Coronavirus

The 31st annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival runs through Nov. 13 and features more than 250 films.

With her new documentary, Aisha Sultan encourages audiences to reflect on the ways the coronavirus pandemic radically disrupted learning and children’s development.

Attorneys Nicole Gorovsky, Connie McFarland-Butler and Bevis Schock tackle Eric Schmitt’s latest lawsuit on St. Louis on the Air’s Legal Roundtable.

An updated COVID-19 vaccine booster shot is hitting shelves in the St. Louis region this week after the federal government approved the shots for emergency use. Area health officials and doctors say everyone who can should get the updated booster, even if they’ve received the vaccine or previous boosters in the past.

Washington University scientists are conducting a clinical trial of a new version of the original Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Researchers say it will likely be better suited to newer BA.4 and BA.5 variants of the virus that have become dominant this summer.

While COVID isn’t as big a concern this year, fairs are keeping in place some of the protocols they picked up during the pandemic. At the same time, they are keeping an eye on other threats to crowd levels.

As fewer people are getting tested for the coronavirus in offices, labs and pharmacies, sewer shed surveillance has become one of the most accurate ways to show the virus still exists in the community. The state and its partners at the University of Missouri are monitoring 112 sites to see if viral particles are increasing and if new variants are emerging in the region's wastewater.

Earlier this month, federal officials recommended the COVID-19 vaccine for that age group after the Food and Drug Administration determined it was safe and effective. Doses of the vaccine, scaled down in size for smaller children, began arriving in St. Louis late last week.

Smaller organizations are less able to adapt to virus outbreaks backstage, leading to costly postponements and cancellations they say they cannot afford.

The grants are the first for individual artists and specific programs since 2020. The Regional Arts Commission has continued to provide general funding to larger organizations during the pandemic, though at dramatically reduced levels.