COVID-19 in the News

In rich countries, the momentum is growing for giving additional doses to the fully vaccinated, though many experts say the focus should be on getting first doses to people around the world. "The problem here is, we're just sort of going on immunological priors, rather than really great data to justify things one way or the other," said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona. "I totally understand the decision, but I think we have to acknowledge that there's a wide range of uncertainty on what it’s going to do."

The Delta variant outbreak among vaccinated beachgoers in Cape Cod was "a pivotal discovery" leading to new mask recommendations, said CDC chief Rochelle Walensky. "The long-term outlook is that it will be very difficult to avoid getting infected by Delta or even more transmissible future variants if you are unvaccinated," said University of Arizona immunologist Deepta Bhattacharya. "At some point, you are very likely to get infected if you aren't vaccinated."

Rather than setting up fragile and penetrable shields, experts say that COVID-19 vaccines reinforce the defenses we already have, so that we can encounter the virus safely and potentially build further upon that protection. When the virus attempts to force its way in, it will hit "backup layer after backup layer" of defense, said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona.

As coronavirus cases once again rise in the U.S., experts say breakthrough cases will also go up, but that doesn't mean the vaccines aren't working. "It may be that for the vast majority of vaccinated people who get infected, they just don't make enough virus to infect another person," said Dr. Janko Nikolich-Žugich, an immunologist and professor of medicine at the University of Arizona.

Back in May, a group of scientists – many at the top of the virology field – shifted the debate about the origins of COVID-19. They published a letter in the journal Science, saying the so-called lab leak theory needs to be taken more seriously by the scientific community. Now one of the scientists who signed that letter says new data have come to light. And that information, summarized in an online review, has changed his thinking. "I do think transmission from another species, without a lab escape, is the most likely scenario by a long shot," says evolutionary biologist Michael Worobey at the University of Arizona.

Two months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said vaccinated individuals didn't need to wear masks in most settings, a growing number of experts are warning it's time to put them back on. The highest-rated television program in recent weeks has been the NBA Finals, featuring thousands of often mask-free fans crowding indoor arenas in Phoenix and Milwaukee to cheer on the teams – a visual that induced complicated emotions in at least one expert. "I cringe every time I see it," said Dr. Shad Marvasti, director of public health, prevention and health promotion at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Dr. Shad Marvasti, director of public health, prevention and health promotion at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, discusses recent coronavirus developments.

Facing the threat of a more infectious Delta variant, vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech released a statement on Thursday saying it "may be beneficial" for people to get a third dose of their COVID vaccine within six months to a year. But U.S. health officials and other scientists have vehemently disagreed, saying our current vaccines are holding up really well – at least so far. As viral diseases go, COVID-19 is "a slow burn," said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona. In its early days, when it is most contagious, people experience cold symptoms or no symptoms at all. In serious cases, after about a week, people can go on to develop dangerous lung infections, caused by our immune systems going haywire and attacking vital organs.

In a review of recent studies and comparisons to other outbreaks, a group of virologists contends that there is more evidence to support a natural spillover from animals to humans. One of the signers of the May 2021 letter, Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona, became a co-author of the new paper arguing for a natural spillover. He said his views have evolved as more information emerges.

After months of steady declines, coronavirus infections are once again on the rise in California as the state struggles with slowing daily vaccination rates and the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant. "Please, no more cries of wolf on variants/vaccine efficacy," tweeted Deepta Bhattacharya, an associate professor of immunology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. "The vaccines still work fine in the real world."