Minnesota’s death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic climbed past 4,400 on Sunday, with state health officials reporting more than 80 deaths on four of the past five days.
Jewish cantors in Wisconsin are celebrating Hanukkah in a new way during the pandemic: They will gather virtually and broadcast a concert of holiday music for audiences across the country.
Now that the Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency authorization for the first COVID-19 vaccine to be deployed over the next few days in the U.S., you may have a lot of questions about what this means for you and the people you love. Here's what we know so far.
The first of many freezer-packed COVID-19 vaccine vials made their way to distribution sites across the United States on Sunday, as the nation's pandemic deaths approached the horrifying new milestone of 300,000.
An important federal advisory committee at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added its vote of support for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Minnesota health officials reported 67 more COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, pushing the December death toll to 766. It’s now killing Minnesotans at a rate far higher than any recent flu season; about one-third of all recent deaths in Minnesota are tied to COVID-19.
The FDA called the vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech safe and strongly protective. But initial doses are scarce and rationed, with health workers and nursing home residents first in line. Enough for the general population isn't expected until spring.
Dr. Jeff Bahr with the Advocate Aurora Health system in Wisconsin says his hospitals are "ready to go" for vaccinations. Staff who treat COVID-19 patients will be first in line, he says.
The number of people who want a COVID-19 vaccine far outweighs the number of doses currently available. MPR host Kerri Miller asked a vaccine researcher and a bioethicist about the best practices and challenges of distributing vaccines in a global pandemic.
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