The omicron COVID-19 variant accounted for nearly all genomic samples sequenced in New York City for the week ending Dec. 25, according to a Jan. 13 report from the city’s health department.
Category: Public Health
With No End in Sight to Pandemic Life, Parents Find Disruption Is the New Normal
Amid covid-related staffing shortages and testing requirements, school systems are stretched thin. And so are parents’ nerves.
As Omicron Surges, Effort to Vaccinate Young Children Stalls
Just 18% of 5- to 11-year-olds are fully vaccinated, with rates varying significantly across the country, a KHN analysis of federal data shows. Pediatricians say the slow pace and geographic disparities are alarming, especially against the backdrop of record numbers of cases and pediatric hospitalizations.
Justices Block Broad Worker Vaccine Requirement, Allow Health Worker Mandate to Proceed
The Supreme Court temporarily blocked a federal rule requiring larger businesses to mandate employees be vaccinated or wear masks and undergo weekly testing. At the same time, however, it allowed a federal order that health care workers be vaccinated.
The dangers of calling omicron ‘mild’
The word “mild” has saturated American discourse on omicron in recent weeks, causing many to adopt a dangerously cavalier mindset about the variant, health experts told The Atlantic.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Dealing With Drug Prices
Medicare officials tentatively plan to restrict the use of a controversial Alzheimer’s drug to only those patients participating in clinical trials, while the Department of Health and Human Services looks into lowering the monthly Medicare Part B premium. Meanwhile, covid confusion still reigns, as the Biden administration moves, belatedly, to make more masks and tests available. Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
US to ship 500M additional rapid tests; 2 more national COVID-19 response updates
The U.S. plans to ship 1 billion rapid at-home test kits to Americans, President Joe Biden said during a Jan. 13 update on the nation’s COVID-19 response efforts.
Record-breaking 15 million global COVID-19 cases reported in 1 week; US sees biggest jump, WHO says
A record-high 15 million new COVID-19 cases were reported worldwide in one week, World Health Organization officials said during a Jan. 12 news briefing.
Long-Excluded Uterine Cancer Patients Are Step Closer to 9/11 Benefits
More than 20 years after the terrorist attacks, the World Trade Center Health Program is considering covering the most common form of uterine cancer, in what patient advocates say is a key acknowledgment of the women affected by the 9/11 fallout.
White House selects Johns Hopkins epidemiologist as COVID-19 testing director
The White House has selected Tom Inglesby, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, Md., as it’s new COVID-19 testing director.
