Vermont to Give Minority Residents Vaccine Priority
Covid cases have disproportionately affected the state’s Black residents, so officials are moving them to the front of the line for vaccinations before the state expands eligibility to all adults.
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Covid cases have disproportionately affected the state’s Black residents, so officials are moving them to the front of the line for vaccinations before the state expands eligibility to all adults.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Peace Arch Park on the U.S.-Canadian border has become a rare place where families and friends on either side of the border can see one another in person. But it raises questions on covid safety as the two countries handle the pandemic differently.
In poor neighborhoods and desert towns, community activists — some unpaid — are signing up hard-to-reach people for vaccination appointments. Experts say these campaigns are key to building the country’s immunological armor against new outbreaks.
Over-the-counter covid tests could help speed the economy’s recovery, allowing students and workers to test themselves at home and get quick results. Could they become as ubiquitous as toothpaste and cold remedies on store shelves, or will demand dry up as the nation gets vaccinated?
The ink is barely dry on the recent covid relief bill, but Democrats in Congress and President Joe Biden are wasting no time gearing up for their next big legislative package. Meanwhile, predictions of more states expanding Medicaid have proved premature. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Lauren Weber, who reported the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode.
Fort Scott, Kansas, was hit hard by the pandemic, and it no longer has a hospital. But residents remain skeptical about the impact of the coronavirus.
Indiana’s program seeks to give expansion enrollees “skin in the game,” requiring that they pay small monthly premiums and manage health savings accounts.
Rural Mendocino County had finally figured out its vaccination program. But now the community clinics that helped make it happen are changing course as Blue Shield of California takes over the state vaccine program.
Whether it’s making plans to hug their grandchildren, scheduling long-overdue medical appointments or just petting the neighbor’s dog, seniors are inching back to a lifestyle they’ve missed during the pandemic.
The city of Durango has hired an actor to bring his Old West acting skills to tackle a current problem: the Wild West of spring break, in which visitors from states such as Texas and Oklahoma flock to town. The “lawman” cajoles them into wearing masks while vaccinators stand ready for out-of-town visitors.
Hospitalizations are down 62% for childhood respiratory illnesses, a study shows. Masking and social distancing are keeping a variety of viruses in check this flu season.
Watch an intimate conversation about this workforce, which provides vital care to vulnerable people. Our panel included those doing the work and those who rely on them, as well as expert insight on improving the jobs, honoring the care and paying for it all.
Access to physician-assisted death is expanding across the U.S., but the procedure remains in Montana’s legal gray zone more than a decade after the state Supreme Court ruled physicians could use a dying patient’s consent as a defense.
Experts say there’s nothing new about the research underpinning the covid vaccines and that they were tested in more participants than many other approved vaccines.
A nationwide poll released by KFF also revealed which arguments are most compelling to persuade people to get a shot — and which ones are unlikely to work.
Philanthropies are funding studies of cheap, existing medications like the antidepressant fluvoxamine as covid treatments. But early hype about hydroxychloroquine and other repurposed drugs leaves researchers leery of hasty conclusions.
After 9/11, as our defenses against international and bioterrorism hardened, our defenses against infectious diseases shrank. By the time a deadly virus arrived on our shores last year, nearly two-thirds of Americans were living in counties that spend more than twice as much on policing as they spend on public health.
The Kentucky lawmaker was right that a recent study offered evidence that vaccination and previous infection appear to neutralize covid-19. But experts say that doesn’t mean people should be complacent.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is painting the effort to remove him from office as a partisan power grab. But among the tens of thousands of Californians who signed the recall petition are Democrats and independent voters frustrated by his pandemic policies, from school closures to vaccine distribution.
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