Latest KFF Health News Stories
How One State’s Public Health Defunding Led to Vaccination Chaos
The underfunding of public health and political backlash destabilized Missouri’s vaccine rollout, creating racial inequity and forcing some residents to drive hours to get shots.
Birx Joins Air-Cleaning Industry Amid Land Grab for Billions in Federal Covid Relief
Air-cleaning companies with limited oversight are targeting a growing market of schools desperate for covid-19 protection. Donald Trump’s former covid adviser lands with one that built its business, in part, on ozone-emitting technology.
Ya te has vacunado contra covid. ¿Y ahora qué?
Más y más personas se vacunan cada día, justo cuando comienza la primavera. Pero, ¿están totalmente protegidos? Todavía hay preguntas por contestar y reglas que cumplir.
So You’re Vaccinated Against Covid. Now What?
The vaccination rollout has been unsteady, but the vaccines seem very effective, raising hopes that the pandemic will subside by later this year if enough Americans get their shots. Meanwhile, remain cautious.
For Spring Season, Young Athletes Get Back in the Game Despite Covid Risk
With schools opening up classrooms, millions of young athletes are also getting out on fields and courts. But pandemic precautions and delays are spurring conflicts among parents, coaches and doctors.
Did CDC Delays in Up-To-Date Masking Advice Cost Health Workers’ Lives?
Researchers say “very low”-quality research from the 2003 SARS outbreak drove guidelines on who got the best PPE, leaving those most at risk exposed.
Biden’s Straight-Talking CDC Director Has Long Used Data to Save Lives
Dr. Rochelle Walensky said scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were “muzzled” and “diminished” by the Trump team, especially during the pandemic. She aims to fix that.
Have a Case of a Covid Variant? No One Is Going to Tell You
As experts race to get an approved test for covid variants, officials are severely restricted from sharing information about the cases. That makes it harder to protect others.
It’s Time to Get Back to Normal? Not According to Science.
With covid, and its newly emerging variants, still circulating throughout the nation and the world, experts say it is definitely not the time to abandon efforts to control the virus’s spread.
Prominent Scientists Call on CDC to Better Protect Workers From Covid
The academics insist that more workers should get top-rated N95 masks, the best defense against airborne coronavirus particles.
Lack of Covid Data on People With Intellectual Disabilities ‘Comes With a Body Count’
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are more likely to have medical conditions that make covid especially dangerous. But a lack of federal tracking means no one knows how many people in disability group housing have fallen ill or died from the virus.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: All About Budget Reconciliation
Even while the Senate is busy with Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, the House has gotten down to work on a covid relief bill using the budget reconciliation process. Meanwhile, the watchword for covid this week among the public is confusion — over masks, vaccines and just about everything else science-related. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, the panelists recommend their favorite “health policy valentines” along with their favorite health policy stories they think you should read, too.
With Demand Far Exceeding Supply, It Matters That People Are Jumping the Vaccine Line
When hospital administrators and politicians’ spouses get immunized before people more at risk, it undermines confidence in the system.
As Vaccine Rollout Expands, Black Americans Still Left Behind
Covid vaccines are reaching more Americans, but Black residents are being vaccinated at dramatically lower rates in the 23 states where data is publicly available. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to release national data next week.
Huge Gaps in Vaccine Data Make It Next to Impossible to Know Who Got the Shots
Details about race, ethnicity and occupation are often missing as data collected nationally is scattered across scores of digital systems that don’t connect. And the CDC doesn’t require vaccinators to report occupations of recipients, even though the order in which people get shots largely depends on their job.
When Covid Deaths Aren’t Counted, Families Pay the Price
Inaccurate and incomplete death certificates hurt those seeking relief, recourse and closure after a loved one dies.
Feeling Left Out: Private Practice Doctors, Patients Wonder When It’s Their Turn for Vaccine
Doctors say some patients, and even medical staff members, don’t know where to go to be vaccinated against covid-19.
As the Terror of COVID Struck, Health Care Workers Struggled to Survive. Thousands Lost the Fight.
At least 2,900 health workers have died since the pandemic began. Many were minorities with the highest levels of patient contact.
COVID Vaccines Appear Safe and Effective, but Key Questions Remain
The federal government expects vaccinations to be available to everyone who wants them by summer — though glitches are inevitable. If enough of us get vaccinated, we could wave goodbye to the pandemic in 2021.
Las vacunas de COVID parecen ser seguras y efectivas, pero todavía hay preguntas
Una encuesta publicada en diciembre mostró que el 45% de los encuestados están adoptando un enfoque de “esperar y ver qué pasa” con la vacunación.
