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Before the Covid-19 pandemic, a mother I interviewed as part of my study on pandemic parenting said, she never had a problem with vaccines. Her 2-year-old son got all his recommended immunizations on schedule. When it comes to the Covid-19 vaccines, however, the mother, who is white and has a college degree, says she isn’t so sure. (Jessica Calarco, 10/25)

At long last, the booster-shot debate has come to an end. On Wednesday, the FDA authorized boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines as well as the “mix and match” approach to booster shots. Yesterday, a CDC advisory panel sanctioned that authorization and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky endorsed it. With a green light for all vaccines from both agencies, the booster plan first announced by the Biden administration in August can finally roll out in full. (Yasmin Tayag, 10/22)

The messaging on vaccine boosters is muddled and confusing, yet the science is pretty straightforward and reassuring. Your vaccine is still cutting your risk of getting a severe case or dying from Covid-19, even if it has been a number of months since you got it. Whenever they received the first shots, an extra jab is recommended for people over 65 and those with any number of immunity-compromising health conditions, or conditions that vastly raise Covid-19 risk, which are listed by the Centers for Disease Control. But what about if you are young and healthy and vaccinated? (Faye Flam, 10/25)

The Greek historian Herodotus lived through the plague of Athens, one of the world’s first great pandemics. He wrote, “Circumstances rule men; men do not rule circumstances.” So it is with COVID-19. In the U.S., we are currently in the middle of an autumn downturn in COVID-19 cases, and no one can say whether this will be the end. It is clear, however, that the U.S. is repeating a mystifying cycle of case rise and fall that has been seen in other countries. For reasons unknown, cases surge for six to 10 weeks and then fall predictably in a similar fashion for at least an equal period. (Cory Franklin and Robert A. Weinstein, 10/25)

Should I open my doors on Halloween or hide guiltily inside? Is it safe to face the crowds of hundreds of children who show up on my street? (Nicholas Goldberg, 10/25)

Misinformation and disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic have enabled an alarming increase in the recent spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus, especially among people who are unvaccinated. Misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic is a mistake or error accepted as true that contradicts the best available knowledge. In contrast, disinformation is purposeful distortion of the best available knowledge in order to promote an ideology or one’s status or personal finances. (Michael Zanolli, 10/22)