vaccinations

A group of University of Florida medical school faculty members challenged controversial guidance by state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo on COVID-19 vaccinations, but a university official said Wednesday the guidance is outside the scope of Ladapo’s work with the school.

Last school year marked a more than 10-year low for Florida’s kindergarten and seventh-grade students completing all doses of required immunizations, according to a recent report from the state Department of Health. The required shots — which do not include COVID-19 vaccinations — are designed to protect against diseases including tetanus, diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella, influenza B, hepatitis B and polio.

Because polio has been vanishingly rare in the U.S. for nearly a half-century, doctors may not consider it when diagnosing patients with typical symptoms. Here are the signs and science behind the disease.

The FDA has authorized Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for children ages 6 months to 4 years old. The CDC is recommending those vaccines.

The Special Olympics have begun in Florida without an originally planned vaccine mandate in place that would have blocked some athletes from competing.

COVID-19 vaccinations for children younger than 5 could start right after the Juneteenth holiday.

The pandemic drove U.S. life expectancy down again in 2021 even though life-saving vaccines were widely available.

The new government website includes a locator tool for more than 2,000 sites to access "test to treat" services for COVID. It's meant to be a one-stop shop for Americans' pandemic needs.

No deaths were reported in tests, and there were no signs of myocarditis, or heart inflammation, as a side effect.

The White House asked for more money from Congress to keep its COVID response going. But that hasn't happened, so some things need to be wound down.

Health care experts say that confirmed deaths represent a fraction of the true number of deaths due to COVID because of limited testing.

Just 18% of 5- to 11-year-olds are fully vaccinated, with rates varying significantly across the country, a KHN analysis of federal data shows. Pediatricians say the slow pace and geographic disparities are alarming.