omicron

The vaccines now in use are based on the form of the virus that circulated at the beginning of the pandemic and are less effective against the omicron variant. New options are in the works.

Federal health officials are convening with outside advisers April 6 to talk about a vaccine plan, whether that's another booster in the fall, an omicron shot or one that targets more than one strain.

That's how the so-called "deltacron" variant — a mashup of delta and omicron — came to be. This process of recombining tells us a lot about the possible past and future of SARS-CoV-2.

Many of the domestic workers say they were banished from their employers' homes after getting sick — and fired — even though terminating an employee for falling ill is against Hong Kong law.