Health

Adam Bayer and his wife Traci own Hillcrest Pharmacy, located in the 11,000-person town of Vernon, Texas. It’s one of the pharmacies receiving coronavirus vaccines as part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program that began a much-anticipated rollout this week. The Bayers are among the first in the nation to administer vaccines under the program.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a multi-state listeria outbreak linked to fresh and soft cheeses such as queso fresco, queso blanco and queso panela. According to the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and state officials, these cheeses are a likely source of an outbreak that put seven people in the

When AJ McCulloch received a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, she said a wave of emotions overcame her — but the strongest was relief. McCulloch, 27, lives with type 1 diabetes, as do her twin sister and father. The disease puts them at an increased risk for severe illness if they get Covid-19. “One of

As a third vaccine against Covid-19 stands ready to be evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization, I feel the same awe and thrill that I did back in December when the first vaccine took that same consequential step. After reporting on the novel coronavirus for a little over a

Can vitamin C and zinc help you fight off Covid-19? No, not even at high doses, according to the first randomized clinical trial to test the two supplements under medical supervision. Despite the popular use of vitamin C and zinc to fight off or lessen the severity of viral colds and flu, the new study,

In Western culture, romantic letters have been part of Valentine’s Day since the Middle Ages. Poet Geoffrey Chaucer, best known for “The Canterbury Tales,” is credited with writing the first Valentine’s poem in 1385. The connection between chocolate and Valentine’s Day, on the other hand, is a fairly recent one by historical standards, reaching back

Tocilizumab, an intravenous anti-inflammatory drug used for rheumatoid arthritis, has been shown to reduce the risk of death for patients hospitalized with severe Covid-19, as well as reducing the risk of ventilation and the amount of time until discharged from hospital. The preliminary results came from the RECOVERY trial, which has been testing potential Covid-19

Double masking can significantly improve protection, new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. Researchers found that layering a cloth mask over a medical procedural mask, such as a disposable blue surgical mask, can block 92.5% of potentially infectious particles from escaping by creating a tighter fit and eliminating leakage. “These

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week is set to release highly anticipated new guidance for getting children physically back to school during the coronavirus pandemic. The Biden administration is pushing to reopen schools, an issue some view as being tied to the reopening of the economy and a return to normal

A variant suspected of helping fuel a surge of coronavirus in Brazil’s Amazon region shows up in Minnesota. Another that’s been worrying officials in South Africa pops up in two places in South Carolina and, just days later, in Maryland. Scientists are not surprised to see the coronavirus changing and evolving — it’s what viruses

More Americans say they are confident about getting a Covid-19 vaccine, but supplies are limited and new variants are raising concerns across the country. A Gallup poll released Wednesday found 71% of those surveyed are willing to get vaccinated, up from 65% in late December and the highest number since July. So far, about 10%

People who have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus — right now that means with two doses of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine — can skip quarantine if they are exposed to someone infected with the virus, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. That doesn’t mean they should stop taking precautions,

A once-a-week injected diabetes drug helped overweight and obese people lose an average of 15% of their body weight over 16 months, researchers reported Wednesday. The maker of the drug, called semaglutide, has asked the US Food and Drug Administration to approve it for chronic weight management. If approved, it would be only the fifth

Let’s face it: Even as more people get vaccinated against Covid-19, everyone but small children will still need to wear a face mask for the foreseeable future. Sure, everyone is tired of wearing them. But as studies have shown, and as Dr. Anthony Fauci has pointed out many times, masks are the single most effective