Local health departments combat disparities by funding immigrant and minority community groups and letting them decide how best to spend the money.
Category: COVID-19
Congress Told HHS to Set Up a Health Data Network in 2006. The Agency Still Hasn’t.
Since 2006, federal officials have been charged with setting up a network to let various parts of the U.S. health system share information during emergencies. It still hasn’t been built or even planned, even after the communication and data-sharing failures put on display during the pandemic.
A Secret Weapon in Preventing the Next Pandemic: Fruit Bats
New research links habitat destruction with the spillover of viruses from animals to humans.
Au Revoir, Public Health Emergency
The public health emergency in effect since the start of the covid-19 pandemic will end on May 11, the Biden administration announced this week. The end of the so-called PHE will bring about a raft of policy changes affecting patients, health care providers, and states. But Republicans in Congress, along with some Democrats, have been […]
FDA Experts Are Still Puzzled Over Who Should Get Which Covid Shots and When
A single booster seems to prevent death and hospitalization in most people, but protection from the current vaccines wanes within months. FDA experts say they need to know more from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to decide the best long-term strategy.
Florida Gov. DeSantis Falsely Claims Bivalent Booster Boosts Chances of Covid Infection
Experts say the Florida governor’s conclusion could not be drawn from the study he cited, adding that the research focused on health care workers, who are likelier to be exposed to covid and more likely to be vaccinated. Those findings should not be applied to the general public.
Latino Teens Are Deputized as Health Educators to Sway the Unvaccinated
Some community health groups are training Latino teens to conduct outreach and education, particularly in places where covid vaccine fears linger.
Readers and Tweeters Diagnose Greed and Chronic Pain Within US Health Care System
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
What Older Americans Need to Know About Taking Paxlovid
Covid-19 continues to hit seniors with disproportionate severity. Experts say Paxlovid is an effective therapy that is being underprescribed for people 65 and older.
Rural Seniors Benefit From Pandemic-Driven Remote Fitness Boom
When the pandemic began, senior service agencies hustled to rework health classes to include virtual options for older adults. Now that isolation has ended, virtual classes remain. For seniors in rural areas, those classes have broadened access to supervised physical activity.
