Health

The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to retail pharmacies had just begun and Lisa Foster of Dublin, Ohio, felt like she was “playing a slot machine” to secure an appointment online to get vaccinated anywhere she could: Kroger, Walgreens, CVS or Giant Eagle. Then, she “hit the jackpot” — she got an appointment to receive the

Two letters to major medical journals this week provide fuel for the argument that in these times of scarce coronavirus vaccine, people can skip their second doses, immediately doubling the supply for others. In one, researchers at Israel’s largest hospital watched what happened when more than 7,000 staff there got vaccinated. In between their first

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

The US will have to work “double time” to make up for Covid-19 vaccination delays this week caused by the winter weather that has ravaged much of the country, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci. “It’s been slowed down in some places going to a grinding halt,” Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said in

Some vaccine providers have been forced to cancel Covid-19 vaccine appointments due to the winter weather that has ravaged much of the US and caused delays in vaccine deliveries. That can be worrisome for people who were set to receive their second dose of the two-dose Covid-19 vaccines, which are supposed to have a second

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

Covid-19 case rates among children track much more consistently with overall case rates in a state than with trends in in-person learning in K-12 schools, according to a CNN analysis of state-level data. The five states with the least Covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents are also the five states with the lowest case rates among

The scene sits at the core of tense debate across America. In the city of Atlanta’s public schools, masks cover the faces of children and teachers, desks are spaced at least 6 feet apart and students and staff are now offered Covid-19 tests each week. Classes are in session — in-person and online. These are

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

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

People who survive a bout of Covid-19 with mild symptoms or even no symptoms may be able to thank their Neanderthal ancestors, a new study suggests. Researchers found a genetic mutation that reduces the risk of severe Covid-19 infection by about 22%. It was found in all the samples they took of Neanderthal DNA, and

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