COVID-19

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — For more than a decade, few places in the nation were associated with anti-vaccine movements as much as Marin County, the bluff-lined peninsula of coastal redwoods and stunning views just north of San Francisco. This corner of the Bay Area had become a prime example of a highly educated, affluent community with low childhood vaccination rates, driven by a contingent of liberal parents skeptical of traditional medicine. Marin was something of a paradox to mainstream Democrats

This week, county officials in Hidalgo and Cameron counties reported five and two COVID-related deaths, respectively. The deaths of the five Hidalgo County residents raised the total number deaths due to COVID in the county to 4,003. In Hidalgo County, officials reported 851 new cases this week including 242 confirmed and 609 probable cases. As for hospitalizations, there were 47 patients hospitalized throughout Hidalgo County with COVID at the beginning of the week. Cameron County health officials reported 341 new cases this week including 197 confirmed and 144 probable cases.

Heading into flu season, the Brownsville Independent School District is following lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic by purchasing doses of the QAV high-dose flu vaccine to vaccinate faculty and staff against the seasonal flu. “It’s very important for people to not just get their COVID vaccines but also their flu vaccines because flu’s still out there whether or not people think it’s ended, it’s still out there,” Alonso Guererro. Andrew Pekosz, a virologist and professor of microbiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, predicted a strong flu season to the American Association of Retired People. “You can never predict with 100 percent certainty, but all signs predict influenza will be back this year, and data from Australia suggests it will be a strong flu season,” he said. The district has purchased 3,000 flu vaccines to begin the effort.

Heading into flu season, the Brownsville Independent School District is following lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic by purchasing doses of the QAV high-dose flu vaccine to vaccinate faculty and staff against the seasonal flu.

About two-thirds of adults in the United States do not plan to get updated COVID-19 booster shots soon, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, skipped a number of House votes and attended a campaign event instead, taking advantage of COVID rules allowing members to vote remotely

Harris County Public Health announced Thursday that the COVID-19 Community Level has moved to the lowest level -- Green.

But there is no clear evidence of an autumn wave starting, says the Office for National Statistics.

Fans going to the World Cup in Qatar must show a negative COVID-19 test when they arrive as part of the host nation’s rules to combat COVID-19.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo tells CNBC's Ylan Mui that Biden administration economic policies will lead to a brighter economic outcome.

A change in menstrual cycle length of eight days or less is considered within the normal range of variation, according to NIH.

Major population areas in Japan have reached about 90% in COVID-19 herd immunity after the recent Omicron wave. However, that level is expected to diminish soon.

Hidalgo County surpassed more than 4,000 deaths due to COVID-related complications among their residents with their report of three additional deaths on Tuesday.

Canada, which has kept some of the world's strictest mandates for more than two years, will end border and travel restrictions on Oct. 1.

FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks said last week he expected a decision on boosters for that age group soon.

US vaccine mandate remains in place. Lawmakers have urged Joe Biden to follow in Canada's footsteps.

Pfizer is asking the Food and Drug Administration to expand use of its updated COVID-19 booster shot to children ages 5 to 11.

According to data from the U.S. Department of State, there are over 1.6 million U.S. citizens living in Mexico.

A New York judge ruled that the city mandate requiring NYPD members to be vaccinated against COVID-19 is invalid as applied to members of the police union.

Masking is now urged only in communities seeing "high" transmission of the virus.

While the coronavirus pandemic was not the main focus of the U.N. General Assembly, the conversations were still happening on the sidelines.

Chicago is now averaging one COVID-19-related per day.

Some Americans who got the new shots said they are excited about the idea of targeting the vaccine to the variants circulating now.

Zoono Microbe Shield was marketed as protecting against COVID-19 but is only effective against bacteria, fungi and mold, EPA said.

The World Health Organization cautioned that the ability to track COVID variants and subvariants is decreasing because worldwide surveillance is declining.

The BA.5 variant from the summer wave of cases has now fallen to 83.1% of new infections.

More people are surviving cancer than ever before in the U.S. according to a new report by the American Association for Cancer Research. Experts say this is due to significant strides in treatments, diagnostic tools and prevention strategies.

U.S. health officials say 4.4 million Americans have rolled up their sleeves for the updated COVID-19 booster shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted the count Thursday as public health experts bemoaned President Joe Biden’s recent remark that “the pandemic is over.” The White House said more than 5 million people received the new boosters by its own estimate that accounts for reporting lags in states. “No one would go looking at our flu shot uptake at this point and be like, ‘Oh, what a disaster,’” said Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The boats carrying more than 100 people had set off from near the Lebanese port city of Tripoli.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's Covid-19 technical lead, said the virus is spreading rapidly and continues to evolve even as deaths from the disease decline.

Novak Djokovic is still awaiting word on whether he will be allowed to return to the Australian Open in January after missing the tournament this year because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19. “It’s really not in my hands right now,” Djokovic said Thursday at the Laver Cup. Djokovic is a 21-time Grand Slam champion — a total that stands second among men, behind only Rafael Nadal’s 22 and one ahead of Roger Federer's 20 — and he has won a record nine of those trophies at Melbourne Park.

Israel has started administering doses of the new COVID-19 vaccine tailored to fight the highly infectious omicron variant.

European businesses are revaluating their China plans after Covid controls have isolated the country, said the EU Chamber of Commerce in China's Joerg Wuttke.

Wondering if you should get your omicron-specific booster and flu shot at the same time? Experts weigh in.

After a “60 Minutes” interview in which President Biden declared “the pandemic is over,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spotlighted the administration’s efforts to fight the outbreak. Jean-PIerre acknowledged that COVID-19 is still “a problem,” and urged Congress to pass legislation that would fund vaccines and treatments to continue to fight the coronavirus.

Joe Biden isn’t the only American to think the pandemic is over. But the virus is still killing 400 to 500 people a day, and data is sketchy about how to save lives.

A senior Chinese health official recently warned people on social media not to touch foreigners as the country reported its first case of monkeypox. In a Weibo post on Saturday, Wu Zunyou, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s chief epidemiologist, announced that China now has one case of monkeypox that “slipped through the net” despite tight COVID-19 restrictions. "It is necessary and important to strengthen the monitoring and prevention of monkeypox," Wu wrote.

The 82-year-old former Beatles drummer recorded two EP's while quarantining and recently released one of them.

The bus driver was in a full protective suit, and it took officials hours to acknowledge the passengers were being bused to a quarantine center outside their city.

Dr. Anthony Fauci walked back President Biden's statement that the COVID-19 pandemic is over, which the president said in a "60 Minutes" interview that aired Sunday.

Biden's comments — made as officials try to convince Americans to get a new booster shot and the White House seeks $22 billion in new COVID funding — were "unfortunate," several epidemiologists said.

Coffee chain said workers will have to use regular sick time if they become ill with COVID-19 and need to isolate.

MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan tweeted on Sunday that President Biden's comments about the pandemic being over was one of several reasons people were not wearing masks.

While cases have decreased dramatically, there are still thousands of cases being reported across the world.

An additional 850 teachers and aides in New York City have been fired after failing to comply with the Department of Education's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

A bus reportedly taking 47 people to COVID-19 quarantine in China has crashed, killing 27 and injuring 20 others.

Another 10 Rio Grande Valley residents died due to COVID-related complications, county officials reported this week, bringing Hidalgo County near 4,000 total COVID deaths. Hidalgo County reported six more residents died due to COVID-19, raising their total number of COVID-related deaths to 3,993. This brings their total number of COVID-related deaths to 2,297. Cameron County health officials reported 542 new cases this week including 236 confirmed cases, 296 probable, and 10 self-reported cases. Last week, COVID-19 hospitalizations throughout the entire Valley were trending down but continued to see small spikes.

Is that pure luck, maybe super immunity or is it something else altogether?

With flu season approaching, Dr. David Agus also urged people to get their flu shots.

In an animal study, federal scientists found that combining Paxlovid and the antiviral Lagevrio could be safe and more effective.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has flipped its position on antibody therapies to treat COVID as they believe the Omicron variant's latest offshoots have rendered them obsolete.

They argue the threat posed by COVID has lessened because of preexisting immunity and access to treatment. Plus, some deaths may be incorrectly blamed on COVID. Others caution it's too soon to tell.

Monkeypox fight requires bipartisan funding support in Congress. America can learn from COVID-19 pandemic and act fast to stop new health crisis.

The U.S. Marine Corps is quietly walking back strict penalties for service members who are asking for religious accommodations to the COVID-19 vaccine.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker is ending the state’s requirement that unvaccinated school and day care workers undergo routine testing for COVID-19.

The new boosters target the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of COVID-19 and signups are now open for the public to get the updated shots.

The head of the World Health Organization says the number of coronavirus deaths last week was the lowest reported number in the pandemic since March 2020, marking what could be a turning point in the years-long global outbreak.

A U.S. firm that monitors false online claims reports that searches for information about prominent news topics on TikTok are likely to turn up results riddled with misinformation.

State health officials and doctors will be in Houston this week to encourage people to get their COVID-19 vaccinations and updated booster shots.

The European Medicines Agency has recommended the authorization of a tweaked booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine that includes protection against two of the latest versions of omicron, as countries look to bolster their immunization programs ahead of winter.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her government will not be pursuing any moves toward changing New Zealand to a republic following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

A majority of adults in the U.S. say health care is not handled well in the country.

The World Health Organization says the number of new coronavirus cases fell everywhere in the world last week by about 12%.

India and China have cleared two needle-free options for COVID-19 vaccinations.

New COVID-19 boosters targeting today’s most common omicron strains should begin arriving within days.

New COVID-19 boosters that target today's most common omicron strains are set to begin soon.

The European Medicines Agency has recommended the authorization of two coronavirus vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Inc., tweaked to include protection against an early version of the omicron variant.

The Biden administration hopes to make getting a COVID-19 booster as routine as going in for the yearly flu shot.

California won't allow teens age 15 and up to be vaccinated against the coronavirus without their parents' consent.

The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths reported globally continued to fall nearly everywhere in the world in what the World Health Organization described as a “welcome decline” at a media briefing on Wednesday.

The Coast Guard Academy is disenrolling seven cadets for failing to comply with the military’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

U.S. regulators have authorized updated COVID-19 boosters, the first to directly target today's most common omicron strain.

Unvaccinated NBA players and team personnel must submit to weekly COVID-19 testing this season.

First lady Jill Biden has tested negative for COVID-19 and plans to return to Washington on Tuesday.

The government will end its giveaway of COVID-19 at-home tests Friday because of insufficient congressional funding, a senior Biden administration official said Sunday.

Moderna said Friday that it is suing Pfizer and BioNTech, alleging that the two companies copied Moderna’s technology to make its Covid vaccine Comirnaty.

Novak Djokovic will not play in the U.S. Open, as expected, because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and thus is not allowed to travel to the United States.

A federal prosecutor says a Texas man has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for threatening a Maryland doctor who has been a prominent advocate for COVID-19 vaccines.

North Korea says it found four new fever cases in its border region with China that may have been caused by coronavirus infections, two weeks after leader Kim Jong Un declared a widely disputed victory over COVID-19.

Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill appears to provide little or no benefit for younger adults.

First lady Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 again in an apparent “rebound” case, after she initially tested negative for the virus over the weekend.

After testing negative on Tuesday, first lady Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 by antigen testing, Deputy Communications Director Kelsey Donohue announced Wednesday.

A special House panel looking into the government's coronavirus response says the Trump White House tried to pressure U.S. health experts into reauthorizing the drug hydroxychloroquine that had been discredited as a COVID-19 treatment.

The World Health Organization says the number of coronavirus deaths reported worldwide has fallen by 15% in the last week while new infections dropped by 9%.

Pfizer’s says its COVID-19 vaccine was 73% effective in protecting children younger than 5 as omicron spread in the spring.

Pfizer has asked U.S. regulators to authorize its combination COVID-19 vaccine that adds protection against the newest omicron relatives.

First lady Jill Biden has left COVID-19 isolation after twice testing negative for the coronavirus and has reunited with President Joe Biden at their Delaware beach home.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been diagnosed with the coronavirus and has canceled his planned travels while he isolates and recuperates.

An anti-vaccine group that has harassed doctors and public officials in Italy and France is still active on platforms like Facebook despite efforts to rein in its abuse and misinformation.

Instagram and Facebook have suspended Children's Health Defense for repeated violations of policies on COVID-19 misinformation.

New coronavirus cases reported globally in the last week dropped by nearly a quarter while deaths fell by 6%.

The NFL essentially is back to normal entering its third season amid COVID-19.

New U.S. recommendations call for three home tests for people exposed to COVID-19 to improve accuracy.

The FDA says if repeat testing is not performed after a negative result, an infection may be missed and people may unknowingly spread the SARS-CoV-2 virus to others, especially if they are not experiencing symptoms.

The World Health Organization says in its latest weekly pandemic report that the number of coronavirus deaths fell by 9% in the last week while new cases remained relatively stable.

Chinese authorities have closed Tibet's famed Potala Palace after a minor outbreak of COVID-19 in the Himalayan region.