Vaccines

Public health officials Thursday reported a marked increase in the number of pertussis — or whooping cough — cases this year over recent years.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promoted claims about vaccines that contradict the overwhelming consensus of scientists.

Updated COVID-19 vaccines are on their way. The Food and Drug Administration approved new shots from Pfizer and Moderna on Thursday, and the companies are set to begin shipping millions of doses.

Moderna already has a bird flu vaccine in very early-stage testing that uses the same mRNA technology that allowed rapid development and rollout of vaccines to protect against COVID-19.

Merck’s shot protects against 21 strains of that bacteria to prevent a severe form of pneumococcal disease and a lung infection called pneumonia.