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COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy slows race to defang the virus
All eyes are on the nation’s chaotic COVID-19 immunization rollout, as public health officials struggle to outpace the coronavirus and its variants by quickly inoculating those most likely to be hospitalized or die if infected. But in the months ahead, as the vaccine supply chain unkinks, the demand for shots is expected to ebb, leaving public health agencies with a different and perhaps greater challenge — coaxing people who aren’t sure they want a shot to roll up their sleeves. The goal is to reach herd immunity, a widely debated concept that most scientists say can be achieved by vaccinatin...
Stateline.org
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Johnson & Johnson's vaccine is coming. Here's what you need to know about it
A third COVID-19 vaccine is coming to town — this time from American pharma giant Johnson & Johnson. The Food and Drug Administration authorized the vaccine on Saturday, after it was encouraged to do so by an independent panel of doctors and researchers. Infectious disease expert Dr. Mark Sawyer of Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego was one of them. We reached out to him to understand how this vaccine works and how it compares to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Sawyer sat on the FDA advisory panels for those vaccines, too, and is one of 11 experts tapped by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to ...
The San Diego Union-Tribune
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Mary Schmich: A lesson from the last ‘normal’ pre-pandemic weekend: We’re not as smart as we think we are
What was your life like at this time last year? You may not remember the details, but if you think back to the end of February 2020, or the first few days of March, you may remember that you still resided in the vanished land we now call normal. Most Americans did. One thing I remember is that on Friday, Feb. 28, I wrote my first coronavirus column, a piece on how we needed to stop touching our faces if we wanted to avoid this new disease that didn’t yet have a formal name or explanation. “No face touching!” was guidance from the experts, and it seemed worth sharing. But fewer than half a doze...
Chicago Tribune
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Commentary: Abolishing the Peace Corps would be a mistake
“Why should you, a white woman, go work in Africa?” The question was from an African American newsroom colleague, and it knocked me back. It was the late 1990s, and I had just announced that I was joining the Peace Corps, assigned to a remote public health post in Zambia, in southern Africa. I’d applied to the Peace Corps primarily to set aside my journalist’s notebook and experience life beyond my own bubble, to better understand the world by immersing myself in hands-on work. I liked the Peace Corps’ grassroots approach to development work — that we would be working as partners with local co...
Chicago Tribune
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What you need to know about J&J's COVID-19 vaccine
What's different about this latest vaccine? The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are made using messenger RNA, a technology that gives instructions for making a harmless piece of what is called the "spike protein." The spike protein is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. The proteins made with the mRNA instructions activate the immune system, teaching it to see the spike protein as foreign and develop antibodies to fight it. The vaccine by Janssen Biotech, owned by Johnson & Johnson, uses a different approach for delivering the genetic instructions for creating the coro...
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Alcoholism and recovery drove former Flyer Chris Therien into the business of helping others
PHILADELPHIA — A door closed on the longest part of Chris Therien’s career, but another one opened. Opened and has given Therien, a former Flyers defenseman who later spent 14 years as a popular broadcaster with the team, more satisfaction than any of his previous jobs. Opened and has given the person affectionately known as Bundy a new purpose in life. Opened and has enabled Therien to help others who are trying to recover from alcoholism and drug addiction. Therien, 49, knows all about alcoholism, which, for him, became intense after the sudden death of his only sibling in 2006. He battled i...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Jeremy Lin says he won’t reveal person who called him ‘coronavirus’ on the court
Jeremy Lin said he will not reveal the person who allegedly called him “coronavirus" on the court even after his accusation set off an investigation by the G League. “I know this will disappoint some of you but I am not naming or shaming anyone,” Lin wrote on Twitter Saturday morning. “What good does it do for someone in this situation to be torn down?” The former Knicks sensation, 32, who is trying to resurrect his career in the G league bubble with the Golden State Warriors, revealed the “coronavirus” incident in a Facebook post Thursday that detailed the fight against prejudice encountered ...
New York Daily News
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Kids’ mental health is still pediatricians’ greatest concern, one year into pandemic
PHILADELPHIA – Physician Steven Shapiro chairs the pediatrics department at Abington Hospital. He’s never been a therapist. Yet a big chunk of his medical practice these days is devoted to mental health issues, far more than ever before. “Twenty percent of the calls I take now are to put kids on more medicine for panic attacks and anxiety,” said Shapiro. “It’s more than you could ever believe. It has been so difficult for them, and as pediatricians, we have to recognize the downstream effects of where things are going.” Pediatricians and adolescent health experts have cautioned for months that...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Illinois Tollway will permanently end cash toll collections nearly a year after switching to all-electronic payments
The Illinois Tollway said Thursday it is permanently eliminating cash toll collections almost a year after it took away the option because of the coronavirus pandemic. Since mid-March, the Tollway has suspended all cash toll payments to prevent the spread of the virus. In June, the agency began allowing drivers who don’t use I-Pass or E-ZPass to enter their license plate number at illinoistollway.com and pay online. Customers unable to pay online can pay by check or money order. More than 92% of toll transactions in 2019 took place using I-Pass and E-ZPass, and that number has increased during...
Chicago Tribune
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2021 NFL mock draft: Three rounds
I never do trades in my mock drafts. Bless the analysts who do, but my spidey sense is tingling. There could be a lot of wheeling and dealing come late April. Especially with so many teams in the market for a quarterback. The hot spots I'll be watching the rest of the way: The draft really begins with the Jets and the No. 2 overall pick. Sticking with Sam Darnold would allow them to auction it off to the most quarterback-needy team willing to meet their demands.The Dolphins will have to include the No. 3 and 18 picks in a package (amongst other assets) if they want Deshaun Watson.It would make...
The San Diego Union-Tribune
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