A survey finds more U.S. parents say they’re willing to vaccinate their children.

By BY JAN HOFFMAN from NYT Health The shift occurred as the schools reopened amid the Delta variant wave. But the share of parents who were adamantly opposed has barely budged. https://ift.tt/3usvxhM

A study finds no signs of trouble in getting flu and Covid shots at the same time.

By BY CARL ZIMMER from NYT Health A British clinical trial supports the advice of U.S. health authorities and is welcome news as flu season begins. https://ift.tt/3mcFGeU

Youth Vaping Declined Sharply for Second Year, New Data Show

By BY MATT RICHTEL from NYT Health Now that it has stopped selling most flavored pods, Juul has become far less popular with teens than brands offering disposable fruit- and candy-flavored devices. https://ift.tt/3D3mU0b

People with disabilities have a tougher time getting Covid vaccines, the C.D.C. reports.

By BY BENJAMIN MUELLER from NYT Health It is a stark signal of what the agency’s scientists said was a need for U.S. health officials to remove barriers to access. https://ift.tt/3kS6lOK

How Accurate Are At-Home Covid Tests?

By BY EMILY ANTHES from NYT Health If you test positive in an at-home Covid test, you’re very likely carrying the virus. https://ift.tt/2Y3k64F

The C.D.C. escalates its pleas for any pregnant or breastfeeding Americans to get vaccinated against Covid.

By BY RONI CARYN RABIN from NYT Health Pregnancy is among the health conditions that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists that increase the risk of severe Covid. https://ift.tt/39OsA1B

Faced with vaccine mandates, most health workers are getting immunized.

By BY REED ABELSON from NYT Health Some employees left their posts in protest, but a hefty majority, particularly at large hospital chains, appear to be complying. https://ift.tt/3zPleWf

Pfizer and BioNTech Submit Data Backing Vaccine for Children 5 to 11

By BY SHARON LAFRANIERE, SHASHANK BENGALI AND NOAH WEILAND from NYT Health The companies said that their vaccine was safe and effective in that age group, and that they would submit a formal request in the coming weeks to U.S. regulators to allow a pediatric dose. https://ift.tt/3m9YwDo

Side effects from a third vaccine dose are similar to those from the second, a C.D.C. report finds.

By BY BENJAMIN MUELLER from NYT Health The finding came from a study of Americans who got their third vaccine dose in August and September, and provided a reassuring sign about the safety of additional doses. https://ift.tt/3CV30oo

For Transgender Youth, Stigma Is Just One Barrier to Health Care

By BY SABRINA IMBLER from NYT Health Discrimination, delays and systemic hurdles prevent young trans people from reaching the care they need, a new study finds. https://ift.tt/2Y4LHlT

Fear of Delta, not rewards or mandates, is motivating Americans to get shots, a survey found.

By BY JAN HOFFMAN from NYT Health The poll also found that many of the unvaccinated believe that a push for booster shots shows that the inoculations are not working. https://ift.tt/3m8E6us

Cancer Without Chemotherapy: ‘A Totally Different World’

By BY GINA KOLATA from NYT Health A growing number of cancer patients, especially those with breast and lung cancers, are being spared the dreaded treatment in favor of other options. https://ift.tt/3m603dx

U.S. schools with mask requirements saw fewer outbreaks, the C.D.C. found.

By BY RONI CARYN RABIN from NYT Health Arizona schools that did not require masks had 3.5 times as many outbreaks as schools that mandated them. https://ift.tt/3i7GwIy

Covid Vaccine Pioneers and Others Win 2021 Lasker Awards in Medicine

By BY GINA KOLATA from NYT Health The prizes are given annually, and many winners often go on to be awarded the Nobel Prize. https://ift.tt/3o2A5uj

The C.D.C. chief overruled her own agency’s panel and recommended Pfizer boosters for workers at risk.

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI AND BENJAMIN MUELLER from NYT Health In a highly unusual decision, the C.D.C. director, Rochelle Walensky, reversed a move by agency advisers to endorse additional doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for older Americans but not for health care workers or teachers. https://ift.tt/2W7oRZM

A ‘Race-Free’ Approach to Diagnosing Kidney Disease

By BY RONI CARYN RABIN from NYT Health The most common method of assessing the condition may make Black patients seem less ill than they really are, some experts say. A new report calls for scrapping the formula. https://ift.tt/3kz67vC

The F.D.A. has made its move. Next question: Exactly who should get boosters?

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health Scientific advisers to the C.D.C. have been discussing the details of federal guidance on who qualifies for a Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot and why. A decision is expected on Thursday. https://ift.tt/3zAx3zp

The F.D.A. has made its move. Next question: Exactly who should get boosters?

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health Scientific advisers to the C.D.C. have been discussing the details of federal guidance on who qualifies for a Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot and why. A decision is expected on Thursday. https://ift.tt/3kyvQ7D

Some activists say that Biden’s new plan for donating vaccines is not enough.

By BY BENJAMIN MUELLER from NYT Health Of the 1.1 billion doses that the United States has committed to donations, only 300 million are expected to be shipped this year. https://ift.tt/3hT33sH

The Latest on Kids and Covid Vaccines

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has been shown to be safe and highly effective in children ages 5 to 11 years, setting the stage for authorization in this group, possibly before the end of October. https://ift.tt/3zwOf8Y

Moderna vs. Pfizer: Both Knockouts, but One Seems to Have the Edge

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health A series of studies found that the Moderna vaccine seemed to be more protective over the long term than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Here’s why. https://ift.tt/3lKD4op

A C.D.C. panel will meet to decide who should get Pfizer boosters.

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health A discussion on who should count as high-risk could result in most Americans being eligible for an extra shot, or only a select few. https://ift.tt/3ktm86d

John Nkengasong, of the Africa C.D.C., Will Lead PEPFAR

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health Dr. Nkengasong will be the first person of African origin to oversee the U.S. government program combating H.I.V., which has ravaged the continent. https://ift.tt/3nU12Ac

Yes, a mask will help protect you even if no one else is wearing one.

By BY TARA PARKER-POPE from NYT Health https://ift.tt/3zvCwYr

An extra J. & J. shot substantially boosts protection against Covid, the company reports.

By BY CARL ZIMMER from NYT Health Since the company received emergency authorization in February, 14.6 million people in the United States have received its one-shot vaccine. https://ift.tt/3u5ANI7

An extra J. & J. shot substantially boosts protection against Covid, the company reports.

By BY CARL ZIMMER from NYT Health https://ift.tt/3hOFvoI

An extra J. & J. shot substantially boosts protection against Covid, the company report.

By BY CARL ZIMMER from NYT Health https://ift.tt/2XLpPM3

Pfizer says its vaccine is safe and highly effective in 5- to 11-year-olds.

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health https://ift.tt/3lIkVY9

Covid Vaccine Prompts Strong Immune Response in Younger Children, Pfizer Says

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health Vaccinated kids aged 5 to 11 showed evidence of protection against the virus, the company said. The data must be reviewed by the F.D.A. before children can be inoculated. https://ift.tt/3ECn28u

A New Covid Testing Model Aims to Spare Students From Quarantine

By BY EMILY ANTHES from NYT Health More school districts are embracing “test-to-stay” protocols that allow uninfected close contacts to remain in the classroom. https://ift.tt/2Xx416n

Delta variant detected in 99% of U.S. cases, according to C.D.C.

By BY VÍCTOR MANUEL RAMOS from NYT Health The highly infectious variant of Covid-19 has contributed to a rise in cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the United States. https://ift.tt/2XtrwgK

They Shunned Covid Vaccines but Embraced Antibody Treatment

By BY BENJAMIN MUELLER from NYT Health Championed by doctors and conservative radio hosts alike, monoclonal antibodies for Covid are in high demand — even from those who don’t want a vaccine. https://ift.tt/3tY64wz

The Pain Wouldn’t Stop — Because Her Medication Had Been Stolen

By BY PAULA SPAN from NYT Health Too often, seniors who use opioids become targets for exploitation and abuse. https://ift.tt/3Cp3rGX

F.D.A. advisers must grapple with confounding research on booster shots.

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health An advisory committee faces a range of bewildering scientific questions surrounding whether to authorize additional coronavirus vaccine doses, and for whom. https://ift.tt/2Zb8dKd

F.D.A. advisers must grapple with confounding research on booster shots.

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health An advisory committee faces a range of bewildering scientific questions surrounding whether to authorize additional coronavirus vaccine doses, and for whom. https://ift.tt/3ErBz77

Aides at U.S. nursing homes were least likely to be vaccinated, a study shows.

By BY REED ABELSON from NYT Health The study highlights the effects that a new federal mandate for all health care workers to be inoculated against Covid may have on vulnerable populations like the elderly in nursing homes, experts say. https://ift.tt/3Epma75

Pioneering Gene Therapy Freed Her of Sickle Cell. Is a Cure at Hand?

By BY GINA KOLATA from NYT Health Such treatments are extraordinarily promising and costly. Will the Biden administration commit to spending that could speed clinical trial results? https://ift.tt/3nBtXsR

I’m Haunted by Sisters With Sickle Cell: Two Thrived. Two Suffered.

By BY GINA KOLATA from NYT Health The cruelty of their unequal outcomes — with one pair freed of disabling symptoms and the other’s suffering unabated — stayed with me. https://ift.tt/3CdfUNQ

In Review, Top F.D.A. Scientists Question Imminent Need for Booster Shots

By BY NOAH WEILAND AND APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health An article, written with other vaccine experts, put the regulators at odds with key federal health officials, including Dr. Anthony S. Fauci. https://ift.tt/3llD65V

In a new review, some F.D.A. scientists and others say boosters aren’t needed for the general population.

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health The benefits of a third shot for most people are small and are far outweighed by the benefits of using those doses for initial vaccinations, the scientists say. https://ift.tt/3A7z6w9

Vaccines for younger children could be available by the end of October, two experts predicted.

By BY WILLIAM J. BROAD from NYT Health https://ift.tt/3A7b8kA

The surgeon general insists the government ‘has the legal authority’ to enforce Biden’s vaccine mandates.

By BY WILLIAM J. BROAD from NYT Health Dr. Viveck Murthy acknowledged the unhappiness the coronavirus had engendered, but added: “What we cannot allow is for this pandemic to turn us on each other. Our enemy is the virus. It is not one another.” https://ift.tt/3k5JqPz

In Afghanistan, health care is collapsing even as Covid cases rise again.

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health https://ift.tt/3EaNJkt

Health Care in Afghanistan Is Crumbling, Aid Groups Warn

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health After the Taliban’s takeover, international donors withdrew funds that hospitals and clinics depended on. Now a fourth wave of Covid looms. https://ift.tt/3nrtitW

Phony Diagnoses Hide High Rates of Drugging at Nursing Homes

By BY KATIE THOMAS, ROBERT GEBELOFF AND JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG from NYT Health At least 21 percent of nursing home residents are on antipsychotic drugs, a Times investigation found. https://ift.tt/3twic7T

Parents of Young Children Desperately Seek Vaccine Trials

By BY DEBORAH SCHOCH from NYT Health Schools have reopened around the country, and families with those under 12 are finding ways to get their kids inoculated, even though they’re not officially eligible yet. https://ift.tt/3hHCtCT

Unvaccinated Americans are 11 times more likely to die of Covid, the C.D.C. reports.

By BY RONI CARYN RABIN from NYT Health Federal health officials released a handful of studies highlighting how effective the shots are at preventing infections, hospitalizations and deaths — even while the highly contagious Delta variant has been dominant. https://ift.tt/3k27YZP

Unvaccinated Americans are 11 times more likely to die of Covid, the C.D.C. reports.

By BY RONI CARYN RABIN from NYT Health Federal health officials released a handful of studies highlighting how effective the shots are at preventing infections, hospitalizations and deaths — even while the highly contagious Delta variant has been dominant. https://ift.tt/3k3ShkV

Unvaccinated Americans are 11 times more likely to die of Covid, the C.D.C. reports.

By BY RONI CARYN RABIN from NYT Health Federal health officials released a handful of studies highlighting how effective the shots are at preventing infections, hospitalizations and deaths — even while the highly contagious Delta variant has been dominant. https://ift.tt/3hoE1RM

The F.D.A. again warns parents not to get children under 12 vaccinated yet.

By BY EMILY ANTHES AND KATIE ROGERS from NYT Health Pediatric clinical trials, which will help determine the right vaccine dose for children under 12, are still underway, the agency said. https://ift.tt/3C0Ipyp