Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Live Free or Die if You Must, Say Colorado Urbanites — But Not in My Hospital

KFF Health News Original

In a fracas between a largely rural county and neighboring cities, class and politics are just as relevant as the coronavirus. People are getting “stupid and mean,” as one mayor put it.

In Fast-Moving Pandemic, Health Officials Try to Change Minds at Warp Speed

KFF Health News Original

It typically takes years of persuasion to change habits in the name of health safety. Local officials who are stuck with the responsibility of enforcing statewide pandemic-related mandates are trying to transform behavior fast.

Retiree Living the RV Dream Fights $12,387 Nightmare Lab Fee

KFF Health News Original

A gynecologist in Carlsbad, New Mexico, tested the 60-year-old grandmother for various sexually transmitted infections without her knowledge. Her share of the lab fee was more than $3,000.

COVID Vaccines Appear Safe and Effective, but Key Questions Remain

KFF Health News Original

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.

At Risk of Extinction, Black-Footed Ferrets Get Experimental COVID Vaccine

KFF Health News Original

Months before federal officials authorized experimental vaccines to ward off the coronavirus in humans, scientists tried a veterinary vaccine in endangered ferrets. Drugmakers are researching similar efforts for other animals proving vulnerable to the virus, such as farmed minks, in part to guard against virus mutations that could pose new risks to people.

Health Officials Fear Pandemic-Related Suicide Spike Among Native Youth

KFF Health News Original

Recent deaths on a small Native American reservation in Montana have underlined the heightened risks for Indigenous youths and how suicide prevention programs are struggling to operate during the pandemic.

California’s COVID Enforcement Strategy: Education Over Citations

KFF Health News Original

Gov. Gavin Newsom said in July that California would target businesses that flagrantly violate public health orders. But the state’s strategy of education over enforcement means that businesses that don’t comply face few — if any — consequences.

Inside the First Chaotic Days of the Effort to Vaccinate America

KFF Health News Original

After missteps in Washington, each state and county is left to juggle where to send vaccines first and how to get them to each nursing home, hospital local health department and even school.

Análisis: expertos desestimaron al coronavirus, hasta que fue demasiado tarde

KFF Health News Original

Muchos de los principales especialistas en enfermedades infecciosas subestimaron el veloz brote en sus primeras semanas y meses, asumiendo que Estados Unidos, otra vez, saldría ileso.

‘Nine Months Into It, the Adrenaline Is Gone and It’s Just Exhausting’

KFF Health News Original

A UCSF emergency room physician reflects on California’s response to COVID-19 and on lessons learned — or not — as the coronavirus makes its second devastating surge.

No More ICU Beds at the Main Public Hospital in the Nation’s Largest County

KFF Health News Original

As some patients linger near death, staffers at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center seek ways to expand capacity for a surge of cases that isn’t letting up.