Katherine J. Wu
Your Vaccinated Immune System Is Ready for Breakthroughs
Getting COVID-19 when you’re vaccinated isn’t the same as getting COVID-19 when you’re unvaccinated.
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Emily Elconin / Getty No One Will Stop You From Getting Whatever Booster You Want
The CDC indicated that it would move toward a hands-off stance: Booster-eligible people should stick with one brand, but may mix and match at will.
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The Atlantic The Good Part About ‘Waning’ Immunity
You might have fewer antibodies now. But they’re better than the ones you started with.
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The Atlantic Nine Pandemic Words That Almost No One Gets Right
Actually, you’re probably not in quarantine.
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Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp Timing Is Everything for Merck’s COVID Pill
The drug, molnupiravir, is named after Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir. But its power depends on reaching the right people, in the right time frame.
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Universal History Archive / Getty; Ullstein / Getty; … A Better Name for Booster Shots
The phrase took off earlier this year but flew too close to the sun. Maybe we should let it burn.
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WaterFrame / Alamy These Sea Slugs Break a Cardinal Rule of Animal Life
Photosynthesis is about the plantiest thing on Earth. The little green thieves manage to pull it off anyway.
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Greg Nash-Poo/ l Getty; The Atlantic CDC Director: ‘Walk, Don’t Run’ to Get Your Booster
While some Pfizer recipients can now get an extra shot, federal officials are still mum on what’s next for the at-risk individuals who got Moderna or J&J.
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The Atlantic The Nonsensical Loophole in Biden’s Vaccine Mandate
A weather report can’t replace an umbrella, and a coronavirus test can’t replace a shot.
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Jamie Hodgson / Getty The Most Important Vaccine I’ll Get This Fall
After last year’s eerie lull, flu viruses could be poised to return packing a bigger punch.
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Josep Gutierrez / Getty / The Atlantic ‘Post-Vax COVID’ Is a New Disease
Eventually we might all have to deal with COVID-19—but a shorter, gentler version, thanks to vaccines.
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Shannon Lin / The Atlantic Six Rules That Will Define Our Second Pandemic Winter
The pandemic keeps changing, but these principles can guide your thinking through the seasons to come.
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Hannah Beier / Bloomberg / Getty Sorry, a Coronavirus Infection Might Not Be Enough to Protect You
Anyone who’d rather have COVID-19 than get vaccinated is taking two gambles: that immunity will stick around, and that symptoms won’t.
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Getty; The Atlantic We’re Asking the Impossible of Vaccines
Complete protection against infection has long been hailed as the holy grail of vaccination. It might simply be unachievable.
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Getty ; The Atlantic What We Actually Know About Waning Immunity
Reports of vaccines’ decline have been greatly overstated.
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Adam Maida / The Atlantic The Wrong Way to Test Yourself for the Coronavirus
Rapid tests can help you stay safe in the Delta outbreak. But you have to use them correctly.
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Irene Mendez Cruz / Cornell University Hummingbirds Have an Easy Way to Fool Harassers
Male white-necked jacobins sport bright-blue feathers. So do the stealthiest females.
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Bernd Schöllhorn and Serge Berthier This Wasp Nest of Mine, I’m Gonna Let It Shine
Under ultraviolet light, the silk that covers the base of paper-wasp nests turns neon green.
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Matt Chase The Coronavirus Could Get Worse
Delta is far from the last variant. But what shape the virus takes next depends on us.
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The Atlantic The Atlantic Daily: 3 Signs the Vaccines Are Doing Their Job
As the U.S. government goes all in on booster shots, here are three ways to think about whether the COVID-19 vaccines are working.
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Kevin Schafer / Alamy The Best Kind of Aging Brain
Unlike humans, cuttlefish can form crystal-clear memories even in their final weeks.
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