Driving the news: The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the CDC are currently investigating a confirmed case of monkeypox, which has been spreading throughout several European nations in recent days.
Broadway theaters will continue requiring attendees to wear face masks at least through June 30 due to rising COVID-19 cases, the Broadway League announced on Friday.
The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority's (BARDA) recent purchase of smallpox vaccines is not related to the new monkeypox outbreak, a spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told Axios.
Driving the news: "The most recent BARDA purchase of smallpox vaccine was part of a standard and ongoing preparedness efforts and unrelated to specific events," an HHS spokesperson told Axios.
The World Health Organization's European chief on Friday said he is concerned that monkeypox could spread in Europe in the next few months, as people gather for parties and festivals during the summer.
Driving the news: "As we enter the summer season in the European region, with mass gatherings, festivals and parties, I am concerned that transmission could accelerate, as the cases currently being detected are among those engaging in sexual activity, and the symptoms are unfamiliar to many," WHO regional director for Europe Hans Klugesaid in a statement.
More states are expanding Medicaid coverage of maternity services for low-income women, including lengthening the postpartum coverage period, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation report.
Why it matters: Medicaid pays for more than four in 10 births in the U.S., but coverage can be short-lived for women, ending after 60 days postpartum.
Pedestrian deaths reached a 40-year high last year, according to preliminary data from the Governors Highway Safety Association.
By the numbers: Drivers struck and killed more than 7,400 people in 2021, and the percentage of children killed by speeding drivers more than doubled since 2018.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky authorized booster doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11, according to a CDC statement on Thursday.
Driving the news: Walensky's decision comes days after the FDA expanded authorization for the age group and after the CDC panel also made the same recommendation.Children will now be able to receive the boosters immediately.
The Department of Defense will be using its contracts with commercial air cargo to transport Nestlé S.A. formula from Switzerland to Indiana and to help speed up the import of infant formula amid a nationwide shortage, the White House said Thursday.
Driving the news: The effort, dubbed Operation Fly Formula, is the latest in a series of steps taken by the Biden administration to address a shortage that is causing panic among millions of parents and caregivers in the U.S.
A monkeypox outbreak in several European countries and one U.S. state may become the largest outbreak of the virus outside of Africa, but it's not likely to cause a global pandemic like COVID, an infectious disease expert tells Axios.
Why it matters: The CDC has confirmed at least nine cases in the United States. The current outbreak is small so far and scientists continue gathering data, but there may be community transmission of the virus.
Parents and caregivers struggling to find infant formula should notice improvement in the availability of the product on shelves “within days,” FDA commissioner Robert Califf told a House subcommittee on Thursday.
Driving the news: The relief should come thanks to higher production from manufacturers and an uptick in imports, Califf said. President Biden on Wednesday invoked the Defense Production Act requiring "suppliers to direct needed resources to infant formula manufacturers before any other customer who may have ordered that good."
An internal CDC review has found deep concerns about the agency's culture and responsiveness to public health threats, Bloomberg reports.
Why it matters: The findings could usher in big changes at an agency that's caught flack from public health experts, Congress and local officials for its handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
America's in the midst of yet another coronavirus surge, setting up a high-stakes test of whether the country really is ready to live with the virus.
Between the lines: A third of Americans say the pandemic is over, and the spike in cases hasn't prompted much noticeable policy or behavioral change. But vaccines and therapeutics are now widely available, making the virus much less dangerous — at least for people who have access to and choose to use them.
The COVID wave is accelerating across the U.S., with Maine being the only state to report a slight decline in the last two weeks.
Why it matters: A 53% jump in cases and a rise in hospitalizations reflects how case growth has moved beyond the Northeast, with metropolitan areas with high vaccination rates increasingly accounting for a higher share of disease spread.
The Food and Drug Administration is testing designs of a label that food manufacturers could voluntarily put on the front of packages indicating that a product is "healthy."
Why it matters: The effort is controversial, in part because the meaning of "healthy" continues to evolve. The FDA itself is in the process of updating its definition, which dates back to 1994.
Other concerns are that such a label could be of dubious value, used too liberally by food makers, or seen by consumers as a product endorsement by the FDA.
Nutritionists make the point that a balanced diet matters more to health than any individual food.
