Nurith Aizenman

One of the hottest areas of research right now: studies to determine how well current vaccines work against emerging coronavirus "variants of concern."

It's one of the hottest areas of COVID-19 research: How well do the various vaccines work against the variants? New findings are coming out daily. Here's what's known so far, and what's pending.

For this health expert based in Boston, the effort to get vaccines to his native South Africa was intensely personal.

South Africa is a case study of the inequities around the coronavirus vaccine. It has one of the world's worst outbreaks, fueled by a new variant. Yet officials are struggling to buy enough vaccines.

New results from a COVID-19 vaccine trial in South Africa suggest the vaccine that was developed by AstraZeneca may not be as effective against the variant found there.

Not everyone gets tested. A new model estimates how many infections are missed because of this and how many people are actively shedding the virus. The results lend urgency to the vaccine race.

New research shows how official figures understate the U.S. pandemic: On any given day the number of infected people who are actively contagious is ten times that day's tally of new reported cases.

One year ago on Thursday, China notified the World Health Organization that it had discovered a new coronavirus circulating in Wuhan. NPR discusses what happened after that.

A new study suggests kids in poor countries benefit hugely from having older sisters — who are more likely than brothers or even mothers — to engage in stimulating play.

As the U.S. enters the most challenging phase of the pandemic to date, states are reimposing different kinds of mitigation measures. This time around, experts are offering a wider range of solutions.