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The Booster Bulletin: Your Weekly Dose of Immunization News

During this pandemic, we remain committed to sharing news and information from local and national media about COVID-19 and immunization-related topics. Additionally, we join the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in reminding everyone to stay up to date on recommended immunizations to prevent dangerous diseases.

Each week we’ll continue to review clips from across the U.S., from various news outlets and platforms, and bring you ten timely and relevant links. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, and check out this week’s picks. 

Prepare, Don’t Panic. To inform Nevadans statewide, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Governor's Office have created this website to better share information and resources as it pertains to the current status of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impact within the state of Nevada. https://nvhealthresponse.nv.gov/  

YouTube video: Watch a Discussion with Local Public Health Experts about COVID-19.

On the first day of the third week of the 2019 legislative session, the lawmakers on the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee were finally ready to get to work. After sitting through two weeks of presentations, the first bill to come before the committee was a short, six-page proposal, one of the simpler pieces of policy the committee would hear during the session. Its title, too, was succinct: “Revises provisions relating to certain expenditures of money for public health.”

"What’s Inside The Senate’s $2 Trillion Coronavirus Aid Package" KNPR (March 26, 2020)
The Senate has passed a roughly $2 trillion coronavirus response bill intended to speed relief across the American economy. This is the third aid package from Congress and is meant to keep businesses and individuals afloat during an unprecedented freeze on the majority of American life.

"UNLV Medicine Offers Curbside COVID-19 Testing By Appointment" KNPR (March 24, 2020)
UNLV Medicine, the clinical arm of the school of medicine, has started offering curbside testing for coronavirus by appointment only. The tests will be for people who display symptoms outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including fever, cough and shortness of breath.

“Babe Ruth Caught the 1918 Flu—Twice” Slate (March 26, 2020) 
In the spring of 1918, the Great War spawned a sports revolution and a pandemic. The early signs of change could be seen that March in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where Babe Ruth, a 23-year-old moon-faced German American, discovered the thrill he felt—and the joy he brought soldiers—swinging his mighty ‘war club’…During their time in Hot Springs, two of his teammates, George Whiteman and Sam Agnew, fell ill with ‘the grippe,’ and several other players soon became sick.

“Fans Slam M.I.A. for Saying She Would 'Choose Death' Over Coronavirus Vaccine” Complex (March 26, 2020)
People with large platforms should be spreading useful information about the COVID-19 pandemic, but M.I.A. decided to take an opposite approach. In a series of tweets Wednesday, the anti-vaxxer said she would ‘choose death’ rather than be subjected to any vaccines…As you might expect, people on social media were quick to condemn M.I.A.'s tweets.

Opinion: “Staying strong, taming fears the toughest part about being a parent right now” Baltimore Sun (March 26, 2020)
The order eludes memory now, but the mumps, measles and chickenpox all decided to invade in succession. The measles might have been the worst of it. It was — and still is — one of the most contagious diseases. My parents confined me to a bedroom, and my mother kept the shades pulled. No sunlight slipped into the room for a couple of weeks. 

"What will it take to develop a vaccine for COVID-19?"  The Hub at Johns Hopkins (March 26, 2020)
Johns Hopkins global health expert Ruth Karron discusses the work currently taking place at laboratories around the country to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. This week, the National Institutes of Health announced that Kaiser Permanente has begun the first clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine, called mRNA-1273. Scientists estimate that it will take at least one year to make a COVID-19 vaccine available to the general public.

"A message to Nevada’s rural communities on coronavirus" US Sen. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO (March 24, 2020)
Protecting the health and safety of all Nevada’s communities, from Searchlight to Winnemucca, is my number one priority as your United States Senator.

“Twitter locks account encouraging coronavirus ‘chickenpox parties’” The Verge (March 25, 2020)
It bans content that “goes directly against guidance” from experts. On Wednesday, Twitter briefly locked conservative site The Federalist’s account for suggesting people deliberately expose themselves to the novel coronavirus. The Federalist promoted the medically unsound idea of “medical ‘chickenpox parties’” to infect young, healthy people with the virus under controlled quarantine.

“Springfield History: The children’s quarantine to halt polio” The State Journal Register (IL) (March 23, 2020)
In July 1949, with a polio epidemic under way, Springfield officials ordered children under 16 years old into quarantine – confined, with few exceptions, to their own backyards. Hours later, 4-year-old Thomas Suttle died of polio. The boy was the third person in 10 days in Springfield to succumb to the disease. By the time the 1949 polio “season” ended (polio usually appeared in summer and early fall), the city would report 88 cases of the disease and 11 deaths.

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