CDC COVID-19 Infectious disease pandemic public health Science Technology vaccine Walensky

CDC to release guide for life after vaccination—with normalcy still far off

March 3, 2021

Enlarge / Dr. Rochelle Walensky, President Joe Biden’s pick to head the Centers for Disease Control.Getty | Chip Somodevilla The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to release guidance this week—possibly as early as Thursday—on activities that are considered safe for people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. But, wh...

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Merck/J&J deal may help US get enough vaccine for all adults by end of May

March 2, 2021

Enlarge / US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the government's pandemic response, including the recently announced partnership between Johnson & Johnson and Merck to produce more Johnson & Johnson vaccine, as US Vice President Kamala Harris (L) looks on at the White House in Washington, DC on March 2, 2021.Getty | Jim Watson With a W...

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Why N95 masks are still hard to get, even though production is up

March 1, 2021

Enlarge / A machine makes respiratory masks in a family-owned medical equipment factory in north Miami, Florida, on February 15, 2021. The firm now has 30 million unsold masks because it can't find buyers in the United States.Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images Even though we've had more good vaccine news lately, COVID-19 in the US is still very mu...

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B.1.1.7 variant now 10% of US cases—and cases are once again ticking up

March 1, 2021

Enlarge / President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff participate in a moment of silence and candle light ceremony at sundown with 500 candles for the 500,000 dead from the COVID-19 pandemic, at the South Portico at the White House on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021 in Washington, DC.Getty | The ...

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We’ll likely have a 3rd COVID vaccine soon; J&J vaccine clears last hurdle

February 26, 2021

Enlarge / A sign at the Johnson & Johnson campus on August 26, 2019 in Irvine, California.Getty | Mario Tama After a day-long meeting Friday, an advisory panel for the US Food and Drug Administration voted 22 to 0 to recommend issuing an Emergency Use Authorization for Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot, refrigerator-stable COVID-19 vaccine. I...

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Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine safe and effective, FDA review concludes

February 24, 2021

Enlarge / A sign at the Johnson & Johnson campus on August 26, 2019 in Irvine, California.Getty | Mario Tama Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine is effective and has a “favorable safety profile,” according to scientists at the Food and Drug Administration. The endorsement comes out of a review released by the regulatory agency ...

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As coronavirus variants spread, the US struggles to keep up

February 20, 2021

EnlargeBing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images Across the US, the coronavirus is in retreat. The pandemic is still raging, mind you, with more than 70,000 new cases still reported each day. But since the post-holiday peak in mid-January, the seven-day average of new cases has fallen by nearly 64 percent. Hospitalizations have plunged too. And with vac...

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Pfizer vaccine doesn’t need ultra-cold storage after all, company says

February 19, 2021

Enlarge / A picture taken on January 15, 2021 shows a pharmacist holding with gloved hands a vial of the undiluted Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19.Getty | JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER In a bit of good news, Pfizer and BioNTech announced today that their highly effective COVID-19 vaccine does not require ultra-cold storage conditions after all and can ...

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It took a year, but Gwyneth Paltrow figured out how to exploit the pandemic

February 19, 2021

EnlargeGwyneth Paltrow is at it again. Here's the scene for the perfect grift for our times: Tens of millions of people around the country have fallen ill with COVID-19. Nearly half a million have died. Given chronic testing shortages, millions more have likely been infected and never diagnosed. Some of those infected will develop long-term effects...

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Instagram bans top anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over COVID falsehoods

February 11, 2021

Enlarge / Robert Kennedy Jr. heads up to a meeting at Trump Tower on January 10, 2017 in New York City.Spencer Platt/Getty Images Instagram has permanently banned the account of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an infamous and prolific peddler of dangerous anti-vaccine and COVID-19 misinformation. The move will likely be cheered by public health advocates wh...