News of the week Just a couple of months away from the one-year anniversary of Omicron’s emergence, we’ll finally be getting a jab targeting the ultra-contagious variant and its offshoots. Pfizer’s updated vaccine — which will target both the original COVID strain and the Omicron BA.5 subvariant — is set to be available within weeks, […]
COVID Today
Posted inHealth & Wellness
As global health threats evolved, the CDC didn’t
Infectious disease control might be in the DNA for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the agency’s capabilities have not evolved to keep up with the faster speed and higher stakes of germs in the modern world.
Posted inCOVID Today
Omicron-specific COVID-19 booster could be available in a few weeks, officials say
The new booster “will become available by early to mid-September” if the FDA and CDC authorize shots, a top White House official said this week.
Posted inLatest News
California officials warn of misleading COVID rapid test results: Sick but ‘negative’
Health officials stress that at-home tests are a vital and accurate way of tracking COVID-19 infections but an initial negative test doesn’t mean people are out of the woods.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
As inflation spikes more hunger, Second Harvest needs volunteers to help meet the needs
The rise in inflation has brought an uptick in the number of people needing food from Santa Cruz County’s premier supplier of food relief. Second Harvest has the food, but needs more hands to get it to the hungry.
Posted inCOVID Today
Omicron is considered a milder coronavirus, but scientists aren’t so sure
The conventional wisdom is that Omicron is less likely to cause serious illness, but that might have more to do with better immunity and treatments, not the virus itself.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Could this COVID program help reduce the California housing crisis?
An emergency housing voucher program offers improvements to the decades-old federal solution to the housing affordability crisis, but landlord reluctance remains a crucial hurdle.
Posted inCOVID Today
Why it’s taking people with COVID-19 so long to finally get a negative test
Health officials recommend that anyone infected with the coronavirus isolate for at least five days — but for many, that timeline might be overly optimistic.
Posted inCOVID Today
COVID Dashboard: Bay Area’s summer surge is waning. Will it last?
News of the week Last week, we reported that COVID-19 case rates in the Bay Area had largely stabilized in recent weeks. That trend has continued, and state numbers have started to follow suit. Wastewater samples from the Bay Area corroborate those trends. But that does not mean we’re out of the woods yet. Cases […]
Posted inCOVID Today
Cognitive rehab could help older adults clear COVID-related brain fog
People whose brains have been injured by concussions, traumatic accidents, strokes, or neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease can benefit from targeted therapy. Experts also employ therapies for long-COVID patients with memory and language problems.