NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials Wednesday announced plans to dispense COVID-19 booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection amid the surging delta variant and evidence that the vaccines' effectiveness is falling. The plan, as outlined by the director of the Centers for ...
Pennsylvania's largest teachers union on Wednesday urged K-12 schools to require masks in school buildings, a measure that state officials are encouraging but not mandating. The Pennsylvania State Education Association cited the threat of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, which is spiking infections and hospitalizations across the state and nationally, including among children. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends masks in schools for students, staff and teachers. "Masking up is essential to keeping in-person learning going all ...
ENOLA, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania will offer voluntary COVID-19 testing in all K-12 schools, state health and education officials announced Monday. School districts will have to opt in, and parents must give consent. For participating school districts, the weekly tests will be conducted in classrooms. Students' nasal swabs will be pooled and run as a single test to identify the presence of COVID-19 in a school. Boston-based Concentric by Ginkgo Bioworks, which operates statewide programs in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Arizona, North Carolina and other states, was awarded ...
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The union that represents about 10,000 guards in Pennsylvania's state prisons told Gov. Tom Wolf Thursday it plans legal action to stop his effort to force them to get COVID-19 vaccines over the next month. The president of the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association sent a letter to the Democratic governor two days after Wolf ordered the guards and some other state workers to get fully vaccinated by Sept. 7 or face weekly testing. Union president John Eckenrode told Wolf his policy announcement was "a slap in the face — and frankly, way too ...
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court has dismissed a judge's ruling that threw out Gov. Tom Wolf's sweeping COVID-19 restrictions, saying the issue is now moot because statewide mitigation measures have expired and Pennsylvania voters have since constrained a governor's emergency powers. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that since Wolf's stay-at-home order, limits on crowd size and business closures are no longer in effect, there is "consequently no relief that this court can grant." The Philadelphia-based appeals court also noted that Pennsylvania voters in May ...
The Warren County School District is sticking to its plan of not requiring masks in school, but it is ready to act if the need arises. Superintendent Amy Stewart said other districts are formalizing language that would automatically enact mask requirements and closures based on certain events. Not wanting to lock into any drastic action before it has all the facts, the district is not going there. “(Solicitor) Chris (Byham) has helped us craft some language,” Stewart said, that gives the district more flexibility. The board approved moving forward with a health and safety plan ...
