CNBC -
May 27, 2021
The U.S. is reporting an average of about 24,155 infections per day over the past week, down 23% from a week ago. About 50% of the U.S. population has had at least one shot, according to the CDC, with more than 131 million Americans, or almost 40%, fully vaccinated. For those not vaccinated, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky urged caution over the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, noting that those who have gotten a shot are protected.
Miami Herald -
May 27, 2021
[A] new study suggests low levels of testosterone — the primary male sex hormone — are associated with more severe COVID-19 in men, increasing their risks for needing intensive care and dying while hospitalized. The more the hormone drops, the more those risks may increase, according to the paper published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Yahoo! Finance -
May 27, 2021
Initial unemployment claims fell for a fourth straight week to set a new 14-month low as the labor market recovery made further strides toward recovering jobs lost during the pandemic. … 406,000 vs. 425,000 expected and 444,000 during the prior week
AP -
May 26, 2021
Moderna said Tuesday its COVID-19 vaccine strongly protects kids as young as 12, a step that could put the shot on track to become the second option for that age group in the U.S. ... But earlier this month, the U.S. and Canada authorized another vaccine — the shot made by Pfizer and BioNTech — to be used starting at age 12. Moderna aims to be next in line, saying it will submit its teen data to the FDA and other global regulators early next month.
HealthDay -
May 26, 2021
Nearly 10,300 SARS-CoV-2 infections have occurred in vaccinated people in the United States as of the end of April, out of about 101 million people who had received the full series of vaccine jabs, the researchers reported May 25 in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. … More than one in four breakthrough infections came without any symptoms at all, as was the case with Maher's infection, the findings showed.
NPR -
May 26, 2021
The U.S. COVID-19 vaccination program has gone from zero to 50% in less than six months. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Biden administration said, half of the country's adults are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. … Nearly 130 million people age 18 and older have completed their vaccine regimens since the first doses were administered to the public in December, the CDC said. Another 70 million vaccine doses are currently in the distribution pipeline, according to the agency.
AP -
May 26, 2021
A growing number of public schools are using mascots, food trucks and prize giveaways to create a pep-rally atmosphere aimed at encouraging students to get vaccinated against the coronavirus before summer vacation. … Officials are concerned that once school lets out, it will be even tougher to get enough teens vaccinated in time to guarantee widespread immunity on campuses.
Kaiser Health News -
May 26, 2021
Many of the companies with the largest number of employees say they’ll do almost anything to encourage their employees to get vaccinated. But a survey of some of them found that none would be inclined to mandate shots as a condition for holding a job. Almost all 15 companies surveyed — among the largest and most influential Fortune 500 companies — have strong pro-vaccine messages from their corporate leadership, emphasizing that the shots can both help protect individuals and bring the pandemic to a close.
Kaiser Health News -
May 26, 2021
Covid-19 is opening the door for researchers to address a problem that has vexed the medical community for decades: the overtreatment and unnecessary treatment of patients. On one hand, the pandemic caused major health setbacks for non-covid patients who were forced to, or chose to, avoid tests and treatments for various illnesses. On the other hand, in cases in which no harm was done by delays or cancellations, medical experts can now reevaluate whether those procedures are truly necessary.
STAT -
May 26, 2021
A record 19 rural hospitals closed in 2020, according to research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — more than in any other year. … Covid-19 death rates in counties where hospitals closed were 37% higher than in their states overall. Looking at the most rural counties — those with fewer than 50,000 residents and at least 50 miles from a major city — the death rates were 66% higher than in their states. Seven of the eight hospital closures in counties where the fatality rate was at least 80% higher than their state’s were in such rural counties.
The Atlantic -
May 26, 2021
To understand any data set, you have to understand the way its information is compiled. That’s especially true for a patchwork data set such as the one composed of U.S. COVID-19 data, which is the product of 56 smaller systems belonging to each state and territory in the country. … The data pipelines that so deeply affected the pandemic’s trajectory were not given the decades of support—financial and otherwise—needed to perform well under pressure.
NPR -
May 25, 2021
In 25 states, the District of Columbia and Guam, more than half of adults are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the latest CDC data. New England leads the U.S. in vaccination rates among adults. Maine, Connecticut and Vermont have the highest vaccination rates among adults, with more than 62% of residents age 18 and over fully vaccinated. … The states with the lowest rates of fully vaccinated adults are in the South. In Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Georgia, fewer than 40% of adults are fully vaccinated.
AP -
May 25, 2021
U.S. health officials and the State Department on Monday warned Americans against travel to Japan because of a surge in coronavirus cases in the country, which is preparing to host the Olympics in just two months. The twin alerts don’t ban U.S. citizens from visiting the country, but they could have an impact on insurance rates for travelers and may factor into decisions by Olympic athletes and spectators on whether to compete in or attend the games, which are due to start in July.
USA Today -
May 25, 2021
Parental consent is needed in most states except North Carolina, where all teenagers can receive vaccinations, in Tennessee and Alabama where those 14 and older don’t need consent, and in Oregon where parental permission isn't required for those 15 and older. The rules are murkier in Iowa, where the outcome depends on your health care provider.
CNN -
May 25, 2021
The most severe symptoms that come with MIS-C, the rare but serious Covid-19 related condition, seem to resolve within six months after hospitalization, according to a new small study of patients at one hospital in London. … Six months after they were discharged from the hospital, most children in the study didn't seem to have a continuation of the severe symptoms that have been associated with this condition such as stomach problems, inflammation, heart abnormalities and neurological issues.
HealthDay -
May 25, 2021
There was a sharp drop in mammography breast cancer screening during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the decline was especially severe among American women of color and those living in rural areas, new research shows. … compared the number of screening mammograms at … a not-for-profit health care system in Washington state, between April and December of 2019 and then again during the same months in 2020. … The number of completed screenings fell by almost half, from almost 56,000 in 2019 to around 27,500 in 2020.