Joe Hernandez

Pfizer and BioNTech have begun a clinical trial to evaluate a new, omicron-specific vaccine for COVID-19, the pharmaceutical companies announced Tuesday.

Though people who are vaccinated and boosted appear to be better protected against severe disease and hospitalization from omicron, the highly contagious variant has still led to breakthrough cases and a surge in overall infections across the world.

Billionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has launched an online pharmacy for generic drugs that promises steep discounts over traditional distributors.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is prohibiting students from wearing only cloth face masks on campus as the country grapples with a continued surge of COVID-19 infections driven by the omicron variant.

The district announced updated guidance on Friday requiring students to wear "well-fitting, non-cloth masks with a nose wire" both indoors and outdoors. Employees will have to wear surgical grade masks or higher.

Students and employees will be able to get masks from the district if they need them.

The situation along the Russia-Ukraine border remains tense, as Russia has amassed an estimated 100,000 troops just across the divide while Ukraine's outnumbered military prepares to defend itself against a possible invasion.

The Smithsonian Institution has tapped Cynthia Chavez Lamar to become the director of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., which has one of the largest collections of Native and Indigenous items in the world.

She will be the first Native woman to serve as a Smithsonian museum director, the institution announced Wednesday.

A jury was seated Thursday in the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers who were on the scene when fellow officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes and ultimately killed him.

A pool reporter in the courtroom said of the 10 women and eight men chosen for the jury, 16 appeared to be white and two appeared to be Asian.

Oklahoma will allow state employees to work as substitute teachers — while keeping their current jobs — as it attempts to keep schools open for in-person learning in the face of widespread staffing shortages.

It's the latest state to float an unorthodox solution to the problem of teachers and school staff calling out sick in high numbers because of an omicron-driven spike in COVID-19 infections across the country.

Four inmates at an Arkansas jail have filed a federal lawsuit after they say medical staff gave them the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to treat COVID-19 without telling them what it was. The inmates said they were told the medicines they were taking were "vitamins," "antibiotics" or "steroids."

One of the hostages who escaped from a gunman holding three people captive in a Texas synagogue over the weekend has recounted the harrowing final moments of the tense 10-hour standoff.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker said in an interview with CBS This Morning that at one point he noticed the gunman wasn't in a good position, and Cytron-Walker made sure the other two hostages were ready to flee.

No tickets will be sold for the upcoming winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing due to the "grave and complicated situation of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Instead, organizers announced Monday that they would invite groups of spectators to attend the games in person.

The man who took hostages at a Texas synagogue on Saturday and died after a stand-off with police was 44-year-old British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, the FBI said in a statement on Sunday.

There was "no indication" that other individuals were involved in the incident, the bureau added.

A major winter storm that is already dropping snow and freezing rain on the Southern U.S. will send temperatures plunging, cause hazardous road conditions and power outages and move up the East Coast in the coming hours.

The major system could leave more than a foot of snow and in excess of a quarter inch of ice in some areas, the National Weather Service warned.

The woman in charge of firearms on the set of the film Rust, where a deadly October shooting left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead, is blaming the movie's ammunition supplier for the fatal accident.

No, you're not imagining it. Some grocery store shelves are bare again, conjuring bad memories of spring 2020 for many.

Social media is rife with images of empty supermarket aisles and signs explaining the lack of available food and other items. Stores such as Aldi have apologized to customers for the shortages.

Three companies that sell in-home elevators have announced voluntary recalls over concerns that children could become trapped inside and face serious injury or death, federal regulators announced Tuesday.

New York City authorities have revised down the number of people who died in a five-alarm fire inside a Bronx high-rise building on Sunday.

Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday that 17 people lost their lives in the fire, including eight children.

City officials previously said on Sunday that 19 people perished in the blaze, including nine children.

U.S. greenhouse gas emissions rose by 6.2% last year compared with 2020, new data released Monday shows.

The spike was attributed to a slew of causes, including behavior changes after COVID-19 vaccines became widely available, the research firm Rhodium Group reported. But it also means governmental goals to combat climate change may now be in jeopardy, an outcome that environmental advocates say is alarming.

A malfunctioning space heater sparked a major fire in a New York City high-rise apartment building Sunday morning, leaving at least 19 people dead — including nine children, city officials said Sunday evening.

Officials said the blaze in the city's Bronx borough injured more than 63 people, 32 of whom were in life-threatening condition.

"This is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the city of New York," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said earlier on Sunday.

A dispute between the Chicago public school system and its teachers union has dragged on with the two sides continuing to negotiate for an end to a work stoppage by the city's educators.

Public school students in Chicago aren't learning again Monday, as the bitter standoff means classes are canceled for the fourth day.

Travis and Greg McMichael, who were convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. William "Roddie" Bryan, who was also convicted in the case, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole — meaning he must serve at least 30 years before he's eligible for release.

Say goodbye to GMOs. The new term for foods created with a boost from science is "bioengineered."

As of Jan. 1, food manufacturers, importers and retailers in the U.S. must comply with a new national labeling standard for food that's been genetically modified in a way that isn't possible through natural growth.

"Consider carpooling."

"For day-to-day use, take public transportation."

"For short trips, opt for walking or cycling."

Car ads in France will soon have to include these messages encouraging people to take more environmentally friendly means of transportation under a new law taking effect this year, according to media reports.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering altering its recommendations for people with COVID-19 after it got pushback on its new guidelines, Dr. Anthony Fauci said.

President Biden's chief medical adviser said there was "some concern" that the CDC told people to isolate for five days but did not recommend that they get a negative test before leaving isolation.

Facebook suspended an account of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's for 24 hours for spreading misinformation about COVID-19, a day after Twitter permanently suspended the Republican's personal account on that platform.

On other social media platforms Monday, Greene shared a screenshot of a message from Facebook, alerting her that her account had been blocked.