Month: December 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fighting the omicron variant surging through the country, President Joe Biden announced the government will provide 500 million free rapid home-testing kits, increase support for hospitals under strain and redouble vaccination and boosting efforts. At the White House on Tuesday, Biden detailed major changes to his COVID-19 winter plan, his hand forced … Read more

For most of 2020, avoiding the novel coronavirus was at the heart of almost every piece of public-health advice. Then, vaccinations largely gave Americans their lives back. Breakthrough infections were remarkably rare in the early months of mass vaccination. Only about 10,000 people—or 0.01% of the 101 million U.S. adults who had been fully vaccinated—reported … Read more

After nearly 2 years of calling for rapid tests, the U.S. is finally catching up to the rest of the world with these crucial public health tools. There is no time better than now, as the Omicron quickly spreads in the U.S., and is more infectious and better able to break through the immune protection … Read more

Plaintiffs in a two-year-old lawsuit say emails show executives worked behind the scenes on a policy that would take more human livers from rural areas and send them to big-city transplant centers. View original article Contributor: Lenny Bernstein

Should you still go out to a party? What about a restaurant? How can you keep people safe at gatherings? View original article Contributor: Hannah Knowles

Tracking the main coronavirus variants in the U.S. and around the world: omicron, delta, gamma, alpha and beta. View original article Contributor: Dan Keating