People looking for a booster shot of a Covid-19 vaccine probably don’t need to fret about what brand it is: Many combinations of shots are likely to provide strong protection, according to a large new study. In a comparison of seven different vaccine brands, British researchers found that most of them prompted a strong immune […]
Last Friday, just a day after South African scientists first announced the discovery of the Omicron variant, Europe reported its first case: The new coronavirus variant was in Belgium. Before the weekend was out, Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy and other countries had all found cases. But in the United States, scientists kept […]
As the world reels from the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, a panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration is meeting on Tuesday to discuss an antiviral pill from Merck, the first in a new class of treatments that could work against a wide range of variants. The expert committee […]
WASHINGTON — By the time President Biden was briefed on the emergence of a fast-moving new Covid variant on the morning after Thanksgiving, he had a choice to make — and little information to base it on. In a secure conference call from a vacation compound overlooking Nantucket Harbor, the president listened as his health […]
Still, the antiviral pills raise the stakes of a missed diagnosis, said Susan Butler-Wu, a clinical microbiologist at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. “It’s not just knowing my status,” she said. “It’s now like, ‘Oh, this result could get me this really lifesaving medication.’” Antigen tests are generally less […]
That fear comes as China has started to experience a reverse brain drain. Over the last decade, a growing number of Chinese scientists have been lured back to the country by the promise of ample funding, impressive titles and national pride. More recently, scientists returning to China have cited a hostile environment in the United […]
A Connecticut nursing home had planned to roll out Covid booster shots to residents at the beginning of this month. But before it could start the program, the coronavirus swept through the home, the Geer Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in North Canaan, infecting 89 people, including 67 residents. Nearly all were fully vaccinated. Eight of […]
Brian Shelton’s life was ruled by Type 1 diabetes. When his blood sugar plummeted, he would lose consciousness without warning. He crashed his motorcycle into a wall. He passed out in a customer’s yard while delivering mail. Following that episode, his supervisor told him to retire, after a quarter century in the Postal Service. He […]
Markets plunged on Friday, hope of taming the coronavirus dimmed and a new term entered the pandemic lexicon: Omicron. The Covid-19 variant that emerged in South Africa was named after the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. The naming system, announced by the World Health Organization in May, makes public communication about variants easier and […]
Scientific experts at the World Health Organization warned on Friday that a new coronavirus variant discovered in southern Africa was a “variant of concern,” the most serious category the agency uses for such tracking. The designation, announced after an emergency meeting of the health body, is reserved for dangerous variants that may spread quickly, cause […]
