The C.D.C. will soon loosen indoor mask guidelines, officials say.

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health https://ift.tt/pJg8ZDM

Maternal deaths in the U.S. rose during the first year of the pandemic.

By BY RONI CARYN RABIN from NYT Health https://ift.tt/g705KXU

F.D.A. Grants the First Condom Approval for Anal Sex

By BY PAM BELLUCK from NYT Health Though public health experts have long advised the use of condoms for anal sex to protect against H.I.V. and other infections, regulators did not have enough data to allow marketing for that use. https://ift.tt/8y0jWmb

Maternal Deaths Rose During the First Year of the Pandemic

By BY RONI CARYN RABIN from NYT Health Deaths during pregnancy and the first six weeks after childbirth increased, especially for Black and Hispanic women, according to a new report. https://ift.tt/XeObqPQ

A new Covid vaccine shows 100 percent efficacy against severe disease and hospitalizations, its makers say.

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health https://ift.tt/1JDzFxh

When People Take Pandemic Precautions, Gorillas Breathe Easier

By BY EMILY ANTHES from NYT Health A preliminary report suggests that mask wearing and social distancing may curb the spread of disease from humans to great apes. https://ift.tt/l7NcWGO

The C.D.C. isn’t publishing large portions of the Covid data it collects.

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health https://ift.tt/B8Por4X

Newsom’s new Covid plan aims to move California out of ‘crisis mode.’

By BY AZEEN GHORAYSHI from NYT Health He and other U.S. governors are shifting to policies that acknowledge the need to live with the continuing uncertainty over possible new variants. https://ift.tt/swu5ZEv

The C.D.C. Isn’t Publishing Large Portions of the Covid Data It Collects

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health The agency has withheld critical data on boosters, hospitalizations and, until recently, wastewater analyses. https://ift.tt/5sSTHC2

More Teenage Girls With Eating Disorders Wound Up in the E.R. During the Pandemic

By BY MATT RICHTEL from NYT Health A new C.D.C. study underscored the mental health issues facing teenagers in the past few years. https://ift.tt/dKZXbvT

Sacklers Raise Their Offer to Settle Opioid Lawsuits by More Than $1 Billion

By BY JAN HOFFMAN from NYT Health But they continue to insist on protection from civil liability claims over opioids, an unusual and controversial measure that derailed a previous deal. https://ift.tt/vHIbQ3C

More Teenage Girls With Eating Disorders Wound Up in the E.R. During the Pandemic

By BY MATT RICHTEL from NYT Health A new C.D.C. study underscored the mental health issues facing teenagers in the past few years. https://ift.tt/bmNMiSg

Sacklers Raise Their Offer to Settle Opioid Lawsuits by More Than $1 Billion

By BY JAN HOFFMAN from NYT Health But they continue to insist on protection from civil liability claims over opioids, an unusual and controversial measure that derailed a previous deal. https://ift.tt/FtUJ9Wv

Dr. Herbert Benson, Who Saw the Mind as Medicinal, Dies at 86

By BY CLAY RISEN from NYT Health A cardiologist and best-selling author, he was initially a skeptic before finding that a person can influence bodily health through Eastern-style meditation. https://ift.tt/XgNnxYu

Covid Patients May Have Increased Risk of Developing Mental Health Problems

By BY PAM BELLUCK from NYT Health A new, large study found that in the year after getting Covid, people were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with psychiatric disorders they hadn’t had than people who didn’t get infected. https://ift.tt/FBrkK9W

Vaccination during pregnancy protects infants from being hospitalized for Covid, a new study suggests.

By BY EMILY ANTHES from NYT Health https://ift.tt/yUGX80F

A Woman Is Cured of H.I.V. Using a Novel Treatment

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health She’s the third person ever to be cured. Researchers announced that the new approach holds the potential for curing more people of racially diverse backgrounds. https://ift.tt/o0ZFQgS

Mask mandates are lifting in many states, but not everywhere.

By BY ALYSSA LUKPAT from NYT Health https://ift.tt/1WciMrp

An undiscovered coronavirus? The mystery of the ‘Russian flu.’

By BY GINA KOLATA from NYT Health https://ift.tt/YoZsIFm

An Undiscovered Coronavirus? The Mystery of the ‘Russian Flu’

By BY GINA KOLATA from NYT Health Scientists are grasping for any example that could help anticipate the future of Covid, even a mysterious respiratory pandemic that spread in the late 19th century. https://ift.tt/cmkFHRs

Abortion Opponents Hear a ‘Heartbeat.’ Most Experts Hear Something Else.

By BY RONI CARYN RABIN from NYT Health Embedded in abortion laws in Texas are disputed assertions about embryonic development and the procedure’s risks. Chief among them: whether the early embryo has a heart. https://ift.tt/xWBgmlh

Some U.S. governors defend their mask policy changes to ‘get back to normal.’

By BY KATIE THOMAS from NYT Health The move by several states to lift restrictions comes as a new CBS poll found that a majority of Americans still support mask mandates, including in schools. https://ift.tt/xmve32u

New studies underscore the dangers of pregnancy complications for unvaccinated women with Covid.

By BY ADEEL HASSAN from NYT Health https://ift.tt/vx6ebt8

New C.D.C. data adds to evidence that boosters’ protection against severe Covid plunges after four months.

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

The Next Vaccine Debate: Immunize Young Children Now, or Wait?

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health It’s not clear whether three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will adequately protect young children. But the F.D.A. may authorize the first two doses anyway. https://ift.tt/xRydDlG

With Mask Restrictions Set to Lift, a Haze of Uncertainty Lingers

By BY EMILY ANTHES from NYT Health Public health experts agree that school mask mandates should not last forever, but differ on whether the time has come to remove them. https://ift.tt/xWg864e

New York Deer Infected With Omicron, Study Finds

By BY EMILY ANTHES AND SABRINA IMBLER from NYT Health White-tailed deer on Staten Island have become the first wild animals with documented Omicron infections. The coronavirus has now been found in deer in 15 states. https://ift.tt/9LswVbx

Omicron’s surge helped clarify the Pfizer vaccine’s efficacy in young children, a company board member says.

By BY MATT RICHTEL from NYT Health At the urging of the federal government, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech applied last week for authorization for two doses of its Covid vaccine to children aged 4 and younger. https://ift.tt/Sp04GUA

Climate Change Enters the Therapy Room

By BY ELLEN BARRY from NYT Health Ten years ago, psychologists proposed that a wide range of people would suffer anxiety and grief over climate. Skepticism about that idea is gone. https://ift.tt/DziH2ky

The pandemic has made many seniors less active, taking a physical toll.

By BY PAULA SPAN from NYT Health https://ift.tt/iExrCsy

The Pandemic Has Made Many Seniors Less Active

By BY PAULA SPAN from NYT Health Health experts are concerned that the pandemic, in upending daily routines, has reduced mobility and physical conditioning in older adults. https://ift.tt/PLgKmoC

Consistently wearing high-quality masks offers strong protection, a study in California suggests.

By BY EMILY ANTHES from NYT Health https://ift.tt/s4Q7rwo

Medicare Will Soon Provide Free At-Home Coronavirus Tests

By BY NOAH WEILAND from NYT Health The announcement came after lawmakers and advocates argued that Medicare recipients had been passed over in the push to require insurers to cover the tests. https://ift.tt/flmL39H

Biden’s F.D.A. nominee faces a steep climb to Senate confirmation.

By BY CHRISTINA JEWETT AND EMILY COCHRANE from NYT Health https://ift.tt/OUheAD9

F.D.A. Nominee Faces Steep Climb to Senate Confirmation

By BY CHRISTINA JEWETT AND EMILY COCHRANE from NYT Health Dr. Robert Califf, a former agency commissioner, is encountering opposition over federal opioid and abortion policies and his industry ties. https://ift.tt/PjGz2NcoT

In New York City Sewage, a Mysterious Coronavirus Signal

By BY EMILY ANTHES from NYT Health For the past year, scientists have been looking for the source of strange coronavirus sequences that have appeared in the city’s wastewater. https://ift.tt/7YKGaqukU

Here’s why nasal Covid vaccines may make better boosters.

By BY APOORVA MANDAVILLI from NYT Health https://ift.tt/haOze9YGM

Tribes Reach $590 Million Opioid Settlement With J. & J. and Distributors

By BY JAN HOFFMAN from NYT Health Money from the tentative deal would go toward addiction and treatment and would be overseen by Native American tribal leaders. https://ift.tt/MDZpHjuYz