New analyses of Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine indicate strong protection against COVID-19 within about 10 days of the first dose, much sooner than initially thought. Efficacy is about 52% with the first dose, then reaches about 95% with the second, the evidence shows.

In England, a 90-year-old grandmother named Maggie Keenan and an 81-year-old man named William Shakespeare have become the first and second non-trial recipients of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.

Under a health care provider’s request, patients can now collect a home sample for combination COVID-19 and influenza testing and send it to Quest Diagnostic laboratory for analysis.

New treatments for sickle cell disease, including gene editing, are in the works after a decades-long lull in drug development for the condition primarily affecting African Americans.

In August, HHS announced that it expanded pharmacists’ authority to immunize children ages 3 to 18 years with vaccines recommended by CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and authorized or licensed by FDA. This will include the COVID-19 vaccine.