About 55 percent of U.S. adults say they have received the COVID-19 vaccine or want it as soon as possible, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's latest COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor report released Feb. 26.  

COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. have decreased every day since Jan. 12, hitting their lowest point since Nov. 4, reports The COVID Tracking Project. 

Alabama Regional Medical Services, a federally qualified health center that serves a low-income, predominantly Black community on Birmingham's north side, has yet to receive a single COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, vaccines are already available at a pharmacy in the state's wealthiest town of Mountain Brook, which is due east of Birmingham, reports Bloomberg.

More than a dozen emergency medicine physicians from New York City hospitals reflected on their response to last spring's COVID-19 surge and identified many opportunities to improve crisis planning in a Feb. 25 report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a $13,494 penalty to Chicago-based Community First Medical Center in December after an inspection found violations related to respirator mask policies, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Feb. 24. 

New daily COVID-19 cases have started to level off over the past week in the U.S. after falling since peaking mid-January, according to data tracked by The New York Times. 

Here are the rates of positive COVID-19 tests in each state, along with the number of new cases most recently reported and number of tests conducted per 100,000 people. 

The prolonged COVID-19 symptoms people experience after initial infection, now known as 'Long COVID,' may persist for up to nine months in some cases, according to findings from a small study published Feb. 19 in JAMA Network Open.

San Francisco-based One Medical has administered COVID-19 vaccinations to people deemed ineligible by local health departments, according to internal communications viewed by NPR.

The University of Maryland Medical System transformed M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, into a 55,000-square-foot COVID-19 vaccination site in just 18 days, the health system said Feb. 23.

Misinformation tying COVID-19 vaccines to fertility issues is contributing to vaccine hesitancy among many women in their 20s and 30s, health experts told The Washington Post.

Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital has admitted zero patients with flu or respiratory syncytial virus this season, "which is unheard of," the health system said Feb. 22. 

NYU Langone Health aims to increase research and physician training on psychedelic medicine through a new center, the New York City-based health system said Feb. 24.

A program created to ensure equitable COVID-19 vaccine access for people of color in California is being misused by some residents, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The stigma that surgical robots are overrated or too expensive should be reconsidered because of the many benefits they can offer a health system.

The National Institutes of Health will lead a major research program focused on identifying what causes prolonged COVID-19 symptoms after the infection has cleared, now widely known as 'Long COVID,' and on the development of methods to treat or prevent the problems, the agency announced Feb. 23. 

The rate at which a vaccine protects against COVID-19 appears to be the strongest factor in deciding whether to get vaccinated, according to research published in the March issue of PNAS.

Genome sequencing revealed a new coronavirus variant identified in a severely sick newborn treated at Washington, D.C.-based Children's National Hospital, reports The Washington Post. 

Nationwide, COVID-19 hospitalizations are still falling since hitting their mid-January peak, though the rate of decline has slowed over the last few days, reports The COVID Tracking Project.  

Venous thromboembolisms (VTE), or blood clots in the veins, affect as many as 900,000 Americans in the U.S. each year, about 50 percent of them are healthcare-associated, and as many as 70 percent of cases are preventable, according to the CDC.