Therese Raphael

Only One Thing Will Help Ukraine Now. Weapons.

The first stage of the war in Ukraine didn’t go according to Vladimir Putin’s plan, but it is the next four weeks that could determine how the map of Europe is changed as a result of his invasion. The incremental sanctions tightening we’ve seen in recent days will make little difference to that…

What Does Covid Do to the Brain and Mind?

Many of us have put Covid largely out of our minds. But one of the most intriguing and important areas of study is exactly what Covid does to the mind. The answer to that question is still far from clear. And yet it affects how we treat Covid as well as how we manage future pandemics and viruses. …

Where Will We Find the Next Covid Outbreak? Check the Sewers

Israeli scientists monitoring samplings of sewage water in 2013 made a startling discovery: an outbreak of paralyzing polio was imminent. A national vaccination campaign was quickly mobilized and no cases appeared. That same year, Swedish scientists provided public officials with an early warning…

Frosty Resignation Leaves Boris Johnson With Brexit Meltdown

By the time Christmas Eve rolled around last year, Brits were well tired of Brexit. The trade talks were in their 11th hour, the details were mind-numbing and the big picture had been talked to death over four years. The pandemic made the tortuous divorce between the UK and European Union seem…

Omicron: Keep Calm and Carry on Vaccinating

At least we’re learning. Remember when the early reaction to the outbreak of a deadly virus in Wuhan was to discourage people from changing their travel plans? South Africa’s government didn’t sit on information about a new worrying variant of SARS-CoV-2, which the World Health Organization has…

Did AstraZeneca Keep Britain Safer From Covid Than Europe?

Pascal Soriot knows how to make a headline. The AstraZeneca Plc chief executive officer gave a rare interview to the BBC to mark the opening of a billion-pound ($1.3 billion) research facility in Cambridge. But he couldn’t resist a little plug for his vaccine, too. “If you look at the UK, there…

Covid Drugs Will Change the Way We Live With the Virus

The UK was the first country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine; it has now become the first to approve an at-home treatment for Covid. On Thursday, the medicines regulator, MHRA, green-lit the antiviral drug molnupiravir, produced by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck & Co. and shown in trials to…

Merck’s Approved Covid Drug Fills In Where Vaccines Can’t

The UK was the first country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine; it has now become the first to approve an at-home treatment for Covid. On Thursday, the medicines regulator, MHRA, green-lit the antiviral drug molnupiravir, produced by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck & Co. and shown in trials to…

Covid Cases Are Soaring in Britain Again. Why?

Once again Britain has one of the highest rates of Covid infection anywhere. The UK just reported its biggest single day Covid case increase in three months and a 16% increase in confirmed cases in the week to Oct. 18. The government has warned of a bad winter. While deaths from Covid are now…

Boris Johnson Rearranges His Cabinet. It Could Use a Redesign.

Reshuffle is the right word for it — as in, take a deck of cards and mix it around. Boris Johnson’s new cabinet is mainly populated by names of those who have already been part of the ministerial team. As of Wednesday evening, at least four cabinet members have been sacked, while others have…