Study seeks to understand Arab American health during COVID-19
December 24th, 20200 DEARBORN — A new research project seeks to better understand how social and behavioral aspects of everyday life affect the health and wellness of those aged 65 and older in Metro Detroit. A special component of this research, led by University of Michigan professor Dr. Kristine Ajrouch, will study the social components of health...
Over 37,000 healthcare workers immunized against COVID in Michigan
December 23rd, 20200 LANSING — More than 37,000 frontline healthcare workers have now received a COVID-19 vaccination shot in the state, the state’s health department announced on Wednesday. The immunizations of healthcare workers is a common strategy across the U.S., as the first doses of Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, and later Moderna's...
Public health advisor talks vaccine myths and fact
December 19th, 20200 DEARBORN — The state of Michigan began immunizations against the COVID-19 virus on Monday, as quantities of the new Pfizer vaccine began reaching sites across the country this week. By Wednesday night, 1,078 vaccines had been administered to Michigan’s health care workers who are at high risk of contraction due to their routine...
Congresswoman Debbie Dingell hosts virtual town hall to discuss COVID relief, vaccines
December 19th, 20200 DEARBORN – U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) hosted a virtual town hall this week with health experts from Beaumont and Washtenaw County to discuss COVID-19. “I can’t wait to get back to the things we used to work on instead of COVID 24 hours a day, but it matters,” Dingell said. “Public health really matters. First and...
FDA advisory panel overwhelmingly endorses Moderna’s vaccine
December 17th, 20200 Another COVID-19 vaccine appears ready in the pipeline, as an outside panel of advisors to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) overwhelmingly endorsed Moderna’s vaccine on Thursday. The committee of outside experts makes recommendations to the FDA, which it did for Pfizer’s vaccine just last week. The FDA generally goes...
MI COVID Alert app hits nearly half a million downloads in its first month
December 17th, 20200 LANSING — Just one month after the statewide launch, the MI COVID Alert app has reached nearly 500,000 downloads. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget (DTMB) announced that there have been 461,192 downloads of the app. “So much about...
State officials provide vaccine facts and warn of scams
December 16th, 20200 LANSING — In a press conference on Tuesday, state officials provided facts about the COVID-19 vaccine and warned of new scams that have already started. With the Pfizer vaccine starting to be administered to healthcare workers throughout the state and the Moderna vaccine expected to be coming soon as well, Michigan Department of...
FDA announces approval for over the counter COVID-19 tests
December 15th, 20200 WASHINGTON D.C. — A rapid, at-home COVID-19 test that can be purchased over the counter without a prescription will be available on store shelves soon. Regulators authorized the test, which can be done entirely at home. “The test will be sold in places like drugstores,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said, “where a patient...
Michigan begins historic COVID-19 vaccinations
December 14th, 20200 MICHIGAN — Frontline health care workers at two Michigan hospitals today were the first people to receive the new COVID-19 vaccines. Marc McClelland, pulmonary and critical care physician, 46, of Ada, was among the first people to receive the vaccine in the state, at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital. “To me this is a day of...
NY nurse becomes first American to receive COVID-19 vaccine
December 14th, 20200 NEW YORK - On Monday, New York’s Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care unit nurse, who has treated some of the sickest COVID-19 cases for months, became the first person in the U.S. to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. “It didn’t feel any different from taking any other vaccine,” Lindsay said. “I feel hopeful today,...
First deliveries of COVID vaccine depart Michigan plant
December 13th, 20200 MICHIGAN — A few days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized emergency use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, trucks carrying the vaccine left the company’s plant in Portage, Michigan on Sunday. An estimated 2.9 million vaccines are expected to be delivered this week, with priority given to health care workers...
Businesses that depend on indoor dining get tax payment extension
December 10th, 20200 LANSING — Michigan businesses that depend on indoor dining for their revenue are receiving a tax payment extension effective immediately. During a press conference today, Governor Whitmer announced that businesses can postpone their monthly sales use and withholding tax payments that are due Dec. 20 until Jan. 20, 2021. Whitmer...
U.K. warns people with serious allergies to avoid Pfizer vaccine after two adverse reactions
December 9th, 20200 LONDON — Britain’s medicine regulator has advised that people with a history of significant allergies do not get the Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine after two people reported severe adverse reactions on the first day of rollout. Starting with the elderly and frontline workers, Britain began mass vaccinating its population on...
FDA scientists say Pfizer vaccine is “highly effective” as outside panel meets Thursday
December 8th, 20200 U.S. Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientists have endorsed the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine ahead of a committee meeting of outside experts and the FDA's eventual use authorization, the health sciences publication STAT reports. Specifically, reviewers have said the two-dose vaccine is shown to be “highly...
Michigan’s “three-week pause” extended by 12 days
December 7th, 20200 LANSING — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced on Monday a 12 day extension of its COVID-19 order that restricts indoor social gatherings and other group activities. The earlier order was in place for three weeks — set to expire on Tuesday — and covered the time people traveled and spent time......
MDHHS updates to 10-day quarantine period following CDC
December 4th, 20200 LANSING - The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has updated guidance on COVID-19 quarantine periods to conform its standards to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The CDC now gives the options to reduce the required number of quarantine days for individuals with known...
In world first, U.K. approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
December 2nd, 20200 (REUTERS) — Britain approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, jumping ahead of the rest of the world in the race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation program in history with a shot tested in wide-scale clinical trials. Prime Minister Boris Johnson touted the green light from the U.K.’s medicine authority as a......
State medical director addresses COVID-19 vaccine plan
December 1st, 20200 LANSING — During Tuesday’s COVID-19 press conference, Dr. Joneigh Khladun gave more insight into the state’s plans of vaccine distribution. With Pfizer and Moderna both having vaccines in clinical trial stages, Khaldun said that health experts are expecting a vaccine decision from the FDA and CDC to be made by...
COVID’s second wave underscores the threats facing disabled Americans
December 1st, 20200 The second wave of COVID-19 has arrived with a vengeance. But there's hope on the horizon. Pfizer and Moderna just announced their experimental vaccines proved more than 90 percent effective in clinical trials. People in the highest risk categories — namely, healthcare workers and those with chronic illnesses and disabilities —...
Local doctors address severity of COVID-19
November 29th, 20200 DEARBORN — With COVID-19 cases on the rise, hospitals nearing capacity and growing frustration over health orders, some local doctors want to remind residents to take the pandemic seriously. Dr. Zafar Shamoon, emergency medicine specialist and chairman of emergency medicine at Beaumont Dearborn, said that he has experienced many...
Dearborn public safety chiefs encourage a safe holiday
November 27th, 20200 DEARBORN — In a video posted to the city’s Facebook page, Police Chief Ronald Haddad and the fire department’s Battalion Chief Glenn Owens encouraged residents to have a safe holiday. “We want to remind you that we are in the middle of a COVID crisis,” Haddad said. “And I want to emphasize that only 10 people can be at......
Henry Ford Health System ready for COVID-19 vaccines
November 25th, 20200 DETROIT – As two promising mRNA COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna move closer to approval, healthcare providers around the country are being challenged to receive, store and distribute these vaccines, both of which require storage at unusually low temperatures. As the only hospital in Michigan chosen as a Phase 3 trial site...
COVID mutation will not increase transmissibility, affect vaccine efficacy
November 25th, 20201 LONDON — A peer-reviewed scientific study published on Wednesday says known mutations of the SARS-CoV-2, or coronavirus, do not increase virus transmissibility. Researchers also say the mutations do not pose a threat to vaccine efficacy. Viruses mutate, or change, constantly and some, like the flu, mutate more than others. The......
U.S. officials plan to release 6.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in first distribution
November 24th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. officials said on Tuesday they plan to release 6.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses nationwide in an initial distribution after the first one is cleared by regulators for emergency use. Officials from the government’s Operation Warp Speed program told reporters that states and other jurisdictions had been...
First Americans could get COVID-19 vaccine by mid-December, top health official says
November 22nd, 20200 The first Americans could receive a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as 24 hours after the FDA grants approval, which would kick off the largest inoculation campaign in U.S. history starting in mid-December. “Within 24 hours from the approval, the vaccine will be moving and located in the areas where each state will have told us where they......
