pandemic

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Health Officials Tried to Lock Everyone In an Ikea. Then, Chaos

Patrons bust out of Shanghai store after lockdown due to customer's close contact with COVID patient

(Newser) - Usually when it's closing time at a store, patrons calmly make their final purchases and exit. The scene was a bit more chaotic over the weekend at an Ikea in Shanghai after health authorities tried to lock everyone inside following a coronavirus report tied to one of the customers....

Among America's Youngest, a COVID Vaccine 'Logjam'

Just 4% to 5% of kids have gotten their shots; pediatricians are now trying to break the 'logjam'

(Newser) - Nearly two months ago, the CDC recommended that all kids from 6 months old up to 5 years—more than 17 million children across the nation—get vaccinated against COVID-19, guidance echoed by the American Medical Association . But since June 18, when the CDC gave the official OK for children...

Ex-Ga. Mayor Sentenced for 'Deplorable' Pandemic Crime

Jason Lary gets 57 months behind bars for pocketing COVID relief cash meant for Stonecrest

(Newser) - An "unsavory saga" has come to a conclusion in Georgia, where an ex-mayor is now headed to prison for nearly five years over a COVID relief funds scheme. On Wednesday, US District Court Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. sentenced Jason Lary to 57 months behind bars for stealing hundreds...

With No Takers for 13.6M Doses, in the Trash They Go

Canada to dump expired AstraZeneca vaccines after they weren't accepted at home or abroad

(Newser) - Canada is going to throw out about 13.6 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine because it couldn't find any takers for them either at home or abroad, per the AP . Canada signed a contract with AstraZeneca in 2020 to get 20 million doses of its vaccine, and...

Most Contagious Variants Yet Now Dominating US
These 2 New Variants
Are Extra-Contagious
THE RUNDOWN
Jul 5, 2022 10:20 AM CDT

These 2 New Variants Are Extra-Contagious

BA.4 and BA.5 are great at evading protections, including from past omicron infections

(Newser) - Two new extra-contagious variants of omicron with transmissibility similar to measles are together dominating COVID-19 cases in the US, leading to talk of new indoor mask mandates. Here's what you need to know:
  • Background: BA.4 was first detected in South Africa in January, while BA.5 was first
...

'It Feels Cautiously Good' on COVID as Summer Hits

Still lots of infections, but deaths are relatively few compared to last fall and winter

(Newser) - The fast-changing coronavirus has kicked off summer in the US with lots of infections but relatively few deaths compared to its prior incarnations. COVID-19 is still killing hundreds of Americans each day, but it isn't nearly as dangerous as it was last fall and winter. With more Americans shielded...

Scientists May Have Solved a Mystery of the Plague
Black Death May
Have Started Here
NEW STUDY
Jun 16, 2022 12:24 PM CDT

Black Death May Have Started Here

Researchers believe 700-year-old teeth point to what is now Kyrgyzstan

(Newser) - Researchers say they've discovered "when and where the single most notorious and infamous killer of humans began." They're referring to the Black Death, or bubonic plague, which is thought to have wiped out tens of millions of people in Europe, Asia, and North Africa during...

FDA Posts Analysis of Pfizer Shots for Kids Under 5

Says the kid-sized dose appears to be safe and effective

(Newser) - Update: The FDA on Sunday posted its analysis of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children under age 5, announcing that the kid-sized doses do appear to be safe and effective. The agency posted a similar analysis of Moderna's vaccine for the youngest age group last week. Next up: Wednesday'...

WHO Report on COVID Origins Angers China

Team said there should be further investigation of lab leak theory

(Newser) - A team of scientists backed by the World Health Organization released a preliminary report Thursday on the search for the origins of the coronavirus pandemic—and China was angered by the suggestion that the theory the virus may have leaked from a lab merited further investigation. The team said that...

Authorities: Japanese Fugitive Tied to $7.2M COVID Relief Plot

Mitsuhiro Taniguchi is now in custody in Indonesia and set to be deported

(Newser) - For a week or two, Mitsuhiro Taniguchi was holed up in the home of an Indonesian fish trader, trying to convince him of his plan to invest in local fisheries. That won't be happening now, though, as he's been nabbed by authorities over the money he was perhaps...

We Haven't Seen This on the Birth Front for 7 Years

There was a 1% increase in number of births in 2021—the first rise since 2014, per CDC report

(Newser) - For the first time in seven years, the US birth rate has risen—meaning predictions that the pandemic would have a more significant impact on becoming a parent went slightly off course. Americans welcomed to the world 3.66 million babies in 2021, up 1% from the previous year, according...

Pfizer Offers Update on Shots for Kids Under 5

Preliminary data suggest 3 shots offer strong protection for the youngest patients

(Newser) - Three doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine offer strong protection for children younger than 5, the company announced Monday. Pfizer plans to give the data to US regulators later this week in a step toward letting the littlest kids get the shots. The news comes after months of anxious waiting...

Zero Cars Were Sold in Shanghai Last Month

Lockdown hit city's economy hard

(Newser) - Shanghai is finally beginning to emerge from a long, harsh lockdown that was initially supposed to last only a few days—but the economic damage will take time to recover from. In what Bloomberg sees as evidence of how strict the lockdown was, not a single car was sold in...

He Got the Whole Town's COVID Payments. Then He Vanished

Man in Japanese town of Abu took off with nearly $360K mistakenly transferred to him

(Newser) - Last month, more than 450 households in a Japanese town in the Yamaguchi prefecture eagerly awaited COVID relief payments of about $770 each, designed to help families struggling due to the pandemic. One villager received all the payments in his account, however, and he's now disappeared, as has the...

We Probably Didn't Have a Meat Shortage After All

House panel report: Tyson, other meat-processing companies made 'baseless' claims of scarcity

(Newser) - Workers at meat-processing plants were forced to clock in to work during the early days of the pandemic, thanks to an executive order out of the Trump administration deeming them essential workers amid what was said to be a beef and pork shortage. Except now it seems that last part...

Artist Inscribed 120K Pennies With a Pandemic Message

'The body was already so fragile'

(Newser) - Months after the government sent out $1,200 stimulus checks early in the pandemic, conceptual artist Jill Magid distributed $1,200 in a unique way—she inscribed 120,000 pennies with a message and gave rolls of coins to hundreds of New York City bodegas. The message inscribed on the...

COVID Restrictions Ease in Time for Tourist Season

Greece relaxes flight rules, as Italy drops health pass

(Newser) - Italy and Greece relaxed certain COVID-19 restrictions on Sunday, in a sign that life was increasingly returning to normal before Europe's peak summer tourist season. Greece's civil aviation authority announced that it was lifting all COVID-19 rules for international and domestic flights, except for the wearing of face...

Big Move From Moderna on Shots for Youngest Kids

Pharma company submits data to FDA, asks regulators to OK COVID shots for under-6 set

(Newser) - Moderna on Thursday asked US regulators to authorize low doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for children younger than 6, a long-awaited move toward potentially opening shots for millions of tots by summer. Frustrated families are waiting impatiently for a chance to protect the nation's littlest kids as all around...

Pandemic Is in Transition: Fauci
Fauci Puts
Fine Point
on Pandemic
Apr 27, 2022 7:35 PM CDT

Fauci Puts Fine Point on Pandemic

US is in transition, expert clarifies

(Newser) - Dr. Anthony Fauci worried that his assessment of the state of the coronavirus pandemic given Tuesday was being misinterpreted as meaning it's all over, so he went at the subject again Wednesday. "We don't have 900,000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens...

CDC: Majority of American Adults Have Had COVID

Number is even higher for kids: 75% of children 11 and younger have antibodies for virus

(Newser) - Nearly 60% of Americans show infection-related antibodies—meaning not antibodies produced by a vaccine—in their blood, per a survey by the CDC released Tuesday. That reflects the time period from December to February, reports the New York Times . But for children ages 11 and younger, that figure is even...

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