Rob Stein

As COVID-19 cases rise in U.S., new boosters have started to arrive at pharmacies this week. Here's how protective the latest booster is, who should get it and how to schedule it with other vaccines.

Updated versions of the mRNA vaccines roll out this week. Experts say they offer good protection against current COVID variants. Who should get them, and when's the best time to roll up your sleeve?

A panel of doctors and scientists advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to recommend that people 6 months of age and older get new COVID boosters this fall.

Vaccines for a fall immunization drive against COVID-19 just got the green light from the Food and Drug Administration. The agency says the vaccines can protect people, as hospitalizations tick up.

The latest shots could bolster immunity as a new COVID-19 wave rises, and the season for peak respiratory illnesses approaches.

The latest lab data suggests that a new COVID-19 booster will protect against a worrisome variant. (Story aired on All Things Considered on Sept. 5, 2023.)

Preliminary laboratory studies find antibodies from previous infections and vaccinations can neutralize the BA.2.86 variant. The findings bode well for new boosters on the way this fall.

Ahead of Labor Day weekend, here's an update on COVID in the U.S. — plus a look ahead to likely FDA approval of new COVID boosters and what could be a busy fall of vaccination for flu, RSV and COVID.

Many of us know that feeling of being transported by a song. Research reveals that listening to music can have profound effects on our mind and body.

In July, coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and emergency room visits have inched up. Recent summers have seen a bump in COVID-19. This year's rise looks modest so far.

COVID infections, hospitalizations and emergency room visits appear to have ticked up for the first time in 2023.

NPR's Weekly Dose of Wonder explores the wonder of music in this installment.

New companies are working to commercialize in vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, a technology that could make human eggs and sperm in the lab from any cell in the body.

Companies are racing to accelerate and commercialize in-vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, which would make human eggs and sperm in the lab from any cell in the body containing anyone's DNA.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, but limited access to those ages four and five.

Researchers are inching closer to creating human eggs and sperm in the lab that carry a full complement of anyone's DNA. It could revolutionize fertility treatment and raises huge ethical questions.

Researchers are inching closer to mass-producing eggs and sperm in the lab from ordinary human cells. The technique could provide new ways to treat infertility but also open a Pandora's box.

An expert panel advising the Food and Drug Administration has recommended approval of a Pfizer vaccine that would be the first to protect babies against RSV.

At least 58,000 childern younger than 5 years old are hospitalized each year with RSV infections. A Pfizer vaccine given to pregnant people could help protect their infants from severe RSV illness.

A panel of experts voted 8-6 in favor of Food and Drug Administration approval of the first gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal genetic disease.