Will Stone

Many Americans are still making sense of new CDC guidance that vaccinated people no longer have to wear masks in most indoor settings.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is extending mandates and restrictions while much of the U.S. celebrates declining COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations.

With older adults vaccinated, doctors say a growing share of their COVID-19 patients are in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, as more contagious variants circulate among people who are still unvaccinated.

The possibility that vaccines meant to prevent the disease may also be a treatment for long COVID — when symptoms linger for months — has sparked optimism among patients and scientists.

Researchers have quantified the price paid for fast-spreading COVID-19 infections. Patients who might have survived otherwise perished in crowded ICUs.

The Aldaco family of Phoenix suffered more than most in this year of unfathomable losses. Three brothers perished in the pandemic: Jose in July, Heriberto in December and Gonzalo in February.

As the new Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine rolls out, the health care community is trying to ward off misconceptions about it. The vaccine's one-shot feature may be what wins many over.

Glitchy websites, jammed phone lines and long lines outside clinics are complicating the vaccine rollout. And older Americans and those without caregivers and computer skills are at a disadvantage.

COVID-19 has now killed more Americans than WWII. That fact helps some people put the viral death toll in perspective, while others find it offensive. Historically, is it even a valid comparison?

Although vaccination has begun, this winter has been the deadliest season of the pandemic. The U.S. death toll jumped from 300,000 to 400,000 in just five weeks.