In the News

Amesh Adalja discusses the role of the COVID vaccine as new variants emerge on ‘Kennedy.’

Third shots for adolescent boys and young men were already a hard sell. Then came Omicron.
 

COVID case numbers are still going up. Kids under 5 won't be eligible for vaccination for months. How can parents make smart decisions in the meantime?
Tara Kirk Sell and Kawsar Talaat are quoted. 

A massive increase in gun sales in early 2020 seems to have contributed to the recent rise in homicides.
Daniel Webster and Cass Crifasi are quoted. 

An omicron-specific Covid vaccine will be ready by March but some experts warn it could be “too late” due to the variant’s highly transmissible nature.
Bill Moss and Shaun Truelove are quoted. 

The rapid increase of coronavirus cases in the Washington region has made the painstaking task of contact tracing more difficult, moving public health officials to prioritize whom to inform about potential exposure in a triage-like effort to keep the highly transmissible omicron variant from spreading even faster and further.
 

While vaccines and boosters have allowed many people to move about more freely, seniors and the people who care for them have had to remain vigilant. What should seniors and caregivers, both disproportionately women, do differently? Do people need to scale back on activities like going grocery shopping or seeing friends? 
 

New research suggests Omicron may be easier to detect in saliva than nasal samples.
 

Californians have been racing to buy at-home testing kits. But chances are that the results aren't making their way into the public health system.
 

Israel is starting to give out a second booster to its elderly population, but some doctors are skeptical of the value of an endless cycle of boosters.

A new study adds to evidence that common rapid tests may fail to detect some Omicron cases in the first days of infection.

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Native American tribes have been especially vigilant in encouraging COVID-19 vaccines and enacting stringent safety protocols. The next challenge for these communities that have been hit particularly hard during the pandemic: the omicron variant.