On “60 Minutes” on Sunday, President Biden declared “the pandemic is over.” Well into our third year of battling COVID-19, we all wish that were…
Eric TopolSeptember 19, 2022
We’ve been chasing the coronavirus since the pandemic began with vaccines and drugs, never getting ahead of it. In fact, well into its third year,…
Eric TopolAugust 21, 2022
Last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidelines for the Covid pandemic, heralding “a new strategy pivots from wide approach to a…
Eric TopolAugust 15, 2022
Just 10 months after the initial genome sequencing of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, two mRNA vaccines were demonstrated to provide…
Eric TopolJuly 21, 2022
It takes a lot for a COVID-19 variant to become dominant throughout most of the world. It has happened only three previous times (Alpha, Delta,…
Eric TopolJuly 12, 2022
As the virus accelerates its evolution, the humans capitulate. For two and a half years, Covid-19 has been outrunning our response, getting more and more…
Eric TopolMay 16, 2022
The virus that brought us COVID-19 is now going through accelerated evolution. Our vaccines must do the same. The Omicron wave was by far the…
Eric TopolMay 4, 2022
When it comes to Covid, the United States specializes in denialism. Deny the human-to-human transmission of the virus when China’s first cases were publicized in…
Eric TopolMarch 16, 2022
One of the most important studies in the pandemic – studying the potential impact of Covid on the brain – was just published. The major findings…
Eric TopolMarch 9, 2022
American COVID-19 pandemic with fewer than 12,000 new cases a day and a total of 15,000 patients in the hospital. There was a declaration of independence from the…
Eric TopolFebruary 21, 2022
The term ‘fully vaccinated’ needs to be redefined. It’s time for the United States and the CDC to see natural immunity as a partial path…
Eric TopolFebruary 20, 2022
As the Biden administration took office last January, with the pandemic peaking at more than 130,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States, there were high…
Eric TopolJanuary 18, 2022
The holidays should be a time for getting together with friends and family, but instead we have a double dose of coronavirus strains — Delta…
Eric TopolDecember 16, 2021
Masks, vaccines, boosters, rapid tests and anti-Covid pills will all be essential in the months ahead. ast week, we learned from virus sequencing and rapid…
Eric TopolDecember 1, 2021
The US thinks it will be ‘immune’ to what is happening in Europe. That’s wishful thinking. It’s deja vu, yet again. The pandemic first hit…
Eric TopolNovember 12, 2021
The lack of data around breakthrough infections is giving many Americans a false sense of security. The Delta variant was first identified in the United…
Eric TopolAugust 9, 2021
Here’s a paradox: A new drug for Alzheimer’s disease, aducanumab, gets approved by the Food and Drug Administration through an accelerated process without sufficient data, although there…
Eric TopolJuly 1, 2021
Viruses mutate constantly, though not always in dangerous ways. But we need to keep vaccinating and stay vigilant. News about emerging coronavirus variants can sound…
Eric TopolApril 14, 2021
Developing a Covid vaccine in record time shows how medical research can rev up to fight other diseases. In less than a year, we went…
Eric TopolMarch 19, 2021
Intranasal vaccines might stop the spread of the coronavirus more effectively than needles in arms. The development of highly effective COVID vaccines in less than…
Eric TopolMarch 1, 2021