Month: August 2021

Alabama has set a new high for the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care. According to the Alabama Hospital Association, the state recorded more than 880 COVID-19 patients in the ICU on Monday, the highest number since the pandemic began. The previous high was 848 in January.More than half of all patients receiving intensive care in the state have been diagnosed with COVID-19.With older populations more likely to be vaccinated, state hospitals say they are seeing more younger patients with the virus as the contagious delta variant sweeps across unvaccinated groups.COVID-19 IN ALABAMACan't see ADPH dashboard? Tap here.Click here for the latest COVID-19 news.Click here to find a vaccination clinic in Alabama near you. MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama has set ...

All around the world, there seem to be signs that immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19, doesn't last very long after you're vaccinated. Israel is now having one of the world's worst COVID-19 surges about five months after vaccinating a majority of its population. And in the U.S., health officials are recommending a booster shot eight months after the original vaccine course. So, how long does immunity last after two doses of the vaccine? Six months or so? And at that point, how much protection is left over? It all depends on which type of immunity you're talking about, say...

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory group met Monday to debate whether or not eligible Americans should receive a COVID-19 booster shot.  The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting came as an independent panel of experts advising the CDC recommended the use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for people 16 years and older under full FDA approval.  A pharmacy technician loads a syringe with Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination site at the Portland Expo in Portland, Maine. (AP ) Monday’s panel set out to discuss a framework for a possible third jab of the vaccine. Its use, they said, would be needed in one of two scenarios: when the initial immune response from the first of two vaccine doses is insufficient or when the initial...

Enlarge / Two classrooms had to be shut down due to a series of problems with maintaining policies meant to limit the spread of the pandemic. Covid-19 Coverage View more stories On Friday, the CDC released a report that traced the spread of the delta variant through a California elementary school. It's tempting to make this into a story of gross irresponsibility—a teacher was unvaccinated and read to the class while unmasked. But beyond that, it provides a number of warnings about how our public health system remains under stress as we close in on two years since the start of the pandemic. It also reemphasizes how the delta variant ensures that small errors can easily explode into big problems. One bad apple The school in question was a small...