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"I want to wait and watch."This is a peculiar response I receive from my friends and some family members in the United States when I ask them about their thoughts on COVID-19 vaccination. This is a peculiar response for a couple of reasons: COVID-19 vaccines are exceptionally effective, are now readily available and are the best way to end the pandemic and return to normalcy.This skeptical response is reflective of broader trends in the United States: An NPR/Marist poll this spring revealed that up to one-fourth of the national population would decline to get vaccinated even when offered.This is also...

SAN DIEGO — Rady Children’s Hospital has now admitted eight local boys suspected of suffering painful heart muscle inflammation called myocarditis after undergoing coronavirus vaccination. They are local examples of a growing worldwide suspicion that the condition, and another called pericarditis, are rare side effects of the mRNA vaccines that have proven highly effective at controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Biden on Friday said the United States will not enter another "lockdown," despite the "serious and deadly threat" of the delta variant of COVID-19, but he urged unvaccinated individuals to get their shots. Biden, who spoke at the White House, was asked whether the severity of the new strain of COVID-19 could send the U.S. back into a lockdown, to which he replied: "I don't think so." "So many people have already been vaccinated, but the delta variant can cause more people to die in areas where people have not been vaccinated," he said.

I’m gonna be a dick today, because that’s a personal choice. It’s the middle of June and the COVID-19 vaccine is available (and free!) to anyone in the United States over the age of 12. This is a miracle. If you’re fully vaccinated like I am, you can throw parties now. You can travel. You can eat out. You don’t have to quarantine at home, counting toilet paper rolls and making hatch marks on your bedroom wall and wondering when you’ll be free of this bloody pandemic. It’s over for you. You won. You could even celebrate by going to...

Joshua Garza had a chance to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in January but he passed it up, thinking he didn't really need it. Now, the 43-year-old Texan is hoping to inspire others to get the shot after he became so ill following his COVID-19 diagnosis that he needed a rare double lung transplant to survive. "COVID ended up attacking my lungs," Garza, of Sugarland, told ABC News. After testing positive for COVID-19 in late January, Garza's health deteriorated rapidly. On Feb. 2, when he ended up falling while trying to walk, his wife called for an ambulance to take him...

June 16 (UPI) -- A single dose of one of the two-shot COVID-19 vaccines prevented an estimated 95% of new infections among healthcare workers two weeks after receiving the jab, a study published Wednesday by JAMA Network Open found.

I've been very open about my own decision to get vaccinated, while highlighting excellent news about the vaccines' efficacy. They work remarkably well and have worked wonders, unlike the Chinese Communist Party's less sophisticated and less effective versions. Two points, before proceeding further. We know that some "breakthrough cases" do occur among vaccinated people, hence news accounts about recent positive tests from comedian Bill Maher, several New York Yankees, and a pair of passengers on an all-vaxxed cruise ship. The incredibly reassuring news about these examples is that Maher "never was sick, I felt nothing," which was also the case...

Mother directed her 17-year-old to get the jab. Now the son has blood clots in the brain.

PORTLAND (WGME) -- Eight Mainers have died with COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated, according to the Maine CDC. While it's a rare occurrence, it can leave families in shock and heartbroken. Eager and ready for normalcy, Arthur Mitchell got his second dose of the Moderna vaccine on March 8. “Counted out his two weeks to be fully vaccinated, was very excited about that,” daughter Margaret Staggs said. Staggs says once the family was fully vaccinated, they finally relaxed after a year of restrictions. “We probably all took a deep breath and let our guard down a little bit,” Staggs said....

The strain, which was first detected in India, has wreaked havoc in the United Kingdom, where it now makes up 91 percent of all new cases. Covid cases in that country surged by 109 percent in a single week, with the government now considering extending lock down restrictions by another month. The UK is headed for a 3rd Covid wave and, at the current rate, could have 80,000 new cases a day by mid-July. Stoking fears, a study by Public Health England shows 29% of 42 people who have died after catching the new strain had received both of their...

The news about a potential link between the Covid-19 vaccine and a cardiac ailment in young people may be striking fear in the hearts of some parents. But pediatric cardiologists have a message for these parents: Covid-19 should scare you more — a whole lot more — than the vaccine. And these doctors should know. They’ve treated young patients who’ve contracted this heart ailment after vaccination — it’s called myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle — and they’ve also treated young patients who’ve had Covid-19. There simply is no comparison between the two, they say.

The Oracle engineer who created the APEX System and then worked with the CDC to develop a COVID tracking system died late last month from coronavirus. Joel Kallman announced he took the vaccine back in March.

BREA, Calif. - A California doctor who tested positive for COVID-19 months after receiving the vaccine shares a warning about breakthrough cases with the public. It had been about six months since Dr. Eugene Choi got the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. But right now, the Los Angeles-based radiologist is in quarantine fighting off the virus he thought he wouldn't get. "Even when I think about it today, it's crazy," Choi said. "I can't believe I have COVID." His wife also tested positive for the virus, also happening months after she was fully vaccinated. The positive test result left...

I'm just watching the Denmark-Finland European championship game and Denmark's star collapsed on the field. They've been doing CPR for 10 minutes on the field doesn't look good.

Yesterday I visited a small manufacturing business in my area (work-related), noting that there was a sign on the door advising employees "fully-vaccinated employees may be mask-free with proof of vaccination;" I made a mental note, as this was only the 2nd business I'd seen with such a notice. I went about my business and engaged in chit-chat with the gal in the office while I was working. I was focused on the problem and hardly being attentive to the conversation while she was griping about the lack of supervisors, apologizing for not wearing her mask. I told her I...

Two guests aboard the Celebrity Millennium tested positive for Covid-19 in required end-of-cruise testing, the cruise line said in a Thursday news release. Celebrity Millennium -- the first major cruise ship allowing American passengers since the pandemic forced a pause on the industry -- set sail on Saturday. The two positive guests, which shared a stateroom on the ship, are asymptomatic and are now in isolation while being monitored by a medical team, the release said. "We are conducting contact tracing, expediting testing for all close contacts and closely monitoring the situation," the news release said. The ship is sailing...

The Centers for Disease Control has announced Thursday that it has scheduled an emergency meeting to discuss increasing reports of myocarditis and pericarditis (heart inflammation) in individuals who had recently received the COVID vaccine, specifically the mRNA Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines. The virtual meeting is scheduled for June 18 and will last from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has outlined an agenda for the emergency meeting, which lists several data points uncovered during the investigation previously reported on by National File. The CDC ACIP notes that 488 total...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that it will convene an "emergency meeting" of its advisers on June 18th to discuss rare but higher-than-expected reports of heart inflammation following doses of the mRNA-based Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

INOVIO's Pan-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate INO-4802 is not matched to a single variant, unlike other variant vaccines in development; INO-4802 could potentially offer broader immune responsesPhase 1/2 clinical trials with INO-4802 are planned this yearINOVIO (NASDAQ:INO), a biotechnology company focused on bringing to market precisely designed DNA medicines to treat and protect people from infectious diseases, cancer, and HPV-associated diseases, today announced that its next-generation Pan-COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4802, induced potent neutralizing antibodies and T cell responses against the original Wuhan strain as well as against B.1.1.7 (UK variant), B.1.351 (South African variant) and P.1. (Brazilian variant) in preclinical models. These...

The number of cases of a heart inflammation condition in 16-to-24-year-olds was higher than expected after they received their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday, citing preliminary data from its vaccine safety monitor system. There have been 275 reported cases of myocarditis or pericarditis, which are inflammation conditions involving the heart, in people ages 16 to 24 as of May 31, according to a CDC presentation that was prepared for a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel meeting Thursday.