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Coronavirus category, Page 23

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
U.S. expands Pfizer covid boosters, opens extra dose to age 16
U.S. health authorities said Thursday that 16- and 17-year-olds should get a booster dose of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine once they’re six months past their last shot. The U.S. and many other nations already were urging adults to get booster shots to pump up immunity that can wane months after vaccination,...
Covid surge: Pennsylvania hospital chain runs out of beds
One of Pennsylvania’s largest health systems has run out of beds because of the latest covid-19 surge, with doctors and nurses practicing “waiting room medicine” on patients who are forced to endure 10- to 20-hour delays in the emergency department, officials said Wednesday. Geisinger is running at 110% capacity across...
Covid cases spike even as U.S. hits 200M vaccine milestone
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The number of Americans fully vaccinated against covid-19 reached 200 million Wednesday amid a dispiriting holiday-season spike in cases and hospitalizations that has hit even New England, one of the most highly inoculated corners of the country. New cases in the United States climbed from an average...
Tennessee medical board takes coronavirus misinformation policy offline
NASHVILLE — Tennessee’s medical licensing board has voted to remove from its website its recently adopted policy against the spread of coronavirus misinformation by doctors, acting under pressure from a GOP state lawmaker and a new law imposing sprawling virus-related restrictions. The exchange spurring the vote Tuesday by the Tennessee...
Pennsylvania Supreme Court hears arguments over school mask mandate
As Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration has defended its school mask mandate in court over the past three months, it has relied on a portion of the state health code that allows for the “surveillance of disease.” On Wednesday before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Senior Deputy Attorney General Sean Kirkpatrick presented...
Student denied emergency relief in Nevada vaccination suit
RENO, Nev. — A college student who argues he’s immune from covid-19 because he was previously infected has lost his bid for an emergency court order that would have allowed him to register for classes while he presses his federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the University of Nevada, Reno’s...
Pfizer says covid booster offers protection against omicron
Pfizer said Wednesday that a booster dose of its covid-19 vaccine may offer important protection against the new omicron variant even though the initial two doses appear significantly less effective. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said that while two doses may not be protective enough to prevent infection, lab tests...
Will the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ eventually change?
Momentum is gaining in some circles to redefine what “fully vaccinated” means now that boosters are widely available and the omicron variant is surging nationwide. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the White House and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNBC on Friday...
Omicron could overtake delta within weeks, experts say
Some experts are warning that although evidence is still emerging, the highly concerning omicron variant is expected to overtake delta within weeks. “I do expect omicron to displace delta in the coming weeks,” said Stephen Kissler, a disease modeler at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in a...
2 Pittsburgh zoo tigers test positive for covid as zoo awaits vaccines
Two tigers at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium have tested positive for covid-19, officials said Monday as the Highland Park facility remained on a waiting list for specialty vaccines developed specifically for animals. The tigers were tested via nasal swab after they started showing symptoms, including “occasional coughing and...
Westmoreland County passes 1,000 covid-related deaths since pandemic began
An ominous mark is here: 1,000 covid-related deaths in Westmoreland County, making it the ninth county in Pennsylvania to reach four digits. Two deaths reported Monday pushed the county to 1,001 lives lost, according to figures from the state Department of Health. Of those, 400 deaths occurred in nursing homes....
New York City to impose vaccine mandate on private sector employers 
NEW YORK — From big Wall Street banks to corner grocery stores, all private employers in New York City will have to require their workers to get vaccinated against covid-19, the mayor announced Monday in the most sweeping vaccine mandate of any state or big city in the U.S. The...
NYC Mayor: Vaccine mandates to be required for all city employers
NEW YORK — All New York City employers will have to mandate covid-19 vaccinations for their workers under new rules announced Monday by Mayor Bill de Blasio. The vaccine mandate for private businesses will take effect Dec. 22 and is aimed at preventing a spike in covid-19 infections during the...
How a database of vaccine side effects sowed doubt in vaccinations
Midway into the pandemic, University of Alabama epidemiologist Bertha Hidalgo realized her covid-19 communication strategy needed a makeover. She was skipping basic biology lessons in favor of simply telling people the best ways to moderate their behavior in response to the virus. Instead of helping people better understand the virus,...
Pandemic stress weighs heavily on Gen Z: AP-NORC, MTV poll
Isolation. Anxiety. Uncertainty. The stresses of the coronavirus pandemic have taken a toll on Americans of all ages, but a new poll finds that teens and young adults have faced some of the heaviest struggles as they come of age during a time of extreme turmoil. Overall, more than a...
Scientist behind U.K. vaccine says next pandemic may be worse
LONDON — One of the scientists behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine is warning that the next pandemic may be more contagious and more lethal unless more money is devoted to research and preparations to fight emerging viral threats. In excerpts released before a speech Monday, Professor Sarah Gilbert says the...
Fauci says early reports encouraging about omicron variant
U.S. health officials said Sunday that while the omicron variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading throughout the country, early indications suggest it may be less dangerous than delta, which continues to drive a surge of hospitalizations. President Joe Biden’s chief medial adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN’s “State of...
U.S. drugstores squeezed by vaccine demand, staff shortages
A rush of vaccine-seeking customers and staff shortages are squeezing drugstores around the U.S., leading to frazzled workers and temporary pharmacy closures. Drugstores are normally busy this time of year with flu shots and other vaccines, but now pharmacists are doling out a growing number of covid-19 shots and giving...
Scientist says omicron variant was a group find
JOHANNESBURG — The Botswana scientist who may well have discovered the omicron variant of the coronavirus says he has been on a “rollercoaster of emotions,” with the pride of accomplishment followed by dismay over the travel bans immediately slapped on southern African countries. “Is that how you reward science? By...
Fired Harrison man highlights tension over vaccine exemption requests
The battle over covid-19 vaccine mandates has pulled religion into the spotlight as experts say more people than ever claim vaccines conflict with their religious beliefs, an assertion employers must try to evaluate amid a deep vaccination divide. Shane Chesher, 34, of Harrison’s Natrona neighborhood, was among a number of...
1st confirmed omicron case reported in Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA — Health officials reported the first confirmed case of the omicron variant in Pennsylvania on Friday, a man in his 30s from Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health announced the case in a news release. No other details were immediately available, including whether the man was vaccinated against...
Study suggests past covid infection may not fend off omicron
South African scientists are warning that reinfections among people who’ve already battled covid-19 appear to be more likely with the new omicron variant than with earlier coronavirus mutants. A research group has been tracking reinfections in South Africa and reported a jump with the arrival of omicron that they hadn’t...
Omicron may be driving South Africa’s surge; wary world watches
JOHANNESBURG — Dr. Sikhulile Moyo was analyzing covid-19 samples in his lab in Botswana last week when he noticed they looked startlingly different from others. Within days, the world was ablaze with the news that the coronavirus had a new variant of concern, which appears to be driving a dramatic...
Allegheny Health Network moves forward with vaccination requirement; UPMC, Excela await court ruling
Leaders with UPMC and Excela Health said Thursday they will back off of covid-19 vaccine requirements while the federal mandates are challenged in court, though Allegheny Health Network’s top doctor said the health system’s Jan. 4 vaccine deadline remains firm. Separate federal mandates affecting both health care workers and workers...
Confusion breaks out as GOP lawmakers defy New Jersey coronavirus mandate
TRENTON — Disorder and confusion erupted outside the New Jersey Assembly as several Republican lawmakers defied a new requirement to show proof of covid-19 vaccination or a negative test and were blocked — albeit briefly — by state troopers from entering the ornate chamber Thursday. Ahead of an expected voting...


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