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Dr. Anthony Fauci is joining the faculty at Georgetown University in his first position after a decades-long government career that included a leading role during the Covid pandemic. Starting next week, Fauci will be a professor at the school of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. He will also work in the McCourt School of Public Policy. (Lebowitz, 6/26)

Dr. Rochelle Walensky is preparing for life after the pandemic. She announced her plans to step down as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 5, just six days before the federal government declared the end of the public health emergency. ... The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with Dr. Walensky as her time leading the CDC winds down. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. (Thomas, 6/26)

Efforts to develop the next generation of Covid vaccines are running up against bureaucratic hassles and regulatory uncertainty, scientists say, obstacles that could make it harder to curb the spread of the coronavirus and arm the United States against future pandemics. The Biden administration, after months of delay, has now addressed at least a shortfall in funding, hurrying to issue the first major grants from a $5 billion program to expedite a new class of more potent and durable inoculations. (Mueller, Weiland and Zimmer, 6/26)

Several billions of dollars left in a scheme to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to the world’s poorest could be diverted to prepare for other pandemics or to support vaccine manufacturing in Africa, the scheme's partners said. The COVAX initiative, run by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), has $2.6 billion left in its coffers as the emergency phase of the pandemic draws to a close, according to documents seen by Reuters and two sources close to the scheme. (Rigby, 6/26)

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News: The DEA Relaxed Online Prescribing Rules During Covid. Now It Wants To Rein Them In. 

Federal regulators want most patients to see a health care provider in person before receiving prescriptions for potentially addictive medicines through telehealth — something that hasn’t been required in more than three years. During the covid-19 public health emergency, the Drug Enforcement Administration allowed doctors and other health care providers to prescribe controlled medicine during telehealth appointments without examining the patient in person. The emergency declaration ended May 13, and in February, the agency proposed new rules that would require providers to see patients at least once in person before prescribing many of those drugs during telehealth visits. (Zionts, 6/27)

Men recently infected with COVID-19 have decreased sperm counts for more than 3 months following even mild infections, and the sperm they do produce is less able to swim, according to new findings presented today at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Denmark. The findings are intriguing because men produce new sperm every 2 or 3 months, and the findings are based on semen analyses taken after 100 days, suggesting COVID does long-term damage to the male reproductive tract. (Soucheray, 6/26)