Childhood immunizations

Editorial Roundup: Pennsylvania

Aug. 12, 2020 4:44 PM EDT

Recent editorials of statewide and national interest from Pennsylvania’s newspapers: Stalling by PIAA and Wolf on fall sports leaves schools, students in limbo The Citizen's Voice Aug. 7 Facing a decision of monumental importance to students, schools and parents, Gov. Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania...

Gao Fu, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), speaks to journalists after a press conference at the State Council Information Office in Beijing on Jan. 26, 2020. Gao has revealed Tuesday, July 28, 2020 he has been injected with an experimental coronavirus vaccine in what he said is an attempt to persuade the public to follow suit when one is approved. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Head of China CDC gets injected with experimental vaccine

Jul. 28, 2020 2:51 AM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — The head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention says he has been injected with an experimental coronavirus vaccine in an attempt to persuade the public to follow suit when one is approved. “I’m going to reveal something undercover: I am injected with one of...

FILE - In this March 16, 2020 file photo, a health worker gives a polio vaccine to a child in Lahore, Pakistan. Pakistan’s army chief has told Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates that despite the challenge of COVID-19, Pakistan plans to restart polio vaccination campaigns across the country. The military said late Wednesday, June 10, that Gen. Qamer Javed Bajwa spoke by phone with Gates who has worked to try and eradicate polio worldwide. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)

Pakistan to resume polio campaign as COVID-19 cases decline

Jul. 14, 2020 5:15 AM EDT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan announced Tuesday it would resume vaccinations against polio next week, months after the drive against this crippling children’s disease was halted because the novel coronavirus had overwhelmed the country's health system. The anti-polio campaign would last three days,...

FILE - In this May 15, 2019, file photo, a dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is displayed at the Neighborcare Health clinics at Vashon Island High School in Vashon Island, Wash. Sri Lanka and Maldives have become the first two countries in the World Health Organization's South-East Asia region to eliminate both measles and rubella ahead of a 2023 target, the U.N. health agency announced Wednesday. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

WHO says Sri Lanka and Maldives eliminate measles, rubella

Jul. 8, 2020 5:27 AM EDT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka and Maldives have become the first two countries in the World Health Organization's South-East Asia region to eliminate both measles and rubella ahead of a 2023 target, the U.N. health agency announced Wednesday. “This success is encouraging and demonstrates the...

Jennifer Gottschalk, environmental health supervisor of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, walks down a hallway of the department’s offices in Toledo, Ohio, on Wednesday, June 24, 2020. When the coronavirus pandemic struck earlier in the year, the county’s department was so short-staffed that her duties included overseeing campground and pool inspections, rodent control and sewage programs, while also supervising outbreak preparedness for a community of more than 425,000 people. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Hollowed out public health system faces more cuts amid virus

Jul. 1, 2020 10:25 AM EDT

The U.S. public health system has been starved for decades and lacks the resources to confront the worst health crisis in a century. Marshaled against a virus that has sickened at least 2.6 million in the U.S., killed more than 126,000 people and cost tens of millions of jobs and $3 trillion in federal rescue...

FILE - This Jan. 23, 2020 file photo shows a patient receiving a flu vaccination in Mesquite, Texas. According to a study released on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, flu vaccines for years were close to 60% effective against the flu strain that caused the most lab-confirmed illnesses last winter, but it proved only 31% effective last season. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

Flu vaccine was disappointing vs. some strains last season

Jun. 24, 2020 5:10 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — The flu vaccine did a disappointing job last winter in the U.S., and officials worry that might be a bad sign for the fall. Flu vaccines had been about 60% effective against the type of flu that caused the most lab-confirmed illnesses last winter, but last season's vaccine was only about...