Publisher: Daily Memphian


State to begin vaccinating elderly next month 

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A day after seniors swarmed two sites in Shelby County to get vaccines specifically set aside for first responders, the state Department of Health upgraded its priority list on Wednesday, Dec. 30.  


COVID-19 vaccines offer hope amid surges, but it’s months away for many

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Months ago, there was at least a faint hope — albeit, grounded more in our shared contempt for COVID-19 than in any scientific data — that life amid a pandemic might fade as 2020 blended into a new year, a new year that could not come soon enough. That now seems magnitudes beyond naïve.


CDC’s Redfield talks candidly about missteps, things that could have gone better

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If the coronavirus were just another cold or flu virus, herd immunity could probably be achieved at 70%. This virus is so much more contagious, Dr. Robert Redfield expects the world is looking at 85% to 90% “to shut this down.” “That’s my own personal speculation,” Redfield said in an hourlong Zoom conversation Monday, Dec.… Read More


Opinion: We will get vaccinated; you should, too

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Today, there are more than 500 people in our local hospitals ill with COVID-19. While many of them will get better, some will suffer long periods of illness and some will die. COVID-19 vaccines provide hope for a better tomorrow — hope that is proportional to the number of us willing to be vaccinated. How… Read More


 UTHSC hosting CDC director in virtual conversation

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The University of Tennessee Health Science Center will host a conversation with Dr. Robert R. Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 11 a.m. to noon, Monday, Dec. 14.


UTHSC rolls out 3-year program for primary care physicians

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By 2030, Tennessee, which has about 4,000 general practice physicians, is expected to need 1,100 more, a 25% increase, as the population both grows and ages. To help, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is adding a chance to earn a medical degree in three years instead of four — saving in-state students about… Read More


Nursing students tapped to help administer vaccines

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As details of the mass COVID-19 inoculation campaign are being finalized in Shelby County, one of the most vexing issues — the labor pool — appears to be falling in place. A call between Mayor Jim Strickland and Doug McGowen, the city’s chief operating officer, and the leaders of medical teaching institutions put into a… Read More


Field hospital CEO: Without nurses, opening 495 Union makes no sense

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While patients are waiting days in emergency rooms across the city now, there are no immediate plans to open the alternate care center at the former Commercial Appeal building. “There are plenty of beds available. The problem is with the nursing shortage, there are hundreds of beds we can’t staff now,” said Richard Walker, the… Read More