The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded over 96,000 deaths from drug overdoses in a twelve-month period ending in March 2021, according to provisional data released Wednesday.
Why it matters: It's a nearly 30% jump over the preceding 12 months and coincides with one of the deadliest periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, when stay-at-home orders radically changed daily life for most Americans.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday named 26 scientists to a new advisory board that will study the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why it matters: Without a shift in attitude from Beijing, the new panel isn't likely to succeed in determining how this pandemic began. But it should be in a position to create a clearer picture of how to identify where new diseases like COVID-19 come from.
The chief of the World Health Organization on Wednesday awarded the Director-General’s Award to the late Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells were unknowingly taken from her in the 1950s and used for scientific research, AP reports.
The big picture: The recognition comes more than 10 years after the publication of "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," Rebecca Skloot’s book that details the discrimination that Black Americans face in health care and the scientific breakthroughs that were discovered because of Lacks' cells.
The federal government is demanding Moderna provide enough vaccines to the global initiative COVAX, at not-for-profit prices, a top federal official said during an intense panel event today.
What they're saying: "We expect that Moderna will step up as a company," David Kessler, the Biden administration's chief science officer of the COVID-19 response, said, adding Moderna has additional capacity to meet these demands. "Failure to do that would be unconscionable in my view."
The Food and Drug Administration released new guidance on Wednesday asking makers of "processed, packaged, and prepared foods" to reduce the amount of sodium in their products.
Why it matters: High sodium consumption can lead to more severe cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. Americans consume "far more sodium than recommended," the FDA says, and the guidance is an effort to get people to cut down on the amount of salt they consume.
American families shouldered an enormous burden caring for family members even before the pandemic, and a shortage of professional caregivers now is only likely to make that burden heavier.
The big picture: Nursing homes and other long-term care settings have seen a staff exodus both during and after the pandemic, especially when they've imposed vaccine mandates — poking new holes in a system that was already full of them.
The Biden administration will open up U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico to non-essential travel starting in November — but only to those fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Why it matters: Government officials and business leaders have decried the economic impact pandemic travel restrictions have had on border communities. They have called for the U.S. to reopen the borders given high, and rising, vaccinations rates there.
In a reversal, new draft guidance warns adults who do not have a history of heart disease or stroke should not take baby aspirin. But millions of patients may have been taking the blood-thinner without their knowledge.
Why it matters: With heart disease as the top killer in the U.S., persistent recommendations from doctors portrayed a blanket statement to the public that middle-aged people should be taking baby, or low-dose, aspirin.
It's been estimated tens of millions of people with no history of heart disease were taking baby aspirin daily in 2019.
More Americans are getting a booster dose of coronavirus vaccine each day than are getting their first shot.
Why it matters: Some individuals will undoubtedly benefit from getting a booster shot, but experts say that the most important goal for the U.S. right now should be convincing vaccine holdouts to get their initial round of shots.
A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked United Airlines on Tuesday night from placing on unpaid leave any employee granted an exemption from the company's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Details: The temporary restraining order also states that the airline cannot deny any late requests "for religious or medical accommodations."
Data collected by the National Institutes of Health show that people who received a shot of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine have a stronger neutralizing antibody response if they receive an mRNA shot instead of a second J&J one, according to a person who has seen the data.
Yes, but: J&J has asked the FDA to authorize a second shot of its own vaccine, which could make any attempt to authorize mix-and-matching vaccines confusing for the public.
Catholic U.S. troops should be allowed to reject the COVID-19 vaccine if taking it "would violate the sanctity" of their conscience, said Archbishop for the Military Services Timothy Broglio in a statement out Tuesday.
Why it matters: Broglio encouraged troops to get the vaccine, but acknowledged that some people have questioned whether the church's position encouraging the shot "precludes an individual from forming a sincerely held religious belief that receiving the vaccine would violate his conscience."
