From Free Beer to $100 Payments, States Are Incentivizing COVID-19 Vaccination. Will It Work?

The internet had a field day when Krispy Kreme in March offered free donuts to anyone who could prove they’d been vaccinated against COVID-19. But only a few weeks later, as vaccine supply begins to outpace demand in many places and daily vaccination rates tumble across the U.S., states, cities and counties are following the … Read more

Moderna Reports That Booster Doses of Its COVID-19 Vaccine Appear to Be Effective Against Virus Variants

In a press release on May 5, Moderna reported the first results of any vaccine maker from studies on booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which some experts believe might be necessary in a year or so to keep COVID-19 under control. Based on current research, people vaccinated with the existing, authorized shot from Moderna appear … Read more

The Most Important Thing Rich Countries Can Do to Help India Fight COVID-19

The Biden Administration is debating whether COVID-19 vaccine patents should be temporarily waived, given the devastating humanitarian crisis unfolding in India from the virus. There are two key factors that should drive the Biden team to agree to do so: first, there is strong precedent on waiving patents in the context of public health emergencies; … Read more

Pfizer-BioNTech Will Start to Ship Smaller Packs of Its COVID-19 Vaccine, in an Effort to Reach More People

Now that every American adult is eligible to get vaccinated, vaccine makers are shifting their priorities to meet the changing needs of people will need to be vaccinated in coming months. On April 29, Pfizer-BioNTech announced that it will begin shipping smaller packages of its COVID-19 by the end of May. Currently, the companies’ vaccine … Read more

How the Closure of In-School Learning Damaged U.S. Children’s Mental Health During the Pandemic

Nobody ever believed the pandemic would go easy on children. The virus might target them less directly than it targets older people, but other challenges—the loss of school, the loss of play, the loss of time with friends—would exact their own emotional toll. A study published April 29 in JAMA Network Open sheds light on … Read more

Moderna Is Testing a New Version of Its COVID-19 Vaccine That Wouldn’t Require Ultra-Cold Storage

As safety concerns over COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson&Johnson–Janssen have led to disruptions in the inoculation efforts of numerous countries relying on those shots, companies like Moderna are attempting to fill the resulting gaps. The Massachusetts-based biotech company announced on April 29 that it is investing billions to boost manufacturing facilities in Switzerland, Spain … Read more