Posts by Guest Author
Conflicting Advice on Covid Shots Likely To Ding Already Low Vaccine Rates, Experts Warn
By Phillip Reese | Published on Nov. 14, 2025 More than three-quarters of American adults didn’t get a covid shot last season, a figure that health care experts warn could rise this year amid new U.S. government recommendations. The covid vaccine was initially popular. About 75% of Americans had received at least one dose of…
Read MoreAmid Confusion Over US Vaccine Recommendations, States Try To ‘Restore Trust’
By Céline Gounder, KFF Health News When the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met last week, confusion filled the room. Members admitted they didn’t know what they were voting on, first rejecting a combined measles-mumps-rubella-chickenpox vaccine for young toddlers, then voting to keep it funded minutes later. The next day, they reversed themselves on…
Read MoreSorting Out Covid Vaccine Confusion: New and Conflicting Federal Policies Raise Questions
By Michelle Andrews for Kaiser Health News If you want a covid-19 shot this fall, will your employer’s health insurance plan pay for it? There’s no clear answer. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, has upended the way covid vaccines are approved and for whom they’re recommended, creating…
Read MoreRFK Jr. Says Healthy Pregnant Women Don’t Need Covid Boosters. What the Science Says.
By Jackie Fortiér for KFF Health News (June 2, 2025) You’re pregnant, healthy, and hearing mixed messages: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is not a scientist or doctor, says you don’t need the covid vaccine, but experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still put you in a…
Read MoreTrump’s Team Cited Safety in Limiting Covid Shots. Patients, Health Advocates See More Risk.
By Stephanie Armour, KFF Health News Larry Saltzman has blood cancer. He’s also a retired doctor, so he knows getting covid-19 could be dangerous for him — his underlying illness puts him at high risk of serious complications and death. To avoid getting sick, he stays away from large gatherings, and he’s comforted knowing healthy…
Read MoreCovid Worsened Shortages of Doctors and Nurses. Five Years On, Rural Hospitals Still Struggle.
By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio Even by rural hospital standards, Keokuk County Hospital and Clinics in southeastern Iowa is small. The 14-bed hospital, in Sigourney, doesn’t do surgeries or deliver babies. The small 24-hour emergency room is overseen by two full-time doctors. CEO Matt Ives wants to hire a third doctor, but he said…
Read MoreDid you know? FEMA offers help with COVID-19-related funeral expenses
Did you know financial assistance is available for COVID-19 funeral costs? FEMA may provide up to $9,000 in financial assistance per deceased individual for COVID-19-related funeral expenses. The COVID-19 pandemic brought overwhelming grief to many Americans. To help ease the financial stress caused by the pandemic, FEMA is offering financial assistance for COVID-19-related funeral expenses.…
Read More“Emergency” or not, COVID is still killing people. Here’s what doctors advise to stay safe.
By Amy Maxmen for Kaiser Health News With around 20,000 people dying of covid in the United States since the start of October, and tens of thousands more abroad, the covid pandemic clearly isn’t over. However, the crisis response is, since the World Health Organization and the Biden administration ended their declared health emergencies last…
Read MoreIs Novavax, the Latecomer Covid Vaccine, Worth the Wait?
By Amy Maxmen Erin Kissane, a co-founder of the COVID Tracking Project, rolled up her sleeve for the Novavax covid-19 vaccine in mid-October soon after it was finally recommended in the United States. Like many people with autoimmune diseases, she wants to protect herself from a potentially devastating covid infection. Kissane’s autoimmune arthritis seems to…
Read MoreNew COVID-19 Vaccines are now Available: 10 Key Facts and Statistics About These Shots
By Betsy Ladyzhets We now have two new COVID-19 vaccines available for this year’s respiratory virus season, one from Pfizer and one from Moderna, which are expected to perform well against current variants. The FDA approved both vaccines this week, and the CDC recommended them for almost all Americans. A third option, from Novavax, may…
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