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Fall is vaccine season: COVID-19, flu, RSV
KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are circulating, so the vaccine season is upon us. To get the maximum protection, start with a game plan. “Doctors generally suggest getting your flu and COVID shots before the end of October and say it’s OK to get both those shots at the same…
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COVID-19 vaccines: What parents need to know now
The COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a national emergency, but the virus that caused it isn’t gone—and neither is the risk of getting the disease, says Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. It published a Q and A with Dr. Michael Smit, the hospital’s medical director of infection prevention and control: Who is eligible for the bivalent…
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National public-health emergency for COVID-19 ends Thursday
Experts warn that another Omicron-like outbreak is still possible KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, and the U.S. public health emergency ends May 11, but the pandemic is not over and the disease remains a threat, the World Health Organization said Friday. Experts recently warned the White House that “There’s…
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FDA approves new booster, recommends a second booster for some
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS The best way to protect yourself from severe illness, hospitalization and death from Covid-19 is to get vaccinated and boosted. This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a second Omicron booster, also referred to as the bivalent Covid-19 vaccine, for immunocompromised people and people over the age…
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COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness declines rapidly
Seniors need to keep up their immunity, and we need a better vaccine BY KEVIN KAVANAGH FOR INFECTION CONTROL TODAY I am at high risk for severe COVID-19, being 65 years or older, with additional health problems. I received my bivalent booster as soon as possible and am approaching my 6-month anniversary. I, thus, watched…
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Risk is lower, but it’s NOT time to resume pre-pandemic life, New York doctors write in one of the nation’s top medical journals
An editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Wafaa M. El-Sadr, Columbia University; Dr. Ashwin Vasan, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; and Ayman El-Mohandes, City University of New York We’ve come a long way. From the early, terrifying days of a rapidly spreading deadly infection to the current…
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Beshear says ‘it’s time’ to end U.S. COVID emergency, set May 11, but notes expiring programs; estimated 260,000 to lose Medicaid
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS Gov. Andy Beshear agreed with President Biden’s decision to end the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11, a decision that will bring an end to several programs that were put in place to help people during the worst of the pandemic. “I think it’s time,” Beshear said at…
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COVID-19 is mutating and apparently winning, so we need to take preventive measures well beyond vaccinations
BY KEVIN KAVANAGH There is no such thing as “herd immunity” for COVID-19. In this context it is a concept as antiquated as “the Earth is flat.” The theory was based upon the work of William Farr in 1840 who proposed a bell-shaped curve which illustrated the body’s ability to mount a lasting response to…
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Martin County Health Department announces two COVID-related deaths, the county’s first since March 2022
BY RACHEL DOVEMOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Martin County has had two additional COVID-19-related deaths, the first reported since March 2022. The two deaths were announced Tuesday, bringing the county’s COVID-19 death toll to 52. The health department reported 64 new COVID-19 cases in the county were laboratory-confirmed from Dec. 20-Jan. 17, bringing the case count…
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Big, real-world study confirms COVID-19 shots provide much more protection than natural immunity, especially against death
Vaccines give significantly more protection than natural immunity against COVID-19, especially against death, according to one of the first large, real-world studies comparing the two forms of immunity. The study found that to be true of all age groups in protecting against death, hospitalizations and emergency department visits. “The lower death rate of vaccinated individuals…
Tag: COVID-19
