WHYY (Jun. 10, 2022) – Pennsylvania pharmacists and doctors are still at loggerheads over two bills that would allow pharmacies to continue administering pediatric vaccinations, as they’ve done throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, Pennsylvania pharmacies have benefitted from emergency flexibilities, which allowed them to more easily vaccinate both adults and children. Pa. pediatricians double down on opposition […]

The AP (6/20, Tanner, Wang) reports, “The nation’s infants, toddlers and preschoolers are finally getting their chance at COVID-19 vaccination as the U.S. rolls out shots for tots this week.” The FDA “greenlighted the Moderna and Pfizer kid shots on Friday and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended them Saturday.” The authorization makes […]

FDA (June 17, 2022) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 to include use in children down to 6 months of age. For the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, the FDA amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) to include […]

The Washington Post (June 13, 2022) – More than two years into the coronavirus pandemic, familiar viruses are acting in unfamiliar ways. Respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, typically limits its suffocating assaults to the winter months. Covid is making flu and other common viruses act in unfamiliar ways – The Washington Post

PatientCare (May 24, 2022) – On Friday, May 20, the World Health Organization (WHO) held an emergency meeting to discuss the growing number of monkeypox infections. To date, there are now more than 100 confirmed or suspected cases across Europe. The virus, usually found in western and central Africa, has been reported in Belgium, France, […]

AAFP (June 1, 2022) – In 2020 the AAFP, through a cooperative agreement with the CDC, received funding to support two quality improvement projects designed to improve adult immunization rates: one that focused on minority populations in general, and another on African American adults in particular. Improving Adult Immunization Rates in Minority Communities (aafp.org)

NPR (June 2, 2022) The White House laid out the federal government’s plans to make the first COVID-19 vaccines available for very young children. COVID-19 vaccinations for kids younger than 5 could start right after the Juneteenth holiday. In a White House briefing on Thursday, Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, said […]

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) May 31, 2022 — An important consumer alert regarding strawberries. Food safety regulators are warning they could be linked to an outbreak of hepatitis A. According to the Food and Drug Administration, 17 cases of hepatitis A have a possible link to organic strawberries and 12 people have required hospitalizations. Hep A […]

NBC10 Philadelphia (June 2, 2022) – The first confirmed case of monkeypox, a disease similar to smallpox that is spread by person-to-person contact, was reported Thursday in Philadelphia. It’s also the first confirmed case for Pennsylvania. Monkeypox Case Reported in Philadelphia, 1st Confirmed for PA – NBC10 Philadelphia (nbcphiladelphia.com)

Centre Daily Times (June 7, 2022) All but one Pennsylvania county is in the red zone for community transmission of COVID-19, as the coronavirus continued to blaze across the state this week. On Friday, Juniata County was the only county in the state to remain outside of the “high” category for community transmission of COVID-19, […]

RheumatologyAdvisor (June 3, 2022) – Policy reforms and legislation to enhance the authority of pharmacists to administer vaccines may lead to increased immunization rates among individuals in low-income communities, especially older adults. These findings were published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. The Case for Expanding Pharmacists’ Authority to Administer Vaccines – Rheumatology Advisor

MedPage Today (6/1) reports, “Infants born to mothers who were vaccinated against COVID-19 during pregnancy had a lower risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, even when the Omicron variant was dominant, Norwegian researchers found.” During the Omicron wave, “infants whose mothers received a second or third dose of COVID vaccine during pregnancy had a 33% […]

CNN (6/1) reports new research suggests the next influx of COVID-19 infections “will probably come from the newer Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, two closely related viruses.” Study researchers “tested antibodies from the blood of vaccinated and boosted people” and found “that BA.4 and BA.5 viruses are more than four times as likely to escape […]

The Washington Post (6/1) reports Pfizer on Wednesday completed submitting its “application for regulatory authorization of a coronavirus vaccine for children younger than 5.” The announcement “comes a week after Pfizer and BioNTech announced that three shots of their low-dose pediatric vaccine triggered a robust immune response in young children and was safe. The companies […]

The AP (5/26) reports “the coronavirus mutant that is now dominant in the United States” – BA.2.12.1 – “is a member of the Omicron family but scientists say it spreads faster than its Omicron predecessors, is adept at escaping immunity and might possibly cause more serious disease” because “it combines properties of both Omicron and […]

Reuters (5/23) reports the “Food and Drug Administration set June 14-15 as the new meeting date to review Moderna Inc’s emergency authorization request for its COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 6 months to 5 years and [Pfizer-BioNTech’s] vaccine for those aged 6 months through 4 years.” In a Monday statement, the FDA said, “In light […]

The Washington Post (5/23) reports Pfizer and BioNTech “said Monday that an early analysis showed their three-dose coronavirus vaccine regimen triggered a strong immune response in younger children, proving 80 percent effective at preventing symptomatic infections in children 6 months to 4 years old.” The companies “said they plan to finish filing data, which has […]

NBC News (May 9th, 2022) – The United States is in the midst of late-season rise in flu, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows, with nearly 1 in 10 positive tests reported at the mid-April peak. But even with that uptick, an NBC News analysis of 7 years CDC data shows […]

GENEVA (AP) May 19, 2022 — The number of coronavirus deaths globally dropped by about 21% in the past week while cases rose in most parts of the world, according to the World Health Organization. In its weekly report on the pandemic released Thursday, the U.N. health agency said the number of new COVID-19 cases […]

InfectiousDiseaseAdvisor (May 19, 2022) – Rhinovirus was the most frequently detected respiratory pathogen among children and adolescents during the period of social distancing imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, hospitalizations associated with COVID-19 infection also occurred less frequently among this population compared with other respiratory infections. These findings were published in […]

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will act as soon as possible on Moderna Inc’s (MRNA.O) application seeking approval of its COVID-19 vaccine for children under age 5, the agency’s chief told lawmakers on Thursday. “There’s no delay in Moderna’s application,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf told a U.S. House Agriculture subcommittee, adding […]

NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday said reports of heart inflammation linked to the Pfizer (PFE.N)/BioNTech (22UAy.DE) COVID-19 vaccine have been much lower in 5- to 11-year-old boys than in adolescents and young men, representing only a slightly elevated rate than normal. The agency, in a presentation […]

AAP News (May 19, 2022) – Children ages 5-11 years are eligible for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine boosters. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed off on boosters for this age group Thursday after its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended the boosters in an 11-1 vote with one abstention. “With over 18 […]

CNBC (MAY 9 2022) – The U.S. will have to limit the next generation of Covid vaccines this fall to individuals at the highest risk of getting seriously sick from the virus if Congress fails to approve funding to purchase the new shots, according to a senior Biden administration official. The official, who spoke on […]

AMA (May 10th, 2022) – Physicians and other health experts have learned a great deal in the fight against COVID-19 over the last two years. “We made advancements in how we test, how we treat and how we care for patients infected with the virus,” said AMA President Gerald E. Harmon, MD. Researchers developed three safe, […]