Delta Variant

Kenny Nations, manager of the movie theater, changes the sign on the marquee; he is fully vaccinated and has tried to encourage co-workers to follow suit.

There's Vaccine Drama In Arkansas, Where Rates Are Low And Everyone Has An Opinion

12:50pm July 31, 2021

by Pien Huang

The state has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the U.S. And this weekend, 80,000 doses will expire because of lack of demand. The campaign is on to get people to sign up.

Employees elbow bump at a JLL office in Menlo Park, Calif., in September. With the delta variant surging, mask mandates are returning, and some employers are now requiring employees to be vaccinated before coming to the office.

Back To The Office? Not Yet. Companies Scramble To Adjust To The Delta Variant

4:34pm July 30, 2021

September was expected to be the month of mass returns to the office. Now the surging extra-contagious coronavirus variant has employers wondering what to do.

People line up for coronavirus testing on Thursday in Nanjing, in China's Jiangsu province.

An Outbreak Of The Coronavirus Delta Variant Has Spread To 15 Chinese Cities

12:38pm July 30, 2021

by Scott Neuman

China is battling to stem the spread of new cases tied to the more infectious variant. Nearly 200 people have been infected since last week, when a case was detected at an international airport.

Health officials in Mobile recently set up a pop-up clinic at a food truck festival. Despite officials making a big effort encouraging Alabama residents to get vaccinated, numbers remain low as COVID infections increase.

Alabama's COVID-19 Vaccination Rate Is The Lowest In The U.S. And Infections Are Up

10:52am July 28, 2021

by Debbie Elliott

Public health officials are sounding the alarm in Alabama, the state with the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rate in the country. New infections are spiking, yet fewer people are seeking shots.

Dr. Leana Wen is in favor of COVID-19 vaccine mandates. "I don't think that people should have the choice to infect others with a potentially fatal and extremely contagious virus," she says. Wen is pictured above in the emergency department at Brigham and

Think Of Your COVID-19 Vaccine Like A Very Good Raincoat, Says Dr. Leana Wen

2:34pm July 27, 2021

by Terry Gross

It protects from drizzles and thunderstorms but not a hurricane. In other words, if you are exposed again and again to infected people, there's some risk you could get sick.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

N.C. COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations Spike For Unvaccinated People

10:29am July 26, 2021

by Neal Charnoff

North Carolina is experiencing a rapid increase in COVID-19 spread among unvaccinated people.

Front-line workers at a medical center in Aurora, Colo., gather for a COVID-19 memorial on July 15 to commemorate the lives lost in the coronavirus pandemic. New estimates say many thousands more will die in the U.S. this summer and fall.

The Delta Variant Will Drive A Steep Rise In U.S. COVID Deaths, A New Model Shows

8:30pm July 22, 2021

New estimates show the U.S. is on track to see a big rise in cases and more than triple the number of deaths by October.

Dr. Jerome Adams, then the U.S. surgeon general, talks to reporters at the White House in December.

Health & Safety

The CDC Must Rethink Its Mask Guidance, Says Former U.S. Surgeon General

6:30pm July 20, 2021

by A Martínez

Jerome Adams, who served under former President Donald Trump, once advised against mask-wearing. With cases rising, fueled by the delta variant, Adams says even the vaccinated may need to mask up.

The numerals in this illustration show the main mutation sites of the delta variant of the coronavirus, which is likely the most contagious version. Here, the virus's spike protein (red) binds to a receptor on a human cell (blue).

The Delta Variant Isn't Just Hyper-Contagious. It Also Grows More Rapidly Inside You

4:14pm July 08, 2021

by Michaeleen Doucleff

New research from China suggests people infected with the delta variant have, on average, about 1,000 times more virus in their respiratory tracts than those infected with the original strain.

Health & Safety

Delta Variant Brings New Urgency To NC Vaccinations

3:02pm July 08, 2021

by David Ford

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is stepping up efforts to curb the rising numbers of COVID-19 patients in the state.

Queue Listen Now