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A drop in Covid-19 cases can be deceptive, official warns. Here’s how the US can stay ahead of a variant-driven surge

Although the rise of Covid-19 variants in the United States could spell trouble, pharmaceutical companies and scientists are confident vaccines will evolve with them, senior White House adviser Andy Slavitt told CNN. “I spoke to all the pharmaceutical companies and scientists, and they all say the same thing: Even if these vaccines diminish a little

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Covid-19 variants could fuel another surge. Fauci says we have two powerful tools against them

Covid-19 variants are threatening to cause another surge of infections, health officials warned Wednesday, and it’s now more important than ever for Americans to continue practicing safety measures that work against the spread of the virus. “The continued spread of variants that are more transmissible could jeopardize the progress we have made in the last

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New standards will take the guesswork out of choosing the most effective face masks

Americans may soon be able to choose between two clearly labeled levels of face mask protection while browsing store shelves. The new national mask standard outlines minimum fit, design, performance and testing requirements for face masks and would require user instructions, package labeling and a permanent tag on the product. ASTM International — an international

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Coming to terms with chronic illness and grief over what’s lost

Tessa Miller was just 23 when her nightmare of deadly infections, procedures and misdiagnoses began. Over the next several years, Miller tried dozens of medications, was hospitalized more times than she can remember and required three fecal transplants. She visited gastroenterologists, allergists, oncologists, pain medicine specialists, endocrinologists, gynecologists and neurologists. Her ultimate diagnosis of Crohn’s

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The first Biden-era vaccine against Covid-19 is moving toward market, but new bumps could trip up the big launch

The Biden administration is relishing the chance to put its new-and-improved distribution program on display with the release of the forthcoming Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but as the US Food and Drug Administration weighs authorization, expectations for a massive, imminent surge in available vaccine doses have been dashed. Federal health officials now expect to get

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Lab studies suggest Pfizer, Moderna vaccines can protect against coronavirus variant

A new report published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday suggests that Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine can protect people against concerning new coronavirus variants, including one first seen in South Africa called B.1.351. For the study, researchers at Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch genetically engineered versions of the virus to

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