Medical Treatments

How the Philippine capital's 'no vaccination, no ride' public transit rule is going

6:07pm January 20, 2022

by Ashley Westerman

In the Philippine capital Manila, people without proof of full vaccination or a work exemption can't take public transportation. Human rights activists say the policy discriminates against the poor.

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Opinion: 5 steps we must take to vaccinate the world's vulnerable—and end the pandemic

7:05pm January 19, 2022

Three doctors present their proposal to get vaccines to everyone in the world. "We already have the resources, knowledge and systems," they write. Global leaders just have to make it happen.

New data shows how long protection may last from a COVID vaccine booster shot

6:37pm January 19, 2022

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Researchers now have the first data looking at how long that protection from a booster shot of the COVID vaccine will last and what the future of the vaccinations might be after the omicron surge.

A photo of Tony Tsantinis hangs in a collage set up for a celebration of his life on the final day that Athens Pizza in Brimfield, Mass., was open for business.

Doctors called 17 hospitals looking for an ICU bed. He died waiting for a transfer

4:14pm January 19, 2022

by Martha Bebinger

A beloved pizzeria owner in Brimfield, Mass., had COVID-19 and needed dialysis, but it wasn't available at the hospital where he died. The health system is "breaking down," a hospital CEO says.

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Florida hospitals caught in limbo over differing federal and state vaccine mandates

5:38pm January 17, 2022

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Mary Mayhew, president of the Florida Hospital Association, about how the state's hospitals are navigating the Supreme Court's decision on vaccine mandates.

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Here's what's driving the lowest COVID immunization rates around the world

5:24pm January 17, 2022

by Jason Beaubien

Some countries around the globe are still struggling to get people vaccinated. Dozens of countries still haven't gotten 10% of their populations vaccinated.

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As demand for testing ramps up, community clinics and nonprofits struggle to keep up with the need. These groups have run testing sites throughout the pandemic in low-income and minority neighborhoods, like this one in the Mission District of San Francisc

Essential workers face a tough choice: Find a test or miss work

7:00am January 16, 2022

by Raquel Maria Dillon

Facing lost wages if they can't work, essential workers struggle to get timely COVID tests amid a nationwide testing crunch. Community clinics are struggling to meet the need.

Biden promised a billion COVID tests. Contracts to buy them are being announced

4:47pm January 14, 2022

The Biden administration wants to buy and send a billion free at-home COVID tests to Americans. Here's what we know so far about the contracts in terms of price, timeline and more.

People and cars line up outside of Boston Medical Center near the emergency room where COVID-19 testing was taking place during the Omicron surge in Boston on Jan. 3, 2022.

ERs are overwhelmed as omicron continues to flood them with patients

8:04pm January 13, 2022

by Will Stone

Omicron may cause milder disease but the sheer number of patients make this wave far worse for the health care system. With packed emergency rooms, patients can wait days to get moved to a bed.

The Biogen Inc., headquarters is shown in Cambridge, Mass. Medicare says it will limit coverage of a $28,200-per-year Alzheimer's drug whose benefits have been questioned.

Medicare proposes covering expensive Alzheimer's drug for those in clinical trials

7:55pm January 11, 2022

by Jonathan Franklin

Aduhelm is the first treatment approved in the country to slow cognitive decline in those living with Alzheimer's. Doctors have refused to prescribe it, given the lack of data and evidence behind it.