United States

What the end of the covid public health emergency means for you Here’s how major health policies will be affected when the covid public health emergency ends on on May 11. Washington Post

...

As this long emergency period expires, experts say, the biggest impact for consumers will be the end of free coronavirus tests — both at-home tests and those performed by clinicians and analyzed by commercial labs — with broad implications for people’s ability to get timely covid diagnoses, prevent disease transmission and track the virus.

...

Mystery companies sending Florida seniors unwanted Covid-19 tests, billing Medicare Florida seniors are complaining that they are receiving Covid tests in the mail—even though they didn’t order them. Even so, their Medicare insurance is paying hundreds of dollars for the tes… Shannon Behnken WFLA

...

FDA approves first RSV vaccine, a long-sought scientific achievement The FDA has approved the first-ever vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, completing an elusive quest that has been decades in the making. Helen Branswell STAT

... The product, GSK’s Arexvy, was approved for adults ages 60 and older.

Decreasing US racial health gap amid COVID could be due to more White deaths CIDRAP

A study of nearly 1 million US adults who died of COVID-19 in the first 2 years of the pandemic suggests that the decrease in disparities between Black and White deaths can be explained by increased deaths among White adults and shifts in geographic spread.

...