Health

WATCH: White House COVID task force holds news briefing

By News Desk and Associated Press

The White House coronavirus task force will hold a news briefing on Tuesday, May 18.

Can schools require COVID-19 vaccines for students 12 and up?

By Kristine Bowman, The Conversation

Each state has its own rules for which vaccines kids must have to attend school and the reasons students can opt out.

WATCH: Biden boosting world vaccine sharing commitment to 80 million doses

By Zeke Miller, Associated Press

The doses will come from existing production of Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine stocks, marking the first time that U.S.-controlled doses of vaccines authorized for use in the country will be shared overseas.

As more Americans get vaccinated, 41% of Republicans still refuse COVID-19 shots

By Laura Santhanam

So far, 59 percent of U.S. adults said they have gotten vaccinated, and another 14 percent say they plan to, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll.

Hundreds of bodies found buried along Indian riverbanks

By Associated Press

Police are reaching out to villagers in northern India to investigate the recovery of bodies buried in shallow sand graves or washed up on the Ganges River banks, prompting speculation on social media that they’re the remains of COVID-19 victims.

CDC director says mask turnaround based solely on science

By Kimberlee Kruesi, Associated Press

The sudden change sparked praise from those eager to return to pre-pandemic life, particularly those who see the new guidelines as a way to reopen workplaces, schools and other venues that went dark during the pandemic.

Vaccinations are picking up. Is it time to reopen the US-Canada border?

By Benedict Moran

The United States and Canada have one of the largest economic partnerships in the world, and share the world’s largest international border. When COVID-19 hit in early 2020, that border was closed to all nonessential traffic. As more people on…

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Japan expands virus emergency ahead of Tokyo Olympics

By Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press

Japan is further expanding a coronavirus state of emergency from six areas, including Tokyo, to nine as the government repeated its determination to hold the Olympics in just over two months. Japan has been struggling to slow infections ahead of…

International panel calls for overhaul of pandemic preparedness efforts

By Helen Branswell, STAT

The experts say the COVID-19 crisis should trigger a series of actions to ensure this pandemic is the last of its kind the world ever faces.

School nurses, health service corps part of $7.4 billion virus plan

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Zeke Miller, Associated Press

That will mean hiring school nurses to vaccinate kids and creating a service corps around health care as well as bolstering traditional disease detection efforts.