Best bet against omicron? Prior infection or a booster shot, early research suggests
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 09, 2021
A two-dose course of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine may not be enough to effectively combat the new omicron coronavirus variant, but a booster shot may do the trick, two early lab studies suggest....
Eliminating vaccine hesitancy through education
By
Helen Adeosun
Kevin Smith
Nov 17, 2021
The last 19 months have been filled with many unknowns, and healthcare has been forever impacted because of it. The COVID-19 Delta variant is creating continued challenges, filling ICUs and hospital beds...
Two years into pandemic, we’re better prepared to fight off virus variants
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 02, 2021
Despite the threat of the quickly spreading and highly mutated omicron coronavirus variant — which has just landed in the U.S. — we are safer than we were before the pandemic, some experts say.
New ‘weapon in our arsenal’: Antibody drug cuts COVID risk by 80 percent in LTC residents
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 22, 2021
Staff and residents who received Eli Lilly’s monoclonal antibody therapy were less likely to contract symptomatic COVID-19 than placebo groups in a late-stage trial. Industry advocates are hailing...
Dark night of the sole
By
Gary Tetz
Nov 11, 2021
Maybe I just need to stop reading McKnight’s. That’s the bottom line. Because every time I flip through its pages, whether virtually or in print, I seem to discover researchers have found another horrible...
Community spread triggers growing number of COVID-19 cases in nursing homes: AHCA
By
Liza Berger
Nov 03, 2020
COVID-19 cases are soaring in nursing homes, particularly in the Midwest, thanks to community spread, according to a report released Monday by the American Health Care Association and National Center for...
Back to before census
By
Steven Littlehale
Dec 10, 2021
One of my favorite lyrics from the musical “Ragtime” is “We can never go back to before.” The character Mother sings about no longer being a slave to societal expectations; she is confident, moving...
When celebrity obscures suffering
By
Brendan Williams
Sep 10, 2021
There is a poignant scene in the first episode of Spike Lee’s “NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021½” on HBO in which New York Assembly Member Ron Kim breaks down recounting the efforts of former Governor Andrew...
All nursing home staff in Massachusetts must get COVID-19 shots
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 05, 2021
The state is requiring staff and contract employees in all of its 378 facilities to receive a vaccination, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Wednesday.
Rollout of COVID antibody therapy requires clinician feedback, U.S. officials say
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 11, 2020
Federal agencies say they will depend on clinician input during distribution of Eli Lilly’s new intravenous antibody therapy for high-risk COVID-19 patients.