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Detecting Rare Blood Clots Was a Win, But US Vaccine Safety System Still Has Gaps
With some 100 million Americans fully vaccinated, the U.S. is relying on a patchwork network of vaccine monitoring systems that lack the breadth and depth of large, population-based programs, experts said.
Covid Spawns ‘Completely New Category’ of Organ Transplants
Nearly 60 organ transplants have been performed after the coronavirus “basically destroyed” patients’ hearts and lungs.
The Hype Has Faded, but Don’t Count Out Convalescent Plasma in Covid Battle
The once-promising therapy that infuses blood plasma from recovered covid-19 patients into newly infected people, theoretically to boost immunity, has suffered setbacks. But some proponents say it’s too early to abandon the treatment.
Organ Transplant Patient Dies After Receiving Covid-Infected Lungs
The first confirmed U.S. case of SARS-CoV-2 being transmitted through an organ transplant has prompted calls for updated transplant protocols and additional testing of samples from deep within donor lungs.
Why the U.S. Is Underestimating Covid Reinfection
Hundreds of Americans suspect they contracted covid early in the pandemic and recovered, only to get infected again months later. But because the U.S. does so little genetic sequencing of covid samples, we don’t know much about reinfection rates.
Patients Fend for Themselves to Access Highly Touted Covid Antibody Treatments
Months after President Donald Trump credited monoclonal antibody therapy for his quick recovery from covid-19, only a trickle of the product has found its way into regular people. While hundreds of thousands of vials sit unused, sick patients who might benefit from early treatment have been left on their own to vie for access.
Is Your Covid Vaccine Venue Prepared to Handle Rare, Life-Threatening Reactions?
More than two dozen people who have received the new covid vaccines in U.S. hospitals and health centers suffered anaphylaxis, a potentially fatal allergic reaction. While such severe reactions are rare, experts warn that the drugstores and drive-thru clinics considered integral to the vaccine rollout must be prepared.
At Risk of Extinction, Black-Footed Ferrets Get Experimental COVID Vaccine
Months before federal officials authorized experimental vaccines to ward off the coronavirus in humans, scientists tried a veterinary vaccine in endangered ferrets. Drugmakers are researching similar efforts for other animals proving vulnerable to the virus, such as farmed minks, in part to guard against virus mutations that could pose new risks to people.
Hospitals Scramble to Prioritize Which Workers Are First for COVID Shots
Even as the federal Food and Drug Administration engaged in intense deliberations ahead of Friday’s authorization of the nation’s first COVID vaccine, and days before the initial doses were to be released, hospitals have been grappling with how to distribute the first scarce shots. Their plans vary broadly.
Demand for COVID Vaccines Expected to Get Heated — And Fast
With two vaccines against coronavirus disease poised for release within weeks, experts say they expect attitudes to shift dramatically from hesitancy to “Beanie Baby”-level urgency.
