This section covers COVID-19 in the United States — ongoing variants, vaccine and booster recommendations, long COVID research and the health policy decisions that have evolved since the pandemic began. Reporting follows the disease and the systems responding to it.
A Federal Circuit panel heard arguments on whether Moderna can shield itself from patent claims by Arbutus and Genevant over its COVID-19 vaccine.
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November 4, 2026
Emergent BioSolutions Gets Up to $22.3M Pentagon DealA contract modification supplies BioThrax vaccine to the Defense Department under an existing option period.
November 4, 2026
Cocrystal Targets Norovirus With Strain-Specific DrugCocrystal's CDI-988 oral antiviral is in a placebo-controlled challenge study at Emory University as Moderna's norovirus vaccine falls short of early success criteria.
November 4, 2026
Metformin Linked to Lower Long COVID RiskA retrospective study of U.S. electronic health records found early metformin prescriptions were associated with fewer cases of long COVID or death.
November 3, 2026
Study Confirms H5N1 Spread Between Cows, Cats, RaccoonResearchers found mammal-to-mammal transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 among dairy cows and other animals on affected farms.
November 3, 2026
Long Covid Symptoms Improve Less for Multi-System PatientsA three-year U.S. study of 1,019 adults found smell or taste-dominated symptoms improved far more often than multi-system symptoms.
November 2, 2026
Judge Rejects Bid to Dismiss Marrazzo LawsuitA federal judge refused the administration's request to throw out Jeanne Marrazzo's whistleblower suit against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
November 2, 2026
FDA Clears Roche's 19-Target Respiratory PanelThe cobas eplex respiratory pathogen panel 3 now has FDA 510(k) clearance for detecting up to 19 viral and bacterial targets from a single swab.
November 2, 2026
Early Flu Wave Hits Nation With Mutated H1N1Hospitalizations rose sharply in mid-October as a mutated H1N1 strain drives an early start to the 2026 respiratory season.
October 30, 2026
Vaxcyte Reports Positive Phase 3 Vaccine ResultsThe company’s VAX-31 candidate met all primary immunogenicity goals in a pivotal trial for adults 50 and older.
October 30, 2026
Health Officials Urge Flu Shots as Cases RiseThe CDC recommends vaccinations for everyone over six months old as influenza activity climbs across 44 states.
Variant emergence and spread data, booster and vaccine recommendation updates, long COVID research findings on prevalence and treatment, pandemic preparedness policy changes and the reversal or maintenance of pandemic-era mandates and protocols are the recurring subjects in this coverage. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix were among the cities most severely affected during earlier phases of the pandemic, and conditions in those metropolitan areas continue to anchor coverage of how the disease is being managed at population scale. Long COVID has generated an increasingly distinct and sustained coverage thread, as research into its prevalence, mechanisms and treatment options has produced a growing body of findings that reach a large portion of the population that experienced the infection. Policy decisions about public health infrastructure — what was built during the pandemic and what is being maintained or dismantled — produce a recurring coverage arc that runs independently of current case and variant data.
