Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration declined Friday to recommend the agency approve Covid-19 booster doses for everyone who got vaccinated six months ago or longer. They did recommend a more limited step: emergency use authorization for people 65 and older, and for people at high risk of severe infection. Then they…… MORE
At least eight pregnant Mississippi women have died of Covid-19 since late July — none of them fully vaccinated — officials said, more than doubling the state’s pandemic total in just two months and spurring medical leaders to give this message: We’ve long known Covid-19 puts pregnant women at greater risk for severe disease. And…… MORE
Idaho officials announced Thursday they’re preparing to ration hospital care due to the Covid-19 surge, and it was the last thing next-door Washington state’s top hospital advocate wanted to hear. “It’s terrible. I don’t know if people understand the gravity of the situation,” Cassie Sauer, chief executive of the Washington State Hospital Association, told CNN…… MORE
A head-to-head study of all three authorized coronavirus vaccines in the United States finds the Moderna vaccine is slightly more effective than Pfizer’s in real-life use in keeping people out of the hospital, and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine comes in third, but still providing 71% protection. Pfizer’s vaccine provided 88% protection against hospitalization, and…… MORE
Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously Friday to recommend emergency use authorization of a booster dose of Pfizer’s vaccine six months after full vaccination in people 65 and older and those at high risk of severe Covid-19. Members of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee had rejected…… MORE
I worked recently with a 25-year-old man struggling at his job. He described difficulty thinking clearly and missing too many days. And his relationship with his girlfriend was nearly over due to his admitted neglect. Diagnosed with both depression and anxiety, he said he felt disengaged in his life. He had been in therapy before…… MORE
The rate of body mass index change in children nearly doubled from March to November 2020 compared to the rate of BMI change before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a study published Thursday in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s report on morbidity and mortality. The CDC team used a medical record database…… MORE
Advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration on Friday voted unanimously to recommend emergency use authorization of Pfizer’s booster shot six months after full vaccination in Americans 65 and older as well as those at high risk of severe Covid-19. That vote came after the group had first voted and rejected a broader application:…… MORE
Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration start meeting early Friday to discuss whether Americans need booster shots yet. It’s a simple question but one that has become bogged down in politics and turf battles. It’s sometimes seemed to put the FDA’s independence at odds with a White House team eager to appear…… MORE
It’s not clear if or when boosters doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be OK’d for fully vaccinated people in the United States, but state and local health departments across the United States are moving ahead with plans for a potential rollout next week. Last month, US health officials announced plans for booster doses of Covid-19…… MORE
