Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), one of the nation’s most powerful teachers unions, will testify Wednesday afternoon before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic to address her union’s role in influencing public policy on school lockdowns. In her prepared testimony, Weingarten will call on lawmakers to “think bigger than the […]

The District of Columbia Public Schools system is requiring students and staff to submit negative COVID-19 tests in order to return to campus after spring break, despite low infection numbers in the district and the pandemic widely considered to be over. Schools gave students an at‐home rapid antigen test before they left for the break, […]

After plummeting during the COVID pandemic in 2020 and 2021, strep throat infections skyrocketed in February 2023, according to a report from Epic Research, a health analytics firm.  The rate of infections of group A strep (caused by the Streptococcus bacteria) was 30% higher than the previous peak seen in February 2017, the report found. […]

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lockdown-heavy approach to the COVID-19 pandemic is facing new scrutiny as he finds an unlikely ally in former President Donald Trump in attacking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ handling of the pandemic ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Trump recently dubbed DeSantis the “lockdown governor,” even though the Florida governor’s restrictions were […]

People all over the world lost confidence in the importance of routine childhood vaccines against killer diseases like measles and polio during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from UNICEF. In 52 of the 55 countries surveyed, the public perception of vaccines for children declined between 2019 and 2021, the UN agency said. […]