Nurith Aizenman

It's one of the hottest areas of COVID-19 research: How well do the various vaccines work against the variants? New findings are coming out daily. Here's what's known so far, and what's pending.

The mass shootings in the Atlanta area and Boulder, Colo., cast a spotlight on this type of violence in the U.S., where the death rate is nearly 100 times higher than in the United Kingdom.

For this health expert based in Boston, the effort to get vaccines to his native South Africa was intensely personal.

South Africa is a case study of the inequities around the coronavirus vaccine. It has one of the world's worst outbreaks, fueled by a new variant. Yet officials are struggling to buy enough vaccines.

New results from a COVID-19 vaccine trial in South Africa suggest the vaccine that was developed by AstraZeneca may not be as effective against the variant found there.

Not everyone gets tested. A new model estimates how many infections are missed because of this and how many people are actively shedding the virus. The results lend urgency to the vaccine race.

New research shows how official figures understate the U.S. pandemic: On any given day the number of infected people who are actively contagious is ten times that day's tally of new reported cases.

Six takeaways from discussions at the annual meeting of the World Health Organization's Executive Board.

One year ago on Thursday, China notified the World Health Organization that it had discovered a new coronavirus circulating in Wuhan. NPR discusses what happened after that.

A year ago today, the WHO first learned of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China of "unknown" origin. Here's the impact of that fateful day, by the numbers.

A new study suggests big sisters have a powerful impact. (Sorry, big brothers, you don't make as much of a difference.) But there are also potential downsides for the sisters.

A new study suggests kids in poor countries benefit hugely from having older sisters — who are more likely than brothers or even mothers — to engage in stimulating play.

It's part of an ongoing back-and-forth: Republican presidents ban U.S. funds for foreign aid groups that 'promote' abortion, Democratic presidents revoke the ban. This time things could be different.

As the U.S. enters the most challenging phase of the pandemic to date, states are reimposing different kinds of mitigation measures. This time around, experts are offering a wider range of solutions.

Coronavirus cases are surging in many countries, including the United States and in Europe, and governments are imposing new lockdowns. NPR takes a look at the state of the pandemic around the world.

Steve Davis lays out the reasons for his (relatively) rosy outlook In his new book: Undercurrents: Channeling Outrage to Spark Practical Activism.

The authors of the "Global Burden of Disease" report track the toll from every conceivable cause of death or disability. This year they also share intriguing solutions that give cause for optimism.

The drug remdesivir emerged in part because researchers had previously tested it in China through a project whose grant was abruptly ended by the National Institutes of Health.

Nine months after the first reported fatality in China last January, the world has hit a sobering milestone.

The world is nearing a million deaths from COVID-19 — with almost every nation having lost people to the disease. And in the five countries hit badly by the pandemic, the trend remains worrisome.