CNN -
October 7, 2021
Two real-world studies published Wednesday confirm that the immune protection offered by two doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine drops off after two months or so, although protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death remains strong. The studies, from Israel and from Qatar and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, support arguments that even fully vaccinated people need to maintain precautions against infection.
AP -
October 7, 2021
COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are coming down again, hospitalizations are dropping, and new cases per day are about to dip below 100,000 for the first time in two months — all signs that the summer surge is waning. Not wanting to lose momentum, government leaders and employers are looking to strengthen and vaccine requirements. Los Angeles enacted one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates Wednesday, a sweeping measure that would require the shots for everyone entering a bar, restaurant, nail salon, gym or Lakers game. New York City and San Francisco have similar rules.
NPR -
October 7, 2021
In the quest to get more Americans vaccinated, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: Vaccine mandates work. … Tyson Foods, New York City schools, major hospital systems in Maine and the NBA are among those with vaccination rates topping 90%. … Even in places where there is not yet a vaccine mandate, just the anticipation of one seems to be having an effect.
USA Today -
October 7, 2021
Unvaccinated Americans should delay planned trips within the country until fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the CDC said Monday in an update to its domestic travel guidance. "People who are fully vaccinated with an FDA-authorized vaccine or a vaccine authorized for emergency use by the World Health Organization can travel safely within the United States," the CDC said.
AP -
October 7, 2021
The number of U.S. children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic may be larger than previously estimated, and the toll has been far greater among Black and Hispanic Americans, a new study suggests. … During 15 months of the nearly 19-month COVID-19 pandemic, more than 120,000 U.S. children lost a parent or grandparent who was a primary provider of financial support and care, the study found. Another 22,000 children experienced the death of a secondary caregiver — for example, a grandparent who provided housing but not a child’s other basic needs.
CBS News -
October 7, 2021
The pandemic has taken a devastating toll on police departments across the country. COVID-19 is now killing more law enforcement officers than any other threat they face in the line of duty — 716 officers have died since March 2020, according to the Fraternal Order of Police. Still, there is a reluctance among law enforcement to get vaccinated.
STAT -
October 1, 2021
An investigational antiviral pill reduced the chances that patients newly diagnosed with Covid-19 would be hospitalized by about 50%, a finding that could give doctors a desperately needed new way to treat the sick, the drug maker Merck announced Friday. A five-day course of molnupiravir, developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, reduced both hospitalization and death compared to a placebo. In the placebo group, 53 patients, or 14.1%, were hospitalized or died. For those who received the drug, 28, or 7.3%, were hospitalized or died.
Kaiser Health News -
October 1, 2021
[It’s] a divide that health experts say is likely to widen as access to medical care shrinks for a population that tends to be older, sicker, heavier, poorer and less vaccinated. … Since the pandemic began, about 1 in 434 rural Americans have died of covid, compared with roughly 1 in 513 urban Americans … And though vaccines have reduced overall covid death rates since the winter peak, rural mortality rates are now more than double urban rates — and accelerating quickly.
AP -
October 1, 2021
Teen vaping plummeted this year as many U.S. students were forced to learn from home during the pandemic, according to a government report released Thursday. … outside experts said the big decrease in electronic cigarettes use is likely real and makes sense given that young people often vape socially. … % of high school students and less than 3% of middle school students said they were recent users of e-cigarettes and other vaping products … [last year] nearly 20% of high school students and 5% of middle schoolers said they’d recently vaped.
NPR -
October 1, 2021
School board meetings, usually one of the most mundane examples of local democracy in action, have exploded with vitriol across the country in recent months, and school leaders are scared. That's according to a letter that the National School Boards Association sent this week to President Biden. It's asking for help from federal law enforcement, including the Justice, Education and Homeland Security departments as well as the FBI, saying: "These heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes."
CBS News -
October 1, 2021
The number of workers applying for first-time jobless aid increased for the third week in a row last week — a sign the surge in coronavirus cases is causing an uptick in layoffs. Some 362,000 people filed initial unemployment claims … an increase of 11,000 from the prior week.
Today -
September 29, 2021
The COVID-19 vaccine booster shot's side effects appear to largely mirror how people felt after their second dose, according to a study published Tuesday by the CDC. The report found that the side effects were mostly considered mild or moderate, and arm pain, fatigue and headache were the most commonly reported symptoms after the third shot. The side effects kicked in generally the day after the injection, the report found, and 28% of people said they were unable to perform normal daily activities because of them.
AP -
September 29, 2021
Pfizer has submitted research to the FDA on the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine in children but the shots may not be available until November. The company said Tuesday it provided health regulators with data from a recent study of its vaccine in children 5 to 11 years old. Officials had said previously they would file an application with the FDA to authorize use in the coming weeks.
Fox News -
September 29, 2021
Regular use of steroid nasal sprays afforded COVID-19 patients protection against virus-related hospitalization, ICU admission and death, the Cleveland Clinic announced Tuesday. However, the findings don't suggest the sprays as a COVID-19 treatment and further findings are needed to confirm the results, the health system said.
AP -
September 29, 2021
Businesses that have announced vaccine mandates say some workers who had been on the fence have since gotten inoculated against COVID-19. But many holdouts remain — a likely sign of what is to come once a federal mandate goes into effect. ... Some mandates seem to have converted hesitant workers, but employers are still dealing with holdouts.
NPR -
September 29, 2021
United Airlines is touting the success of its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying that more than 99% of its U.S.-based employees have met the company's requirement to get vaccinated, or have applied for a religious or medical exemption. But the fewer than 600 United employees who did not get vaccinated by the airline's deadline of Sept. 27 now face termination.