Dec 01 LISTEN: Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks After nearly two hours of arguments on Wednesday, all six conservative justices, including three appointed by former President Donald Trump, indicated they would uphold the Mississippi law. Continue reading
Dec 01 Omicron keeps world on edge as more information drips out By Mari Yamaguchi, Foster Klug, Raf Casert, Associated Press Much is still unknown about the new variant, including how contagious it is and whether it can evade vaccines, and the European Union chief acknowledged that waiting for scientists to tell the world more felt like "an eternity.”… Continue reading
Nov 30 Watch 8:16 Will the omicron variant require a new vaccine? An expert weighs in By Nick Schifrin, Dorothy Hastings A growing number of countries are reporting cases of the coronavirus' omicron variant, and many are mandating travel bans. Meanwhile, advisors to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have now endorsed drug maker Merck's pill to treat COVID-19 in high-risk… Continue watching
Nov 30 What we know you can do to protect yourself from omicron By Laura Santhanam Key questions need to be answered about the new COVID-19 variant, omicron, including whether it is more transmissible, produces more severe disease, and responds to vaccines and medicines. Continue reading
Nov 30 WATCH: White House COVID task force holds news briefing amidst threat of new omicron variant By News Desk The White House COVID task force will hold a news briefing on Tuesday amidst news of the new omicron variant and criticism of the travel ban against South Africa and several other African nations. Watch the briefing in the player… Continue reading
Nov 30 NYC greenlights safe sites for drug use in effort to curb overdoses By Associated Press The “overdose prevention centers” — commonly known as supervised injection sites — have been discussed for years in New York and some other U.S. cities and already exist in Canada, Australia and Europe. Continue reading
Nov 30 FDA panel review final hurdle for Merck's COVID-19 pill By Matthew Perrone, Associated Press U.S. health advisers are reviewing Merck's closely watched COVID-19 pill, which could become the first easy-to-use drug for American patients. Continue reading
Nov 30 U.S. picks up speed on tracking of virus variants after slow start By Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press After a slow start, the United States has improved its surveillance system for tracking new coronavirus variants such as omicron, boosting its capacity by tens of thousands of samples per week since early this year. Viruses mutate constantly. To find… Continue reading
Nov 30 Omicron variant may have reached Europe earlier than suspected By Raf Casert, Andrew Meldrum, Associated Press Much remains unknown about the new variant, including how contagious it might be, but a WHO official said Tuesday that there could soon be a steep rise in infections in parts of southern Africa. Continue reading
Nov 29 Watch 3:24 How the world is responding to the omicron variant By Yamiche Alcindor, Courtney Norris A growing number of nations imposed travel restrictions Monday to try to slow the spread of the new coronavirus variant, omicron. The moves came as more cases of the variant were confirmed internationally. But some warned the travel bans —… Continue watching