Covid-19 Live Updates: Amid Vaccine Shortage, C.D.C. Quietly Changes Immunization Guidelines

dropping steadily across the United States, with hospitalizations falling in concert. But health officials are growing increasingly concerned that quickly circulating variants of the virus could cause new surges of cases faster than the country is managing to distribute Covid-19 vaccines.

Public health experts likened the situation to a race between vaccination and the virus’s new variants — and the winner will determine whether the United States is approaching a turning point in its battle against the coronavirus, now entering a second year.

“We’re definitely on a downward slope, but I’m worried that the new variants will throw us a …

Looks Like Joe Biden Got a New Watch to Celebrate His Big New Job

Welcome to Watches of the Week, where we’ll track the rarest, wildest, and most covetable watches spotted on celebrities.

Big month for Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.: the guy got a new Rolex. And I guess there was that whole being-sworn-in-as-President thing. But the Rolex! The new piece first appeared on 46’s wrist while he was receiving the initial dose of the COVID vaccine, and it was there again this week during his inauguration. Some men have Dior Air Jordan 1s, others have new Rolex watches. At first blush, Biden’s choice is a bit perplexing. Consider that he was just …

A glimmer of hope in the U.K.: Nearly 5 million have received vaccine shots.

For weeks, Britain has reported alarming coronavirus death numbers, hospitals have continued to fill up, and fears have risen that it will take months to control the spread of a more transmissible variant first detected in the Kent region of Englandlast year.

On Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at a news conference the new variant may also be associated with a slightly higher chance of death, even as he acknowledged it was too soon to be sure, and his own scientific advisers urged restraint in interpreting preliminary evidence.

Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said that the data

Modern Love: My Unlikely Pandemic Dream Partner

The dullness of quarantine gave way to a socially distanced affair, evening dates and all. My mother’s eyes lit up as she shared stories of the day’s encounters over the dinner she made or the sinfully delicious food we ordered from local restaurants. I began to loosen, to lean into the care I felt so guilty for receiving, the three meals a day cooked by my mother, the needing someone, that letting go of an almost too fierce independence I had built over the years.

My mother glowed. She was taking long masked walks alone and exploring New Orleans by …

Canada’s Governor General Resigns Amid Reports of a Toxic Workplace

OTTAWA — The woman who represented Queen Elizabeth as Canada’s official head of state, a high-profile but largely ceremonial role, resigned on Thursday after a report submitted to the government harshly criticized her treatment of employees.

Julie Payette, whose title was governor general, stepped down after months of media reports that she and a top adviser had belittled and publicly humiliated employees, often to the point of tears. In response, the government commissioned an independent review that several Canadian news outlets said had blamed her for creating a toxic work environment.

“For the good of our country and of our