health
USA TODAY'I thought I did everything right': The fully vaccinated are frustrated by CDC's changing mask advice
Most vaccinated people say they’re relieved the CDC is recommending masks again. They’re just frustrated guidance changed in the first place.
Associated PressMcCormick recalls some seasonings due to salmonella concern
McCormick & Co. is voluntarily recalling some seasonings due to possible salmonella contamination. The company said this week that it's recalling McCormick Perfect Pinch Italian Seasoning, McCormick Culinary Italian Seasoning and Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Ranch Seasoning. Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.
NBC NewsLong-acting drugs to prevent HIV may be key to beating the epidemic
New forms of pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, could be used by groups who find daily preventive medications too burdensome.
ReutersAstraZeneca finds small clot risk after 1st COVID shot, less after 2nd
(Reuters) -AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine carries a small extra risk of rare blood clots with low platelets after the first dose and no extra risk after the second, a study led and funded by the drugmaker showed on Wednesday, after worries over side-effects. The study, published in the Lancet medical journal, found that the estimated rate of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) after the first dose was 8.1 per million in those inoculated, AstraZeneca said https://www.astrazeneca.com/content/astraz/media-centre/press-releases/2021/vaxzevria-showed-no-increased-incidence-of-thrombosis-with-thrombocytopenia-after-second-dose.html. After the second dose of the vaccine, branded Vaxzevria and invented by Oxford University, the rate was 2.3 per million, comparable to that seen in unvaccinated people, the Anglo-Swedish company added.
USA TODAYJohnson & Johnson marketed baby powder to Black women amid cancer concerns, lawsuit says
A suit filed by Ben Crump and Paul Napoli alleges that Johnson & Johnson marketed talcum baby powder to Black women amid ovarian cancer concerns.
Good Morning AmericaWhat could work to get people vaccinated -- and it's not lotteries
Vaccine lotteries and other incentives designed to encourage COVID-19 vaccination after the rate steeply declined didn't consistently raise numbers as many public health officials had hoped. Now, officials are turning to community partnerships and other means of engagement to drive vaccinations -- and the personal approach appears promising. Despite at least 30 states and territories implementing vaccine incentives such as cash lotteries, free food and free entrance to local attractions, the weekly moving average still hovers close to 470,000.
Good Morning AmericaNYC, California turn to COVID testing mandate to boost vaccination numbers -- will it be enough?
As contentious debates over vaccine mandates continue with new coronavirus cases on the rise among the unvaccinated, elected officials are starting to fine-tune the idea of a new incentive by requiring public employees to get a coronavirus test until they get their shots. Barun Mathema, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, told ABC News that the plan is a very effective incentive on paper, and it will have a bigger impact outside of the public sector when it comes to confidence in the vaccines. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last week that employees of the city's public hospital system, which included medical centers like Elmhurst Hospital, the epicenter of the first wave of hospitalizations in 2020, would have to show proof of vaccination or submit a weekly test until they got their shot.
Yahoo Life'Call Her Daddy' host Alex Cooper on discussing therapy as openly as she does sex: 'It doesn't make me uncomfortable'
"The main relationship I was in in my life was between me and my therapist," she tells Yahoo Life.
ReutersBritish Columbia brings back mask mandate for region with high COVID-19 cases
The Canadian province of British Columbia is bringing back a mask mandate for the central region of the province amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in the area, officials announced on Wednesday, less than a month after easing restrictions. Masks will once again be mandatory in indoor public spaces in the central Okanagan region, including the city of Kelowna, located around 400 km (250 miles) northeast of Vancouver. Nonessential travel for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people to and from the region is being discouraged, provincial officials said.
The New York TimesCiting New Data, Pfizer Outlines Case for Booster Shots
Pfizer reported on Wednesday that the power of its two-dose COVID vaccine wanes slightly over time, but nonetheless offers lasting and robust protection against serious disease. The company suggested that a third shot could improve immunity, but whether boosters will be widely needed is far from settled, the subject of heated debate among scientists. So far, federal health officials have said boosters for the general population are unnecessary. And experts questioned whether vaccinated people sh
USA TODAYBreakthrough COVID infections after vaccination can lead to long-haul symptoms, Israeli study shows
The findings raise questions about the coronavirus vaccines' protection and suggest that even vaccinated people could experience long-term symptoms.
ReutersCDC says nearly 67% of U.S. counties have substantial, high COVID-19 transmission
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday that 66.6% of U.S. counties had transmission rates of COVID-19 high enough to warrant indoor masking and should immediately resume the policy. The transmission rate was up from 63.4% as of Tuesday. In total, 49.9% of U.S. counties have high COVID-19 community transmission rates and 16.7% have substantial rates, the CDC said.
USA TODAYGoogle mandates vaccines to employees; states react to CDC mask guidance change; virus deaths over 2,000 per week: COVID-19 news
States are quickly reacting after the CDC issued new mask guidance recommending that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors. Latest COVID news.
ABC NewsTokyo reports record number of COVID-19 cases as Olympic Games continue
Tokyo reported a record number of 3,177 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday as the Olympic Games remain underway. It's the second day in a row in which Japan's capital reported record-breaking cases. On Tuesday, the city reported 2,484 COVID-19 cases, which exceeded its previous record of 2,520 cases set on Jan. 7, 2021, according to Kyodo News.
ReutersVaccinate anyone who wants a COVID shot, says Philippines' Duterte
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered his government on Wednesday to open the coronavirus vaccination campaign to anyone who wants a shot as his country scrambles to protect the population from more transmissible variants. With only 6% of the Philippines' 110 million people fully vaccinated against COVID-19, millions remain vulnerable to infection. "Give the vaccines to those who want to be vaccinated," Duterte said in a late-night address, expressing concern over the contagious Delta variant, which is ripping through Southeast Asia, now a global epicentre for the virus.
NBC NewsGoogle and Facebook mandate vaccines for all employees returning to offices
The announcements come as the delta variant has caused coronavirus cases to rise in every state, with some of the highest numbers in states with low vaccination rates.
Associated PressEXPLAINER: Why masks are again advised for everyone indoors
The CDC this week revisited and revised its guidance for wearing masks indoors to stop the spread of coronavirus. CDC officials announced that people who are fully vaccinated should resume wearing masks indoors if they live in areas where the virus is surging — which is most of the country, or more than 60% of U.S. counties. Masks generally aren't needed outdoors.
Business InsiderThe CDC quietly changed its guidance to say even vaccinated people should get tested if they've been exposed to COVID-19
The CDC is now urging vaccinated people who've been around someone with COVID-19 to "get tested 3-5 days after," even if they don't develop symptoms.
Yahoo Life‘Prison Break’ star Wentworth Miller, 49, shares autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. How rare is an adult diagnosis?
Miller, 49, broke down the journey to his diagnosis in a candid Instagram post. Here's what experts say about receiving an ASD diagnosis as an adult.
ReutersNerve changes in eyes can help confirm 'long COVID'; Mental health issues tied to COVID-19 death risk
Changes in nerve fibers in the eyes can help confirm a diagnosis of "long COVID" - debilitating symptoms that persist more than four week after recovery from the acute illness, according to new findings. Because nerve fiber damage is suspected to underlie some of these lingering symptoms, ophthalmologists used a non-invasive technique called corneal confocal microscopy to check for nerve damage in the cornea. In their study of 40 COVID-19 survivors - most of whom had not been sick enough to need extra oxygen - and 30 uninfected individuals, the researchers found "significant associations" between nerve fiber loss in the cornea and the presence and severity of long COVID symptoms related to nerves, muscles and bones.
Business InsiderThis 20-person biotech firm just beat Elon Musk's Neuralink in getting the OK to test brain chip implants in humans with paralysis
Synchron beat out rival Neuralink, led by Elon Musk, to get the FDA go-ahead for human trials of a chip implant that makes a brain-computer interface.
ABC NewsExperts warn of prolonged COVID-19 pandemic due to vaccine inequality
A perfect storm with the coronavirus appears to be brewing across the Asia-Pacific region: surges in the highly contagious delta variant combined with slow vaccination uptake. Tight vaccine supplies are a major factor and experts caution that unless most of the global population is vaccinated, and richer countries share more of their vaccines, the world will face a far longer bout with the coronavirus than anticipated. The issue extends from countries at the center of the current surge, like Indonesia, to those that fared relatively well with the disease early on in the pandemic, like South Korea.
ReutersTurkey tackles low vaccine take-up in east as COVID-19 cases surge
In the Turkish city of Diyarbakir, health workers' pleas to citizens to get vaccinated against COVID-19 ring out through the streets as a surge in new cases in the country's east, where vaccination rates lag, alarms authorities. "Valued people of Diyarbakir, the best way to be protected from illness is vaccination," a health worker announces through an ambulance speaker, as part of a mobile campaign that started during last week's Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha. The mobile teams have vaccinated some 5,000 people in 15 days by visiting neighbourhoods and villages and informing people, said Semih Erdal Tekay, a local health official.
Associated Press2021 outlook grows murky for insurers as COVID-19 surges
Surging COVID-19 cases are blurring the view for health insurers of how 2021 will play out. Medicare Advantage coverage specialist Humana said Wednesday that it was maintaining its 2021 earnings forecast, citing “heightened uncertainty” about the ongoing pandemic. The seven-day rolling average for daily new cases in the United States has jumped from about 24,000 shortly before UnitedHealth reported earnings on July 15 to more than 61,000 Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Business InsiderCuomo pushes private New York employers to bring workers back into the office by Labor Day even as he warns about the Delta variant
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pushing ahead on a return to normalcy even as he warned that the spread of the Delta variant in the state was "real."
“[The program] stands likely to leave millions of families — disproportionately the poorest and most fragile ones — behind.”
“[Paying] families monthly, instead of one lump sum ... will provide parents with more stability knowing when cash is coming.”
“More parents will disappear from the workforce, and more children will be locked into dependency.”
“Poverty is a political choice, not an inevitability.”
“Time is running out. There are only six months until monthly payments of the credit cease."