By Apoorva Mandavilli As the coronavirus morphs into a stubborn and unpredictable facet of everyday life, scientists and federal health officials are converging on a new strategy for immunizing Americans: a vaccination campaign this fall, perhaps with doses that are...
How Often Can You Be Infected With the Coronavirus?
The spread of the Omicron variant has given scientists an unsettling answer: repeatedly, sometimes within months. By Apoorva Mandavilli A virus that shows no signs of disappearing, variants that are adept at dodging the body’s defenses, and waves of infections two,...
Most of us have had Covid
Three in five Americans have been infected. What does this mean for immunity and for the future of the pandemic? New York Times Daily Podcast with Apoorva Mandavilli https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/28/podcasts/the-daily/most-of-us-have-had-covid.html This week, the...
Omicron Blunted Vaccine Protection Among Adolescents
The vaccines shielded adolescents only against life-threatening Covid, not less severe illness, scientists reported. Still, hospitalizations remained rare in children, compared with adults. By Apoorva Mandavilli In yet another twist to the debate over how best to...
Got a Covid Booster? You Probably Won’t Need Another for a Long Time
A flurry of new studies suggests that several parts of the immune system can mount a sustained, potent response to any coronavirus variant. By Apoorva Mandavilli As people across the world grapple with the prospect of living with the coronavirus for the foreseeable...
New C.D.C. data adds to evidence that boosters’ protection against severe Covid plunges after four months.
By Apoorva Mandavilli Covid booster shots lose much of their potency after about four months, raising the possibility that some Americans — specifically those at high risk of complications or death — may need a fourth dose, data published on Friday by the Centers for...
F.D.A. Advisors Weigh Shots for the Very Young, With Key Data Outstanding
Two doses have little effect on those under 5; results from testing three doses are weeks away. Liberal-leaning states like New York, Illinois and Massachusetts are letting mask mandates expire, getting ahead of federal guidance. By Apoorva Mandavilli Scientific...
Younger Americans Benefited Less From Booster Shots Than Older People
Among those under age 50, vaccination even without a booster protected strongly against hospitalization and death, according to new C.D.C. data. By Apoorva Mandavilli The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday night published new data on the risks of...
The Covid Vaccine We Need Now May Not Be a Shot
Nasal vaccines under development around the world may make better boosters by stopping the coronavirus in the airways. By Apoorva Mandavilli On the outskirts of this centuries-old Indian city, a world away from its congested roads and cacophony, the gleaming modern...
Will ‘Forever Boosting’ Beat the Coronavirus?
Everyone should get a booster shot. In the long run, though, doses every few months aren’t a viable public health strategy, scientists say. By Apoorva Mandavilli A year ago, just two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine — or even one, in the case of Johnson & Johnson’s...
A New Vaccine Strategy for Children: Just One Dose, for Now
Myocarditis, a rare side effect, occurs mostly after the second dose. So in some countries, officials are trying out single doses for children. By Apoorva Mandavilli Even as parents in the United States wrestle with difficult questions over vaccinating their children...
C.D.C. Chief Overrules Agency Panel and Recommends Pfizer-BioNTech Boosters for Workers at Risk
In a highly unusual decision, the C.D.C. director, Rochelle Walensky, reversed a move by agency advisers and endorsed additional doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for health care workers, teachers and other workers at risk. By Apoorva Mandavilli and Benjamin...
Moderna vs. Pfizer: Both Knockouts, but One Seems to Have the Edge
A series of studies found that the Moderna vaccine seemed to be more protective as the months passed than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Here’s why. By Apoorva Mandavilli It was a constant refrain from federal health officials after the coronavirus...
New Study of Covid Booster Shots Fans Debate Over Benefits
Independent experts, including government scientists, were skeptical of the research from Israel, which included limited data over a short period. By Apoorva Mandavilli Wading into an acrimonious debate over booster doses, researchers in Israel reported on...
In a new review, some F.D.A. scientists and others say boosters aren’t needed for the general population.
By Apoorva Mandavilli None of the data on coronavirus vaccines so far provides credible evidence in support of boosters for the general population, according to a review published on Monday by an international group of scientists, including some at the Food...