Epidemics and Pandemics - The Atlantic

Epidemics and Pandemics

The Help That Never Came

August 19, 2022

A photo-illustration of a bucket of spilled Lego bricks.

The Pandemic’s Soft Closing

Katherine J. Wu

August 16, 2022

a black-and-white photo showing a crowd of people, only some of them in masks

How Future Generations Will Remember Us

William MacAskill

August 16, 2022

An illustration of a person looking ahead into the future

The Odds of Getting COVID From Your Housemate Are ‘About a Coin Flip’

August 15, 2022

An image of an empty house.

Serving Patients Through a Screen

August 15, 2022

Picture of a stethoscope with air pods in place of the ear pieces

It’s Not Just Long COVID

Hank Balfour and William Hoffman

August 12, 2022

Gif of a loading circle on top of a woman's face

Book Recommendations

12 Books to Help You Love Reading Again

The Atlantic Culture Desk

August 5, 2022

A woman in a kerchief and red bikini reads a book on a beach.

What Should Worry Most Americans About Our Monkeypox Response

Katherine J. Wu

August 4, 2022

a monkeypox vaccine being drawn from the vial

The Coronavirus Has One Strategy We Can’t Vaccinate Against

Katherine J. Wu

August 4, 2022

an illustration of a viral particle on an optical-illusion-like background

The Three COVID Developments I’m Still Holding Out Hope For

August 4, 2022

Animation of a smiley face emoji with a mask on, and then off.

Willed Helplessness Is the American Condition

Meghan O’Rourke

August 4, 2022

Illustration of a white statue of a man holding an oversized covid bacterium over his shoulders with his hands.

The Atlantic Daily

This COVID Summer Is Nothing Like the Last One

August 2, 2022

Tourists wearing face masks on a beach in Mexico

Of Course Biden Has Rebound COVID

Rachel Gutman-Wei

July 30, 2022

Close-up photo of hands holding Paxlovid pills

America Should Have Been Able to Handle Monkeypox

Katherine J. Wu

July 29, 2022

an illustration of people gazing up at a globe covered with monkeypox

How Long Can the Coronavirus Keep Reinfecting Us?

July 28, 2022

A coronavirus sprouts spike proteins that head every which way.

Is It Worse to Ban a Book, or Never Publish It?

Conor Friedersdorf

July 27, 2022

A hand pulling a book from a shelf

The Atlantic Daily

The U.S. Has No Plan to Prevent the Next Pandemic

Jerusalem Demsas

July 25, 2022

Texans get vaccinated for COVID-19 in March 2021.

Could Genetics Be the Key to Never Getting the Coronavirus?

Katherine J. Wu

July 25, 2022

an illustration of an umbrella held up by a DNA helix

America Is Running Out of ‘COVID Virgins’

July 22, 2022

Man walking with mask while deer looks on in the background

Of Course Biden Has COVID

Katherine J. Wu

July 21, 2022

Biden in a mask

America Was in an Early-Death Crisis Long Before COVID

July 21, 2022

An American flag is viewed against the sky, from inside a freshly dug grave

Put Your Face in Airplane Mode

July 19, 2022

An imagined masking light on a plane

The Power Imbalance Undermining Global Health

July 18, 2022

A syringe behind a barbed-wire fence

New COVID Vaccines Will Be Ready This Fall. America Won’t Be.

Katherine J. Wu

July 17, 2022

GIF of a flock of vaccine syringes flying across a landscape

The BA.5 Wave Is What COVID Normal Looks Like

Katherine J. Wu

July 14, 2022

a crowd of people in masks outdoors

Is BA.5 the ‘Reinfection Wave’?

July 11, 2022

A photograph of people, some masked, walking down a staircase

How Are We Possibly Still Disinfecting Things?

July 7, 2022

A person sprays a cloth with cleaning solution.

America’s Public-Health Efforts Have Slowed to a Crawl

Conor Friedersdorf

July 6, 2022

Hand wearing a medical glove holding a vaccine

Hybrid Work Is Doomed

July 6, 2022

An octopus arm grabbing an office chair

The Thin Red Lines

July 5, 2022

A small sample of my tests

The Conversation

Letter: The NIH Has Responded Forcefully to COVID-19

July 5, 2022

A lab technician tests blood samples.

Don’t Worry, It’s Not COVID

July 1, 2022

The New First Date

June 29, 2022

GIF of two people kissing from two separate screens

How the Rest of the World Is Doing RTO

June 29, 2022

An illustration of a filing cabinet in a reclining chair

This Fall Will Be a Vaccination Reboot

Katherine J. Wu

June 28, 2022

a health worker administers a vaccine to a person sitting in a chair

Coronavirus: COVID-19

America Is Sliding Into the Long Pandemic Defeat

June 27, 2022

A coronavirus on a red stop sign