COVID 19 Tech

The very common vaccine ingredient at the center of J&J, AstraZeneca drama

Enlarge / Adenoviruses seen via transmission electron microscopy. (credit: Getty | BSIP) Out of an abundance of caution, US officials on Tuesday recommended pausing use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine. Officials linked the vaccine to six peculiar illnesses in which people developed life-threatening blood clots in combination with low levels of blood platelets, the […]

COVID 19 Tech

J&J COVID vaccine use paused due to one-in-a-million complication

Enlarge / A nurse practitioner named Heidi Johnson administers a vaccine from Johnson & Johnson. (credit: Tom Williams / Getty Images) On Tuesday morning, the US Centers for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration issued a release acknowledging an extremely rare clotting disorder was associated with the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID […]

COVID 19 Tech

It’s too late for vaccines to save Michigan, CDC director explains

Enlarge / Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adjusts her protective mask during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg) Highly effective COVID-19 vaccines are simply too slow to stop surges like the one underway in Michigan, Rochelle Walensky, […]

COVID 19 Tech

Florida sues USA, CDC to get people back on cruise ships

Enlarge / Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to the media about the cruise industry during a press conference at PortMiami on April 8, 2021 in Miami, Florida. (credit: Getty | Joe Raedle) The state of Florida has filed a lawsuit against the United States of America and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, claiming […]

COVID 19 Tech

B.1.1.7 variant now predominant coronavirus in US; cases spike in Michigan

Enlarge / A sign requiring protective face masks in Detroit, Michigan on Sunday, March 21, 2021. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg) Even as the pace of vaccination in the US nears a heartening 3 million per day, the country hovers on the brink of a fourth surge, with current cases lingering at a “disturbingly high level,” […]

COVID 19 Tech

Cruise industry salty over CDC plan to keep travelers safe from COVID at sea

Enlarge / YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – FEBRUARY 10: A member of the media wears a face mask while walking past the Diamond Princess cruise ship. (credit: Getty | Carl Court) The cruise industry is rather salty about the latest federal guidance for safe pandemic sailing, calling it “burdensome” and “unworkable. “ The new guidance is an […]

COVID 19 Health Tech

“Are schools safe?” is the wrong question to be asking

Enlarge (credit: MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images ) Is it safe to open schools? From the moment it became clear that the COVID-19 pandemic had set up shop in the US, answers to that question have been scrutinized, analyzed, and even politicized. Lost in all of this is the realization that it’s a terrible […]

COVID 19 Tech

Experts sound alarm of possible new COVID surge as US cases once again rise

Enlarge / A health advisory sign on a beach in Florida. (credit: Getty | Jeff Greenberg) In mid-January, US cases of COVID-19 were in a nosedive from a towering record of over 315,000 new cases in a single day earlier in the month. And now, the pace of vaccinations has reached a heartening clip of […]

COVID 19 Tech

Under pressure, CDC drops school spacing to 3 ft in many classrooms

Enlarge / Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adjusts her protective mask during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, DC. Susan Walsh/AP/Bloomberg via Getty Images (credit: Getty | Bloomberg) With universal masking, just 3 feet of distancing is safe for students in many […]

COVID 19 Tech

CDC releases guidance for fully vaccinated—you can probably hug grandma again

Enlarge (credit: Getty | UniversalImagesGroup) People who are fully vaccinated can safely have private visits with unvaccinated people who have a low risk for severe COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today in highly anticipated guidance for vaccinated people. In the guidance, the CDC considers people fully vaccinated once they have waited two […]