Data from 78,000 South Africans with COVID show the Pfizer vaccine is far less effective in preventing infection by the omicron variant. But there is still significant protection from severe illness.
Georgia’s economy will bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic next year, despite inflation and the latest COVID-19 variant, the dean of the business school at the University of Georgia predicted Monday.
On today's show: A Republican leader in the state Senate filed a bill to eliminate drop boxes, which have enabled voters to cast absentee ballots more easily. Meanwhile, Gov. Brian Kemp is expected to announce later this week that Rivian, one of the country’s largest manufacturers of electric vehicles, is set to build an assembly plant in Georgia.
The research finds that the medicine, called Paxlovid, was effective in preventing hospitalization and death when taken by people with mild to moderate illness within a few days of symptoms.
Public health and government officials sighed with relief when COVID-19 vaccinations came to Coastal Georgia last December. The first 84,000 doses were set aside for those working in health care, including Dr. Kathleen Toomey, the commissioner for the Georgia Department of Public Health.
She spoke after receiving her first shot, saying vaccination felt like the "light at the end of a tunnel" after a long, hard year.
Since Lindsay rolled up her sleeve to get vaccinated a year ago, she has devoted herself to motivating others, especially those who are hesitant, to get vaccinated. She shares five persuasive tips.
Testing yourself for COVID-19 at home could be easier and less expensive next month thanks to a new White House plan, but experts question whether the measure will be enough to help those living in poorer and more rural parts of Georgia.
The variant has spread through South Africa with remarkable speed — and been detected in at least 60 other countries. Specialists are trying to figure out the next stage for this unwelcome variant.
Georgia's COVID-19 caseload is trending upward as state health officials detected a sign that the omicron variant of the virus is spreading locally. Department of Public Health officials said Thursday that they confirmed an omicron case in an unvaccinated Atlanta-area resident who hadn't traveled abroad recently.
In small studies in South Africa and in Germany, the results indicate a marked decrease in the ability of vaccines to neutralize this variant. But there are other findings that are encouraging.
A vaccine from a Canadian biotech firm Medicago has been found to be effective at preventing moderate to severe disease. It could soon become the first plant-based vaccine authorized for human use.
The BOOST Grants Program provides three-year grants, renewed annually, to community-based and statewide organizations that operate comprehensive out-of-school time programming year-round, over the summer months or after school during the academic year.
An analysis by NPR shows that since the vaccine rollout, counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump have had more than twice the COVID mortality rates of those that voted for Joe Biden.
