Study suggests kids don't spread COVID at schools with precautions

The researchers studied two schools and found no evidence of student-to-teacher or teacher-to-student transmission.

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  • Merkel says COVID variants risk third virus wave, must proceed carefully

    New variants of COVID-19 risk a third wave of infections in Germany and the country must proceed with great care so that a new nationwide shutdown does not become necessary, Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The number of new daily infections has stagnated over the past week with the seven-day incidence rate hovering at around 60 cases per 100,000. On Wednesday, Germany reported 8,007 new infections and 422 further deaths.

  • Republican leaders Kevin McCarthy and Liz Cheney clash over support for Trump at a press conference

    "I don't believe [Trump] should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country," Cheney said.

  • Wanted: More high-tech manufacturing space for a global vaccine push

    The number of available COVID-19 vaccine doses is steadily rising, but a shortage of physical space that meets standards for pharmaceutical manufacturing is a major bottleneck to further expansion, according to drugmakers, industry construction experts and officials involved in the U.S. vaccine program. The production of raw materials, vaccine formulation and vial filling all require "clean rooms" with features like air cleaners, sterile water and sterilizing steam designed and in some cases built by specialists. Moderna Inc on Wednesday announced plans to expand vaccine manufacturing capacity, but said it will be a year before that can add to its production.

  • Left out of MeToo: New initiative focuses on Black survivors

    It’s been more than three years since the #MeToo movement launched a culture-shifting conversation about sexual violence. Now, Burke is part of a new initiative — called “We, As Ourselves” — in which three prominent groups are focusing on those survivors, who she says often feel that #MeToo has passed them by.

  • There’s a Way to Fix the Vaccine Appointment Mess

    Mario Tama/GettyIf you’ve tried to get a COVID-19 vaccine appointment, you know how frustrating the process can be. People are spending hours obsessively refreshing websites, hoping an appointment will open up somewhere. They scan Facebook groups for tips and insider information. One writer compared it to Soviet-style queues for cabbage.The competition for slots will only worsen when the COVID-19 vaccination priority list opens to the broader public.It doesn’t have to be this way. Much of this misery comes from poorly designed vaccine sign-up websites, but the problem is more fundamental.As an expert in health care operations and vaccine supply chains, I have closely followed the difficulties in connecting COVID-19 vaccine doses with people. I believe the best solution to vaccine appointment scheduling lies in building a trustworthy one-stop preregistration system. The U.S. has now surpassed half a million deaths from COVID-19, and new fast-spreading variants of the coronavirus are adding to the urgency. As states scramble to speed up vaccinations and try to prevent their limited doses going to waste, a handful of them are testing this approach.The traditional vaccine sign-up model does not work when the demand for vaccines far exceeds supply.Under that model, the only way to get vaccinated is to reserve an appointment slot. Naturally, the fear of being left out drives people to attempt to sign up as soon as appointment slots become available. This leads to a rush of people endlessly refreshing the same websites for the few appointments available.Even if all states had one-stop appointment websites that did not crash under high volume, the limited vaccine supply would mean most appointment slots would quickly be taken. That could make it even harder for people who aren’t tech-savvy to get the vaccine.To fix the broken vaccine scheduling system, we need to break this cycle. 1299353966 Teacher Lily Gottlieb waits in a socially distanced standby line for people hoping to receive leftover COVID-19 vaccine doses in Encino, California. Mario Tama/Getty Most people have fairly realistic expectations about when they will be vaccinated. Their anxiety comes from the fear of being left out. To address this anxiety, the system must be designed to reassure people that they will receive vaccines within a reasonable time frame.In Israel, which leads the world in COVID-19 vaccination, citizens do not need to actively sign up for vaccine appointments. Rather, they are notified when they become eligible via text messages and can then make an appointment.States can echo this “push” system by creating a one-stop preregistration portal where everyone registers once and is notified to schedule appointments when their turn arrives. The preregistration step helps avoid waves of people trying to get appointments at the same time, which can crash computer systems, as Massachusetts experienced on Feb. 18.A good system will make it easy for people to check their position in the vaccine queue at any time, provide an estimated time to vaccination based on frequently updated supply information and then send notifications when their date is getting close. Underlying the system, vaccine doses can be allocated among eligible users on the registry using a lottery system.A well-designed preregistration system can also help avoid vaccine doses going to waste because of no-shows. With an active waitlist, vaccine planners can match supply with demand in an agile manner and offer appointments to people a few days in advance rather than scheduling appointments weeks out when the supply isn’t certain. Research in appointment scheduling has shown that no-shows are more likely under long lead times. People line up in the rain outside the Yankee Stadium for vaccinations reserved for residents of The Bronx. Timothy A. Clary/Getty West Virginia uses a statewide preregistration system and has so far been more successful at vaccinating its population than almost every other state. It controls the process from preregistration to appointment. To get the vaccine, almost all residents, with a few exceptions, are required to use the state system, with options to register either online or by phone.Minnesota just launched a similar system. “We still have a frustratingly limited vaccine supply from the federal government, but every Minnesotan should know their chance to get a vaccine will come. Today, we are connecting them directly to that process,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said in announcing the preregistration system on Feb. 18.More states should follow their lead as more of the general population becomes eligible for the vaccine in the coming months.In Massachusetts, where a vaccine sign-up website crashed shortly after launching, nearly every member of the state’s congressional delegation has urged Gov. Charlie Baker to launch a preregistration system. A few other states already have limited preregistration systems that could be expanded.Preregistration can still create confusion if the process isn’t coordinated and users don’t know what to expect.In Virginia, for example, counties created their own preregistration systems, but when the pharmacy chain CVS announced it was taking appointments, users didn’t know what to do. Most Virginia counties are now shifting to a statewide preregistration system. In Santa Cruz County, California, residents have struggled with a preregistration portal that doesn’t provide confirmation or an estimated time to vaccination.“Efficiency-equity trade-off” has become a buzzword in discussing COVID-19 vaccination. With limited vaccine supply, the traditional sign-up model has proven to be both inefficient and inequitable. Moving away from that model and establishing one-stop preregistration systems is one key to resolving the painful vaccine scheduling process.Tinglong Dai is an associate professor of operations management & business analytics, at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Johns Hopkins University School of NursingRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • 'It's a great day,' superintendent says as students return to class

    For the first time in nearly a year, students in one of the Massachusetts cities hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic returned to class Tuesday.

  • Texas Lt. Gov. says that people getting huge energy bills 'gambled on a very, very low rate' - but suggests they won't have to pay the full amount

    Texans on variable-rate energy deals were faced with enormous bills as the wholesale price of electricity spiked 10,000% during the storms.

  • Lady Gaga’s Dog Walker Shot as Thieves Swipe Her Two French Bulldogs, Says Report

    Reuters/Saul LoebThieves have shot Lady Gaga’s dog walker and made off with two of her French bulldogs, according to a report from TMZ.The shooting took place in West Hollywood on Wednesday night. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to The Daily Beast that a 30-year-old victim was taken to a local hospital. His condition is unknown.According to TMZ, a third dog was with the man when the shooting began right before 10 p.m. ABC7 reported that the dog walker was seen cradling one of the dogs while he was being treated on the sidewalk for his gunshot wounds. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) The singer, real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, has three beloved French bulldogs, Koji, Asia, and Gustav. It was reported that Asia is the dog recovered from the scene. Earlier in the day, Lady Gaga was seen in Rome, where she is filming Ridley Scott’s new movie Gucci. Lady Gaga is reportedly “extremely upset” and is offering a $500,000 reward for the safe return of her pets “no questions” asked, according to TMZ. Anyone with information is asked to email KojiandGustav@gmail.com.Her team was not immediately available for comment.Police are searching for at least one suspect, who was seen fleeing the scene in a white vehicle. They said it was too early in the investigation to know if the dogs were the target of the shooting. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Fox anchor suspended after saying he was ‘annoyed’ at obese people getting Covid vaccine

    The anchor was called out “fatphobic” on social media

  • Former Trump Aide to Run Primary Challenge against Kinzinger

    Representative Adam Kinzinger (R., Ill.) will face a primary challenge from a former Trump administration aide as the pro-Trump faction of the GOP looks to oust Republicans, such as Kinzinger, who voted in support of the former president’s second impeachment. Catalina Lauf, who served in the Department of Commerce under the Trump administration, launched a bid Thursday to oust Kinzinger from his seat in the 16th congressional district of Illinois. “I never thought I’d primary a fellow Republican, but is Congressman Kinzinger really a Republican anymore? He isn’t and we have the proof,” the 27-year-old challenger said in a campaign announcement video. Lauf said her 42-year-old opponent is a “weak-kneed, establishment Republican” who “cares more about his next MSNBC appearance than the voters who elected him.” She claimed Kinzinger does not support the “America First” movement, noting his “one in three votes” in Congress that have sided with House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) “Instead of being in our fight, Adam betrayed his constituents for a life in the D.C. swamp,” said Lauf, who branded herself the “anti-AOC.” She blasts her “Fake Republican” opponent for backing the “phony impeachment hoax for a president who has already left office.” “He said impeachment was ‘necessary to save America.’ What?” Lauf said. “You know what I think is necessary to save America, Adam? Setting term limits for people like you and the rest of your friends out. Six terms in Congress is enough.” Kinzinger is one of ten House Republicans who supported Trump’s impeachment on the charge of “incitement of insurrection” after a mob of the former president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol last month. Others who supported impeachment, including Representative Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) and Representative Anthony Gonzalez (R., Ohio), are likely to face primary challenges from pro-Trump Republican candidates as well. Gonzalez is expected to face a primary challenge from a former Trump aide, Max Miller, who served in the White House. Miller has reportedly been in discussion with top Republican donors in Ohio and other Republican leaders since leaving the White House last month, according to Politico. Miller, who is from northeastern Ohio, recently purchased a house in Rocky River, which is inside Gonzalez’s 16th district, according to the report. As for Lauf, she says she will focus on a number of issues, if elected, including “social media censorship,” “election integrity,” “freedom of speech,” “gun rights,” “illegal immigration,” and “keeping the economy going.” Lauf is the daughter of a Guatemalan immigrant mother and a small-business-owner father. This marks Lauf’s second bid for Congress, having run in the 14th congressional district of Illinois in 2020. State senator Jim Oberweis beat out Lauf in a crowded primary to become the GOP candidate, but ultimately lost in the general election against incumbent representative Lauren Underwood, a Democrat, by less than 2 percent.

  • Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump's migrant-family-separation scheme, called Biden's immigration policies 'cruel' and 'inhumane'

    The family-separation policy made Miller one of the most controversial Trump officials. He even put conservatives on edge.

  • GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger called out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for hanging a sign declaring binary gender across the hall from a lawmaker with a trans daughter

    Greene and Rep. Marie Newman were sparring over the Equality Act, which would ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.

  • Pfizer is testing a 3rd booster shot to bolster its COVID-19 vaccine against new variants

    Vaccine makers are testing the safety and efficacy of third doses in anticipation of new coronavirus variants.

  • A Chinese couple paid $155,000 in fees to have 7 children in violation of the country's 2-child policy

    China ended its one-child policy in 2015, but it's still struggling with declining birth rates and an aging population.

  • An ex-girlfriend tipped off the FBI about an alleged US Capitol rioter after he called her a 'moron'

    Richard Michetti was arraigned Tuesday in Philadelphia over his alleged participation in the January 6 insurrection.

  • Christopher Cantwell, known as 'The Crying Nazi,' sentenced to 41 months in prison on extortion charges

    Cantwell went viral after he posted a YouTube video of himself crying and pleading with police not to hurt him.

  • China's ships are getting bigger and more aggressive, and Japan is scrambling to keep up

    China's massive Coast Guard and a new law expanding what it can do have worried its neighbors, maybe none of them more so than Japan.

  • AOC accuses Marjorie Taylor Greene of ‘trying to get out of work early’

    New York congresswoman hits out at controversial Republican over Equality Act

  • Biden nominee Neera Tanden’s tweet about Joe Manchin’s daughter may come back to haunt her

    The Democratic operative criticised the Senator’s daughter for receiving a pay increase as a CEO

  • Wisconsin Rep. Ron Johnson wants answers on Capitol insurrection

    In a letter to Senate committee leaders, Rep. Ron Johnson said "it's important that we completely reconstruct what happened from all perspectives ..."