How did the pandemic change sex and health care for U.S. high school students?

The pandemic changed nearly every part of life for teenagers, from school to socializing. A new report is trying to understand one of the more private shifts: how it affected their sexual behaviors and their ability to get important health care, like birth control or testing for sexually transmitted infections. The report focuses on U.S. high school students, comparing data from 2019, before the pandemic, to 2021. However, the specific findings from this look at the data have not been shared yet. This means we don't know if teens became more or less sexually active, or if they faced more barriers to getting care. The report is observational, meaning it can show patterns but can't prove the pandemic caused any changes. Without the main results or details on the study's limitations, it's too soon to draw any conclusions about the pandemic's lasting impact on teen sexual health.