Anthony Fauci, one of the federal government’s leading public health figures, announced he’ll be leaving his post as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in December, though he made clear he’s not retiring. Read more»

You would think something like an international pandemic would be the sort of thing that unites us across political lines. And it has…in every country on the planet except this one. Here in the United States, it’s been politicized by the Right to attack the people who are working to save us, and cast them as villains. Read more»

Though COVID-19 has claimed around 830,000 lives in the United States, only two states have added COVID-19 vaccines to the list of immunizations mandated for schoolchildren - the main reason, experts say, is they are wary of opening another front in the wars over mandates. Read more»

A quiet monthslong legal fight between the U.S. National Institutes of Health and drugmaker Moderna over COVID-19 vaccine patents recently burst into public view, pointing to serious problems in the ways U.S. companies bring drugs and vaccines to market. Read more»

Having secured enough vaccines for all 28 million Americans ages 5 to 11, the White House released its plans Wednesday to make Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine easily accessible to as many of these children as possible at pediatrician's offices, pharmacies and schools. Read more»

Experts say low vaccination rates, resistance to protective measures and the Delta variant are driving the surge of COVID-19 cases - but many Americans, particularly the unvaccinated and Republicans, believe immigrants are “a major reason for the current high number of cases.” Read more»

Evidence is growing that contracting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is generally as effective as vaccination at stimulating your immune system to prevent the disease, yet federal officials have been reluctant to recognize any equivalency. Read more»

U.S. health officials announced a plan to recommend that all Americans, but particularly those who are elderly or otherwise at risk of serious infection from COVID-19, obtain booster shots to better withstand an ongoing surge of the virus's more infectious Delta variant. Read more»

Research showing how well vaccines protect those with weakened immune systems is limited. In part that’s because immunosuppressed people, who make up at least 3% of the U.S. population and include people with cancer, HIV and many chronic health conditions, were not included in the original clinical trials for the three COVID vaccines authorized for emergency use. Read more»

Consideration of the so-called coronavirus lab leak hypothesis has seemingly gained momentum, yet the default answer for most scientists is that the virus probably made the jump to humans from bats directly or, more likely, through one or more intermediate mammals. Read more»

The Navajo Nation has reduced daily COVID cases to single digits but the highly contagious delta variant has the former hot spot alarmed. Read more»

“Breakthrough infections,” cases in which people test positive for COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated, are extremely rare. Public health experts are anxious that these cases not be blown out of proportion and discourage people from getting vaccinated, yet they also say it’s critical to track and study these cases, because scientists do not fully understand who is susceptible to vaccine failure. Furthermore, as the coronavirus continues to mutate, breakthrough cases may be the leading indicator of a new variant that is more resistant to a vaccine, which could necessitate manufacturers adapting their vaccines or developing booster shots. Read more»

The chief executive officer for Pfizer, Albert Bourla, has gotten his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, he told Axios in early March. But a video posted to Facebook on March 24 is blaring the false claim: “Pfeizer CEO refuses [vaccine],” with an emoji that looks like the SARS-CoV-2 virus and a syringe. Read more»

In the world of on-line dating, people are announcing their vaccination status in dating app profiles. As eligibility for the covid vaccine opens up to groups that may include younger people, it’s likely vaccine status will gain more prominence in dating profiles. But should this declaration give people the peace of mind to start increasing the frequency of in-person dates? Read more»

A blog post by conservative talk show host Buck Sexton claims scientific evidence shows that right now we should “open the schools, stop wearing masks outside, and everyone at low risk should start living normal lives.” Public health experts disagreed, stating science does not support the idea that the time is right. That would allow the virus to continue to spread and have a large human cost in hospitalizations and deaths. Read more»