CNN: New US Travel Rules For Omicron: What You Need To Know 
Just when we thought US travel rules were starting to stabilize, along comes Omicron. The dominoes fell quickly after South African health authorities informed the world of their discovery of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in late November. The Biden administration rolled out controversial travel bans on arrivals from eight nations in southern Africa. Travelers found themselves unexpectedly stranded. And now US officials are tightening travel regulations again. Things are changing by the day and even by the hour, but here are some of the questions people have about US travel rules -- and answers we have as of December 5. (Hunter and Brown, 12/5)

Politico: Fauci: U.S. Reviewing Its South African Travel Ban And Hopes To Lift It Soon
President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, said Sunday that the U.S. is reviewing its travel ban on South Africa and other African countries daily and hopes to lift it “within a reasonable amount of time” even as the Omicron variant spreads through the U.S. The White House announced the travel ban over a week ago as the new Covid-19 variant rattled South Africa. Days later, the U.S. first detected a case of the Omicron variant in California. (Sheehey, 12/5)

Axios: America And Europe Choose Divergent Pandemic Paths As Omicron Spreads 
European countries are doubling down on pressure campaigns to get people vaccinated just as Republicans continue to wage war — often successfully — against vaccine mandates in the U.S. The starkly different approaches create a sharp contrast between the regions' approaches to vaccination, even as the Omicron variant rapidly spreads around the world. (Owens, 12/5)

And troubles grow for travelers on a Norwegian cruise ship —

CBS News: Cruise Ship Disembarks In New Orleans With At Least 17 COVID Cases, Including A "Probable" Omicron Infection 
A Norwegian Cruise Line ship with at least 17 passengers and crew members infected with COVID-19 docked Sunday in New Orleans, where health officials said the ship was disembarked amid efforts to prevent any spread into the community. At least one of the infected crew members is suspected to have the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the Louisiana Department of Health said late Sunday. The Norwegian Breakaway arrived in the city on Sunday after departing from New Orleans on November 28 and making stops in Belize, Honduras and Mexico over the past week. (12/6)

The Washington Post: U.S. Cases Top 100,000 Daily As Delta Remains Dominant
The United States is averaging more than 100,000 new coronavirus cases each day for the first time in two months, as the delta variant remains dominant amid fears of the new omicron variant. On Sunday, the seven-day average was more than 118,000 new cases per day, according to a Washington Post tracker. The last time it topped 100,000 was Oct. 6, when the country was averaging more than 101,000 new cases daily. (Pietsch and Timsit, 12/6)

CNBC: Covid Cases On The Rise Again, But It's Still Delta, Not Omicron, Driving The Surge
Even as more and more states report their first cases of the omicron variant, it’s still the super contagious delta variant that’s driving nearly all new Covid-19 cases in the United States.What’s more, it appears cases are once again rising after Thanksgiving. Dr. Michael Saag, an associate dean for global health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has seen a “notable increase” of Covid patients in need of monoclonal antibody treatments over the past 24 hours. (Edwards, 12/4)

Forbes: Omicron Detected In These 17 States — Georgia Latest To Report Case
Cases of the recently detected coronavirus variant omicron have been identified in over 40 countries and 17 states as of Sunday — numbers “likely to rise” in the United States, according to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state of Georgia confirmed its first omicron case in an Atlanta resident who had recently traveled from South Africa, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday. California was the first state to report a case of omicron Wednesday, and others have subsequently been found in Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. (Kvetenadze, 12/5)

Newsweek: Rochelle Walensky Warns That Omicron Cases 'Likely To Rise' As U.S. Still Battles Delta
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said Sunday that Omicron coronavirus cases are "likely to rise" as the U.S. is still working to combat a surge of infections from the Delta variant. Walensky told ABC's This Week that the CDC is still working to determine information about Omicron, but maintained that a majority of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. continue to come from the Delta variant of the virus. "We have about 90 to 100,000 cases a day right now in the United States, and 99.9 percent of them are the Delta variant. We have an issue right now with Delta. And we have so many things we can do about Delta, including getting vaccinated and getting boosted," Walenksy said Sunday. (Colarossi, 12/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Clues To Omicron Variant’s U.S. Spread Include Test Samples, Sewage 
Early this year, the U.S. was publishing some 3,000 virus genome sequences a week, according to CDC data. For the week ended Nov. 20, the U.S. published more than 80,000 sequences, a jump that health authorities and experts credit to increased funding and coordination among states, researchers and federal officials. Between 5% and 10% of positive Covid-19 samples are sequenced in the U.S., according to Kelly Wroblewski, director of infectious diseases at the Association of Public Health Laboratories. “Our surveillance system is well-placed to find it,” Ms. Wroblewski said of the Omicron variant. (Abbott, 12/5)

Fox News: Omicron Infects 2 Fully Vaccinated Individuals In Separate Hotel Rooms, Report Says
While health officials continue to study the COVID-19 variant called Omicron, researchers in Hong Kong said the mutation infected two fully vaccinated people staying across the hall from each other inside a quarantine hotel in the city, according to a report. Researchers from the University of Hong Kong published a report that said these individuals never exited their rooms and must have come down with the virus through airborne transmission when they opened their doors for food or COVID-19 tests, Bloomberg reported. The study highlighted the "potential concern" about its transmissibility, the researchers wrote, according to the report. (DeMarche, 12/6)

Bloomberg: Omicron’s Spread Across Hotel Hall Highlights Transmission Worry
The omicron variant spread among two fully vaccinated travelers across the hallway of a Hong Kong quarantine hotel, underscoring why the highly mutated coronavirus strain is unnerving health authorities. Closed-circuit television camera footage showed neither person left their room nor had any contact, leaving airborne transmission when respective doors were opened for food collection or Covid testing the most probable mode of spread, researchers at the University of Hong Kong said in a study published Friday in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. (Gale, 12/5)

In more news about omicron infection —

The Washington Post: Omicron Coronavirus Variant Possibly More Infectious Due To Sharing Genetic Code With Common Cold, Study Says 
The omicron variant is likely to have picked up genetic material from another virus that causes the common cold in humans, according to a new preliminary study, prompting one of its authors to suggest omicron could have greater transmissibility but lower virulence than other variants of the coronavirus. Researchers from Nference, a Cambridge, Mass.-based firm that analyzes biomedical information, sequenced omicron and found a snippet of genetic code that is also present in a virus that can bring about a cold. They say this particular mutation could have occurred in a host simultaneously infected by SARS-CoV-2, also known as the novel coronavirus, and the HCoV-229E coronavirus, which can cause the common cold. The shared genetic code with HCoV-229E has not been detected in other novel coronavirus variants, the scientists said. (Cheng, 12/4)

Axios: Prior Coronavirus Infections May Not Protect Well Against The Omicron Variant 
New data from South Africa suggests the Omicron variant spreads more than twice as quickly as the Delta variant, and that immunity from prior infection doesn't appear to protect a person very well against Omicron variant. The findings are extremely preliminary, and there are still many open questions about how well vaccines work against the variant. But these initial breadcrumbs of data are helping the world begin to understand what it's up against. (Owens, 12/4)

The Guardian: Omicron: What Do We Know About The New Covid Variant?
Three major issues will determine the magnitude of the impact of the new Omicron variant of the Covid virus will have on the nation and the rest of the planet. What is the transmissibility of this new Covid variant? How good is it at evading the antibodies and T-cells that make up a person’s immune defences? What are the chances it will trigger severe illness that could lead to the hospitalisation, and possibly death, of an infected person? (McKie, 12/5)

Also —

The New York Times: Before Even Receiving a Name, Omicron Could Have Spread in New York and the Country
They wore fluorescent wigs and capes with gold tassels. They arrived in knee-high white platform boots, and with feathered wings affixed to their backs. Dressed like their favorite characters, or just wearing street clothes, they packed into Manhattan’s main convention hall — some 53,000 of them — over three days in November to celebrate their love of Japanese animation shows known as anime. In the crowd was Peter McGinn, a 30-year-old health care analyst in town from Minneapolis. He attended discussion panels, chatted with strangers about his anime podcast and, at night, sang karaoke with friends. After flying home, he learned that one friend from the convention — an anime fan from North Carolina — had just tested positive for the coronavirus. In the days to come, many more of his friends from the convention would test positive, as well. Coughing and feeling tired, Mr. McGinn also took a test. He had the virus, too. (Goldstein, Bosman, de Freytas-Tamura and Rabin, 12/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: Face Masks And Omicron: Should You Upgrade From Cloth To N95s? Double Mask?
Although Bay Area counties so far have not signaled any changes in their mask policies, the arrival of the omicron variant has many people wondering whether it’s time to double down on their masking habits — and upgrade their face coverings. Local experts say that regardless of omicron, the coming weeks are a good time to buy better masks and practice the same public health protocols from last year’s holiday surge. While little data is yet available on whether the newest variant is more infectious than delta, experts said upgrading your mask strategy is one way to reduce the risk of catching any version of the virus. (Wu, 12/5)

AP: Fauci Says Early Reports Encouraging About Omicron Variant 
U.S. health officials said Sunday that while the omicron variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading throughout the country, early indications suggest it may be less dangerous than delta, which continues to drive a surge of hospitalizations. President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that scientists need more information before drawing conclusions about omicron’s severity. ... “Thus far, it does not look like there’s a great degree of severity to it,” Fauci said. “But we have really got to be careful before we make any determinations that it is less severe or it really doesn’t cause any severe illness, comparable to delta.” (Johnson, 12/5)

Stat: Early South Africa Data Hints Omicron May Cause Less Severe Covid, But More Research Needed
As the world waits for studies that give a clear picture of the Omicron variant, early clinical data emerging from South Africa hint at a virus that may cause less severe cases of Covid-19. The South African Medical Research Council posted a report Saturday of the early experiences at several hospitals in Gauteng Province, where Omicron was first spotted in the country. Strikingly, most hospitalized patients who tested positive for Covid did not need supplemental oxygen. Few developed Covid pneumonia, few required high-level care, and fewer still were admitted to intensive care. (Branswell, 12/4)

Reuters: S. African Official Says Children Sick With COVID-19 Have Mild Infections 
Higher hospital admissions among children during a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections in South Africa that has been driven by the Omicron coronavirus variant should not prompt panic as infections have been mild, a health official said on Saturday. A large number of infants admitted with COVID-19 last month in Tshwane, the metropolitan area that includes the capital Pretoria, raised concerns that the newly identified Omicron could pose greater risks for young children than other variants. (Winning, 12/4)

Slate: Omicron Seems To Spread Quickly. But It Hasn’t Caused Any Deaths.
Omicron continues to spread across the United States, and around the world, as scientists try to pin down how fast it spreads and how much of a threat it poses compared to other strains of the virus . As of Saturday morning, omicron cases had been reported in 12 U.S. states, pretty much all of which were among people who had traveled to South Africa recently. None of the cases so far in the U.S. have resulted in serious illness; and the World Health Organization has said that no omicron cases, which have been detected in at least 38 countries, have resulted in death.WHO officials note that it will take weeks to know how infectious omicron really is and how effective the current crop of vaccines is against the new variant. Experts emphasize that vaccines will provide some protection against the variant, especially against the worse outcomes of infection, like hospitalization and death. “There’s no reason to suppose that they won’t,” Michael Ryan, head of emergencies at the WHO said. That said, preliminary data appears to suggest omicron is able to cause reinfection at a higher rate compared to previous variants, which is of particular concern to countries where vaccination rates are low. (Politi, 12/4)

CBS News: Study Shows Men Spread COVID Particles More Than Other Populations 
A study focused on tracking the spread of COVID-19 in performing arts settings has also unveiled the population of humans who spread the most COVID-19 particles. Researchers at Colorado State University learned that men more frequently spread the coronavirus particles than women or children. The study, which lasted months, was originally developed in an effort to see what those in the performing arts can do to facilitate a safe return to the stage following the pandemic. The performing arts, from the educational level all the way to Broadway performances, were some of the most drastically impacted fields. (12/6)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

Houston Chronicle: More Than Half Of Houstonians Who Died From COVID Had Diabetes
Half of Houstonians who died of COVID-19 had diabetes, a Houston Health Department review concluded late last month. The virus killed more than 3,600 city residents as of November, nearly 52 percent of whom had diabetes, according to health department data. One quarter were obese. Stephen Williams, director of the Houston Health Department, said the findings are not surprising, given the city’s high rate of diabetes. The chronic endocrine condition, which results from too much sugar in the bloodstream, is more prevalent in Houston than most other major cities. Diabetics account for 13.5 percent of the Houston-area population; the national average is 10 percent. (Mishanec, 12/3)

Iowa Public Radio: Iowa Sees Record COVID Hospitalization Levels During The Holiday Season For A Second Year 
Iowa's COVID-19 hospitalizations continued to trend upward this week, reaching record highs for this year. State health officials reported Friday that 747 Iowans are hospitalized with the virus, the highest number Iowa has seen so far this year. Iowa experienced a surge in COVID hospitalizations around the holiday period last year, experiencing more than 1,500 hospitalizations daily in November 2020. Austin Baeth, an internal medicine physician at UnityPoint Health, said this year's surge looks much different. (Krebs, 12/3)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Inside N.H.'s COVID-19 Case And Outbreak Data 
The story of COVID-19 outbreaks in New Hampshire has largely played out in a handful of settings: nursing homes, schools, jails, restaurants and other places where people live, work and gather in close quarters. But it’s been difficult to get a sense of the patterns underlying these breakouts, in part because of how the state reported the data. Newly released numbers obtained by NHPR through a public information request offer a never-before-seen snapshot of what kind of outbreaks the state was monitoring across all work and community settings during the first 18 months of the pandemic. (McDermott, 12/3)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Risk Factors In Healthcare Workers Spelled Out
Close contact with COVID-19 cases outside of work is the biggest risk factor for infections among American healthcare workers, according to research published yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases. The case-control study was based on participants from 25 healthcare facilities across the country and included 33,644 healthcare workers (3,416 cases and 30,228 controls) who reported COVID-19 infections and exposures to Emerging Infections Program (EIP) sites. Among 3,416 COVID-19 cases, 1,172 healthcare personnel were interviewed. (12/3)

Which counties are faring worse? —

NPR: Pro-Trump Counties Now Have Far Higher COVID Death Rates
Since May 2021, people living in counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump during the last presidential election have been nearly three times as likely to die from COVID-19 as those who live in areas that went for now-President Biden. That's according to a new analysis by NPR that examines how political polarization and misinformation are driving a significant share of the deaths in the pandemic. NPR looked at deaths per 100,000 people in roughly 3,000 counties across the U.S. from May 2021, the point at which vaccinations widely became available. People living in counties that went 60% or higher for Trump in November 2020 had 2.7 times the death rates of those that went for Biden. Counties with an even higher share of the vote for Trump saw higher COVID-19 mortality rates. (Wood and Brumfiel, 12/5)

Axios: Data Demonstrates Most-Vaccinated Counties Less Vulnerable To Worst Of COVID 
The biggest counties across America, especially those with tightly packed populations, are reporting far fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths due to widespread vaccination rates, according to data analyzed from the The Washington Post. Vaccination data shows that even at the county and city level in the most densely populated areas, the most-vaccinated counties are less vulnerable to outbreaks. Montgomery County, Maryland, is the most highly vaccinated county in the United States, with 93% of those 12 and older fully vaccinated, compared to 70% nationally. (Frazier, 12/4)

Also —

Axios: Two Years Of COVID-19: How The Virus Changed The World 
Two years ago Wednesday, the first case of a mysterious new respiratory disease was discovered in Wuhan, China. Now, the Omicron variant has deepened concerns about just how much longer the coronavirus pandemic will last. More than 5 million people have died since that first case. Most people on earth have lived through some form of lockdown. 54% of the global population has had at least one vaccination, though the shots have been distributed unevenly. We know much more about the disease and how to treat it, but the end still isn't in sight. (Lawler, 12/5)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Plans To Fast-Track Revamped Covid-19 Vaccines 
The Biden administration is preparing to fast-track authorization of revamped Covid-19 vaccines to combat Omicron as a study from South Africa suggests the fast-spreading variant might cause less severe illness than its predecessors. Federal regulators on Sunday said cases have been identified in 16 states and that the Food and Drug Administration is already in conversations about streamlining authorization for revamped vaccines. Agency officials have met with vaccine makers and are working to set guidelines for the type of data that will be needed to swiftly evaluate the safety and efficacy of changes to current vaccines. (Douglas and Armour, 12/5)

NBC News: Is The Best Strategy Against Omicron To Boost With The Original Vaccine?
Federal health officials are urging all vaccinated adults to get their Covid booster shot amid growing alarm over the omicron variant, a heavily mutated coronavirus strain that’s already been detected in a handful of states across the U.S. But some vaccine experts worry that numerous booster doses of existing vaccines could make future vaccines, if needed, less effective. The variant’s mutations suggest it may be able to dodge some of the immunity provided by vaccination or natural infection. While federal health officials and drugmakers await highly anticipated lab results to see how much of a threat omicron poses to vaccines, for now, the existing boosters are the best defense against the new strain and the highly transmissible delta variant, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, epidemiologists and immunologists say. (Lovelace Jr., 12/5)

The Washington Post: U.S. Coronavirus Vaccine Demand Increases Amid Omicron Variant Concerns
Demand for coronavirus vaccines has spiked in the United States in recent weeks, as more Americans are eligible for booster shots and concerns grow over the omicron variant. Health-care providers administered 2.18 million doses of coronavirus vaccines on Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the “highest single-day total since May,” the White House said. According to the latest CDC report, over the week ending on Thursday, the average number of daily administered vaccine doses reported to the agency was 22 percent higher than the previous week. (Timsit, 12/5)

More on omicron's effect on current covid vaccines —

Bloomberg: Moderna’s Hoge Sees Risk Vaccines Will Struggle With Omicron
Moderna Inc. President Stephen Hoge said there’s a “real risk” that existing Covid-19 vaccines will be less effective against omicron, while U.S. medical adviser Anthony Fauci said the variant’s severity may be limited. U.S. health officials said Sunday it’s still unclear how transmissible the latest Covid-19 variant is, how well existing vaccines work and whether it will lead to more severe illnesses. Hoge stopped short of comments by Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel that spooked markets last week, saying it’s too early to tell by how much omicron will degrade vaccines. (Czuczka and Sink, 12/5)

Bloomberg: Omicron Mutations Signal Vaccine Evasion, But Similar Symptoms
As fears of another global surge of Covid-19 cases send jitters through global markets, spur a new round of travel bans and cause Americans to rethink their holiday plans, scientists studying the omicron variant are getting the first hints of what’s in store for the months to come. The new variant’s mutations suggest that it is likely to evade the protections of vaccines to at least some extent, but that it is unlikely to cause more severe illness than previous versions of the coronavirus. (Brown, 12/4)

CNBC: Andy Slavitt On Omicron Covid Variant, Vaccines
The new omicron Covid variant poses a greater risk for the unvaccinated and there’s reason to believe that current vaccines are going to be “quite effective,” a former White House advisor said Monday. “What we know for sure is that it is a dangerous variant for people who have not been vaccinated,” Andy Slavitt told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.” “What we have to get to learn is whether or not omicron — how it spreads in an environment where delta is strong,” he said. (Choudhury and Ng, 12/6)

And on contact tracing —

AP: Contact Tracing Revs Up In Some States As Omicron Reaches US
The arrival of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in the U.S. has health officials in some communities reviving contact tracing operations in an attempt to slow and better understand its spread as scientists study how contagious it is and whether it can thwart vaccines. In New York City, officials quickly reached out to a man who tested positive for the variant and had attended an anime conference at a Manhattan convention center last month along with more than 50,000 people. Five other attendees have also been infected with the coronavirus, though officials don’t yet know whether it was with the omicron variant. (Hollingsworth and Calvan, 12/4)

The New York Times: J.&Amp;J. Booster Works Well For People Who Had Pfizer Originally, Study Finds.
People who received Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines may get as much benefit from a Johnson & Johnson booster shot as a Pfizer one. That’s the finding of a small study released on Sunday. Researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston studied 65 people who had received two shots of the Pfizer vaccine. Six months after the second dose, the researchers gave 24 of the volunteers a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine and gave 41 the Johnson & Johnson shot. (The study was funded in part by Johnson & Johnson and has not yet been published in a scientific journal.) (Zimmer, 12/5)

USA Today: Johnson &amp Johnson Vaccine Works Well As Mix-And-Match Booster, Study Finds
A new study found that the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine serves as an effective booster on top of full vaccination from the Pfizer vaccine. A J&J booster, administered six months after two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, increased antibody and T-cell responses, according to the study, demonstrating potential benefits of mix-and-match boosters. “There is early evidence to suggest that a mix-and-match boosting approach may provide individuals with different immune responses against COVID-19 than a homologous boosting approach,” said Dan Barouch, director of the center for virology and vaccine research at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. (Tebor and Bacon, 12/6)

In other vaccine development updates —

CIDRAP: COVID Vaccine Affords Cancer Patients Good Protection Against Infection
A US Veterans Affairs (VA) study finds that the COVID-19 vaccine offered good protection against infection starting 2 weeks after the second dose in cancer patients, who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19.The retrospective nationwide study, published yesterday in JAMA Oncology, involved 29,152 vaccinated patients who received systemic cancer therapy at VA sites from Aug 15, 2010, to May 4, 2021. (12/3)

Axios: Pfizer Could Have Vaccine Data For Children Under Five By End Of 2021, CEO Says 
Pfizer could have data on COVID-19 vaccine efficacy for children under five by the end of the year, CEO Albert Bourla said on Friday in an interview with NBC News. Omicron has raised concerns that young children are becoming more vulnerable to the virus. Tshwane, the epicenter of South Africa's Omicron outbreak, has seen a high number of hospital admissions for children under two in the last few weeks, though scientists have not confirmed a link to the variant, Reuters reports. (Chen, 12/4)

And more on the vaccine rollout —

The Washington Post: The Most-Vaccinated Big Counties In America Are Beating The Worst Of The Coronavirus 
About 1 in 420 Americans has died of covid-19, according to official data. And we’re still averaging more than 1,000 deaths per day. But in certain areas — and indeed in many areas in which the population is much more tightly packed and the coronavirus could transmit more easily — the story is far less grim. A big reason: widespread vaccination. Death rates are far below the national average in the most-vaccinated, often-urban areas. (Blake, 12/4)

AP: US Drugstores Squeezed By Vaccine Demand, Staff Shortages
A rush of vaccine-seeking customers and staff shortages are squeezing drugstores around the U.S., leading to frazzled workers and temporary pharmacy closures. Drugstores are normally busy this time of year with flu shots and other vaccines, but now pharmacists are doling out a growing number of COVID-19 shots and giving coronavirus tests. The push for shots is expected to grow more intense as President Joe Biden urges vaccinated Americans to get booster shots to combat the emerging omicron variant. The White House said Thursday that more than two in three COVID-19 vaccinations are happening at local pharmacies. (Murphy, 12/4)

The Washington Post: Walgreens Cancels Covid Vaccine Appointments For Kids Without Notice, Angering Parents 
Dania Palanker and her 7-year-old daughter, Nadia, felt excited as they bundled into the car in Washington last week to get Nadia’s coronavirus vaccine. The evening before, Palanker received an automated email from Walgreens confirming Nadia’s appointment at the chain’s outlet in Cheverly, Md. “We’ll see you tomorrow!” read the subject line. Their anticipation turned to disappointment once they arrived for the 6:30 p.m. shot. The store was still open, but the pharmacists had left, the pharmacy counter was closed and no one could provide vaccines. The pharmacy shuttered a half-hour before Nadia’s confirmed appointment, part of service cutbacks by Walgreens caused by a labor shortage hitting drugstores across the country. (Rowland, 12/5)

KHN: Is It Time To Change The Definition Of ‘Fully Vaccinated’? 
As more indoor venues require proof of vaccination for entrance and with winter — as well as omicron, a new covid variant — looming, scientists and public health officials are debating when it will be time to change the definition of “fully vaccinated” to include a booster shot. It’s been more than six months since many Americans finished their vaccination course against covid; statistically, their immunity is waning. (Knight, 12/3)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Can Go Into Effect
A Superior Court judge has denied a request by the Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters union seeking a preliminary injunction to delay enforcement of the city’s vaccine mandate. The ruling is “a victory for public health and safety in Los Angeles,” City Atty. Mike Feuer said in a statement. “The Court recognized the emergency we’re in, and the harm that enjoining implementation of the vaccine mandate could have caused,” Feuer said. “Beyond this case, the presence of the new, highly contagious variant here in L.A. underscores the importance of vaccinating our first responders — indeed, of vaccinating everyone.” (Oreskes, 12/4)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Court Lifts Block On San Diego Unified COVID Vaccine Mandate
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals voted on Saturday to lift a temporary injunction that it had placed on the San Diego Unified School District’s student COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The rare weekend decision, reached by a 2-1 vote, lifts the injunction the court had placed on the mandate about a week ago. Judges had said the injunction would continue as long as the district continued to allow vaccine deferrals for pregnant students. But now that San Diego Unified removed that condition, the block has been removed too. (Wosen, 12/5)

The Hill: Trump Haunts Biden Vaccine Mandate In Courts 
President Biden's coronavirus vaccine mandates are hitting a pivotal moment, with federal courts emerging as a major obstacle to their implementation and the Senate poised to vote on a GOP-backed effort to defund the mandate on businesses. Biden’s vaccine rules for private business, health care workers and federal contractors have all been tied up in court challenges from Republican officials, with some GOP-appointed judges blocking them. Even if the administration ultimately wins the fights, the implementation of the rules could be delayed, potentially significantly. (Chalfant, 12/5)

In other mandate news from Louisiana, Massachusetts and Nevada —

The Advocate: Gov. John Bel Edwards Plans To Add COVID-19 Vaccine To Louisiana's Required School Shots List
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ plan to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the required immunization schedule for students at K-12 schools has energized a wave of opposition from mostly Republican state lawmakers, who are gathering in Baton Rouge Monday for an oversight hearing where they’ll attempt to thwart the proposal. No matter what happens at that hearing, Edwards will have the final say on whether the vaccine gets added to the schedule, and the Democratic governor said Friday that so far, no evidence has been presented to change his mind. (Patterson, 12/5)

USA Today: Massachusetts Hospitals Fire 200 Employees Who Refused Vaccination
UMass Memorial Health fired more than 200 caregivers who refused to get vaccinated for COVID-19, CEO and President Dr. Eric Dickson said Friday. “Sadly, we did terminate over 200 people for not getting vaccinated,” Dickson confirmed Friday in an interview. “We could have used them because we need everyone we have right now.” UMass Memorial Health’s roughly 15,000 employees faced a Nov. 1 deadline to get vaccinated or to receive an exemption, after which they were placed on unpaid leave if they did not get a shot. (Moulton, 12/6)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Mask Mandate To Remain In Place Into 2022, Nevada Official Says
Southern Nevada and other areas of the state labeled at “high” risk of COVID-19 transmission will remain under a state mask mandate through the rest of the year and into early 2022, a state official said Thursday. “We will continue to have indoor masking, regardless of vaccination status, through the holiday season and into the start of the new year,” DuAne Young, policy adviser to Gov. Steve Sisolak, said at a news briefing. “Right now we’ve made a decision that with this new variant (omicron), with the winter surge, with what we know can happen, we just wanted to put it out there that we will continue masking through the holidays.” (Dylan, 12/2)

The Hill: Fauci Calls Ron Johnson's AIDS Comment 'Preposterous': 'I Don't Have Any Clue Of What He's Talking About'
Anthony Fauci on Sunday said Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-Wis.) comments that the infectious diseases expert “overhyped” the AIDS epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic are “preposterous,” adding, “I don’t have any clue of what he’s talking about.” Asked about Johnson’s comments by co-host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Fauci said he did not know how to respond to such a remark considering the high death tolls caused by both AIDS and COVID-19.“How do you respond to something as preposterous as that? Overhyping AIDS? It's killed over 750,000 Americans and 36 million people worldwide. How do you overhype that? Overhyping COVID? It's already killed 780,000 Americans and over 5 million people worldwide,” Fauci said. “So I don't have any clue of what he's talking about,” he added. (Schnell, 12/5)

The Hill: Democrats Livid Over GOP's COVID-19 Attacks On Biden
Democrats are up in arms this month over GOP charges that President Biden is to blame for the prolonged COVID-19 crisis. They argue that Republicans, from former President Trump to his most vocal allies in Congress and in state capitals, bear plenty of responsibility for public resistance to masks and vaccines, noting the opposition to those leading mitigation efforts comes overwhelmingly from the right. The criticism of masks and vaccines has sabotaged Biden’s efforts to get the nation past the pandemic, some argue. (Lillis, 12/4)

In case you missed it: Dr. Fauci's editorial on World AIDS Day —

Nature: Victories Against AIDS Have Lessons For COVID-19
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a milestone of another global scourge has largely escaped the spotlight. It has been 40 years since the earliest reports of what ultimately became known as AIDS, in 1981. I initially dismissed the first report as a curiosity and probably a fluke, but another a month later, from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, changed my mind and the direction of my career. Against the advice of my mentors, I shifted my research focus to understanding why young, healthy men were being beset by unusual conditions. I remember anxiously awaiting results essential in the fight against a disease that brought on so many seemingly unrelated symptoms: pneumonia, blindness, skin lesions, dementia. (Dr. Anthony Fauci, 11/29)

Meanwhile, also happening on Capitol Hill —

The Hill: Democrats See Christmas Goal Slipping Away 
The goal for Democrats was to pass President Biden's sweeping climate and social spending package by Christmas, but that is slipping away as the Senate bogs down in one time-consuming fight after another. Democratic senators are growing increasingly doubtful that Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will be able to meet his Christmas deadline because several major disagreements are holding up the Build Back Better Act, including a fight over lifting the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions. (Bolton, 12/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Congress Races To Finish Legislation To-Do List By Year-End
Congress is racing against the clock to complete a series of must-pass pieces of legislation, with Democrats also pushing to finish their roughly $2 trillion social and climate policy legislation by the end of the year. The scramble is coming as President Biden confronts low polling numbers and high inflation, and as Democrats are increasingly worried about their ability to retain the majority in the House in the midterms next year. Lawmakers are under pressure to pass the bills ahead of contentious campaigning that will start in earnest in coming months. (Andrews, 12/5)

Politico: Ire Over Pharmacy Middlemen Fuels Lobbying Blitz
Lobbyists for drugmakers, pharmacists and large employers are blanketing Congress with calls, emails and advertisements, pressing lawmakers to rein in pharmaceutical middlemen, who they say are behind soaring drug costs. The effort to paint pharmacy benefit managers as villains has sparked a multimillion-dollar campaign to influence Democrats, who are racing to finish their massive social spending bill and eager to show they are taking on the powerful drug industry and lowering out-of-pocket costs for Americans. (Wilson, 12/4)

AP: Both Sides Planning For New State-By-State Abortion Fight 
As the Supreme Court court weighs the future of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, a resurgent anti-abortion movement is looking to press its advantage in state-by-state battles while abortion-rights supporters prepare to play defense. Both sides seem to be operating on the assumption that a court reshaped by former President Donald Trump will either overturn or seriously weaken Roe. “We have a storm to weather,” said Elizabeth Nash, state policy analyst for the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights. “We have to weather the storm so that in the future — five, 10, 15 years from now — we’re talking about how we managed to repeal all these abortion bans.” (Khalil, 12/6)

The Hill: Mississippi Governor Says He Will Enforce Law Banning Most Abortions In State If Roe Is Overturned
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) on Sunday said his state will enforce a law banning most abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned, days after the Supreme Court held a hearing on the Magnolia State’s 15-week abortion ban that could chip away at the landmark 1973 ruling .A "snapback law" for abortion is currently in existence in Mississippi, which calls for most abortions in the state to be banned if Roe v. Wade is overturned. The only exemptions to the law would be rape and if the life of the mother is in danger. (Schnell, 12/5)

The Hill: Klobuchar Says 'Best Way' To Protect Abortion Rights Is To Codify Roe V. Wade Into Law
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Sunday said the “best way” to protect abortion rights in the U.S. is by codifying Roe v. Wade’s verdict into law. Asked by host Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if the U.S. should consider determining abortion regulations through legislatures or referendums rather than Supreme Court decisions, Klobuchar made the case for codifying the 1973 decision through legislation. “Fifty years of precedent -- as Elena Kagan pointed out, 50 years of decisions and court decisions, part of the very fabric of women’s existence in this country, this is how our country protected rights. And now they're willing to just flip it on its head. And so what is the answer?” Klobuchar said. (Schnell, 12/5)

The Washington Post: Twin Republican Strategies Brought The Antiabortion Movement To The Cusp Of Victory In The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court’s oral arguments over the future of abortion restrictions put into sharp relief the twin forces that appear to have brought the high court to the edge of either overturning or dramatically curtailing the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which gave women nationwide a right to most abortions. Decades of political organizing by abortion opponents have transformed the Republican Party into a force for remaking courts, and a separate revolution in law schools has created the intellectual foundation to make it possible. (Scherer, 12/4)

In related news about Roe v. Wade —

NBC News: Anti-Abortion Advocates Thrilled With Possibility Of Overturning Roe V. Wade
It’s taken decades, but anti-abortion activists feel like they’re on the cusp of history after the Supreme Court signaled Wednesday a willingness to weaken Roe v. Wade, and they’re already gearing up for the inevitable multifront fight that will erupt if the court rules in their favor. “We've been working towards this goal for many years, so I think we are fully prepared,” said Carol Tobias, the president of the National Right to Life Committee. “We've got 50 state affiliates and state legislators across the country ready to take up the challenge.” (Seitz-Wald, 12/4)

The New York Times: What An America Without Roe Would Look Like
Last week’s Supreme Court arguments on a Mississippi abortion law raised the prospect of a return to a time half a century ago — when the procedure was illegal across most of the United States and women, perilously, tried to end pregnancies on their own or sought back-alley abortions. If the court decides to reverse or weaken the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, it will usher in a somewhat different era. Abortion would remain legal in more than half of states, but not in a wide swath of the Midwest and the South. (Miller and Sanger-Katz, 12/5)

Politico: Why The Threat To Roe May Not Save Democrats In 2022 
The quick-setting gospel in Washington, D.C. last week was that any rollback of Roe v. Wade next year would trigger a Democratic revolt, placing abortion rights at the center of the midterm elections and sparking unprecedented turnout on the left. But in the days since the Supreme Court’s oral arguments on a case from Mississippi, a more sober and nuanced assessment has begun to settle in. Interviews with more than a dozen Democratic strategists, pollsters and officials reveal skepticism that the court’s decision will dramatically alter the midterm landscape unless — and perhaps not even then — Roe is completely overturned. Privately, several Democratic strategists have suggested the usefulness of any decision on abortion next year will be limited, and some may advise their clients not to focus on abortion rights at all. (Siders, 12/5)

Also —

KHN: Texas Toughens Ban On Medication-By-Mail Abortions With Jail Time And Hefty Fine 
Texas already had the most restrictive abortion laws in the U.S. — and they just got tougher. On Wednesday, a new law took effect that adds penalties of jail time and a fine of up to $10,000 for anyone who prescribes pills for medication abortions through telehealth or the mail. Texas bans all abortions after cardiac activity can be detected in the embryo, which typically occurs about six weeks into pregnancy — often before people realize they’re pregnant. Medication abortions via telehealth or mail were already illegal in Texas, and the new criminal penalties took effect on the day the Supreme Court heard arguments in a Mississippi case that ultimately could overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion. (Lopez, 12/6)

The New York Times: After Success In Seating Federal Judges, Biden Hits Resistance 
After early success in nominating and confirming federal judges, President Biden and Senate Democrats have begun to encounter stiffer Republican resistance to their efforts to reshape the courts. Tennessee Republicans have raised objections to Mr. Biden’s pick for an influential appeals court there — the administration’s first judicial nominee from a state represented by two Republican senators — and a circuit court candidate is likely to need every Democratic vote to win confirmation in a coming floor showdown. The obstacles threaten to slow or halt a little-noticed winning streak for the Biden administration on Capitol Hill. (Hulse, 12/5)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Saw Telehealth Use Grow More Than 6,000% During Pandemic
The Health and Human Services Department found that Medicare visits held via telehealth increased 63-fold from 2019 to 2020 as a result of flexibilities put into place due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, according to a new HHS study released Friday. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will use the report's results to inform future Medicare telehealth policy, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a news release. Providers have been eager to see how lawmakers and policymakers will regulate telehealth once the PHE ends. Medicare payment advisors have suggested a temporary extension of flexibilities to allow time to study telehealth's impacts. (Broderick and Goldman, 12/3)

Stat: Care For Complex Mental Health Conditions Is Shifting Virtual
When the pandemic lockdowns slammed society’s doors closed in March 2020, the leaders at McLean Hospital’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Institute in Massachusetts needed a new plan. Some of the care they delivered so carefully wasn’t safe in person anymore. By the end of April, McLean had overhauled its approach, launching services online for people in need of partial hospitalization. Three thousand miles away, a similar experiment played out on the same timeline at UCLA’s Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Intensive Treatment Program, where patients came for more dedicated help when lighter-touch treatments weren’t working. (Aguilar, 12/6)

More Medicare news —

CNBC: Why This 68-Year-Old Cancer Patient Cannot Enroll In Medicare Part B
Medicare’s rules for signing up have put 68-year-old Scarlet Poulet in an unenviable situation. The New Orleans resident, who is recovering from cancer, has been enrolled in Medicare Part A (hospital coverage) since 2018 when she reached the eligibility age of 65. Yet due to how Medicare interacts with insurance through an employer — coverage she lost in August — Poulet is now not allowed to sign up for Part B (outpatient care) until January. That’s when a three-month enrollment window opens for beneficiaries who didn’t enroll when they were supposed to. Even then, however, Poulet’s Part B coverage would not start until July due to Medicare rules — and she could face life-lasting late-enrollment penalties. (O'Brien, 12/5)

Denver Post: Fewer Colorado Hospitals Hit With Penalties For Patients Coming Back Too Soon
Colorado hospitals were less likely to be hit by Medicare penalties for having too many patients boomerang back than were all U.S. facilities, though close to one in three will still get less money from the federal government next year. The penalties, which have been levied for eight years, deduct a certain percentage from the payments a hospital receives from Medicare if their patients are more likely than average to need hospital care again quickly. (Wingerter, 12/6)

In other health care industry news —

Crain's New York Business: New York Nursing Homes Reach Deal With 33,000 Union Workers
Members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East reached tentative three-year contract agreements this week with the operators of 249 nursing homes in the metropolitan area, just in time to avert a 24-hour strike planned for Wednesday. The deal hinges on a pledge by Gov. Kathy Hochul to devote up to $35 million per year in state funding to reimburse anticipated cost increases for the union’s health benefits fund, leaders in the nursing home industry said. The fund, which pays members’ health insurance claims, had been a major sticking point in the monthslong negotiations, Crain’s Health Pulse previously reported. (Kaufman, 12/3)

Modern Healthcare: Judge Pushes Lawsuit Over UnitedHealth's Retirement Plan Forward
A federal judge on Thursday denied UnitedHealth Group's motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the healthcare giant failed to effectively oversee management of its retirement plan for its 200,000 employees and their families. Judge John Tunheim of the U.S. District Court of Minnesota ruled that a plan participant's claims were strong enough to move forward. Her complaint highlighted that UnitedHealth Group's 401(k) plans underperformed compared with industry benchmarks over the course of 11 years. Kate Snyder sued UnitedHealth in April, seeking class-action status. She accused the healthcare giant, its board of directors, former CEO David Winchmann and the company's employee benefit plan investment and administrative committees of violating their fiduciary duty under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act. (Tepper, 12/3)

Crain's Cleveland Business: Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth, UH Adjust Non-Urgent Procedures In Response To Yet Another COVID Surge
Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth and University Hospitals each are adjusting or scaling back the scheduling of some non-urgent procedures in response to the latest surge in the number of COVID-19 patients, the health systems announced in a joint statement Friday, Dec. 3. "Patient and caregiver safety remain our highest priority," reads the statement. "This action frees resources for patients with immediate and life-threatening needs and manages the demands on frontline caregivers, who have served with distinction throughout the pandemic." (Coutré, 12/3)

Also —

New Hampshire Public Radio: A New Group Of Health Care Workers Wants You To Know How Climate Change Could Impact Your Health 
A new group of New Hampshire health care workers is hoping to start conversations about climate change in the doctor’s office and with state leaders. A recent report from the World Health Organization called climate change the “single biggest threat facing humanity.” And New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services says climate change will likely affect health in the Granite State, from heat injuries to asthma to infections disease. New Hampshire Healthcare Workers for Climate Action is hoping to mobilize support for climate solutions by educating health professionals and state leaders on how climate change could impact our health. (Hoplamazian, 12/5)

The Boston Globe: ‘I Like To Think About Us As A $9 Billion Startup.’ Cain Hayes Takes The Helm At Point32Health
Cain A. Hayes, the new chief executive of Point32Health, describes himself as the kind of person who gets energy from being around others. But given the complicated state of the world during the COVID pandemic, Hayes began his job when nearly all of his employees were working from home. In this unusual environment, Hayes, a seasoned executive and newcomer to Massachusetts, is responsible for bringing together two of the state’s best-known health insurers — Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care — and leading the company created earlier this year through their merger. The company, Point32Health, didn’t exist when employees were last in the office. (Dayal McCluskey, 12/5)

CNBC: The First Metaverse Experiments? Look To What's Happening In Medicine
The metaverse, the digital world’s Next Big Thing, is touted as the internet domain where animated avatars of our physical selves will be able to virtually do all sorts of interactivities, from shopping to gaming to traveling — someday. Wonks say it could be a decade or longer before the necessary technologies catch up with the hype. Right now, though, the health-care industry is utilizing some of the essential components that will ultimately comprise the metaverse — virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and artificial intelligence (AI) — as well as the software and hardware to power their applications. For example, medical device companies are using MR to assemble surgical tools and design operating rooms, the World Health Organization (WHO) is using AR and smartphones to train Covid-19 responders, psychiatrists are using VR to treat post-traumatic stress (PTS) among combat soldiers, and medical schools are using VR for surgical training. (Woods, 12/4)

KHN: Journalists Explore Health Care Disparities And Policy Pitfalls 
KHN Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony discussed how Black entrepreneurs in the medical-technology industry are looking to fill health care gaps on Newsy on Wednesday. ... KHN Colorado correspondent Rae Ellen Bichell discussed covid-19 sick leave programs on KUNC’s “Colorado Edition” on Wednesday. ... KHN correspondent Aneri Pattani discussed the unintended consequences of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s policies regarding medications for substance abuse on the podcast “Scope of Practice” on Wednesday. (12/4)

The Washington Post: Over Half Of Young Adults Are Obese Or Overweight, Study Says
More than half of America’s youngest adults — 56 percent of those ages 18 to 25 — are overweight or obese, according to Johns Hopkins research, published in JAMA. Using data from a nationally representative sample of 8,015 people in that age bracket, the researchers compared average weights over the past four decades. In that time, that population’s average body mass index (BMI), a measure of body fat based on a person’s height and weight, had increased by 4.6 points — from 23.1 (considered normal weight) to 27.7 (considered overweight). That shifted the number of overweight young adults from about 18 percent in the late 1970s to nearly 24 percent by 2018. (Searing, 12/5)

In more pediatric news —

Modern Healthcare: A Third Of Children Underinsured, Study Says
A third of children lacked adequate and continuous insurance coverage from 2016 to 2019, a new study says. The number of underinsured children grew by 2.4 million during the three-year period, bringing the number of kids with inadequate coverage to 23.7 million, according to a paper published in the journal Pediatrics Monday. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine analyzed data from the annual National Survey of Children's Health and found the increase was mainly driven by increased rates of inadequate private insurance. (Tepper, 12/6)

Stat: Stoke Therapeutics Drug Reduces Seizures In Kids With Dravet Syndrome
An experimental drug from Stoke Therapeutics reduced the frequency of convulsive seizures in children with a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome, the company said Friday. The study results are early and far from conclusive, but show the potential for a novel, RNA-based treatment to target the underlying genetic cause of the devastating childhood disorder, said Stoke CEO Ed Kaye. (Feuerstein, 12/3)

In news about racial inequities in children's health care —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Despite Efforts, Many Black Babies In Milwaukee Die During First Year
Kristy Bassel was two months pregnant when she saw a flyer about doula services at her doctor’s office. “I really didn’t know what a doula was, so I Googled it,” Bassel said. “I have a small support system because I lost both of my parents, so I figured I would call to find out what a doula could offer.” After meeting her doula, she knew she was in good hands. (Causey, 12/1)

Cincinnati Enquirer: 'This Racial Gap Is Everywhere': Inequities Fuel Black Children's Hospital Admissions For Chronic Conditions
Black children suffer from more severe chronic illnesses when compared with white children, and two new studies show it isn't about biology. It's about inequities. (DeMio, 12/5)

Fox News: Irritable Bowel Syndrome May Not Be All In Your Head
Irritable bowel syndrome, otherwise known as IBS, may be the result of an abdominal infection that triggers an allergic response, according to The New England Journal of Medicine. The journal noted gastrointestinal infections often cause abdominal pain after eating in both children and adults, with millions diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome after a negative workup, frustrating patients because of the very few effective treatments that are available. "Moreover, clinicians often have the impression that the disease is all in the head," added Dr. Marc E. Rothenberg, the director of the division of allergy and immunology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. (Sudhakar, 12/5)

In news about the flu —

CIDRAP: CDC: Flu Rising, But Still Below Baseline
Flu activity in the United States continues to rise slowly, mostly involving the H3N2 strain and more than 80% of cases in people ages 5 to 24, the CDC said today in its weekly update. Flu markers—such as outpatient visits for flulike illness—are still below baseline, and activity is low but slowly increasing, the CDC said. (12/3)

Health News Florida: Florida's Recent Low Flu Vaccination Rates Raise Concerns 
Flu season is in full swing and cases are on the rise in Florida. With the holiday season upon us, concerns grow about the state’s flu vaccination rate and the unwillingness of some to get a shot. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 41.7% of Florida’s population ages 6 months and older received a vaccine during the 2020-21 flu season — the most recent data available on a statewide basis. That’s the lowest rate nationwide, followed by Mississippi at 42.1% and Wyoming at 42.6%. (Alvim, 12/3)

In other public health news —

Fox News: Stroke Contributing Factors May Include Losing Temper, Extreme Exercise: Study
Losing one's temper or exercising too rigorously could be contributing factors for a stroke, according to new research. In a study published Wednesday in the European Society of Cardiology's "European Heart Journal," a team of international researchers looked at more than 13,000 stroke patients in 32 countries as part of the INTERSTROKE study. Using a "case-crossover approach," the team determined whether a trigger within one hour of symptom onset was associated with acute stroke, versus the same time period on the previous day. (Musto, 12/4)

Stat: Patients, Doctors Are Clashing About Side Effects Of Hormonal Birth Control
When a pediatrician put Maya Prokupets on the birth control pill at age 15 to prevent pregnancy, she doesn’t remember being given any information on possible side effects. But they soon appeared: weight gain and anxiety. Switching to different versions — Apri, Alesse, Desogen, Yasmin, and finally Yaz — only brought new side effects, such as constant nausea and vomiting. She told her clinicians, but none recommended she stop taking hormonal contraception. She chose to do so anyway at age 21 — and her symptoms subsided. “My experience with the medical system as a young woman was very minimizing,” says Prokupets, now 35 and working in health tech in Los Angeles. “I was always being told it was something else. No one would ever acknowledge it could be the pill that I was on.” (Cravatts, 12/6)

USA Today: Pregnancy Over 35: Study Finds Better Prenatal Care, Better Outcomes
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says pregnant people in this age group are at higher risk of gestational diabetes and high blood pressure. They’re also more likely to have a low birth weight baby and premature birth, and need a C-section. Despite these risks, a study published Friday in JAMA Health Forum shows patients just over the age of 35 had better prenatal care and pregnancy outcomes compared to those who were a few months shy of the cutoff age. “There’s so many of these arbitrary guidelines and cutoffs in medicine," said study senior author Jessica Cohen, an associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan. School of Public Health. "The label of ‘advanced maternal age’ makes you feel really old when you’re just 35.” (Rodriguez, 12/3)

Health News Florida: Fatal Opioid Overdoses Spike In Central Florida Even After COVID Restrictions Were Lifted 
Every day in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, one person dies from a opioid overdose. A report out Wednesday looking at state, federal and local data from Project Opioid found overdose deaths from opioids continue to increase in Central Florida – even after pandemic restrictions began to loosen. In Florida, opioid deaths from April 2020 to April 2021 increased 26 percent compared with the prior year. The rate increased 28 percent in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties: 616 death in one year between the three counties, or 1.5 per day. Project Opioid founder Andrae Bailey says the pandemic accelerated the real problem: the synthetic opioid fentanyl flooding the markets. (Aboraya, 12/3)

North Carolina Health News: Barriers To Treatment Remain As Overdose Deaths Rise 
About a month before 18-year-old Madison Workman died of a fentanyl overdose, she told her mom, Amber DelVechio, she wanted to get into a substance use treatment program that used suboxone. This sort of program, called medication-assisted treatment (MAT), was new to the family. Workman had been in a recovery program before, but it was abstinence-only and it hadn’t helped the teenager stop using drugs for very long. Her mom was skeptical. “I felt like it was taking one drug and replacing it with something else,” DelVechio remembered. Still, she told her daughter she’d look into it. DelVechio began researching. She read up and spoke with her daughter’s counselors from the other program. (Donnelly-DeRoven, 12/3)

North Carolina Health News: Targeting The Opioid Crisis, NC Lawmakers Give $10M To New Church Ministry
One of the largest allocations for substance use disorder treatment in the recently enacted state budget — $10 million — is going to a new nonprofit set up by a church in Robeson County, home to one of the most powerful Republicans in the state senate. The nonprofit, called Hope Alive Inc., is a ministry of Greater Hope International Church in Lumberton. Its lead pastor, Ron Barnes, told his congregation during a Sunday service on Nov. 21, which was live streamed on Facebook, that Hope Alive received a grant to open an “82-bed drug addiction rehab facility.” There’s no evidence on the six-year-old church’s website to suggest it has experience in treating addiction disorders, and the church failed to respond to multiple media requests for details of the nonprofit’s plans. (Knopf, 12/6)

In other state news from Maryland, Iowa and Utah —

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Health Department Website Down Due To ‘Security Incident’ 
The Maryland Department of Health’s website is offline because of a network security incident that law enforcement is looking into, according to a state official. Andy Owen, a spokesperson for the health department, said the Maryland Operations Center is investigating the security incident. He said the health department, Maryland Department of Information Technology and Maryland Department of Emergency Management “are working closely with federal and state law enforcement partners to address the incident and to gather additional information.” (Griffith, 12/5)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Could Lose Millions In Unspent Federal Rent, Utilities COVID Aid
With more than two-thirds of Iowa's initial $195 million federal appropriation for COVID-19-related rent and utility assistance unspent after nearly 10 months, the state agency responsible for distributing the aid says it has received no word about whether it will have to give any of it back.The U.S. Treasury last month said it will reallocate unspent portions of the funds, which Congress sent to states last winter, to areas with aid backlogs. But it didn't specify which states will be affected by the clawback. (Rood, 12/5)

Salt Lake Tribune: Report: Utah Disbursed 39% Of Federal Rental Assistance By Fall Deadline
Utah had some explaining to do about why it put just one fifth of the $150 million in federal emergency rental assistance it received into the hands of needy renters by a fall deadline set by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. On Nov. 15 the state was forced to send a “Program Improvement Plan” to the Treasury to show how it intends to do a better job disbursing aid. If it’s not happy with Utah’s plan, the Treasury could potentially hand the tens of millions that the state didn’t spend to another agency. (Peterson, 12/5)

Fox News: Norway Christmas Party May Have Sparked Largest Omicron Variant Outbreak Outside Of South Africa
A recent Norwegian omicron outbreak at a Christmas party provides early anecdotal evidence on how the variants spreads between vaccinated people and the severity of its symptoms, according to a recent report. A renewable energy company in Norway made sure all necessary safety precautions were implemented before hosting their annual holiday party, including only inviting vaccinated employees and requiring rapid testing the day prior the party, according to Stian Tvede Karlsen, a company spokesman. (Sudhakar, 12/5)

AP: UK Tightens Travel Testing Rules Amid Omicron Concerns 
Britain’s government tightened travel restrictions Saturday amid concerns about the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant, saying all travelers arriving in England will need to take a COVID-19 test before they board their flight. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the new rules will apply from 4 a.m. London time Tuesday. “In light of the most recent data, we are taking further action to slow the incursion of the omicron variant,” he said in a tweet. (12/4)

The New York Times: Britain And Denmark Report A Rise In Known Omicron Cases
Britain and Denmark each reported a rise in confirmed coronavirus cases of the new Omicron variant on Sunday as countries with robust testing uncover more known instances of the variant in their backyards. There were 86 new cases of the Omicron variant, Britain’s health security agency said on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 246 — nearly double the total number of cases reported on Friday. In Denmark, local health authorities confirmed there were 183 known cases of the variant, more than triple the total number of suspected cases reported on Friday, and called them “worrying.” (Kwai and Erdbrink, 12/5)

Bloomberg: Australia Confirms Community Transmission Of Omicron Variant
Five people in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, have contracted the omicron variant of the coronavirus locally, New South Wales health authorities confirmed. The cases are linked to two schools and a climbing gym in Sydney’s western suburbs, which may also be the source of a confirmed omicron infection in the Australian Capital Territory, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said Sunday. Urgent genome testing is underway for a number of other cases linked to the venues and should be available in coming days, she said in a video update. (Burgess, 12/5)

Reuters: Omicron Spreads In India, Full Vaccination In Focus
Cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant have risen to 21 in India over the weekend and people must step up for vaccination, officials said on Monday. The western state of Rajasthan reported the most number of Omicron cases with nine, followed by eight in Maharashtra, two in Karnataka and one each in Gujarat and the capital New Delhi. (Das, 12/6)

In more global covid news —

The Washington Post: Antwerp Zoo Hippos Test Positive For Covid-19 In First Known Cases 
Two hippos in Belgium that vets noticed were “expelling snot” have been placed in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus, the Antwerp zoo said, in what appears to be the first known case of covid-19 among the species. It remains unclear how hippopotamuses Imani, 14, and Hermien, 41, contracted the virus, but the pair appear to be doing well and have no symptoms other than their runny, sticky noses. (Hassan, 12/5)

NPR: Philippines Vaccinates 7.6 Million In 3 Days — With More To Come
The Philippine government, beset by charges of incompetence and corruption in its handling of the pandemic, has mounted a vaccination campaign that any of its Southeast Asian neighbors might envy. Over the course of just three days this week the country vaccinated 7.6 million people ages 12 and above. 34.53% of the country is now fully vaccinated. Conky Quizon, field epidemiologist and member of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group, called it "a big, big deal" and put the unprecedented numbers down to easy access to the vaccines — there were 8,000 centers set up across the Philippines — and several different vaccines on offer, including Pfizer, Moderna and China's Sinovax. (McCarthy, 12/3)

Bloomberg: Scholz Names Harvard Medical Expert To Oversee Pandemic Policy
Germany’s incoming chancellor, Olaf Scholz, named a high-profile health expert who has taught at the Harvard School of Public Health to tackle a brutal surge in Covid-19 infections. The Social Democrats’ Karl Lauterbach, a trained epidemiologist who has become a public figure during the pandemic, will be health minister. Scholz on Monday named the seven ministers from the SPD who will be in the new government, including Christine Lambrecht as Germany’s third-consecutive female defense minister and one of four women in the cabinet. Hubertus Heil will retain his post as labor minister. (Donahue, 12/6)

In news from Africa —

Reuters: COVID Shots Are Finally Arriving, But Africa Can't Get Them All Into Arms 
When a group arrived at the Sekenani health clinic in rural Kenya for their COVID-19 vaccines recently, staff told them there were no doses left and that they should come back soon. For some, it meant a long wasted journey on foot and a day away from their cattle herds. Yet Narok county, where the clinic is located, was not short of vaccines; nearly 14,000 doses were sitting in a fridge in the nearest town, 115 km away. A mix-up with county officials meant Sekenani did not get enough, two health workers said. (Fick and Mcallister, 12/6)

Reuters: 'Extreme' Vaccine Discrimination Risks Leaving Africa Behind - Report 
Africa has little chance of overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic unless 70% of its population is vaccinated by end-2022, yet "extreme vaccine discrimination" is leaving the continent behind, a report published on Monday said. The discovery of the Omicron variant in southern Africa has heightened claims that low inoculation rates can encourage viral mutations, which can then spread to countries where rates are much higher. (Wilkes, 12/5)

And file this one under "What were they thinking?" —

AP: Italian Dentist Presents Fake Arm For Vaccine To Get Pass
A dentist in Italy faces possible criminal charges after trying to receive a coronavirus vaccine in a fake arm made of silicone. A nurse in the northern city of Biella, Filippa Bua, said she could tell right away that something was off when a man presented the phony limb for a shot on Thursday. “When I uncovered the arm, I felt skin that was cold and gummy, and the color was too light,’’ Bua told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. She said she initially thought the 57-year-old man was an amputee and had mistakenly offered the wrong arm. She lifted his shirt and saw a silicone arm. (12/4)

Bloomberg: Omicron Is Unavoidable But It's Not Time To Give In To Covid Panic
Omicron has invited pandemic uncertainty back into our lives, sending markets in all sorts of directions and leading to a tightening of restrictions in nations around the world. As of Friday, the variant has been found in more than 30 places. (Lara Williams, 12/6)

Stat: Some Covid-19 Policies Fuel Violence Against Women And Girls 
The emergence of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 with its many mutations has rightly sparked global concern. Another Covid-related issue that should also spark concern, but continues to fly under the radar, is the endemic violence directed toward women and girls around the world that has been heightened by responses to the pandemic. On a recent visit to a tribal village in South India, I met with children, elders, and teachers, who told me how their lives have been affected by Covid-19. The implementation of crucial, but often blunt, public health measures such as stay-at-home policies and the disruption of key services like schools and health facilities have significantly eroded social well-being, isolation, income, and educational attainment. They have also increased violence against many women and girls. (Soumya Swaminathan, 12/6)

Newsweek: A Saner, Freer Market For Health Care Could Incentivize Vaccines 
Working as a lawyer in the Trump administration, I was part of the team that faced a seemingly insurmountable challenge: how do you stop an uncontrollable virus? As with any new threat, the initial tools were limited, but we knew American ingenuity was not. We focused on a few possible solutions. One was contact tracing. Before a vaccine or a cure, identifying cases was arguably the best way to control outbreaks. But Americans are too freedom-loving (and rightly so) to allow their locations and COVID status to be constantly tracked. Government monitoring was never the solution. (May Davis, 12/6)

The New York Times: Omicron Is Another Waiting Game For Parents 
I try to eke out a little bit of positivity from the news most weeks, but this week has been rough. The successive waves of disappointing or downright horrifying information have been difficult to absorb: the acceleration toward the dismantling of reproductive rights after oral argument in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which could have a life-threatening impact on women experiencing risky pregnancies; another fatal school shooting, this one in Michigan; and the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. (Jessica Grose, 12/4)

The Star Tribune: A Call For Help In Service To The Disabled 
Like many industries right now, the health care and support sector that provides services to people with disabilities is facing a workforce crisis unlike any we have ever seen. For years, we've been sounding the alarm about the need to invest in the skilled workers who support people with disabilities throughout the state. Direct support professionals, or DSPs, are workers whom people with disabilities cannot live without. They handle everything from administering medication to cooking meals to providing employment coaching so people with disabilities can thrive in their communities. (Sue Schettle, 12/5)

The New York Times: Opioids Feel Like Love. That’s Why They’re Deadly In Tough Times. 
I had told myself that I’d never try heroin because it sounded too perfect. It’s like “warm, buttery love,” a friend told me. When I did yield to temptation — in a fit of rage over a boyfriend’s infidelity in the mid-1980s — that’s what I experienced. It wasn’t euphoria that hooked me. It was relief from my dread and anxiety, and a soothing sense that I was safe, nurtured and unconditionally loved. (Maia Szalavitz, 12/6)

The Boston Globe: Why Isn’t The US Treating The Overdose Epidemic Like The Public Health Emergency It Is? 
For the past 20 months, the drug overdose epidemic has been overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has also fueled it. An estimated 100,306 Americans died of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending April 2021, according to figures released recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This was an increase of 28.5 percent from the year before, making it the highest drug death toll ever, and surpassing the toll of gun deaths and car crashes combined. The vast majority of these cases involved polysubstance use, including alcohol. (John E. Rosenthal, 12/6)

Los Angeles Times: IVF Mixups Should Not Discourage Expanding Reproductive Care 
The story is a harrowing one: A family brings home their newborn but immediately doubts the child is genetically theirs. DNA testing reveals the truth: A fertility center in the Los Angeles area had switched embryos between two families and transferred the wrong embryo to each couple during in vitro fertilization. Their children were born a week apart. After learning of the mistake, the families decided to swap the children, so the parents ended up with their genetic daughters, though they have since kept in touch. In November one of the couples filed a lawsuit against the clinic involved. (Louise P. King, 12/4)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Are At The Center Of A Health Data Revolution 
The evolving COVID-19 pandemic is forcing healthcare systems to find new ways to meet the needs of affected patients with greater speed, agility and efficiency than ever before. While advanced cutting-edge data analytics are available with the potential to provide the tools healthcare professionals need for quick answers to pressing medical questions, they are dependent on large-scale access to real-world data. Hospitals and healthcare systems are instrumental in contributing to the body of data needed to realize their full potential of this health data revolution. (Dr. Neil J. Weissman, 12/3)

USA Today: Dobbs Abortion Case: Mississippi Always Tries To Control Black Women
At last week's oral argument in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the state of Mississippi pressed the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Roe held that women’s right to terminate pregnancy prior to fetal viability is a component of liberty protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Echoing a line of questioning from Justice Samuel Alito, Mississippi’s Solicitor General ended his argument by comparing the abrogation of Roe with the overturning of the “separate but equal” doctrine in Brown v. Board of Education. (Tiffany R. Wright, 12/5)