Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on April 23, announced that after a thorough safety review, the pause on the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine should be lifted, and use of the vaccine should resume. The pause was…

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Editor's Note As of April 19, nearly 40% of US adults have been given at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports. A total of 85,365,180 Americans have been fully vaccinated, which is 25.7% of the total population. The CDC says…

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Editor's Note In this study from the University of Denver and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, respondents to two surveys agreed with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s prioritization framework for COVID-19 vaccination. Of 4,735 respondents (2,730 to a Gallup survey and 2,005 to a COVID Collaborative survey):…

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Editor's Note Findings in this study, by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, show the need for new mask designs that reduce side and bottom droplet leakage and good ventilation systems that take into account the aerosolized particle leakage that occurs with breathing and normal conversation as a…

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Editor's Note In a science brief based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) analysis of the latest available data, the agency says the risk of getting COVID-19 from surfaces “is generally considered to be low.” The CDC noted that: The risk of COVID-19 infection via surface transmission…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on April 2, updated its information for travelers to say people who are fully vaccinated can travel safely within the US. The update notes that fully vaccinated travelers do not have to be tested before or after travel unless required…

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The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of respiratory protection in healthcare settings and in the community. Healthcare workers at high risk of infection need the most effective respiratory protection, and not all surgical masks and respirators are alike. Checking for proper fit, donning and doffing correctly, and following manufacturers’…

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The Janssen Biotech, Inc/Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 27, joining the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines that received EUA in December 2020. In early March, President Biden said that the US would produce enough COVID-19 vaccines…

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This issue of OR Manager is being published just about a year after the nationwide shutdown that was implemented to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Failures on many fronts ensued in the months that followed, with an excessive death toll and unprecedented disruptions in every…

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Editor's Note This study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that COVID-19 vaccination coverage was lower in high vulnerability counties in the US than in low vulnerability counties (13.9% vs 15.8%), which was largely driven by socioeconomic disparities. The same pattern was found for social vulnerability…

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