Nearly 50 years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew his father, exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has spurred demonstrators onto the streets in a massive escalation of the protests sweeping Iran.

Three years after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Wuhan, China, a classified report from the U.S. Department of Energy says the coronavirus most likely came from a laboratory leak in China.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released new guidance to prevent the spread of monkeypox.

After the World Health Organization declared Monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern, News4JAX talked to a local infectious disease specialist to learn more about the rise of the infection.

The first case of polio in the United States in decades has been reported in New York.

Moderna is asking U.S. regulators to open its COVID-19 vaccine to the nation's youngest children.

People will have to keep their masks on while flying on planes a little longer.

Cases of the omicron sub-variant BA-2 were reported in Florida this week.

Johns Hopkins University reported that as of Friday, more than 900,000 have died from COVID-19 in the United States.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who heavily promoted the use of Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment as a part of his administration’s COVID-19 response, sharply criticized the Biden administration on Tuesday after the Food and Drug Administration announced it had revoked the treatment’s emergency use authorization.

The Florida Department of Health is shutting down all state-run monoclonal antibody treatment sites until further notice after the Food and Drug Administration revoked its emergency use authorization for Regeneron.

With the current spread of COVID-19, if you haven’t had the virus, you likely know someone who has it now or has in the past.

The Florida Department of Health on Thursday issued updated COVID-19 testing guidance.

The explosive increase in U.S. coronavirus case counts is raising alarm, but some experts believe the focus should instead be on COVID-19 hospital admissions.

The explosive increase in U.S. coronavirus case counts is raising alarm, but some experts believe the focus should instead be on COVID-19 hospital admissions.

Duval County Public School students will return to school Tuesday after winter break and when they do there will be new coronavirus safety precautions in place.

With COVID-19 cases spiking, a local infectious disease expert shares his advice to help keep you and your family safe during the holidays.

The omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading, and infectious disease experts say it won't be long before it's detected in the Jacksonville area.

Experts warn that people need to shop safely this holiday weekend while the Omicron variant continues spreading across the nation.

The fight against COVID-19 is far from over.

Many people are getting ready for the holiday season, and as travel is expected to pick up at the end of next week, roughly 20 states across the country are seeing an upward trend in the number of new COVID-19 cases.

A new study shows that the Moderna vaccine is more effective at keeping people out of the hospital with COVID-19 than Johnson and Johnson and Pfizer vaccines.

Georgia’s top epidemiologist said Tuesday that 60% of COVID-19 outbreaks in the state over the last several weeks have occurred in K-12 schools.

The debate over COVID-19 vaccinations continues.

A well-known Jacksonville infectious disease expert is sharing his frustration after learning a nurse is being investigated for allegedly writing mask opt-out notes at a public park.

During a town hall discussion Wednesday night, the head of Wolfson Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric ICU made a heartbreaking announcement, saying that in the last 24 hours two children at the hospital had died of COVID-19 complications -- one as young as 2 weeks old.

U.S. health authorities are expected to recommend an extra COVID-19 vaccine dose for Americans eight months after they get their second shot.

A vaccine event Sunday at First Timothy Baptist Church Jacksonville will offer all three COVID-19 shots and the flu shot. But is it safe to get both a coronavirus vaccine and the flu shot at the same time?

Students in Duval County will head back to school on Tuesday.

A particular type of COVID-19 treatment was a popular topic in a roundtable meeting Gov. Ron DeSantis held Wednesday morning with medical experts and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.

The Duval County School Board on Tuesday approved an amendment to its Student Code of Conduct, which gives students a choice to opt-out of wearing a mask.

The morning after Florida broke the previous record for current hospitalizations, the numbers of patients are expected to keep going up.

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sheds new light on the delta variant of the coronavirus.

In a statement Tuesday, Baptist Health’s president and CEO says Northeast Florida has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, “but it’s never been as bad as it is now.”

The rate of coronavirus cases and the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to climb in Northeast Florida.

A Lake Butler woman has returned home following her near-death experience after she contracted COVID-19.

With more people being infected with what’s commonly known as the COVID-19 delta variant, doctors are encouraging more people to get vaccinated.

Dr. Mohammed Reza, a Jacksonville infectious disease specialist, said he is seeing an increase in hospital admissions because of COVID-19 infections.

The seven-day average of new daily COVID-19 cases increased 10% this week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New data just released from the Centers for Disease Control show Florida now leads the nation in the number of new HIV cases.

“Jacksonville is back!” said Mayor Lenny Curry.

Attorney General Ashley Moody is asking online platforms to work to prevent scammers from selling fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards.

With more and more adults being vaccinated, children are still not allowed to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, so what should families do? “My recommendation overall is doing things outdoors as much as possible,” said Dr. Mohammed Reza, an infectious disease specialist in Jacksonville. The reality is these vaccines are effective, even in adults, it’s very effective; but children since children are not vaccinated, the effectiveness is not there. “The more people we get vaccinated, the safer we are as a community, as a country and as a world,” Reza said. This is the CDC’s “Know your travel risk” page dedicated to vacation activities and their risk.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to guidance from federal health officials. Here’s a breakdown of what the CDC says fully vaccinated people can do:Visit other fully vaccinated people indoors without a mask or while staying 6-feet apart. While in public or visiting multiple households, they should wear a mask, stay 6-feet apart, avoid medium and large-sized gatherings, and follow CDC and Health Department travel requirements. What we have are decent studies showing decreased viral load in the vaccinated person,” said Gregory Poland with Mayo Clinic. Dr. Mohammed Reza says the city needs to move with the demand of vaccines to safely follow CDC guidance.

The News4Jax Trust Index Team is examining a controversial position the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is taking regarding the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. In a statement, the Conference expressed “moral concerns” about the vaccine, because the group says the drug was developed with lab-grown cells that descend from aborted fetuses. Did the manufacturers of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine use cells taken from the tissue of an aborted fetus to develop the vaccine? Fetal cell lines from the 1980s were used to develop the J&J vaccine. He adds that fetal cells lines were also used to produce hepatitis A, rubella, chickenpox and shingles vaccines.

The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines require two doses, and health experts have anxiously awaited a one-and-done option to help speed vaccinations. The J&J vaccine is also easier to handle, lasting three months in the refrigerator compared to the Pfizer and Moderna options, which must be frozen. It’s the same technology the company used in making an Ebola vaccine, and similar to COVID-19 vaccines made by AstraZeneca and China’s CanSino Biologics. “It’s monumental in terms how science will move forward and how it will produce vaccines.”In the U.S., the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna shots were 95% protective against symptomatic COVID-19. J&J’s one-dose effectiveness of 85% against severe COVID-19 dropped to 66% when moderate cases were rolled in.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Pfizer and BioNTech have begun a clinical trial of their COVID-19 vaccine on pregnant women as they aim to examine the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness among expecting mothers. The drugmakers announced the trials Thursday, saying about 4,000 healthy pregnant women will be part of the months-long study. Besides testing the vaccine’s effects on pregnant women, the study will also evaluate how it affects infants and whether antibodies are passed along from mother to child. “The reality is, you want that protection throughout the whole pregnancy period,” Dr. Reza said. He said pregnant women should speak with their primary doctor and OBGYN about their risk and exposure to the virus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, puts his face mask back on after speaking with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in Washington. “That’s the reason why you see people either double masking or doing a version of an N95.”Dr. Mohammed Reza, a Jacksonville infectious disease doctor, said he believes double masking helps better protect people from COVID-19, as well as the new variant. “The one you got should be taking care of the job.”The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not recommended double masking, but it does recommend masks with multiple layers of protection. That means everyone over the age of 6 must continue wearing a face mask or face covering while in public indoor spaces, including employees and customers at businesses within city limits. There are, however, exceptions for certain cases such as people dining at a restaurant or a patient visiting the dentist.

FILE - In this July 16, 2020, file photo, a physician assistant uses a grabber to collect a nasal swab sample at a COVID-19 drive-thru testing site set up at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)The United States has surpassed 25 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. The new milestone, reported Sunday by Johns Hopkins University, is a grim reminder of the coronavirus’ wide reach in the U.S., which has seen far more confirmed cases and deaths than any other country in the world. The U.S. accounts for roughly one of every four cases reported worldwide and one of every five deaths. But infectious disease experts like Dr. Mohammed Reza are concerned about a more contagious strain of the coronavirus that was first detected in the United Kingdom in December. As of Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Florida had 50 confirmed cases of the more transmissible strain of COVID-19.

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – For the second time in four months, Melissa Currie is battling COVID-19. She is a 41-year-old St. Johns County nurse who does not have underlying health conditions. Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Mohammed Reza said there is little data available about re-infections, but it appears COVID-19 re-infections are becoming more likely. Dr. Reza said re-infections depend on the person, their age and their risk of exposure to the virus. To help prevent COVID-19 re-infections, Dr. Reza encourages people to still practice social distancing, wear a mask and get the vaccine if they can.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health said Thursday it has found evidence of the first identified case of the UK COVID-19 variant in the state. The department is working with the CDC on the investigation and said it encourages all to continue practicing COVID-19 mitigation. “At this time, experts anticipate little to no impact on the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine,” the department tweeted. Florida has evidence of the first identified case of the UK COVID-19 variant in Martin County. Health (@HealthyFla) January 1, 2021That makes Florida the third state in the United States to report a case of the variant.

“This strain is likely in the U.S. already, given the readily available air traffic we have between the UK and the U.S.,” said Dr. Mohammed Reza. A growing number of National Health Service staff are off work because they are sick with the virus or self-isolating. Britain has recorded more than 71,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths, the second-highest death toll in Europe after Italy. Like Britain, South Africa is battling a variant of COVID-19 that medical experts think is more infectious than the original. The country surpassed the 1 million mark in confirmed virus cases on Sunday night, when authorities reported that the country’s total cases during the pandemic had reached 1,004,413, including 26,735 deaths.

The CDC has recommendations for those who traveled for the holiday:It recommends getting tested three to five days after returning home. If you receive a negative test, they recommend still isolating at home for seven days to be safe. “This virus is tricky,” said Dr. Mohammed Reza, an infectious disease expert. If you traveled, @CDCgov recommends getting tested 3-5 days after returning home. The site offers rapid testing, antigen testing and PCR tests with no appointment needed.

JACKSONVILE, Fla. – Monday will mark one week since doctors and healthcare workers began receiving Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. The person vaccinated me and I was looking and talking and I turned around and he was already done,” Reza said. Reza said others have experienced nausea, vomiting, headache, soreness at the site of injection and low-grade fever after getting the vaccine. “It is monumental from a medical-scientific perspective to come up with a vaccine so effective and so quickly. But the important part, Zac, is not that we have come up with the vaccine, now the vaccine needs to go into people’s arms.”

FILE - Pharmacist Ron Simono fills a syringe with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccine clinic on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska. (Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP, Pool)After getting the COVID-19 vaccine, some people are asking whether they have to wear a mask. Dr. Mohammed Reza, an infectious diseases specialist in Jacksonville, said you should be wearing a mask with or without the vaccine. As far as the studies Pfizer and Moderna are conducting when it comes to patients who are symptomatic, Reza said there’s no data on that yet. The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was approved by Food and Drug Administration for emergency use last week.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A group of Florida doctors united with mayors on Tuesday to deliver what they called a heartfelt plea for residents to remain vigilant in combating the coronavirus. Dr. Mohammed Reza, an infectious diseases specialist in Jacksonville, said he sees patients who are suffering from COVID-19 right now. More than 1,200 doctors throughout the country and state, most of them located in Northeast Florida, signed the letter to DeSantis. “I think we both think it’s really important to wear a mask. Clifton is pregnant, and she and her husband, Thomas, hope more people wear masks.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Pfizer has a vaccine that could help in the fight against COVID-19, and the world will be watching to see the results. The new vaccine could be the answer to the first stage of defeating COVID-19. “It makes the spike protein on our cell membranes, and our body looks at that as foreign, and that spike protein is on COVID-19 virus. Moderna is also developing a vaccine using the messenger RNA technology, while AstraZeneca is using a more common scientific strategy similar to the flu vaccines. Even if you get the vaccine, it’s possible you could spread the virus to others.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the US Food and Drug Administration gets ready to review Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on Thursday, some doctors are urging people to stay vigilant despite the promising news of a vaccine. “It’s almost like a football game, we’re almost at the end of this fight against the virus but we need to get over that finish,” explained Dr. Mohammed Reza, an infectious disease specialist in Northeast Florida. Dr. Reza said it could be several months before the general population has access to it. “We need to stay vigilant and do all the things we need to do, wearing that face mask, not gathering in small or large gatherings because we know that this virus is being transmitted even in small gatherings,” said Dr. Reza. “It’s that human to human interaction so as much as we can limit that as well as wearing that face mask, it will save lives.”

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Over the last two days, Florida saw an increase of 17,344 COVID-19 cases and the state could reach one million cases by Monday. The pandemic didn’t keep people from traveling for the holiday and some weren’t interested in getting tested beforehand to check if visiting family was wise. Dr. Reza said this holiday will expose thousands more cases in the coming weeks. During that time, he says you should quarantine, even if you know a family member tested positive after the holiday. We asked News4Jax viewers if they planned on getting tested after traveling for the holiday.

Mooris lives in Live Oak and had just gotten off a plane from Pittsburgh when he spoke with News4Jax. RELATED: CDC pleads with Americans to avoid Thanksgiving travelAccording to the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, thousands of people are traveling throughout JIA. He said that right now, Florida has four to six weeks to plan, as it’s already happening in northern states. Also, the state’s COVID-19 testing site at the Regency Square Mall will be closed on Thanksgiving. If you hope to be tested for COVID-19 this week, make sure the site you plan on going to is open ahead of time.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The infamous lines and long wait times for a COVID-19 test we saw in the summer are back. People wanting for a test at the Regency COVID-19 testing site on Sunday and Monday stood in a line that snaked around the building. Nomi Health run @FLSERT Regency Mall #COVID19 Test Site in JAX, Florida. Final numbers for Tue, 11/24:🔺2328 Antigen tests completed🔺425 PCR tests completed🔴TOTAL: 2753Testing will resume at 9 AM Wed, 11/25. In addition to the antigen tests, which produce same-day results, 391 PCR tests were also completed on Sunday.

That would mean there will be enough vaccine for 20 million Americans by the end of December,” DeSantis said. pic.twitter.com/TcVBKrKlEH — Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) November 19, 2020Five hospitals throughout the state are prepared to store the vaccine, including UF Health in Jacksonville. The state of Florida has identified 5 different hospital systems who have the ability to store the vaccine at those temperatures and administer that to the qualifying individuals,” DeSantis said. According to the state’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan, health care employees, essential workers, high-risk and older populations are expected to be the first who would receive the vaccine. “As an example, the ability to transport the vaccine, keep the vaccine cold, actually disseminate the vaccine, distribute the vaccine, give the vaccine as far as nurses and so on,” Goldhagen said.

“Have a uniform direction, transparency across the country -- for the businesses, for the individual, across the country and county. “What we needed from the beginning, the basic things that science has taught us at this point is to wear that mask, social distance and hand hygiene." Reza said he supports a national mask mandate, something Biden advocated during his campaign. “I am, because science is going to take the lead on fighting this pandemic and that’s what we need,” Reza said. “It is not a political reason to not wear a mask or to wear a mask.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, he tweeted out late Friday night: “Going well, I think!” seeming to be in good spirits. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2020Dr. Mohammed Reza, a local infectious disease specialist, said it is good news that doctors said Saturday the president so far is experiencing “mild” symptoms. One of Trump’s physicians said Saturday the president is not on oxygen but would not say if he had been given oxygen at any point during treatment. This is not a silver bullet that’s going to cure you if you had COVID-19,” Reza said. With the election just one month away, the president’s opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, is monitoring his health closely.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Getting a flu or pneumonia vaccine can help in the fight against the coronavirus, according to a Northeast Florida infectious disease doctor. “We know that the flu vaccine decreases influenza-related medical visits by 2.3 million per year,” said Dr. Mohammed Reza, an infectious disease specialist. The flu season begins in October and November and runs through March. “That vaccine to get right now is a good idea because it will give your protection,” Reza said. The CDC recommends all children younger than 2 years old and all adults 65 and older receive a pneumococcal vaccine.

The Duval County Health Department told DCPS administrators they could not publish this information within the DCPS dashboard according to the letter sent to the Florida Department of Health. Later, the Florida Department of Health said its data was considered confidential citing Florida law. Dr. Mohammed Reza, a Jacksonville infectious disease doctor, compares the situation going on in Florida schools to flying a plane without radar. DCPS is not the only Florida school district struggling to report the coronavirus cases in its schools. The Florida Department of Health communications director later said the agency inadvertently published it and it was a draft version.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Whether its in-person or online learning, students in Baker, Bradford, Charlton and Pierce counties will begin the 2020-21 school year on Monday. Dr. Mohammed Reza, an infectious disease specialist in Northeast Florida, told News4Jax hes worried about students returning to classrooms for the start of this school year. He said although the rate of severe outcomes is a lot less in children than in adults, children can still be affected. The more we learn about it, we see how infectious this virus is. (Changing and showering when returning home from school or work) is something thats recommended for sure.

Weve heard medical experts and politicians encourage people to wear masks where social distancing is not possible. Unlike most government mandates, Jacksonvilles rule has no penalty for failing to wear a mask. So we have seen this virus increase dramatically and exponentially across Northeast Florida and across Florida, Reza said. So we know the warmer weather does decrease transmission and we are seeing it empirically. If we could wear masks it would make such a huge difference.COVIDIQ is to tracking and informing communities in real-time about the spread of COVID19.