CDC panel recommends Pfizer booster shot for kids ages 5 to 11 as Covid cases rise across the U.S.
More than 8,000 children have developed MIS-C since the start the pandemic, with kids ages 5 to 11 most commonly affected at 46% of reported cases, according to CDC data. Currently, only 29% of children ages 5 to 11 in the U.S. have complete their first Pfizer vaccination series, according to the CDC. Since the pandemic began, more than 4.8 million kids in the age group have caught Covid and more than 15,000 have been hospitalized, according CDC data. The overwhelming majority of reactions to the vaccine, 97%, were not serious, according to CDC data. The CDC has verified 20 cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, in kids ages 5 to 11 as of April following Pfizer vaccination.
cnbc.comCDC urges Americans in areas with high COVID levels to wear masks
During the White House COVID-19 briefing Wednesday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky urged Americans who live in areas with high community levels of COVID to wear masks. She said Americans in areas with medium COVID community levels should consider wearing masks based on their risk factors.
news.yahoo.comOfficials say more areas of US may see mask recommendations
COVID-19 cases are increasing in the United States – and could get even worse over the coming months, federal health officials warned Wednesday in urging areas hardest hit to consider reissuing calls for indoor masking. Increasing numbers of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are putting more of the country under guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that call for masking and other infection precautions. “(But) prior increases of infections, in different waves of infection, have demonstrated that this travels across the country,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said at a White House briefing with reporters.
news.yahoo.comWatch live: U.S. health officials hold Covid briefing as cases and hospitalizations soar again
Dr. Ashish Jha will lead the briefing for the first time in his role as the White House Covid-19 response coordinator. White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will provide updates as usual. Hospitalizations have also increased 18% over the past week with about 3,000 people admitted with Covid every day on average, according to CDC data. With infections and hospitalizations rising, the Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer booster doses for children ages 5 to 11 this week. The FDA could authorize Covid vaccines for children under age 5, the only group left in the U.S. not eligible, as soon as next month.
cnbc.comCDC will end sweeping order used to expel migrants at U.S. borders during Covid pandemic
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will lift a sweeping public health order that has allowed the U.S. to expel more than 1.7 million migrants, mostly at the southern border, since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Last year, dozens of leading health experts from across the U.S. condemned Title 42 as "discriminatory and unjustifiable" with "no scientific basis as a public health measure." Leading Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have repeatedly called on Biden to rescind Title 42. The CDC is easing public health measures as Covid infections and hospitalizations have plummeted more than 90% since the peak of the omicron surge in January. The public health agency ended its warning system for cruise ship this week.
cnbc.comAP sources: Asylum limits at border expected to end May 23
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is expected to end the asylum limits at the U.S.-Mexico border by May 23 that were put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to people famili[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]
sanmarcosrecord.comUS opens second COVID boosters to 50 and up, others at risk
Americans 50 and older can get a second COVID-19 booster if it’s been at least four months since their last vaccination, a chance at extra protection for the most vulnerable in case the coronavirus re[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]
sanmarcosrecord.comAfter wave of cancellations, Delta sees recovery in 2022
Delta Air Lines is reporting a $408 million loss for the final quarter of 2021, dragged down by a COVID-19 surge that rocked the airline in December, and the carrier expects to suffer one more quarterly loss before travel picks up in the spring and summer.
US faces a double coronavirus surge as omicron advances
The new omicron coronavirus mutant speeding around the world may bring another wave of chaos, as it threatens to further stretch hospital workers already struggling with a surge of delta cases and upend holiday plans for the second year in a row.