Health
Idaho’s COVID-19 vaccination rate is picking up again. We ran the numbers.
Public health officials have been urging Idahoans for months to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Their pleas went mostly unheeded this summer. That is, until now. With a highly infectious Delta variant circulating in Idaho, and with cases and hospitalizations climbing, more Idahoans are choosing to get a COVID-19 vaccine. An Idaho Capital Sun analysis of […]
University of Idaho will use months of COVID-19 samples to study variants
Idaho will begin testing a stash of COVID-19 samples gathered over the past several months under a new grant-funded project to aid global research into coronavirus variants. The Idaho INBRE (IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence) and the University of Idaho will sequence COVID-19 samples that were collected from people in the Moscow area, under […]
Can Idahoans really be required to get COVID-19 vaccines? Case law says yes.
Hennings Jacobson strongly objected to the state’s requirement that he be vaccinated. He argued that “a compulsory vaccination law is unreasonable, arbitrary and oppressive, and, therefore, hostile to the inherent right of every freeman to care for his own body and health in such way as to him seems best.” Similar arguments have been made […]
Idaho’s ICUs are filling up again — this time, patients are in their 30s
They survived 15 months of COVID-19 swabs, patients gasping for air, intubations and body bags. They survived the bottomless pit of sorrow that is a patient’s family saying goodbye over Skype — and being the one to hold that patient’s hand as they died. The arrival of COVID-19 vaccines in Idaho gave these health care […]
CDC: Vaccinated people should wear masks indoors in areas with high infection rates
WASHINGTON — Federal health officials on Tuesday urged Americans in areas of the country with the highest surges in COVID-19 infections to once again wear masks when they are in public, indoor settings — even if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The updated recommendations marked a sharp shift from the agency’s guidance in May that […]
It took months, but these Idahoans got COVID-19 shots. What changed their minds?
Rey Ramos spent 127 days making a decision. But last Wednesday evening, he parked at a Saint Alphonsus mobile clinic in Caldwell. He got out of his car, put on a cloth mask, hesitated for a few minutes, then walked up to get his first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Ramos was one of […]
Here’s how effective COVID-19 vaccines have been in Idaho. (Hint: Very.)
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare last week shared a graphic to illustrate how much of Idaho’s COVID-19 activity is among the unvaccinated. Elke Shaw-Tulloch, Idaho’s Public Health Division administrator, was making a point about how getting a coronavirus vaccine can reduce the risk of getting sick with COVID-19, significantly reduce the risk of […]
Biden quietly transforms Medicaid’s safety net
The Biden administration is quietly engineering a series of expansions to Medicaid that may bolster protections for millions of low-income Americans and bring more people into the program. Biden’s efforts — which have been largely overshadowed by other economic and health initiatives — represent an abrupt reversal of the Trump administration’s moves to scale back […]
Who pays for public health? Who sets pandemic rules? Idaho changed the law
Two bills passed through the Idaho Legislature in the 2021 session that changed how Idaho’s public health districts are funded, and how much authority they have. State and local governments are now taking up a big question: “What does the future of public health look like in Idaho?” said Seth Grigg, executive director of the […]
Feds: Florida, Missouri, Texas account for 40 percent of all COVID-19 cases last week
WASHINGTON — Amid a rise in infections and hospitalizations from the surging delta variant of COVID-19, the Biden administration is boosting money and other assistance to the hardest-hit areas of the country. Last week, just three states with lower vaccination rates — Florida, Texas and Missouri — accounted for 40 percent of all cases nationwide. […]
Idaho needs to up its game in providing behavioral health services. These clinics could help.
There is a chronic shortage of behavioral health resources in Idaho. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported that about 100,000 Idaho adults had an unmet need for mental health treatment in 2018-19. Children fare no better in the Gem State. Idaho has received a 46th place ranking among the states for child access to mental health […]
Analysis: In the absence of mandates, educators pin their hopes on vaccine messaging
Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on July 22, 2021 As Idaho’s coronavirus case numbers surge again, vaccination numbers continue to lag. And vaccination rates are lowest among young people — just weeks before students are due to return to schools and college campuses. This puts health officials and education leaders in a bind. They say vaccines […]