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Students in many places are starting the new school year with their masks off — even in one Colorado county that was one of the nation’s first delta variant hot spots.
As the delta variant continues to spread around the U.S., the Biden administration is taking steps to authorize covid vaccine boosters, require nursing home workers to be vaccinated and protect school officials who want to require masks despite state laws banning those mandates. Meanwhile, the U.S. House is returning from its summer break early to start work on its giant budget bill, which includes a long list of health policy changes. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Rural health experts are calling on trusted agricultural leaders — like farmers and ranchers — to use their understanding of science and nudge vaccine-hesitant neighbors to roll up their sleeves for a covid shot. But some farmers say they doubt they can change anyone’s mind.
As employers create safety protocols for workers who refuse vaccination, we ask experts if they really work. Or is the point to pressure employees into getting a shot?
Local health officials find themselves once again behind the covid curve as the delta variant drives their case counts. With resources already stretched, along with the politicization of covid-19, county and state health departments in places like Missouri and Texas are making tough calls on whom to trace.
Federal officials are preparing to offer those who received Pfizer or Moderna covid vaccines a third dose in September. But the FDA and CDC are still reviewing the data for final clearance.
A national vaccine court has paid out billions to families who could prove their kids were injured by vaccines. But there’s only a skeletal program for the rare victims of covid vaccination, raising concerns as the pressure for mandated shots grows.
Scientists have found little evidence that the kind of masks worn by students negatively affect oxygen or carbon dioxide levels.
While many businesses scaled back at the height of the pandemic, one Montana man used covid-19 to open his own mobile pharmacy. He’s now bringing covid shots to Montana’s vaccine deserts while filling his wallet. But he cannot fill all the vaccination gaps.
In communities across the country, the Cooperative Extension System, the same organization that supports 4-H clubs nationally, is tapping its roots in rural communities to promote vaccines. But its approach to getting people vaccinated in many communities, including Cairo, Illinois, must be nuanced.
Millions of Americans with weakened immune systems are weighing a return to workplaces as the delta variant of covid surges and while awaiting guidance about additional vaccine shots.
As pharmaceutical companies declare a need for boosters, scientists and doctors emphasize there’s no proof yet.
The U.S. Senate worked well into its scheduled August recess to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a budget blueprint that outlines a much larger bill — covering key health priorities — to be written this fall. Meanwhile, the latest surge of covid is making both employers and schools rethink their opening plans. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Yasmeen Abutaleb of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
The CDC recommends that pregnant people be vaccinated against covid-19, based on new safety and effectiveness evidence on the covid vaccines.
With schools reopening, poll finds two-thirds of parents support mandating masks for unvaccinated students, but resistance to vaccinating students remains high. “My child is not a test dummy,” one Black parent told pollsters. Some parents deferred the decision to their teens.
Amid a surge in covid-19 cases driven by the highly contagious delta variant, nearly 1,500 health systems across the nation are requiring their employees to get vaccinated. In Montana and Oregon, that’s not an option.
Abigail Matos-Pagán, a critical care expert who has galvanized relief efforts after hurricanes and earthquakes, is on a mission to inoculate as many Puerto Rican residents as possible.
A proposal breezing through the state legislature would make it illegal to obstruct someone from getting a covid-19 shot, or any other vaccine, but some free speech experts say it goes too far.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
As the nation confronts the delta variant, many consumers are again facing delays getting tested. The problem appears most acute in the South and Midwest, where new infections are growing the fastest.
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