20 months after pandemic lockdowns first began in the U.S., government institutionsand the public are still struggling to manageCOVID-19 as the emergency it is.
Why it matters: Past crises, from the Great Depression to 9/11, led to lasting changes in American society and governance. But institutional inflexibility has left us at risk of further COVID waves and disruption and unprepared for the inevitable next pandemic.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky on Friday approved a CDC advisory panel's unanimous vote to recommend Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 booster shots for anyone 18 and older.
Why it matters: The move will drastically increase the number of people eligible to receive a booster, and fulfill President Biden's pledge to make boosters available to most adults in the U.S.
Pregnant people who are infected with COVID-19 face a greater risk of experiencing a stillbirth compared with uninfected people, new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released on Friday show.
Driving the news: The data found that of the 8,154 stillbirths documented between March 2020 and September 2021, 1.26% of deliveries among people with COVID-19 resulted in stillbirth, compared to 0.65% of deliveries among uninfected individuals.
A new COVID-19 molecular test delivers PCR-quality results to users at home in one hour.
The big picture: The new test is a sign of the innovation COVID has sparked in the home diagnostics industry,bringing the power of the lab into the home.
The European Medicines Agency Friday issued advice for a pill developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics to treat COVID-19, allowing medical professionals to prescribe the drug in emergency situations.
Why it matters: It gives European nations another tool to treat potentially severe cases of the disease, though the drug, known as molnupiravir or Lagevrio, has not been approved for marketing in the EU.
Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said Friday that the country will enter a national lockdown beginning Monday that will last at least 10 days in an attempt to head off a fourth wave of coronavirus cases.
Why it matters: It's the first European country to re-enter a lockdown since the spring. Cases in the country have started to rise in part because of deep skepticism among many Austrians about vaccines.
As health officials push COVID booster shots, a debate is quickly emerging around whether the definition of "fully vaccinated" should be changed to include an additional dose of the vaccine.
Why it matters: Booster shots provide remarkably strong protection against coronavirus infections, at least for a period of time. But getting the majority of Americans to stick out their arm again would be extremely challenging.
Black Americans in almost every state were more likely than white Americans to die from preventable and treatable health conditions, a new report from the Commonwealth Fund out Thursday shows.
Why it matters: A lack of health care access, and "timely, high-quality care," were correlated to poorer health outcomes, the authors conclude.
Public officials around the world are imposing new restrictions on the unvaccinated as many nations struggle to raise their COVID-19 vaccination rates.
Why it matters: Unvaccinated people are five times more likely than those vaccinated to get infected and 10 times more likely to die from the coronavirus, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many health care systems are buckling under new waves in cases among the unvaccinated.
