Category: NPR

Surveys show that support for COVID-19 vaccines is rising among Black and Latinx populations, now that tens of millions of Americans have safely received the shots.

If we want life to get back to normal in the U.S., public health experts say we can’t just rely on COVID-19 vaccines. Other tools like contact tracing and care coordination are crucial too.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn says he’s in favor of acquiring Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, noting that new infections in Germany are rising at a “very clearly exponential rate.”

In many states, there are racial disparities in who has received a COVID-19 vaccine. A public health advocate says lack of health care access is a bigger impediment than a hesitancy to get vaccinated.

Researchers have quantified the price paid for fast-spreading COVID-19 infections. Patients who might have survived otherwise perished in crowded ICUs.

The CDC still advises against nonessential travel, but many infectious disease experts say a trip to the beach or a family vacation can be done pretty safely if you do it right.

The CDC says hospitals saw a lot more emergency cases involving drug overdoses, as well as mental health crises and suicide attempts. Many emergency departments weren’t ready.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services now recommends that visitors and residents, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, be allowed to meet in person under most circumstances.

In its final days, the Trump administration created a rule that could eliminate thousands of regulations created by the Department of Health and Human Services. A lawsuit is challenging the rule.

Katie Engelhart explores the complexity of physician-assisted death in the book, The Inevitable. She says patients seeking to end their own lives sometimes resort to veterinary drugs from overseas.