By Elisabeth Rosenthal & Glenn Kramon – America’s covid-19 vaccination rate is around 60% for ages 12 and up. That’s not enough to reach so-called herd immunity, and in states like Missouri — where a number of counties have vaccination rates under 25% — hospitals are overwhelmed by serious outbreaks of the more contagious delta variant.
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By Anna Maria Barry-Jester – If you were growing up in Detroit in the 1970s or ’80s, chances are you knew the city’s Herman Kiefer public health complex by both sight and reputation. Opened at the turn of the century and later enhanced by renowned industrial architect Albert Kahn, the imposing brick complex was named after a local infectious disease doctor.
By Liz Szabo – Upon first inspection, the mutations in the highly contagious delta covid variant don’t look that worrisome. For starters, delta has fewer genetic changes than earlier versions of the coronavirus.
By Janet Woodcock MD – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s mission to protect and promote the public health impacts the life of every American, every day. Our work encompasses an ever-widening array of foods, additives, cosmetics, medicines, and medical devices as the FDA regulates approximately 20 cents of every dollar spent annually by American consumers.
By Michelle Andrews – The week before Brian Colvin was scheduled for shoulder surgery in November, he tested positive for covid-19. What he thought at first was a head cold had morphed into shortness of breath and chest congestion coupled with profound fatigue and loss of balance.
By Aaron Miri MBA & Denise Webb MA – As part of HHS’s response to President Biden’s Executive Order on Ensuring a Data-Driven Response to COVID-19 and Future High-Consequence Public Health Threats, ONC’s HITAC recently held an expert panel hearing to understand…
By Jenifer Leaf Jaeger MD MPH – Public Health 1.0 identifies the initiation and growth in both knowledge and tools for medicine and public health. Public Health 2.0 characterizes the development of our traditional public health systems within both local and the federal government.
By Steven Findlay – Robin Hauser, a pediatrician in Tampa, Florida, got covid in February. What separates her from the vast majority of the tens of millions of other Americans who have come down with the virus is this: She got sick seven weeks after her second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
By Janet Woodcock MD & Amy Abernethy MD PhD – With the near ubiquity of interconnected smartphones and computers in modern life, it can be difficult to remember just how quickly our familiarity with data has evolved. Data, in digital form, seem to be everywhere we look.