Coronavirus

The Associated Press reports:  One year ago, the biggest vaccination drive in American history began with a flush of excitement in an otherwise gloomy December. Trucks loaded with freezer-packed vials of a COVID-19 vaccine that had proved wildly successful in clinical trials fanned out across the land, bringing shots that many hoped would spell the end of the crisis. The …

The Hill reports: Minnesota hospital leaders are warning in a full-page newspaper ad that they are “overwhelmed” amid a COVID-19 surge and are urging the public to take action. “Our emergency departments are overfilled, and we have patients in every bed in our hospitals,” write the leaders of nine hospital systems in the state, including the Mayo Clinic and North …

ABC News reports: With nearly 5 million children ages 5 to 11 now vaccinated against COVID-19, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says real-world monitoring finds vaccines are safe for young children. Crucially, the CDC hasn’t identified any concerns with the temporary heart inflammation known as myocarditis, a potential side effect of mRNA vaccines seen in …

The New York Times reports: Seventy-five percent of people who have died of the virus in the United States — or about 600,000 of the nearly 800,000 who have perished so far — have been 65 or older. One in 100 older Americans has died from the virus. For people younger than 65, that ratio is closer to 1 in …

The Washington Post reports: The number of active-duty U.S. military personnel declining to be vaccinated against the coronavirus by their prescribed deadlines is as high as 40,000, with new Army data showing that, days ahead of its cutoff, 3 percent of soldiers either have rejected President Biden’s mandate or sought a long-shot exemption. Military leaders have few options to address …

Politico Europe reports: Britain faces an oncoming “tidal wave” of cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant, Boris Johnson warned, as he promised all eligible adults in England a third vaccine dose by the end of December. Speaking in a pre-recorded address to the nation Sunday night, the U.K. prime minister urged Britons to get their “booster” dose and launched what …

Reuters reports: Two-dose COVID-19 vaccine regimens do not induce enough neutralising antibodies against the Omicron coronavirus variant, British scientists found, indicating that increased infections in those previously infected or vaccinated may be likely. Researchers from the University of Oxford published results on Monday from a study yet to be peer-reviewed, where they analysed blood samples from participants who were given …

Reuters reports: The United States on Sunday reached 800,000 coronavirus-related deaths, as the nation braces for a potential surge in infections due to more time spent indoors with colder weather and the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus. The milestone means the U.S. death toll from this one virus now exceeds the entire population of North Dakota. Even with …

The Hill reports: White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci on Sunday said health officials will “have to deal with it” if it is determined that another COVID-19 booster shot is necessary to protect against the virus, but said he is hoping that additional jabs will not be needed due to protection from initial booster shots. “If it becomes necessary to …

The Washington Post reports: European leaders and scientists warned Friday that the omicron variant could become dominant in some countries startlingly soon, overtaking the delta variant, which has remained the most common version of the virus globally for months. “We expect it to overtake delta within days, not weeks,” Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, said Friday about the …

The Associated Press reports: Tighter restrictions to curb the coronavirus came into force in Britain on Friday, as the government faced new allegations that officials flouted rules they had imposed on the nation with lockdown-breaking parties last Christmas. Face masks are once again compulsory in indoor public spaces in England under the measures British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this …

The Washington Post reports: A slim majority of American adults support religious exemptions to coronavirus vaccine mandates, but most also say that too many people are using their faith as an excuse to avoid immunization, a new survey found. The poll by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Interfaith Youth Core found that 51 percent of adults favor letting …

The New York Daily News reports: Gov. Hochul issued a statewide mask mandate on Friday, ordering the use of face coverings in all New York businesses that do not require proof of vaccination, as the state grapples with a winter wave of coronavirus cases that continues to stretch hospitals thin. The directive will enter force on Monday and last for …

San Diego’s Fox News affiliate reports: Donning a red and white Santa cap, the woman, who identified herself as “Bridgette,” stepped to the mic during Tuesday’s public comments portion of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors meeting. Her “All I Want For Christmas Is You” variation has a little bit of everything. It namechecks the antiparasitic drug Ivermectin and …

ABC News reports: Kentucky’s governor declared the state’s chronic nursing shortage to be an emergency Thursday, taking executive actions amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic to boost enrollment in nurse-training programs. Kentucky is projected to need more than 16,000 additional nurses by 2024, to help fill gaps caused by retirements and people leaving the profession, Gov. Andy Beshear said. Health leaders …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: Gov. Tony Evers is asking the Biden administration to send 100 federal health care workers to Wisconsin and is utilizing National Guard nurses in state mental health hospitals as hundreds of health care facilities say they need help to combat staffing shortages and a surge of COVID-19 cases. Hospitals and long-term care facilities in Wisconsin are …

The Associated Press reports: Vaccine makers are racing to update their COVID-19 shots against the newest coronavirus threat even before it’s clear a change is needed, just in case. Experts doubt today’s shots will become useless but say it’s critical to see how fast companies could produce a reformulated dose and prove it works — because whatever happens with omicron, …

The Washington Post reports: Across America, many of the nearly 50 million people infected with the coronavirus continue to suffer from some persistent symptoms, with a smaller subset experiencing such unbearable fatigue and other maladies that they can’t work, forcing them to drop out of the workforce, abandon careers and rack up huge debts. Hard data is not available and …

The Sacramento Bee reports: The head of the California Medical Board says members of an anti-vaccine group known to spread misinformation about COVID-19 treatments targeted her at her home and workplace in Walnut Creek on Monday. Kristina Lawson, president of the state agency that licenses and disciplines medical doctors, first shared the “terrifying experience” on Twitter Wednesday. Lawson, through a …

The Associated Press reports: Nearly 500 Los Angeles Unified School District employees were fired this week for refusing to comply with a mandate that they get vaccinated against COVID-19, while some 34,000 students have not yet been vaccinated as required. The school board voted 7-0 in separate motions on Tuesday to terminate 496 employees, who make up less than 1% …