News from the South - Alabama News Feed

Add Routine Vaccinations to Your Back-to-School Lists | July 29. 2024 | News 19 at 9 a.m.

Published

5 months ago

July 29, 2024

www.youtube.com – WHNT News 19 – 2024-07-29 10:29:17

SUMMARY: As families prepare for the school year and summer vacations, health officials emphasize the importance of vaccinations to prevent diseases like measles, polio, and tetanus. Dr. Atul Grover highlights a concerning drop in national immunization rates from 95% to 93%, potentially increasing the risk for 750,000 children. With cases of measles rising, he urges parents to vaccinate their kids before school starts. Vaccination not only protects children but also reduces illness spread to adults. Dr. Grover recommends consulting pediatricians for vaccination schedules and emphasizes that many vaccines can be administered together for convenience.

While families gear up for last-minute summer vacations and children head back to school for the 2024-25 school year, health officials are urging parents and guardians to remain vigilant against vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, polio, tetanus and others.
According to new guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, overall vaccination rates amongst kindergarteners remains at its lowest level in decades, having declined nationally from 95 to 93 percent during the two school years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. These lower rates include immunizations against many preventable but dangerous diseases, including measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), whooping cough, and polio. This also comes at a time when influenza vaccination coverage has dropped significantly for young learners, and the United States is experiencing an uptick in measles cases, as well as a summer surge in COVID-19 cases driven by new variants of the virus.
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the drop in MMR vaccine coverage among U.S. kindergartners has put roughly 250,000 kindergartners at risk each year for the last three years. Individual state MMR vaccine rates for kindergartners tell an even more concerning story with vaccination ranging from 81% to 98%. As of July 11th, cases of measles – a highly contagious disease that was eradicated in 2000 through vaccinations – were reported by 24 states. Almost half of those cases were children under 5 years old and 87% of cases were discovered in people who were unvaccinated.
As of July 9, the CDC reported that COVID-19 infections are growing in 45 states, stable or uncertain in 3 states and declining in zero. In 2023, more than 916,300 people were hospitalized due to COVID-19 and more than 75,500 people died from COVID-19. During the 2023-2024 flu season, more than 44,900 people are estimated to have died from flu complications. The updated COVID-19 and flu vaccines are now updated on an annual basis and should be available in the fall.

News 19 is North Alabama’s News Leader! We are the CBS affiliate in North Alabama and the Tennessee Valley since November 28, 1963.

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News from the South - Alabama News Feed

Very Cold Mornings this Weekend, Dry through Monday: Friday Evening Forecast 12/20/2024

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2024

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – WKRG – 2024-12-20 18:54:31

SUMMARY: It will be chilly this weekend, with temperatures in the 50s and lows in the 20s and 30s. Tomorrow will be cold, with a high of 53°F and wind chills in the 20s early in the morning. Christmas Eve will remain mostly dry, but Christmas Day will bring scattered showers, with highs reaching the low 70s. The cold air will last through Monday, with temperatures slowly warming up by Tuesday, reaching the upper 60s. Overall, expect a cold weekend with dry conditions, but temperatures will rise by Christmas Day, offering warmer weather for holiday activities.

A dry cold front will pass this evening, and behind it, we will see frigid conditions into Saturday morning. With winds continuing out …

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News from the South - Alabama News Feed

First Pensacola Wawa now open

Published

3 days ago

December 19, 2024

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – WKRG – 2024-12-19 20:30:34

SUMMARY: This morning marked the grand opening of Pensacola’s first Wawa, a popular chain that originated in Philadelphia. The store, which broke ground in April, is the 251st Wawa in Florida. Joseph Collins, Wawa’s director of store operations, announced plans for an additional 20 stores in the Florida Panhandle over the next 3 to 5 years, responding to community demand. A Philadelphia native expressed excitement after counting down the days to the opening. Each location represents an investment of over $7.5 million and is expected to create hundreds of jobs in the region.

The first Pensacola Wawa opened Thursday morning.
FULL STORY: https://trib.al/U8Xd92V

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News from the South - Alabama News Feed

Much Cooler Tonight, A Frigid Weekend Ahead for the Gulf Coast: Thursday Evening Forecast 12/19/2024

Published

3 days ago

December 19, 2024

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – WKRG – 2024-12-19 18:55:18

SUMMARY: Meteorologist Grant Skinner reports a transition to drier air in the News 5 area, with low clouds lingering before a dry cold front arrives late tomorrow. Current temperatures are around 50° by the coast, with inland areas cooler in the 40s. Overnight, temperatures will drop to the upper 30s inland and near 40° along the coast. Tomorrow will be breezy with highs in the mid-60s. A cold snap this weekend will bring lows in the low 30s, remaining below average. By Christmas, a warm front brings temperatures up to 70°, marking a significant change from the weekend cold.

Thanks to stubborn cloud cover, it was hard for many spots to make it out of the 50’s this afternoon. Tonight will be much cooler with even colder air arriving for the weekend. Lows by Friday morning will sit at around 40°, and we will have mostly clear skies. With lots of sunshine, highs will be seasonable by the afternoon in the mid-60’s. A dry cold front will pass through the region late Friday, and this will bring us a blast of cold air for the weekend. Lows into Saturday and Sunday morning will sit in the mid- to upper-20’s inland with low-30’s along I-10 and mid- to upper-30’s close to the coast. Highs will sit in the 50’s, and conditions will stay dry. To start the week of Christmas, we will begin to warm into the 60’s. Moisture will slowly push back into the area ahead of our next system. Late Christmas Eve into Christmas, isolated showers will be possible, and highs will sit at around 70°. A front will stall near the area keeping warm temperatures and clouds for Thursday.

The WKRG News 5 First Alert Storm Team covers part of southeast Mississippi, southwestern Alabama, and northwest Florida. You can also view the full Thursday evening forecast for the Gulf Coast here: https://tinyurl.com/5dp9smer
Follow Meteorologist Grant Skinner on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wkrggrant

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