Millions of Americans who have private health insurance can soon get reimbursed when they buy a COVID-19 test kit to use at home, President Joe Biden announced during a press briefing Dec. 2. That means at-home test kits -- which can easily cost $25 apiece -- will essentially be free when people claim the reimbursement through their insurance.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the use of Eli Lilly's (LLY.N) COVID-19 dual-antibody therapy in treating mild to moderate symptoms in all children, including newborns, who are at risk of severe illness.
Scientists in South Africa say omicron is at least three times more likely to cause reinfection than previous variants such as beta and delta, according to a preliminary study published Thursday.
Statistical analysis of some 2.8 million positive coronavirus samples in South Africa, 35,670 of which were suspected to be reinfections, led researchers to conclude that the omicron mutation has a "substantial ability to evade immunity from prior infection."
The World Health Organization's (WHO) chief scientist on Friday urged people not to panic over the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant and said it was too early to say if COVID-19 vaccines would have to be modified to fight it.
Soumya Swaminathan also said it was impossible to predict if Omicron would become the dominant strain.
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday to halt the start of President Biden's national vaccine mandate for health care workers, which had been set to begin next week. The injunction, written by Judge Terry A. Doughty, effectively expanded a separate order issued on Monday by a federal court in Missouri.
A person in California who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 became the first in the U.S. to have an identified case of the omicron variant, the White House announced Wednesday as scientists continue to study the risks posed by the new virus strain. Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters that the person was a traveler who returned from South Africa on Nov. 22 and tested positive on Nov. 29.