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Latest COVID-19 News & Events

Upcoming Event

Tuesday, Sept. 28 from 2–3:00 p.m. Eastern: CDC will host a webinar "What Clinicians Need to Know About the Latest CDC Recommendations for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Booster Vaccination.”

September 23-24

—The CDC issues a press release on the ACIP booster recommendations and updates information on COVID-19 vaccine booster shots.

—The AMA releases statement and backs CDC on COVID vaccine booster for health care professionals.

—The AMA releases a statement on ACIP's recommendation for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster.

September 15

The AMA releases the COVID-19 medical ethics guide: Can physicians treat unvaccinated patients?

September 10

The CDC releases updated infection control guidance for COVID-19 in health care settings.

August 31

The AMA updates guidance on how to prescribe medications responsibly when the decision can be clinically and ethically challenging.

COVID-19 News, Press and Daily Video Collections

—Follow the AMA news coverage on COVID-19

—Read the latest AMA COVID-19 press releases

—Watch the AMA COVID-19 video updates

Find clinical guidance from the CDC, AMA and other health and medical research organizations. 

Vaccination recommendations

—AMA resource center: COVID-19 & vaccine development

—Vaccination Guidance During a Pandemic

Post-COVID Conditions (Long COVID)

—Evaluating and Caring for Patients with Post-COVID Conditions: Interim Guidance

Persons under investigation

—Interim Guidance for Public Health Personnel Evaluating Persons Under Investigation  (PUIs)and Asymptomatic Close Contacts of Confirmed Cases at Their Home or Non-Home Residential Settings 

—Evaluating and Reporting PUI Guidance

—Interim Guidelines for Collecting, Handling, and Testing Clinical Specimens from Persons for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

—Reporting a PUI or Laboratory-Confirmed Case for COVID-19

Serology testing

—FDA Letter to Health Care Providers on Important Information on the Use of Serological (Antibody) Tests for COVID-19

—IDSA COVID-19 Antibody Testing Primer

—Serological testing for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

—CDC Interim Guidelines for COVID-19 Antibody Testing in Clinical and Public Health Settings

Clinical care and treatment

—CDC Clinical Care Guidance

—NIH Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment Guidelines

—Therapeutic Options for Patients with COVID-19

—ASPH Assessment of Evidence for COVID-19-Related Treatments

—Disposition of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-2019

—Inpatient Obstetric Healthcare Guidance

—Ten Clinical Tips on COVID-19 for Healthcare Providers Involved in Patient Care

Newborns and children 

—Evaluation and Management Considerations for Neonates At Risk for COVID-19

—Considerations for Inpatient Obstetric Healthcare Settings

—Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) Associated with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Infection control

—CDC Project Firstline: Infection Control and Prevention Training

—Community Use of Cloth Masks to Control the Spread of SARS-CoV-2

—Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Patients with Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) or Persons Under Investigation for COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings

—Healthcare Infection Prevention and Control FAQs for COVID-19

—Guidance and Resources on Healthcare Supply of Personal Protective Equipment

—Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of PPE

—Frequently Asked Questions about Personal Protective Equipment

—Mini webinar training series for frontline long-term care and nursing home staff:

     —Sparkling Surfaces
     —Clean Hands
     —Closely Monitor Residents
     —Keep COVID-19 Out!
     —PPE Lessons

Health care personnel with potential exposure

—Interim U.S. Guidance for Risk Assessment and Public Health Management of Healthcare Personnel with Potential Exposure in a Healthcare Setting to Patients with Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

—Criteria for Return to Work for Healthcare Personnel with Confirmed or Suspected COVID-19 (Interim Guidance)

Clinics & health care facilities

—Resources for Clinics and Healthcare Facilities

—Interim Guidance for Healthcare Facilities: Preparing for Community Transmission of COVID-19 in the United States

—Preparing for COVID-19: Long-term Care Facilities, Nursing Homes

—Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Patients with Suspected or Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Healthcare Settings

Home care

—Implementing Home Care of People Not Requiring Hospitalization

—Preventing COVID-19 from Spreading in Homes and Communities

—Disposition of Non-Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19

—Interim Guidance for Discontinuation of In-Home Isolation for Patients with COVID-19

—Discontinuation of In-Home Isolation for Immunocompromised Persons with COVID-19 (Interim Guidance)

Latest AMA news and media coverage

—Follow the AMA news coverage on COVID-19

—Read the latest AMA COVID-19 press releases

—Watch the AMA COVID-19 video updates

—Watch episodes of AMA "COVID-19:What Physicians Need to Know" webinar series

AMA guides

General

—AMA COVID-19 Guides for health care professionals

—AMA Physician's Guide to COVID-19

—COVID-19 frequently asked questions

—COVID-19 volunteer guide for health care professionals

Patient-facing resources

—COVID-19 Transmission: Patient-facing Information (PDF)

—What Patients Need to Know About Wearing Face Masks (PDF)

CPT® coding

—COVID-19 coding and guidance

—COVID-19 CPT vaccine and immunization codes

—COVID-19 immunization administration and E/M visits

Telehealth

—AMA quick guide to telehealth in practice

—Performing virtual independent medical evaluations amid COVID-19

Health systems & private practices

—COVID-19 Vaccine Script for Patient Inquiries (PDF)

—Caring for caregivers during COVID-19

—Helping private practices manage non-essential care

—Tips for keeping your practice in business during the COVID-19 pandemic

—Managing mental health during COVID-19 

—Financial and business operations during COVID-19: Guidance for physicians

—Prior authorization (PA) policy changes related to COVID-19 (PDF)

—Making tough decisions: Managing the practice’s employee costs

—AMA efforts to improve behavioral health: COVID-19 and beyond

—Navigating physician employment during COVID-19 article series:

    —Evaluate your options
    —Understand employer flexibilities
    —Know your rights

—Working from home during COVID-19 pandemic—what physicians need to know (PDF)

—Creating a resilient organization for health care workers during a crisis

—COVID-19: A physician guide to keeping your practice open

—Federal Stark Law waivers during COVID-19 (PDF)

Health equity

—COVID-19 FAQs: Health equity in pandemic

—COVID-19 health equity resources

—States tracking COVID-19 race and ethnicity data

International medical graduates

—COVID-19 FAQs: Guidance for international medical graduates

Senior physicians

—Senior physician COVID-19 resource guide

Medical education: Residents, medical students and faculty 

—Medical education COVID-19 resource guide 

—AMA guiding principles to protect learners responding to COVID-19

—Guiding principles to protect resident & fellow physicians responding to COVID-19

—COVID-19 resources for medical educators

—Loan and grant info for residents & medical students during COVID-19

—Protecting underrepresented students and residents during COVID-19

Medical students

—COVID-19 FAQs: Guidance for medical students

Women in medicine

—COVID-19 resource guide: Women in medicine

Serology testing

—Serological testing for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

Vaccine development

—COVID-19 & vaccine development

Every day, the AMA is fighting to remove the obstacles physicians face while confronting the COVID-19 pandemic. The AMA is listening to physicians and will continue to channel their collective voices into action.

Federal and state advocacy topics

—Physician COVID-19 vaccination study (PDF)

—COVID-19: Advocacy Progress Report

—Policy options for states to address COVID-19

—CMS payment policies & regulatory flexibilities during COVID-19 emergency

—COVID-19 policy recommendations for OUD, pain, harm reduction

—Patient care for SUD, mental illness, chronic pain during COVID-19

—Taking action on opioid use disorder, pain & harm reduction during COVID-19

—Summary of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (COVID 3.5)

—Liability protections for health care professionals during COVID-19

—AMA resources to help states respond to COVID-19

—Serological testing for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

—HEROES Act: What physicians and medical students need to know

—COVID-19: AMA's recent and ongoing advocacy efforts

"Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security" (CARES) Act article series

       —What the CARES Act means for physicians & medical students

       —CARES Act: Medicare’s COVID-19 advance payment program FAQs

       —CARES Act: Medicare advance payments for COVID-19 emergency

       —CARES Act: AMA COVID-19 pandemic telehealth fact sheet

       —CARES Act: Loans & other financial assistance for physician practices

AMA Journal of Ethics® videocast

In this video edition of Ethics Talk, journal editor in chief, Audiey Kao, MD, PhD, talks with Chris Beyrer, MD, MP, about the challenges facing the U.S. president's emergency plan for AIDS relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ethics pandemic guidance series

Read articles based on the AMA Code of Medical Ethics to guide physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

—AMA Code of Medical Ethics—pandemic guidance

—Can physicians decline unvaccinated patients?

—Do physicians have a responsibility to be vaccinated?

—Prescribing medications responsibly in a pandemic 

—Providing patient care remotely in a pandemic

—Fair access to limited critical care resources

—Clinical research versus patient care: Conducting clinical trials 

—Caring for patients at the end of life 

—Clinical research versus patient care: Access experimental treatment 

—Restrictive covenants and care in a pandemic

—Graduating early to join the workforce

—Crisis standards of care: Guidance from the AMA Code of Medical Ethics

—Speaking out on issues adversely affecting patient safety in a pandemic

—Access and health equity during a pandemic

—Obligations to protect health care professionals

—Use of patient registries during public health emergencies

—Protecting public health & vulnerable populations in a pandemic

—Research ethics in a public health crisis

—Physicians in the media: Responsibilities to the public and the profession

—Ethical practice in isolation, quarantine & contact tracing

—Vaccine trials & healthy volunteers

—DNR orders in a public health crisis

—Prioritizing the rest of health care in a public health crisis

News and media

—Explore AMA news articles on COVID-19 ethics guidance

AMA Journal of Ethics podcast and videocast

—Ethics Talk: Should Adolescents Be Able to Consent for COVID-19 Vaccinations?

—Ethics Talk: Virtue Ethics, Moral Authority, and COVID-19

—Ethics Talk: Disability Community Perspectives on COVID-19

—Ethics Talk: Health Equity After COVID-19

—Ethics Talk: COVID-19 Pandemic Response

—Ethics Talk: What Are Clinicians’ Obligations to Patients Who Express Bias or Discrimination?

—Ethics Talk: When and How Should ECMO Be Initiated and Removed?

—Ethics Talk: Exempting Vaccinations - An Interview with Dr. Richard Pan, Special Podcast

—Ethics Talk: Othering and Belonging in COVID-19

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Caring for Incarcerated Individuals During COVID-19 Pandemic

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Advance Care Planning and End-of-life Care in the COVID-19 Era

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Caring for Homeless People During COVID-19 Pandemic

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Immunity Status, Social Privilege, and the Novel Coronavirus.

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Vaccine Ethics and the Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Antiracism, Health Equity, and a Post-COVID Future

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Spread of Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia During COVID-19 Pandemic

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Polling, Politics, and Health Policy in the COVID-19 Era

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Public Health, Personal Liberties, and COVID-19

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Plight of Workers in Low Wage Jobs and COVID-19

—Ethics Talk Videocast: White Coats for Black Lives

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Social Isolation, Loneliness, and COVID-19

—Ethics Talk Videocast: COVID-19 Pandemic and the Global Climate Crisis

—Ethics Talk Videocast: COVID-19 in US Detention Camps

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Digital Spread of Pandemic Misinformation and Lies, Part 1

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Digital Spread of Pandemic Misinformation and Lies, Part 2

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Ethics Talk: Pandemic Poetry, Present and Profane

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Embodied History, Health Justice, and COVID-19, Part 1

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Embodied History, Health Justice, and COVID-19, Part 2

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Revitalizing Democracy During COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond, Part 1

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Revitalizing Democracy During COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond, Part 2

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Equitable Allocation of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine

—Ethics Talk Videocast: COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates and Solutions to Avoid Relying on Them

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Publishing Science and Accelerating Discovery During and After COVID-19

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Who Are You Voting For, Doc? I'm Voting For You.

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Blowing the Whistle on ICE or US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

—Ethics Talk Videocast: COVID Dermatologic Disparities Go More Than Skin Deep

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Hacking Structural Racism in Health Care

—Ethics Talk: Environmental Racism and Health Equity

—Ethics Talk Videocast: COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the Health Care Workforce

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Rationing Critical Care During COVID Surge

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Unblinding COVID-19 Vaccine Trials

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Ethics Talk: Crushing Medical Debt During COVID

—Ethics Talk Videocast:  Equal Justice Under Law and Health Equity

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Surviving COVID Without Water and Other Utilities?

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Health Hazards of Cost Sharing

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Anti-Asian Racism During COVID and Beyond

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Public, Civic and Spiritual Health During COVID.

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Equity and Intellectual Property Protection of COVID Vaccines

—Ethics Talk Videocast: Antibiotic Stewardship During COVID

—Ethics Talk: Could Trusting Science Mean Not Trusting Some FDA Decisions?