Free Covid-19 tests aren't guaranteed after May 11, but there's still time to stock up | CNN When the US Covid-19 public health emergency ends this month, coronavirus tests will still be available, but there will be changes to who pays for them. Deidre McPhillips CNN

...There are still ways to take advantage of the benefits provided by the public health emergency before it expires May 11. 

...

Mystery companies sending Florida seniors unwanted Covid-19 tests, billing Medicare Florida seniors are complaining that they are receiving Covid tests in the mail—even though they didn’t order them. Even so, their Medicare insurance is paying hundreds of dollars for the tes… Shannon Behnken WFLA

...

Bivalent COVID vaccine shows good Omicron protection while older version wanes CIDRAP

Two studies published today measure the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of COVID-19 vaccines against laboratory-confirmed Omicron variant and subvariants and symptomatic disease. Vaccines that target the newer variants performed well, but primary vaccines offered rapidly waning protection from SARS-CoV-2 infections in the post-Omicron era.

FDA approves first RSV vaccine, a long-sought scientific achievement The FDA has approved the first-ever vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, completing an elusive quest that has been decades in the making. Helen Branswell STAT

... The product, GSK’s Arexvy, was approved for adults ages 60 and older.

Decreasing US racial health gap amid COVID could be due to more White deaths CIDRAP

A study of nearly 1 million US adults who died of COVID-19 in the first 2 years of the pandemic suggests that the decrease in disparities between Black and White deaths can be explained by increased deaths among White adults and shifts in geographic spread.

...

CDC investigating COVID outbreak after its own annual conference The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed it is conducting an investigation into several dozen COVID-19 cases linked to the agency’s annual conference that occurred in Georgia last week. The CDC’s three-day 2023 Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) conference began April 24 in Atlanta, where the agency is headquartered. The purpose of the… Yahoo News

...CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday that about 35 people had tested positive as of May 2.

...

WHO survey finds signs of health system recovery from pandemic CIDRAP

...

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been tracking health system impacts since the early days of the pandemic, and its latest survey of countries shows that health services are starting to recover, according to new findings..

WHO director general warns that the world is failing to learn COVID’s lessons "Future generations will question what we did to improve from the pandemic," said. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Yahoo Finance

...

“If the world does not learn from our past mistakes with COVID, then future generations will question what we did to improve from the pandemic,” he said.

COVID-19 vaccine requirements for federal workers, international travelers to end May 11 - UPI.com The Biden administration has announced plans to end COVID-19 vaccine requirements next week for federal employees, international travelers, Head Start educators and CMS-certified healthcare facilities. UPI

...

What to know about XBB.1.16, the 'Arcturus' variant The subvariant accounts for nearly 10% of new Covid cases in the U.S. NBC News

...

Covid-sniffing dogs can help detect infections in K-12 schools, new study suggests | CNN Elementary students lined up behind a white curtain in the middle of a grand gymnasium at their school in northern California. They stood still as a dog handler walked a yellow Labrador along the other side of the curtain. Jacqueline Howard CNN

...

Global COVID markers decline, but hot spots remain in two regions CIDRAP

Though COVID-19 cases and deaths continued to decline over the past 4 weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) is tracking rises in two of its regions, South East Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean. In its weekly update today, it also noted rises in individual countries in other parts of the world.

...

Are repeat COVID infections dangerous? What the science says Nature - Researchers disagree over how bad it is to be reinfected, and whether COVID-19 can cause lasting changes to the immune system. Willyard, Cassandra nature

...