Public Health

The White House is allocating $1.7 billion from the American Rescue Plan to improve the detection, surveillance and mitigation of coronavirus variants, President Joe Biden said April 16. 

The Colorado Department of Health and Environment is advising individuals who received vaccines at Colorado Springs-based Dr. Moma Health and Wellness Clinic to consider the vaccination invalid, according to an April 13 news release. 

Examining who experiences rare breakthrough COVID-19 infections after vaccination can help improve our understanding of who is vulnerable and whether variants are at play, but these thorough investigations are often not occuring, according to an investigative report ProPublica published April…

More than 87,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending last September — the highest annual death toll recorded since the opioid crisis started in the late 1990s, according to preliminary CDC data released April 14.

A person's blood type likely does not contribute to their risk of contracting COVID-19 or of developing a severe infection, according to a study published April 5 in JAMA Network Open.

A small proportion of Americans — about 5,800 out of nearly 77 million — have contracted COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated against the infection, CDC officials told CNN.

While most COVID-19 tests on the market can detect new variants sweeping the globe, continued vigilance is needed to ensure the virus does not evolve so much that it completely evades detection, scientists told The New York Times.

As COVID-19 cases swell in Michigan, pediatric hospitalizations are also on the rise, several physicians told the Detroit Free Press.

Annual cases of sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. hit an all-time high for the sixth consecutive year in 2019, according to CDC data published April 13.  

For many vulnerable patient populations, such as homebound seniors and the homeless, the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is the favored option, with the temporary pause on its use complicating vaccine equity efforts, The Washington Post reported April 14.