Category: Health Care

The Dakotas stand above all other states in administering the COVID-19 vaccine to residents, while Arkansas has done the worst job, according to an analysis of federal data by a Heritage Foundation health policy expert. Only 11 states have used more than half the doses provided by the federal government, the analysis shows. The analysis … Continue reading Which States Perform Best, Worst in COVID-19 Vaccinations

The medical community is reporting two new strains of the virus that causes COVID-19. The first variant of the novel coronavirus was discovered in the United Kingdom in the fall, and the second in South Africa not long after. Dr. Kevin Pham, a medical doctor and a visiting policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, joins the … Continue reading A Medical Doctor Explains What We Know About New Coronavirus Strains

A COVID-19 vaccine may have arrived, but government lockdowns are far from over. On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson reinstated a strict lockdown in the United Kingdom, citing a surge in infections and hospitalizations fueled by what officials say is a more transmissible variant of the coronavirus. "It is clear that we need to do … Continue reading California Has the Strictest Lockdown in the US—and the Most Active COVID Cases (by Far)

William Petri, University of Virginia This week I was vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Pfizer mRNA vaccine, which brought to mind some frequently asked questions about the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. I am a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Virginia, where I care for patients with COVID-19 and conduct research on how … Continue reading Should pregnant women get the COVID-19 vaccine? Will it protect against asymptomatic infections and mutated viruses? An immunologist answers 3 questions

David Kennedy, Penn State A new variant of SARS-CoV-2 is spreading rapidly in the United Kingdom, with over 1,400 cases since September. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, generally accumulates mutations slowly over time, but this new variant had accumulated many mutations quickly. If this new version of the virus is here to stay, as … Continue reading Why it matters that the coronavirus is changing – and what this means for vaccine effectiveness

David Pride, University of California San Diego SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the respiratory illness COVID-19, has killed approximately 2.2% of those worldwide who are known to have contracted it. But the situation could be a lot worse without modern medicine and science. The last such global scourge was the influenza pandemic of 1918, which … Continue reading The top scientific breakthrough for 2020 was understanding SARS-CoV-2 and how it causes COVID-19 – and then developing multiple vaccines

Lana Dbeibo, Indiana University School of Medicine Editor’s Note: With a coronavirus vaccination effort now underway, you might have questions about what this means for you and your family. If you do, send them to The Conversation, and we will find a physician or researcher to answer them. Here, Dr. Lana Dbeibo, a clinical assistant … Continue reading Why should I trust the coronavirus vaccine when it was developed so fast? A doctor answers that and other reader questions

Liberty Vittert, Washington University in St Louis CC BY-ND Scientists in China published the complete genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 on Jan. 10, 2020. On Dec. 8, 2020, health officials in London began administering an effective coronavirus vaccine to the public. The global scientific community successfully developed a COVID-19 vaccine in just 332 days. I am … Continue reading International Statistic of the Year: Race for a COVID-19 vaccine

John E. Hayes, Penn State and Cara Exten, Penn State Smell loss – called anosmia – is a common symptom of COVID-19. For the past nine months, the two of us – a sensory scientist and an infectious disease epidemiologist – have applied our respective expertise to develop smell-based screening and testing programs as part … Continue reading Daily DIY sniff checks could catch many cases of COVID-19