Articles Tagged With: COVID-19
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Healthcare Employers Can Mandate Vaccines, but Some Caution Necessary
Guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission indicates healthcare employers can require employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These mandates come with some obligations and risks. -
OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Standard Requires Written Plan, Precautions
The new COVID-19 requirements from OSHA for healthcare employers create substantial obligations, but many hospitals already are carrying out much of what is required. The challenge may come in formalizing a written plan and ensuring it addresses all of OSHA’s expectations. -
Disease Severity and Perinatal Outcomes of Pregnant Patients with COVID-19
In this observational cohort study of patients with singleton gestation and positive coronavirus test, patients with severe or critical disease were at risk for perinatal complications compared to those who were asymptomatic. Patients classified with mild or moderate disease were not shown to have an increased risk compared to asymptomatic positive patients.
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Changes to Medication Abortion Could Result in Pharmacy Dispensing of the Drug
The easing of the risk evaluation and mitigation strategy restriction on mifepristone will make it easier for women to obtain the drug and could allow for pharmacy dispensing of the drug. Pharmacists should have a seat at the table in the conversation on dispensing prescription medication. -
Reassuring Vaccine-Hesitant Healthcare Workers
A common misperception that has led to vaccine hesitancy in healthcare workers and the public is the COVID-19 vaccines were produced with undue haste, seemingly coming out of nowhere to respond to the pandemic. The extensive scientific work with many other viruses that enabled the rapid development of the pandemic vaccines often is left out of the equation. -
OSHA Publishes COVID-19 ETS with Tight Window on Comments
OSHA has published its Emergency Temporary Standard to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 as an interim final rule in the Federal Register, allowing only until July 21 to receive comments and feedback. -
OSHA’s COVID-19 Regulation: Better Late Than Never
OSHA's emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 is drawing mixed reviews. There certainly is a broad appreciation of OSHA’s effort to protect healthcare workers, but the benefits of the ETS are somewhat mitigated by the fact that it comes 18 months into the pandemic. Many employees are now vaccinated. -
Party Affiliation and Social Distancing
Disparate public health messaging from political officials, news media, and online outlets has occurred throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Some have wanted to ascribe lower rates of compliance with public health guidance to political affiliation. -
Extensive Loss of Health at Six Months in Survivors of COVID-19
Researchers found many survivors of COVID-19 exhibited significant loss of health six months after their acute illness, with greater risk associated with severity of the acute infection. -
COVID Watch Text Program Enhances Case Management and Monitoring of Patients
The University of Pennsylvania’s new texting program, called COVID Watch, could play a key role in the future of monitoring COVID-19 patients after discharge. The program sends automated text messages in English and Spanish twice a day for 14 days, asking patients if their symptoms are better, the same, or worse.