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After Covid-19 vaccines transitioned to the commercial market last fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stepped in to ensure that adults without insurance, or those whose insurance plans did not fully cover the vaccine, could receive shots for free. The agency’s Bridge Access Program provided roughly 1.5 million shots, said Dr. Georgina Peacock, the director of the immunization services division at the C.D.C. Nationwide, about 27 million adults do not have health insurance. But the program ends this month, making it even harder for health centers to provide shots for free. (Blum and Mogg, 8/6)

The Contra Costa County health department on Tuesday recommended people wear masks in crowded indoor settings as COVID-19 infections increase throughout the Bay Area. The department said masking is particularly important for those at high risk of serious illness if infected. However, the department also stressed that it is a recommendation, not a health order, and it aligns with existing state requirements and recent advice issued in neighboring counties. (Hicks, 8/6)

The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) today reported its first avian flu outbreaks in dairy herds that are based on mandatory weekly bulk-tank milk testing, which went into effect on July 22. The testing turned up nine more outbreaks in dairy herds, according to the CDA's line list, which now reflects 63 herds affected since late April.  (Schnirring, 8/6)

A Dallas woman has died from West Nile virus, local health officials announced Tuesday. Less than a week ago, a woman in her 50s was identified Dallas County’s sixth person with West Nile virus, Christian Grisales, spokesperson for the Dallas County Health and Human Services, told USA TODAY. On Tuesday, health officials announced she had become the county’s first West Nile death this year, at the start of the season when cases begin appearing when people get bit by infected mosquitoes. (Cuevas, 8/7)

China's eastern Shandong province reported five people were infected with anthrax and a beef cattle farm was shut after an outbreak was discovered in the agricultural province. All of the livestock on the farm were culled, the disease control and prevention centre of Yanggu county in Shandong said in a statement on WeChat. (8/6)

The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday warned restaurants and seafood retailers not to sell oysters that were recently harvested from Lewis Bay on Cape Cod because they may be contaminated with a bacteria that can cause a food poisoning illness. The FDA said the contaminated oysters were harvested between July 1 and July 18 from two sites in the bay off Hyannis and Yarmouth. (Stoico, 8/6)

Discharged hospital patients can carry superbugs home and infect relatives or caregivers, even if they weren't sickened by the bacteria, per a study in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. The findings put an exclamation point on the concerns about the role hospitals play in the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections — and need to play in prevention, the authors say. (Reed, 8/7)