Covid-19 pandemic in 2022: What will happen this year?

In the third year of the coronavirus pandemic, expect more variants, lower death rates and some continuing restrictions Health 4 January 2022 By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson and Helen Thomson Theme park visitors show their covid passes in France, July 2021 SEBASTIEN SALOM-GOMIS/AFP via Getty Images While the pandemic is unlikely to fully end in 2022, … Read more

2022 news preview: mRNA tech behind covid-19 vaccines could get new uses

By Michael Le Page A BioNTech worker tests the procedures for making mRNA Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images 2022 could be the year when we find out whether mRNA vaccine technology can be used for a lot more than just making vaccines. The hope is that it can also get our bodies to produce drugs that … Read more

Covid-19 news: Hospitals in England declare critical incidents

By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu and Layal Liverpool A man passes a temporary ‘Nightingale’ field hospital constructed in south London, England, 3 January 2022. NEIL HALL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstoc​k Latest coronavirus news as of 12pm on 4 January Staff shortages force health service providers … Read more

Two years of covid-19: How the pandemic has unfolded so far, what we’ve learned, and the questions that remain

It’s now been two years since Chinese authorities first informed the World Health Organization about an unknown virus in Wuhan. How has our understanding of the virus changed since then and where does that leave us? Health 31 December 2021 By Helen Thomson A new hospital was rapidly built in Wuhan, China, in early 2020 … Read more

With COVID-19 on the rise again, ‘Super Bowl of astronomy’ next month canceled

As COVID-19 infection rates rise once again, the leaders of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) have canceled the major conference scheduled for early January, sometimes nicknamed the “Super Bowl of astronomy” by space fans. The Board of Trustees of the AAS voted to cancel the conference’s in-person events, which were scheduled to take place in … Read more

Once a ‘crazy idea,’ patent-pooling nonprofit will help bring COVID-19 pills to world’s poor | Science

In the United States, widespread hope greeted the decision by the Food and Drug Administration last week to authorize the emergency use of two different oral treatments for SARS-CoV-2 infection, which could mark a new era in which pills taken at home can prevent severe COVID-19. Global health advocates are also celebrating the preauthorization decision … Read more

After COVID-19 Successes, Researchers Push to Develop mRNA Vaccines for Other Diseases

When the broad range of vaccines against COVID-19 were being tested in clinical trials, only a few experts expected the unproven technology of mRNA to be the star. Within 10 months, mRNA vaccines were both the first to be approved and the most effective. Although these are the first mRNA vaccines to be approved, the … Read more

We Can’t Fight COVID-19 on a Country-by-Country Basis

Editor’s Note (12/21/21): This article is being showcased in a special collection about equity in health care that was made possible by the support of Takeda Pharmaceuticals. The article was published independently and without sponsorship. Recently, one of my patients borrowed money from a loan shark just to get a private taxi to the hospital. … Read more

Arduous trip through Amazon brings COVID-19 vaccines to vulnerable groups | Science

A version of this story appeared in Science, Vol 374, Issue 6575. “Vaccine! Let’s vaccinate everyone!” Shouts go up from the steep and muddy banks of the Iriri River in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon forest. A team of doctors, nurses, and nongovernmental organization (NGO) workers are hauling plastic foam boxes from a small … Read more

Why Racism, Not Race, Is a Risk Factor for Dying of COVID-19

Editor’s Note (12/21/21): This article is being showcased in a special collection about equity in health care that was made possible by the support of Takeda. The article was published independently and without sponsorship. COVID-19 has cut a jarring and unequal path across the U.S. The disease has disproportionately harmed and killed people of color. … Read more