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If we are blithely ignorant now of rates of Covid-19 infection, it’s largely thanks to vaccines, which kept most people free from serious illness. But the immune defenses we get from vaccines and from infection wane in time. Disease in circulation means the new variants and subvariants are likely, with no guarantee that they will be weaker or less transmissible than previous iterations. (Therese Raphael and Sam Fazeli, 7/28)

It can’t be emphasized often enough that the vaccines against the coronavirus pandemic, in particular the mRNA vaccines, proved a triumph over adversity that saved millions of lives, thanks to years of investment in basic research, advances in genomics and other disciplines, massive federal aid, and productive cooperation among policymakers, scientists and the private sector. That feat was completed not long ago — but we need to do it again. (7/27)

There are No. 1 rankings that inspire celebration. And then there are those that elicit a more mixed "Really, we're No. 1?" response. Minnesota's current top honors in a state-by-state comparison of a key COVID-19 metric — how many seniors 65 and older have had a second booster shot — regrettably falls into the latter category. (7/27)

On Wednesday, the White House reported that President Joe Biden had twice tested negative for Covid-19. The news was welcome but expected. When Biden first tested positive a few days ago, his having been vaccinated and boosted, combined with his access to the nation’s best doctors and latest treatments, nearly guaranteed him an uneventful acute illness course. (Kristin Urquiza, 7/27)

The Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade and the ensuing response from certain states have launched a national battle to protect the right to an abortion. Among others, a new front has emerged: the right to reproductive privacy. (Thora Johnson, Kyle Kessler and Alyssa Wolfington, 7/27)

This week in Indianapolis, the legislature became the first state to hold a special session to further restrict abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. A legislative committee within the Republican-controlled legislature passed by a 7-5 vote an amendment adding the new restrictions to the current law. (7/27)

Monkeypox is not a novel virus. The infection, which can cause fever, headaches, body aches, fatigue and a painful rash across the body, already has government-approved vaccine and treatment as well as an established lab test. The national scientific community couldn’t have been more primed for a monkeypox outbreak. The U.S. contained an outbreak in 2003 and experts have warned of a potential epidemic for more than a decade. (Eric Kutscher and Lala Tanmoy Das, 7/27)

The fight for reproductive rights and gender-affirming care is one and the same. As a transgender man, I’m speaking out about the necessity of these services. (Mikiko Galpin, 7/27)

In “The Homesman,” a 2014 movie starring Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank, three traumatized pioneer women are transported back East to get help from a women’s relief society. There is no solace in open spaces, we learn. Only devastating isolation and social censure. (Maddy Butcher, 7/27)