COVID-19

Pfizer says it will provide nearly two dozen products at not-for-profit prices in some of the world’s poorest countries.

After a welcome lull in new COVID-19 cases in March following the winter omicron surge, cases are once again spiking, another uptick in the seemingly endless cycle of the pandemic’s virus spread.

Although monkeypox's recent spread has caused concern, its similarities to smallpox have given the public health world a head start on combating it.

The first results from an in-depth investigation of long COVID produced provocative results. Researchers don't understand the mechanism behind the lingering symptoms but found a link with anxiety.

Respiratory symptoms and musculoskeletal pain were the most common lingering health issues reported.

Respiratory symptoms and musculoskeletal pain were the most common lingering health issues reported.

After a reprieve of months, confirmed cases of COVID-19 are surging in the southern tip of South America

After a reprieve of months, confirmed cases of COVID-19 are surging in the southern tip of South America.

As the White House tries to demonstrate that the war in Ukraine hasn’t distracted America from pressing priorities in Asia, the Biden administration is once again looking to “the Quad.” The informal grouping brings together the US, Japan, India and Australia in an alliance of democracies with shared economic and security interests that span the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The point is to maintain a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” but the unstated priority is countering China’s growing power, which rankles the leadership in Beijing. The Quad has its critics, who question the group’s sometimes-ambiguous goals and ask how effective it can be given that some members are wary of provoking China. Still, it’s set to become more relevant as US-China tensions persist and Russia’s invasion of its neighbor sharpens Western security alliances.

China is trying to navigate its biggest coronavirus outbreak without a tool it could have adopted many months ago, the kind of vaccines that have proven to offer the best protection against the worst outcomes from COVID-19.

China is trying to navigate its biggest coronavirus outbreak without a tool it could have adopted many months ago, the kind of vaccines that have proven to offer the best protection against the worst outcomes from COVID-19. As early as the spring of 2020 a Chinese pharmaceutical company, Fosun Pharma, reached an agreement to distribute — and eventually manufacture — the mRNA vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech. It still has not been cleared in mainland China, despite being authorized for use by separate authorities in Hong Kong and Macao.

People with long COVID-19 may experience symptoms such as headaches and brain fog for an average of 15 months after first becoming ill.

Hidalgo County announced it will scale back its COVID-19 emergency operational level due to the slowing rate of cases and deaths attributed to COVID-19 that are reported locally.

Nearly 44,500 San Marcos residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Monday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.As of DSHS’ most recent zip-code specific report[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

Parents hoping to get their youngest children vaccinated against COVID-19 have some encouraging news.

A federal appeals court is being asked to reconsider its decision allowing the Biden administration to require that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The FDA said it will complete its review of Pfizer and Moderna's applications within days of each other.

Pfizer plans to submit the new data to the Food and Drug Administration this week, bringing families with young children one step closer to a long-awaited vaccine.

Congressman Al Green tested positive for COVID-19 Monday morning, according to his office.

The 18 million tots under 5 are the only group in the U.S. not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.

Pfizer says preliminary data shows its three-dose vaccine regimen is 80% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in kids 6 months to 4 years old.

The company says it'll give U.S. regulators the data soon. Moderna is already seeking U.S. clearance to vaccinate kids 5 and under.

Pfizer says three small doses of its COVID-19 vaccine protect kids under 5.

If Americans decide too soon that it is over, it could paradoxically drag on even longer.

Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy are warning of burnout among the nation’s health care staff after more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The isolated East Asian country has only stated how many people have fevers daily, and has only identified a few of the cases as COVID-19 since admitting to an outbreak of the omicron variant.

Beijing extended orders for workers and students to stay home and ordered additional mass testing Monday as cases of COVID-19 rose in the Chinese capital. Numerous residential compounds in the city have restricted movement in and out, although conditions remain far less severe than in Shanghai, where millions of citizens have been under varying degrees of lockdown for two months. Beijing on Monday reported an uptick in new cases to 99, up from a previous daily average of around 50.

There were 573 more billionaires in the world by March 2022 than in 2020, Oxfam said, estimating that 263 million could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022.

The U.S. may feel ready to move on from the pandemic, but I’m not.

The Biden administration officials have been warning for weeks that the country has spent nearly all the money approved for COVID-19 response.

After mass shootings killed and wounded people grocery shopping, going to church and simply living their lives, the nation marked a milestone of 1 million deaths from COVID-19.

North Korea said Saturday it found nearly 220,000 more people with feverish symptoms, even as leader Kim Jong Un claimed progress in slowing a largely undiagnosed spread of COVID-19 across his unvaccinated populace and hinted at easing virus restrictions to nurse a decaying economy. The outbreak has caused concern about serious tragedies in the poor, isolated country with one of the world’s worst health care systems and a high tolerance for civilian suffering. Experts say North Korea is almost certainly downplaying the true scale of the viral spread, including a strangely small death toll, to soften the political blow on Kim as he navigates the toughest moment in his decade of rule.

Failure to test migrants before these commercial flights risked exposing other migrants, government staff and the general public to COVID-19, according to the DHS inspector general.

It’s still unclear what the increase in cases will mean for the state, but doctors and hospitals say Texas is better prepared to face a surge than before.

Texas Children’s Hospital and all Texas Children’s Pediatrics practices will begin administering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine booster Friday to children ages 5 to 11, a news release said.

It’s still unclear what the increase in cases will mean for the state, but doctors and hospitals say Texas is better prepared to face a surge than before.

The revised operating date for the Somerset site is June 2027 and is expected to cost up to £26bn.

The Hays County Local Health Department recorded 272 COVID-19 cases during its weekly report as the positivity rate rose to nearly 14%.The county also reported a 112.8 weekly case rate per 100,000, a [San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

Kids ages 5 to 11 should get a booster dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, advisers to the U.S.[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

The CDC published updated data Thursday on counties at "medium" and "high" levels of COVID-19.

Tammie Galloway, a mother of two, lost her job last year during the height of the pandemic and hasn’t been able to find steady work since.

Less than a third of children ages 5 to 11 years old are fully vaccinated and will become eligible for the third shot.

U.S. health advisers are urging a booster dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11.

Selena Gomez hosted the first-ever Mental Health Youth Action Forum at the White House. The event encouraged businesses and peers to address mental health.

On Thursday's show: What rising COVID-19 cases and viral loads in wastewater mean for Houston, a local sleep expert answers your questions, and we discuss what is considered "Texas cuisine."

The number of coronavirus deaths globally dropped by about 21% in the past week while cases rose in most parts of the world, according to the World Health Organization.

The money was supposed to be COVID-19 assistance for low-income households in a small Japanese town, but police say it was mistakenly wired to a bank account of a resident who refused to return it and spent most of it on online gambling

As Americans commemorate a million deaths due to COVID-19, the partisan divide of who has gotten sick and died continues to grow, mostly due to disinformation about the vaccines.

Germany’s health minister is warning that the coronavirus pandemic is not over yet.

When COVID-19 first emerged, it was thought to be a respiratory disease primarily affecting the lungs. But as time went on and its list of symptoms reported grew longer, scientists learned that the disease can also impact other organs, including the heart.

Another member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet has tested positive for COVID-19.

The 77-year-old guitar legend has been a critic of coronavirus vaccines and pandemic restrictions. He has tested positive for COVID-19 and canceled two upcoming European gigs.

Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona has cleared health and safety protocols and returned to the team after missing four games with COVID-19. Francona will be back for Wednesday's game against Cincinnati along with bench coach DeMarlo Hale. Hitting analyst Justin Toole is also back with the Guardians, who have dealt with two separate outbreaks in recent weeks.

Some experts are worried the country now is seeing signs of a sixth wave, driven by an Omicron subvariant.

COVID-19 cases are increasing in the United States – and could get even worse over the coming months, federal health officials warned in urging areas hardest hit to consider reissuing calls for indoor masking.

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.

Some U.S. hospitals have started reserving use of the dye, used to make scans readable, for critically ill patients.

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.

Eric Clapton, a critic of coronavirus vaccines and pandemic restrictions, has tested positive for COVID-19 and canceled two upcoming European gigs.

The country's anti-virus headquarters said 62 people have died and more than 1.7 million have fallen ill amid a rapid spread of fever since late April.

U.S.[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

North Korea on Wednesday reported 232,880 new cases of fever and another six deaths as leader Kim Jong Un accused officials of “immaturity” and “slackness” in handling the escalating COVID-19 outbreak

The man accused of opening fire on a Taiwanese church congregation in California was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder. (May 17)

A 23-year-old has become the caregiver for her 13-year-old brother after their parents died within days of each other.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech make the only COVID-19 vaccine available for children of any age in the U.S.

Global outbreak of avian influenza spawns dubious claims that the disease is aimed at driving up food prices.

The toll, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, doesn't include the deaths of those who couldn't get care for other diseases, or the many deaths feared unrecorded.

The CDC must decide whether to formally recommend the booster for this age group.

The head of the World Health Organization says China’s extreme approach to containing the coronavirus is unsustainable because of the highly infectious nature of the omicron variant.

U.S. regulators have authorized a COVID-19 vaccine booster for healthy children ages 5 to 11.

When the U.S. hit 1 million COVID-19 deaths, the news was driven by a government tally derived from death certificates.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee tested positive for COVID-19, a spokesperson from her office said Monday.

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has hit 1 million, less than 2 1/2 years into the outbreak.

North Korea says it has confirmed 15 more deaths and hundreds of thousands of additional patients with fevers amid the country’s first COVID-19 outbreak.

Health experts in South Africa say the country is experiencing a surge of new COVID-19 cases driven by two omicron sub-variants.

Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor has been added to the team’s COVID-19 injured list, marking the first player to be sidelined by the team’s recent outbreak.

The new White House COVID-19 coordinator is issuing a dire warning.

President Joe Biden has appealed to world leaders for a renewed international commitment to attacking COVID-19 as he leads the U.S. in marking the “tragic milestone” of 1 million deaths in America.

The Cleveland Guardians are dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak that has sidelined manager Terry Francona and several of the team’s coaches, leading to the postponement of their series finale against the Chicago White Sox.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms.

The head of the World Health Organization has called on Pfizer to make its COVID-19 treatment more widely available in poorer countries.

Dr. Peter Hotez revealed Monday that he has tested positive for COVID-19. The message was sent out via his verified Twitter account.

A small number of COVID-19 patients are relapsing after taking Pfizer's antiviral pill, raising questions about the drug at the center of the U.S. response effort.

Officials announced that Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.

U.S. regulators are strictly limiting who can receive Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine due to a rare but serious risk of blood clots.

The World Health Organization is estimating that nearly 15 million people were killed either by the coronavirus or by its impact on overwhelmed health systems in the first two years of the pandemic.

The World Health Organization says the number of newly reported coronavirus cases and deaths continued to fall in the last week, continuing a global decline that first began in March.

Beijing has closed 60 subway stations as an additional measure against the spread of the coronavirus.

As mask mandates and vaccination rules kept falling across the U.S., infections from the latest COVID variants have been quietly taking hold in some places, sparking concern among public health officials but stirring a muted response from pretty much everyone else.

Adult learners who had to put their educational goal on hold because of COVID-19, a family issue, or for other reasons, can now take that last step and complete their certificate or degree with tuition, books and class materials covered at San Jacinto College with the Last Step Scholarship. Thanks to a generous anonymous donor, they can move into a good-paying position and the career of their dreams.

Many Chinese are marking a quiet May Day holiday this year as the government’s “zero-COVID” approach restricts travel and enforces lockdowns in multiple cities.

China’s manufacturing activity fell to a six-month low in April as lockdowns continued in Shanghai and other manufacturing hubs in an attempt to stem COVID-19 outbreaks.

Several districts in Shanghai put up metal barriers last weekend as part of the city’s battle against a COVID-19 outbreak, in a move that drew protests and anger from some residents.

A newly released report from the American Health Care Association (AHCA) focuses on the impact the pandemic has had on nursing homes.

The Food and Drug Administration has set tentative dates in June to publicly review COVID-19 vaccines for the youngest American children.

Black and Hispanic Americans remain far more cautious in their approach to the COVID-19 pandemic than white Americans.

Gov. Greg Abbott, alongside other state leaders, announced the allocation of $435 million in COVID-19 Relief Funds to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas to offset healthcare costs related to COVID-19, according to a release.

Health experts say South Africa is seeing a rapid surge in COVID-19 cases driven by yet another version of the coronavirus.