Why are so many vaccinated people getting COVID-19 lately?
Why are so many vaccinated people getting COVID-19 lately? A couple of factors are at play, starting with the emergence of the highly contagious omicron
Omicron wave prompts media to rethink which data to report
For two years, coronavirus case counts and hospitalizations have been widely used barometers of the pandemic’s march across the world.
Former Senate leader Harry Reid to lie in state at Capitol
Former Sen. Harry Reid will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol as colleagues and friends pay tribute to a hardscrabble Democrat who rose from poverty in a dusty Nevada mining town to the most powerful position in the U.S. Senate.
In 1st, US surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient
In a medical first, doctors transplanted a pig heart into a patient in a last-ditch effort to save his life and a Maryland hospital said Monday that he’s doing well three days after the highly experimental surgery.
Health officials let COVID-infected staff stay on the job
Health authorities around the U.S. are increasingly taking the extraordinary step of allowing nurses and other workers infected with the coronavirus to stay on the job if they have mild symptoms or none at all.
In omicron outbreak, governors lose appetite for mandates
Governors took sweeping actions during earlier surges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many closed schools and ordered businesses shut down. They issued mask mandates, vaccine requirements and even quarantines in some places for people who had traveled to out-of-state hot spots.
Omicron may be headed for a rapid drop in US, Britain
Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19’s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the U.S., at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically.
Union, parents mull if Chicago teacher standoff was worth it
Chicago schools will expand COVID-19 testing and have standards to switch schools to remote learning under a hard-fought tentative deal approved by teachers’ union leaders. But parents and some union members questioned whether the bitter fight over pandemic safety protocols that canceled five days in the nation’s third-largest school district was worth it.
FDA shortens timing of Moderna booster to 5 months
U.S. regulators on Friday shortened the time that people who received Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine have to wait for a booster — to five months rather than six.
Home COVID tests to be covered by insurers starting Saturday
Starting Saturday, private health insurers will be required to cover up to eight home COVID-19 tests per month for people on their plans.
Deadly extreme weather year for US as carbon emissions soar
The United States staggered through a steady onslaught of deadly billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in an extra hot 2021, while the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions last year jumped 6 percent because of surges in coal and long-haul trucking, putting America further behind its 2030 climate change cutting goal.
Health tips from Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen for 1-11-21
How to make sure your masks provide max protection When Antonio Banderas starred in the 1998 film “The Mask of Zorro,” audiences were glad to
Biden to back filibuster changes to push voting rights bill
President Joe Biden plans to use a speech in Georgia to throw his support behind changing the Senate’s filibuster rules to allow action on voting rights legislation, calling it a moment to choose “democracy over autocracy.” But some civil rights activists, proclaiming themselves more interested in action than speeches, say they plan to stay away.
No progress seen after Russia-US talks over Ukraine tensions
The United States and Russia locked horns over Ukraine and other security issues Monday with no sign of progress from either side at highly anticipated strategic talks.
Man who bought gun for Kyle Rittenhouse pleads no contest
The man who bought an AR-15-style rifle for Kyle Rittenhouse pleaded no contest Monday to a reduced charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in a deal with prosecutors that allows him to avoid prison.
Stay home or work sick? Omicron poses a conundrum
As the raging omicron variant of COVID-19 infects workers across the nation, millions of those whose jobs don’t provide paid sick days are having to choose between their health and their paycheck.
Unemployment sinks to 3.9 percent as more people find jobs
The nation’s unemployment rate fell in December to a healthy 3.9 percent — a pandemic low — even as employers added a modest 199,000 jobs, evidence that they are struggling to fill jobs with many Americans reluctant to return to the workforce.
Explainer: Where are the COVID-19 tests that Biden promised?
President Joe Biden announced last month that the federal government will buy half a billion COVID-19 rapid test kits and distribute them free to people to use at home.
Invoking Jan. 6, Dems pivot to fight for voting legislation
Democrats are mounting an impassioned bid to overhaul Senate rules that stand in the way of their sweeping voting legislation, arguing dark forces unleashed by Donald Trump’s falsehoods about the 2020 election demand an extraordinary response.
Poll: Inflation up, virus down as priorities in US
Heading into a critical midterm election year, the top political concerns of Americans are shifting in ways that suggest Democrats face considerable challenges to maintaining their control of Congress.
