Health

New coronavirus variants could lead to a rapid rise in Covid-19 cases, and can “dangerously accelerate the trajectory of the pandemic,” US health officials warned Wednesday. “I know these variants are concerning, especially as we’re seeing signs of progress,” US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House

The world’s first Covid-19 human challenge study will begin within a month in the UK, deliberately exposing up to 90 healthy young people to the coronavirus. The study received ethics approval this week, the country’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said Wednesday in a statement. During the trial, up to 90 volunteers

Fully vaccinated people can now skip quarantine even if they’ve been exposed to Covid-19, according to new guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But at the same time, the agency also acknowledges there’s a lot researchers don’t know about how vaccines impact transmission. The new guidance only applies if it has

While many Americans were dealing with how to stay warm Tuesday, some vaccine providers were dealing with the news that some shipments were running behind. About 105 million Americans throughout the county remain under a winter storm warning or watch as many deal with frustrating power outages and stinging cold temperatures. “Significant snow, sleet, and

Dr. Anthony Fauci said vaccines won’t be available to the “general public” before mid- to late May or early June, he told CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Tuesday. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged that previous estimates had placed vaccine availability for the general public — or nonessential workers under

Going back more than a hundred years, New York has held the dubious distinction of being a corruption leader among US states and has struggled to ensure integrity in state government. In recent years, high-profile bribery cases have ensnared the leaders of both legislative bodies and Governor Andrew Cuomo’s former right-hand man. Now, a different

President Joe Biden took part in his first town hall since entering the White House last month, answering questions from CNN’s Anderson Cooper (and audience members) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I watched, took notes and have some thoughts about what mattered most — and why. My takeaways are below. 1. A hard deadline on vaccinations: Less

Vaccine distribution slowed in many areas because of winter storms engulfing much of the country Monday and Tuesday. Here are the localities and states that have delayed or postponed distribution so far: Alabama Some county health departments closed their vaccination clinics Tuesday, the Alabama Department of Public Health said. Colorado Colorado is among the states

Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine appears to reduce symptomatic coronavirus infections by more than 90% in the real world, Israeli researchers said Sunday. The findings, while preliminary, suggest that the vaccine remains remarkably effective in a mass vaccination campaign — outside the carefully controlled conditions of a clinical trial. The Clalit Research Institute, part of a large

The Covid-19 vaccine rollout started as a trickle. But the pace has steadily picked up each week, more than tripling in the first month under the Trump administration and reaching President Joe Biden’s goal of 1.5 million shots per day just about three weeks into his term. But some aspects of the federal rollout plan

Millions of Americans reeling from a deadly storm and massive power outages are about to get walloped by more winter weather. Already, about 2,000 records for low temperatures have been shattered this past week, CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen said. On Tuesday alone, at least 20 cities suffered their coldest weather in history. Many more new

The US on Monday reported more than 53,800 new Covid-19 infections: its lowest daily case count since October and a vastly different number from those plaguing the country just last month, when infections were topping 200,000 a day. Statistics across the US are now reflecting more encouraging trends. California, one of the states hit hardest

A genetic test used to detect common traits many people share is not reliable in identifying rare disease-causing variations, such as those that can predict breast and ovarian cancer, a new study has found. The SNP test, which stands for “single nucleotide polymorphism,” is used by direct-to-consumer DNA and ancestry companies to identify common traits

Vaccine distribution in states and cities across the US are slowing down because of winter storms that have left more than a third of the continental US with below-zero temperatures Monday. The severe winter weather sparked emergency declarations in at least seven states, including Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas. Here are the

Vaccine distribution in states and cities across the US are slowing down because of winter storms that have left more than a third of the continental US with below-zero temperatures Monday. The severe winter weather sparked emergency declarations in at least seven states, including Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas. Here are the