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Pakistan becomes latest to approve AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 16:21:13 GMT

Pakistan on Saturday gave the green light to the country's first coronavirus vaccine with the approval of AstraZeneca’s inoculation for emergency use. The country’s health minister, Faisal Sultan, informed Reuters of the emergency approval,...

Azar in departure letter says Capitol riot threatens to 'tarnish' administration's accomplishments

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 03:37:48 GMT

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar issued a harsh rebuke of President Trump in his departure letter over the president's role in inciting last week’s violent riot at the Capitol.Azar sent the White House a letter...

READ: Departure letter from HHS Secretary Azar to Trump

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 03:00:41 GMT

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Friday submitted a letter to the White House announcing his departure on Inauguration Day.Although several other senior officials — including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and&...

Overnight Health Care: Biden unveils vaccine plan with focus on mass inoculations | Worldwide ...

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 22:55:55 GMT

Welcome to Friday’s Overnight Health Care. The world reached a sobering milestone, passing 2 million coronavirus-related deaths. The CDC said it could get worse, with a more contagious U.K. variant expected to become the dominant strain in the U.S....

Biden unveils COVID-19 vaccine plan, with focus on mass inoculations

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 21:23:37 GMT

President-elect Joe Biden's coronavirus vaccination plan will expand the size of the federal government's response, with a focus on helping rural communities and improving communication with states.Biden detailed the $20 billion effort, which...

Governors say no additional vaccine doses coming, despite Trump admin promise

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 20:04:25 GMT

Governors are accusing the Trump administration of lying about the availability of additional coronavirus vaccines, following an announcement from top officials that doses will no longer be held in reserve.Health and Human Services Secretary Alex...

Worldwide coronavirus deaths pass 2 million

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 19:09:53 GMT

The world passed 2 million coronavirus deaths on Friday, a stunning toll that is continuing to rise as more contagious variants of the virus take hold.The United States has had, by far, the most deaths and cases of any country in the world, at more...

CDC: More contagious COVID-19 variant could be dominant US strain by March

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 18:22:15 GMT

A more contagious variant of COVID-19 that originated in the United Kingdom could be the predominant strain in the U.S. by March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Friday. The new variant could threaten already...

Study shows coronavirus will lower US life expectancy by more than a year

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 16:00:58 GMT

The coronavirus pandemic has lowered U.S. average life expectancy by more than a year in 2020, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study projects that life expectancy...

Norway warns frail patients over 80 of vaccine risks after deaths

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 14:50:47 GMT

Officials in Norway on Thursday warned that those over 80 and the terminally ill may be at risk for fatal side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine after the European country’s health agency reported a series of deaths among elderly individuals who...

Biden taps former FDA commissioner Kessler to head vaccine efforts

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 13:17:57 GMT

President-elect Joe Biden is tapping former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler to serve as chief science officer of the COVID-19 response and help spearhead federal efforts to vaccinate millions of Americans, the transition...

Biden plans for $20 billion mass vaccination campaign

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 23:09:34 GMT

President-elect Joe Biden will unveil a $415 billion plan to fight the coronavirus Thursday, including $20 billion for vaccines, drawing a sharp contrast to the fragmented approach from the Trump administration.Biden will unveil the package in an...

Overnight Health Care: Biden unveils COVID-19 relief plan | Post-holiday surge hits new deadly ...

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 22:58:41 GMT

Welcome to Thursday’s Overnight Health Care. President-elect Joe Biden released his COVID-19 funding proposal ahead of a big speech tonight. Meanwhile, the post-holiday surge hits new, grim records. And high drug prices have not gone away...

Report faults 'broken' system for insulin price spikes

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 19:49:40 GMT

Insulin prices have soared in recent years due to a “broken” system that rewards companies for raising costs on a drug that hasn’t been significantly improved in its 100-year existence, congressional investigators said Thursday. A scathing...

Health officials estimate one in three LA County residents have been infected by coronavirus

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 19:19:59 GMT

Los Angeles County scientists now estimate that 1 in 3 residents have contracted COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday.That would mean at least 3 million of the county's 10 million residents...

Hospital offering employees money in exchange for getting COVID-19 vaccine

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 17:46:33 GMT

One of Houston's largest hospitals is offering a $500 bonus to employees who receive a vaccine for COVID-19. The reporting of the bonus comes as health systems around the country have reported difficulties convincing health care workers to get...

Hotels offer properties as vaccine administration sites to Biden team

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 16:57:52 GMT

The leading hotel trade group is offering properties to President-elect Joe Biden's transition team for use as COVID-19 vaccine administration sites across the country. The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) said in a...

Tech coalition working to create digital COVID-19 vaccination passport

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 16:52:29 GMT

A coalition of health and technology organizations are working to develop a digital COVID-19 vaccination passport to allow businesses, airlines and countries to check if people have received the vaccine.The Vaccination Credential Initiative,...

Gottlieb: Johnson & Johnson vaccine looks like promising 'third entrant'

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 15:54:35 GMT

Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that the new single-dose coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson “looks like a good profile for a vaccine.”"All in all this looks like a good profile for a vaccine,"...

China bans two WHO coronavirus investigators from entering country after positive antibody tests

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 14:43:43 GMT

A team of investigators from the World Health Organization (WHO) landed in Wuhan, China without two members on Thursday, over a year after the first coronavirus case was detected in the city.The team is probing the virus’s source, but...