COVID-19

COVID-19 vaccines are now available in Idaho for children between the ages of six months and five years old, though their availability seems to be mostly concentrated in the Treasure Valley.

An FDA committee says COVID-19 vaccines are safe for kids under 5. This means children in Idaho between the ages of six months and five years old could receive shots as soon as next week.

U.S. life expectancy was already lower than other high-income nations and the gap was widening before 2019. Since then, things have gotten worse. New research found that in 2020, life expectancies here dropped disproportionately for marginalized, racialized populations. Especially for Native American and Alaska Native groups

Glacier National Park has re-instituted a mask mandate inside federal buildings, like visitor centers. Officials there say they’re following National Park Service and Interior Department guidance. That is, when the CDC reports a high level of COVID-19 community spread around a park, officials re-institute an indoor mask mandate. Other national parks could bring back mask requirements, too, if rates increase around the West.

Some experts say you're likely to get COVID over and over and over again.

Idaho Matters takes a look at what happened at the Central District Health Department Board meeting on Friday and what it means.

Just a few days after winning the GOP primary for Idaho Attorney General, Raul Labrador has led the charge to direct Central District Health (CDH) to remove any recommendation for face masks from its website.

COVID-19 cases are increasing in most of the country, but it’s hard to say how much. That's due to at-home tests and vaccines, which mean fewer people need to go to a doctor for a diagnoses or aid. These are good signs, but they also make it hard to track the virus, which can be stressful for people who are immunocompromised or can’t get the vaccine.

Idaho State Epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn is encouraging people to take precautions as COVID-19 cases begin to rise again in the state.

A CDC report shows the number of babies born with syphilis in the U.S. has surged. Some Mountain West states had the highest rates during the first year of the pandemic.