Scientists have discovered through a new study what eventually persuaded people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 after previously saying they were “hesitant” to get jabbed.

The research from the University of Kansas found that “conversion messages” were one of the most effective tools in convincing people to get vaccinated. This was in contrast to “one-sided” messages of advocacy. Conversion messages consisted of people describing someone who had been vaccine-hesitant and then changed their mind.

Read more at Newsweek.

One tragic fact about the nearly 1 million people who died of COVID-19 in the U.S. is that a huge share of them didn’t have to.

In Tennessee, 11,047 of the people who died could have survived if everyone in the state had gotten vaccinated. In Ohio, that number is 15,875. Nationally it’s nearly 319,000, according a new estimate.

These figures come from an analysis released Friday by researchers at Brown University and Microsoft AI Health — shared exclusively with NPR — that estimates the portion of vaccine-preventable deaths in each state since COVID-19 vaccines became available at the start of 2021.

Read more from NPR.

I was one of many women who had a pandemic baby. Few people saw me pregnant, and even fewer met my second-born son or ever will. In September 2021, just shy of 3 months of age, my son died. He was one of the most bright-eyed, happiest babies I’ve met and spent every day of his short life loved and adored.

The day it happened, I shared news of his loss in a short Twitter post. The impulse to share was a protective one. As someone active on social media, I wanted to avoid the inevitable question from friends and acquaintances: How’s your baby?

Read more from The New York Times.

Parents are being asked to look out for symptoms of hepatitis in their kids as an unexplained outbreak of cases in children continues across the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health alert Tuesday aimed at educating parents on symptoms.

“Hearing about severe liver disease in children can be concerning. If you have any questions about your child’s health, call your child’s healthcare provider,” the CDC wrote, adding that parents should be aware of the symptoms associated with liver inflammation, including fever, fatigue, nausea, and jaundice, which is yellowing of the skin.

Read more from ABC News.

West Hansen pilots his muddy Subaru through the industrial landscape of Southeast Texas where he grew up — past Bible churches, donut shops and the silver industrial towers of the refineries. The longtime social worker says he’s given up trying to explain to his clients how safe the COVID-19 vaccines are.

“I’ve grown weary of it,” he says. “I’ve realized that there’s no convincing somebody once they have their mind made up.”

He pulls up to the neatly trimmed yard of a townhouse where Donna and Danny Downes are waiting for him in their living room. She is a work-at-home administrator for a fence contractor; he’s a retired insurance salesman who is legally blind. They are devout Baptists.

Read more from NPR.

On Feb. 14, 2020, President Donald Trump spoke to a White House audience about the virus then engulfing Wuhan, China. “We have a very small number of people in the country, right now, with it,” he said. “It’s like around 12. Many of them are getting better. Some are fully recovered already. So we’re in very good shape.” But we weren’t in good shape. A little more than two years later, the United States is passing the ghastly milestone of at least 1 million deaths from the pandemic virus, and still counting.

This marks the gravest public health disaster in a century, outstripping all the combat deaths in both world wars, Vietnam and Korea. Largely because of the pandemic, life expectancy in the United States declined 2.39 years, the greatest fall in eight decades. The disease caused by the coronavirus became a leading cause of death all through the pandemic, and as recently as January, more people age 15 and older died of covid than of cancer. In addition, the pandemic is leaving lasting personal scars, including long covid and mental health troubles in years ahead.

Read more at The Washington Post.

The United States is in the midst of late-season rise in flu, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows, with nearly 1 in 10 positive tests reported at the mid-April peak.

But even with that uptick, an NBC News analysis of 7 years CDC data shows that this year’s flu season is still far below pre-pandemic levels.

“We’re on the late side of things,” said Dr. Carrie Horn, the chief medical officer at National Jewish Health in Denver. “But they’re not so high that we’re saying that there’s a flu epidemic.”

Read more from NBC News.

Mauro Ortiz had planned to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but work always got in the way. Plus, the 45-year-old Denver resident, who tows vehicles for a living, had tested positive for the virus twice over the course of the pandemic, but never felt sick. So getting the shot didn’t seem worthwhile. 

But during a recent visit to Saint Michael the Archangel Church in Aurora, Ortiz had a change of heart. Towards the end of the Sunday service, Julissa Soto, an independent health equity consultant working to improve vaccination rates among Hispanic Coloradans, stepped up to the microphone. 

“COVID is not going away; COVID is like that ex-husband or ex-wife,” Soto joked to the congregation. Which is why, she continued in a more serious tone, we have to protect ourselves. And getting the COVID-19 vaccine is one way to do so. 

Read more at Collective Colorado.