On May 11, 2023, the US federal government put an end to the COVID-19–related public health emergency. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) no longer recommends routine universal masking in most health care settings. Many clinicians and staff at hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes around the country have stopped regularly wearing masks. A conflict might arise when patients who are immunocompromised or have other risk factors that increase their susceptibility to COVID-19 complications seek health care and encounter an unmasked clinician. Individuals who have such conditions are considered disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Those disabled patients nowadays must embark on a “personal crusade for public health” to have their needs met.
Comments closedTag: United States
A Lot of Deer Carry COVID. Should That Worry People?
COVID hasn’t just colonized billions of humans. The virus has entered North America’s white-tailed deer populations, transforming one of the largest remaining wild mammal populations on Earth into another rapidly evolving reservoir for COVID.
Comments closedCOVID increased gender life expectancy gap in US
For more than 100 years, American women have outlived American men, largely due to differences in rates of cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. Now COVID-19 has widened the gendered life expectancy gap, according to a research letter published yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Comments closedCan’t Think, Can’t Remember: More Americans Say They’re in a Cognitive Fog
There are more Americans who say they have serious cognitive problems — with remembering, concentrating or making decisions — than at any time in the last 15 years, data from the Census Bureau shows.
The increase started with the pandemic: The number of working-age adults reporting “serious difficulty” thinking has climbed by an estimated one million people.
Comments closedWhat Tony Fauci Told Me About Long COVID and Other Postviral Illnesses
Too many people are suffering from long COVID and other postviral syndromes. Anthony Fauci says we need to step up funding and research now.
Comments closedHow lawmakers in Texas and Florida undermine Covid vaccination efforts
Katherine Wells wants to urge her Lubbock, Texas, community to get vaccinated against Covid-19. “That could really save people from severe illness,” said Wells, the city’s public health director.
But she can’t.
Comments closedStudy: 1 in 7 Americans have had long COVID
A new investigation led by researchers from the University College London and Dartmouth College suggests 14% of Americans had long COVID by the end of 2022.
Comments closedGlobal COVID vaccination saved 2.4 million lives in first 8 months, study estimates
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in 141 countries averted 2.4 million excess deaths by August 2021 and would have saved another 670,000 more lives had vaccines been distributed equitably, estimates a working paper from University of Southern California (USC) and Brown University researchers.
Comments closedEU delays approval of Novavax’s revised COVID vaccine
European Union (EU) regulators have delayed a decision to give approval for Novavax’s (NVAX.O) variant-tailored COVID-19 vaccine, the Financial Times said on Sunday.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA), which was due to approve the updated vaccine last Friday has requested more information from the company, the FT report added.
Comments closedHHS unveils $500 million more in ProjectNext Gen COVID funding, including for 3 vaccines
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced more than $500 million more in funding through its Project NextGen program to speed the development of new vaccines and treatments for COVID-19.
Comments closedFlorida settles lawsuit over COVID data, agrees to provide weekly stats to the public
Florida will have to provide COVID-19 data to the public again after a former Democratic state representative settled a lawsuit with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration over the decision two years ago to stop posting information on the virus’ spread online.
Comments closedMask mandates are returning to some hospitals. Should they be there to stay?
Some doctors are calling for more preventative measures to protect vulnerable patients in medical settings.
Comments closedVaccine Scientist Warns Antiscience Conspiracies Have Become a Deadly, Organized Movement
Vaccinologist Peter Hotez explains how the movement to oppose science and scientists has gained power.
Comments closedThis MacArthur ‘genius’ knew the initial theory of COVID transmission was flawed
The groundbreaking research of Linsey Marr, an aerosols expert and professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, showed that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is airborne as opposed to traveling in large droplets that fall with gravity.
Comments closedFDA authorizes Novavax’s updated COVID vaccine for fall 2023
The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday it had authorized Novavax’s updated COVID-19 vaccine, adding a third option for Americans ages 12 and older looking for a new shot this fall and winter.
Comments closedLa richesse des groupes antivaccins
The pandemic has been lucrative for anti-vaccine groups. The two most influential in the United States saw their revenues more than double between 2020 and 2021. Although they are officially non-profit organizations, one of them was able to pay its director a salary of half a million dollars a year.
Comments closedSARS-CoV-2 infects coronary arteries, increases plaque inflammation
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can directly infect the arteries of the heart and cause the fatty plaque inside arteries to become highly inflamed, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings, published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research, may help explain why certain people who get COVID-19 have a greater chance of developing cardiovascular disease, or if they already have it, develop more heart-related complications.
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