Coronavirus

The Messenger reports: Getting at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before your first bout of infection can significantly cut the risk of developing long COVID, according to a new study. Researchers from Sweden, who published findings Wednesday on The BMJ, analyzed data from over half a million Swedes aged 18 and over, who registered their first COVID infection …

NBC News reports: A new Covid variant has become dominant in the U.S., but relatively few people have thus far gotten the new shots that could offer some protection against it. The variant, called HV.1, replaced EG.5 as the country’s most prevalent this week, according to data released Friday by the CDC. Just around 3.5 % of the U.S. population …

The Washington Examiner reports: The Senate voted to include an amendment offered by Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) to ban the Department of Transportation from using federal funding to enforce mask mandates in the upper chamber’s three-bill spending package on Wednesday. The Senate voted 59-38 in favor of the amendment that aims to prevent federal mask mandates on all modes of …

Memphis’s Fox affiliate reports: Four Mid-South pastors, including three from Memphis, and several business owners were indicted Tuesday in alleged schemes to steal thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief money, officials said. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Tennessee, they collectively defrauded more than $950,000 from federal programs, including the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), …

Fort Myers’ PBS affiliate reports: After winning a decisive appellate court battle that required the Florida Department of Health to turn over COVID-19 data withheld from the public during the height of the pandemic, the legal battle over the records has ended with a settlement agreement. A media release from the Florida Center for Government Accountability said the group and …

Miami’s NBC affiliate reports: A Florida man and his three adult sons were sentenced Friday for selling a toxic industrial bleach as a fake COVID-19 cure through their online church. A federal judge in Miami sentenced Jonathan Grenon, 37, and Jordan Grenon, 29, to 12 years and seven months in prison, while Mark Grenon, 66, and Joseph Grenon, 36, each …

The New York Times reports: Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, who together identified a chemical tweak to messenger RNA that laid the foundation for vaccines against Covid-19 that have since been administered billions of times globally, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday. Together, Dr. Karikó and Dr. Weissman, who met over a copy machine at …

ABC News reports: Nearly half of all adults in the United States plan to get the newly recommended COVID-19 vaccine, according to results from a survey released Wednesday. The latest poll conducted by the KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor found that 23% of U.S. adults say they will “definitely” get the updated booster, 23% say they will “probably” get it, while …

NBC News reports: More than three years into the pandemic, the millions of people who have suffered from long Covid finally have scientific proof that their condition is real. Scientists have found clear differences in the blood of people with long Covid — a key first step in the development of a test to diagnose the illness. The findings, published …

CNET reports: Starting today, the US Postal Service said it will begin shipping free COVID tests to homes across the country. The new at-home tests are made possible by a $600 million investment from the White House that includes grants for 12 manufacturing companies that produce the tests. The new free tests from the post office come at a time …

The Associated Press reports: President Joe Biden has gotten the updated COVID-19 vaccine and annual flu shot, the White House said Saturday. The White House physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, said in a memo that Biden received both shots on Friday. O’Connor said Biden, 80, also was vaccinated several weeks ago against the respiratory illness known as RSV. “As we enter …

The New York Times reports: The Biden administration, looking ahead to a possible winter surge of Covid-19, announced on Wednesday that it was reviving its program of offering Americans free coronavirus tests through the mail and would spend more than $600 million to buy tests from a dozen domestic manufacturers. The website for the program, covidtests.gov, will begin accepting orders …

Fortune reports: U.S. COVID infections are hovering near levels of the pandemic’s first peak in 2020, and approaching the Delta peak of late 2021, according to wastewater surveillance and modeling by forecasters. Viral wastewater levels are not far behind all of the pandemic’s 2020 peaks except for one—the initial peak of March 2020, which they’ve already surpassed. And they lag …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: Florida’s former top public health official criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis’ latest foray into COVID-19 vaccine skepticism, saying the state is wrong to discourage those under age 65 from getting the new booster. Dr. Scott Rivkees, who preceded Dr. Joseph Ladapo as the state’s surgeon general, said the move runs counter to the goals of public health. …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: The University of South Florida/Florida Atlantic University public opinion survey that probed what people know — or think they know — revealed sizable numbers of Florida residents believe inaccurate assertions about the vaccines. The biggest factor associated with beliefs in misinformation was political affiliation, with Republicans far more likely than Democrats and independents to agree with …

CNN reports: Everyone ages 6 months and older should get an updated Covid-19 vaccine, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday, to help lower the risk of severe illness, hospitalization or death from the coronavirus. Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the agency, signed off on recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices or ACIP, a panel …

NPR reports: A panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backed the broad use of new COVID-19 vaccines, as cases of the respiratory illness rise. The advisers voted 13-1 to recommend the vaccines for people ages 6 months and older. While the benefits appear to be greatest for the oldest and youngest people, the benefits of …

Via press release from the FDA: Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took action approving and authorizing for emergency use updated COVID-19 vaccines formulated to more closely target currently circulating variants and to provide better protection against serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death. Today’s actions relate to updated mRNA vaccines for 2023-2024 manufactured by ModernaTX Inc. and …

Changing America reports: Is it safe to use a COVID-19 test that is past the expiration? The answer, it turns out, depends on what brand of test you have. The FDA has extended that date for a number of different at-home COVID-19 tests. The expiration date for multiple lots of BinaxNow COVID-19 antigen tests that were sold at CVS, for …

Fox News reports: While speaking at a Thursday news conference for Gov. Ron DeSantis in Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, that state’s surgeon general, advised people to steer clear of the updated booster vaccine for COVID-19. “There’s a new vaccine that’s coming around the corner, a new mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, and there’s essentially no evidence for it,” Ladapo said during …