Category: Vaccines

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Manchin Makes a Deal

In a rare surprise for official Washington, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced a deal to expand the planned health bill in the Senate to include provisions raising taxes and addressing climate change. The measure would include a third year of expanded subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, but not health care coverage for people left out of Medicaid in states that failed to expand the program. Meanwhile, the ACA goes back to court, and the Biden administration restores anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people that were rolled back by the Trump administration. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Dr. Céline Gounder of KHN about the latest on the monkeypox outbreak.

Watch: Why the Public Health System Is Having Trouble Containing Monkeypox

KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber appeared on CBS News’ streaming network to discuss “Fighting Monkeypox, Sexual Health Clinics Are Underfunded and Ill-Equipped,” an article she wrote with KHN senior correspondent Liz Szabo. It details how ill-equipped the nation’s sexual health clinics and public health system are to tackle monkeypox after decades of underfunding. Weber described […]

Boost Now or Wait? Many Wonder How Best to Ride Out Covid’s Next Wave

As the country faces a rise in new infections driven by the omicron BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus, about 70% of people 50 and older who got a first covid-19 booster shot haven’t received the recommended second one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many undervaccinated Americans have lost interest, and others aren’t sure whether to get boosted again now or wait for vaccines reformulated to target newer strains of the virus.

Vaccine and Testing Delays for Monkeypox Echo Failures in Early Covid Response

Public health officials say monkeypox is not as dangerous as covid and can be handled well with current treatments and if those at risk use caution. But the rollout of vaccines has been slow and led to angst among some at-risk people.

‘My Body, My Choice’: How Vaccine Foes Co-Opted the Abortion Rallying Cry

Anti-vaccine advocates discovered a catchy, succinct, and potent slogan. Its unlikely source: the abortion rights movement.

‘Free’ Screening? Know Your Rights to Get No-Cost Care

Even a decade in, the Affordable Care Act’s recommendations to simply cover preventive screening and care without cost sharing remain confusing and complex.

How Pfizer Won the Pandemic, Reaping Outsize Profit and Influence

The drugmaker has the best-selling vaccine to prevent covid and the most effective drug to treat it. Its success and might have overshadowed the government’s covid-fighting strategy.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: A World Without ‘Roe’

The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade has created far more questions than it has answered about the continued legality and availability of abortion, as both abortion rights supporters and anti-abortion activists scramble to put their marks on policy. Meanwhile, Congress completes work on its gun bill and the FDA takes up the problem of the next covid-19 booster. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Victoria Knight of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Angela Hart, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about two identical eye surgeries with very different price tags.

What You Need to Know About Monkeypox

For now, monkeypox poses a low risk to the U.S. public, but it could become a problem if the spread is left unchecked. Here’s what everyone should know about it.

What You Need to Know About Monkeypox

For now, monkeypox poses a low risk to the U.S. public, but it could become a problem if the spread is left unchecked. Here’s what everyone should know about it.