The Department of Health and Human Services plans to cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu.

A federal judge says it was illegal for the Trump administration to cancel several hundred research grants issued by the National Institutes of Health.

The Food and Drug Administration is again trying to rehire some staffers who were recently fired amid mass layoffs at the agency.

As part of recent federal cuts, the Department of Health and Human Services reportedly cut the Firefighter Health Program.

The Trump administration has laid off the entire staff of a $4.1 billion program that helps low-income households nationwide pay for heat.

Legal aid clinics that represent migrant children alone in the U.S. say they are still in limbo a day after a federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration temporarily reinstate direct legal assistance.

Thousands of people at the nation’s top health agencies were laid off Tuesday.

As they readied to leave work Monday, some workers at the Food and Drug Administration were told to pack their laptops and prepare for the possibility that they wouldn’t be back.

An appeals court in California has refused to halt a judge’s order requiring the Trump administration to rehire thousands of probationary workers who were let go in mass firings.

President Donald Trump has nominated a Republican attorney who was once accused of mishandling taxpayer funds and who has a history of launching investigations against abortion clinics to lead the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.

Two federal judges have handed down orders requiring President Donald Trump’s administration to rehire thousands, if not tens of thousands, of probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies.

About 300 protesters rallied outside the headquarters of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Department of Health and Human Services officials expected most of the agency’s roughly 5,200 probationary employees to be fired.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. returns Thursday for the second day of his confirmation hearing after President Donald Trump tapped him to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert F.

Texas dropped its lawsuit after federal health officials said they wouldn’t enforce a confidentiality regulation for minors.

Attorneys for migrant children who arrived to the United States on their own say the Biden administration’s new rules are not enough to ensure their safety while they are in U.S. custody and should not replace a decades-old agreement that requires court oversight.

The Biden administration is estimating that it could collect as much as $4.7 billion from insurance companies with newer and tougher penalties for submitting improper charges on the taxpayers’ tab for Medicare Advantage care.

The World Health Organization says the number of coronavirus cases rose by 18% in the last week, with more than 4.1 million new cases reported globally.

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is providing logistical support to import the equivalent of about 16 million 8-ounce baby formula bottles from Mexico.

Another member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet has tested positive for COVID-19.

With the nation yearning for a new normal after its long struggle with the coronavirus, U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra is warning that vaccines, tests and treatments will be “stuck on the ground” unless Congress provides additional funds the White House has demanded.

An influential scientific advisory panel says the U.S. transplant system needs an overhaul to stop wasting organs and give more patients a fair chance.

A federal watchdog says the government's main health agency is failing to meet its responsibilities for leading the national response to public health emergencies including the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather disasters and even potential bioterrorist attacks.

The Biden administration is reversing a ban on abortion referrals by federally funded family planning clinics.

Some immigrant teens say they've waited weeks or months in massive facilities and don't know when they'll be released to relatives in the United States.

The Justice Department is announcing criminal charges against more than a dozen people from Florida to California in a series of Medicare scams that exploited coronavirus fears to bill tens of millions of dollars in bogus claims.

The Biden administration says the government will protect gay and transgender people against sex discrimination in health care, reversing a Trump-era policy.

The Biden administration is unveiling a coalition of community, religious and celebrity partners to promote COVID-19 shots as it seeks to overcome vaccine hesitancy.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized two changes to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine that can provide extra doses from each vial.

A lawyer, not a doctor, his main experience with the health care system came through helping to pass the Obama-era Affordable Care Act and defending it when Donald Trump was president. AdBecerra also will also be the point man on Biden's health care agenda, which includes insurance for all Americans, deputizing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and tackling persistent racial and ethnic disparities in the health care system. Prescription drugs and health insurance will lead to major legislative battles. “It’s a different time and it’s a time of tremendous opportunity in health care,” he said. But during committee hearings several indicated a willingness to work with on prescription drugs, rural health care and other matters.

BALTIMORE – The Biden administration hopes to relieve the strain of thousands of unaccompanied children coming to the southern border by ending a Trump-era order that discouraged potential family sponsors from coming forward to care for them. It comes as U.S. authorities saw a 60% increase in children crossing the southwest border alone between January and February to more than 9,400. Officials say children are staying an average of 37 days at Health and Human Services-sponsored facilities. AdEarlier this week, the administration announced it was resuming a program that Trump ended that makes it easier for Central American children to join their parents in the United States. Under the Central American minors policy, children can apply for legal status in the United States in their own countries instead of making the dangerous journey to the U.S. border with Mexico.

(Michigan Office of the Governor via AP, File)ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The entire University of Michigan athletic department is pausing after several positive tests for the new COVID-19 variant that transmits at a higher rate. The state Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday it issued recommendations for the school, although not an order. The school said Saturday night its move followed the positive COVID-19 tests for several individuals linked to the athletic department. The women's team currently has its highest AP ranking ever. The Wolverines were supposed to play six games between Sunday and Feb. 7, including two against Michigan State.

A court-appointed committee has yet to find the parents of 628 children separated at the border early in the Trump administration. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, along with other top leaders in the Trump administration, were bent on curbing immigration. The “zero tolerance” policy was one of several increasingly restrictive policies aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the Southern border. This new report shows just how far the Trump administration was willing to go to destroy these families. Just when you think the Trump administration can’t sink any lower, it does.”The “zero tolerance” policy meant that any adult caught crossing the border illegally would be prosecuted for illegal entry.

Click here to read the latest on the COVID-19 vaccine.) Senior officials with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense will hold a briefing on Operation Warp Speed and the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday. While that is believed to an undercount because of a lag in reporting, it is well behind where health officials wanted to be. The Texas Department of State Health Services has reported 13,300 patients in hospitals due to the virus, which is a new record. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 vaccines are prioritized for health care workers and nursing home residents for the most part in the U.S.

Nurse Melissa Valentin shows a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be applied to medical personnel at the Ashford Presbyterian Community Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. Click here for more stories about the COVID-19 vaccine.) The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense are expected to hold a briefing on Operation Warp Speed and the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. Packed in dry ice, shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine began arriving Tuesday at more than 400 additional hospitals and other distribution sites. The first 3 million shots are being strictly rationed to front-line health workers and nursing home patients, with hundreds of millions more shots needed over the coming months to protect most Americans.

Separately, Biden picked a Harvard infectious disease expert, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A former senior House Democrat, Becerra was involved in steering the Obama health law through Congress in 2009 and 2010. Biden, who is expected to announce key health care picks as early as Tuesday, is taking a team approach to his administration's virus response. Three churches in Southern California had sued Newsom, Becerra and other state officials because in-person church services had been halted. Becerra studied the advice of famous golfers while practicing with a set of used clubs costing less than $100.

This photo combination shows from left: musician Christina Aguilera in Los Angeles, March 29, 2012, comedian George Lopez in Los Angeles, Dec. 25, 2012, and actor Jack Black in Las Vegas, April 25, 2012. Public relations firms hired by the Department of Health and Human Services vetted the political views of hundreds of celebrities, including Aguilera, Lopez, and Black, for a health education advertising campaign on the coronavirus outbreak. That's according to documents released Thursday by a House committee.

(AP Photo/Lewis Joly)MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne, has loosened lockdown restrictions as new and active COVID-19 continue to decline. Victoria state reported only two new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and no deaths. The total number of cases on the reservation is now 10,913. Nine new deaths were reported, bringing the total number of deaths associated with the virus to 8,466. There are 106,503 total cases reported since the pandemic began in March and 1,168 deaths due to COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

We can’t take another hit.”___MIAMI - Florida has reported a slight uptick in daily confirmed COVID-19 cases, adding 3,449 to its total caseload on Friday. There were 3,861 new coronavirus cases reported in Wisconsin on Friday, breaking the previous record set just a day earlier of 3,747. The report, released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looks at coronavirus-associated deaths reported between May 1 and August 31. The deaths reported Friday include 10 women and eight men, all in their 60s or older. With 222 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, Spain’s total has reached 33,775.

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration health official embroiled in a furor over political meddling with the coronavirus response is taking a leave of absence, the government announced Wednesday. The Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement that Michael Caputo was taking the time “to focus on his health and the well-being of his family.”Caputo, the department's top spokesman, apologized on Tuesday to his staff for a Facebook video in which he reportedly said scientists battling the coronavirus are conspiring against President Donald Trump and warned of shooting in America if Trump were to lose the November election. The Trump appointee also was accused of trying to muzzle a scientific weekly put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)NEW YORK A top U.S. health official triggered a new round of confusion while trying to clarify a change to the coronavirus testing guidance. The change posted this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was sharply criticized by public health experts. It also said a doctor or public health officials could still recommend a test. State Health Officer Scott Harris links increased mask usage to a drop in hospitalizations and the percentage of positive tests. On Thursday, official data showed the U.K. recorded 1,522 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours the most since around mid-June.

The U.S. government announced Tuesday that President Donald Trump had struck an amazing deal to buy the drug for Americans, made by Gilead Sciences. Early trials testing remdesivir in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 found that those who received the drug recovered quicker than those who didnt. It is the only drug licensed by both the U.S. and the European Union as a treatment for those with severe illness due to coronavirus. He added that Britain had a sufficient stock of remdesivir for patients who need it but did not specify how much that was. Experts say the true toll of the pandemic is much higher due to limited testing and other issues.

Public health officials and experts say the heavy reliance on statewide hospital data is a misleading and sometimes irresponsible metric to justify keeping a state open or holding back on imposing new limits. The issue of hospital capacity has gained urgency across the nation this week as Florida, Texas, California, Arizona and other states reported skyrocketing case numbers. Governors have repeatedly invoked hospital capacity in arguing against new business restrictions, though the dynamic began to shift Friday when Texas and Florida clamped down on bars amid an increasingly dire situation with COVID-19. Hospital beds in Houston are filling so fast that Texas Children’s Hospital is starting to treat adult patients, and 97% of ICU beds at Texas Medical Center were in use. Ducey has condemned as “misinformation” the notion that hospital space is running short, even as state data shows that 85% of Arizona’s hospital beds are occupied.

SAN ANTONIO – Update:The Department of Defense has announced Joint Base San Antonio -Lackland’s coronavirus quarantine zone will remain available to patients through mid-March. The citizens will be housed in two existing federal quarantine sites - one at the Travis Air Force Base in California and the other at Joint Base San Antonio - Lackland. It’s currently unknown how many of those people will come to San Antonio after stopping in California. A city source confirmed to KSAT 12 on Saturday that Joint Base San Antonio - Lackland is anticipating an unknown number of people to arrive. The risk to the public remains low, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Thursday.