Health & Safety

In between answering 911 calls, Jerrad Dinsmore (left) and Kevin LeCaptain perform a wellness check at the home of a woman in her nineties. The ambulance team in the small town of Waldoboro, Maine was already short-staffed. Then a team member quit recentl

Health & Safety

In Maine, a looming vaccine deadline for EMTs is stressing small-town ambulance crews

12:17pm October 21, 2021

by Patty Wight

Statewide, the COVID vaccination rate for first responders is more than 95%. But it's not as high in more rural areas, where ambulance crews can't function if just a few people quit.

Charged with capital murder, William George Davis listens to closing arguments in court on Oct. 19, 2021, in Tyler, Texas, as he stands trial for the deaths of four patients at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler in 2017 and 2018.

Texas nurse convicted of killing 4 men with air injections

9:23am October 21, 2021

by The Associated Press

The jury deliberated for about an hour before finding William George Davis guilty of capital murder. Davis was accused of injecting air into four patients' arteries after they underwent heart surgery.

Artist Jonas Never (@never1959) applies finishing touches to his mural of Sen. Bernie Sanders in Culver City, Calif., on Jan. 24. Standing out in a crowd of glamorously dressed guests, Sanders showed up for the presidential inauguration in a heavy winter

Health & Safety

Memes about COVID-19 helped us cope with life in a pandemic, a new study finds

8:18am October 21, 2021

by Sharon Pruitt-Young

Memes could be a valuable way to help people deal with stressful situations.

Health & Safety

Scientists are starting to understand the likely endgame for COVID-19

7:58am October 21, 2021

Some scientists believe the current surge of COVID-19 has peaked and the pandemic, at least in the U.S., will ease over the winter months. But then what? Will the virus surge back again next year?

Doctors prepare to vaccinate kids once they're given the official OK

7:25am October 21, 2021

NPR's Scott Detrow speaks to Dr. Elizabeth Hawse, a pediatrician in Lexington, Ky., about how her office is preparing to administer COVID-19 vaccines to kids.

Health & Safety

FDA officials authorize Moderna and J&J COVID vaccine boosters

7:25am October 21, 2021

After the FDA weighed in, advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meet Thursday to refine guidelines for boosters for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.

First responders in New York City have until Nov. 1 to get vaccinated

6:13am October 21, 2021

by Brian Mann

City officials say first responders have 10 days to get vaccinated or they'll be suspended without pay. Some union leaders have promised to fight the mandate.

News brief: COVID boosters, voting rights failure, Russia hosts Afghan talks

5:51am October 21, 2021

The FDA authorizes Moderna and J&J COVID-19 vaccine boosters. Attempts by Democrats to shore up protections for voting rights have hit a wall. Russia hosts a delegation from Afghanistan.

Erica Cuellar, her husband and her daughter moved in with her father in his home early in the pandemic, after she lost her job. She and her husband were worried they wouldn't be able to afford the rent on their house in Houston with only one income. In Ju

Why helping people pay rent can fight the pandemic

5:00am October 21, 2021

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

A family in Houston and a plumber in Maryland couldn't afford rent, which pushed them into crowded living quarters. During the COVID-19 pandemic, that common predicament has increased viral spread.

A salmonella outbreak impacting more than 30 states and sickening over 600 people in the U.S. is being linked to onions imported from Chihuahua, Mexico.

CDC says toss onions if you don't know where they came from to avoid salmonella

9:00pm October 20, 2021

by Jonathan Franklin

A salmonella outbreak has affected more than 30 states. Federal health officials link it to onions grown in Chihuahua, Mexico, and distributed by ProSource Inc.