Health Wire

COVID cases falling, but trouble signs arise as winter looms

October 25, 2021, 1:43pm Health

Tumbling COVID-19 case counts have some schools around the U.S. considering relaxing their mask rules, but deaths nationally have been ticking up over the past few weeks, some rural hospitals… Read story

Surprise-billing rule ‘puts a thumb on the scale’ to keep arbitrated costs in check

October 24, 2021, 10:47am Health

Patients are months away from not having to worry about most surprise medical bills — those extra costs that can amount to hundreds or thousands of dollars when people are… Read story

Moderna says its low-dose COVID shot works for kids 6 to 11

October 25, 2021, 8:01am Business Updated 15 hours ago

Moderna said Monday that a low dose of its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and appears to work in 6- to 11-year-olds, as the manufacturer moves toward expanding shots to children. Read story

Zack Gustine, right, who is unhoused living near Lincoln Park, and Chelsea Shover, PhD, UCLA School of Medicine, left, encourage Kimberly Conti to get the COVID vaccine shot on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, in Los Angeles.

What sways homeless people to get COVID-19 shots? It could be other homeless people

October 24, 2021, 6:02am Health

LOS ANGELES — It was a familiar voice that coaxed Kimberly Conti to step out, barefoot, from the back of the hulking former bookmobile parked in an industrial corner of Lincoln Heights. Read story

Pastor Billy Joe Lewis was all in favor when a local health worker suggested a covid vaccine clinic in the parking lot of his Full Gospel Church of Jesus Christ in Smilax, Kentucky. ???We???ve still got to use common sense,??? he says. ???Anything that can ward off suffering and death, I think, is a wonderful thing.???

What will it take to boost vaccinations? The scene from Kentucky’s back roads

October 24, 2021, 6:00am Health

SMILAX, Ky. — In the end it was the delta variant that drove Rose Mitchell, 89, down the winding mountain road to the Full Gospel Church of Jesus Christ to get the shot. Her pastor, Billy Joe Lewis, had told his congregation that, No, ma’am, a COVID-19 vaccine would not… Read story

This October 2021 photo provided by Pfizer shows kid-size doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in Puurs, Belgium. The vaccine appear safe and nearly 91% effective at preventing symptomatic infections in 5- to 11-year-olds, according to study details released Friday, Oct. 22, as the U.S. considers opening vaccinations to that age group.

Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine more than 90% effective in kids

October 22, 2021, 8:23am Health

Kid-size doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine appear safe and nearly 91% effective at preventing symptomatic infections in 5- to 11-year-olds, according to study details released Friday as the U.S. considers opening vaccinations to that age group. Read story

EXPLAINER: Is it time to get a COVID-19 booster? Which one?

FILE - This Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021 file photo shows a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a pop-up vaccine clinic in Salt Lake City. U.S. regulators expect to rule Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021 on authorizing booster doses of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, a Food and Drug Administration official said at a government meeting.

October 22, 2021, 7:47am Health

Millions more Americans just became eligible for COVID-19 boosters, but figuring out who’s eligible and when can be confusing. And adding to the challenge is that this time around, people can choose a different brand of vaccine for that extra dose. Read story