COVID-19

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Pfizer Asks US Officials to OK COVID Pill
FDA Approves First COVID Pill
UPDATED
Dec 22, 2021 12:47 PM CST

FDA Approves First COVID Pill

Regulators call Pfizer's Paxlovid pill a 'major step forward' in fight against pandemic

(Newser) - Update: The FDA has approved the first pill to treat COVID-19 at home—and not a moment too soon. Pfizer's Paxlovid antiviral pill was initially seen as an extra drug in the anti-COVID arsenal, but with cases surging and antibody treatments not working against the omicron variant, the pills...

Out of South Africa, a 'Tantalizing Hint' on Omicron

Case count is dropping, at least in recent days

(Newser) - A new study out of South Africa offers some positive news on the omicron variant, but with an asterisk. The study, which appeared Tuesday in the preprint medical publication MedRxiv , found that South Africans who came down with the omicron variant were 80% less likely to be hospitalized compared to...

She Only Made It 8 Months in FEMA's COVID Call Center

Irene Hild tried to help families looking for funding for loved ones' funeral expenses

(Newser) - Her job interview was made up of three questions: Did she have any call center experience? Was she bilingual? Could she start in two weeks? No, no, yes. That was good enough for Irene Hild to land a job as one of roughly 4,000 contractors hired to staff the...

Scientists Playing 'Long Game' Have Big Vaccine News

US Army researchers say they have a COVID vaccine that fights all variants, even future ones

(Newser) - With the chaotic entry of omicron onto the pandemic stage, there's concern that current vaccines may not be as effective against this variant as they were against others. Which is why news out of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research is especially noteworthy: Defense One reports that scientists...

Trump 'Surprised,' 'Very Appreciative' of Biden's Comments

Former POTUS says he appreciates current president's praise

(Newser) - Update: The former president and the current president traded unusually pleasant words Tuesday. After President Biden, in his address to the nation regarding COVID, praised "the prior administration" for its work getting vaccines available in the US so quickly, former President Trump told Fox News he was "surprised"...

Antibody Treatments Aren't Working Against Omicron

Antiviral drugs appear to still be effective

(Newser) - In yet more bad news about the omicron variant of COVID-19, hospitals have found that two of the three monoclonal antibody treatments that have been keeping serious disease at bay for many coronavirus patients do not appear to work against this variant. The one that still does is, not surprisingly,...

Health Care Workers Must Get Booster Shots in This State

California Gov. Gavin Newsom makes the announcement on Twitter

(Newser) - California health care workers will be required to have coronavirus booster shots to ensure that hospitals are ready to deal with a surge in cases as the more-transmissible omicron variant spreads throughout the state, the AP reports. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the order Tuesday on his personal Twitter account and...

Biden to Announce 500M Free COVID Tests

They're to be delivered by mail to Americans who request them: officials

(Newser) - President Biden will reportedly announce the purchase of half a billion at-home rapid COVID-19 tests, which are to be delivered for free to Americans who request them, in a nationwide speech Tuesday amid soaring cases of the omicron variant. An administration official said Americans will be able to request tests,...

Biden Spent 30 Minutes on Plane With Staffer Who Has COVID

President tests negative 3 days after possible exposure

(Newser) - President Biden is considered a close contact of a White House staffer who has tested positive for COVID-19, the administration announced Monday. "On Monday morning, a mid-level staff member, who does not regularly have contact with the president, received a positive result for a COVID-19 test," White House...

NHL Institutes Leaguewide Shutdown Through Saturday
COVID Delivers
More Bad News to NHL
Dec 21, 2021 12:00 AM CST

COVID Delivers More Bad News to NHL

League shuts down early for holiday

(Newser) - The NHL is beginning a leaguewide shutdown Wednesday amid a rise in positive COVID-19 test results among players, and with 10 of the league's 32 teams' schedules already paused and their facilities closed. The league announced Monday night that it will open its annual holiday break two days earlier...

CDC: Omicron Is Now the Dominant Variant

'All of us have a date with omicron'

(Newser) - Less than a month after it was first detected in southern Africa—and less than three weeks after the first US case was confirmed —the omicron variant is now the dominant COVID strain in the US, authorities say. Federal officials said Monday that according to Centers for Disease Control...

Trump: I Got My Booster
Trump: I Got My Booster
Dec 20, 2021 12:21 PM CST

Trump: I Got My Booster

Remark is met with some booing at event with Bill O'Reilly

(Newser) - Only about one-third of the US population has received a COVID booster shot, notes the Washington Post , but one of the recipients has a particularly high profile. Donald Trump said Sunday that he received his third shot, reports Newsweek . The reveal came during a public forum with former Fox anchor...

COVID Outbreak on Cruise Ship: 'They Were So Overwhelmed'

4 dozen passengers, crew on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas tested positive

(Newser) - About four dozen passengers and crew on a Dec. 11 sailing on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas tested positive for COVID before the ship made it back to Miami on Saturday, the cruise line announced. USA Today reports the number as 44 infected, while NBC Miami puts it...

Ohio Hospitals' One-Word Plea on COVID: 'Help'

Medical centers in Cleveland area, Minnesota beg people to get vaxxed in major newspaper ads

(Newser) - One word dominates a full-page advertisement that appeared in Sunday's Plain Dealer, Ohio's biggest newspaper. "Help," reads the bold-font plea, surrounded by white space, smack in the middle of the ad placed by the heads of six of the Cleveland area's medical facilities to try...

Good News on Moderna Booster
Good
News on
Moderna
Booster
Dec 20, 2021 8:33 AM CST

Good News on Moderna Booster

Early lab results suggests third shot provides significant protection against omicron

(Newser) - Lab results from Moderna add to health officials' chorus on omicron: Get a booster. The company said Monday that preliminary results suggests a third shot of its vaccine provides significant protection against the new variant. The usual half-dose booster raised antibody levels 37-fold, while a full-dose booster—typically given to...

May 2020 Photo Causes New Headache for Boris Johnson

It seemingly shows 19 people drinking outdoors during a strict lockdown period

(Newser) - The behind-closed-doors behavior of Boris Johnson and his staff during the pandemic continues to float to the surface. The latest: a photograph obtained by the Guardian (see it here ) that seemingly contradicts the government's denial last week that a social event complete with booze occurred inside and outside...

Disarray Due to COVID in Sports World Continues

NBA postpones 5 mores games, NHL shuts down 2 more teams

(Newser) - The NBA on Sunday postponed a total of five games involving nine teams in response to rising coronavirus numbers, raising the number of contests that have been pushed back this season to seven, the AP reports. Called off were three Sunday games: Cleveland at Atlanta, Denver at Brooklyn and New...

Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker Have COVID

Senators both got 2 vaccine doses plus a booster

(Newser) - Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey say they have tested positive for COVID-19, as the country deals with another surge in cases and the emergence of the omicron variant. In separate statements Sunday, the Democrats said they had been fully vaccinated with two doses and...

Politician Who Opposed Masks, Lockdowns Dies of COVID

Member or Washington's state senate tested positive in El Salvador

(Newser) - Washington state Sen. Doug Ericksen, a staunch conservative, has died at age 52. Ericksen's death Friday came weeks after he said he had tested positive for the coronavirus while in El Salvador, though his cause of death wasn't immediately released. The state Senate Republican Caucus confirmed his passing...

Early Data Doesn't Back Hope That Omicron Will Be Milder

There's plenty of caution that it's too early to draw conclusions

(Newser) - UK researchers say they see no indication that omicron will be milder than the delta variant of the coronavirus. In fact, they found the new strain's reinfection rate to be more than five times as high as delta's, Reuters reports. The Imperial College London study, which has not...

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