vaccination
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Amazon ends mask requirements regardless of vaccine status
Amazon is making face masks optional at its operations facilities across the US regardless of vaccination status starting today.
Apple Wallet is getting verifiable COVID-19 vaccination cards
The Wallet app on your iPhone will soon support verifiable COVID-19 vaccination cards.
Samsung Pay will let you carry your COVID vaccination record
It will enable you to demonstrate proof of vaccination for entry to various events and buildings that are trying to guard against the virus.
You can now book a COVID-19 vaccine through Uber
You'll also be able to reserve a rental car and have a valet drop it off.
Alexa can help you find a COVID-19 vaccination site
Amazon Alexa now helps you find nearby COVID-19 vaccination sites, and call them if you have vaccine questions.
Uber, PayPal and Walgreens set up a Vaccine Access Fund
Anyone can donate and help to cover the cost of rides to COVID-19 vaccination sites.
New York rolls out first digital COVID-19 vaccine passports in the US
New York state has launched the US' first vaccine passports in the form of the mostly digital Excelsior Pass, but it's bound to stir ethical debates.
Facebook will help you find and book a COVID-19 vaccination
Facebook has announced that it's launching a tool that will show "when and where you can get vaccinated" for COVID-19, and provide a link to help you make an appointment.
Uber and Walgreens team up for free rides to COVID vaccine appointments
Pilot programs are set to get underway in socially vulnerable communities.
Google will turn some of its offices into COVID-19 vaccination sites
Google will convert some of its facilities into COVID-19 vaccination sites starting in New York City, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Kirkland, Washington.
Microsoft and Oracle are working on digital COVID-19 vaccine cards
Salesforce and the Mayo Clinic are also members of the Vaccination Credential Initiative.
Instacart tries to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations with a $25 stipend
Instacart is offering shoppers a $25 stipend to help them take time off for vaccinations, but it's not clear that's enough.
LA residents can use their phones to provide COVID-19 vaccination proof
Los Angeles County has teamed with startup Healthvana on an app that will that will store vaccination records in Google or Apple wallets.
Facebook is still running anti-vaccination ads despite ban
Facebook ostensibly frowns on anti-vaccination ads, but it's apparently letting some promos slide. BuzzFeed News has learned that alternative medicine company Earthley is running Facebook and Instagram ads that point users to a whooping cough treatment guide that discusses the "vaccine controversy" -- and by that, we mean it falsely claims the vaccine for whooping cough is unsafe. Not surprisingly, the ads promote Earthley's products in the vaccine's place.
Indiegogo will ban fundraising for anti-vaccination projects
Add Indiegogo to the growing list of internet giants blocking anti-vaccination content. The crowdfunding site told BuzzFeed News it will ban campaigns from anti-vaxxers and others who conduct "health campaigns" unsupported by science. It didn't say when the ban would take effect, but the policy will come in the wake of a recently completed campaign that raised $86,543 for a documentary spreading anti-vaccination myths. Indiegogo will honor that campaign but intends to prevent similar projects from getting started in the future.
Congressman asks Amazon to stop suggesting anti-vaccination content
More internet giants are coming under pressure to crack down on anti-vaccination myths. Rep. Adam Schiff has sent a letter to Jeff Bezos expressing concern over a CNN report showing that Amazon was not only recommending anti-vaccination books and videos in its search results, but was displaying them in sponsored posts. Schiff worried that Amazon was spreading false scientific claims, including content that appears to be neutral on the surface. He effectively asked Bezos to stop suggesting these titles out of a duty to "act responsibly" and asked the CEO to answer questions about Amazon's stance on the material.
Anti-vaxxers are the newest threat in 'Plague Inc.'
Never underestimate the power of a viral petition -- and in this case we mean that quite literally. Strategy game Plague Inc., which sees players do their best to wipe out the world with infectious disease, is going to be given an anti-vaxxer scenario after its developers challenged fans to get a petition past 10,000 signatures. At the time of writing, the total had blown past 20,000.
Pinterest blocks some searches to curb anti-vaccination myths
Social networks have made a number of efforts to halt the spread of anti-vaccination myths, but Pinterest recently took things a step further: it's curbing all talk about vaccination. The site has revealed to the Wall Street Journal that it blocked vaccination-related search terms late in 2018 to limit misinformation until it had a more effective way of filtering content. The company tried to pull the misleading material, but found that it couldn't remove all of it.
Trump taps anti-vaxxer to lead vaccine safety committee (updated)
It's become a common occurrence in the Trump transition team. The incoming administration has nominated a candidate so uniquely unqualified for their intended position that the nod can only be interpreted as a troll against the American people. We've already seen it in Ben Carson's selection as head of Housing and Urban Development, Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, Rex Tillerson's role as Secretary of State and Rick Perry's heading of the Energy Department. Now, Trump wants vaccine denier Robert Kennedy Jr. to chair a presidential commission on vaccine safety.
Measles has been eliminated in the Americas, according to WHO
It's been 53 years since the first measles vaccine was released in 1963, though most people alive today have gotten it bundled into the combined MMR prevention shot that first appeared in 1971. After a half-century of immunization, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) has declared the entirety of the Americas — from the Aleutian Islands to Chile — to have eliminated measles.
