Today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unveiled “COVID-19 Community Levels,” a new tool to help communities determine what COVID-19 prevention strategies to take based on the latest available data. Levels can be “low,” “medium,” or “high” based on a combination of three metrics. The metrics utilized by the CDC include new…
Read More »Late last week, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. extended the national emergency declaration related to the COVID-19 pandemic beyond March 1, 2022. The national emergency was initially declared on March 13, 2020, and was set to expire on March 1 without an extension. The extension issued by the Biden Administration allows for the continuation of…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated its guidance related to COVID-19 vaccines to recommend an eight-week period between the first and second doses of an mRNA vaccine for some people ages 12 and older, particularly males ages 12-39 due to an increased risk of myocarditis. The CDC maintains its recommendation…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released two new reports in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) that provide important insights on the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first report assessed pediatric emergency department visits, finding that overall pediatric emergency department visits decreased…
Read More »The National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) recently published a study exploring the prevalence of COVID-19-related discrimination in all major racial and ethnic groups in the United States. COVID-19-related discrimination includes experiences of being threatened or harassed based on someone’s perception of another having COVID-19. Data was…
Read More »The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is making more than $560 million in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments to more than 4,100 providers throughout the U.S. With this week’s announcement, nearly $11.5 billion in PRF payments have been distributed to more than 78,000 providers…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a grant opportunity forecast for $3 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to improve critical public health infrastructure needs. The investment, according to the CDC, will help ensure that U.S. public health systems are ready to respond to public health emergencies like…
Read More »A new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) found that since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage provisions beginning in 2010, the uninsured rate among Black Americans under age 65 decreased from 20 percent in 2011 (approximately…
Read More »Data from recent studies from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) demonstrate that COVID-19 vaccine boosters remain safe and continue to be highly effective against severe disease over time. The first CDC study reviewed data from two of its vaccine safety monitoring systems, V-Safe and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)….
Read More »The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) this week announced it has awarded nearly $55 million to 29 HRSA-funded health centers to increase health care access and quality for underserved populations through virtual care such as telehealth, remote patient monitoring, digital patient tools, and health information technology platforms. The funding builds on over $7.3…
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