BY JULIA MUELLER Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Tuesday proposed a permanent ban on mandates related to COVID-19 in the state, from mask requirements in schools to the use of vaccine passports. DeSantis’s proposal, dubbed “Prescribe Freedom,” asks...
Advocates warn US at risk of losing control on monkeypox
BY NATHANIEL WEIXEL nfectious disease experts and public health advocates are warning that the Biden administration has been too slow to respond to the monkeypox outbreak and that the U.S. is at risk of losing control of the disease. The response to monkeypox is...
Fauci says he is experiencing ‘rebound’ of COVID symptoms after Paxlovid treatment
BY NATHANIEL WEIXEL Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases doctor, said he is experiencing a rebound of COVID-19 symptoms after taking Pfizer’s antiviral drug Paxlovid. Fauci, 81, contracted COVID-19 earlier this month, and while his symptoms were...
As cases rise, Americans are ‘checked out’ on COVID-19
BY PETER SULLIVAN COVID-19 cases are on the rise, but many Americans are over thinking of the virus as a crisis. Even in blue cities, restaurants are packed with people, and many Americans don’t wear masks even on the subway or on airplanes. ...
Experts perplexed over number of people getting long COVID
BY JOSEPH CHOI Public health experts are divided over how many people are getting long COVID-19, a potentially debilitating condition that comes after a patient has recovered from the coronavirus. Ill effects from the condition can include fatigue, pain, neurological...
The COVID-19 shutdown: A timeline of how the pandemic changed the US economy
BY LEXI LONAS Although the U.S. has passed the two-year mark since the arrival of COVID-19, the country is still working to recover from the economic toll of the pandemic. In March 2020, the U.S. shut down its economy, shuttering businesses and telling all...
Moderna expects ‘large amounts’ of omicron booster available by fall
BY MONIQUE BEALS Moderna’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said on Sunday that his company was preparing to provide large amounts of its vaccine booster against omicron and other COVID-19 variants this fall. “We’re confident by the fall of this year we should...
Birx says US must prepare for summer COVID surge as immunity wanes
BY MONIQUE BEALS Deborah Birx, a leading member of the Trump administration’s White House coronavirus task force, said on Sunday the U.S. should be prepared for another potential COVID-19 surge after a recent uptick in infections in South Africa. “They’re on an...
Former Trump surgeon general blasts ending travel mask mandate: It will ‘endanger’ lives
BY MYCHAEL SCHNELL Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who served in the role in the Trump administration, blasted a federal judge’s decision to strike down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) travel mask mandate, arguing that...
Merck’s COVID-19 pill to be produced by more than two dozen drugmakers
BY MONIQUE BEALS Medicines Patent Pool, an organization supported by the U.N., announced on Thursday that over two dozen generic drug makers will soon begin producing Merck's COVID-19 pill to make the treatment more accessible in developing...
EU agency says omicron pushing COVID-19 out of pandemic phase
BY JOSEPH CHOI An official from Europe's top medical product regulation agency said Tuesday that the COVID-19 omicron variant may be pushing the pandemic into becoming endemic. Marco Cavaleri, head of vaccine strategy for the European Medicines Agency (EMA), told...
French President Macron refuses to back off controversial remarks about unvaccinated
BY SARAKSHI RAI French President Emmanuel Macron has refused to take back his recent controversial comments on the unvaccinated in France. Macron acknowledged his use of coarse language while referring to the country's unvaccinated population may have upset some, but...
Israeli study shows second booster is safe, gives fivefold antibody increase
BY MAUREEN BRESLIN An Israeli study looking into the effects of a fourth total, or second booster, of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine showed with a "high degree of certainty" it's safe and increased antibodies by fivefold one week post-vaccination, Israeli Prime...
Surgeon General on public’s pandemic fatigue: ‘We will get to the end of this’
BY DOMINICK MASTRANGELO Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said while it is understandable that much of the public is likely growing fatigued with the ebbs and flows of the coronavirus pandemic, he is optimistic the nation is now in a...
Health expert: Surge in COVID-19 cases should no longer be ‘major metric’ of pandemic
BY DOMINICK MASTRANGELO A leading health expert said the largely more mild symptoms reported by vaccinated people against the coronavirus proves the inoculation is the best way to protect yourself from being seriously sick or dying from the disease and that a surge in...