Three unnamed, but fully vaccinated, Democratic members of the Texas House have tested positive for the coronavirus, the state's House Democratic Caucus said Saturday.
The big picture: The three lawmakers are among dozens of state House members who fled to Washington, D.C., earlier this week who said they would stay away from Texas until they achieved their goal of blocking Republicans from passing new voting restrictions.
Child cancer patients and HIV-positive Mexicans have increasingly had to put life-saving treatments on hold as public hospitals run out of the medications they need.
The big picture: Activists say around 1,600 children with cancer have died from the lack of oncological meds.
The head of the World Health Organization said Thursday that it was too early to rule out a potential connection between the coronavirus pandemic and a laboratory leak, AP reports.
Driving the news: WHO is “asking actually China to be transparent, open and cooperate, especially on the information, raw data that we asked for at the early days of the pandemic," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, per AP.
The pandemic mantra has been to "trust the science" — but many people of color don't and won't. The reasons range from the abuses of eugenics to historic hurdles to getting care.
Why it matters: Science that supports medical breakthroughs has long taken advantage of people of color. Overcoming the resulting suspicion could take generations.
The Greek government issued special measures for the island of Mykonos in response to the latest coronavirus outbreak, including a 24-hour "[p]rohibition of music," Deputy Minister of Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalia announced Saturday.
Details: The music ban will kick off at 6 p.m. local time Saturday. A traffic ban will also go into effect between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Sunday, "with the exception of work reasons and serious health reasons," per a release from the country's general secretariat for civil protection.
The health minister for the United Kingdom tweeted on Saturday that he tested positive for COVID-19 following two doses of the vaccine against the virus.
Driving the news: Sajid Javid, who has been in his role for three weeks, has publicly backed Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to fully reopen England's economy and lift mask requirements and social distancing rules starting Monday.
Burkina Faso, Djibouti and Ethiopia are set to receive around 1 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine in the coming days as part of the United States' global donation of roughly 80 million vaccines, the Gavi vaccine alliance said on Friday.
Why it matters: 49 African countries in total will have access to approximately 25 million doses donated by the U.S., which should help the African Union achieve its goal of vaccinating at least 60% of the African population.
Facebook fired back on Friday evening after President Biden earlier said that social media platforms are "killing people" by allowing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on their sites.
What they're saying: "We will not be distracted by accusations which aren't supported by the facts," a spokesperson for the tech giant said in a statement Friday.
Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine was granted priority review for full approval by the Food Drug Administration for Americans 16 and older, Pfizer and BioNTech announced Friday.
Why it matters: A full approval for the Pfizer vaccine could help bolster the U.S. vaccination effort, as many people are reluctant to receive the vaccine under its emergency use status, the Boston Globe notes.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sounded the alarm over what she called a "pandemic of the unvaccinated" as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are again on the rise across the U.S.
Driving the news: During a Friday news briefing, Rochelle Walensky warned that the latest seven-day average of new cases — tallying an increase of nearly 70% from the previous seven-day average — poses a risk to individuals who are not vaccinated for the coronavirus.
One of the first things to go when the pandemic struck U.S. cities is back: carpooling.
Driving the news: Lyft is bringing back shared rides in Philadelphia, Chicago and Denver on Monday, with plans to keep adding cities over the coming months.
Gen Z pop star Olivia Rodrigo was at the White House this week to create promotional videos aimed at spurring sluggish COVID-19 vaccination rates among America's youth.
The big picture: Rodrigo is among the most high-profile recruits aimed directly at appealing to Generation Z by the Biden Administration when it comes to the vaccine.
Only slightly more than half of nursing home staff and about 78% of residents across the country have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to an AARP analysis.
Why it matters: The virus is continuing to spread among unvaccinated people, and unvaccinated nursing home residents are still at very high risk of severe infections or death.
UnitedHealth Group isn't just making more money because people deferred care throughout the coronavirus pandemic. It's making more money because it's owning a bigger piece of the health care system.
The bottom line: Insurers keep more of the premiums they collect when they also own the medical providers that are paid those premium dollars. And no insurer has expanded as aggressively into care delivery over the years as UnitedHealth.
