After a CDC advisory committee recommended Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for 12-to 15-year-olds, President Biden on Wednesday encouraged that age group to get vaccinated.
In many American communities, the puzzle of how to reach unvaccinated people intersects with the long list of reasons underserved communities get left behind.
Get essential education news and commentary delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here for The 74’s daily newsletter. Now that youth aged 12 to 15 have been cleared by the FDA for COVID-19 vaccines, what’s the best way to encourage those nearly 17 million newly eligible students to get vaccinated? Letting them skip class […]
Fewer Americans are reluctant to get a COVID-19 vaccine than just a few months ago, but questions about side effects and how the shots were tested still hold some back, according to a new poll that highlights the challenges at a pivotal moment in the U.S. vaccination campaign. Just 11% of people who remain unvaccinated say they definitely will get the shot, while 34% say they definitely won't, according to the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Corbett helped lead development of the Moderna shot, and she spends hours giving plain-spoken answers to questions from Americans — especially Black Americans like her — to counter misinformation about the three vaccines used in the U.S.
The COVID-19 pandemic was a "preventable disaster" that exposed weak links "at every point" of the preparedness process, according to a World Health Organization-commissioned report published Wednesday. Why it matters: The report by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response criticized governments worldwide for being unprepared for the pandemic despite the prevalence of past "global health threats," such as Ebola, Zika, and SARS outbreaks.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.The big picture: The report states that the world's response to the emergence of COVID-19 was "too slow" and "too meek," and that the WHO was "underpowered.""Global political leadership was absent," it adds. The report also says that February 2020 was a "lost month" when governments should have taken action to prevent the epidemic from developing into a pandemic."COVID-19 is the 21st century’s Chernobyl moment—not because a disease outbreak is like a nuclear accident, but because it has shown so clearly the gravity of the threat to our health and well-being."To end the ongoing pandemic, the panel recommends that... Richer countries provide "at least 1 billion" vaccine doses to poor and middle-income nations; The World Trade Organization and WHO get vaccine-producing countries "to agree to voluntary licensing and technology transfer for COVID-19 vaccines";Nations scale up the access of COVID-19 tests and therapeutics. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
The Wyoming Republican survived a Feb. 3 challenge to her leadership where secret ballots were used and members could speak for and against her.
The 2020 electoral college map, and the map of the rate of vaccination in the United States, are basically the same map.
After weeks of the U.S. reporting around 700 deaths per day, the country is now averaging about 600 deaths a day. Latest COVID-19 news.
Are you now or have you ever been an anti-vaxxer? Chances are high that the answer is yes if you’re using Merriam-Webster’s definition of the term: “a person who opposes vaccination or laws that mandate vaccination.” (Emphasis added). A Morning Consult poll from this past December indicated that only 21 percent of Americans would support making the coronavirus vaccines mandatory for adults, rendering a shocking 79 percent of the public “anti-vaxxers.” Observers took notice of the inclusive Merriam-Webster definition on Wednesday, two days after New York governor Andrew Cuomo declared that State University of New York (SUNY) campuses would be requiring vaccination for all students enjoying in-person instruction. “I encourage all private colleges & universities to require vaccinations as well” Cuomo added. Some private institutions, such as Cornell University, have already announced that they would be mandating vaccination as a condition of matriculating. Merriam-Webster’s definition, which was added in 2018, would also include a fair number of public health experts and officials, including some at the World Health Organization (WHO), who have warned against mandatory vaccination schemes. Kate O’Brien, director of the WHO’s immunization department has stated that she doesn’t “think that mandates are the direction to go in here, especially for these [coronavirus] vaccines.” “It is a much better position to encourage and facilitate the vaccination without those kinds of requirements” she explained. Dr. Kevin Pham, formerly a visiting policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation who has spent much of the last year working on COVID policy told National Review that “there are a lot of compelling reasons to get a vaccine, but giving up on that to simply force people to take it will only solidify resistance against the vaccines now, and any public health effort in the future.” Dr. Pham noted that “mask mandates ended up being broad and untargeted” and “came at the cost of destroying public trust.” “The most important part of public health is the ‘public'” he argues. “Without the public’s cooperation, all health goals will be out of reach, at least in a nation of free people.” Merriam-Webster’s definition of “anti-vaxxer” — a term Dr. Pham believes is unhelpful even when applied accurately — “conflate[s] a matter of clinical science with a matter of good governance.” This is not the first time that Merriam-Webster has been accused of altering language with political motivations. Last year during Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing, Merriam-Webster changed its definition of sexual preference to indicate that it was offensive in an effort to support Senator Mazie Hirono’s erroneous suggestion that Barrett’s use of the term indicated bias against the LGBT community. Merriam-Webster has not responded to a request for comment.
TBSAs mass shootings in the U.S. return to their disturbing pre-COVID frequency, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee aired a special episode on Wednesday about gun violence, why it has become the norm in this country, and how to put an end to it.Bee began “Full Frontal Wants to Take Your Guns” by noting some statistics that by now shouldn’t be surprising: that Americans have 40% of the world’s privately-owned guns despite making up only 4% of the global population, that there are more guns than people in the U.S., and that the number of gun murders nationally far surpasses that of other developed countries.This is partly due to the ease with which one can buy a gun, as well as the availability of certain types. To portray the many faults with this status quo, Bee recalled a past public safety issue that also claimed thousands of lives before people decided to do something about it.“For the first few decades of the auto age, driving fatalities were seen as inevitable,” Bee explained. But deaths, she pointed out, have decreased steadily since the 1970s. “That didn’t just happen; we made it happen through measures like federal safety standards and decades of really weird messaging about seatbelts.”A clip then played of a handful of sometimes odd yet nevertheless effective public service announcements regarding the safety device.“Our country saw a public health crisis in driving fatalities and we didn’t just give up because it was too hard to address. We decided it was important,” Bee said. “But what if we had never demanded [change]?”Trevor Noah Has a Message for Israel: ‘What Is Your Responsibility?’In this vein, Bee then tasked a mechanic with “defiling” her minivan to see what it would look like and how it would function if it was regulated as little as firearms are.At the conclusion of the episode, it was revealed that the car’s seat belts had been ripped out. State safety inspections or emissions tests were no longer required. Driver’s licenses and registrations had been shredded. And these were just a few of the changes.“Gun manufacturers are masters of disguise when it comes to hiding how dangerous their weapons really are,” Bee said. “They add gadgets like lasers to create the illusion that this deathtrap is a video game or a toy. So [instead of an airbag], we added bubbles.”Ultimately, Bee ditched what was left of her minivan, not seeing much use for it anymore.“When something can so easily kill, we make common sense changes to ensure everyone’s safety… even though now I have no way of getting home.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
Gosar criticized the Justice Department, which has charged hundreds in the attack, and called Babbitt a "young lady, a veteran wrapped in a US flag."
India has fully vaccinated only 3% of its people, but vaccine breakthrough cases appear to be rising.
No 10 plays down reopening fears over Indian variant GPs told to screen patients online first How GP services lapsed into long-term sickness Philip Johnston: Inquiry is last thing we need Subscribe to The Telegraph for a month-long free trial Britain's vaccine strategy of delaying the second dose appears to have been vindicated after a study found it reduced deaths from coronavirus. Modelling in the US shows that delaying the second dose so that more people can receive a first could reduce fatalities by up to a fifth. If a first dose offered 80 per cent protection, deaths fell to 207 per 100,000 people if the second dose was delayed. If people got a second dose within the usual timeframe there were 233 deaths. The study, published in The BMJ, used a simulation model based on a "real-world" population of 100,000 American adults. It found that delaying a second dose could be beneficial if vaccination rates stood at 0.1 to 0.3 per cent of the population a day. Follow the latest updates below.
The actress' 2019 interview on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" went viral after she called out the host for skipping her 30th birthday party.
Antonio García Martínez has left Apple, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported, after employees slammed "racist and sexist remarks" from his autobiography.
Does it matter that Dakota Johnson's tense Ellen DeGeneres interview didn't bring about the end of the host's talk show? Not to folks on social media.
One aircraft was equipped with a parachute that allowed it to float to the ground. No injuries were reported on either aircraft.
John Lambert, who co-founded the national group, attended Campbell University in North Carolina.
A 10-year-old Ohio girl helping her dad prepare a baseball field died in an ATV accident, officials say.
The 63-year-old comedian announced that she will end her eponymous talk show after 19 seasons in 2022.
The Biden administration on Wednesday took aim at China and a number of other countries for repressing religious freedom as it forges ahead with its aim of restoring human rights as a primary focus of American foreign policy. The condemnation was similar to that lodged by the Trump administration, which had been criticized for prioritizing religious freedom over other rights, and reflected continuity in the U.S. position that China’s crackdown on Muslims and other religious minorities in western Xinjiang constitutes “genocide.” Much as his predecessor did, Secretary of State Antony Blinken used the release of the State Department’s annual International Religious Freedom Report to lambaste China for severe restrictions on its citizens’ ability to worship freely.
