What does full approval of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine mean?

It means Pfizer's shot for people 16 and older has now undergone the same rigorous testing and regulatory review as dozens of other long-established vaccines.

China reported no new domestic coronavirus cases Monday, and Beijing appears poised to bring to heel the pandemic's most serious resurgence in months -- driven by the highly contagious Delta variant -- with mass testing and targeted lockdowns.

The latest outbreak, which began in mid-July when cleaners at a Nanjing airport tested positive, is the most severe since Covid-19 first surfaced in the central city of Wuhan.

Israel said Monday it would offer Covid-19 vaccinations to students on school grounds as it announced the school year would open on time next week, despite surging coronavirus cases.

"Pupils... will be vaccinated on school grounds during school hours, subject to parental approval," a government statement said, confirming classes would begin on September 1.

Legal battles over masks in schools are being fought across the country, including in Arkansas, California, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma, Nevada and Texas.

Rather than clarifying policy, these legal challenges have led to more confusion.

Israel has made third booster shots against COVID-19 available to people age 40 and older in an effort to fight a surge of the delta variant.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is 49, got his jab on Friday. He pledged to share "all the data, all the information, all the insights" of the effort. Israel has been a leader in the fight against the deadly coronavirus and last month became the first country to offer booster shots. The U.S. has approved, but not yet made available, boosters for older Americans as well.

Drug firm AstraZeneca on Friday announced positive results from a trial of a treatment for Covid-19 symptoms.

The drug, made from a combination of two antibodies, was initially developed as a treatment for those who had already been exposed to the disease.

U.S. health officials may soon recommend COVID-19 booster shots for fully vaccinated Americans. A look at what we know about boosters and how they could help fight the coronavirus:

WHY MIGHT WE NEED BOOSTERS?

U.S. health experts are expected to recommend COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all Americans, regardless of age, eight months after they received their second dose of the shot, to ensure lasting protection against the coronavirus as the delta variant spreads across the country.

Federal health officials have been actively looking at whether extra shots for the vaccinated would be needed as early as this fall, reviewing case numbers in the U.S. as well as the situation in other countries such as Israel, where preliminary studies suggest the vaccine's protection against serious illness dropped among those vaccinated in January.

Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has provided medical supplies and human resources to hospitals in Lebanon who are admitting wounded patients from the horrific fuel tank explosion in the northern region of Akkar.

“The health system in Lebanon is responding to this latest tragic development under extremely challenging conditions,” said Joao Martins, MSF’s Head of Mission in Lebanon.

Anger and grief collided in a crowded Beirut hospital Sunday as relatives of burn victims from a fuel tanker explosion in north Lebanon waited breathlessly for news of loved ones.