Vaccines

Anti-Vaccine Ideology Gains Ground as Lawmakers Seek to Erode Rules for Kids’ Shots

KFF Health News Original

Legislators in Kansas are pushing bills to expand exemptions for school vaccines, allowing religious exemptions for all vaccine requirements in the state’s schools without families having to provide any proof of their beliefs. Similar bills are being introduced around the nation as the anti-vaccine movement gains traction among politicians.

Se desploma la asistencia a eventos de vacunación contra covid en Los Ángeles

KFF Health News Original

A medida que las infecciones por covid han ido disminuyendo, también lo ha hecho el interés en las vacunas, a pesar de que estas dosis son altamente efectivas para evitar enfermarse de gravedad y morir a causa del virus.

Why Black and Hispanic Seniors Are Left With a Less Powerful Flu Vaccine

KFF Health News Original

Federal health officials haven’t taken a clear position on whether a high-dose influenza vaccine — on the market since 2010 — is the best choice for people 65 and older. Many in that group already opt for the costlier enhanced shot. Those who get the standard vaccine are disproportionately members of ethnic and racial minorities.

Mientras el país se acerca a un millón de muertes por covid, un condado enfrenta terribles pérdidas

KFF Health News Original

En Pennsylvania, el condado de Mifflin, mayormente anti vacunas, está procesando un duelo por fuera de las estadísticas: 337 muertes por covid. De estas personas, 311 no habían recibido ninguna dosis.

As US Nears 1 Million Covid Deaths, One Hard-Hit County Grapples With Unthinkable Loss

KFF Health News Original

The United States is nearing 1 million deaths from covid — an almost incomprehensible number of lives lost that few thought possible when the pandemic began. Pennsylvania’s Mifflin County offers a snapshot into how one hard-hit community, with over 300 dead, is coping.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Funding for the Next Pandemic

KFF Health News Original

In his proposed budget, President Joe Biden called for a boost in health spending that includes billions of dollars to prepare for a future pandemic. But that doesn’t include money he says is needed immediately for testing and treating covid-19. Also this week, federal regulators authorized a second booster shot for people 50 and older yet gave little guidance to consumers about who needs the shot and when. Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post, Jennifer Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times, and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Julie Rovner interviews KHN’s Julie Appleby, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a very expensive air ambulance ride.

‘The Danger Is Still There’ ― As Omicron Lurks, Native Americans Are Wary of Boosters

KFF Health News Original

Federal data shows that vaccination rates for American Indians and Alaska Natives were some of the highest in the nation, but tribes say resistance has slowed efforts to boost members.

Covid and Schizophrenia: Why This Deadly Mix Can Deepen Knowledge of the Brain Disease

KFF Health News Original

Recent studies from around the world have found that people with schizophrenia are as much as five times as likely to die from covid-19 as the general population. Scientists think the findings suggest schizophrenia is not just a disease of the brain, but also a disease of the immune system.

Patients With Vulnerable Immune Systems Worry Vaccine Exemptions May Put Them in Peril

KFF Health News Original

Montana’s governor pushed the state’s health workers to seek religious exemptions to a federal mandate to be vaccinated against covid, but the number who have done so is unknown.

Pfizer CEO Pushes Yearly Shots for Covid. Not So Fast, Experts Say.

KFF Health News Original

A corporate CEO’s call for a fourth mRNA shot struck those closely watching the pandemic as self-serving. It creates public pressure for a fourth dose of vaccine before government experts have time to assess the evidence and settle on the best course forward.

Sharing Covid Vax Facts Inside ICE Detention, One Detainee at a Time

KFF Health News Original

Thousands of ICE detainees nationwide have tested positive for covid; 11 have died. Medical providers in California are volunteering to educate immigrants awaiting trial or deportation about covid treatment and vaccination.

Charts Paint a Grim Picture 2 Years Into the Coronavirus Pandemic

KFF Health News Original

The on-off nature of the pandemic “has led to a lot of the confusion and grumpiness,” says one expert. Another compares it to the exhaustion of the American public when hearing body counts during the Vietnam War.

Watch: California’s Top Health Adviser on Learning to Live With Covid

KFF Health News Original

KHN Senior Correspondent Samantha Young joined California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly for an engaging conversation about how California moves forward in an environment in which covid persists, but at more manageable levels.