Sick

The next step for wearables could be illness ‘warning lights’

Harpreet Rai, the CEO of smart ring company Oura, often tells a story about a March 2020 Facebook post. An Oura ring user posted that the device said that his overall health score had dropped below his normal level, which prompted him to get tested for COVID-19 — and the test ended up being positive…. Read more

COVID-19 hospitalization rates in adolescents went up during March and April

In March and April, when COVID-19 vaccinations were starting to keep older adults out of the hospital, more and more children between 12 and 17 years old were being admitted. Many were seriously sick: around one-third of kids in this age group who were in the hospital for COVID-19 this year were in the intensive… Read more

Netflix’s Sweet Tooth makes the end of the world a little cozier

Gus may have antlers like a deer, but he’s a puppy dog at heart. The main character of Netflix’s new series Sweet Tooth, based on the comic by Jeff Lemire, is a young boy struggling to survive in a world ravaged by a pandemic. But while the world around him descends into chaos, Gus, played… Read more

The Great Wings Rush

It was March 2020, and restaurants across the country were shutting down, setting up takeout windows, or doing whatever they could to absorb the shock of COVID. But it was Chuck E. Cheese, of all places, that had the foresight and steely clarity to see not just what the new era required, but what it… Read more

The future of COVID-19 immunity looks good

Our COVID-19 vaccines have passed their first tests with flying colors. They work unbelievably well, and they’re helping to slow the spread of disease in countries where they’re widely available. Now, scientists are turning to the next key question: how long will they work that well? In people who were sick with COVID-19 and then… Read more

Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine is effective in teens

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is effective in 12- to 17-year-olds, the company announced today in a press release. It plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration to authorize the shot for this age group in early June. None of the teens who received two shots of the Moderna vaccine in a clinical trial developed COVID-19,… Read more

Home Sick Pilots is a haunted house story with a punk rock edge

Comics have never been bigger: with Marvel TV shows, DC movies, and indie adaptations growing by the day, comic books have never been more prominent in pop culture. This biweekly Verge column recommends comic series new and old, whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer. Haunted house stories are usually pretty dreary. It helps… Read more

Here are the features I actually want from my pregnancy tracking app

A great scholar once noted that “there’s an app for that.” Pregnancy is no exception. I use my phone to manage just about everything else in my life, so when I found out I was pregnant, it was a natural next step to go looking for an app to hold my hand through the experience…. Read more

Focusing on personal responsibility still isn’t a good way to manage public health

Public health experts and communities around the country are still struggling to make sense of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new mask guidelines. Last week, the CDC said it no longer thinks people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 need to wear masks in most situations. But cases of COVID-19 are still high… Read more

Getting hospitals ready for the next pandemic

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The more hospitals cooperate, the better they’ll fare in an emergency As surges of COVID-19 cases spread throughout the United States over the past year, hospitals overwhelmed with patients quickly ran out of everything: masks, gloves, beds, space, doctors, nurses. Hospital workers in New York City, one of… Read more

FDA clears Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 12 to 15

The Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine can now be administered to 12- to 15-year-olds, the Food and Drug Administration announced today. Previously, the shot was authorized for people 16 years of age and older. The companies asked the FDA to expand the authorization to include the new ages in early April, just after they released… Read more

Kroger begins testing drone deliveries for baby products and s’mores

Kroger is joining rival Walmart by launching a drone delivery pilot program for groceries later this spring. The supermarket chain is partnering with Drone Express to deliver items like baby products, over-the-counter medications, and picnic supplies weighing up to about five pounds from a test store in Centerville, Ohio. A landing page for the Kroger… Read more

COVID-19 vaccinations are keeping older Americans out of hospitals

Two shots of a COVID-19 vaccine reduced the risk of hospitalization by 94 percent for people over 65, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That age group is at the highest risk of severe cases of COVID-19 — that’s why it was prioritized for the early waves of… Read more

CDC committee backs Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine

The United States should resume use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for all adults, an independent advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today. There is a small risk of a rare type of blood clot in women under 50, and health officials should warn patients of that… Read more

The Competitor

How Nick ‘Nickmercs’ Kolcheff battled his way to the top of Twitch The first thing you see is his forehead, because Nick “Nickmercs” Kolcheff is hunched forward and focused on his on-screen opponents. (Gamer stance, for the initiated.) The second thing you see is his crosshair begin to make its way, unerringly, to an opponent’s… Read more