FDA

The White House push to vaccinate against the coronavirus will have a new name and new leadership under the Biden administration.

The "Operation Warp Speed" name will be retired, incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted on Friday. She said there was an "urgent need to address the failures of the Trump team approach to vaccine distribution." Psaki did not say what the new name will be.

Updated at 9:34 p.m. ET

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a Trump administration request to reinstate restrictions for patients seeking to obtain a drug used to terminate early pregnancies.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning health care workers that any changes to the authorized dosing schedules of COVID-19 vaccines currently being administered will significantly place public health at risk and undermine "the historic vaccination effort to protect the population" from the coronavirus pandemic.

Health care workers across the U.S. are getting a new arrow in their quiver.

Updated at 2:05 p.m. ET

Vice President Pence, second lady Karen Pence and Surgeon General Jerome Adams received a COVID-19 vaccine on Friday at the White House in a televised event aimed at showing the vaccine is safe and effective.

Pence, wearing a short-sleeve dress shirt, pushed up his sleeve to get the vaccine. He appeared to be smiling underneath his mask and did not watch as he was administered the vaccine by a member of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

"I didn't feel a thing! Well done!" Pence said after getting the shot.

The Food and Drug Administration released a detailed analysis Tuesday morning of the COVID-19 vaccine from drugmaker Moderna that supports the authorization of the company's vaccine for emergency use.

The FDA's briefing document along with one from Moderna were posted two days before a group of experts will convene to advise the agency on whether to grant the vaccine emergency authorization for use, or EUA, during the pandemic.

Britain has announced changes that will allow more gay and bixsexual men to donate blood – a major victory for campaigners who had sought changes to the rules they said treated all gay and bi men as posing an increased risk of infection.

Previously, the government's donor policy dictated that men who have sex with men had to abstain for three months in order to donate.

Updated Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET

With the FDA now authorizing the emergency use of a coronavirus vaccine, a huge logistical challenge looms. That is, transporting and distributing the vaccines quickly and efficiently to those who need it most all around the world.

It's a complex task that will involve not only shipping companies like FedEx and UPS, but also airlines better known for carrying people, not cargo.