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Biden says US Covid vaccinations 'weeks ahead of schedule'
Washington (AFP) - President Joe Biden on Thursday celebrated 50 million Covid-19 vaccines administered since he took office, saying the rollout is "weeks ahead of schedule," but warning Americans to keep masking up. Biden came into office promising 100 million shots administered in his first 100 days, something critics said was an insufficiently ambitious target, but the White House says it is now on track easily to exceed. "We're moving in the right direction despite the mess we inherited," Biden said, referring to the situation under his predecessor Donald Trump. The United States is the wo...
AFP
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In Search of the Shot
Too little covid vaccine and too great a demand: That’s what KHN readers from around the country detail in their often exasperating quest to snag a shot, although they are often clearly eligible under their local guidelines and priority system. Public health officials say the supply is growing and will meet demand in several months, but, for now, readers’ experiences show how access is limited. Some savvy readers report no problem getting in line for the vaccine, but others say that balky application processes and lack of information have stymied their efforts. Their unedited reports are a goo...
California Healthline
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Calling All Vaccinators: Closing the Next Gap in Covid Supply and Demand
This story also ran on NBC News. It can be republished for free. Beating back covid right now comes down to balancing supply and demand. With hopes pinned to vaccines, demand has far outstripped the supply of doses. But, as an increasing number of vaccine vials are shipped in coming weeks, the concern about shortages may well shift to human capital: the vaccinators themselves. “We need to mobilize more medical units to get more shots in people’s arms,” Jeff Zients, coordinator of President Joe Biden’s covid-19 task force, said at a briefing earlier this month. Already, there have been scattere...
Kaiser Health News
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Calling All Vaccinators: Closing the Next Gap in Covid Supply and Demand
This story also ran on NBC News. It can be republished for free. Beating back covid right now comes down to balancing supply and demand. With hopes pinned to vaccines, demand has far outstripped the supply of doses. But, as an increasing number of vaccine vials are shipped in coming weeks, the concern about shortages may well shift to human capital: the vaccinators themselves. “We need to mobilize more medical units to get more shots in people’s arms,” Jeff Zients, coordinator of President Joe Biden’s covid-19 task force, said at a briefing earlier this month. Already, there have been scattere...
California Healthline
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The Do’s and Don’ts on Social Media for Vaccine Haves and Have-Nots
This story also ran on Daily Beast. It can be republished for free. Posting about their day is a regular practice for Generations Y and Z, especially when they have something novel or exclusive to share. So, in the thick of a global pandemic, and with the shaky rollout of covid vaccines making them somewhat of a holy grail, it’s no surprise selfies featuring the coveted shot are infecting social media timelines. It might engender envy, even outrage, especially if the person posting seems to have cut the line. But what if the intention was to encourage others to also get the shot? Does that mak...
Kaiser Health News
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Countless Homebound Patients Still Wait for Covid Vaccine Despite Seniors’ Priority
This story also ran on CNN. It can be republished for free. Opening another front in the nation’s response to the pandemic, medical centers and other health organizations have begun sending doctors and nurses to apartment buildings and private homes to vaccinate homebound seniors. Boston Medical Center, which runs the oldest in-home medical service in the country, started doing this Feb. 1. Wake Forest Baptist Health, a North Carolina health system, followed a week later. In Miami Beach, Florida, fire department paramedics are delivering vaccines to frail seniors in their own homes. In East St...
Kaiser Health News
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Countless Homebound Patients Still Wait for Covid Vaccine Despite Seniors’ Priority
This story also ran on CNN. It can be republished for free. Opening another front in the nation’s response to the pandemic, medical centers and other health organizations have begun sending doctors and nurses to apartment buildings and private homes to vaccinate homebound seniors. Boston Medical Center, which runs the oldest in-home medical service in the country, started doing this Feb. 1. Wake Forest Baptist Health, a North Carolina health system, followed a week later. In Miami Beach, Florida, fire department paramedics are delivering vaccines to frail seniors in their own homes. In East St...
California Healthline
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The Do’s and Don’ts on Social Media for Vaccine Haves and Have-Nots
This story also ran on Daily Beast. It can be republished for free. Posting about their day is a regular practice for Generations Y and Z, especially when they have something novel or exclusive to share. So, in the thick of a global pandemic, and with the shaky rollout of covid vaccines making them somewhat of a holy grail, it’s no surprise selfies featuring the coveted shot are infecting social media timelines. It might engender envy, even outrage, especially if the person posting seems to have cut the line. But what if the intention was to encourage others to also get the shot? Does that mak...
California Healthline
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Feds OK’d Export of Millions of N95 Masks as U.S. Workers Cried for More
This story also ran on CNN. It can be republished for free. In the midst of a national shortage of N95 masks, the U.S. government quietly granted an exception to its export ban on protective gear, allowing as many as 5 million of the masks per month to be shipped overseas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the waiver in the final moments of Donald Trump’s presidency last month, allowing a Texas company to export its products after it failed to secure U.S. customers, according to the FEMA letter obtained by KHN. National Nurses United president Zenei Triunfo-Cortez called the expor...
Kaiser Health News
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UN urges global Covid vaccine plan, warns of dangerous inequity
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United Nations on Wednesday led calls for a coordinated global effort to vaccinate against Covid-19, warning that gaping inequities in initial efforts put the whole planet at risk. Foreign ministers met virtually for a first-ever UN Security Council session on vaccinations called by current chair Britain, which said the world had a "moral duty" to act together against the pandemic that has killed more than 2.4 million people. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced alarm that just 10 nations have administered 75 percent of doses so far -- and 130 co...
AFP
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