FILE PHOTO: A health worker fills a syringe with Ebola vaccine before injecting it to a patient, in GomaReuters
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Welcome to Dispensed, Business Insider's weekly healthcare newsletter. We've made it to Memorial Day weekend! Hope everyone's found a restful way to spend the long weekend. Is anyone else getting nostalgic for past three-day weekend plans?
This week in healthcare news, we saw some vaccine developments and some new COVID-19 complications — medically and financially.
We're getting our first signs of how well a coronavirus vaccine might work
This week, we got results from not one but two vaccine efforts.
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On Monday, Moderna Therapeutics released the first human results from coronavirus vaccine efforts, finding that in a small number of healthy volunteers, the vaccine created immune responses that could help protect people from being infected by the novel coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Yeji Lee went deeper down the rabbit hole of skin complications popping up in patients who've tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
While COVID-19 predominantly impacts the lungs, doctors are noticing everything from clotting complications to symptoms like loss of smell and dizziness.
Yeji reports the American Academy of Dermatology has logged 600 submissions of skin-related problems seen in patients with COVID-19 — including, of course, "COVID toes" as well as rashes, hive-like symptoms, and blisters.
Meanwhile, Republicans are clashing with Democrats over the next stimulus bill. In particular, Republicans want to shield companies from coronavirus lawsuits. Last Friday, the House passed the $3 trillion bill called the HEROES Act, which doesn't include those provisions. Kimberly has the roundup of all that Republicans are pushing for.
For patients, the financials are complicated too. The Trump administration has been working to make sure patients are shielded from high healthcare costs related to coronavirus treatment. Even so, Kimberly spoke with patients — both insured and uninsured — who have still faced high medical bills for treatment and testing.
Last week, I mentioned the team had spoken with 26 healthcare leaders about what's in store for the healthcare industry in light of the pandemic. This week, the team pulled out some themes from our reporting.
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