Medical Treatments

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says that while some COVID-19 vaccine candidates have progressed to phase three testing, the world must remain reliant on "the basics" of disease control. Tedros is seen here last month

WHO Chief Warns 'There Might Never Be' A Silver Bullet For Coronavirus

3:18pm August 03, 2020

by Laurel Wamsley

Vaccine candidates are in advanced clinical trials, and WHO's director-general expresses hope they will be effective. But until then, he said, the world is reliant on "the basics" of disease control.

The health threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic is particularly intense for people with cancer. Medication weakens the immune system. Cancer treatments are often delayed.

Pandemic Deepens Cancer's Stress And Tough Choices

1:31pm August 03, 2020

by Yuki Noguchi

For many cancer patients, daily life can feel full of risky choices involving work, family, friends and money. Nearly every option pits the risks of catching the coronavirus against other downsides.

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A patient in a first-stage study of a potential vaccine for COVID-19 receives a shot in March at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle.

Health & Safety

Public Health Expert Calls To Repair Distrust In A COVID-19 Vaccine

2:29pm August 01, 2020

by Emma Bowman

Public health officials say a promising coronavirus vaccine is on its way in 2021. But does that matter if only half of Americans say they're willing to get such a vaccination?

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Melissa Hickson says no one asked her husband, Michael, shown here with stepdaughter Mia, if he wanted to keep getting treatment. "He would say: 'I want to live. I love my family and my children ... that's the reason for the three years I have fought to s

One Man's COVID-19 Death Raises The Worst Fears Of Many People With Disabilities

7:41pm July 31, 2020

by Joseph Shapiro

The hospital said it made a humane decision to end treatment. Michael Hickson's widow says doctors ended his care because they underestimated the life of a man with significant disabilities.

Director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, holds a model of the coronavirus. This is the sixth vaccine candidate to join Operation Warp Speed's portfolio, and the largest vaccine deal to date.

U.S. Reaches $2.1 Billion Deal With Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline For COVID-19 Vaccine Push

1:41pm July 31, 2020

by Sydney Lupkin

This is the sixth vaccine candidate to join Operation Warp Speed's portfolio, and the largest vaccine deal to date.

The federal government is giving out funds to develop seven new testing technologies which could increase testing capacity around the U.S.

Health & Safety

Federal Push For Faster, Cheaper Coronavirus Tests Focuses On 7 New Technologies

11:37am July 31, 2020

by Rob Stein

The National Institutes of Health is giving $248.7 million dollars to seven companies developing new technologies for testing, including use of the revolutionary gene-editing technique CRISPR.

A scientist is pictured working during a visit by Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (unseen), to Oxford Vaccine Group's laboratory facility at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, west of London on June 24, 2020, on his visit to learn more about th

Vaccine Candidate Delivers Protection In A Single Shot (In Monkeys)

10:28pm July 30, 2020

by Joe Palca

Studies involving COVID-19 vaccine candidates in monkeys show promise of an effective vaccine, but it will take large-scale human trials to know for sure if they work.

Blood plasma — the yellowish, cell-free portion that remains after red and white blood cells have been filtered out by a machine and returned to the plasma donor — is rich with antibodies. Plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients might prove useful in

Harvested Antibodies Now Being Tested As A Prevention Tool Against COVID-19

8:03am July 29, 2020

by Richard Harris

Scientists are now checking to see if purified blood serum from people who have recovered from COVID-19 might be more than a useful treatment. Perhaps it's a way to prevent disease in someone else.

People wait in line outside a testing site in Florida. The state has seen unprecedented surges in coronavirus cases in recent weeks.

Pandemic Is Overwhelming U.S. Public Health Capacity In Many States. What Now?

3:03pm July 28, 2020

by Rob Stein

With the coronavirus spreading out of control in many parts of the U.S., some experts say the strategy of testing and tracing can't contain the pandemic until lockdowns bring case numbers down.

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Michael Conley, who is deaf, models a mask that has a transparent panel in San Diego on June 3. Face coverings can make communication harder for people who rely on reading lips, and that has spurred a slew of startups and volunteers to make masks with pla

Demand Surges For See-Through Face Masks As Pandemic Swells

10:02am July 28, 2020

by Yuki Noguchi

Face coverings are key to stopping spread of the coronavirus, but also slow communication, especially for people who don't hear well. Volunteers and companies suggest some transparent alternatives.