U.S. health officials are recommending that people 50 and older get a shot against bacteria that can cause pneumonia and other dangerous illnesses.

The COVID-19 treatments millions of have taken for free from the federal government will enter the private market next week with a hefty price tag.

Merck is suing the federal government over a plan to negotiate Medicare drug prices, calling the program a sham equivalent to extortion.

Shares of Merck and Moderna jumped early Tuesday after the drugmakers said a potential skin cancer vaccine they are developing using the same technology behind COVID-19 preventive shots did well in a mid-stage study.

COVID-19 patients have two treatment options that can be taken at home.

Pfizer’s new COVID-19 treatment came with a catch when it debuted late last year: It can take months to make the tablets.

A U.N.-backed group says it has signed agreements with more than two dozen generic drug makers to produce versions of Merck’s coronavirus pill to supply 105 developing countries.

Two brand-new COVID-19 pills that were supposed to be an important weapon against the pandemic in the U.S. are in short supply and have played little role in the fight against the omicron wave of infections.

Michigan health officials say the state has received its first shipment of newly authorized COVID-19 pill treatments, but it’ll only be prescribed in certain situations due to limited supply.

Newly infected COVID-19 patients have two new treatment options that can be taken at home.

Pfizer said its experimental COVID pill reduces the risk of hospitalization or death by 89%.

Pfizer says that its experimental COVID-19 pill appears effective against the omicron variant.

An anti-COVID pill made by drugmaker Merck has been under review by officials, and on Wednesday its fate rested in the hands of the FDA.

A new antiviral coronavirus treatment pill is close to being made available to patients. The pill works to reduce the progression of severe symptoms and hospitalizations.

The European Medicines Agency has issued emergency use advice for using Merck’s COVID-19 pill, even though the oral medicine has not yet been authorized.

Pfizer is seeking U.S. authorization of its experimental COVID-19 treatment pill.

Pfizer says its experimental pill for COVID-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% among patients with mild-to-moderate infections.

A new study found a cheap antidepressant reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with COVID-19.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will ask its outside experts to review Merck's pill to treat COVID-19 at a meeting in late November.

Drugmaker Merck asked U.S. regulators Monday to authorize its pill for treating COVID-19 in what would add an entirely new and easy-to-use weapon to the world’s arsenal against the pandemic.

Here are this morning's top stories.

Here are this morning's top stories.

There may soon be another weapon in the battle against COVID-19.

Here are this morning's top stories.

At least 92% of Denver’s municipal employees were vaccinated against COVID-19 Friday, a day after the city’s vaccine mandate took effect in a bid to slow the spread of the virus during the fall and winter, according to a review of city compliance data.

Stocks rebounded on Wall Street Friday but still ended with their worst weekly decline since February.

Strata Oncology in Ann Arbor raised $90 million in a Series C financing round.

U.S. regulators have approved a new pneumonia vaccine from Merck, more than a month after OK'ing an improved version of rival Pfizer’s shot.

A new study shows screening and the HPV vaccine have led to drops in cervical cancers over the last two decades in the U.S. But those gains are offset by a rise in other tumors caused by the virus.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)President Joe Biden delivered his first prime-time speech since taking office. Related: Congress OKs $1.9T virus relief bill in win for Biden, DemsEarlier Thursday, Biden signed a landmark $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. “This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Biden said as he signed the bill in the Oval Office. Biden originally planned to sign the bill on Friday, but it arrived at the White House more quickly than anticipated. Ad“We want to move as fast as possible,” tweeted White House chief of staff Ron Klain.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)President Joe Biden is set to deliver his first prime-time address since taking office. Watch live at 8 p.m. Thursday:Related: Congress OKs $1.9T virus relief bill in win for Biden, DemsEarlier Thursday, Biden signed a landmark $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. “This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Biden said as he signed the bill in the Oval Office. Biden originally planned to sign the bill on Friday, but it arrived at the White House more quickly than anticipated. Ad“We want to move as fast as possible,” tweeted White House chief of staff Ron Klain.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)President Joe Biden delivered his first prime-time address since taking office. This live stream has endedRelated: Congress OKs $1.9T virus relief bill in win for Biden, DemsEarlier Thursday, Biden signed a landmark $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. “This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Biden said as he signed the bill in the Oval Office. Biden originally planned to sign the bill on Friday, but it arrived at the White House more quickly than anticipated. Ad“We want to move as fast as possible,” tweeted White House chief of staff Ron Klain.

FILE - In this March 5, 2021, file photo, President Joe Biden participates in a roundtable discussion on a coronavirus relief package in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)President Biden hosted an event with the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson and Merck Wednesday afternoon at the White House. Merck had previously been working on two of its vaccine candidates but stopped that work after early clinical trial data showed a poor immune response. The J&J vaccine can be stored in a normal refrigerator unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines -- it’s not a mRNA vaccine. Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky is a native Michigander.

DETROIT – President Joe Biden announced that pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. will help manufacture Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine. The arrangement comes after officials found out that Johnson & Johnson had fallen behind on production. Johnson & Johnson has pledged 16 million additional doses by the end of the month. READ: Michigan loosens COVID restrictions on restaurants -- here are all the detailsMichigan is also playing a role in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. READ: Grand Rapids-based Grand River Aseptic to help manufacture J&J vaccineAdQuestions about coronavirus?

The administration is invoking the Defense Production Act, a wartime measure that gives the federal government authority to direct private companies to meet the needs of the national defense, to equip two Merck facilities to produce the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. AdBiden said Johnson & Johnson will operate 24/7 to produce the vaccine. Tom Wolf said Tuesday that teachers will receive doses of the newly approved one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, under a plan his administration will release. AdHe gave few details, but said he and a bipartisan legislative task force agreed that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be set aside for teachers and then other workers considered to be essential, but who are not included in the first vaccination phase. States are receiving 2.8 million doses of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week.

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)KENILWORTH – Longtime Merck executive Ken Frazier, whose leadership helped bring the drugmaker one of the most lucrative medicines in history and who is one of the few remaining Black CEOs of a major corporation, is retiring. Frazier, Merck’s CEO since early 2011 and an advocate for minority advancement who took on then-President Trump’s tacit support of white supremacists, will retire on June 30. He is one of the few Black CEOs at the head of a Fortune 500 company. At Merck, Frazier clashed with then-President Donald Trump over his refusal to condemn violence by the white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Share prices have more than doubled, and revenue has nearly doubled, under Frazier as CEO.

The drugmaker will stop developing two potential COVID-19 vaccines after seeing poor results in early-stage studies. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)Merck is giving up on two potential COVID-19 vaccines following poor results in early-stage studies. The company said its potential vaccines were well tolerated by patients, but they generated an inferior immune system response compared with other vaccines. Merck was developing one of the potential vaccines with France’s Pasteur Institute based on an existing measles vaccine. Five potential vaccines have reached late-stage testing in the United States, the final phase before a drugmaker seeks approval from regulators.

State health officials Monday reported fewer than 13,000 people were being treated for the virus in Texas hospitals, marking the seventh consecutive day of declining patient loads. Some hospitals and clinics have reported having to cancel immunization appointments because they didn’t have enough vaccine doses to distribute. A little more than half of Ochsner employees have yet to get the vaccine, officials said at a news conference Monday. Tessa Walker Linderman, co-lead of Alaska’s COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force, told reporters the state expects to learn soon what its vaccine allocation will be for February. Health officials are also worried about variants that were first reported in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

KENILWORTH, NJ Big jumps in sales of Merck's top two blockbuster drugs drove revenue up 15%, but higher spending across the board pushed profits down 3% in the third quarter. The quarter was dominated again by advanced cancer drug Keytruda, with sales soaring 62% to $3.07 billion, more than a quarter of Merck's $11.1 billion in revenue from prescription medicines. The maker of Januvia Type 2 diabetes pills and vaccines on Tuesday reported total revenue of $12.4 billion, including $1.12 billion in sales of veterinary medicines. Merck narrowed and raised its per-share 2019 profit forecast to between $5.12 and $5.17, up from its July forecast of $3.78 to $3.88. It also narrowed and raised its full-year forecast for sales to a range of between $46.5 billion and $47 billion, up from between $45.2 billion and $46.2 billion.