Latest KFF Health News Stories
Turning Anger Into Action: Minority Students Analyze COVID Data on Racial Disparities
About 70 college students are enrolled this summer in a program developed by San Francisco researchers and funded by the National Institutes of Health that allows them to explore the pandemic’s impact on communities facing health disparities.
Public Health Officials Are Quitting or Getting Fired in Throes of Pandemic
A review by KHN and the Associated Press finds at least 49 state and local public health leaders have resigned, retired or been fired since April across 23 states. One of the latest departures came Sunday, when California’s public health director was ousted.
Without Federal Protections, Farm Workers Risk Coronavirus Infection to Harvest Crops
Skeptics say the lack of enforceable federal safety standards geared toward the coronavirus allows these employers to prioritize the harvest over worker safety.
Test Sites Quickly Attract Thousands for COVID-19 Vaccine Study
People have flooded U.S. testing sites with requests to participate in the pivotal, late-stage clinical trials of the first two COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
Your Favorite Store or Restaurant Is Open. How Do You Know It’s OK to Go In?
We gathered tips from experts on what to look for — masks are a constant theme — when trying to decide if you will be comfortable visiting various establishments.
America’s Obesity Epidemic Threatens Effectiveness of Any COVID Vaccine
Vaccines engineered to protect the public from influenza, hepatitis B, tetanus and rabies are less effective for obese people, leaving them more vulnerable to serious illness. As scientists race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, experts say obesity could prove an impediment — a sobering prospect for a nation in which nearly half of all adults are obese.
When Green Means Stop: How Safety Messages Got So Muddled
Philadelphia is in the “restricted green” reopening phase. What does that mean? And why does the U.S. have so many different pandemic safety rules?
Fauci Unfazed as Scientists Rely on Unproven Methods to Create COVID Vaccines
Teams are starting to test vaccines using messenger RNA or chimpanzee cold viruses to inoculate humans. Will their benefits last?
Get the Data: Hollowed-Out Public Health System Faces More Cuts Amid Virus
We’re releasing our public health infrastructure data on Github for journalists, researchers and interested readers to use.
Namaste Noir: Yoga Co-Op Seeks to Diversify Yoga to Heal Racialized Trauma
In dealing with her son’s violent murder, fear over the coronavirus pandemic and the stress of coping with systemic racism, Beverly Grant has found strength and peace through yoga. The Denver native is part of a yoga co-op seeking to bring the ancient practice to more diverse communities as a health care tool.
Analysis: When Is a Coronavirus Test Not a Coronavirus Test?
If it takes 12 days to get results, testing is basically pointless.
In Texas, More People Are Losing Their Health Insurance as COVID Cases Climb
During the pandemic, nearly 700,000 additional Texans have lost health insurance. The Lone Star State already had more uninsured people than any other. It has given people with COVID symptoms pause before seeking medical care.
‘It’s About Love and Solidarity’: Mutual Aid Unites NYC Neighbors Facing COVID
Mutual aid groups, in which volunteers give their time and resources to help others in the community, are seeing a resurgence in New York with the coronavirus pandemic.
Employers Require COVID Liability Waivers as Conflict Mounts Over Workplace Safety
While Congress negotiates liability protection for reopening businesses as part of its latest pandemic bailout package, some employers are already requiring workers to sign waivers agreeing not to sue if they get COVID-19 on the job.
The Color of COVID: Will Vaccine Trials Reflect America’s Diversity?
Although racial minorities, older people and those with underlying medical conditions are most at risk from COVID-19, they’ve historically been the least likely to be included in clinical trials for treatments for serious diseases. Will that change with COVID-19?
Less-Lethal Weapons Blind, Maim and Kill. Victims Say Enough Is Enough.
Time and again over the past two decades, peace officers have targeted demonstrators with munitions designed only to stun and stop. Protests this year in reaction to George Floyd’s death in police custody have reignited a controversy surrounding their use.
As Long Waits for Results Render COVID Tests ‘Useless,’ States Seek Workarounds
With COVID-19 tests bogged down in backlogs, some states that relied on private laboratories, such as Quest Diagnostics, are trying to adapt as caseloads rise.
Adjunct Professors: Jobs Are Low on Pay and Health Benefits With High COVID Risk
As colleges and universities develop plans for the fall semester amid the coronavirus pandemic, these non-tenured, often part-time instructors find themselves in an especially precarious position.
Bingeing on Doom: Expert on the ‘Black Death’ Attracts Cult Following
A 2016 series on the 14th-century plague became must-see TV during spring’s COVID-19 outbreak — and flooded Purdue medievalist Dorsey Armstrong with questions about parallels between that pandemic and the current crisis.
NIH Project Homes In on COVID Racial Disparities
The pandemic has given the National Institutes of Health an opportunity to show the value of its $1.5 billion “All of Us” research program. A major effort to make the platform’s database representative of America resulted in minorities making up more than half of its more than 270,000 volunteers.
