It’s quite likely this virus will never be eliminated from the world. But even so, getting vaccinated enormously reduces your risk of severe outcomes like hospitalisation and death.
Looking for bits of DNA at the University of Florida.
David Duffy
A deep clean involves cleaning objects or surfaces that may not be routinely cleaned, such as walls, ventilation ducts, curtains, carpets, and hard-to-reach places.
Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell (orange) infected with UK B.1.1.7 variant SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (green), isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland.
(NIAID)
Variants of the original SARS-CoV-2 are now in wide circulation. That means the third wave of COVID-19 has come with new questions about the variants, their effects and what might come next.
Life is almost back to normal in Taiwan.
Ritchie B. Tongo/EPA
COVID-19 variants of concern have changed the game. We need to recognise and act on this to avoid future waves of infections, yet more lockdowns and restrictions, and avoidable illness and death.
Sequencing the genetic code of virus samples taken from COVID-19 patients reveals how SARS-CoV-2 is spreading and changing.
Nate Langer/UPMC
The US lags in testing coronavirus samples from COVID-19 patients, which can help track the spread of the virus and the emergence of new variants. But labs are ramping up this crucial surveillance.
We need to re-analyse data from China and look further afield if we are to have a more complete picture of what happened in 2019. Just keep the politics out of it.
Maker spaces give engineers and designers the tools to build low-cost medical equipment using locally available materials.
Brandon Martin, Rice University
Engineering students in Malawi and Tanzania have used the materials and tools available to them to build ventilators, personal protective equipment and UV disinfection systems.
Vaccination produces a much stronger and more consistent immune response than infection.
Andriy Onufriyenko/Moment via Getty Images
If you’ve already had the coronavirus and recovered, you might be tempted to give the vaccine a pass. A scientist explains why the shot offers the best protection against future infection.
The coronavirus pandemic has driven a lot of scientific progress in the past year. But just as some of the social changes are likely here to stay, so are some medical innovations.
It’s not a stretch to say asymptomatic spreaders unwittingly engage in zombielike behaviors.
gremlin via Getty Images
SARS-CoV-2 is much like a zombie virus. It interferes with normal sickness behavior and blocks pain, turning its victims into unsick spreaders of the virus.
A sign in County Kildare, Ireland. in March 2020. Epidemiologists around the world worked hard to try to stop big parties in the face of rising caseloads of what would come to be called COVID-19.
Niall Carson/PA Images via Getty Images
The US was not ready for the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. What can public health leaders and policymakers do to make sure we don’t face another winter of rampant disease?
Vaccinated people are wondering whether they can ease social distancing and mask-wearing.
AP Photo/Darko Bandic
You’ve been vaccinated; can you now safely see your friends and family? New research hints that vaccinated people may be less likely to transmit the coronavirus, but they are not 100% in the clear.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose.
Phill Magoke/AFP via Getty Images
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is different from the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines in a few important ways that could make it a huge help to global vaccination efforts.
Much has been said of the politics surrounding the mission to investigate the viral origins of COVID-19. So it’s easy to forget that behind these investigations are real people.
For many, distinguishing between fact and fiction is difficult.
Olemedia/E+ via Getty Images
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand