Pooled COVID-19 Testing Comes To Cambridge

Plus: boosters are in the works that may help stop new variants potentially resistant to current vaccines ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  [View in Browser]( | [Donate [WBUR]]( [WBUR](  [WBUR]( January 25, 2021 Hi there, Angus Chen here, subbing for CommonHealth editor Carey Goldberg (she was focused on [today's lead story](. Coronavirus testing can get expensive. So, some restaurants are doing "pooled" testing, meaning people drop their individual nasal swabs into a single, shared container for coronavirus testing. Combining samples is a cheap way for places like restaurants, employers and schools to test their people. If the pool is negative, everyone is good, and if it's positive then everyone gets tested individually. In her story, Carey focuses on Harvard Square restaurant Grendel's Den's pooled testing program. Restaurant owner Kari Kuelzer hopes the program will make testing more accessible to groups outside of elite universities that can afford widespread individual testing. Vaccine news is also at the fore this week. Earlier this afternoon, Gov. Charlie Baker [detailed plans]( to have 103 public vaccination sites open by the end of the week, with an online map and registration portal ready for eligible residents to make appointments. Moderna is [testing booster shots]( to help combat new coronavirus variants that might have some resistance to the vaccine. Plus, I'm also working on a couple of stories related to the vaccine rollout in Massachusetts. One is a feature that looks into some of the logistical hurdles and red tape that seems to be slowing down vaccine clinics and causing headaches for doctors. Stay tuned. — Angus Chen, health reporter newsletters@wbur.org The Rundown url[Today's Special At Grendel's Den In Harvard Square: A Coronavirus Test For Your Server]( Employers and schools are looking to combine coronavirus swab samples to bring testing costs down. Pilot programs are being run now by CIC Health in Kendall Square.[Read more.](   #%23%23[Twitter](  #%23%23[Facebook](    [Moderna Testing Booster To Combat New Variant]( Cambridge-based Moderna will launch a clinical trial to study a potential COVID-19 booster shot after finding that its vaccine does not produce as significant a response to a new variant of the highly infectious virus first detected in South Africa, the company announced Monday. [Read more.](  [Commentary: Mass. Should Be Nailing The Vaccine Rollout. Why Are Most States Ahead Of Us?]( Massachusetts is lagging behind other states and U.S. territories in the percentage of people who have received at least 1 dose of a vaccine. At the current rate, most residents won't be protected until fall. [Read more.](  Support the news [Just Move: Scientist Author Debunks Myths About Exercise And Sleep]( Fresh Air host Terry Gross speaks with author Daniel Lieberman about his book, "Exercised." The interview tackles exercise myths and offers advice on how to stay healthy. Key takeaway? Just do something. [Read more.](  [Studies Suggest Benefits From A Personalized Approach To Brain Stimulation]( A personalized brain stimulation treatment can lead to better results in depression and obsessive compulsive behavior. Researchers at BU and UCSF tested the method using slight pulses of electrical or magnetic energy. [Read more.]( What We're Reading Anyone with eyes could see how little love there was between Anthony Fauci, affectionately dubbed "America's Doctor," and his former boss, Donald Trump. Over the weekend, [Fauci spoke with The New York Times' Donald MacNeil Jr.]( his experience working in the Trump administration. In it, Fauci talks about his sense of duty to remain at his job, the death threats and scares that came his way, and the fear that the pandemic response was not being driven by science. "[Trump] would take just as seriously their opinion – based on no data, just anecdote – that something might be really important... a variety of alternative-medicine-type approaches. That's when my anxiety started to escalate," Fauci said in the interview. [Read the full interview here.]( “ If there’s people in our community in the university setting and at large institutions that are receiving that level of protection, there has to be a way to extend it to people who are not in that bubble of privilege, of being part of a major university. — Kari Kuelzer, owner of Grendel's Den, "[Today's Special At Grendel's Den In Harvard Square: A Coronavirus Test For Your Server]( ICYMI [WBUR's Weekly Coronavirus Newsletter Is Your Destination For All Vaccine News & Updates]( We know you have a lot of questions: What are the side effects? When can I get vaccinated? How could vaccines impact the pandemic's trajectory? WBUR's health team will answer your questions on vaccines and share the latest on the local outbreak. [Sign up now.](      Did you know that when baby tyrannosaurus hatchlings (probably fuzzily feathered) broke out of their eggshells, they were likely [the size of a border collie?]( 😎 Forward to a friend. 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