By Deborah Carr, The Conversation Death – along with taxes – is one of life’s few certainties. Despite this inevitability, most people dread thinking and talking about when, how or under what conditions they might die. They don’t want to broach the topic with family, either, for fear of upsetting them. Ironically, though, talking about […]
Pope Francis greets the pilgrims during his weekly general audience in St Peter’s square at the Vatican on May 28, 2014. (Shutterstock) By NPR ROME — Pope Francis suggested Monday that getting vaccinated against the coronavirus was a “moral obligation” and denounced how people had been swayed by “baseless information” to refuse one of the […]
We probably will need additional shots. But just how many depends on our immune systems, the virus, and how often they collide.
By Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic Walter Barker has, since the fall of 2020, had five doses of COVID-19 vaccine. He’s already starting to ponder when he might need a sixth. Barker, a 38-year-old office worker in New York, received his first two doses a year ago, as part of an AstraZeneca vaccine trial. But […]
‘I’d just ruined everybody’s Christmas, including my own family’s’.
By Tara Bahrampour, Washington Post Fareha Ahmed had been cautious since the beginning of the pandemic. She had eaten in restaurants only three times. She and her husband were vaccinated and boosted, and their 7-year-old got vaccinated in November as soon as he was eligible. In mid-December, Ahmed, 39, who lives in Brightwood Park in […]
Time Square NYC, New Years Eve – USA December 31st 2020. A nearly empty Times Square during the pandemic: Credit Kevin RC Wilson By Reis Thebault, Washington Post Leaders and public health experts across the country are urging Americans to scrap their New Year’s Eve plans and stay home for the second year in a […]
By Jaime Sidani, Beth Hoffman & Maya Ragavan, The Conversation Since COVID-19 vaccines became available for children ages 5 to 11 in early November 2021, many families have been lining up to get their school-age kids vaccinated prior to holiday travel and gatherings. As of Dec. 14, 5.6 million U.S. children ages 5 to 11 […]
By Michael R. Nadorff and Julie Cerel, The Conversation No matter the merriment of the season, the holidays remain a struggle for those who have lost a loved one to suicide. In 2020, COVID-19 isolated many people from their families. Ironically, that isolation may have spared suicide-loss survivors some suffering; with no family gathering, one […]
By Lisa Fickenscher, NY Post Procter & Gamble has recalled some 30 aerosol spray hair care products — including products from big-name brands Herbal Essences and Pantene — due to a cancer-causing chemical. The affected items, which include an assortment of dry shampoos and dry conditioners, could contain benzene, the company said Friday. The recall […]
By Andrew Harding, BBC News South African scientists – hailed for their discovery of Omicron – are investigating the “highly plausible hypothesis” that the emergence of new Covid-19 variants could be linked, in some cases, to mutations taking place inside infected people whose immune systems have already been weakened by other factors, including, though not […]
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY A study by Oregon researchers finds that people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 who have a breakthrough infection end up with what the authors call “super immunity.” They caution the vaccinated should not seek COVID-19 infection, but the “hybrid immunity” offers some solace for those who catch one despite having been […]