Category: Kaiser Health News

Health Workers and Hospitals Grapple With Millions of Counterfeit N95 Masks

Masks imitating the real thing are flooding U.S. ports, and authorities can hardly keep pace.

Tech Companies Mobilize to Schedule Vaccine Appointments, But Often Fall Short

Techies and startups have thrown together vaccine appointment websites to address the chaotic rollout of covid shots. But software can’t replace vaccines, and for many people the sites are just another piece of the vaccination “Hunger Games.”

Pandemic-Fueled Alcohol Abuse Creates Wave of Hospitalizations for Liver Disease

Hospitals across the country are seeing rising admissions for alcoholic liver disease, which encompasses hepatitis, cirrhosis and other conditions.

Farmworker Camps to Urban Tent Cities: Tailoring Vaccine Info to Where It’s Most Needed

Concerns arising in western North Carolina provide a window into the challenges facing health workers across the country as they seek to persuade vulnerable populations to be inoculated against covid.

As Pandemic Surged, Contact Tracing Struggled; Biden Looks to Boost It

Reaching people who may have been in contact with covid patients has helped cut the number of infections, but these tracing efforts become less effective as the number of cases grows.

Gene Screenings Hold Disease Clues, but Unexplained Anomalies Often Raise Fears

Multiple-gene panel tests are frequently offered to patients at risk for diseases such as cancer that can assess more than 80 genes. But in screening a wide variety of genes, doctors might see a variant that hasn’t yet been deciphered and be unable to explain its significance, leaving patients with concerns and no answers.

Vaccine Hesitancy vs. Vaccine Refusal: Nursing Home Staffers Say There’s a Difference

It’s becoming increasingly clear that decision-making about the covid vaccine is complicated and multifaceted, which means persuading people to say yes will be, too.

Native Americans Use Technology to Keep Traditions, Language Alive During Pandemic

Tribes across the U.S. have turned to social media and the internet as leaders worry about covid-19’s threat to their culture and elders.

Scalise’s Claim That Unauthorized Immigrants Are Getting Priority for Vaccination Misses the Point

Congressman Steve Scalise claimed during a Fox News interview that President Joe Biden was allowing immigrants to “jump the line” ahead of Americans for vaccination. But the administration merely has said everyone should have access to the vaccine, regardless of immigration status, and get vaccinated when eligible.

Schools Walk the Tightrope Between Ideal Safety and the Reality of Covid

Across the country, politics have muddied the question of when and how to reopen schools. Even though teachers continue to fear for their safety, lawmakers and parents are demanding that schools take advantage of declining infection rates to open safely and quickly.