How the United States Beat the Variants, for Now
Emily Martin featured in the New York Times
The country has managed to avoid a variant-fueled spike in coronavirus cases. Scientists say we were lucky.
Global Public Health
COVID-19 Vaccination: India Ramps up Vaccines as Daily Cases Hit 100,000
Bhramar Mukherjee featured by BBC News
India has stepped up its coronavirus vaccination drive amid a deadly second wave of infections. The country on Sunday breached the 100,000 daily caseload mark for the first time since the pandemic began.
India's Coronavirus Puzzle: Why Case Numbers Are Plummeting
Bhramar Mukherjee quoted in the Washington Post
Epidemiologists in India say that there is only one likely explanation for the decrease in new cases: The virus is finding it harder to spread because a significant proportion of the population, at least in cities, already has been infected. The decline is not related to a lack of opportunities for transmission.
How Coronavirus Variants May Drive Reinfection and Shape Vaccination Efforts
Q&A with Aubree Gordon
Vaccine rollout in the United States has been undeniably slow. And while we wait, worrisome new coronavirus variants are emerging, heightening the urgency to control the pandemic. Some variants, including ones first identified in Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom, have mutations that help the coronavirus evade parts of the immune system, raising the specter that some people might face a second round of COVID-19.
States Lift Restrictions Gradually Amid Fears of New Variant
Arnold Monto quoted by ABC News
Several states are loosening their coronavirus restrictions on restaurants and other businesses because of improved infection and hospitalization numbers but are moving cautiously, in part because of the more contagious variant taking hold.
The Coronavirus in Winter May Be Worse Than Scientists Thought
Joe Eisenberg quoted in Quartz
This winter, Covid-19 is turning out to be even more dangerous than epidemiologists and public health officials had feared—and not just because of the more contagious variants now making their way around the globe.