Coronavirus Watch: Doctors strive for answers on how to ease long-hauler misery

Readers, we have a special project coming to you this week.

As COVID-19 swept across the country early last year, the primary concern was for the dying. But there are others – as many as 12 million and counting – who took months and months to recover, or are still struggling.

With the delta variant raging and the U.S. enduring its fourth coronavirus surge, the Paste BN Network spoke this summer with dozens of experts and patients to understand the long-term consequences of COVID-19.

Over the next five days, we will share stories of families desperate to regain what they've lost and scientists doing everything they can to help. Hear from the long-haulers here, and journey inside the human body as it goes to war with COVID-19.

It's Monday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news you need to know.

• Booster shots may be available to all fully vaccinated Americans in a week, but an expert review by international scientists says we may not need them. The review, published Monday in The Lancet, found vaccines remain highly effective against severe disease, including from the delta variant and other main variants.
• Less than 48% of West Virginia’s adult population is fully vaccinated, the lowest of any state. Gov. Jim Justice held a press conference Monday with physicians who urged vaccinations and discussed the dangers and long-term effects of the virus. "You have got to listen to these people," Justice said. "These are really good people and they are really smart and they are trying to save your life every day."
• Veronica Wolski, 64, who was outspoken against vaccines and masks, died Monday from COVID-19, her lawyer announced.
• Bill Bailey, a custodian at Kentucky's Lee County Elementary, died Sunday from COVID-19. Two weeks ago school instructional aide Heather Antle died from the virus. Two other staffers are hospitalized.
• Four million students in Italy have returned to the classroom. All teachers and staff must have received at least one vaccine dose, have recovered from COVID-19 in the last six months or tested negative for the virus in the previous 48 hours.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 41 million COVID-19 cases and 660,700 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 225 million cases and more than 4.6 million deaths. About 63% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 54% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Among U.S. adults, 76% have received at least one shot, and about 65% are fully vaccinated.

Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck