Delta variant Archives

“We’re in a very different situation than the one we were in at this time last year,” said David Madigan, healthcare statistician and Northeastern Provost. “We are now in a mode of living with COVID-19 rather than trying to hide.” Screenshot by Northeastern University

COVID-19 and the new normal: What do cases mean in a vaccinated community?

Across the world, we’ve seen COVID-19 cases go up again due to the Delta variant. And some of those infections have been breakthrough cases in which fully vaccinated people test positive for COVID-19. But is it all bad news? We spoke with healthcare statistician and Northeastern Provost, David Madigan to make sense of the often confusing COVID-19 data, and to explain what is worth paying attention to as we learn to live with COVID. “You want to avoid getting it, but we can’t put our lives on hold,” he says.

by Eva Botkin-Kowacki September 2, 2021

silhouette of a pilot in front of a delta airplane

Will Delta Air Lines’ $200 surcharge for unvaccinated employees pay off?

Delta Air Lines recently announced that its employees are required to get a COVID-19 vaccine, or face a $200 per month increase in their health insurance premiums. But the penalty may not actually help the company mitigate the risk of spreading SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, say two Northeastern scholars.

by Molly Callahan August 27, 2021

Here’s how to make sense of the new guidance on booster shots. Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University

Why the Biden administration now says we need booster shots for COVID-19

New research reveals that COVID-19 vaccine protections began to decline in the middle of the summer when the delta variant was sweeping through the nation. “As we get new information, as the data provides new clues and a new direction in terms of what we need to do, we have to then respond accordingly,” says Neil Maniar, professor of public health practice at Northeastern.

by Eva Botkin-Kowacki August 18, 2021

Large crowds of people with and without masks fill Times Square in New York City.

It could be too late to stop the Delta variant–and to achieve ‘herd immunity’; Here’s why

Now that cases are rising across the country again because of the high transmissibility of the Delta variant, even with more than half of the U.S. population fully vaccinated, it’s time that health authorities rethink the pandemic “endgame,” says Neil Maniar, professor of the practice and director of the Master of Public Health in Urban Health program at Northeastern.

by Tanner Stening August 13, 2021

Public support for mandatory vaccinations grows, US survey shows, but holdouts remain deeply skeptical of the shots

The surging Delta variant ignites growing support for mandatory vaccinations, but it’s not enough to convince the unvaccinated, researchers from Northeastern, Harvard, Northwestern, and Rutgers report in a new U.S. study.

by Peter Ramjug August 3, 2021

Members of the Northeastern community walk around the Boston campus in the fall. The university announced on Monday that faculty and staff based in the United States will need to submit verification of vaccination by Sept. 8, 2021.

Northeastern to require COVID-19 vaccinations for faculty, staff this fall

In a continued effort to support the health and wellness of the entire Northeastern community, university leaders announced today that faculty and staff based in the United States will need to be fully vaccinated and submit verification of vaccination by Sept. 8, 2021.

by Molly Callahan August 1, 2021

Delta variant