Covid’s Lingering Effects Can Put the Brakes on Elective Surgeries
Even after recovering from covid, many patients experience respiratory or other problems and, since this effect of the virus is so unpredictable, medical experts aren’t sure when it is safe to undergo elective surgery. But medical experts are setting up guidelines.
Without Enough Boots on the Ground, California’s Vaccination Efforts Falter
California’s vaccination rates have stagnated, particularly in Black and Latino inner-city neighborhoods and in rural towns. County health officials, who say trust is their most important commodity, need more money for one-on-one interactions with holdouts, but the state has instead largely funneled money to advertising firms and tech companies.
Children and Covid: Journalists Explore Grief and Vaccine Side Effects
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
The WHO Didn’t Reverse Its Position on Kids and Covid Vaccines
The World Health Organization this week updated its guidance on children and covid vaccinations — but in a different way than alleged in a viral social media post.
A Break From Breathlessness: How Singing Helped Me Through Long Covid
Long before covid, music therapists used singing and wind instruments to help COPD and asthma patients. These same therapies might help patients recover from covid’s lingering symptoms as well. And though it wasn’t clinical music therapy, singing with an online choir has helped me navigate long covid.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: How to Expand Health Coverage
Democrats in Congress and the states are devising strategies to expand health coverage — through the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid and a “public option.” But progress remains halting, at best. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington may have to agree on how to control prescription drug prices if they wish to finance their coverage initiatives. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Michelle Andrews, who reported and wrote last month’s KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a very expensive sleep study.
Black and Hispanic Americans Suffer Most in Biggest US Decline in Life Expectancy Since WWII
The pandemic will undermine Americans’ health for years. Even those not infected by the coronavirus could suffer health problems related to poverty, job loss, eviction — or all of the above.
La pandemia proyectará una larga sombra sobre la salud estadounidense, lo que hará que millones de personas vivan más enfermas y mueran más jóvenes debido a las crecientes tasas de pobreza, hambre e inseguridad en la vivienda.
Thousands of Young Children Lost Parents to Covid. Where’s Help for Them?
More than 46,000 children in the U.S. have lost a parent to covid-19. Families say finding even basic grief counseling has been difficult and there’s been no coordinated effort to help these children access services or benefits.
At Texas Border, Pandemic’s High Toll Lays Bare Gaps in Health and Insurance
In Texas’ border communities, which are overwhelmingly Hispanic, covid-19 death rates for people under age 65 were double those in the rest of the state and three times the national average. They were also significantly higher than rates in New Mexico border areas.