POLITICO-Harvard poll: Majority of Americans support more Covid aid for the uninsured At the same time, more than six in 10 respondents believe that more congressional spending on Covid aid will contribute to inflation. POLITICO

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US has a "very serious" problem with Covid-19 vaccine uptake The United States has a "very serious" problem with Covid-19 vaccination uptake, a top health official has warned. Ivana Kottasová and Hafsa Khalil, CNN CNN

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White House shifts COVID-19 funds due to stalemate on new money The White House said Wednesday it is cutting funds from some areas of its COVID-19 response in order to shift money to vaccines and treatments, given that new funding remains stalled in Congress.  … lvella The Hill

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In the shift, $5 billion will go towards buying updated vaccines for the fall, $4.9 billion will go towards buying an additional 10 million courses of the Pfizer treatment Paxlovid and $300 million will go to buying more monoclonal antibody treatments...

WHO: COVID cases and deaths falling nearly everywhere GENEVA (AP) — The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths reported globally fell everywhere except the Middle East and Southeast Asia last week, according to a World Health Organization weekly report released Wednesday. AP NEWS

In its latest weekly update on the pandemic, the U.N. health agency said confirmed cases dropped 12% to more than 3 million and reported deaths declined 22% to about 7,600.

Novavax COVID vaccine backed for authorization by U.S. FDA panel Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to recommend that the agency authorize Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine for use in adults, which the drugmaker hopes can become the shot of choice among some American vaccine skeptics. Michael Erman,Manas Mishra Reuters

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Health Care — Pfizer to expand domestic manufacturing of Paxlovid An errant sled dog who went missing three months ago — named Leon — has been found safe in Alaska about 150 miles away from where he ran off.  Today we’ll look at Pfizer’… jbyrnes The Hill

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The investment “will allow Pfizer to increase supply by an additional 4 million packs of Paxlovid, allowing us to meet global demand and help increase overall access,” said Pfizer spokeswoman Julia Cohen...

French medics protest hospital crisis, deepened by COVID PARIS (AP) — Health workers protested Tuesday around France to demand more hiring and better salaries in public hospitals, after years of cost cuts that left medics submerged when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and are now forcing emergency rooms to cut services. AP NEWS

Nine unions and collectives organized a day of protest, including a demonstration outside the Health Ministry in Paris and in dozens of other towns and cities, to call the government’s attention to growing concerns about staff shortages.

Washington hospitals again strained by COVID-19 spread SEATTLE (AP) — Hospital officials in Washington are warning that facilities are heading toward another COVID-19 case peak amid high spread in the community. Washington State Hospital Association CEO Cassie Sauer on Monday said at the end of last week, almost 600 people with COVID-19 were in hospitals across the state with about 20-25 patients a day on ventilators, The News Tribune reported . AP NEWS

That compares with an average of around 230 hospitalized cases in the daily census in April and 1,700 in February during the Omicron wave...

Is Diabetes a Risk Factor for Long COVID? Possibly. Mixed results in seven-study scoping review Kristen Monaco medpagetoday

The jury is still out as to whether diabetes is a risk factor for post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), a researcher reported.

In a scoping review of seven studies, three (43%) concluded that diabetes was indeed a "potent" risk factor for developing long COVID following infection, according to Jessica L. Harding, PhD, of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta...

New variants are poised to keep Covid-19 circulating at high levels throughout the summer | CNN Even as the US grapples with its most recent wave of Covid-19, new research suggests that variants on the horizon may keep case levels high. Brenda Goodman CNN

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These variants are gaining ground against BA.2, particularly in the central part of the country. Recent research suggests that they escape immunity created by vaccines and past infections.

West Virginia scaling back coronavirus testing sites CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia is scaling back its community testing events for the coronavirus, Gov. Jim Justice said. Justice said Thursday that the decision was made due to the availability and convenience of at-home test kits for COVID-19. AP NEWS

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