Washtenaw County issues mask mandate for K-12 schools
September 2nd, 20210 WASHTENAW COUNTY — Health officials in Washtenaw County have issued an emergency order requiring masks to be worn at all K-12 schools. Under the new order, beginning on Sept. 7, students and staff at all K-12 public, private, vocational and charter schools within the county will be required to wear a face mask while indoors to help...
Pfizer gets unanimous recommendation from CDC immunization committee
September 1st, 20210 Adding to expert confidence over the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC announced this week that its advisory committee on immunization has given the vaccine a "unanimous recommendation" for those ages 16 and up. The committee’s 14-0 vote came a week after the FDA gave the Pfizer vaccine full approval. The CDC's Advisory Committee...
Wayne County requires masks for all schools, daycare providers
August 27th, 20210 Wayne County has now joined neighboring Oakland County in mandating masks be worn in local school districts, schools and daycare providers. The latest pandemic health order by the Wayne County Health Department takes effect immediately and requires students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear a face mask while in school and during...
D7 changes its back-to-school plan just days before the school year starts, universal masking required
August 27th, 20210 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — At an Aug. 24 board meeting, the District 7 (D7) School Board of Education voted to require masks, just six days before school starts. Interim Superintendent Dr. Mary Ann Cyr had previously told The Arab American News that the district would allow parents and staff to make their own decision regarding wearing...
Beaumont to open third COVID-19 vaccine dose appointments for immunocompromised patients
August 26th, 20210 DEARBORN — Beaumont Health has announced that it is opening up appointments for immunocompromised patients who want a third COVID-19 vaccine dose. Beaumont is also encouraging patients who are moderately to severely immunocompromised and have received two doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to get a third dose. The...
Oakland County issues emergency health order requiring masks in schools; parents protest in Macomb County after learning it will not be mandating masks
August 26th, 20210 OAKLAND/MACOMB COUNTIES — On Tuesday, the Oakland County Health Division issued a universal mask mandate for all students in PreK-12 schools. The emergency health order requires masks in daycares, elementary, middle, high and vocational schools regardless of vaccination status to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The new order is...
HPS superintendent: Prepare your child for back-to-school success
August 24th, 20210 Waving summer goodbye is bittersweet, but the new school year is right around the corner and your schools are eager to welcome students back. You may find your family is already in back-to-school-mode, or maybe your children are trying to make summer last as long as possible. Either way, preparing for the school year can be simple. As...
Wayne County offering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to immunocompromised residents
August 24th, 20210 WAYNE COUNTY — The Wayne County Health Department has begun administering Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to immunocompromised residents. Boosters are available at no cost to eligible residents at all Wayne County-sponsored vaccine sites. Boosters for immunocompromised residents are another safe and effective...
Public health expert answers questions about COVID variants, boosters, back-to-school
August 21st, 20210 DEARBORN — The federal government is preparing to deliver "booster" shots of COVID-19 vaccines to Americans by mid-September, recommending that immunocompromised people take a booster even sooner. Health officials have acknowledged that protection from vaccines wanes, or diminishes over time, though they still remain highly...
Chief medical executive recommends mask mandate for schools, state still allowing districts to decide
August 20th, 20210 LANSING — Despite a recommendation from the state’s top health official, the State Board of Education and the governor are still not mandating masks in schools. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun has issued a recommendation for the state to issue a mask mandate in...
U.S. begins preparing to deliver COVID booster shots; immunocompromised urged not to wait
August 18th, 20210 Top U.S. health officials said on Wednesday that the protection offered by current available vaccines against COVID-19 wanes over time, as federal agencies have begun preparing to offer booster shots to all eligible Americans beginning the week of Sept. 20. The booster shots will have to be administered starting eight months after a...
Dearborn man loses more than 100 lbs in the last year
August 14th, 20210 DEARBORN — After having COVID-19 last year, Dearborn native Sam Ali and his family feared for his life and that fear led Ali to make some very big life changes. The 43-year-old Ali said that he has tried many different diets and workout plans before, but none of them were successful. Ali had tested positive for COVID-19 on July...
Dearborn Heights’ D7 and Crestwood School Districts address plans for the new school year
August 13th, 20210 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — With the CDC changing its recommendations on mask mandates due to the rise of COVID-19 cases, local school districts discussed back-to-school options. Dearborn Heights’ D7 School District has been one of the few districts in the area to have allowed parents to decide whether their children would learn virtually...
Dearborn offers free physical activities for students with disabilities
August 12th, 20210 DEARBORN — A free physical activity program adapted for youth with disabilities is now being offered to students in Dearborn who are ages 5- to 18-years-old. The Program for Inclusive Physical Exercise and Recreation Strategies (PIPERS) is designed to increase access to opportunities for physical activity among Dearborn youth with...
FDA plans for COVID vaccine boosters could be ready within weeks
August 11th, 20210 WASHINGTON D.C. — While nearly half of all Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the FDA is reportedly on the verge of administering booster doses. According to The Wall Street Journal, the FDA is expecting to roll out its booster strategy by early September. The Biden administration has been pushing for the......
State says there are no plans of reinstating COVID-19 restrictions, as students prepare to return to school
August 11th, 20210 LANSING — With COVID-19 cases spiking throughout the state from the Delta variant, the state says there are no plans on reinstating restrictions. Since last weekend, the state is averaging just over 906 COVID-19 cases per day. On Wednesday, there were 31 cases of the Delta variant in Wayne County and 356 Delta cases...
MDHHS issues updated COVID-19 school guidance
August 5th, 20210 LANSING — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has issued updated recommendations for schools for the new school year. The updated recommendations are designed to help prevent transmission of COVID-19 within school buildings, reduce disruptions to in-person learning and help protect vulnerable individuals......
Beaumont Health to require COVID-19 vaccines
July 28th, 20210 DEARBORN — Beaumont Health has announced that it will be requiring all employees who practice at a Beaumont facility to have their COVID-19 vaccine. The mandate will also apply to volunteers and providers. The announcement came after the rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant among unvaccinated people. We have...
Surgeon General: “People do not need to go out and get a booster shot”
July 28th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — As new data from Pfizer shows a "booster" shot of its COVID-19 vaccine provides strong protection against the highly-contagious Delta variant, federal officials reiterated that Americans don’t need one quite yet. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Wednesday that people "do not need to go out and...
U.S. CDC recommends vaccinated Americans wear masks indoors in many cases
July 27th, 20210 Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 should go back to wearing masks in indoor public places in regions where the coronavirus is spreading rapidly, U.S. health authorities said on Tuesday. In a toughening of guidance issued earlier this month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommended all...
Delta variant and vaccine hesitancy put COVID advances in jeopardy
July 22nd, 20210 The U.S. is now seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases, as the highly-contagious Delta variant driving infections among those unvaccinated across the country, especially in areas where vaccination rates remain relatively low. Johns Hopkins University tallies show the average number of daily COVID cases in the U.S. has gone up 66 percent......
Pfizer to ask FDA to authorize booster dose of vaccine as Delta variant spreads
July 8th, 20210 The drugmaker Pfizer said on Thursday it will ask the U.S. government for the approval of a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine within the next month, as fears among experts grow around the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. The request with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is based on evidence of greater risk...
Delta variant spells danger for unvaccinated people, continues to alarm experts
July 6th, 20210 With the more-infectious Delta variant emerging as the most common strain of the coronavirus, parts of the U.S. with the lowest vaccination rates are threatening to halt progress on the pandemic in the country. Southern states like Arkansas, Missouri and Alabama have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, according to......
J&J, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines show promise against the Delta variant
July 2nd, 20210 Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Moderna recently announced promising results in studies to determine vaccine effectiveness against the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus. First identified in India, Delta is becoming the globally dominant variant of the coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization. Johnson...
Booster may be needed for J&J shot as Delta variant spreads, some experts already taking them
June 28th, 20210 Infectious disease experts are weighing the need for booster shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech, or Moderna mRNA-based vaccines for Americans who received Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine due to the increasing prevalence of the more contagious Delta coronavirus variant. A few say they have already done so themselves, even without......
