Sarah Zhang

The Vaccine News That Really Matters

Soon COVID-19 vaccine makers will release early data from large clinical trials, and the results could be ambiguous.

• Sarah Zhang
• October 19, 2020

The President’s Latest Silver Bullet

Trump claims his illness has led him to a coronavirus “cure.” Antibody therapy is still far from that.

• Sarah Zhang
• October 9, 2020

Vaccine Chaos Is Looming

The COVID-19 vaccines furthest along in clinical trials are the fastest to make, but they are also the hardest to deploy.

• Sarah Zhang
• September 28, 2020

One Sperm Donor. 36 Children. A Mess of Lawsuits.

Parents thought Donor 9623 was a genius who spoke four languages, not a college dropout with a criminal record.

• Sarah Zhang
• September 11, 2020

America Is Running Low on a Crucial Resource for COVID-19 Vaccines

The country is facing a monkey shortage.

• Sarah Zhang
• August 31, 2020

What the ‘Emergency’ Blood-Plasma Debacle Reveals

If the FDA’s emergency authorizations aren’t used responsibly, they could lose their power.

• Sarah Zhang
• August 26, 2020

The Coronavirus Is Never Going Away

No matter what happens now, the virus will continue to circulate around the world.

• Sarah Zhang
• August 4, 2020

A Vaccine Reality Check

So much hope is riding on a breakthrough, but a vaccine is only the beginning of the end.

• Sarah Zhang
• July 24, 2020

The Birdsong That Took Over North America

Since 2000, a strange new type of song in white-throated sparrows has spread across the continent at stunning speed.

• Sarah Zhang
• July 2, 2020

What a Negative COVID-19 Test Really Means

We know very little about how reliable tests are for people who don’t feel sick.

• Sarah Zhang
• June 21, 2020

The Pandemic Broke End-of-Life Care

In a Boston ICU, staff members orchestrate goodbyes over Zoom and comfort patients who would otherwise die alone.

• Sarah Zhang
• June 16, 2020

Rats Have Not Changed. We Have.

Sheltering in place produced a “natural experiment” for urban wildlife.

• Sarah Zhang
• June 8, 2020

America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

Inside the U.S. and Panama’s long-running collaboration to rid an entire continent of a deadly disease.

• Sarah Zhang
• May 26, 2020

We Don’t Even Have a COVID-19 Vaccine, and Yet the Conspiracies Are Here

Even as vaccines for the disease are being held up as the last hope for a return to normalcy, misinformation about them is spreading.

• Sarah Zhang
• May 24, 2020

Why the Coronavirus Hits Kids and Adults So Differently

COVID-19 is much less severe in children, and it could have to do with a child’s still-developing immune system.

• Sarah Zhang
• May 15, 2020

A Much-Hyped COVID-19 Drug Is Almost Identical to a Black-Market Cat Cure

Cat owners are resorting to China’s underground marketplace to buy antivirals for a feline coronavirus.

• Sarah Zhang
• May 8, 2020

The False Hope of Antibody Tests

The immunity tests were supposed to be a “game changer,” but they are instead revealing that the majority of Americans are still vulnerable to COVID-19 infection.

• Sarah Zhang
• April 28, 2020

What Life Is Like After Being Taken Off a Ventilator

A near-death experience in the ICU could have lasting effects on the brain—from PTSD to cognitive impairment on par with mild dementia.

• Sarah Zhang
• April 22, 2020

The People Who Risked Death for Immunity

When yellow fever swept through 19th-century New Orleans, immunity became so valuable, people were willing to go to extreme lengths for protection.

• Sarah Zhang
• April 16, 2020

The Best Hopes for a Coronavirus Drug

If there is a way to stop COVID-19, it will be by blocking its proteins from hijacking, suppressing, and evading humans’ cellular machinery.

• Sarah Zhang
• April 8, 2020