Throwing away the crystal ball has turned out to be unexpectedly liberating. When you admit you don’t know what’s coming next, you are free to speculate. And it looks like everybody is joining in the game.

Back in 1956 when my family was about to travel from Iran to India we had to get a series of shots. Some, like the series for plague, were new to me. Others, like cholera and tetanus, were booster shots. The first booster shot hurt more than I expected

Last Friday was my second pandemic birthday and I’m through making predictions. I’m not making any more travel reservations either. I’m taking a wait-and-see attitude on both.

This week brought us the news that the Delta Variant of COVID-19 is as contagious as chickenpox. The information came to light through an internal CDC document leaked to the Washington Post and was confirmed by CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Wallensky. The report, which consists of a series of slides, goes on

After 18 months of debate and discussion, the 2020 Olympic Games has officially begun. Whether this will be viewed as a welcome step toward normal life or an ill-considered decision that prolongs the pandemic is anybody’s guess right now.

The day after tomorrow happens to be “Freedom Day,” which, in this week’s headlines, refers to Monday, July 19–the day England moves to Step 4 in its stages of COVID-19 restrictions. Apparently it was the press, not Boris Johnson, who first used the term “Freedom Day” for the move to lift restrictions, but the term has caught on

With headlines that emphasize the numbers of variants, vaccinations, and cases, sometimes we forget that COVID-19 is first and foremost a disease. But behind the scenes investigators are learning more and more about how this new coronavirus affects the body. Here are three sources I’ve found for news that goes beyond numbers:

This morning we woke up to a headline heralding “California’s dominant coronavirus strain.” It sounds as though Delta is now in the majority of strains statewide. It’s not, but it just surged ahead of Alpha, the previous frontrunner. Does it matter?