Health
Health
Wayne County reaches national vaccination rate milestone
September 22nd, 20210 WAYNE COUNTY — As of Sept. 21, 70 percent of Wayne County residents, excluding Detroit, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The 70 percent goal was set by President Biden and is seen by health officials as a crucial step toward getting a vast majority of residents vaccinated. Wayne County is only the sixth...
Ten Dearborn schools participating in walk and bike to school contest
September 16th, 20210 DEARBORN — Students at 10 selected Dearborn Public Schools will be able to participate in a “Walk and Roll to School” contest. The contest will allow many elementary and middle school students to participate in a competition to earn a chance to win prizes by walking or riding their bikes to classes under a contest encouraging...
New U.S. immigrants to be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19
September 15th, 20210 WASHINGTON D.C. — The U.S. will begin requiring people applying for immigrant status to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The new policy is set to go into effect Oct. 1, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website. “If the applicant has not received any of the listed vaccinations and the vaccinations...
Pfizer says booster shots safe, necessary in report to FDA
September 15th, 20211 WASHINGTON D.C. — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released new data regarding booster shots for the Pfizer vaccine. In the data, Pfizer said that vaccine booster shots would restore protection against COVID-19 up to 95 percent in real-world settings. Pfizer also noted that it would be safe and necessary to take a...
Beaumont Health says its 10 emergency rooms are near capacity
September 15th, 20210 DEARBORN — Due to a "perfect storm" of issues, Beaumont Health said all of its 10 emergency room departments are nearly full. Some of the patients are COVID-related, but the overwhelming majority of patients have other medical conditions and concerns according to Beaumont. Beaumont Health is also experiencing a blood shortage...
Beaumont Health study confirms COVID-19 vaccines prevent hospitalization, death
September 11th, 20210 DEARBORN — A new study from Beaumont Health of COVID-19 patients across Southeast Michigan shows that vaccination prevents hospitalization and death. After analyzing data for 11,834 COVID-19 patients treated at Beaumont emergency centers, researchers found that the hospitalization rate and emergency center visit rate was 96 percent...
MDHHS launches online access to immunization records
September 9th, 20210 LANSING — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has launched a new website to give access to immunization records. Michigan adults with immunization records posted in the Michigan Care Improvement Registry (MCIR), including the COVID-19 vaccination, will be able to locate their own records online and...
MDHHS updates student quarantine guidelines; Whitmer applauds mask policies
September 8th, 20210 LANSING — With more than 60 percent of students statewide covered by a mask mandate, new quarantine guidelines have been released. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has issued new quarantine guidance for both symptomatic and asymptomatic students. “When layered prevention strategies such as masking,...
Health experts warn parents about dangers to children of edibles containing marijuana
September 8th, 20210 Health experts from Henry Ford Hospital are warning parents with young children about the dangers of accidentally ingesting candy and other treats that contain marijuana. The hospital system says that the rates of children accidentally overdosing on THC-laced edibles have increased as more and more states make pot legal. The sale and...
Garden City Hospital partners with Westland to open full-service community healthcare center
September 3rd, 20210 WESTLAND — Garden City Hospital and the city of Westland have come together to open the Westland Community Health Center. The Westland Community Health Center is equipped with a state-of-the-art free-standing emergency department, which offers access to care, close to home. With more than $10 million invested, the center has a...
An unvaccinated teacher infected half a class in California, CDC says
September 3rd, 20210 MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA — A report published by the CDC details a case of an unvaccinated teacher who infected half a class of students with COVID-19 just by reciting a story for them unmasked. The report made headlines this week as schools went through a tense decision process to allow full in-person learning, but with many...
Washtenaw County issues mask mandate for K-12 schools
September 2nd, 20210 WASHTENAW COUNTY — Health officials in Washtenaw County have issued an emergency order requiring masks to be worn at all K-12 schools. Under the new order, beginning on Sept. 7, students and staff at all K-12 public, private, vocational and charter schools within the county will be required to wear a face mask while indoors to help...
Pfizer gets unanimous recommendation from CDC immunization committee
September 1st, 20210 Adding to expert confidence over the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC announced this week that its advisory committee on immunization has given the vaccine a "unanimous recommendation" for those ages 16 and up. The committee’s 14-0 vote came a week after the FDA gave the Pfizer vaccine full approval. The CDC's Advisory Committee...
Wayne County requires masks for all schools, daycare providers
August 27th, 20210 Wayne County has now joined neighboring Oakland County in mandating masks be worn in local school districts, schools and daycare providers. The latest pandemic health order by the Wayne County Health Department takes effect immediately and requires students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear a face mask while in school and during...
D7 changes its back-to-school plan just days before the school year starts, universal masking required
August 27th, 20210 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — At an Aug. 24 board meeting, the District 7 (D7) School Board of Education voted to require masks, just six days before school starts. Interim Superintendent Dr. Mary Ann Cyr had previously told The Arab American News that the district would allow parents and staff to make their own decision regarding wearing......
Beaumont to open third COVID-19 vaccine dose appointments for immunocompromised patients
August 26th, 20210 DEARBORN — Beaumont Health has announced that it is opening up appointments for immunocompromised patients who want a third COVID-19 vaccine dose. Beaumont is also encouraging patients who are moderately to severely immunocompromised and have received two doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to get a third dose. The...
Oakland County issues emergency health order requiring masks in schools; parents protest in Macomb County after learning it will not be mandating masks
August 26th, 20210 OAKLAND/MACOMB COUNTIES — On Tuesday, the Oakland County Health Division issued a universal mask mandate for all students in PreK-12 schools. The emergency health order requires masks in daycares, elementary, middle, high and vocational schools regardless of vaccination status to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The new order is...
HPS superintendent: Prepare your child for back-to-school success
August 24th, 20210 Waving summer goodbye is bittersweet, but the new school year is right around the corner and your schools are eager to welcome students back. You may find your family is already in back-to-school-mode, or maybe your children are trying to make summer last as long as possible. Either way, preparing for the school year can be simple. As...
Wayne County offering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to immunocompromised residents
August 24th, 20210 WAYNE COUNTY — The Wayne County Health Department has begun administering Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to immunocompromised residents. Boosters are available at no cost to eligible residents at all Wayne County-sponsored vaccine sites. Boosters for immunocompromised residents are another safe and effective......
Public health expert answers questions about COVID variants, boosters, back-to-school
August 21st, 20210 DEARBORN — The federal government is preparing to deliver "booster" shots of COVID-19 vaccines to Americans by mid-September, recommending that immunocompromised people take a booster even sooner. Health officials have acknowledged that protection from vaccines wanes, or diminishes over time, though they still remain highly...
Chief medical executive recommends mask mandate for schools, state still allowing districts to decide
August 20th, 20210 LANSING — Despite a recommendation from the state’s top health official, the State Board of Education and the governor are still not mandating masks in schools. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun has issued a recommendation for the state to issue a mask mandate in......
U.S. begins preparing to deliver COVID booster shots; immunocompromised urged not to wait
August 18th, 20210 Top U.S. health officials said on Wednesday that the protection offered by current available vaccines against COVID-19 wanes over time, as federal agencies have begun preparing to offer booster shots to all eligible Americans beginning the week of Sept. 20. The booster shots will have to be administered starting eight months after a...
Dearborn man loses more than 100 lbs in the last year
August 14th, 20210 DEARBORN — After having COVID-19 last year, Dearborn native Sam Ali and his family feared for his life and that fear led Ali to make some very big life changes. The 43-year-old Ali said that he has tried many different diets and workout plans before, but none of them were successful. Ali had tested positive for COVID-19 on July......
