Month: February 2021

News 12 StaffFeb 14, 2021, 11:34am EST Updated on:Feb 14, 2021, 11:34am EST Long Islanders with underlying health conditions are able to sign up to get vaccinated Sunday. The state’s “Am I Eligible?” screening tool has been updated and those with pre-existing conditions and comorbidities can sign up to be vaccinated at distributed centers across Nassau and Suffolk counties. The new appointments will be released on a rolling basis. The eligibility applies to people conditions like cancer, obesity, heart and neurological conditions, pregnancy and more. Those who apply will need to submit proof of their condition in the form of a doctor’s letter, medical evidence of a comorbidity or a signed certification. With limited availability, Patchogue resident Richard Parker says it takes a lot ...

With seven cases confirmed in the West African nation, including three deaths, officials declare new Ebola outbreak. Guinea has declared an Ebola epidemic after three people died and four others tested positive for the virus in the country’s southeast. The seven people fell ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding after attending a burial in Goueke, near the Liberian border. The infected patients have been isolated in treatment centres, the health ministry said on Sunday. “Faced with this situation and in accordance with international health regulations, the Guinean government declares an Ebola epidemic,” the ministry said in a statement. One of the victims was a nurse who fell ill in late January and was buried on February 1, National Health Security Agency chief Sakoba Keita ...

NEW DELHI – What if COVID-19 never goes away? Experts say it's likely that some version of the disease will linger for years. But what it will look like in the future is less clear. Will the coronavirus, which has already killed more than 2 million people worldwide, eventually be eliminated by a global vaccination campaign, like smallpox? Will dangerous new variants evade vaccines? Or will the virus stick around for a long time, transforming into a mild annoyance, like the common cold? Eventually, the virus known as SARS-CoV-2 will become yet “another animal in the zoo,” joining the many other infectious diseases that humanity has learned to live with, predicted Dr. T. Jacob John, who studies viruses and was at the helm of India’s efforts to tackle polio and HIV/AIDS. But no one knows fo...

Omitted doses, uploading errors, lag times and software mishaps. California’s vaccine rollout has been plagued by data issues, leaving the state unable to keep track of how many doses of the lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine are available at any one time. The implications are far-reaching: Gov. Gavin Newsom has pushed to speed up inoculations, in part because the state’s data appeared to show vaccine providers were sitting on doses, prompting the governor to threaten to take supplies from those not moving quickly enough. Now county officials say they are worried the data accuracy issues will cause future allotments to be curtailed based on flawed conclusions from faulty figures. “We’ve been pointing out that their data is bad since the end of December,” said Fresno County Supervisor Ernest Mend...