ORION PRODUCTION/Shutterstock As winter pressures have mounted on the NHS, both health staff and politicians have grown increasingly frustrated with the number of unvaccinated patients needing treatment for COVID. The risk of being hospitalised with COVID is substantially greater for those that haven’t had a vaccine. The latest data suggests that more than 60% of…
An estimated 132 million COVID vaccines were given to people in Britain in 2021. Yet despite this, over a year into the UK’s vaccination programme, a significant number of people still don’t have any vaccine-based protection against the coronavirus. Around one in ten eligible people in the UK still haven’t had a first COVID vaccine…
The pandemic is accelerating. It’s estimated that there could be 3 billion new infections globally over the next three months thanks to the highly infectious omicron variant. Large outbreaks are ongoing across Europe and North America and cases are also rising in many other countries. Omicron has now reached most corners of the world –…
Since last Friday afternoon, Justice Neil Gorsuch has refused to wear a mask during in-person hearings at the Supreme Court, a decision that could impact the health of his fellow justices — especially given that the highly contagious Omicron variant of the virus continues to push COVID hospitalization rates into record high levels. NBC News…
Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock With omicron having rapidly driven up COVID infections, attention is once again focusing on antibodies, and reasonably so. They play a critical role in fighting off viruses and are important for preventing the coronavirus infecting our cells. This is why some countries have mounted booster campaigns in response to recent COVID surges –…
Stock Footage Inc/Shutterstock Hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug controversially touted as a cure for COVID despite a lack of robust evidence, is creating renewed interest as a potential treatment for omicron. The discussion has been sparked by a new study from the University of Glasgow, which is yet to be published in a scientific journal, that…
On Tuesday, Anthony Fauci responded to accusations from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) over his handling of the pandemic, pointing out that the lawmaker is exploiting the crisis to raise campaign funds. Fauci currently serves as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and as Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden.…
Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock For nearly two years, millions of members of the public have been submitting daily health reports to the ZOE COVID Study, helping us to track the pandemic as it unfolds. In particular, the 480 million reports submitted via the study’s app have shown that as the virus has evolved, so too have the…
VGstockstudio/Shutterstock Two years into the pandemic, most of us are fed up. COVID case rates are higher than they’ve ever been and hospitalisation rates are once again rising rapidly in many countries. Against this bleak picture, we yearn to get back to normal. We’d like to meet friends in a pub or have them over…
Despite the fact that we are in the midst of an unprecedented and deadly pandemic with no signs of abating, the right-wing majority on the Supreme Court appears unlikely to stop the carnage. The reactionary “justices” seem more inclined to shield corporate profits and red states’ rights than to protect the health and safety of…
Basilico Studio Stock/Shutterstock One positive aspect of the pandemic has been increased public understanding of epidemiology and even virus biology. However, there still seems to be significant confusion when it comes to COVID tests – particularly when or why each type of test can or should be used. Recent changes to the UK’s testing rules…
David Guzmán/Shutterstock Omicron is spreading rapidly throughout the world, with experts claiming that 40% of the global population will be infected within the next two months. This sounds quite startling, but we still don’t really know whether omicron causes more severe disease than other variants of concern. The signs so far are good, though. With…
In June 2020, when schools across the U.S. remained closed due to the pandemic, Bettina Love, author of We Want to Do More Than Survive, noted how much became possible when the system was forced to prioritize the lives of students, teachers and families. Laptops were distributed and internet access was provided. High-stakes, standardized tests…
At least two of the state officials arguing against the Biden Administration’s federal vaccine mandates Friday were forced to appear in front of the Supreme Court remotely because they had contracted COVID over the last few days, reports said. Ohio Solicitor General Benjamin Flowers and Louisiana Solicitor General Liz Murrill argued their case over the…
Due to skyrocketing COVID-19 cases and a lack of safety measures to keep schools open, the Chicago Teachers’ Union voted this week to move to remote learning. In response, Mayor Lori Lightfoot locked teachers out of remote teaching and threatened to put them on “no pay” status. Left Voice interviewed Hala Karim, a Chicago teacher,…
Kamil Macniak/Shutterstock As soon as omicron was first identified in Botswana and South Africa, two key questions arose: whether this new variant was more infectious than earlier ones, and whether it caused more or less severe disease. It’s clear from how rapidly the variant has spread and how quickly cases have increased that it is…
When the omicron variant first emerged in South Africa in November 2021, there was a lot of alarm at the exponential spread of the infection. This phenomenal speed of spread exceeds what we saw with previous variants. This trend has been mirrored elsewhere in the world, including the UK where the number of infections was…
i viewfinder/Shutterstock If you have a cold, don’t ask your doctor for antibiotics – that’s the golden rule. They’re for bacterial infections, not viral ones. We’re told not only that they won’t work, but that by using antibiotics when they aren’t needed, we’re helping bacteria become resistant to them. Yet in a recent study conducted…
Chinnapong/Shutterstock The widespread deaths of the elderly in care homes that occurred as a result of poor decisions by government at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, revealed the lack of knowledge about how the care sector works. COVID also highlighted the challenges of managing public services and responding to ongoing uncertainty. This includes ensuring…
The conversation on shutting down massive swaths of the economy and daily life, in order to corral the dual COVID-19 variant explosions of Delta and Omicron, has become brittle. President Biden has stated repeatedly that the U.S. is not “in the shutdown business,” a sentiment echoed by many of his political allies as well as…
Twitter has permanently suspended one of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s accounts for “repeated violations” of its COVID-19 misinformation policy, a spokesperson for the service confirmed Sunday. The suspended account, @mtgreenee, was her personal and more prolific account. She will still be allowed to post from her official Congressional page, @RepMTG. Her final tweet falsely referenced…
zstock/Shutterstock If the pandemic had happened ten years ago, what would it have looked like? Doubtless there would have been many differences, but probably the most striking would have been the relative lack of genomic sequencing. This is where the entire genetic code – or “genome” – of the coronavirus in a testing sample is…
After a year and a half, the ravages of the pandemic show no signs of slowing down. The Omicron variant is spreading rapidly around the globe and is now the dominant version of Covid in the U.S., accounting for an estimated 73 percent of new cases. The U.S. is now averaging over 213,751 new Covid…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expects to authorize booster shots for children ages 12-15 early next week, sources within the agency say. Pfizer/BioNTech booster shots for young teenagers were supposed to be authorized this week, but the authorization was delayed due to holiday-related scheduling conflicts within the FDA. If the booster shots are authorized…
ORION PRODUCTION/Shutterstock As winter pressures have mounted on the NHS, both health staff and politicians have grown increasingly frustrated with the number of unvaccinated patients needing treatment for COVID. The risk of being hospitalised with COVID is substantially greater for those that haven’t had a vaccine. The latest data suggests that more than 60% of…
An estimated 132 million COVID vaccines were given to people in Britain in 2021. Yet despite this, over a year into the UK’s vaccination programme, a significant number of people still don’t have any vaccine-based protection against the coronavirus. Around one in ten eligible people in the UK still haven’t had a first COVID vaccine…
The pandemic is accelerating. It’s estimated that there could be 3 billion new infections globally over the next three months thanks to the highly infectious omicron variant. Large outbreaks are ongoing across Europe and North America and cases are also rising in many other countries. Omicron has now reached most corners of the world –…
Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock With omicron having rapidly driven up COVID infections, attention is once again focusing on antibodies, and reasonably so. They play a critical role in fighting off viruses and are important for preventing the coronavirus infecting our cells. This is why some countries have mounted booster campaigns in response to recent COVID surges –…
Stock Footage Inc/Shutterstock Hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug controversially touted as a cure for COVID despite a lack of robust evidence, is creating renewed interest as a potential treatment for omicron. The discussion has been sparked by a new study from the University of Glasgow, which is yet to be published in a scientific journal, that…
Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock For nearly two years, millions of members of the public have been submitting daily health reports to the ZOE COVID Study, helping us to track the pandemic as it unfolds. In particular, the 480 million reports submitted via the study’s app have shown that as the virus has evolved, so too have the…
VGstockstudio/Shutterstock Two years into the pandemic, most of us are fed up. COVID case rates are higher than they’ve ever been and hospitalisation rates are once again rising rapidly in many countries. Against this bleak picture, we yearn to get back to normal. We’d like to meet friends in a pub or have them over…
Basilico Studio Stock/Shutterstock One positive aspect of the pandemic has been increased public understanding of epidemiology and even virus biology. However, there still seems to be significant confusion when it comes to COVID tests – particularly when or why each type of test can or should be used. Recent changes to the UK’s testing rules…
David Guzmán/Shutterstock Omicron is spreading rapidly throughout the world, with experts claiming that 40% of the global population will be infected within the next two months. This sounds quite startling, but we still don’t really know whether omicron causes more severe disease than other variants of concern. The signs so far are good, though. With…
Kamil Macniak/Shutterstock As soon as omicron was first identified in Botswana and South Africa, two key questions arose: whether this new variant was more infectious than earlier ones, and whether it caused more or less severe disease. It’s clear from how rapidly the variant has spread and how quickly cases have increased that it is…
When the omicron variant first emerged in South Africa in November 2021, there was a lot of alarm at the exponential spread of the infection. This phenomenal speed of spread exceeds what we saw with previous variants. This trend has been mirrored elsewhere in the world, including the UK where the number of infections was…
i viewfinder/Shutterstock If you have a cold, don’t ask your doctor for antibiotics – that’s the golden rule. They’re for bacterial infections, not viral ones. We’re told not only that they won’t work, but that by using antibiotics when they aren’t needed, we’re helping bacteria become resistant to them. Yet in a recent study conducted…
Chinnapong/Shutterstock The widespread deaths of the elderly in care homes that occurred as a result of poor decisions by government at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, revealed the lack of knowledge about how the care sector works. COVID also highlighted the challenges of managing public services and responding to ongoing uncertainty. This includes ensuring…
zstock/Shutterstock If the pandemic had happened ten years ago, what would it have looked like? Doubtless there would have been many differences, but probably the most striking would have been the relative lack of genomic sequencing. This is where the entire genetic code – or “genome” – of the coronavirus in a testing sample is…