On Sept. 12, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the newly formulated COVID-19 vaccines for all Americans ages 6 months and up, hours after its expert advisory committee voted…
Category: Covid-19
How evasive and transmissible is the newest omicron offshoot, BA.2.86, that causes COVID-19? 4 questions answered
The latest variant, or sublineage, of SARS-CoV-2 to emerge on the scene, BA.2.86, has public health experts on alert as COVID-19 hospitalizations begin to rise and the new variant makes its way…
Older adults shouldn’t rely on previous infection for immunity
Despite researchers’ efforts to understand SARS-CoV-2, the virus continues to hold many secrets. As much as we’ve tried to shoehorn it into our thinking about how respiratory viruses work, it will simply…
The horrors of ‘Scream 6’ and ‘Evil Dead Rise’ reflect pandemic confinement and contagion in cities
The pandemic changed our perception of space so that places we usually take for granted suddenly fell under heavy scrutiny. Seeing the world from six feet of enforced social distancing, restrictions, closures…
3 ways higher education can become more hopeful in the post-pandemic, post-AI era
We live at a time when universities and colleges are facing multiplying crises, pressures and changes. From the COVID-19 pandemic and budgetary pressures to generative artificial intelligence (AI) and climate catastrophe, the…
Asymptomatic COVID-19 is linked to a gene variant that boosts immune memory after exposure to prior seasonal cold viruses
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea A common genetic variant explains why some people are asymptomatic after being infected with the virus that causes…
Vaccination in pregnancy greatly reduces risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19, and protects babies up to 6 months after birth
From the early days of the pandemic, it has been evident that a COVID-19 infection in pregnancy can be serious. Hundreds of studies from around the world have consistently shown that a…
Department stores survived the pandemic by being adaptable and innovative
The retail industry has experienced major upheavals over the past few years due to the rise of online retailing and the decline of shopping malls. One retail sector that has been hit…
96.4% of Americans had COVID-19 antibodies in their blood by fall 2022
CC BY-ND Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, were present in the blood of 96.4% of Americans over the age of 16 by September 2022. That’s according to a serosurvey…
Why it’s impossible for public policy to rely entirely on science
One of the abiding lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic is how poorly prepared we were to deal with a crisis of that magnitude. Naturally, politicians have promised to develop better strategies for…