COVID-19
Food and Drug Administration approves COVID boosters for upcoming season
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the latest round of COVID-19 boosters, as public health officials brace for another cold and flu season. An advisory panel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is scheduled to vote on recommendations Tuesday, the final step in the process before people will […]
With COVID hospitalizations rising, Duke experts urge people who are eligible to get the next COVID booster
The rise in hospitalizations and the report that First Lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 is a reminder that the virus is still with us, though not wreaking the kind of havoc it did in the first two years of the pandemic. A daily average of 501 patients with COVID were hospitalized in North […]
Jill Biden tests positive for COVID-19; President, testing negative, maintains schedule
WASHINGTON — First Lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 Monday night, the White House said in a statement. Biden has mild symptoms and will spend the week at home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the White House said. President Joe Biden tested negative Monday night and Tuesday. He will continue to be tested “at a […]
Updated COVID-19 vaccines expected to be available in September, federal officials say
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is gearing up for a fall vaccination campaign that not only includes updated COVID-19 boosters, but the annual flu shot and the newly approved RSV vaccine. “We’re going to be encouraging Americans to get their COVID-19 vaccine in addition to their annual flu shot, as well as the immunizations for […]
Death counts remain high in some states even as COVID fatalities wane
Several months after President Joe Biden ended the national emergency for COVID-19, preliminary health data indicates the historic degree to which the pandemic increased death rates nationwide — not just because of the virus itself, but also through the pandemic’s reverberating effects on society. Deaths from vehicle crashes, homicides, suicides and overdoses spiked in many […]
Next generation of COVID-19 vaccines and therapies gets a $1.4 billion boost
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a $1.4 billion investment in developing the so-called next generation of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell made the announcement, saying the funding is part of the $5 billion program they hope will […]
One on one with Dr. Betsey Tilson, North Carolina’s State Health Director
As students prepare to return to classrooms across North Carolina, health experts expect to see an uptick in respiratory viruses. Dr. Betsey Tilson, North Carolina’s State Health Director and Chief Medical Officer, says back-to-school preparations should also include staying up-to-date with vaccines. This includes talking with your doctor about getting a seasonal flu vaccine, a […]
The looming childcare “crisis,” public benefits and their impact on the foster care system
Beth Messersmith can see the crisis coming. Come December, the federal funds for childcare will run dry. Unless state lawmakers allocate $300 million to cover the cost for the next two years, working families will suffer — which means so will North Carolina’s economy. “The childcare workforce is the workforce behind the workforce,” said Messersmith, […]
Preparation for pandemics, natural disasters updated in bill passed by U.S. Senate panel
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Senate committee approved legislation Thursday that would update how the federal government prepares for and then responds to pandemics and natural disasters. The broadly bipartisan legislation moved through the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee following a 17-3 vote after members adopted two bipartisan amendments. Republican Sens. Rand Paul of […]
Monday numbers: The lifesaving benefits of disease immunization…
In some ways, it’s not surprising that so many people in modern America – even some prominent public officials and office seekers — have come to express messages of fear and skepticism with respect to public immunization programs while embracing wild conspiracy theories about vaccines. We live in a fraught time of profound environmental crisis, […]
Fast federal response to pandemic key to US economic recovery, economists say
The public health emergency declaration ended on Thursday, and with it some of the policies that helped the U.S. recover from the many of the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Although COVID-19 is still a public health threat, the national economic crisis it created has subsided with the U.S. economy back to its pre-pandemic […]
As the COVID public health emergency ends, prepping for a new pandemic is next
WASHINGTON — After more than three years and 1.1 million deaths, the United States on Thursday will end the public health emergency for COVID-19 — and Congress is attempting to better prepare for a possible resurgence of that virus or another. The expiration of the designation, originally put in place in January 2020, means alterations […]