Suddenly last spring, everyday heroes in scrubs were getting applause and special-delivery dinners at work. The cheers and chanting ended after eight weeks or so, and the health care workers forged ahead as hospital corridors turned into holding bays. But they earned our collective gratitude. In a year defined by a pandemic quarantine, we created… Read More
As the COVID-19 vaccine supply in Shelby County remains low, discussions continue on distribution to all communities countywide when the allotment improves. To reach state and federal targets of vaccinating 70% of the population this year, equitable access of the vaccine to all parts of the county is critical, particularly in majority-Black neighborhoods of Memphis… Read More
When supplies of vaccine stabilize, the Pipkin Building at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds will be open for shots through June, eliminating the quandary for many who were vaccinated last week and don’t know where second doses will be given.
A day after seniors swarmed two sites in Shelby County to get vaccines specifically set aside for first responders, the state Department of Health upgraded its priority list on Wednesday, Dec. 30.
Months ago, there was at least a faint hope — albeit, grounded more in our shared contempt for COVID-19 than in any scientific data — that life amid a pandemic might fade as 2020 blended into a new year, a new year that could not come soon enough. That now seems magnitudes beyond naïve.
If the coronavirus were just another cold or flu virus, herd immunity could probably be achieved at 70%. This virus is so much more contagious, Dr. Robert Redfield expects the world is looking at 85% to 90% “to shut this down.” “That’s my own personal speculation,” Redfield said in an hourlong Zoom conversation Monday, Dec.… Read More
Today, there are more than 500 people in our local hospitals ill with COVID-19. While many of them will get better, some will suffer long periods of illness and some will die. COVID-19 vaccines provide hope for a better tomorrow — hope that is proportional to the number of us willing to be vaccinated. How… Read More
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center will host a conversation with Dr. Robert R. Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 11 a.m. to noon, Monday, Dec. 14.
