Coronavirus category, Page 47
U.S. covid-19 deaths hit 600,000, equal to yearly cancer toll
The U.S. death toll from covid-19 topped 600,000 on Tuesday, even as the vaccination drive has drastically brought down daily cases and fatalities and allowed the country to emerge from the gloom and look forward to summer. The number of lives lost, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is greater...
Panel approves Pa. House GOP bill to ban employer vaccine mandates
HARRISBURG — A ban on employers mandating vaccines for their workers inched ahead in the state House on Tuesday with a committee vote supported by all Republicans and opposed by every Democrat. The main sponsor, Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon, called it “a very simple question of workers’ rights.” Diamond has...
More evidence suggests covid-19 was in U.S. by Christmas 2019
NEW YORK — A new analysis of blood samples from 24,000 Americans taken early last year is the latest and largest study to suggest that the new coronavirus popped up in the U.S. in December 2019 — weeks before cases were first recognized by health officials. The analysis is not...
GOP bill would prohibit requiring any vaccination in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio — No employer, either public or private, could require employees to receive vaccinations under GOP legislation pending in the Ohio House. Also, workers could not be fired as a result of refusing. The measure before the Republican-controlled House Health Committee has attracted multiple opponents of covid-19 vaccines but...
As U.S. covid-19 death toll nears 600,000, racial gaps persist
Jerry Ramos spent his final days in a California hospital, hooked to an oxygen machine with blood clots in his lungs from covid-19, his 3-year-old daughter in his thoughts. “I have to be here to watch my princess grow up,” the Mexican American restaurant worker wrote on Facebook. “My heart...
Thinking of skipping your 2nd covid shot? Here’s why that’s a bad ideaVideo
The increased availability of the covid-19 vaccine — and the myriad options for where one can receive it — has hampered efforts to track just how many people are skipping their second dose, which experts say is crucial to having the highest immunity possible against the virus. Data from UPMC...
As covid-19 cases wane, vaccine-lagging areas still see risk
JACKSON, Miss. — New covid-19 cases are declining across the most of the country, even in some states with vaccine-hesitant populations. But almost all states bucking that trend have lower-than-average vaccination rates, and experts warn that relief from the pandemic could be fleeting in regions where few people get inoculated....
Schools across U.S. brace for surge of kindergartners in fall
School districts across the United States are hiring additional teachers in anticipation of what will be one of the largest kindergarten classes ever as enrollment rebounds following the coronavirus pandemic. As they await the arrival next fall of students who sat out the current school year, educators are also bracing...
GOP governors tie economy to relaxed approach to coronavirus
JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. — Republican governors running for reelection have begun trumpeting the party’s more hands-off approach to the coronavirus pandemic, trying to flip the script on an issue that helped Democrats win the White House and control of Capitol Hill in 2020. GOP governors, especially in populous, diverse Sun...
Moscow orders new restrictions as covid infections soar
MOSCOW — Moscow’s mayor on Saturday ordered a week off for some workplaces and imposed restrictions on many businesses to fight coronavirus infections that have more than doubled in the past week. The national coronavirus task force reported 6,701 new cases of infection in Moscow, compared with 2,936 on June...
What the world wants China to disclose in Wuhan lab leak probe
The U.S. push for a new inquiry to determine the origins of the coronavirus — including whether it leaked from a Wuhan lab — raises a key question: What has China failed to disclose? The Group of Seven leaders this weekend are set to call for a fresh, transparent, World...
AP source: J&J doses to be released, but many will be tossed
U.S. regulators are allowing for the release of 10 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s covid-19 vaccine from a troubled Baltimore factory, but material to make many more must be thrown out because of possible contamination, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Friday. The FDA...
U.S. officials extend expiration dates on J&J covid vaccine doses
Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that U.S. regulators extended the expiration date on millions of doses of its covid-19 vaccine by an extra six weeks. The company said a Food and Drug Administration review concluded the shots remain safe and effective up to 4 1/2 months. The announcement comes after...
Mayor: Seattle 1st major city to fully vaccinate 70%
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said Wednesday that 70% of city residents ages 12 and up have been fully vaccinated, which she said makes Seattle the first major U.S. city to hit the covid-19 milestone. Durkan’s office also said 78% of the Seattle population 12 and older has started the vaccination...
‘This IS INSANE’: Africa desperately short of covid vaccine
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — In the global race to vaccinate people against covid-19, Africa is tragically at the back of the pack. In fact, it has barely gotten out of the starting blocks. In South Africa, which has the continent’s most robust economy and its biggest coronavirus caseload, just...
Allegheny, Westmoreland see rapid drops in new covid cases
New covid-19 cases continued their rapid declines in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. Allegheny County recorded 183 cases in the past week — including just 15 on Wednesday — for a seven-day daily average of 26. It hasn’t been that low since hitting 24 on June 24, 2020. For perspective, the...
Vaccine hesitancy is topic of Carnegie Science Center discussion
In spite of all the scientific evidence indicating that vaccination is the key to fighting the spread of covid-19, a significant segment of the American population remains hesitant to get inoculated. Vaccine hesitancy is part of the impetus for the second panel in Carnegie Science Center’s Vaccine Speaker Series, a...
U.S. education secretary promotes vaccine efforts at colleges
DEARBORN, Mich. — U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona visited a covid-19 vaccine clinic at a suburban Detroit community college Tuesday to highlight the White House’s efforts to encourage similar efforts across the country. “We’ve been talking about how we’re going to recover as a country and all hands on deck,”...
Ex-Wisconsin pharmacist gets prison for ruining vaccine
MILWAUKEE — A former pharmacist in Wisconsin who purposefully ruined more than 500 doses of covid-19 vaccine was sentenced to three years in prison on Tuesday. Steven Brandenburg, 46, of Grafton pleaded guilty in February to two felony counts of attempting to tamper with a consumer product. He had admitted...
Ex-Olympic skater charged with defrauding virus relief fund
NEW YORK — A former Olympic figure skater has been arrested on charges that he ripped off a program to help struggling small businesses harmed by the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said Tuesday. Luka Klasinc, a 48-year-old Slovenian man, was arrested Monday and awaited an appearance in Manhattan federal court. A...
Washington state OKs free pot as vaccine incentive
SEATTLE — Washington state says licensed marijuana stores can offer free joints to promote coronavirus vaccine clinics. The “Joints for Jabs” program announced by state officials Monday will permit pot retail shops to give away a single pre-rolled joint to anyone over 21 who gets a shot at an on-site...
Polio: When vaccines and re-emergence were just as daunting
CINCINNATI — The covid-19 pandemic and the distribution of the vaccines that will prevent it have surfaced haunting memories for Americans who lived through an earlier time when the country was swept by a virus that, for so long, appeared to have no cure or way to prevent it. They...
U.S. administers 300 millionth covid-19 vaccine shot
The U.S. passed another milestone in its covid-19 vaccination effort Sunday after administering its 300 millionth dose. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that 301,638,578 shots had been given. The country now has fully vaccinated 41.9% of the population and 51.5% has received at least one dose....
New England’s success against covid-19 could be a model
For Dr. Jeremy Faust, the moment he realized the pandemic no longer dominated his workday came over Memorial Day weekend, when he didn’t see a single coronavirus case over two shifts in the emergency room at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Kerry LaBarbera, an ER nurse a few miles...
Allegheny County hospitalizations drop to 10th of December’s peak
Covid-19 hospitalizations in Allegheny County dropped to 88 on Friday, just a tenth of the county’s peak total in December. On Dec. 16, 881 patients were hospitalized in the county. Just a month later, the county’s total had fallen by 50%, hitting 425 on Jan. 17. The total stood at...
