Two preliminary reports from the UK provide real-world evidence in support of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.

New data suggest that the company’s approved COVID-19 vaccine protects against different virus variants, but could be less effective against the one that originated in South Africa.

As a deadly smallpox outbreak ravaged Boston, one of the city’s leaders advocated for a preventive measure he’d learned about from Onesimus, an enslaved man.

Adeno-associated viral vectors can deliver gene therapies, but AAV-neutralizing antibodies might prevent the medicines from working.

Adenovirus vectors deliver the genetic instructions for SARS-CoV-2 antigens directly into patients’ cells, provoking a robust immune response. But will pre-existing immunity from common colds take them down?

The results from a study in Iceland can’t say if a recovered patient’s antibodies can protect them from subsequent reinfection.

So far, there are three patients known to have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 twice, and in at least one case the second time around was asymptomatic.

An absence of germinal centers—which arise during infections to produce long-lived antibody-generating cells—might explain rapidly waning antibody levels in the disease.

In a small study of patients hospitalized due to SARS-CoV-2 infection, researchers report distinct early differences between the antibody responses of patients who recovered and those who died, possibly paving the way for a tool to predict disease prognosis.

Studies on SARS-CoV-2’s milder cousins hint that our immune systems are quick to forget the viruses, but it’s unclear whether the same is true for the agent that causes COVID-19.

There are emerging signs that some people might have heightened protection against SARS-CoV-2, perhaps thanks to recent infection by other coronaviruses.

The results, while preliminary, suggest that survivors of SARS-CoV-2 infection may be susceptible to reinfection within weeks or months.

These webs of chromatin and proteins, released by immune cells to control microbial infections, could serve as a therapeutic target in coronavirus infections.

There is no evidence that any of the coronavirus vaccines in development worsen a coronavirus infection rather than confer immunity to it, but the phenomenon is something scientists are closely monitoring.

While the finding doesn’t prove people become immune to the virus after infection, it is good news for vaccine development.

The FDA cracks down on test makers as independent evaluations of their products’ performance show a need for improvement.

If governments were to use SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests to manage who can re-enter the workplace, society must accept a sacrifice of privacy.

Studies from serum samples could transform our understanding of the spread of COVID-19, but what antibodies alone say about immunity is not yet clear.

Federal agencies, academic institutions, and industrial partners are joining forces to combat COVID-19 using artificial intelligence.