Flu vaccine appears to be a very good match to circulating strains, CDC says | CNN This year's flu shot appears to be "a very good match" to the circulating strains, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Monday. However, she noted that flu vaccinations are lagging behind the pace of previous years. Brenda Goodman CNN

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Beijing drops COVID testing burden as wider easing beckons Residents of China's capital were allowed into parks, supermarkets, offices and airports without a negative COVID-19 test on Tuesday, the latest in a mix of easing steps nationwide after unprecedented protests against a tough zero-COVID policy. Ryan Woo,Martin Quin Pollard Reuters

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Difficulty getting care for Covid-19 has become an increasingly common problem for poor, uninsured Americans. After paying about $25 billion to health care providers over the course of the pandemic to reimburse them for vaccinating, testing and treating people without insurance, the federal government is running low on funds for Covid care for the nearly 30 million Americans who are uninsured.

COVID resurgence prompts new CDC mask guidance for Long Island and parts of NYC It's the season of giving, but be wary of giving your family members COVID​. The virus is rebounding in 5 New York counties. CBS New York

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The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk counties are all in the orange, with positivity rates between 7-10%.

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UK Says Long Covid May Explain Much of Spike in Inactivity Rate More than 200,000 Britons who left the UK labor market in the year to July reported suffering from long-Covid, official statistics show. Philip Aldrick Bloomberg.com

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Analysis by the Office for National Statistics found a link between the virus and the soaring levels of workforce inactivity since the pandemic struck, which is posing severe economic problems for the UK.

Pfizer asks FDA to clear updated COVID shot for kids under 5 Pfizer is asking U.S. regulators to authorize its updated COVID-19 vaccine for children under age 5 — not as a booster but part of their initial shots. Children ages 6 months through 4 years already are supposed to get three extra-small doses of the original Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine — each a tenth of the amount adults receive — as their primary series. AP NEWS

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China eases controls, gives no sign when 'zero COVID' ends BEIJING (AP) — China is easing some of the world’s most stringent anti-virus controls and authorities say new variants are weaker. But they have yet to say when they might end a “zero-COVID” strategy that confines millions of people to their homes and set off protests and demands for President Xi Jinping to resign. AP NEWS

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As respiratory viruses strain US health care systems, Biden administration tells states how it's ready to help | CNN Nearly 20,000 people in the United States were admitted to the hospital for flu last week, almost double the number of admissions from the week before, according to data updated Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deidre McPhillips CNN

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Washington Post

Covid hospitalizations rising post-Thanksgiving after an autumn lull

A post-Thanksgiving uptick in covid-19 patients at U.S. hospitals is arriving even as health systems contend with waves of feverish, coughing people stricken with RSV and influenza infections.

Covid hospitalizations last week reached their highest level in three months, with more than 35,000 patients being treated, according to Washington Post data tracking. National hospitalizations had stagnated throughout fall but started rising in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. All but a few states reported per capita increases in the past week.

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Nearly 20,000 Americans were hospitalized with influenza during Thanksgiving week, the most for that week in more than a decade and almost double the previous week's count.

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