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Say goodbye to the COVID-19 vaccination card. The CDC has stopped printing them

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:01 GMT

By DEVI SHASTRI (AP Health Writer)It’s the end of an era for a once-critical pandemic document: The ubiquitous white COVID-19 vaccination cards are being phased out. Now that COVID-19 vaccines are not being distributed by the federal government, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped printing new cards. The federal government shipped more than 980 million cards between late 2020, when the first vaccines came out, through May 10, according to the latest available data from the CDC. Federal and local health officials don’t expect the discontinuation of the cards to be a particularly big change, since the days of keeping them tucked in purses and wallets to ensure entry into festivals, bars and restaurants are largely over. If you’ve held on to your card, it’s still valid as proof of vaccination. Otherwise, people who need their COVID-19 immunization records will need to request them just like any other vaccine. In many cases, the clin...

Mayo Clinic Minute: How to get hay fever relief from fall allergies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:01 GMT

Jason Howland | (TNS) Mayo Clinic News NetworkAutumn is the season of change, with green leaves turning color and temperatures cooling. It’s also the season of hay fever, or allergic rhinitis.So how can people with fall allergies get relief? Dr. James Li, a Mayo Clinic allergist has more in this Mayo Clinic Minute.“Fall is a very common season for seasonal allergies to kick in,” says Dr. Li.And ragweed is usually the biggest culprit.“If an allergic person with ragweed sensitivity goes outside, they inhale ragweed pollen grains — little pollen plant proteins — that land in the lining of the nose,” says Dr. Li. “And in that allergic person, there is an inflammatory response or an allergic response that causes the swelling, the runny nose and the mucus production” — making life miserable for people with seasonal allergies.“Nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose, maybe itching of the nose or the mouth, as well as similar eye symptoms — eye...

How Patriots plan to replace Matthew Judon with in-house options

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:01 GMT

FOXBORO — The Patriots will be without their best player for the foreseeable future, and now the team must figure out how exactly they replace outside linebacker Matthew Judon.The Patriots had to look outside of the organization to take over for rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez by reacquiring J.C. Jackson from the Chargers. The hope is that the team can fill the void Judon leaves with internal options.Judon is expected to miss at least two months after undergoing biceps surgery.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Injury-ravaged Patriots get good news at Wednesday practice before Saints game New England Patriots | What Patriots can expect from J.C. Jackson after trade with Chargers New England Patriots | Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez likely to miss 2023 season with shoulder injury New England Patriots | Source: Patriots reacquire CB JC Jackson via trade from Chargers New England Patriots | Source: Patr...

Chula Vista breaks ground on new park, part of Bayfront redevelopment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:01 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- The Port of San Diego and the City of Chula Vista broke ground on a new park, Sweetwater Park, as part of the larger Chula Vista Bayfront Redevelopment plan.“A game changer for the South Bay and the region,” said Rafael Castellanos, Port of San Diego Port Board of Port Commissioners Chairman.The Sweetwater Park is the first park that is part of the Bayfront Redevelopment plan.“We have for decades envisioned something great here on the Bayfront," Chula Vista Mayor John McCann said.The new park will sit on 21 acres near E Street and Bay Boulevard."This park is so important because it has to be something that the community can enjoy," said Ann Moore, Port of San Diego Commissioner. Campland on the Bay shoreline closed after fire causes runoff, $1.7 million in damages The Port of San Diego and the City of Chula Vista designed the park based on community input.It will include several new features including playgrounds, sand dunes, restrooms, parking spaces and pu...

The House is left paralyzed as divided Republicans search for new leader after McCarthy’s ouster

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The stunning removal of Kevin McCarthy as speaker left the House effectively paralyzed Wednesday as Republicans struggled to bring order to their fractured majority and begin the difficult and potentially prolonged process of uniting around a new leader. The House opened briefly then went into recess, with North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry, the caretaker speaker pro-tempore, serving in the job with very little power for the foreseeable future. Other Republicans left Washington, awaiting the next steps.The House will try to elect a speaker as soon as next week. The timing is nowhere near certain as Republicans line up for their chance at the gavel amid the bitter divisions that sparked the chaos.The House majority leader, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., is in line for the post, but he faced an immediate challenge from Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the Judiciary Committee chairman and a favorite of conservatives, who quickly announced his own candidacy. Others are expected t...

University of Maryland bus hits light pole, sending 30 to hospitals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:01 GMT

COLLEGE PARK, MD. (AP) — A University of Maryland bus hit a light pole Wednesday morning, injuring 30 people, emergency officials said.The bus had 56 passengers aboard when it crashed at the intersection of Baltimore Avenue and University Boulevard in College Park, Prince George’s County Fire/EMS posted on social media. Crews took 30 people to hospitals with minor injuries. Details on the injuries, including whether the driver was hurt, weren’t released. Other passengers refused treatment.A white commuter shuttle-style bus appeared to have crashed head-on into a pole in a grass median, according to video footage shown by news outlets.Prince George’s County police and university police are investigating what caused the crash.The Associated Press

That blaring noise you heard? It was a test of the federal government’s emergency alert system

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — “THIS IS A TEST”: If you have a cellphone or were watching television Wednesday, you should have seen that message flash across your screen as the federal government tested its emergency alert system used to tell people about emergencies.The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System sends out messages via the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts. The Emergency Alert System is a national public warning system that’s designed to allow the president to speak to the American people within 10 minutes during a national emergency via specific outlets such as radio and television. And Wireless Emergency Alerts are short messages — 360 characters or less — that go to mobile phones to alert their owner to important information.While these types of alerts are frequently used in targeted areas to alert people in the area to thing like tornadoes, Wednesday’s test was done across the country.The test started at 2:20 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesd...

Brett Favre will testify under oath in Mississippi welfare scandal civil case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:01 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre will answer questions under oath about the misspending of federal welfare money in Mississippi, where public money intended to help some of the nation’s poorest people was used to fund pet projects he and other well-connected people supported. A notice of deposition filed Monday in Hinds County Circuit Court by attorneys for Mississippi’s Department of Human Services shows Favre will give sworn testimony on Oct. 26 at a hotel in Hattiesburg. The Pro Football Hall of Famer is among more than three dozen defendants in a lawsuit the current Human Services director filed to recover some of the welfare money. Favre has denied wrongdoing, sued the state auditor who investigated the misspending for defamation and said he paid back misspent welfare funds. Mississippi has ranked among the poorest states in the U.S. for decades, but only a fraction of its federal welfare money has been going toward direct aid to families. Instead...

6 injured in multi-vehicle crash in Scarborough

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:01 GMT

Six people have been injured, one seriously, following a multi-vehicle crash in Scarborough on Wednesday afternoon.Toronto police responded to the area of Ellesmere and Markham roads just after 2 p.m. for reports of a three-vehicle crash.Paramedics say they transported one person to hospital with serious injuries.The other five people were being assessed at the scene.Police say the vehicles involved in the crash remained at the scene.Motorists can expect traffic delays in the area as police investigate.Multi-vehicle collision at the intersection of Ellesmere & Markham Rd. Emergency crews on scene, expect delays. #CityStreets pic.twitter.com/WvwUltmE23— CityNews Toronto Traffic & Weather (@citynews680) October 4, 2023

Ontario investigates fee-for-access nurse practitioner walk-in clinics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:01 GMT

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones says the government is investigating a walk-in clinic in Ottawa that is reportedly charging patients $400 a year for access.Several local media reports say the South Keys Health Center is set to soon open, with the membership fee on top of billings for individual services from the clinic’s nurse practitioners.CityNews has learned of a similar nurse practitioner’s clinic in Toronto offering packages for $1,200 a year that provide “unrushed appointments” that start on time and “on-site lab testing.”While it would be illegal to charge such a fee for access to doctors or other services covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, nurse practitioners don’t fall under the same banner.“If it is happening, then the practice will be shut down,” said Jones. “If there is a situation where OHIP-funded services are being charged, patients have an opportunity to report those.”The clinic directo...