Heart attack deaths jumped sharply among young US adults in 2nd year of COVID pandemic
As the number of COVID-19 infection surged during the pandemic, deaths from heart attacks rose sharply as well, with adults ages 25-44 experiencing the most significant increases, according to new research from scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Biden faces winter COVID surge as funds, public interest dry up
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is urging a vaccination push as he braces for a winter wave of COVID-19 cases that could again drive up hospitalizations and deaths, but this time without a blank check to fight the surge.
Test scores show historic COVID setbacks for kids across US
WASHINGTON — The COVID-19 pandemic caused historic learning setbacks for America’s children, sparing no state or region as it erased decades of academic progress and widened racial disparities, according to results of a national test that provide the sharpest look yet at the scale of the crisis.
Hawaii holds the line in English, math testing
While national average test scores for English and math continued to decline following the COVID-19 pandemic, the scores of Hawaii’s fourth- and eighth-graders remained steady.
Expert: Protection from early COVID vaccine shots ‘pretty much totally gone’
As new COVID-19 variants spread throughout the community, protection from previous infections and prior vaccinations is waning.
A ‘tripledemic’? Flu and other infections return as COVID-19 cases rise
For more than two years, shuttered schools and offices, social distancing and masks granted Americans a reprieve from flu and most other respiratory infections. This winter is likely to be different.
Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine will cost $110-$130 per dose
Pfizer will charge $110 to $130 for a dose of its COVID-19 vaccine once the U.S. government stops buying the shots, but the drugmaker says it expects many people will continue receiving it for free.
Another COVID vaccine booster option available
The state Department of Health announced Wednesday the monovalent Novavax COVID-19 booster is now available for residents 18 and older in Hawaii.
5 or older?
The state Department of Health formally recommended Wednesday that everyone 5 or older get COVID-19 bivalent boosters.
DOH uses wastewater monitoring to track virus
The first report analyzing wastewater from the state Department of Health confirms COVID-19 cases have dropped statewide since June, with the omicron subvariant BA.5 remaining the dominant strain.
Pfizer seeks to expand omicron booster to 5- to 11-year-olds
Pfizer asked U.S. regulators Monday to expand use of its updated COVID-19 booster shot to children ages 5 to 11.
4.4M Americans roll up sleeves for omicron-targeted boosters
U.S. health officials say 4.4 million Americans have rolled up their sleeves for the updated COVID-19 booster shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted the count Thursday as public health experts bemoaned President Joe Biden’s recent remark that “the pandemic is over.”
Hawaii part of pediatric Long COVID
Hawaii is being included in a National Institute of Health Longterm study of Long COVID in children and adults.
WHO: COVID end ‘in sight,’ deaths at lowest since March 2020
GENEVA — The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday that the number of coronavirus deaths worldwide last week was the lowest reported in the pandemic since March 2020, marking what could be a turning point in the years-long global outbreak.
COVID-aid programs helped to cut childhood poverty by 46%, Census report shows
The number of children in poverty fell by 46% in 2021 compared to the previous year, but poverty among people 65 and older rose 13%, according to a new U.S Census report.
3 more Big Island residents die from COVID
Hawaii County reported three news deaths from COVID-19 this week, bringing the state’s weekly death toll to 11.
‘Booster hesitancy remains an issue’: Study finds education level, trust in information plays role
Vaccine hesitancy remains a common setback in Hawaii, with the state Department of Health reporting only 44.8% of residents in the state received their first booster, and just 11.6% received their second.
Good to go FDA OKs emergency use of bivalent vaccines
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday granted emergency use authorization for the first bivalent vaccines to protect against the original strain of COVID-19 and the omicron subvariants.
CDC to suspend coronavirus home-delivery test program for lack of funding
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will soon stop mailing free at-home COVID tests due to lack of congressional funding, the agency said Sunday.
How to catch up?
Preschool and elementary teachers on the Big Island have reported alarming behavioral changes in young keiki following the pandemic.
