According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States is recording an average of over 265,000 daily COVID-19 cases. That’s the highest average of daily cases since the pandemic began, breaking the old record of 250,000 set back in January. New cases per day have more than doubled over the past two weeks.…

South Africa’s largest private health insurer Discovery Health teamed up with the South African Medical Research Council to release new data on the Omicron variant Tuesday. South Africa was the first country to report the variant to the World Health Organization last month. According to the data, during the country’s current Omicron-fueled surge in cases:…

The Omicron variant is the latest challenge facing the Biden Administration’s pandemic response. The first cases were identified in South Africa, but the variant has since spread to more than 25 countries, including the U.S. However, President Biden’s travel ban only applies to eight African countries. The restrictions have been met with criticism. South African President Cyril…

Health experts, world leaders, and news anchors have all been flubbing the pronunciation of Omicron, the latest COVID-19 variant. On Nov. 26, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, a COVID technical lead at the World Health Organization, announced to the world the newest COVID-19 variant and pronounced it “Oh-my-kraan.”  Three days later, President Joe Biden gave a briefing…

The World Health Organization announced a new and potentially more dangerous COVID-19 variant spreading across the globe called Omicron. Here’s how WHO named this variant.  In May, WHO announced it would use the Greek alphabet to name new COVID-19 variants, a practice once used by The National Hurricane Center when naming hurricanes.  Since implementing the…

A day after reports started coming out that the Food and Drug Administration was looking to approve Pfizer’s COVID-19 boosters in kids ages 16 and 17, new details are leaving more questions than answers as to the origin of the new Omicron variant. According to those details, the Netherlands’ RIVM health institute found omicron in…

Just hours after the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning regarding the global risk from the Omicron variant, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expanded its recommendation regarding COVID-19 booster shots Monday, in order to give more Americans more vaccine protection. The CDC is now saying “everyone ages 18 and older should…

At a White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing Wednesday, coordinator Jeff Zients said 10% of kids aged 5-11 who are eligible for the vaccine have gotten at least one dose. That covers at least 2.6 million kids. The video above shows clips from the briefing. 1.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in the last…

Just hours after Pfizer announced it has made a deal with the Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) regarding the company’s COVID-19 pill, the company said Tuesday afternoon it is asking the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization for the pill. The FDA will scrutinize company data on the safety and effectiveness of the…

The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released the results of a new survey on vaccines and vaccine mandates Thursday. The key findings included information regarding children and vaccines: 27% of parents of 5-11-year-olds are eager to get their kid or kids vaccinated as soon as a vaccine is available. 31% of parents say they will definitely…