U.S. Drugstores Under Pressure From Demand for Vaccines Amid Staff Shortages

A rush of vaccine-seeking customers and staff shortages are squeezing drugstores around the U.S., leading to frazzled workers and temporary pharmacy closures. Drugstores are normally busy this time of year with flu shots and other vaccines, but now pharmacists are doling out a growing number of COVID-19 shots and giving coronavirus tests. The push for … Read more

The White House Just Announced the First Confirmed U.S. Case of the Omicron Variant of COVID-19

WASHINGTON (AP) — A person in California who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 became the first in the U.S. to have an identified case of the omicron variant, the White House announced Wednesday as scientists continue to study the risks posed by the new virus strain. Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters that the person was … Read more

Africa’s COVID-19 Vaccine Problem Is More Than Just a Shortage of Doses

The emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, which was first detected in South Africa and other southern African nations, is casting a harsh new spotlight on vaccine inequality. For months, health experts have warned that low vaccination rates in the developing world make it more likely for dangerous new mutations to form as the SARS-CoV-2 … Read more

FDA Panel Narrowly Backs a First-of-a-Kind COVID-19 Antiviral Pill Made By Merck

WASHINGTON (AP) — A panel of U.S. health advisers on Tuesday narrowly backed a closely watched COVID-19 pill from Merck, setting the stage for a likely authorization of the first drug that Americans could take at home to treat the coronavirus. A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel voted 13-10 that the drug’s benefits outweigh … Read more

‘This Wasn’t in the Job Description’ HR Departments Are Navigating Confusing COVID-19 Religious Exemption Requests

As businesses across the country start imposing strict COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirements, some employees are claiming religious exemptions to avoid getting vaccinated—putting human resources departments on the frontlines of a fraught political issue that has already proven fertile ground for lawsuits. The task before HR leaders is tricky: they have to figure out whether … Read more

New Findings Show the Omicron Variant Spread Widely At a Faster Pace Than Initially Thought

BRUSSELS (AP) — New findings about the coronavirus’s omicron variant made it clear Tuesday that the emerging threat slipped into countries well before their defenses were up, as two distant nations announced their first cases and a third reported its presence before South African officials sounded the alarm. The Netherlands’ RIVM health institute found omicron … Read more