COVID-19
A new COVID-19 booster is here. Will those at greatest risk get it?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends new COVID-19 booster vaccines for all — but many who need them most won’t get them. About 75% of people in the United States appear to have skipped last year’s bivalent booster, and nothing suggests uptake will be better this time around. “Urging people to get boosters […]
Food and Drug Administration approves COVID boosters for upcoming season
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the latest round of COVID-19 boosters, as public health officials brace for another cold and flu season. An advisory panel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is scheduled to vote on recommendations Tuesday, the final step in the process before people will […]
Updated COVID-19 vaccines expected to be available in September, federal officials say
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is gearing up for a fall vaccination campaign that not only includes updated COVID-19 boosters, but the annual flu shot and the newly approved RSV vaccine. “We’re going to be encouraging Americans to get their COVID-19 vaccine in addition to their annual flu shot, as well as the immunizations for […]
Scott Jensen back on speaking circuit with anti-vaxx activists
Scott Jensen, the 2022 Republican candidate for governor in Minnesota, has apparently changed his mind again about whether to hang out with some infamous anti-vaxxers.
As the COVID public health emergency ends, prepping for a new pandemic is next
WASHINGTON — After more than three years and 1.1 million deaths, the United States on Thursday will end the public health emergency for COVID-19 — and Congress is attempting to better prepare for a possible resurgence of that virus or another. The expiration of the designation, originally put in place in January 2020, means alterations […]
State prison population expected to shoot up as pandemic court backlog eases
Despite Democrats’ stated goals of reducing the prison population and making the criminal justice system less punitive, the administration of DFL Gov. Tim Walz expects the population of the state’s 10 prisons to grow from 8,000 in 2024 to 9,000 in 2025 — a 12.5% increase.
Biden signs bill declassifying information on the origin of COVID-19
WASHINGTON — The U.S. director of national intelligence has three months to declassify information on potential links between China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of COVID-19, after President Joe Biden signed legislation Monday. The bill was one of the first Biden has signed since a 118th Congress split between the two parties began […]
10 more indicted in Feeding Our Future fraud
Ten more people were indicted Monday for misappropriating and laundering money they got through a federal child nutrition program prosecutors say was bilked out of more than $250 million, primarily in Minnesota. That brings the total number of people indicted to 60. So far, six people have pleaded guilty.
Congress unanimously votes to require declassified information on COVID-19 origins
WASHINGTON — The divided 118th Congress approved its first bill Friday, after lawmakers in both the House and Senate voted unanimously to send President Joe Biden legislation that would require declassification of intelligence on the origins of COVID-19. The four-page bill, which the House voted 419-0 to clear, would require the Director of National Intelligence […]
Lawmakers hear theories on COVID-19 origins in U.S. House hearing
WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans mostly agreed Wednesday that scientists and the intelligence community should fully investigate the origins of COVID-19 without political interference over whether the virus emerged from nature or through a lab leak. Members from both political parties said throughout the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing that determining […]
Immunocompromised Minnesotans struggle with mental toll of isolation three years into pandemic
Sometimes, Eddy Samara thinks he might be willing to put himself at risk of hospitalization or death to get a cup of coffee with a friend: He’s just not willing to risk his partner’s life. Samara and his partner, Max Colleatti, are both severely immunocompromised: Samara has a rare auto-inflammatory disorder and Colleatti has a […]
States criticized for spending federal relief funds on tax cuts, prisons
As states plan how they’ll spend the $25 billion remaining in federal COVID relief funds, some also are facing criticism and renewed scrutiny over how they allocated money already received from the American Rescue Plan Act. Of the $198 billion authorized by Congress in 2021, $173 billion already has been appropriated by states, the District […]