Pharmacies and states have ordered millions of doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines for children younger than 5 in advance of possible U.S. authorization of the shots next week, the Biden administration said Thursday. Senior officials said that 5 million doses — half from Pfizer and half from Moderna — are initially available,…  read on >  read on >

The Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are spreading rapidly in the United States, but it’s not yet clear if they’ll trigger a new wave of infections or a surge in hospitalizations and deaths, experts say. The subvariants now account for 13% of new coronavirus cases nationwide, compared with 7.5% a week ago and 1% in…  read on >  read on >

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration weighs banning the sale of menthol cigarettes, a new study strengthens the tie between mint-flavored tobacco and teen smoking. According to the survey, adolescents who began smoking using menthols tended to smoke an average of nearly three days more during a 30-day period than their peers who took…  read on >  read on >

Moderna announced Wednesday that its updated COVID-19 booster shot does a better job at thwarting the Omicron variant than the original version does. “We are thrilled to share the preliminary data analysis on mRNA-1273.214, which is the second demonstration of superiority of our bivalent booster platform against variants of concern and represents an innovation in…  read on >  read on >

After adding, and then deleting, a recommendation that U.S. travelers wear masks to protect themselves from monkeypox, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still says that those traveling to countries where the disease is spreading and “other people who may be in close contact with a person who has been confirmed with monkeypox”…  read on >  read on >

There’s more good news for coffee lovers who already reap its other health benefits — your favorite beverage may also help protect your kidneys. “We already know that drinking coffee on a regular basis has been associated with the prevention of chronic and degenerative diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and liver disease,” said…  read on >  read on >

High-tech devices and communication helped ease the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on children with type 1 diabetes, researchers said in a new study. Pandemic shutdowns caused significant disruptions in health care, and previous studies have shown that diabetes patients had worse blood sugar (glucose) control and more difficulty accessing care during the early days of…  read on >  read on >

Obesity is a well-known risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Now, a large new study adds to evidence that it also contributes to the much less common type 1 diabetes. The study, of nearly 1.5 million Israeli teenagers, found that those who were obese were twice as likely to develop type 1 diabetes by young…  read on >  read on >