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Michigan officials to coordinate shipments to hospitals, health departments, nursing homes. Health care workers expected to receive vaccines. Four COVID-19 vaccines are in Phase 3 clinical trials, although two have paused for safety reasons. 

On Monday, Brad Bigford went through a list of patients who had signed up for a flu shot and started making cancellations. The nurse practitioner and owner of the small business Table Rock Mobile Medicine hadn’t received his complete shipment of vaccines yet for the year. He ran out of them this week.

Billions of people may have to wait for a COVID-19 vaccine because of a dearth of effective cold storage facilities. Most vaccines need to be stored, transported, and administered at consistent, cool temperatures, usually between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius. But a number of trial vaccines nearing the end of clinical trials require far lower temperatures, because they are RNA vaccines — a type of vaccine that carries instructions to cells to build protein.

Telemedicine has become more common given the current global pandemic. COVID-19 has limited doctor’s office and hospital visits to ensure safety for everyone. But rather than diminish the quality of care, new research in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research finds that increasing wider use of telemedicine in the emergency room (ER) can yield positive results for patients and providers alike.

It is imperative to make sure your vote counts. The safety of mail-in voting has come into question over the last couple of months, so WAVY.com spoke with Dr. Natalie Scala of Towson University. She’s part of a research project focusing on election security, including mail-based voting. Dr. Scala says the first part of election security involves poll workers and polling places.