Epidemiology
Omicron’s Effect Won’t Be as Mild as Hoped
It’s too soon to know if the variant causes milder COVID, but its transmissibility and ability to evade vaccines are still cause for concern
"The Coronavirus Outbreak"
Public Health
The Biden Administration Should Offer Free At-Home COVID Testing
The federal testing strategy has tried to improve availability but still puts the burden on people to find expensive tests that are often in short supply
Public Health
How Severe Are Omicron Infections?
A rapidly spreading variant could dangerously strain health-care systems, even if the severe disease risk is relatively low for an individual
Vaccines
COVID Quickly, Episode 21: Vaccines against Omicron and Pandemic Progress
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between.You can listen to all past episodes here...
Public Health
Rapid COVID Tests Could Help Curb Infections--Especially During the Holidays
An expert answers questions about when and how to use the tests
Mental Health
COVID Is Driving a Children’s Mental Health Emergency
Deaths of parents and other terrible experiences have hurt hundreds of thousands, so new initiatives are trying to help families in pain
Vaccines
Omicron Is Likely to Weaken COVID Vaccine Protection—but Boosters Could Restore It
The rapid spread of new variants such as Omicron offers clues to how SARS-CoV-2 is adapting and how the pandemic will play out over the next several months
Vaccines
Boosters Can Help End the COVID Pandemic
The extra shot doesn’t mean that vaccines are ineffective; our bodies just need a reminder
Vaccines
How Scientists Can Update COVID Vaccines against Omicron
A microbiologist explains how Pfizer and Moderna would rapidly adjust mRNA vaccines
Epidemiology
COVID Quickly, Episode 20: The Omicron Scare, and Anti-COVID Pills Are Coming
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between.You can listen to all past episodes here...
Vaccines
The Benefits of Vaccinating Kids against COVID Far Outweigh the Risks of Myocarditis
Vaccination is likely to prevent many more COVID cases than it is to cause a rare and nonfatal heart side effect in five- to 11-year-olds
Public Health
Why COVID Deaths Have Surpassed AIDS Deaths in the U.S.
On World AIDS Day, why global COVID deaths are a fraction of global AIDS deaths
Pharmaceuticals
How the New Antiviral Pills Help Thwart COVID
A drug made by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics—which an FDA panel recently greenlit—and one made by Pfizer work in different ways, but both prevent the virus from replicating...
Vaccines
Omicron Is Here: A Lack of COVID Vaccines Is Partly Why
Global players need to get more vaccines to African nations and convince more people to take them
Vaccines
We Need School-Age Vaccine Mandates to End the COVID Pandemic
Vaccine refusal by parents is not about a lack of education, but amassing social status
Epidemiology
Do Childhood Colds Help the Body Respond to COVID?
A mechanism known as “original antigenic sin” protects some people from flu. Whether it helps immune reactions to coronaviruses is still unclear
Vaccines
COVID Quickly, Episode 19: Mandate Roadblocks, Boosters for All and Sickness in the Zoo
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between.You can listen to all past episodes here...
Physiology
COVID Can Cause Strange Eye and Ear Symptoms
From conjunctivitis to vertigo, coronavirus infections can affect disparate senses
Vaccines
This Cheap Device Could Expand the World’s Access to Vaccines
A new delivery method for certain vaccines could make the lifesaving treatments more effective and accessible
Vaccines
COVID Quickly, Episode 18: Vaccines for Kids and the Limits of Natural Immunity
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between.You can listen to all past episodes here...
