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Coronavirus category, Page 27

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Big Bird announced he got his covid-19 vaccine. Ted Cruz called it ‘government propaganda.’
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz appears to think Big Bird is a government plant. The “Sesame Street” staple announced Saturday that he had gotten his covid-19 vaccine, just days after the FDA approved the Pfizer shot for children ages 5-11. “My wing is feeling a little sore, but it’ll give...
Biden vaccine mandates face first test with federal workers
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is pushing forward with a massive plan to require millions of private sector employees to get vaccinated by early next year. But first, he has to make sure workers in his own federal government get the shot. About 4 million federal workers are to be...
UPMC schedules 10K covid vaccinations for children in 1st day
Across the health system, UPMC scheduled 10,000 covid vaccination appointments for children in the 5 to 11 age group during the first 24 hours after they became available, officials said Friday. Dr. Alejandro Hoberman, president of UPMC Children’s Community Pediatrics, said a majority of those vaccines will be given in...
Pfizer says its covid pill cut hospital, death risk by 90%
WASHINGTON — Pfizer Inc. said Friday that its experimental antiviral pill for covid-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% in high-risk adults, as the drugmaker joined the race for an easy-to-use medication to treat the coronavirus. Currently most covid-19 treatments require an IV or injection. Competitor Merck’s...
Giant Eagle opening covid vaccine appointments for kids
Appointments for children ages 5 to 11 to get covid-19 vaccinations could be available as early as this weekend at Giant Eagle pharmacies in the area, according to an announcement. Anyone who wants to schedule an appointment for a child in that age range can visit the grocery store chain’s...
WHO: Europe is the epicenter of pandemic despite vaccines
GENEVA — Top officials at the World Health Organization said Thursday that Europe has seen a more than 50% jump in coronavirus cases in the last month, making it the epicenter of the pandemic despite an ample supply of vaccines. “There may be plenty of vaccine available, but uptake of...
5 things to know as covid vaccinations begin for young children
Children across the country are cleared to begin receiving child-sized doses of the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine after getting the recommendation from adviser at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention followed by the green light by director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. The shots – one-third the dose that adults and older...
U.K. authorizes Merck’s covid pill, 1st shown to treat covid
LONDON — Britain has granted a conditional authorization to Merck’s coronavirus antiviral, the first pill shown to successfully treat covid-19. It is the first country to OK the treatment, although it was not immediately clear how quickly the pill would be available. The pill was licensed for adults 18 and...
Are covid-19 boosters the same as the original vaccines?
NEW YORK — Are covid-19 boosters the same as the original vaccines? Yes, covid-19 boosters use the same recipe as the original shots, despite the emergence of the more contagious delta variant. The vaccines weren’t tweaked to better match delta because they’re still working well. The vaccines work by training...
Covid vaccinations for kids begin in U.S.
Hugs with friends. Birthday parties indoors. Pillow fights. School children who got their first covid-19 shots Wednesday said these are the pleasures they look forward to as the U.S. enters a game-changing phase in fighting the pandemic. Health officials hailed shots for kids aged 5 to 11 as a major...
CDC gives final clearance to covid-19 shots for children 5 to 11
U.S. health officials on Tuesday gave the final signoff to Pfizer’s kid-size covid-19 shot, a milestone that opens a major expansion of the nation’s vaccination campaign to children as young as 5. The Food and Drug Administration already authorized the shots for children ages 5 to 11 — doses just...
Covid vaccine for younger children already being packed, shipped 
WASHINGTON — Anticipating a green light from vaccine advisers, the Biden administration is assembling and shipping millions of covid-19 shots for children ages 5-11, the White House said Monday. The first could go into kids’ arms by midweek. “We are not waiting on the operations and logistics,” said coronavirus coordinator...
Military weighs penalties for those who refuse covid vaccine
WASHINGTON — As deadlines loom for military and defense civilians to get mandated covid-19 vaccines, senior leaders must now wrestle with the fate of those who flatly refuse the shots or are seeking exemptions, and how to make sure they are treated fairly and equally. The vast majority of the...
Pittsburgh requiring city employees to be vaccinated against covid-19
Pittsburgh is requiring all city employees without medical or religious exemptions to be fully vaccinated against covid-19 by Dec. 22, officials announced Monday. Employees are considered to be fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or two weeks after one dose of...
Covid deaths top 5 million even as vaccines slash fatality rate
More than 5 million people worldwide have died from covid-19 less than two years after the novel pathogen was first documented, despite the arrival of vaccines that have slashed fatality rates across the globe. The latest 1 million recorded deaths came slower than the previous two. It took more than...
Jon Bon Jovi cancels Miami Beach concert after testing positive for covid-19
MIAMI — A positive test for covid-19 forced rocker Jon Bon Jovi to cancel his Miami Beach show Saturday night as crowds were already beginning to fill the South Beach venue. Audience members were told that Bon Jovi would be unable to perform, WSVN 7 News reported, and that the...
White House press secretary Jen Psaki says she has covid-19
WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday she has contracted covid-19. She said she was last in contact with Biden on Tuesday, when she met him in the White House. Psaki said they were more than 6 feet apart and wearing masks. Psaki was not traveling with...
L.A. sheriff warns vaccine mandate causing ‘mass exodus’ among personnel
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva continues to rail against the county’s vaccine mandate, warning it is causing a “mass exodus” in his department and threatens public safety at a time when violent crime is on the rise. “I have repeatedly stated the dangers to public safety...
More New York City workers get vaccinated amid mandate; 1 in 6 still refuse
NEW YORK — One in six New York City municipal workers remained unvaccinated after Friday’s deadline to show proof they’ve gotten at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine, the city said Saturday. A last-minute rush of jabs boosted the vaccination rate to 83% among police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors...
‘Public safety crisis’: Law enforcement leaders encourage vaccines as covid becomes top killer of police
More than gunfire, stabbings, ambushes, vehicle crashes and even heart attacks, covid-19 has become the No. 1 killer of police in the United States. The virus has killed hundreds of officers over the past two years, according to national organizations that track line-of-duty deaths. The nonprofit Officer Down Memorial Page...
More NYC workers get jabs amid mandate, but 26K still refuse
NEW YORK — More than 26,000 of New York City’s municipal workers remained unvaccinated after Friday’s deadline to show proof they’ve gotten at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine, the city said Saturday. A last-minute rush of jabs boosted the vaccination rate to 83% among police officers, firefighters, garbage...
Judge denies Chicago workers’ bid to halt vaccine mandate
A federal judge on Friday denied a motion by 130 Chicago firefighters and other city employees to temporarily halt enforcement of the city’s requirement that all its workers report whether they’ve received the covid-19 vaccination or risk being put on no-pay status. During an hourlong hearing, U.S. District Judge John...
Supreme Court declines to block Maine vaccine mandate
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal from health care workers in Maine to block a vaccine mandate that went into effect Friday. Three conservative justices noted their dissents. The state is not offering a religious exemption to hospital and nursing home workers who risk losing their...
FDA paves way for Pfizer covid-19 vaccinations in young kids
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday paved the way for children ages 5 to 11 to get Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine. The FDA cleared kid-size doses — just one-third of the amount given to teens and adults — for emergency use, and up to 28 million more American...
Merck agrees to let other drug makers make its covid pill
LONDON — Pharmaceutical company Merck agreed to allow other drug makers to produce its covid-19 pill, in a move aimed at helping millions of people in poorer countries get access to the potentially life-saving drug, a United Nations-backed public health organization said on Wednesday. The Medicines Patent Pool said in...


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