Editor's Note In this study, researchers from Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, Washington, report on rare cases of postvaccination myocarditis and pericarditis. Of 2,000,285 individuals who received at least one COVID-19 vaccination in the analysis, 20 had vaccine-related myocarditis and 37 had pericarditis. Myocarditis occurred a median of 3.5 days…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on August 4 that revisions to three Health Care Staffing Services (HCCS) certification standards will go into effect January 1, 2022. The changes include: Human Resources Management (HSHR) Standard HSHR.3 will now clarify that this is the organization’s new employee orientation for clinical staff…

Read More

Editor's Note This study led by researchers at South Dakota State University in Brookings found that only 15% of healthcare workers (HCWs) in three rural communities had antibodies to COVID-19 over an 8-month period before vaccines came out. From May 13 through December 22, 2020, 336 volunteers at five healthcare…

Read More

Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) on August 4 announced the launch of a “Talk It Up” campaign to help surgeons address their patients’ concerns and help them understand the importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19. The campaign includes a series of videos about the importance of vaccination,…

Read More

Editor's Note Coronavirus sequencing research at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has uncovered several COVID-19 variants present in its patient population, but Delta is the top one and easily transmitted. Though the researchers had identified just two cases of the Delta variant in Miami-Dade County a month…

Read More

Editor's Note As of August 1, 2021, more than 10,200 people in Florida were hospitalized with COVID-19, which surpasses the 10,179 reported during the previous peak on July 23, 2020, Becker’s Hospital Review reported on August 2. Because of this peak in hospitalizations, some Florida hospitals and healthcare systems are…

Read More

Editor's Note This study led by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Massachusetts Department of Public Health finds that people vaccinated against COVID-19 can carry as much coronavirus as those who are unvaccinated. After multiple large public events in a Barnstable County, Massachusetts town, 469…

Read More

Editor's Note President Biden on July 29 announced that all federal workers and contractors will be required to prove their COVID-19 vaccination status or face travel restrictions, mask requirements, and weekly or twice-weekly testing, Reuters reports. The federal government has about 2.18 million civilian employees (including nurses and other healthcare…

Read More

Editor's Note In this study by researchers at Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania, an individually addressed email nudge designed with behaviorally informed features caused more than twice as many healthcare workers (HCWs) to register for a COVID-19 vaccination, compared with HCWs in a control group. The health system initially sent…

Read More

Editor's Note Since Houston Methodist announced March 31 that all managers had to receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or get an exemption by April 15, and all employees had to be vaccinated by June 7, more than 60 healthcare organizations have announced vaccination mandates for their…

Read More