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Ray Hoffman, right, who is immune-compromised, is given a shot of the two-shot dose of AstraZeneca's Evusheld -- the first set of antibodies grown in a lab to prevent COVID-19, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, by Jose Lazaro, center, a medical assistant at a University of Washington Medicine clinic in Seattle as Cynde Wiederhold, left, a nurse, looks on. The two-shot dose is supposed to give patients like Hoffman, who can't make his own virus-fighters due to taking strong immune-suppressing drugs after liver and kidney transplants, some protection against COVID-19 for six months. (AP Photo/Ted S.

Most vulnerable still in jeopardy as COVID precautions ease

Ray Hoffman, right, who is immune-compromised, is given a shot of the two-shot dose of AstraZeneca's Evusheld -- the first set of antibodies grown in a lab to prevent COVID-19, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, by Jose Lazaro, center, a medical assistant at a University of Washington Medicine clinic in Seattle as Cynde Wiederhold, left, a nurse, looks on. The two-shot dose is supposed to give patients like Hoffman, who can't make his own virus-fighters due to taking strong immune-suppressing drugs after liver and kidney transplants, some protection against COVID-19 for six months. (AP Photo/Ted S.

February 10, 2022, 8:34am Health

Two years into the pandemic Jackie Hansen still left home only for doctor visits, her immune system so wrecked by cancer and lupus that COVID-19 vaccinations couldn’t take hold. Read story

FILE -- Students get off the bus at Roseway Heights Middle School on the first day of in-person hybrid learning, April 19, 2021, in Portland, Ore. The governors of Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon this week announced plans to lift mask mandates in schools by the end of February or March, as COVID-19's omicron surge fades.

As state mask rules taper, pressure shifts to school leaders

FILE -- Students get off the bus at Roseway Heights Middle School on the first day of in-person hybrid learning, April 19, 2021, in Portland, Ore. The governors of Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon this week announced plans to lift mask mandates in schools by the end of February or March, as COVID-19's omicron surge fades.

February 9, 2022, 7:44am Health

As some of the last statewide school mask mandates near an end, responsibility is shifting back to local leaders, who are caught in the middle of one of the most divisive issues of the pandemic. Read story

FILE - The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, June 11, 2009. The World Health Organization chief on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022 says 90 million cases of coronavirus have been reported since the omicron variant was first identified 10 weeks ago, amounting to more than in all of 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHO: Global COVID-19 case counts decline 17% in latest week

FILE - The logo of the World Health Organization is seen at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, June 11, 2009. The World Health Organization chief on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022 says 90 million cases of coronavirus have been reported since the omicron variant was first identified 10 weeks ago, amounting to more than in all of 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

February 9, 2022, 7:43am Health

The World Health Organization says coronavirus case counts fell 17% worldwide over the last week compared to the previous week, including a 50% drop in the United States, while deaths globally declined 7%. Read story

COVID hospitalizations declining in Washington

February 8, 2022, 2:15pm Health Free

Authorities say coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are falling throughout Washington as the surge of the omicron variant subsides. Read story

A vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is displayed on a counter at a pharmacy in Portland, Ore., Monday, Dec. 27, 2021. U.S. regulators have granted full approval to Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine after reviewing additional data on its safety and effectiveness. The decision Monday, Jan. 31, 2022 by the Food and Drug Administration comes after many tens of millions of Americans have already received the shot under its original emergency authorization. Full approval means FDA has completed the same rigorous, time-consuming review for Moderna's shot as dozens of other long-established vaccines.

‘They’re not forcefields’: Why some experts say term ‘breakthrough COVID-19′ can be misleading

A vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is displayed on a counter at a pharmacy in Portland, Ore., Monday, Dec. 27, 2021. U.S. regulators have granted full approval to Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine after reviewing additional data on its safety and effectiveness. The decision Monday, Jan. 31, 2022 by the Food and Drug Administration comes after many tens of millions of Americans have already received the shot under its original emergency authorization. Full approval means FDA has completed the same rigorous, time-consuming review for Moderna's shot as dozens of other long-established vaccines.

February 8, 2022, 9:05am Health

People who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can still test positive for the virus. Health officials have come to refer to that as a “breakthrough case” of the disease. Read story

FILE - Signs are displayed at a tent during a health event on June 26, 2021, in Charleston, W.Va. Volunteers at the tent passed free doses of naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose by helping the person breathe again. The U.S. needs a more nimble strategy and Cabinet-level leadership to counter its festering opioid epidemic, a bipartisan congressional commission said Tuesday.

Opioid fight needs new strategy, Cabinet leadership: report

FILE - Signs are displayed at a tent during a health event on June 26, 2021, in Charleston, W.Va. Volunteers at the tent passed free doses of naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose by helping the person breathe again. The U.S. needs a more nimble strategy and Cabinet-level leadership to counter its festering opioid epidemic, a bipartisan congressional commission said Tuesday.

February 8, 2022, 8:58am Health

The U.S. needs a nimble, multipronged strategy and Cabinet-level leadership to counter its festering overdose epidemic, a bipartisan congressional commission advises. Read story

This 2012 colorized electron microscope image made available by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a single human immunodeficiency virus, center, as it was budding from a human immune cell, which the virus had infected, and within which the HIV virus had been replicated. According to a report published Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022 in the journal Science, researchers have found a previously unrecognized variant of HIV that's more virulent than usual and quietly circulated in the Netherlands for the past few decades.

Study IDs virulent HIV variant

This 2012 colorized electron microscope image made available by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a single human immunodeficiency virus, center, as it was budding from a human immune cell, which the virus had infected, and within which the HIV virus had been replicated. According to a report published Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022 in the journal Science, researchers have found a previously unrecognized variant of HIV that's more virulent than usual and quietly circulated in the Netherlands for the past few decades.

February 8, 2022, 6:02am Health

Scientists have found a previously unrecognized variant of HIV that’s more virulent than usual and has quietly circulated in the Netherlands for the past few decades. Read story

(istock.com)

Sound the fiber alarm! Most of us need more of it in our diet

(istock.com)

February 8, 2022, 6:00am Health

There are a lot of health factors to keep in mind as we navigate through the dietary day: calories, carbohydrates, protein, saturated fat, vitamins and minerals, to name a few. Read story

FILE -- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy talks to three and four year old students in a pre-K class at the Dr. Charles Smith Early Childhood Center, Sept. 16, 2021, in Palisades Park, N.J. Murphy will end a statewide mask mandate to protect against COVID-19 in schools and child care centers, his office said Monday, Feb 7, 2022.

Governor ending New Jersey’s school mask mandate

FILE -- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy talks to three and four year old students in a pre-K class at the Dr. Charles Smith Early Childhood Center, Sept. 16, 2021, in Palisades Park, N.J. Murphy will end a statewide mask mandate to protect against COVID-19 in schools and child care centers, his office said Monday, Feb 7, 2022.

February 7, 2022, 11:55am Health

New Jersey's governor intends to lift the statewide COVID-19 mask requirement in schools early next month in a major step toward getting back to normal as the omicron surge drops off, his office said Monday. Read story

FILE - In this May 24, 2019, file photo a vendor bags psilocybin mushrooms at a pop-up cannabis market in Los Angeles.

Research shows psychedelic mushrooms can help treat depression. Is legalization on the horizon for Washington?

FILE - In this May 24, 2019, file photo a vendor bags psilocybin mushrooms at a pop-up cannabis market in Los Angeles.

February 7, 2022, 5:15am Health

If you’ve hiked or camped in the Pacific Northwest, you might have walked by a tiny, brown mushroom that some say has the capacity to change your life. Read story