OVERVIEW : U.S. and overseas developments

The Latest: 2nd reported severe reaction to COVID-19 vaccine FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A second healthcare worker has experienced a severe reaction after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, officials said Friday. Both cases were in Alaska. In the latest,... AP NEWS

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A second healthcare worker has experienced a severe reaction after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, officials said Friday.

Both cases were in Alaska.

In the latest, a worker, identified only as a female clinician, began experiencing probable anaphylactic symptoms about 10 minutes after receiving the shot Thursday in Fairbanks. Symptoms included tongue swelling, hoarse voice and difficulty breathing.

She received two doses of epinephrine at the emergency department at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and was discharged about six hours later. ...

OKLAHOMA CITY — The more than 33,000 initial doses of the coronavirus vaccine sent to Oklahoma have now been delivered across the state and more than 2,200 people have been vaccinated with no significant side effects reported, deputy state health commissioner Keith Reed said Friday. ...

WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Alex Azar continues to test negative for COVID-19 after his wife contracted the coronavirus.

Azar told HHS staffers in an email Thursday that his wife Jennifer has mild symptoms, but overall is doing well and self-isolating at home. He and their children have tested negative.

Azar continues to work, after consulting with Dr. Robert Redfield of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as his own physician. ...

GENEVA — The head of emergencies at the World Health Organization says a team of international experts looking into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic will travel to China the first week of January.

Dr. Michael Ryan says there will be quarantine arrangements for the team, which will visit the suspected site of the outbreak in the city of Wuhan.

“The purpose of the mission is to go to the original point at which human cases were detected and that we fully expect to do that,” he said.

He says the team of international experts will work “with our Chinese colleagues,” and he adds they “will not be ... supervised by Chinese officials.” ...

GENEVA — The head of the World Health Organization says its program to help get COVID-19 vaccines to all countries in need, whether rich or poor, has gained access to nearly 2 billion doses of several vaccine candidates.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the agreements mean that some 190 countries and economies participating in the COVAX program will have access to vaccines “during the first half of next year.”

The arrangements bring together pharmaceutical makers including AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and the Serum Institute of India.

He says the message is “vaccines will complement, not replace, the existing effective tools we have for suppressing transmission and saving lives.”

TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will be getting 500,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in January.

Vaccinations started this week in Canada, a country among the first to approve and distribute the Pfizer vaccine. Trudeau expects 125,000 doses of the vaccine next week and 249,500 this month. ...