Jonel Aleccia

JoNel Aleccia is a Senior Correspondent focused on aging and end-of-life issues on the KHN enterprise team. Before joining KHN in November 2016, she was a health reporter for more than a decade, covering regional and national news at outlets including The Seattle Times, NBCNews.com, TODAY.com and MSNBC.com. Before that, she was a reporter, editor and columnist at newspapers in the Northwest. JoNel was a member of reporting teams that won National Press Club Awards for digital journalism focused on the Great Recession and on amputees in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

After a trip to Denmark and Sweden in March, Kaitlyn Romoser, 23, of College Station, Texas, caught a mild case of covid, confirmed by a test, and recovered fully within weeks. Six months later, she tested positive for covid again, but because neither lab sample was saved, there was no way to confirm what she calls a clear case of reinfection. Her boyfriend, Emil Koseoglu — pictured with Romoser in Copenhagen — never tested positive. (Photo courtesy: KAITLYN ROMOSER)

Why the U.S. is underestimating COVID reinfection

February 9, 2021 at 6:14 a.m.

Kaitlyn Romoser first caught covid-19 in March, likely on a trip to Denmark and Sweden, just as the scope of the pandemic was becoming clear. Romoser, who is 23 and...

A health worker wearing a protective mask works in a lab during clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine at Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida, U.S. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Scientists warn Americans are expecting too much from a vaccine

October 29, 2020 at 6:36 a.m.

The White House and many Americans have pinned their hopes for defeating the COVID-19 pandemic on a vaccine being developed at “warp speed.” But some scientific experts warn they’re all...

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Can ordinary COVID patients get the Trump treatment? It’s OK to ask

October 22, 2020 at 6:49 a.m.

When Terry Mutter woke up with a headache and sore muscles on a recent Wednesday, the competitive weightlifter chalked it up to a hard workout.

cisneros.jpg Antonio Cisneros, a Los Angeles cinematographer, signed up for two COVID-19 vaccine trial registries. He is among the first wave of volunteers. "If I am asked to participate, I will," says Cisneros. "It seems part of our duty." (Photo by Steven Shea)

The color of COVID: will vaccine trials reflect America’s diversity?

July 28, 2020 at 6:58 a.m.

Though racial minorities, older people and those with underlying medical conditions are most at risk from COVID-19, they’ve historically been the least likely to be included in clinical trials for...

Richard and Denise Victor of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, haven’t seen their grandkids since February. In happier times — before the coronavirus pandemic — they had regular visits with grandsons (from left) Daren Cosola, Stirling Victor, Davis Victor and Lucas Cosola. (Courtesy of the Victor family)

‘We Miss Them All So Much’: Grandparents Ache As The COVID Exile Grinds On

May 27, 2020 at 6:44 a.m.

Across America, where more than 70 million people are grandparents, efforts to prevent infection in older people, who are most at risk of serious COVID-19 illness, have meant self-imposed exile...

A stretcher is moved from an AMR ambulance to the Life Care Center of Kirkland where one associate and one resident were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) according to a statement released by the facility in Kirkland, Washington on February 29, 2020. – The first fatality from the novel coronavirus has been confirmed on US soil, as President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Americans not to panic. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)

Nursing home outbreak spotlights coronavirus risk in elder care facilities

March 2, 2020 at 1:09 p.m.

One elderly patient died and several more were hospitalized in Washington after a quick spread of COVID-19.

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