AP -
March 3, 2021
Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to no longer require one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The announcement in Texas, where the virus has killed more than 42,000 people, rattled doctors and big city leaders who said they are now bracing for another deadly resurgence. One hospital executive in Houston said he told his staff they would need more personnel and ventilators.
CBS News -
March 3, 2021
A new report from Save the Children found that Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and New Mexico ranked as the worst states for children during the COVID-19 pandemic. … “Childhood in the Time of COVID," analyzed the social and economic effects of COVID-19, including how racial and income inequality impact families differently within each state. The report focuses on "three hardships that are making it more difficult for children to reach their full potential: hunger, lack of tools for remote learning and trouble making ends meet."
CBS News -
March 3, 2021
The upcoming guidance, first reported by Politico, is expected to include that fully vaccinated individuals should be able to gather in small groups with other people who have also been vaccinated. The CDC currently does not recommend in-person gatherings with the general public, saying "gathering virtually or with the people you live with is the safest choice."
CBS News -
March 3, 2021
The nation's enforcer of safety in the workplace hasn't done enough to protect workers during the coronavirus outbreak, according to a watchdog report released Tuesday. During six months since the widespread outbreak of COVID-19 last year, inspections by OSHA, the agency that regulates workplace safety, dropped by half — even as safety complaints to the agency increased by 15%, according to a report by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of the Inspector General.
HealthDay -
March 3, 2021
The nation's top infectious diseases expert told the Washington Post that shifting to a single-dose strategy for those two vaccines could leave people less protected, allow more contagious variants to spread and make Americans already hesitant to get the shots even more wary. "We're telling people [two shots] is what you should do … and then we say, 'Oops, we changed our mind'?" Fauci said. "I think that would be a messaging challenge, to say the least."
NPR -
March 2, 2021
Johnson & Johnson has begun shipping nearly 4 million doses of its newly authorized COVID-19 vaccine across the U.S., officials said Monday, and is expected to further scale up supply in the coming weeks and months. "We think literally within about the next 24 to 48 hours, Americans should start receiving shots in arms," Alex Gorsky, Johnson & Johnson's CEO and chairman of the board, told NBC's Today.
Reuters -
March 2, 2021
The United States reported a 3% decline in new cases of COVID-19 last week, a much smaller drop than in the previous six weeks, and health officials warned that progress against the global pandemic was stalling. New cases fell as much as 25% in the week ended Feb. 7 and 23% in the week ended Feb. 21, before plateauing last week, according to a Reuters analysis of U.S. state and county reports.
AP -
March 2, 2021
With the U.S. vaccination drive picking up speed and a third formula on the way, states eager to reopen for business are easing coronavirus restrictions despite warnings from health experts that the outbreak is far from over and that moving too quickly could prolong the misery.
CNBC -
March 2, 2021
The new strain, which researchers are calling B.1.526, is rapidly spreading in New York City and carries a mutation that could weaken the effectiveness of vaccines, according to The New York Times. The variant first appeared in November and now accounts for about 1-in-4 viral sequences, the Times reports.
HealthDay -
March 2, 2021
With U.S. deaths from COVID-19 passing the grim milestone of a half-million, a new study suggests that another 30,000-plus Americans have died due to pandemic-related unemployment. … And in a pattern that's been repeatedly seen, Black Americans bore a disproportionate burden: Although they make up 12% of the U.S. population, they accounted for 19% of the unemployment-related deaths. The findings are published in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
Fox News -
March 2, 2021
The FDA issued an emergency use authorization on Monday for a rapid at-home COVID-19 test that delivers results without the use of an outside laboratory. The QuickVue At-Home COVID-19 Test must be obtained via prescription and can be used by individuals 14 and older, or individuals 8 and older as long as an adult collects the nasal swab sample. The test can be prescribed by a health care provider for individuals who are within six days of symptom onset.
AP -
March 2, 2021
Twitter says it has begun labeling tweets that include misleading information about COVID-19 vaccines and using a “strike system” to eventually remove accounts that repeatedly violate its rules. The company said Monday that it has started using human reviewers to assess whether tweets violate its policy against COVID vaccine misinformation. Eventually, the work will be done by a combination of humans and automation, it said.
KQED -
March 2, 2021
When she asks the Black seniors she works with in Los Angeles about the vaccine, Tuskegee rarely comes up. People in the community are more interested in talking about contemporary racism and barriers to health care, she says, while it seems to be mainly academics and officials who are preoccupied with the history of Tuskegee. … [Maxine Toler, 72] and most of the other Black seniors she talks to want the vaccine, but are having trouble getting it, she says, and that alone is sowing mistrust.
ProPublica -
March 2, 2021
People eligible for the coronavirus vaccine tell us they are running up against barriers that are designed into the very systems meant to serve those most at risk of dying of the disease. … For People With Disabilities, It Can Be a Struggle Just to Access Their Appointments … If You Can’t Access or Navigate the Internet, You Might Have Fewer Options … People Who Don’t Speak English May Have Trouble Getting Information … Vaccine Sites That Are Drive-Through Exclude People Without Cars … Unclear Communication Leaves People Anxious and Unable to Plan