineligible people from Medicaid. But unless lawmakers or regulators act, plenty of other policies will expire with the emergency designation.

Go deeper: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services doesn’t have data on how many providers currently use the flexibilities, as providers don’t need to notify the agency to use them, a spokesperson told Axios last week. 

CMS is encouraging providers to begin preparing for the end of pandemic-era flexibilities as soon as possible, the spokesperson said prior to the White House’s announcement. 

COVID-19 health emergencies to end in May, White House says

The move shifts the debate around GOP resolutions ending the two emergencies, which were set to be voted on in the House this week.

President Joe Biden leaves Holy Trinity Catholic Church after attending Mass on March 27 in Washington, D.C. 

President Biden leaves Holy Trinity Catholic Church after attending Mass on March 27 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Coronavirus

Health

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

An FDA expert panel on Thursday unanimously recommended that the U.S. overhaul its pandemic vaccine strategy and replace initial doses of original COVID shots with bivalent ones that target specific Omicron subvariants. 

The big picture: So far, the U.S. COVID vaccine strategy has been developed and revised on the fly, leading at time to public confusion. With all available vaccines following one single composition, health experts argued that vaccination rates could increase.

The 21-0 vote came during a daylong discussion about how to reboot the nation's vaccine response and modify shots as new variants emerge. 

Currently, monovalent vaccines based on the original COVID strain are still available as the primary series for the unvaccinated. People must then receive bivalent shots as boosters.

FDA officials and committee members said during the meeting of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, or VRBPAC, that there was a need to simplify vaccine composition, adding that the current differences make it harder for people to decide whether to get vaccinated.

State of play: Panel member Paul Offit argued that the immediate goal with the vaccines should be to prevent people from getting hospitalized and to protect against severe disease, which he said the current bivalent vaccine already successfully does. 

Bruce Gellin, a temporary voting member, said that while he believed that composition of the vaccine should be regularly updated, the current bivalent shot composition was appropriate for this year.

The meeting featured presentations from vaccine manufacturers Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax, all of which suggested that the U.S. adopt a model of annual shots similar to seasonal flu and that next-generation vaccines should be updated to fight emerging variants.

While Pfizer and Moderna suggested that bivalent vaccines were more protective, Novavax argued that bivalent and monovalent shots "perform comparably."

Of note: The choice to have all circulating vaccines be bivalent might be particularly challenging to Novavax, considering the company has not yet produced a bivalent shot. 

What they're saying: "We look forward to working with regulators on developing and implementing a streamlined plan for future vaccine updates as we aim to provide boosters that best match circulating strains," Pfizer said in a statement. 

What else happened: The FDA had requested that the panel consider a future immunization schedule and proposed a yearly one-dose schedule for the general population and another for “high risk” individuals that would called for at least two doses a year.

But the panel did not make a specific recommendation after members said they needed additional data on different population groups and dosage amounts to determine who needs one dose and who needs two.

The experts also discussed future vaccine composition, specifically looking at whether vaccines should be periodically updated to adapt to an evolving coronavirus and follow a fall vaccination program.

One member, Steven Pergam, questioned if the original COVID strain should be included in future vaccines as they are updated and suggested further discussions are needed.

The panel overall agreed that the vaccine should be regularly updated, but they would need more data to decide whether that should be on an annual basis. In the meantime, regulatory and public health agencies should continue evaluating the different variants that emerge.

Zoom out: Gellin at one point asked Pfizer during its presentation whether it believed that a U.S. vaccine strategy would dictate what shots become available worldwide. 

Bill Falstich, Pfizer’s vice president for global supply chain, said that wouldn't be the case, noting that in 2022, U.S. bivalent vaccines targeted the BA.4 and BA.5 variants while bivalent shots abroad targeted BA.1. "[W]e can be flexible like that again if we needed to," he said.

What we're watching: John Beigel, associate director of clinical research for the NIH's division of microbiology and infectious diseases said now that COVID vaccines successfully protect against serious illness, researchers must better understand how to protect against infection and prevent transmission to create "the most promising vaccine candidates."

The FDA still has to decide whether to follow VRBPAC's recommendations. 

FDA panel endorses changing primary COVID vaccines

FDA panel unanimously approved changing primary COVID vaccine

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

People experiencing long COVID were more likely to be unable to return to work for weeks because of their symptoms or continued to receive medical treatment for their infection after they returned to work, according to a study published on Tuesday by the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer.

Why it matters: The New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) said the report's findings help contextualize how long COVID affected workers and, by extension, the labor market during the first two years of the pandemic.

Long COVID symptoms can include shortness of breath, cognitive difficulties and symptoms that worsen even with minimal physical or mental effort.

By the numbers: From January 2020 through March 2022, NYSIF received 3,139 established COVID-related workers’ compensation claims, 977 of which involved symptoms of long COVID.

Of the 977, NYSIF said 71% of claimants required treatment or were unable to work for six months or more because of their symptoms.

40% of long COVID claimants returned to work within 60 days of infection but were still receiving medical treatment for COVID-19, while 18% — around 5% of all COVID-19 claimants — were unable to return to work for more than a year.

Nearly all claimants with comorbidities or those hospitalized for their initial infection experienced long COVID, the insurer found.

What they're saying: "If broadly reflective, these findings begin to fill information gaps about the labor market, including an underappreciated reason for the many unfilled jobs and the declining labor participation rate since the emergence of the pandemic," the report reads.

“It’s a pretty conservative estimate,” said Gaurav Vasisht, the executive director and chief executive officer of the insurance fund told the New York Times. “It’s not capturing people who may have gone back to work and didn’t seek medical attention and may still be suffering, so you know, they’re just toughing it out.”

The big picture: The report found that the proportion of long COVID to overall COVID-19 claims fell from 44% to 8% from March 2020 to 8% in March of 2022, like a result of increased vaccination rates in New York.

Women were also more likely to experience long COVID symptoms than men, though the reason why is unclear, according to the study.

Go deeper ... Study: Long COVID symptoms may ease within a year

Study: Long COVID kept people out of work for months

The study helps contextualize how long COVID affected workers and the overall labor market.

A COVID-19 testing site in Manhattan in March 2022.

A COVID-19 testing site in Manhattan in March 2022. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Long COVID

A Food and Drug Administration expert panel this week will consider a process for updating COVID shots that resembles the annual strain selection process for seasonal flu vaccines, according to briefing documents released on Monday.  

The big picture: The agency is sketching out a long-term strategy that responds to new strains and shifting threats, replacing a system that's been largely drawn up and revised on the fly.

Advisers are due to meet on Thursday to discuss the state of the pandemic and whether COVID vaccines need to be modified again.

Details: FDA anticipates conducting an assessment at least annually starting in the spring, with advisers meeting around early June to discuss the strain selection process.

A decision on the recommended vaccine composition could be made in time for any updated vaccine to be in production in time to be deployed no later than September, according to the documents.

A more vaccine-resistant variant would likely trigger, on an as-needed basis, an ad-hoc strain selection meeting.

Public health officials have previously said they think COVID shots could be administered on an annual schedule, like for the flu.

Looking ahead:  After the panel meeting, the FDA will consider whether to change existing vaccine authorizations and the process to select strains.

FDA weighs process for annual COVID shots

A Food and Drug Administration expert panel this week will consider a process for updating COVID shots that resembles the annual strain selection process for seasonal flu vaccines, according to briefing documents released on Monday.

Tanvi Nayak, 22, receives a bivalent COVID-19 booster from pharmacist Morgan Murphy at a CVS store. Photo: Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

COVID-19 vaccines

The federal health department's framework for monitoring high-risk research on viruses and other agents that can cause pandemics doesn't meet key criteria for effective oversight, a new watchdog report concludes. 

What they found: The Government Accountability Office found HHS has an unclear policy for reviewing and approving research involving pathogens that are altered to make them more transmissible or deadly — and that other policy gaps may allow the research to occur without appropriate oversight.

The report faults HHS for not fleshing out what work "reasonably anticipated to create, transfer, or use enhanced potential pandemic pathogens" under a 2017 framework should be referred for extra reviews of risks and benefits.

That could leave HHS without assurance it is reviewing all necessary research proposals, GAO says.

Don't forget: The report comes as House Republicans plan to ramp up oversight of federal health agencies' response to COVID-19 — long a front-burner issue for the GOP.

Background: HHS does its own research to identify and prepare for public health threats. But it also funds and reviews work at universities, medical schools, biotech companies and other research institutions.

The department has reviewed three research proposals under the 2017 framework, per the GAO report. Two studies involving highly infectious avian influenza have concluded while a third influenza proposal was revised so that didn't involve enhanced pathogen research.

The report recommended that HHS set a standard to ensure consistency in identifying high-risk research for departmental review and identify and share non-sensitive information with researchers, Congress and the public about the review process.

Watchdog faults HHS oversight of research on possible pandemic pathogens

The federal health department's framework for monitoring high-risk research on viruses and other agents that can cause pandemics doesn't meet key criteria for effective oversight, a new watchdog report concludes.

The Department of Health and Human Services building in Washington D.C. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

The departure of COVID chief science officer David Kessler, announced Friday by the White House, marks the unofficial end of the "Operation Warp Speed" era and the extraordinary all-of-government response to the pandemic.

Why it matters: The cross-agency effort the Trump and Biden administrations ran to speed up production and distribution of COVID therapeutics is widely viewed as one of the few legitimate successes in the federal pandemic response.

But some experts say the government took its foot off the gas way too early, beginning last year with the end of new federal funding for the effort.

What they're saying: Kessler's most valuable contributions came in the way he interacted and brokered deals with drugmakers and kept the flow of countermeasures available to the public, said former NIAID director Anthony Fauci.

"Most of what he does is behind the scenes, but it's very valuable," Fauci said of the former FDA administrator, who helped develop and approve HIV/AIDS drugs in the 1990s.

Fauci himself retired at the end of last year and has not been replaced. Nor has former NIH Director Francis Collins, who left at the end of 2021 but quickly returned as an acting science adviser to Biden.

Jeff Zients, Biden's first COVID response coordinator, left last year and was replaced with Ashish Jha. Zients was largely known for his operational chops, while Jha, a former dean of the Brown School of Public Health, is known for his subject matter expertise.

The big picture: The Trump administration launched Operation Warp Speed just months into the pandemic. The FDA authorized the first COVID vaccine in December of the same year, shaving years off of the typical vaccine development and approval process.

Shortly before the Biden administration took office in January, Kessler took the reins from Moncef Slaoui, and the White House announced that the name Operation Warp Speed would be retired.

Biden, Kessler and the rest of the COVID team inherited the operation amid a tumultuous initial rollout of the shots. Although two vaccines had already been authorized, the key challenge for them would be getting them in arms — and doing so in an equitable way.

Kessler has since overseen the arrival of several other vaccines, including versions for children. He also oversaw the arrival (and exit) of multiple COVID therapies to market, including Pfizer's antiviral Paxlovid.

He was a key player in decision-making around vaccine boosters and the challenges presented by ever-evolving virus variants.

There are no plans to replace him, according to a Biden official.

Between the lines: Although funding for COVID treatments and vaccines initially received bipartisan support, Republicans blocked the White House's request for billions in additional pandemic response funding last year. The existing therapies are transitioning to the private market.

That means the federal government is no longer coordinating or taking on financial risks surrounding new treatments and vaccines, which some experts have said is a mistake. Many have called for investment in areas like variant-resistant vaccines, new antivirals and vaccines administered via the nose.

New therapeutics for all kinds of diseases have come to market without such heavy-handed federal intervention. But the pandemic poses unique challenges, especially the speed at which the virus evolves.

"HHS has a team of doctors, scientists, and public health officials with deep expertise and experience that will continue to work in close coordination with the White House and private industry on research and development, including next-generation vaccines," said an HHS spokesperson.

By the numbers: Existing products aren't exactly in high demand. Less than 18% of American adults have received an updated booster shot, per the CDC, including only 38% of seniors.

The bottom line: The pandemic is unlikely to register for most Americans or politicians unless a dangerous, vaccine-resistant new variant emerges. If that does happen, the country will be unprepared.

The end of Operation Warp Speed is a mistake, said Robert Kadlec, who worked on the effort under former President Trump as the assistant secretary for preparedness and response. A new variant could emerge — or an entirely different kind of coronavirus.

"There's no incentive for the companies to anticipate changes in the virus or to fund a universal coronavirus candidate," he said. "And I would argue that it is in the interest of the U.S. government in light of its obligations to prepare for the next pandemic."

The symbolic end of Operation Warp Speed

A key member of Biden's COVID team is retiring, and there's no new federal funding.

Illustration of a mask with the word "exit" punched out to look like an exit sign.

Operation Warp Speed

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Friday that David Kessler, the chief science officer overseeing the U.S.'s COVID response, is set to retire after serving as a key adviser to President Biden.

Why it matters: Kessler served as head of Operation Warp Speed, the federal program aimed at developing and distributing COVID vaccines and treatments, and facilitated efforts to expand the number of vaccination sites across the U.S.  

Kessler also worked with companies like Moderna to provide enough vaccines to the global initiative COVAX during his time in the White House. His team faced criticism for the U.S.'s failure to supply enough vaccines to the rest of the world.

Kessler led the Food and Drug Administration as commissioner from 1990 to 1997 and played a key role in helping combat the AIDS crisis. His retirement is effective next week.

What they're saying: "For decades, Dr. Kessler has worked tirelessly to address our nation’s most challenging public health issues, and his work during the COVID-19 pandemic has been no different," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. 

"Whether he was leading our effort to develop and distribute safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, or sharing his perspective during daily strategy sessions and data deliberations, Dr. Kessler’s contributions to our COVID-19 response have helped save lives. I am grateful for the wisdom he has shared with us and wish him the best in his future endeavors." 

The big picture: It's unclear if HHS will replace Kessler or phase out his role amid pressure to end the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Public health experts have warned of yet another potential COVID wave in the U.S. as the newest Omicron variant XBB.1.5 — nicknamed Kraken — spreads across the country.

An HHS spokesperson said in a statement that the department "has a team of doctors, scientists, and public health officials ... that will continue to work in close coordination with the White House and private industry on research and development" to protect Americans from COVID.

Biden's chief science officer, who oversaw COVID response, to retire

It's unclear if the Department of Health and Human Services will replace him or phase out his role.

Photo of David Kessler speaking in a hearing while gesturing with his hands

David Kessler, the Department of Health and Human Services' chief science officer for COVID response, speaks during a Senate committee hearing on May 11, 2021 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Greg Nash/Pool via Getty Images

COVID-19

Joe Biden

Public health

People experiencing long COVID may see their symptoms ease within a year, per a study published in BMJ medical journal Wednesday.  

The big picture: The outcome of this new study may provide some hope for the millions of people left newly disabled during the pandemic with a lingering illness that has no effective treatment.

What they did: Researchers, including study author Maytal Bivas-Benita, analyzed health records in Israel for nearly 2 million people who sought a COVID-19 test from March 2020 until October 2021, seeking documentation of symptoms lasting more than one month.

What they found: Those with a mild initial infection had a significantly higher risk of health outcomes like increased risk loss of smell and taste, breathing issues, palpitations, dizziness, and concentration and memory impairment (brain fog).

But most symptoms from long COVID cleared up within 12 months for the people who had mild initial infections, the study found.

Worth noting: A report from the U.K. Office for National Statistics found that of the 2.1 million people who self-reported long COVID symptoms, 30% said they'd been experiencing symptoms for at least two years.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that long COVID conditions can last for years. 

Between the lines: Benjamin Abramoff, director of the Penn Medicine Post-COVID Assessment and Recovery Clinic, told CNN the study was "reassuring in that most ongoing symptoms following COVID do improve over the first several months following the acute infection."

However, Abramoff noted that his clinic was still seeing lots of patients who had severe long COVID symptoms that lasted for over a year.

"This is particularly true in those individuals who had severe persistent symptoms early after their acute infection," added Abramoff, who leads the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation's long COVID collaborative, and who wasn't involved in the study.

Thought bubble via Axios' Tina Reed: This is a rare bit of encouraging news about what has thus far remained a mysterious, scary and debilitating condition for millions. 

If the findings bear out, it could also be particularly important economic news, as it tested already taxed health systems and led to hundreds of thousands of newly disabled Americans.

Long COVID is still disabling millions of Americans

Study: Long COVID symptoms may ease within a year

This is a rare bit of encouraging news about what has thus far remained a mysterious, scary and debilitating condition for millions.

A woman struggling with long COVID in Fairfax, Virginia, last February. Photo: Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images

A look at the scientific breakthroughs changing the world, explorations in space and in worlds beyond our own and the threats posed to us by our own planet, both out of our control and of our own making.

Science

Moderna is considering charging $110 to $130 per dose of its COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. after its contract with the government expires, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel told the Wall Street Journal.

The big picture: A wavering demand for the shots paired with private market pressures are expected to cost manufacturers billions once the federal government stops buying the doses and sales shift to commercial distribution.

State of play: The government pays about $26 per dose for Moderna’s updated booster shots. 

It has provided the vaccines at no cost to consumers, but Americans will soon lose free access to government-funded COVID tests, treatments and vaccines. The cost will be transferred to patients through premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

The U.S. bought more doses than Americans would ever use in order ensure that the vaccine would be accessible, Axios' Caitlin Owens reports, adding that private purchasers won't tolerate such redundancy or waste.

About 17% of U.S. adults have received the updated booster shot that became available in September.

What they're saying: "I would think this type of pricing is consistent with the value," Bancel told the WSJ on Monday.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called the price boost "outrageous" and sent a letter to Bancel Tuesday, urging the company to "refrain from any price increase in light of the role the federal government has played in the development of the vaccine."

"In the midst of a public health crisis, quadrupling the price of a publicly-funded COVID-19 vaccine is unacceptable corporate greed," Sanders, the incoming chairman of the Senate Health Committee, said.

Flashback: Pfizer also said last fall that it plans to charge $110 to $130 per dose for its COVID-19 vaccine once government purchases end this year.

Zoom out: Prices differ for different types of vaccine doses from a variety of manufacturers.

An adult flu shot, for example, costs anywhere from $14 to $28, according data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC cost for a measles dose manufactured by Merck costs about $56, or about $90 for the private sector.

Moderna considers charging $110-$130 for COVID vaccine dose

A wavering demand for the shots paired with private market pressures are expected to cost manufacturers billions.

Illustration of syringe with dollar signs, almost empty. 

Moderna

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

China has removed more than 1,000 social media accounts for criticizing the government's COVID-19 policies, BBC reports.

Driving the news: Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, suspended or banned  1,120 accounts for what it described as personal attacks against the county's coronavirus specialists, per BBC.

The platform said it found nearly 13,000 violations, including attacks on experts, scholars and medical workers.

The big picture: The social media sweep comes after China got rid of its strict COVID policies last month amid heightened virus spread, and just before a mandatory quarantine requirement for incoming travelers lifts Sunday and borders reopen to outsiders for the first time in almost three years.

What they're saying: "It is not acceptable to hurl insults at people who hold a different point of view, or publish personal attacks and views that incite conflicts," Weibo said in a statement per BBC.

Meanwhile, an enormous wave of COVID infections is straining China's medical facilities and the country’s coronavirus death toll could reach almost 1 million people as it reopens.

Go deeper: China travel: More countries impose COVID requirements

China suspends social media accounts criticizing COVID policies

The social media sweep comes just before China's borders reopen to outsiders for the first time in almost three years.

Passenger queue at a train station in Beijing on Jan. 5. Photo: Noel Celis / AFP via Getty Images

China

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

A market in Wuhan, China, was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the virus emerged from activities connected with the live animal trade, according to research published in Science on Tuesday.

Why it matters: The case-mapping and genetic studies offer some of the strongest evidence yet that the coronavirus jumped from an animal host to humans — a type of zoonotic spillover seen in other outbreaks like SARS, from 2002 to 2004.

What they found: There were two lineages of the virus introduced in humans as early as November 2019.

The variants over time spread into the neighborhoods surrounding the market and beyond, challenging the idea the market was the source of a single superspreader event.

Early cases linked to the part of the market where wildlife sales took place resemble cross-species transmissions later observed on mink farms and from infected hamsters to humans in the pet trade.

What they’re saying: University of Glasgow virologist David Robertson told BBC News he hoped the studies would "correct the false record that the virus came from a lab."

"In a city covering more than 3,000 square miles, the area with the highest probability of containing the home of someone who had one of the earliest COVID-19 cases in the world was an area of a few city blocks, with the Huanan market smack dab inside it," per University of Arizona biologist Michael Worobey.

The intrigue: While early patient data showed few of those hospitalized had a direct link to the market, Robertson said, “it's exactly what we would expect, because many people only get very mildly ill, so they would be out in the community transmitting the virus to others and the severe cases would be hard to link to each other.”

A map of samples collected from market stalls showed most that tested positive for the virus were on the southwestern side, where animals like Raccoon dogs and hedgehogs were sold.

Flashback: An unclassified intelligence report into COVID’s origin released last year was inconclusive, stating the two dominant theories — that it came from a lab leak or was naturally transmitted from an animal — remain plausible.

A World Health Organization-backed team of scientists said in June that available data suggests SARS-CoV-2 had a zoonotic origin and that the theory that the virus escaped from a laboratory needs “further investigations,” per the Washington Post.

The bottom line: Accurately determining the causes of COVID-19 will go a long way toward informing what can and should be done to prevent the next pandemic.

Wuhan market pinpointed as pandemic's Ground Zero

The case-mapping and genetic studies offer some of the strongest evidence yet that the coronavirus jumped from an animal host to humans.

Vitals

Axios Vitals

Data: CDC; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals 

The COVID-19 vaccine strategy for the fall remains beset with unanswered questions after an FDA expert panel on Tuesday spent hours debating how and whether to update the shots.

All Coronavirus stories