A flu shot might offer some protection against severe effects of COVID-19, a new study suggests. If you are infected with COVID-19, having had a flu shot makes it less likely you will suffer severe body-wide infection, blood clots, have a stroke or be treated in an intensive care unit, according to the study. “Our… read on > read on >
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Sandra Banner was an active octogenarian. She enjoyed going to movies, traveling from her Palm Desert, Calif., home to Los Angeles for Dodgers baseball games and having friends over for happy hours. Early on, she avoided isolation by teaching outdoor tai chi classes and staying engaged online, but once she was… read on > read on >
Pfizer Inc. said it will meet with U.S. officials on Monday to discuss possible authorization for a third booster shot of its COVID-19 vaccine. Last week, Pfizer cited data from Israel that found its vaccine is showing declining effectiveness at preventing milder coronavirus cases as the highly contagious Delta variant circulates in that country. But… read on > read on >
Black churches could prove crucial in improving COVID-19 vaccination rates among Black Americans, a new study suggests. The COVID-19 death rate among Black Americans is three times higher than among white Americans, and health officials had hoped that vaccines would narrow that gap. However, Black communities are disproportionately affected by barriers to vaccination, such as… read on > read on >
A major U.S. hospital system had a strong rebound in most cancer screening tests after a steep drop-off in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study shows. The findings are based on an analysis of data from the Boston-based Mass General Brigham system. Depending on the type of test, between March and… read on > read on >
Men with low testosterone levels have a much higher risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19, a new study from Italy finds. The study included nearly 300 symptomatic male COVID-19 patients who arrived at the emergency department and were admitted to San Raffaele University Hospital in Milan during the first wave of the pandemic.… read on > read on >
When schools open their doors this fall, teachers and students who are vaccinated can enter without masks, according to a new guidance issued Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The relaxed recommendation comes as a national vaccination campaign in which children as young as 12 can get COVID-19 shots unfolds, accompanied… read on > read on >
COVID-19 vaccines have prevented at least 279,000 deaths and 1.25 million hospitalizations in the United States, but the Delta variant poses a significant threat to that progress, researchers say. “The vaccines have been strikingly successful in reducing the spread of the virus and saving hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States alone,” said… read on > read on >
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech announced Thursday they would seek approval for a booster COVID-19 shot and begin studies on a reformulated vaccine that targets the highly contagious Delta variant. “We continue to believe that it is likely, based on the totality of the data we have to date, that a third dose may be… read on > read on >
Millions of American adults haven’t seen a dentist in at least a year, a new U.S. government health survey reveals. In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic made dental visits difficult, a third of adults under 65 hadn’t had a dental exam or cleaning in the past 12 months, according to the report from the U.S.… read on > read on >
