Public Health

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on PRX. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Click here for a transcript of the episode. Even with the new omicron variant of the covid virus spreading in the U.S., Republicans on Capitol Hill are […]

For nearly a month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s online vaccine tracker has shown that virtually everyone 65 and older in the United States — 99.9% — has received at least one covid vaccine dose. That would be remarkable — if true. But health experts and state officials say it’s certainly not. They […]

Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. On ‘Physician Assistant’: Watch Your Language I think this story left out a few critical pieces of information (“A Title Fight Pits Physician Assistants Against Doctors,” Dec. 3). The term “physician […]

A medida que aumenta el número de lugares que exigen una prueba de vacunación para entrar, y ante la llegada del invierno y de omicron, la nueva variante del coronavirus, científicos y funcionarios de salud pública debaten cuándo será el momento de cambiar la definición de “totalmente vacunado” para que incluya una vacuna de refuerzo. […]

The ferocity of the covid-19 pandemic did what Black Pittsburgh — communities that make up a quarter of the city’s population — thought impossible. It shook the norms. Black researchers, medical professionals and allies knew that people of color, even before covid, experienced bias in public health policy. As the deadly virus emerged, data analysts […]

Dr. Rais Vohra has impeccable timing. He stepped into his role as interim health officer of Fresno County just months before the start of the covid-19 pandemic. Almost immediately, he found himself navigating the treacherous tensions between public health messaging and a skeptical population in a hub of industrial agriculture that is also one of […]

KHN Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony discussed how Black entrepreneurs in the medical-technology industry are looking to fill health care gaps on Newsy on Wednesday. Click here to watch Anthony on Newsy Read Anthony’s “Black Tech Founders Want to Change the Culture of Health Care, One Click at a Time” KHN Colorado correspondent Rae Ellen Bichell […]

[UPDATED on Dec. 6] As more indoor venues require proof of vaccination for entrance and with winter — as well as omicron, a new covid variant — looming, scientists and public health officials are debating when it will be time to change the definition of “fully vaccinated” to include a booster shot. It’s been more […]

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on PRX. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Click here for a transcript of the episode. Judging by oral arguments this week, the Supreme Court appears ready to uphold a Mississippi law barring most abortions […]

While growing up in the ’90s in Johnson County, Kansas, in a suburb of Kansas City, I had a friend, Kevin Aaron, who was a dedicated environmentalist. To strangers, Kevin appeared to be a laid-back punk-rock music fan with a dry and slightly mischievous sense of humor, but those of us who knew him best […]