Public Health

En medio del último aumento de casos de covid-19 y hospitalizaciones, Estados Unidos alcanzó el martes 3 de agosto un hito que algunos pensaban que era inalcanzable: el 90% de las personas de 65 años o más están al menos parcialmente vacunadas contra la enfermedad. Esto es más de 49 millones de adultos mayores vacunados. […]

Amid the latest surge in covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, the United States on Tuesday hit a milestone that some thought was unattainable: 90% of people 65 and older are at least partly vaccinated against the disease. That’s more than 49 million seniors vaccinated. Overall, 70% of adults have been inoculated, at least partly, and nearly […]

America’s covid-19 vaccination rate is around 60% for ages 12 and up. That’s not enough to reach so-called herd immunity, and in states like Missouri — where a number of counties have vaccination rates under 25% — hospitals are overwhelmed by serious outbreaks of the more contagious delta variant. The vaccine resisters offer all kinds of reasons for refusing the free […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Californians upset with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pandemic rules — which shuttered businesses, kept schoolkids at home and mandated masks — helped fuel the September recall election that could spell the end of his political career. But among the allies rushing to Newsom’s defense are doctors, nurses, dentists and other health care interests […]

The long list of side effects that follow ads for the newer expensive drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes sometimes include an unusual warning: They might cause weight loss. That side effect is one that many people — especially those with Type 2 diabetes, which is associated with obesity — may desperately want. So it’s […]

AURORA, Colo. — John Letson had seen too many apocalyptic movies to feel comfortable getting a covid-19 vaccine initially. “I was completely against it,” the 40-year-old movie buff said, referencing “I Am Legend” and “Children of Men,” in which humanity is in jeopardy, as examples of what could go wrong. “I think an untested thing […]

West Virginia raced ahead of the country last winter to get people in nursing homes vaccinated against covid-19, but with cases and hospitalizations on the rise again, state officials want to know whether immunity levels are falling for residents who had their shots. Starting in August, the state plans to begin measuring the levels of […]

“CDC has just announced they will revoke the emergency use authorization of the RT-PCR tests first introduced in 2/20. … Translation: They’ve been adding flu cases to Covid cases when using that test.” Facebook post, July 25, 2021 Posts circulating on Facebook and Instagram claim the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will stop using […]

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. Predictions of a “hot vax summer” that would let Americans who had their covid immunizations celebrate the waning of the pandemic are turning out to have been […]

BOULDER, Mont. — Twice a year, Brian Tichenor makes the 1,200-mile drive each way from his home in Kansas to a defunct uranium mine in Montana, where he takes an elevator 85 feet below the surface to sit amid radioactive radon gas to ease the pain from his chronic eye condition. “I found it like […]