TimeMagazine 
As a former immigration attorney who represented survivors of gang violence, domestic abuse, and family separation, Anna Rupani knew tough work. But she says her current job is even harder: since late 2020, she has run Fund Texas Choice, an abortion fund meant to provide Texans with the resources and logistical support they need to … Read more
The updated COVID-19 booster shots give adults ages 65 and older the greatest level of protection against hospitalization, according to new U.S. government data. Bivalent boosters were 73% effective at preventing hospitalizations due to COVID in this group of older adults compared with people of the same age who got two or more doses of … Read more
Jacquie Baker, a former Air Force engineer, has had nightmares four or five nights a week for nearly a decade. The scenarios vary, but the feeling of helplessness is always the same: she’ll watch someone get murdered, or she’ll forget her pre-flight checklist and the plane she’s riding will crash. “I started having skin issues, … Read more
NEW YORK — The number of U.S. deaths dropped this year, but there are still more than there were before the coronavirus hit. Preliminary data—through the first 11 months of the year—indicates 2022 will see fewer deaths than the previous two COVID-19 pandemic years. Current reports suggest deaths may be down about 3% from 2020 … Read more
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is again making some free COVID-19 tests available to all U.S. households as it unveils its contingency plans for potential coronavirus surges this winter. After a three-month hiatus, the administration is making four rapid virus tests available through covidtests.gov starting Thursday, a senior administration official said. The official spoke on … Read more
Long COVID—a condition with symptoms ranging from respiratory to neurological, from crushing fatigue to chronic pain—can be debilitating. And in some cases, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Long COVID may even be fatal. From January 2020 through June 2022, Long COVID contributed to more than 3,500 deaths … Read more
Kidney cancer is one of the 10 most-diagnosed cancers in the United States. Like many of the other cancers on that list—including colon and rectal cancer—kidney cancer is more common now than it used to be. But unlike some others, the underlying causes of kidney cancer are often hard to discern. For example, a significant … Read more
When SARS-CoV-2 was a brand-new virus, it met little resistance in immune-naïve hosts—that is, us. Vaccines, boosters, and infections have increased our immunity to varying degrees. But how much protection do each of these provide at this point in the pandemic? Here’s what researchers are learning about how the human body reacts to COVID-19 and … Read more
Coming off the success of its mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, Moderna announced on Dec. 13 that it achieved encouraging results when it turned its vaccine technology against cancer. The company reported in a release that among 157 people with stage 3 or stage 4 melanoma, a personalized cancer vaccine that Moderna developed with Merck—created using … Read more
At this time last year and two years ago, daily new infections and COVID-related hospitalizations were already accelerating at a fast clip. BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, the latest Omicron subvariants, came to comprise the majority of cases during a relative lull in the pandemic. Combined with a Thanksgiving Holiday that saw the most travelers since the … Read more