Young people have had a lot to deal with over the past year, from remote learning to finding work. But there are also mental health challenges, and some doctors are showing an increase in the number of young people experiencing stress, depression and anxiety.

Across the United States and Canada, pollen season is starting 20 days earlier and pollen loads are 21% higher since 1990 and a huge chunk of that is because of global warming, a new study found in Monday’s journal the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences.

Early detection of the coronavirus is crucial for reducing its spread, even as vaccinations ramp up. Now, researchers have created a DIY smell and taste challenge – and all you need is your morning cup of joe.

How long immunity lasts from natural infection is one of the big questions in the pandemic. Scientists still think reinfections are fairly rare and usually less serious than initial ones, but recent developments around the world have raised concerns.

Temporary workers at food manufacturing, distribution and logistics facilities in Illinois keep supply chains moving — even during a global pandemic. But many feel their concerns about COVID-19 and workplace safety are often ignored, according to a new report.

More than 153,000 residents of the country’s nursing homes and assisted living centers have died of COVID-19, accounting for 36% of the U.S. pandemic death toll, according to the COVID Tracking Project. 

Gage Park sits within two ZIP codes that have consistently seen some of the highest COVID-19 positivity rates in the city, yet the vaccine rollout has been criticized for not reaching the Southwest Side like it has the North Side.

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine was safe and offered strong protection against moderate to severe COVID-19, according to preliminary results from a massive international study. 

The variant, known as B.1.1.7, was identified in samples of COVID-19 positive tests taken outside of Chicago and suburban Cook County for the first time, according to a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Public Health.

If the mayor insists on keeping the libraries open, employees should be eligible for the vaccine along with teachers and other front-line essential workers, union leaders, employees and aldermen said.

Four city-run COVD-19 test facilities will be closed from Friday through Wednesday as an arctic blast bears down on the city, officials announced Thursday. The facilities require staff members and volunteers to work outside to test people inside their cars.

Illinois legislators are now eligible to get the coronavirus vaccine as part of phase 1B, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday, but the governor says he’s going to wait his turn to be vaccinated.

Illinois health officials announced Wednesday that they are temporarily redirecting approximately 97,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses that have not yet been used in order to increase the limited supply of vaccine to those who are eligible under phase 1B.

The decision by city officials to cancel St. Patrick Day parades in 2020 was one of the first signs that COVID-19 was going to upend every aspect of normal life — and the fact that the parades will not take place this year is more evidence the pandemic is far from over.

With the move to Phase 4, suburban Cook County joins Chicago under the lowest level of state-imposed restrictions since the beginning of October and before the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic swept the state.

The scheduler will include appointments at mass vaccination sites operated by the city as well as those offered by AMITA Health, Erie Family Health, Innovative Express Care and Rush University Medical Center.