Editor's Note Houston Methodist has suspended 178 healthcare workers (HCWs) for not following a hospital policy that requires employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the June 7 New York Times reports. After warning employees last month that they had to be vaccinated by June 7 or face suspension, 117 HCWs…

Read More

Editor's Note Two studies suggest that immunity to COVID-19 persists for at least a year and perhaps a lifetime, the May 26 New York Times reports. Researchers focused on memory B cells, which retain a memory of the COVID-19 virus. They found that even though the patients’ antibody levels fell…

Read More

Editor's Note Utah’s high school COVID-19 testing programs saved in-person instruction days and facilitated the continuation of extracurricular activities during a period of high COVID-19 incidence among high-school aged students, this study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds. Utah implemented two COVID-19 testing programs: Test to Play—testing…

Read More

Editor's Note The CEO of Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora declared a “State of Emergency” on May 25, saying pediatric emergency departments and inpatient units are being “overrun with kids attempting suicide and suffering from other forms of major mental health illness.” In the last 2 years, Children’s has had…

Read More

Editor's Note This study by researchers in the United Kingdom finds that despite declines in hesitancy to be vaccinated against COVID-19, vaccine hesitancy remains high in young adults and Black and low socioeconomic status individuals. A total of 7,420 participants provided 42,154 survey responses to the Understanding America Study (UAS)…

Read More

Editor's Note Of 101 million Americans vaccinated against COVID-19 as of April 30, 2021, more than 10,200 had breakthrough infections 14 days or more after receipt of all vaccine doses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Among these cases: 63% occurred in women 27% were asymptomatic…

Read More

Editor's Note The 7-day average for new COVID-19 cases in the US is down 57%, and COVID-19-related deaths dropped 23%, compared to a month ago, according to Johns Hopkins University. Nearly half (49.6%) of adults have been fully vaccinated.

Read More

Editor's Note The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, in Washington, DC, released a report on May 25 that summarizes findings from a national survey of frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey of 1,200 HCWs from all 50 states and the District of…

Read More

Editor's Note In this Canadian experimental study, SARS-CoV-2 was not detectable in aerosolized electrocautery plume generated from any of the conditions investigated. The researchers mimicked surgery by applying electrocautery at 25 W using three different methods (monopolar cut, monopolar coagulate, and bipolar electrocautery) for 1 minute on raw chicken breast.…

Read More

Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine be given to everyone 12 years of age and older. Previously, COVID-19 vaccines had been authorized only for those aged 16 and older. Pfizer is the first vaccine manufacturer to gain emergency use…

Read More