WHO says COVID-19 is still a global health emergency The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that COVID-19 remains a global emergency, nearly three years after it was first declared as one. Reuters Reuters

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Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native adults more likely to be hospitalized for flu and less likely to be vaccinated, CDC report finds | CNN Black, American Indian/Alaska Native and Hispanic adults are more likely than their White peers to be hospitalized for the flu, but less likely to be vaccinated against it, a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds. Carma Hassan CNN

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WHO advises using 1 dose of cholera vaccine due to shortage GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization and its partners are recommending that countries temporarily switch to using a single dose of the cholera vaccine instead of two due to a supply shortage as outbreaks of the water-borne disease surge globally. AP NEWS

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U.S. FDA authorizes Novavax's COVID vaccine as booster for adults The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine as a booster for adults, helping the company's shares reverse course and rise more than 3%. Reuters Reuters

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Opinion: Paxlovid coverage wrongly suggests the experts blew it again on Covid-19 | CNN The tone of reports about Paxlovid's interactions with other drugs is alarming, says Kent Sepkowitz. It seems to imply experts have exposed the world to another of their mistakes -- a view describing much of the criticism to the pandemic response. Kent Sepkowitz CNN

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COVID-19 contributed to a quarter of maternal deaths from 2020 to 2021, report finds Maternal deaths saw a sharp rise in 2020 and 2021, according to the CDC. A new report examines how many were due to COVID-19. YahooNews

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The report released Wednesday morning by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan government auditing agency, details maternal mortality disparities during the pandemic and how the virus contributed to overall maternal deaths.

Whites now more likely to die from covid than Blacks: Why the pandemic shifted As the pandemic progressed, the damage done by the coronavirus broadened, and the toxicity of modern-day politics came to the fore. Washington Post

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Harvard announces new bivalent COVID booster requirement Are other Mass. schools soon to follow? Clara McCourt Boston.com

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Moderna says Omicron booster response stays high through 3 months Moderna Inc said on Wednesday its COVID-19 vaccine booster targeting the BA.1 subvariant of Omicron generated a strong immune response against that variant, with antibody levels staying high for at least three months. Reuters Reuters

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It's 'not helpful' to view pandemic through political lens: White House COVID coordinator The White House's COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha reflects on how politics hampered the country's pandemic response. YahooNews

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"It's going to be very hard to manage our health-care system if we don't make some important changes," Jha said.