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The Biden administration is considering using federal regulatory powers and the threat of withholding federal funds from institutions to push more Americans to get vaccinated — a huge potential shift in the fight against the virus and a far more muscular approach to getting shots into arms, according to four people familiar with the deliberations. The effort could apply to institutions as varied as long-term-care facilities, cruise ships and universities, potentially impacting millions of Americans, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations. (Linskey and Pager, 8/5)

The Biden administration hopes it can encourage more children to get vaccinated through a network of pediatricians administering back-to-school sports physicals, schools hosting "pop-up" vaccination clinics and pediatricians parachuting into PTA meetings. They are all part of a final sprint — being announced Thursday by the White House and the Education Department — to vaccinate more children over age 12 before thousands of schools reopen amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections, according to an administration official familiar with the plans. (Przybyla, 8/5)

Thursday, the Biden administration announced a new push to vaccinate young people as they head back to school, backing initiatives such as hosting pop-up clinics on campus; sending pediatricians to back-to-school nights to discuss the shots with parents; and incorporating vaccination against covid-19 into physicals for student athletes. The United States has been vaccinating children as young as 12 since May, but that group remains less likely than adults to have their shots. “The resources are there and the urgency is there,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said at a news briefing. (Knowles, 8/5)

The White House on Thursday hit back at Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis after he told President Joe Biden he will stand "in his way" while the country experiences an alarming surge of COVID-19 cases, with press secretary Jen Psaki saying the "facts" about hospitalizations in Florida speak for themselves. At Thursday's briefing with reporters, ABC News Correspondent Stephanie Ramos raised DeSantis’ latest fundraising push using the president’s comments from Tuesday urging DeSantis to help or "get out of the way," and she asked whether Biden is considering reaching out to DeSantis. (Crawford, 8/5)

Since President Joe Biden asked the Pentagon last week to look at adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the military’s mandatory shots, former Army lawyer Greg T. Rinckey has fielded a deluge of calls. His firm, Tully Rinckey, has heard from hundreds of soldiers, Marines and sailors wanting to know their rights and whether they could take any legal action if ordered to get inoculated for the coronavirus. “A lot of U.S. troops have reached out to us saying, ‘I don’t want a vaccine that’s untested, I’m not sure it’s safe, and I don’t trust the government’s vaccine. What are my rights?’” Rinckey said. (Watson, 8/6)

The White House isn’t urging former President Donald Trump to help get vaccine shots into arms as it confronts an uptick in COVID-19 cases across the country, including in states where Trump allies said he could help. While press secretary Jen Psaki credited South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican and Trump ally, for his advocacy, the White House has proven less keen to embrace the former president himself. (Doyle, 8/5)

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who recently tested positive for COVID-19, told AP on Thursday that he's urged former President Trump "to be aggressive and say, 'Take the vaccine'" to increase vaccination rates. Some Republicans have pushed Trump, who was vaccinated in January, to become more vocal in pushing his supporters to get the vaccine. (Gonzalez, 8/5)