Public Health

Too little covid vaccine and too great a demand: That’s what KHN readers from around the country detail in their often exasperating quest to snag a shot, although they are often clearly eligible under their local guidelines and priority system. Public health officials say the supply is growing and will meet demand in several months, […]

Many covid vaccination registration and information websites at the federal, state and local levels violate disability rights laws, hindering the ability of blind people to sign up for a potentially lifesaving vaccine, a KHN investigation has found. Across the country, people who use special software to make the web accessible have been unable to sign […]

Montana is considering becoming the latest state to intensify its hunt for welfare overpayments and fraud, a move expected to remove more than 1,500 enrollees from low-income health coverage at a time when the pandemic has left more people needing help. With Republicans now controlling both chambers of the Montana legislature and the governor’s office, […]

Covid-19 infections from variant strains are quickly spreading across the U.S., but there’s one big problem: Lab officials say they can’t tell patients or their doctors whether someone has been infected by a variant. Federal rules around who can be told about the variant cases are so confusing that public health officials may merely know […]

In his 17 years as an emergency medical provider, Anthony Almojera thought he had seen it all. “Shootings, stabbings, people on fire, you name it,” he said. Then came covid-19. Before the pandemic, Almojera said it was normal to respond to one or two cardiac arrests calls a week; now he’s grown used to several […]

The result of lockdowns “has been the destruction of millions of lives across America as well as increased deaths from suicide, substance abuse and despair without any corresponding benefit in covid mortality.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Feb. 2, 2021 For months, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has boasted about his state’s “open for business” strategy in […]

When news of the pandemic first reached the men incarcerated at Avenal State Prison in central California, inmate Ed Welker said the prevailing mood was panic. “We were like, ‘Yeah, it’s going to come in here and it’s going to spread like wildfire and we’re all going to get it,’” he said. “And that’s exactly […]

Beating back covid right now comes down to balancing supply and demand. With hopes pinned to vaccines, demand has far outstripped the supply of doses. But, as an increasing number of vaccine vials are shipped in coming weeks, the concern about shortages may well shift to human capital: the vaccinators themselves. “We need to mobilize […]

The science says “open the schools, stop wearing masks outside, and everyone at low risk should start living normal lives.” — Blog post by conservative talk show host Buck Sexton posted on Facebook, Feb. 8. A popular Facebook and blog post by conservative radio host Buck Sexton claims scientific research indicates life should return to […]

The U.S. government has invested billions of dollars in manufacturing, used a wartime act dozens of times to boost supplies and yet there’s still not enough covid vaccine on the way to meet demand — or even the government’s own goals for national immunization. President Joe Biden, in remarks at the National Institutes of Health […]