Health & Safety

Students walk on the campus of University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles in March 2020.

Some colleges and universities will start the new year online as omicron spreads

12:57pm December 22, 2021

by Joe Hernandez

Seven schools in the University of California system, Harvard University, Northwestern University and others are among those changing their plans in response to the highly transmissible variant.

Biden aims to help hospitals by sending military doctors and nurses to help

9:05am December 22, 2021

NPR's Melissa Block talks to Dr. Laura Forman, chief of emergency medicine at Kent Hospital in Rhode Island, about shortages, staffing and stress in the midst of another COVID-19 surge.

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Health authorities have been urging Americans to get a booster shot six months after their second dose of the vaccine, especially now that the omicron variant is dominant in the U.S.

Health & Safety

The vaccines work against severe disease. Here's why boosters are still a good idea

8:52am December 22, 2021

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Vaccines still do a solid job at warding off hospitalization from omicron. So if you're young and healthy, why get a booster? Scientists explain how boosters help and the best timing to get one.

News brief: COVID testing, omicron disruptions, stranded migrants

7:56am December 22, 2021

President Biden announces more measures to make free at-home rapid tests available. Because of COVID, the NHL is pausing games. Hundreds of migrants remain trapped at the Belarus-Poland border.

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50 years ago this week President Nixon signed the National Cancer Act

7:56am December 22, 2021

by Gabrielle Emanuel

Five decades ago, the National Cancer Act became law. What did it take for cancer to go from an unmentionable disease to among the most visible and best-funded areas of medicine?

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Health & Safety

The White House's plan may make it easier to get at-home COVID tests

7:18am December 22, 2021

The run on at-home COVID tests highlights some of the country's desperation in getting critical testing capacity up to speed. There are potentially some other roadblocks with other forms of testing.

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Long lines are forming outside New York City's COVID testing sites

5:57am December 22, 2021

As the holiday weekend approaches, New Yorkers are waiting a long time to get tested for COVID-19. The nation's biggest city is confronting a record high number of cases.

New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams announced on Tuesday he will be postponing his planned Jan.1 inauguration ceremony.

A shot at gold, a swearing in, and a tech get-together are all thwarted by omicron

8:39pm December 21, 2021

by Vanessa Romo

The alarming surge in COVID infections is prompting city leaders, heads of companies, and even sports officials to withdraw from public events that could potentially expose more people to the virus.

Sophomore Dreshon Robinson stands outside his high school cafeteria, where the learning hub takes place. He wants to go to college and be an audio engineer.

Extra learning time is helping these students catch up from COVID interruptions

5:47pm December 21, 2021

by Anya Kamenetz

After school "learning hubs" are helping some high school students in North Carolina catch up on academic time lost due to COVID — and stay on track for graduation.

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Boosters have been shown to restore some of the protection lost with omicron's rise

5:39pm December 21, 2021

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Scientists know the omicron variant will cause many breakthrough infections. Given that omicron is now the dominant strain in the U.S., maybe it's time to rethink that booster shot.

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