We still have much to learn about many aspects of COVID-19 — including its lingering health effects and the mechanics of its endless mutations — but we do know one thing: we can’t let our guard down.
New analysis answers questions about the ongoing effectiveness of COVID vaccines: How well they protect against infection, hospitalization and death months after initial doses or after a booster shot.
With the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the rearview mirror, at least for now, we look back on a handful of stories that provided sharp insights at key moments in the pandemic.
The new bivalent boosters against COVID-19 have failed to halt omicron infections. However, new technologies are being developed that pave a way forward.
Rapid tests can be an incredibly useful tool for early detection of COVID-19. Unfortunately, they sometimes leave people with more questions than answers.
Adding COVID-19 to a list of ‘designated diseases’ will not make vaccination mandatory for school entry. But it may help increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake among children.
As the virus that causes COVID evolves, keeping up with it remains a challenge for variant-specific vaccines. The booster you can get now is the best one to get.
This guidance replaces previous conditional recommendations for the use of these drugs and is based on emerging evidence that they’re not likely to work against omicron.
Early on, public health messaging focused on the need for vaccines to combat COVID-19. But far less attention has been given to the role of boosters in preventing deaths and reducing inequities.
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