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Vaccine trial participants who received placebo now hop the line for the real thing from Pfizer, Moderna
Good news for tens of thousands of volunteers in the COVID-19 vaccine trials: Many of those who received a placebo are now being offered a vaccine — in some cases, earlier than they would otherwise have been eligible. Participants in Pfizer’s vaccine study — some of whom had mounted a noisy campaign on social media — have been advised that anyone who wants one can receive the first of two shots by March 1. Participants in Moderna’s vaccine trial are already getting immunized. That wasn’t always the plan, and some experts fear “unblinding” volunteers — that is, letting them know whether they go...
Chicago Tribune
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NYC postpones 23,000 COVID-19 inoculation appointments
NEW YORK — Coronavirus vaccine shortages have forced New York City to reschedule 23,000 inoculation appointments this week, prompting Mayor Bill de Blasio to renew calls that the federal government compel manufacturers to step up production. De Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have been criticizing the federal government's slow vaccine output for weeks now with the mayor repeatedly predicting the city would run out of doses before week’s end. “We need the supply expanded in a huge way,” de Blasio said at a Wednesday press briefing. News that the city has already had to cancel thousands of appointm...
New York Daily News
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Biden inaugural prime-time TV special: Who, what and how to watch
It’ll be an inauguration like no other — a nation’s proudest moment marked amid a crippling pandemic and frayed political bonds. Yet when Joe Biden takes the oath of office as the 46th president of the United States Wednesday, it will also be a history-making moment, with Kamala Harris becoming America’s first female vice president. And instead of the traditional balls, Wednesday’s festivities will conclude with a prime-time special, “Celebrating America,” to showcase the best of the country and dreams for what it can be again. Here’s what to look out for: Who Tom Hanks, who last year document...
New York Daily News
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Cuomo seeks COVID-19 vaccine deal with Pfizer, making good on threat to slow hospitals
ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo, fed up with the federal government’s frustratingly slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, is going straight to the source. The governor penned a letter Monday to Pfizer asking if the pharmaceutical giant would cut out the middleman and sell doses directly to New York. “You no doubt understand the challenges New York and other states face,” Cuomo wrote. “The federal administration essentially opened up a floodgate while cutting our supply — leading to confusion, frustration and dashed hopes.” In his letter, he argues that there is nothing preventing the company fro...
New York Daily News
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As overdoses soar, feds make it easier for doctors to prescribe addiction medication
Days after a new report showing that fatal overdoses have skyrocketed to record highs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal Department of Health and Human Services has relaxed a regulation around prescribing addiction medication in an effort to combat the rising death toll. Buprenorphine, a popular opioid addiction treatment drug, has long had its prescribing restricted by the federal government. Physicians must undergo special training to obtain what’s known as an “x-waiver” from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in order to prescribe the drug, which is itself an opioid. Only a ...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Some Michiganders finesse COVID-19 vaccine priority list, jump ahead of vulnerable
DETROIT — Some Michiganders are jumping to the front of the line for coronavirus vaccines — putting themselves ahead of the state's most vulnerable. "People are scamming the system," said Dr. Arnold Monto, a professor of epidemiology and global public health at the University of Michigan. Monto, an octogenarian who lives in Ann Arbor and serves as acting chair of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, said he hasn't yet been vaccinated. With the demand so high and the supply of vaccines so low, Monto said he's holding out to make su...
Detroit Free Press
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Southern states lag behind much of US in administering virus vaccine, CDC says. Why?
As the United States rolls out COVID-19 vaccines, some Southern states are lagging behind. As of Friday, six states in the Southeast had among the nation’s lowest rates of vaccine doses administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia have all given out fewer than 3,000 doses of the vaccine per 100,000 residents, data show. Those rates are some of the lowest in the country. States with the highest rates include Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia, where more than 6,000 doses ha...
Miami Herald
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Florida adds 13,720 new coronavirus cases as positivity dips
MIAMI — Florida’s Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 13,720 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,531,720. Also, 217 new resident deaths were announced, bringing the state’s resident death toll from the novel coronavirus to 23,613. No new nonresident deaths were announced, leaving the nonresident toll at 363. The Sunshine State has the fourth-highest death toll in the country, after New York, Texas, and California, according to The New York Times database of U.S. cases. According to the state’s Thursday COVID-19 vaccine report, 774,468 people have been vac...
Miami Herald
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Chicago bar offers $10,000 in gift cards to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations
CHICAGO – In the vein of great bar and restaurant promotions — happy hour, two for one, kids eat free — comes the 21st century pandemic update: get vaccinated, get a free beer. Legendary Roscoe Village bar Village Tap announced an unlikely public health initiative Wednesday on social media: Present proof of a COVID-19 vaccine, get a $10 gift card. The 30-year-old bar said it would hand out 1,000 gift cards — $10,000 of free beer (or food from the Village Tap kitchen if you must). “By getting vaccinated, you are showing you care about us and you are doing your part to help all of us move one st...
Chicago Tribune
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COVID-19 vaccines have gone mostly to white Philadelphians. Here's what the city is doing to change that
PHILADELPHIA — As the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine ramps up across the country, Philadelphia data show that most of those vaccinated in the city are white, a trend reflected statewide. The vaccine is still largely available only to health-care workers and residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities; paramedics and EMTs in Philadelphia started receiving their first doses two weeks ago. Philadelphia officials said Wednesday that of the 28,476 people who have been immunized at city health facilities, 43% were white, 12% were Black, 10% were Asian American, and 10% reported th...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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