‘I just like being able to breathe’: Phoenix travelers react to halt of travel mask mandate
PHOENIX – Many travelers at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport were relieved to fly without masks after a federal judge halted a mandate that has been in effect and extended several times since January 2021.
Arizonans enroll in All of Us program to increase diversity in medical research
PHOENIX – More than 50,000 people in Arizona are part of a national effort to build a new kind of medical database. The All of Us research program is an initiative of the National Institutes of Health, and its goal is ambitious: to build the largest and most diverse database of its kind.
COVID-related Medicaid coverage extended – for now – for 500,000 Arizonans
WASHINGTON - Federal officials threw a lifeline this week to as many as 500,000 Arizonans, just days before they were in danger of losing the Medicaid coverage they got under a COVID-19 public health emergency, which was extended Tuesday for another 90 days.
‘These are people, too’: Nonprofit helps ex-inmates get health care
PHOENIX – Nonprofits like one in Texas and Arizona’s Prescott Valley are helping the formerly incarcerated start again. One primary goal: Ensure they have access to the health care they need, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
LGBTQ advocates want blood donation restriction lifted for gay and bisexual men
PHOENIX – U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton and others are pushing for the FDA to eliminate current blood donation restrictions on gay and bisexual men.
COVID vaccines benefit pregnant people and their infants, studies show
PHOENIX - More studies are revealing the dangers pregnant people can face if they contract COVID-19 – as well as the protection that vaccines offer them and their infants.
Meals on Wheels, ASU study how pets affect social isolation, loneliness among older adults
SUN CITY – Researchers at Arizona State University are partnering with Meals on Wheels America for a national study to understand the influence that pets have on social isolation and loneliness.
After nearly 2 million COVID-19 cases in Arizona, officials are ‘cautiously optimistic’
PHOENIX – A little more than six months after Arizona passed 1 million reported cases of COVID-19, the state is approaching 2 million. Although reported infections have slowed over the past few months, experts warn that the coronavirus that causes the disease is here to stay, and the extent of COVID’s long-term effects isn’t known.
Bill to ban drive-up voting, curbside drop boxes could harm voters with disabilities, advocates say
PHOENIX – Advocates for people with disabilities are concerned about a bill in the state Senate that would prohibit drive-up voting and curbside drop-off boxes for ballots, saying more options – not fewer – are vital for helping people exercise their right to vote.
StandDown provides veterans with haircuts, legal, medical and housing services
PHOENIX – Hundreds of veterans lined up Thursday morning to receive legal, medical, housing and other services, during the 20th annual Maricopa County StandDown.
Experts target obesity, diet, exercise to combat high cholesterol in youth
PHOENIX – With childhood obesity levels on the rise in the U.S., more experts are looking at how to prevent high cholesterol in youth to help avoid serious health problems later in life.
Court refuses to order Arizona to pay for transgender teen’s surgery
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court has refused to order Arizona's Medicaid program to pay for the sex reassignment surgery of a transgender teen who claimed the state's failure to do so amounted to sex discrimination.
