Stacey Ritzen is a reporter and editor based in Philadelphia with more than 10 years of experience covering pop culture, web culture, entertainment, and news.
During a July 16 White House press briefing, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, referred to COVID-19 as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Even in countries where COVID-19 vaccines are readily available, people are simply refusing to get jabbed. Misinformation campaigns and vaccine conspiracy theories are largely to blame […] More
To date, the World Health Organization has identified four COVID variants of concern: alpha, beta, gamma, and the highly transmissible delta. The international agency is also keeping track of several “variants of interest,” which include variants eta, iota, kappa, and lambda, along with 13 additional variants that have surfaced across the globe. With so many […] More
With the delta variant causing COVID-19 cases to skyrocket across the country, breakthrough infections are being reported among even the fully vaccinated. Booster shots are just over the horizon, but some people may be starting to wonder which COVID vaccine currently on the market is the most effective at fighting the highly transmissible delta variant. […] More
On Wednesday, Aug. 18, the Biden administration announced plans to offer COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to Americans beginning on Sept. 20, 2021. The plan has yet to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but those who were first to be inoculated in the initial vaccine rollout, including healthcare workers, nursing home residents, […] More
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is, for the first time, strongly urging women who are pregnant and breastfeeding to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Though many medical groups have recommended that pregnant women get the vaccine for several months now, the CDC guidance has been updated to reflect new safety data and to definitively […] More
The states of Texas and Florida are currently making headlines due to efforts by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Gov. Ron DeSantis to ban mask mandates, even as COVID-19 case numbers skyrocket and local school districts revolt. But on Aug. 11, Oregon became the third state to impose statewide indoor mask mandates, following a press […] More
All the vaccines currently authorized for emergency use have been proven to offer protection against COVID-19 for at least six months, according to pharmaceutical studies. As that protection eventually diminishes, however, public health experts believe that booster shots may be necessary. It stands to reason that the most vulnerable, including elderly people and the immunocompromised, […] More
Pediatric COVID-19 cases are currently skyrocketing in the United States, just as millions of children are getting ready to go back to school. Meanwhile, some states are banning mask mandates and eligible adults still refuse to get vaccinated for COVID while the beds at pediatric hospitals are getting full. A weekly report released on Aug. […] More
With the highly contagious delta variant surging through the United States, breakthrough COVID-19 cases are causing infections even among the fully vaccinated. And, if internal documents from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention obtained by the New York Times are any indication, vaccinated people can contribute to the variant’s spread. This is sparking questions […] More
Breakthrough cases are currently dominating headlines in the United States, referring to those who contract and become ill with COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated. But how likely is it, exactly, for fully vaccinated people to become infected with the virus? How many vaccinated people actually get infected with COVID? In what will surely put a […] More
To hold the rescheduled 2020 Summer Games as safely as possible amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the International Olympic Committee announced that athletes and personnel must wear masks throughout the Tokyo venues, including medal ceremonies. And now that much of the public has been intently watching the Games, some are wondering: What kind of masks […] More
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in early August that 49.7% of Americans are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, with another 57.8% having received at least one dose. But despite the fact that President Biden’s goal to get at least one shot into 70% of adults in the United States by July […] More