The San Francisco Bay Area’s largest transit system will now require masks until at least July 18, the SFGate reports.
The big picture: The move comes after a federal judge in Florida earlier this month struck down the mask mandate on planes, trains and other forms of public transportation.
A cure for multiple sclerosisremains elusive, but a decade of technological and scientific advances is starting to shed light on possible causes, better diagnostics and potential treatments for the disease.
Why it matters: MS — a central nervous system disease affecting almost 3 million people globally — has baffled doctors since it was discovered over a century and a half ago.
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed two rules that would ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
Driving the news: FDA commissioner Robert Califf announced the rules while testifying before a congressional subcommittee, saying that "these actions are appropriate for the protection of public health."
Moderna on Thursday submitted a request to the FDA for emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in children 6 months to under 6 years of age.
Why it matters: Young children have been largely unprotected throughout the pandemic. The FDA's approval could ultimately permit them to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID cases are on the rise in all but six states and Washington, D.C., as the Omicron subvariant continues to spread across the U.S.
The big picture: Case rates and hospitalizations are still well below pandemic highs, prompting NIAID director Anthony Fauci to say this week that the nation is out of a "full-blown explosive pandemic phase."
Hospitals' financial fortunes have taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks, thanks to less-than-favorable Medicare policies and rising labor and supply costs.
Why it matters: Hospitals are by far the largest driver of U.S. health care spending, and critics have argued for years that Washington is reluctant to take on the powerful industry. But the crunch that hospitals now face may have unintended effects on patient care, and will be hard for rural and safety net hospitals to weather.
Measles cases jumped 79% globally in 2022 compared to the same period last year, United Nations health experts warned Wednesday.
Why it matters: The rise in January and February "is a worrying sign of a heightened risk for the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases," per a joint statement from the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
After the White House announced that Vice President Harris tested positive for COVID-19, her spokesperson Kirsten Allen revealed that Harris would be taking Paxlovid, Pfizer's antiviral pill.
The big picture: Paxlovid is authorized to treat those who are at high risk of developing severe COVID, including cases that lead to hospitalization or death. Harris is 57, and the CDC says that adults aged 50 and older are more likely to get severely ill with the virus.
Biden's chief medical adviser and NIAID director Anthony Fauci said this week that the U.S. is now out of the "full-blown explosive pandemic phase" — more than two years after COVID-19 was first identified in the U.S.
The big picture: Fauci, an ever-present government representative on cable news over the last two-plus years, has regularly given his predictions, expectations and analysis on the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's a timeline of his remarks, consolidated for brevity's sake.
Beijing is bracing for a potential lockdown in the face of a new COVID outbreak. Residents are stocking up on supplies, and authorities have ordered 20 million people to take three mandatory tests this week.
Why it matters: Sticking with President Xi Jinping's zero-COVID strategy effectively means leaving the entire country indefinitely on the edge of lockdown.
After we wrote about how we're trying transcendental meditation, more than a thousand readers wrote in with their own stories and advice about mindfulness.
Why it matters: Our Axios Finish Line readership is the most engaged audience we have seen in our journalism careers. Below you'll find distilled lessons — and buckets of benefits — from our readers for all kinds of meditative practice.
