Covid-19 may cause greater loss of gray matter and tissue damage in the brain than naturally occurs in people who have not been infected with the virus, a large new study found.

The study, published Monday in the journal Nature, is believed to be the first involving people who underwent brain scans both before they contracted Covid and months after.

Neurological experts who were not involved in the research said it was valuable and unique, but they cautioned that the implications of the changes were unclear and did not necessarily suggest that people might have lasting damage or that the changes might profoundly affect thinking, memory or other functions.

WHO says COVID boosters needed, reversing previous call GENEVA (AP) — An expert group convened by the World Health Organization said Tuesday it “strongly supports urgent and broad access” to booster doses, in a reversal of the U.N. agency’s previous insistence that boosters weren’t necessary and contributed to vaccine inequity. AP NEWS

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Pandemic restrictions lift POLITICO

New York City’s indoor vaccine mandate is gone, as of today. Restaurants, bars, entertainment venues and gyms will no longer be required to check for proof of Covid-19 vaccination from customers. Nor will kids be required to wear masks to school, after Mayor Eric Adams moved to lift most of the city’s remaining pandemic restrictions. ...

Is Covid Over? No, But Global Health Funders Are Moving On People in poorer countries are still waiting for vaccines, but the leaders of global health organizations have a new priority: preparing for the next pandemic. POLITICO

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Children who have lost caregivers to Covid may be flying under the radar, experts say “If a child has lost a parent, someone needs to show up at that doorstep right away — and I mean right away,” one professor of pediatrics said. NBC News

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White House: Congress must act soon to replenish COVID funds WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will soon begin to run out of money to bolster COVID-19 testing supplies and to guarantee that uninsured Americans keep getting free treatment for the virus unless Congress swiftly approves more funding, the White House warned. AP NEWS

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