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COVID-19 economy wanes along with pandemic's urgency

Oct 17, 2023
Makers of vaccines, tests and even protective gear are struggling to adjust to slackening demand.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which supplied key products in the battle against the coronavirus, has seen a dramatic reversal of fortune.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

These businesses made it through the hardest part of the pandemic. Then they closed.

Oct 9, 2023
The pandemic is still having a domino effect on small businesses. Here's what happened to three of them.
Because data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics lags, its unclear how many businesses have shuttered in the last few years.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The COVID vaccine rollout is kind of a mess. Again.

Sep 29, 2023
This is the first round of COVID vaccinations relying mostly on the usual health insurance and provider networks as opposed to the government.
COVID vaccinations are now going through the commercial health care system, providing new obstacles to people who want the jab.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

How a combination of COVID lawsuits and media coverage keeps misinformation churning

Jul 14, 2023
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes, litigation — whether about vaccines, masks or a range of other public health policies made during the pandemic — isn’t about to end.
People protest against COVID-19 mandates in September 2021 in New York City. Even as the pandemic wanes, COVID litigation is far from over.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

As Americans catch up on care they skipped during COVID, health insurance could get pricier

Jun 15, 2023
Patient numbers have bounced back to prepandemic levels.
Procedures like hip and knee surgeries have bounced back.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

After high school years interrupted by COVID, students calculate the cost of college differently

May 25, 2023
This spring, there were 14.2 million undergraduates in the U.S., about 9% fewer than in spring 2019.
This spring, there were 9% fewer undergraduate students in the U.S. than there were in spring 2019.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Clawing back unspent COVID funds might contribute to a debt ceiling solution — but not much

May 15, 2023
The exact amount left from pandemic spending bills could be as little as $30 billion — a fraction of this year’s federal deficit.
Congress passed six COVID spending bills totaling $4.6 trillion, according to the Government Accountability Office. But most of that money is already gone.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Shanghai lockdown a year on: Is it still the same financial hub?

Mar 27, 2023
Shanghai's 2022 lockdown, which lasted two months, left economic and psychological scars on the metropolis.
A view of Lujiazui, the financial district of Shanghai. Government media refers to the cluster of high-rises as the Manhattan of the East.
Jennifer Pak/Marketplace

Moderna will charge around $130 for its COVID vaccine — and Congress isn't too happy

Mar 22, 2023
But the pharma company promised that individuals won't pay the full amount.
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel listens to Sen. Bernie Sanders during a committee hearing on the price of COVID vaccines.
Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

China's big question after ending "zero-COVID" rules: How many have died?

Feb 7, 2023
David struggled to help his 83-year-old father before he died of COVID. Will his father's death be counted in China's official toll?
Hundreds of millions of people in China were infected within weeks of the abrupt end to "zero-COVID" rules, experts say. Above, patients are cared for by relatives and medical staff in the atrium of a busy hospital on Jan. 13 in Shanghai.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images