News and History

Science evolves as new facts are uncovered and our understanding of COVID-19 grows. Read a changing selection of developing stories about COVID-related issues and learn about past pandemics. Putting the current moment in historic context can help us make choices that have the power to improve our nation's future.

Developing Stories in the News

Trending topics and stories in the news from trusted resources.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Omicron Variant: What You Need to Know

CDC is expecting a surge of COVID-19 cases in the coming days to weeks. Learn more about Omicron variant surveillance and potential rapid spread.

Nature

Kids and COVID: Why Young Immune Systems Are Still on Top

Innate immunity might be the key to why children have fared better with the virus. But the Delta variant poses fresh unknowns.

Kaiser Family Foundation

The Next Stage of COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out in United States

There are approximately 48 million children under the age of 12 in the United States. But reaching younger children may pose new challenges.

Washington Post

How Zoos Persuade Animals to Get the Coronavirus Vaccine

(M&Ms and ice cream help.) Just like 189 million Americans, Molly the tiger is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Kaiser Family Foundation

COVID-19 Misinformation is Ubiquitous

More than three quarters (78%) of U.S. adults either believe or aren’t sure about at least one of eight false statements about the COVID-19 pandemic or COVID-19 vaccines.

Communities for Immunity Funding Awards

Communities for Immunity awards funding to 50 additional museums and libraries to advance vaccine confidence.

Infectious Disease in American History

The history of infectious disease and our response to it has shaped American history. From the colonial period through the coronavirus pandemic, infectious disease has been a driver of social change. Knowing that history connects us with our past and helps us understand where we are today.

National Museum of American History

Pandemic Perspectives: Stories Through Collections

Join our curators and historians for an engaging series of panel discussions.

National Museum of American History

Infectious Disease in American History

Museum collections reflect the science and effort used prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious disease over the past 200+ years.

National Museum of American History

Stories of Infectious Disease in American History

Read stories about public health, vaccination, and infectious disease in American history.

Small glass vial with label for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Smithsonian Story

Six Stories on Vaccines, Disease, and Public Health

Through our collections, we connect stories of science and history.

Vaccination in American History

Reverend Cotton Mather learned about smallpox inoculation from an enslaved worker, Onesimus, and used this insight to help reduce a major smallpox outbreak in Boston in 1721. Yet some city leaders strongly opposed the practice as risky and against nature. Between the early 1940s and the early 2020s, new vaccines were developed for nearly 20 diseases, helping to reduce infant and childhood mortality worldwide. Concerns about vaccine risk and how to communicate their public health benefits remain an important part of public and political discourse.

The front of a small card dated October 25 1809

National Museum of American History

12 Kids Who Helped a Doubting Public Accept the Smallpox Vaccine

An unassuming 3 x 5 inch card attests to a remarkable event that took place more than two hundred years ago.

National Museum of American History

Surviving Rabies 100 Years Ago

Learn how four boys from Newark, New Jersey, became a media sensation and vaccination "heroes."

Protect mommies from German measles rubella vaccination campaign poster

National Museum of American History

Combating Infectious Disease and Slaying the Rubella Dragon

Significant battles have been won (and some lost), but one of our most effective weapons has been vaccination.

Section of a World Health Organization poster from the 1970s illustrating smallpox eradication activities in Ethopia.

National Museum of American History

Standing Up Against Disease Together—or Not

Three historic stories illustrate the tensions and difficulties in persuading people to unite to help stamp out threatening illnesses.

Historic Perspectives

Listen to a set of discussions that offer historical perspective on issues we face today, and explore the National Museum of American History's antibody collections.

Pandemic Past, Pandemic Present, with Medical Historian Mark Honigsbaum

National Museum of Natural History

Pandemic Past, Pandemic Present

Drawing upon the history of the influenza pandemics of the 19th and 20th centuries, medical historian Mark Honigsbaum discusses the parallels—and contrasts—with COVID-19.