Health Highlights: Dec. 18, 2020
By HealthDay Reporter
Below are newsworthy items compiled by the HealthDay staff:
U.S. Indigenous Communities Start Receiving COVID-19 Vaccines
Indigenous communities in the United States have started receiving COVID-19 vaccines from federal and state agencies.
The initial focus of the federal government's Indian Health Service is to vaccinate health care workers at sovereign Indigenous nation clinics nationwide and urban clinics that provide care for off-reservation Native Americans, the Associated Press reported.
The agency received about 22,000 vaccine doses Monday at distribution centers on the Navajo Nation in Arizona and New Mexico and in cities such as Phoenix, where vaccinations were given Thursday to hundreds of health care workers who care for Native Americans.
Other tribes will receive vaccine deliveries through state health agencies, the AP reported.
Biden Adviser Has COVID-19
An adviser to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, Biden's transition team said Thursday.
Congressman Cedric Richmond, who developed symptoms on Dec. 16, will quarantine for 14 days and require two negative PCR tests before he returns to in-person work with the transition team or in Congress, according to transition spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield, CBS News reported.
Richmond attended a Georgia campaign rally with Biden, but his interactions with Biden "happened in open air, were masked and totaled less than 15 consecutive minutes," Bedingfield said.
Biden had PCR testing for COVID-19 on Thursday and the results were negative, CBS News reported.
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