Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on Wednesday announced that the city had become the first major metropolitan in the country to fully vaccinate 70% of its population.
The big picture: Durkan said 78% of Seattle's population, 12 years and older, have received their first dose, adding it is one of the country's highest vaccination rates.
The Biden administration will buy 500 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to share with countries around the world, with the option to buy an additional 200 million, two sources familiar with the deal tell Axios.
Why it matters: That's a big step toward making the U.S. a major global vaccine supplier and comes as Biden departs for his first foreign trip as president.
Anthony Fauci urged Americans Wednesday to get vaccinated to halt the spread of the highly transmissible COVID-19 variant first discovered in India, which currently accounts for 6% of infections in the U.S.
Why it matters: The United Kingdom has seen an explosion in new cases as a result of the variant, which is now the dominant strain and may be associated with increased disease severity.
Scientific journals are easy targets of automated software that post links to social media, often with misinformation, according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Why it matters: Automated disinformation campaigns that harness legitimate scientific research could further erode the public's understanding and trust in science, particularly around COVID-19.
COVID-19 cases, deaths, related hospitalizations and ER visits have all declined considerably this year, especially among older, vaccinated adults, according to a new CDC report.
Why it matters: The data bears it out: Greater vaccine coverage in the U.S. is correlated with a precipitous drop in the number of people getting seriously ill.
Biogen's new Alzheimer's treatment could be experts' nightmare drug spending scenario: An extremely expensive product that millions of desperate patients could be eligible for — and it may not even work.
Why it matters: Alzheimer's is a devastatingly common disease with no cure. But the FDA's decision this week paved the way for a free-for-all in which taxpayers foot most of the enormous bill for a drug that hasn't been proven effective.
Skilled nursing and assisted living facilities across the country are having trouble hiring enough caregivers, and many have turned to perks like referral bonuses and transportation to lure more talent.
The big picture: The industry historically grappled with high employee turnover for its lower-skilled jobs. But now nursing facilities are facing reputational hits from the pandemic and a red hot market for minimum wage workers.
Houston Methodist Hospital on Tuesday suspended 178 employees without pay for 14 days for failing to comply with its COVID-19 vaccine requirement.
Driving the news: The Texas hospital's CEO, Marc Boom, said in a message to staff shared with Axios that 24,947 workers had been vaccinated against the virus by Monday's deadline. 27 of those who didn't get fully vaccinated "have received one dose ... so I am hopeful they will get their second doses soon," Boom said.
Washington state marijuana retailers can now offer adult consumers a free joint if they get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the store.
The big picture: The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board announced Monday it was providing a "temporary allowance" to state-licensed cannabis retailers through July 12 for the incentive.
/2021/06/09/1623234249898.gif?w=3840)
