Natchitoches (La.) Regional Medical Center recently launched a public COVID-19 vaccination program in less than one week in partnership with local city officials, public health experts and educational leaders. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency could operate up to 100 COVID-19 vaccination sites within the next month as part of President Joe Biden's pandemic plan, The Washington Postt reported Jan. 25. 

About 19 percent of children and adolescents in the U.S. are obese — a record high, according to the latest data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. 

Researchers at the University of California San Diego are developing a color-changing mask sticker to detect early COVID-19 infections. 

As of Jan. 24, 110,628 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the U.S. — the lowest figure since Dec. 14, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project. 

Social distancing rates in the U.S. fell drastically as the pandemic continued, with an increasing attitude of apathy or resistance — also known as pandemic fatigue — for protective measures, according to a study published Jan. 22 in JAMA Network. 

North Dakota has administered the highest percentage of COVID-19 vaccines it has received, according to the CDC's COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration data tracker.

California has the most COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the U.S., according to the COVID Tracking Project. 

As of Jan. 25, about 419,000 people in the U.S. have died after contracting COVID-19, according to The New York Times.

Vermont has the highest COVID-19 reproduction rate, while Georgia and New Mexico have the lowest, according to rt.live. 

A contract nurse working at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Pueblo, Colo., accidentally administered an empty syringe to a patient, local news station FOX 21 reported Jan. 21. 

The CDC updated federal vaccine recommendations Jan. 21 to allow second COVID-19 doses from a different manufacturer in "exceptional situations," reports The New York Times.

Most Americans who haven't been vaccinated say they don't have enough information about where and when they'll be able to get vaccinated, according to Kaiser Family Foundation's latest COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey report published Jan. 22.

There is some evidence that the coronavirus variant first detected in the U.K. could be more deadly than the original strain, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Jan. 22, reports CNBC. 

Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health launched two major initiatives this week to vaccinate its local community against COVID-19.

Overall, 136 people have been hospitalized for the flu this season, according to the CDC's FluView report.

Average weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped 4 percent this week after increasing for 16 consecutive weeks, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project.

President Joe Biden signed 10 executive orders to combat COVID-19 spread Jan. 21 and shared a 198-page pandemic response plan Jan. 21, reports The Washington Post.

Hospitals must adopt rapid, frequent COVID-19 testing for staff to protect patients from hospital-acquired COVID-19, Manoj Jain, MD, an infectious disease consultant for several hospitals in Memphis, Tenn., wrote in a Jan. 21 op-ed published in The Washington Post.

The U.S. recorded 4,409 COVID-19 deaths Jan. 20, the highest daily death total since the pandemic began, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project.