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I'm an infectious disease epidemiologist and mom of three, ages 1, 5 and 8. These past 19 months have been challenging on all fronts for me and my family. The pandemic has robbed us in more ways than one -- from the 10 loved ones we lost to Covid-19 to the social impact on our lives. Coupled with my ongoing work in pandemic response at the local, state, national and international levels, the emotional toll has been immense. All the adults in my family are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, but my children, who are not yet eligible for a shot, are fully vulnerable to the disease. (Syra Madad, 10/28)

One of the most frightening, least understood aspects of the coronavirus pandemic is what’s come to be known as “long Covid.” Stories abound of young, healthy adults who experienced mild or asymptomatic coronavirus infections and recovered fairly quickly, only to experience an onset of debilitating symptoms weeks or even months later. One major study of almost two million Covid patients in the United States found that nearly a quarter sought medical treatment for new conditions one month or more after their initial infection. (Ezra Klein, 10/26)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is sticking to guidance on masking in schools that is increasingly proving absolutist, tone deaf and counterproductive. Last Wednesday, as COVID case rates declined to half of what they were five weeks earlier, CDC head Rochelle Walensky recommitted to universal masking in all schools for the foreseeable future. "As we head into these winter months, we know we cannot be complacent," Walensky said at a White House briefing. "So, right now, we are going to continue to recommend masks in all schools for all people in those schools." (Nat Malkus, 10/29)

The top health officer in a rural Maryland county had the audacity to say in public that it’s “foolish to not receive the vaccine” for the virus that has now killed more than 740,000 people in the United States. Imagine that. Imagine a county official saying such a thing while a vocal (or quietly stubborn) minority of anti-vaxxers continues to resist public health advisories that most of us followed months ago. (Dan Rodricks, 10/28)

The standoff between Chicago police and Mayor Lori Lightfoot over the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate once again hoisted Chicago onto the national stage, seemingly pitting the individual rights of law enforcement officers against the health of communities they’re charged with protecting. A parallel fight has been quietly festering just outside public view — equally pressing and just as consequential — between Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the staff at Illinois’ prisons. (Jennifer Soble and Alan Mills, 10/28)