Category: COVID-19

How One State’s Public Health Defunding Led to Vaccination Chaos

The underfunding of public health and political backlash destabilized Missouri’s vaccine rollout, creating racial inequity and forcing some residents to drive hours to get shots.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Getting Down to Work at HHS

After a bruising confirmation process, Xavier Becerra was sworn in as secretary of Health and Human Services this week. The Senate also confirmed the nominations of former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to return to the post he held in the Obama administration, and former Pennsylvania health secretary Rachel Levine as assistant secretary for health. Levine is the first openly transgender person to receive Senate confirmation. Meanwhile, questions continue to swirl around the AstraZeneca covid vaccine, which some public health experts worry will create more hesitancy toward other vaccines.

Stop Blaming Tuskegee, Critics Say. It’s Not an ‘Excuse’ for Current Medical Racism.

The Tuskegee syphilis study is often cited as a reason Black Americans might hesitate to take the covid-19 vaccine. But many people say that current racism in health care and lack of access deserve more attention to move more Black Americans toward vaccine protection.

Inmates’ Distrust of Prison Health Care Fuels Distrust of Covid Vaccines

Many inmates at Western Missouri Correctional Center, like their peers in prisons across Missouri and the nation, are hesitant about getting vaccinated against covid-19 because they don’t trust prison health care.

Nosing In on Kids Who Had Covid and Lost Their Sense of Smell

Clinicians at pediatric hospitals are experimenting with “smell training” among children who had covid-19 and have now lost this sense.

Nosing In on Kids Who Had Covid and Lost Their Sense of Smell

Clinicians at pediatric hospitals are experimenting with “smell training” among children who had covid-19 and have now lost this sense.

Democrats Gave Americans a Big Boost Buying Health Insurance. It Didn’t Come Cheap.

The $1.9 trillion covid relief bill expands subsidies for private insurance plans. That will lighten the burden on consumers, but it locks taxpayers into yet more support for the health care industry.

Birx Joins Air-Cleaning Industry Amid Land Grab for Billions in Federal Covid Relief

Air-cleaning companies with limited oversight are targeting a growing market of schools desperate for covid-19 protection. Donald Trump’s former covid adviser lands with one that built its business, in part, on ozone-emitting technology.

‘Press 1 for English’: Vaccination Sign-Ups Prove Daunting for Speakers of Other Languages

In Virginia, if you called 1-877-VAX-IN-VA to register for a vaccine and wanted help in a language other than English or Spanish, the system might hang up on you.

Indiana School Goes Extra Mile to Help Vulnerable Kids Weather Pandemic

Many students at Sarah Scott Middle School in Terre Haute, Indiana, deal with poverty, dysfunction and stress. Since the pandemic hit, teachers and administrators have struggled to give kids and families the support they need.