Coronavirus Coverage

By Travis Caldwell, CNN With the recent increase of Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations due to the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant, health experts and officials expect the surge to worsen as long as large segments of the country remain unvaccinated. “We will see this big, steep acceleration,” Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director for the

By Jen Christensen, CNN Two leading organizations that represent obstetricians and gynecologists recommended Friday that anyone who is pregnant should be vaccinated against Covid-19. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) said their recommendation is based on evidence from thousands of people who were pregnant that the

By Maggie Fox, CNN Vaccination alone won’t stop the rise of new variants and in fact could push the evolution of strains that evade their protection, researchers warned Friday. They said people need to wear masks and take other steps to prevent spread until almost everyone in a population has been vaccinated. Their findings, published

By Maggie Fox, CNN The US has done an about-face on its approach to the coronavirus pandemic this week. Masks are back, vaccine mandates are looming, and officials are sounding more worried than they have in months. President Joe Biden said Thursday that every federal government employee or contractor would be asked to say whether

By Madeline Holcombe and Jason Hanna, CNN The United States is facing a pivotal moment in the coronavirus pandemic, given that the Delta variant is spurring surges in cases and hospitalizations: It must increase vaccinations or risk magnifying the impact, the surgeon general said. “If we want to keep our kids in school, if we

By Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Covid-19 may be associated with cognitive decline and acceleration of Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, researchers reported Thursday. Researchers with an international consortium looking to understand the long-term consequences of Covid-19 on the central nervous system are finding memory issues and biological markers similar to those seen in Alzheimer’s disease patients. Both diseases have

By Jen Christensen and Nadia Kounang, CNN Emergent BioSolutions announced Thursday that the US Food and Drug Administration will allow it to resume the manufacturing of the drug substance that goes into Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine. According to an administration official, the Baltimore plant has not been fully authorized yet, and while production can

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN A third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine can “strongly” boost protection against the Delta variant — beyond the protection afforded by the standard two doses, new data released by Pfizer on Wednesday suggests. The data posted online suggest that levels of antibodies that can target the Delta variant grow fivefold

By Jason Hanna and Madeline Holcombe, CNN The CDC’s decision to change its mask guidance this week was prompted by scientists’ determination — only days old — that vaccinated people with breakthrough Delta coronavirus variant infections can pass the virus to others, the center’s director said Wednesday. Dr. Rochelle Walensky said such breakthrough infections are

By Madeline Holcombe and Steve Almasy, CNN While people putting their masks back on indoors will help reduce the spread of Covid-19 across the country, getting more Americans vaccinated is still central to ending the pandemic, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Tuesday. “The bottom line is the masks will help us reduce spread

By Ralph Ellis, CNN Florida and Arkansas currently share a grim distinction when it comes to the spread of the coronavirus. Every one of the two states’ counties is now listed as having “high” levels of community transmission, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC lists high transmission

By John Bonifield and Nadia Kounang, CNN Moderna will expand the size of its Covid-19 vaccine trial in younger children, the company said Monday, and will not seek emergency use authorization for the vaccine in that age group until later this year or early next year. “We are actively discussing a proposal with the FDA.

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN Less than half of the US population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19 — and with cases on the rise, experts are urging a return to precautions reminiscent of the earlier days of the pandemic. “What I would say bluntly is: If you are not vaccinated right now in the United States,

By Elizabeth Cohen, Senior Medical Correspondent All Kimberly Cooley wants to do is hug her 6-year-old nephews — and she can’t because tens of millions of Americans are choosing not to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Cooley received two doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine in February, but blood tests show the shots didn’t give her antibodies

By Dr. Tom Frieden I’m hearing from vaccinated people who are frightened about breakthrough cases, the Delta variant and new waves of Covid. But people who are fully vaccinated are not the ones who should be most concerned. As new cases continue to climb almost everywhere, here’s what I expect to happen over the coming

By Maggie Fox, CNN It was supposed to have both prevented the worst ravages of the pandemic and given people in lockdown something to do. An army of contact tracers working the phones would find people exposed to the virus, warning them of the risks, giving them solid advice on how to quarantine and watch

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN The benefits of the Johnson & Johnson Janssen coronavirus vaccine still outweigh potential risks, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Many hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths can be prevented through Janssen and mRNA Covid-19 vaccines, far outweighing the risks,” CDC researcher Dr. Hannah Rosenblum told

By Jason Hanna, CNN As the Delta variant helps fuel a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the US, unvaccinated patients are regretting their inoculation status, two health care workers say. “When they come into the (hospital) system, they say, ‘Can I get vaccinated?’ And at that point, you can’t,” Alix Zacharski, an intensive care clinical

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN With the highly contagious Delta variant spreading, particularly among unvaccinated Americans, it may be time for much of the country to put masks back on, experts said. “We are at a very different point in the pandemic than we were a month ago,” Dr. Leana Wen told CNN on Tuesday. “And,

By Jen Christensen, CNN Many pandemic restrictions have been lifted for the vaccinated, but for the millions of people with conditions that suppress the immune system, who may not get as much protection from a Covid-19 vaccine, life has been trickier. On Thursday the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization

By Holly Yan, CNN Americans have an easy way to crush Covid-19 — one that would let more businesses fully reopen safely, reduce the need for masks and help prevent more dangerous variants from emerging. But many don’t want to get vaccinated as myths and misunderstandings spread. As of mid-July, less than 60% of eligible

By Holly Yan and Madeline Holcombe, CNN The surge in Covid-19 cases fueled by the Delta variant and vaccine hesitancy has now led to increasing rates of hospitalizations and deaths. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows: — The average number of new Covid-19 cases each day the past week was 32,278. That’s a 66% jump