Two new studies reveal just how much of a toll the coronavirus pandemic has taken on life expectancy in the United States, which lags behind other high-income nations. In 2020, Covid-19 deaths were associated with a reduced US life expectancy by more than one year, according to research published Thursday in the journal JAMA Network…… MORE
Back when Travis M. Spencer’s daughter was in fourth grade, there were times when she struggled to fall asleep. On those nights, Spencer used to take a few minutes for mindfulness. First, Spencer invited her to list a few things she was grateful for. That usually included friends or a favorite video game. “I’m like:…… MORE
With more than 84% of all eligible people in Vermont having had at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, no one would blame health officials if they wanted to take it easy, but the easy path is not a part of Dr. Michael Levine’s pandemic plans. The Vermont health commissioner says he’s proud of the Green…… MORE
Covid-19 deaths have been falling dramatically in the US, but — with many people still unvaccinated — the number of daily deaths remains in the hundreds. And the groups most at risk are increasingly younger people and Black Americans. Throughout the pandemic, Black people have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19, accounting for about 12.5% of…… MORE
Members of Congress pressed acting US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock on Wednesday to ban all flavored e-cigarettes, saying the sweet and fruity flavors are attracting too many children and teens. But Woodcock would not be drawn on whether the agency plans to ban or otherwise limit the sale of flavored vapes…… MORE
Scientists investigating the origins of the coronavirus pandemic might be working with the wrong samples, because some early samples of the virus submitted by a Chinese researcher were deleted from a shared database, an expert in the evolution of viruses says. Jesse Bloom, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, said he…… MORE
There’s a likely association between the mRNA Covid-19 vaccines and rare cases of heart inflammation in adolescents and young adults, but the benefits of vaccination still clearly outweigh the risks, vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention heard during a virtual meeting on Wednesday. Cases of the heart conditions were rare…… MORE
Cannabis use has been associated with a higher likelihood of thinking about suicide in young adults, according to a study from the US National Institutes of Health published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open. The survey study examined data from more than 281,000 adults ages 18 to 34, who participated in the National Survey…… MORE
Vaccine makers are preparing for a next possible phase of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout: booster doses. Currently three coronavirus vaccines are authorized for emergency use in the United States — the two-dose Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for people 12 and older, the two-dose Moderna vaccine and the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines for everyone 18 and older.…… MORE
Covid-19 deaths have fallen dramatically across the United States — average daily deaths are less than a tenth of what they were at the peak of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University — but nearly 300 people are still dying of Covid-19 each day in the US. Some groups remain more at…… MORE