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How soon Covid-19 shots for younger kids could come and what parents need to know now

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN Covid-19 vaccines could be authorized for the United States’ youngest children as early as June, according to the US Food and Drug Administration’s latest meeting schedule. The agency announced Friday it is reserving dates in June for its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) to meet to discuss updates

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Whistleblower alerted FDA to alleged safety lapses at baby formula plant months before recalls, complaint shows

By Brenda Goodman and Jacqueline Howard, CNN A former employee of Abbott Nutrition documented his concerns that the company was hiding safety problems at its Sturgis, Mich., production facility and sent a detailed complaint to the US Food and Drug Administration months before infant formula was removed from grocery store shelves. The complaint was released

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Fewer than 1 in 5 US parents say they’ll get Covid-19 vaccines for kids under 5 as soon as they can, survey finds

By Virginia Langmaid, CNN US children under 5 are getting closer to authorized Covid-19 vaccines, but most parents may be reluctant to actually get them when they become available, a new survey found. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Vaccine Monitor survey, published Wednesday, only 18% of parents of children under 5 said they would

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Moderna seeks emergency use authorization for Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 6 months through 5 years

By Brenda Goodman, CNN Moderna is seeking emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for its Covid-19 vaccine for children 6 months through 5 years of age, the company said Thursday. “We believe mRNA-1273 will be able to safely protect these children against SARS-CoV-2, which is so important in our continued fight

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‘Perfect storm’ of disease ahead with vaccines delayed and measles cases up, WHO and UNICEF say

By Virginia Langmaid, CNN The World Health Organization and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund warned of an increased risk of measles spread, with worldwide cases up nearly 80% so far in 2022 compared with 2021. “Almost 17,338 measles cases were reported worldwide in January and February 2022, compared to 9,665 during the first

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‘Perfect storm’ of disease ahead with vaccines delayed and measles cases up, WHO and UNICEF say

By Virginia Langmaid, CNN The World Health Organization and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund warned of an increased risk of measles spread, with worldwide cases up nearly 80% so far in 2022 compared with 2021. “Almost 17,338 measles cases were reported worldwide in January and February 2022, compared to 9,665 during the first

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In new book, Birx describes how data failures, bureaucracy and politics hindered Covid-19 response

By Virginia Langmaid, CNN Issues with data collection and testing, slow communication and interpersonal conflicts within the Trump administration hurt the initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States, former White House Coronavirus Response Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx says in her new book, published Tuesday. Throughout the book, “Silent Invasion: The

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White House working to make Pfizer’s Covid-19 antiviral pill more ‘widely available’

By Jacqueline Howard and Betsy Klein, CNN The Biden administration is set to unveil new details and announcements Monday on Paxlovid, Pfizer’s antiviral Covid-19 pill, a White House official tells CNN. The administration has plans underway to increase the availability and uptake of the drug, White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha announced on

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White House working to make Pfizer’s Covid-19 antiviral pill more ‘widely available’

By Jacqueline Howard and Betsy Klein, CNN The Biden administration is set to unveil new details and announcements Monday on Paxlovid, Pfizer’s antiviral Covid-19 pill, a White House official tells CNN. The administration has plans underway to increase the availability and uptake of the drug, White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha announced on

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CDC issues health advisory about acute hepatitis in children

By Jacqueline Howard and Jen Christensen, CNN An investigation continues into cases of acute hepatitis with unknown causes among children who had adenovirus infections. In a health advisory Thursday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alerted health care providers and public health authorities to the investigation and recommended that providers consider adenovirus testing

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CDC, FDA, NIH workers did not report incidents of political interference, ‘fearing retaliation,’ government watchdog agency says

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN Just because incidents of political interference within the United States’ top health agencies are not reported, does not mean they don’t happen, a new federal report finds. The US Government Accountability Office released a report Wednesday detailing how four public health agencies that were reviewed — the US Centers for Disease

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CDC, FDA, NIH workers did not report incidents of political interference, ‘fearing retaliation,’ government watchdog agency says

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN Just because incidents of political interference within the United States’ top health agencies are not reported, does not mean they don’t happen, a new federal report finds. The US Government Accountability Office released a report Wednesday detailing how four public health agencies that were reviewed — the US Centers for Disease

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US air quality report finds a sharp uptick in pollution, with the hardest-hit cities in California

By Jen Christensen, CNN The US saw the highest number of “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” air quality days between 2018 and 2020 than it ever had before, according to a report released Thursday by the American Lung Association. After a steady 23-year decline in US pollution levels through 2017, the American Lung Association’s State of

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Florida health department advises against gender-affirming care for youth

By Alta Spells and Jen Christensen, CNN The Florida Department of Health is advising against any gender-affirming care for children and adolescents in new guidelines that are contrary to direction from major medical associations and federal health officials. According to the guidance, released Wednesday, children who identify as transgender or gender diverse shouldn’t be offered

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Florida health department advises against gender-affirming care for youth

By Alta Spells and Jen Christensen, CNN The Florida Department of Health is advising against any gender-affirming care for children and adolescents in new guidelines that are contrary to direction from major medical associations and federal health officials. According to the guidance, released Wednesday, children who identify as transgender or gender diverse shouldn’t be offered

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CDC advisers mull what’s next for Covid-19 boosters

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to mull over what the future of Covid-19 booster shots might look like — and they acknowledge that entirely different vaccine formulations could be needed. At their meeting Wednesday, the members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

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Covid-19 still isn’t like the flu

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN When Delta Air Lines referred to Covid-19 as an “ordinary seasonal virus” after a federal judge struck down the Biden administration’s mask mandate for public transportation, they were partly right: there is some evidence that it is seasonal. But it is far from ordinary, and it’s still not the same as

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Ventilation helps make public transit safer from spread of Covid-19, experts say, but masks are better

By Jen Christensen, CNN Although a federal judge struck down the Biden administration’s mask mandate for public transportation Monday, some experts say you don’t want to throw out your mask just yet. No matter the form of public transportation — planes, trains, trams, subways, buses or even rideshares — good ventilation can help reduce the

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CDC launches forecasting center to be like a ‘National Weather Service for infectious diseases’

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched its Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics on Tuesday. The center aims to be like the “National Weather Service for infectious diseases,” helping to guide decision-making at all levels. Data-driven weather forecasts help leaders know when to deploy resources to respond to

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CDC launches forecasting center to be like a ‘National Weather Service for infectious diseases’

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched its Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics on Tuesday. The center aims to be like the “National Weather Service for infectious diseases,” helping to guide decision-making at all levels. Data-driven weather forecasts help leaders know when to deploy resources to respond to

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Autism is misunderstood. The ‘We’re Not Broken’ author becomes a self-advocate to change that

By Matt Villano, CNN Write about what you know. That’s why Eric Garcia wrote his 2021 book, “We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation.” As an autistic individual reporting on politics as senior Washington correspondent for The Independent, the 31-year-old Garcia had grown frustrated about the lack of understanding of autism as a disorder and

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Autism is misunderstood. The ‘We’re Not Broken’ author becomes a self-advocate to change that

By Matt Villano, CNN Write about what you know. That’s why Eric Garcia wrote his 2021 book, “We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation.” As an autistic individual reporting on politics as senior Washington correspondent for The Independent, the 31-year-old Garcia had grown frustrated about the lack of understanding of autism as a disorder and

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FDA authorizes first Covid-19 breath test

By Katherine Dillinger, CNN The US Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization to the first Covid-19 test that spots chemical compounds associated with the coronavirus in breath, the agency said Thursday. The FDA said the InspectIR Covid-19 Breathalyzer, which is about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage, can be used

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Avian Flu Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research Here’s a look at avian flu. Avian influenza, also called avian flu or bird flu, is an illness that usually affects only birds. There are many different strains of avian flu: 16 H subtypes and 9 N subtypes. Only those labeled H5, H7 and H10 have caused deaths in humans. The most

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Covid-19 booster raises antibody levels against Omicron for children ages 5 through 11, Pfizer and BioNTech say

By Brenda Goodman, CNN A third shot of the children’s dose of Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine raised Omicron-fighting antibodies by 36 times in kids 5 through 11 years of age, the companies said in a news release Thursday. The companies plan to request emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for a booster

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