While the national COVID-19 rates are declining, the U.S. is still far from the pandemic lows it recorded in early summer 2021 before the more highly transmissible delta variant became the dominant coronavirus strain.
Public Health
Even as COVID-19 infections begin to fall more than a year and a half into the pandemic, many Americans continue to face severe financial problems and disruptions to healthcare access, poll findings released Oct. 12 found.
Vaccine makers are leading studies using mRNA technology, which made the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines possible, in hopes of creating more effective flu shots in the future, The New York Times reports.
A new California law making harassment at vaccination sites a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail is raising concerns over violations of free speech protections, according to Kaiser Health Network.
New COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are falling nationwide, but hospitals in some states are still struggling to treat high volumes of virus patients.
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Preliminary research shows fully vaccinated people who've contracted a breakthrough COVID-19 infection have strong protection, indicating they don't need to rush to get a booster dose, The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 10.
The nation's seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths fell this week, while vaccination rates rose, according to the CDC's COVID data tracker weekly review published Oct. 8.
Washington, D.C., which reported insufficient data for the week ending Sept. 25, had high levels of flu activity that week, according to new data from the CDC's FluView report published Oct. 8.
Five New York state and local government agencies entered written agreements with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York Oct. 5 to make COVID-19 vaccination-related websites accessible to blind and visually impaired users.
The World Health Organization outlined a new strategy Oct. 7 to achieve 70 percent COVID-19 vaccination coverage in every country by mid-2022.