Coronavirus category, Page 9
U.S.: Pfizer covid-19 appears effective for kids under 5
WASHINGTON — A review by federal health officials finds that Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine appears safe and effective for children under 5, the only group not currently eligible for vaccination. The review issued Sunday by the Food and Drug Administration is a key step toward a decision on vaccinations for babies,...
Marathon U.S. hearings to decide fate of covid shots for young children
Parents anxious to finally vaccinate their youngest children against covid-19, strap in: A lot is set to happen over the next week. On Wednesday, both Moderna and Pfizer will have to convince what’s essentially a science court — advisers to the Food and Drug Administration — that their shots work...
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust drops masking requirement
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will no longer require masks at its theaters and facilities starting next week after the number of covid-19 cases in Allegheny County dropped below a high rate of transmission. Beginning Tuesday, guests are not required to wear masks at indoor events. The announcement came after the...
U.S. lifts covid-19 test requirement for international travel
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is lifting its requirement that international air travelers to the U.S. take a covid-19 test within a day before boarding their flights, easing one of the last remaining government mandates meant to contain the spread of the coronavirus. A senior administration official said the mandate...
Allegheny County covid cases fall, county drops to medium transmission zone
Covid-19 cases in Allegheny County have fallen over the past three weeks, and the county dropped in the medium transmission zone as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of new covid cases reported to the county health department from June 2-8 dropped to 2,616 —...
WHO says covid origins unclear but lab leak theory needs study
GENEVA — Over two years after the coronavirus was first detected in China, and after at least 6.3 million deaths have been counted worldwide from the pandemic, the World Health Organization is recommending in its strongest terms yet that a deeper probe is required into whether a lab accident may...
Expert says Moderna booster targeting omicron could be superior to current boosters
As the covid-19 pandemic has changed with the emergence of new variants, Moderna is looking to update its vaccine offerings in response. The drug manufacturer is studying an updated booster vaccine that targets the omicron variant, which they say could offer better protection as the variant spreads. “The vaccine that’s...
Moderna says updated covid shot boosts omicron protection
Moderna’s experimental covid-19 vaccine that combines its original shot with protection against the omicron variant appears to work, the company announced Wednesday. covid-19 vaccine makers are studying updated boosters that might be offered in the fall to better protect people against future coronavirus surges. Moderna’s preliminary study results show people...
FDA advisers back Novavax covid shots as new U.S. option
American adults who haven’t yet gotten vaccinated against covid-19 may soon get another choice, as advisers to the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday backed a more traditional type of shot. Next, the FDA must decide whether to authorize the vaccine made by latecomer Novavax, a protein vaccine that’s made...
Florida’s health department undercounted covid cases and deaths, state audit says
Florida’s covid-19 data was so inaccurate, incomplete and delayed during the first months of the pandemic that government officials and the public may not have had necessary information to determine the effectiveness of the state’s covid-19 precautions and the best plan to fight the virus, according to a state report...
Pete Buttigieg tests positive for covid after Michigan visit
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has tested positive for covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms, he wrote Monday on Twitter. Buttigieg spoke at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island last Wednesday and traveled Thursday to Saginaw for an announcement about rail investment. “I plan to work...
Covid-19 was deadly to working-class Americans in 2020, study finds
TAMPA, Fla. — Working-class Americans died of covid-19 at five times the rate of those in higher socioeconomic positions during the first year of the pandemic, according to a study. The staggering disparity was revealed in a study of roughly 69,000 U.S. coronavirus victims ages 25 to 64 who died...
Working through covid-19 pandemic pays off for Pa. government workers with bonuses
Most state employees who worked through the covid-19 pandemic will reap their reward this month. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is offering covid-19 retention bonuses to about 45,000 union-represented employees under his jurisdiction who remained on the job and got paid from May 1, 2020, through June 3. The bonus payments...
White House: 1st shots for kids under 5 possible by June 21
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Thursday that children under 5 may be able to get their first covid-19 vaccination doses as soon as June 21, if federal regulators authorize shots for the age group, as expected. White House covid-19 coordinator Ashish Jha outlined the administration’s planning for the last...
New covid cases drop 15% in Pennsylvania’s latest report; deaths nearly double
In its weekly update on covid-19 Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 24,862 new cases in the past week. The latest batch of cases are 15% fewer than last week’s report of 29,227. Pennsylvania is now averaging 3,552 new cases per day. Despite the lower number new cases, the...
Pitt, Penn State restarting mask requirements because of covid transmission levels
The University of Pittsburgh and Penn State are requiring people on campus to wear masks when they are indoors at campuses in certain counties. The move comes as a result of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designating those counties as having a high level of covid-19 transmission. The...
More Western Pa. counties return to high covid levels; CDC suggests indoor masking
Westmoreland County has returned to a high covid-19 risk level, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s one of four counties in Western Pennsylvania with that designation. Beaver and Butler counties were also recently returned to that level, along with Allegheny County, which has been in a...
Dominant coronavirus mutant contains ghost of pandemic past
The coronavirus mutant that is now dominant in the United States is a member of the omicron family but scientists say it spreads faster than its omicron predecessors, is adept at escaping immunity and might possibly cause more serious disease. Why? Because it combines properties of both omicron and delta,...
U.S. making covid antiviral drug more available at test sites
WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday announced more steps to make the antiviral treatment Paxlovid more accessible across the U.S. as it projects covid-19 infections will continue to spread over the summer travel season. The nation’s first federally backed test-to-treat site is opening Thursday in Rhode Island, providing patients...
Long covid affects more older adults; shots don’t prevent it
New U.S. research on long covid-19 provides fresh evidence that it can happen even after breakthrough infections in vaccinated people, and that older adults face higher risks for the long-term effects. In a study of veterans published Wednesday, about one-third who had breakthrough infections showed signs of long covid. A...
Pennsylvania reports 29K new covid cases in past week; deaths at same rate as last month
On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health released its weekly update on covid-19, reporting 29,227 new cases in the past week. While the overall number of cases rose 4.8% from May 18 to 24, the growth of new cases week over week dropped significantly. From May 11 to 18, the...
Pfizer to offer low-cost medicines, vaccines to poor nations
Pfizer said Wednesday that it will provide nearly two dozen products, including its top-selling covid-19 vaccine and treatment, at not-for-profit prices in some of the world’s poorest countries. The drugmaker announced the program at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, and said it was aimed at improving...
Pfizer says 3 covid shots protect children under 5
Three doses of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine offer strong protection for children younger than 5, the company announced Monday. Pfizer plans to give the data to U.S. regulators later this week in a step toward letting the youngest kids get the shots. The news comes after months of anxious waiting by...
G7 agree on pact to better prepare for future pandemics
BERLIN — The Group of Seven wealthy democracies announced plans Friday to strengthen epidemiological early-warning systems to detect infectious diseases with pandemic potential following the emergence of the coronavirus more than two years ago. Germany’s health minister, who hosted a two-day meeting of his G-7 counterparts in Berlin this week,...
Experts: Just because you’re eligible for a 2nd covid booster doesn’t mean you need it right now
As covid cases continue to tick upward both locally and across the country, medical experts caution that just because you are eligible for a second booster vaccine does not necessarily mean that you should run out and get it if you’re otherwise healthy. “I do not believe that every person...
