The Hill: ObamaCare Open Enrollment Hits Record Numbers 
A record 13.6 million people have enrolled in health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act to date, with another month left before open enrollment ends, Biden administration officials said Wednesday. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), more than 9.7 million Americans enrolled in coverage in the 33 states using HealthCare.gov for 2022 from the start of open enrollment through Dec. 15. (Weixel, 12/22)

KHN: Record Number Of Americans Sign Up For ACA Health Insurance 
President Joe Biden’s top health advisers credited the increased government subsidies, which lowered out-of-pocket costs, for the surge in enrollment. They also said enhanced personal assistance and outreach helped connect more people to health insurance plans. Some of the largest increases are in Florida, Texas, Georgia and nine other states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. (Galewitz and Miller, 12/23)

The New York Times: On More Generous Terms, Obamacare Proves Newly Popular
Federal health officials said enrollment gains were most pronounced in states that had not expanded their Medicaid programs. Enrollment in Georgia grew by a third from last year, and enrollment in Texas increased by more than a quarter. The Build Back Better package would also create new insurance options for poorer residents of those states. Laura Colbert, the executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, a consumer advocacy group that also helps sign Georgians up for coverage, said the big enrollment boost this year came thanks to increased subsidies and advertising — but also a new state reinsurance program that helped lower premiums and attract more insurers into the state’s marketplace. She, too, worries about what will happen if the subsidies expire. (Sanger-Katz, 12/22)

CNN: Obamacare Is On Pace For Record Enrollment. Here's Why - CNN Video
The Affordable Care Act is on pace to set a record for enrollment in 2022. CNN's Gabe Cohen looks at some of the reasons why. (12/23)

In other news —

CNBC: You May Have Just A Short Time Left To Spend Your FSA Money
If you still have money in your flexible spending account, be aware that you may have only another week or so to spend it. Congressional action loosened FSA rules for 2020 and 2021 as a way to give workers more time to spend unused funds, yet many companies did not adopt the temporary changes. This means you could face a Dec. 31 deadline to use any remaining money or lose it. (O'Brien, 12/22)

The New York Times: Omicron Infections Seem To Be Milder, Three Research Teams Report
Three separate teams of scientists on two continents have found that Omicron infections more often result in mild illness than earlier variants of the coronavirus, offering hope that the current surge may not be quite as catastrophic as feared despite skyrocketing caseloads. The researchers examined Omicron’s course through populations in South Africa, Scotland and England. The results in each setting, while still preliminary, all suggested that the variant was less likely to send people in hospitals. (Zimmer and Anthes, 12/22)

CNBC: Omicron Variant Has Lower Risk Of Hospitalization, Studies Suggest
On Tuesday, a new study from South Africa showed that people infected with omicron are 80% less likely to be admitted to hospital than if they contract other strains. ... Studies from Scotland and England appear to back up the South Africa findings. Early Scottish data, published Wednesday and not peer reviewed, suggests that omicron is two-thirds less likely to result in hospitalization versus delta. The study also suggests a third or booster dose of vaccination offers substantial additional protection against symptomatic Covid for omicron. Separate figures from England, also published Wednesday, show that the risk of needing to stay in hospital for patients with the new variant is 40% to 45% lower than in those with delta. This data was also not peer reviewed. (Browne, 12/23)

Bloomberg: Omicron Vs. Delta: Hospitalization Risk Is Far Lower With New Variant
The highly contagious new strain could still overwhelm health-care systems as infections soar globally. ... “It’s important that we don’t get ahead of ourselves,” said Jim McMenamin, national Covid-19 incident director for Public Health Scotland, which conducted the Scottish study with the University of Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde. “A smaller proportion of a greater number of cases requiring treatment might still mean a substantial number of people that may experience severe Covid.” (Kresge, 12/22)

But cases of the omicron variant are soaring —

CNBC: Omicron Accounts For 90% Of Covid Cases In Some Parts Of The U.S., CDC Director Says
The omicron Covid-19 variant has quickly overtaken delta as the dominant strain of the virus across the U.S., accounting for 90% of the cases in some parts of the country, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday. The variant makes up more than 73% of the cases in the United States as of Saturday, according to the latest data released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Last week, U.S. health officials said omicron accounted for 2.9% of all cases sequenced through Dec. 11, but later revised that number up to 12.6%. (Campos, 12/22)

The Washington Post: Driven By Omicron, U.S. Cases Surpass Summer Delta Peak
The United States logged a seven-day average coronavirus case count of 168,981 on Wednesday, amid a nationwide spike driven partly by the omicron variant, Washington Post figures show, surpassing a summer peak of just over 165,000 infections on Sept. 1.The tally comes as preliminary data suggests omicron is significantly more contagious than previous versions of the coronavirus. (Jeong and Francis, 12/23)

USA Today: 'Enormous Spread Of Omicron' May Bring 140M New COVID Infections To US In The Next Two Months, Model Predicts
As the omicron variant continues to spread throughout the world, new modeling data shows the latest strain may cause millions more new infections per day in the U.S. but fewer hospitalizations and deaths compared to the delta variant. Researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine revised its COVID-19 modeling to include updated information about the omicron variant. They found the U.S. may see a total of about 140 million new infections from Jan. 1 to March 1, 2022, peaking in late-January at about 2.8 million new daily infections. (Rodriguez, 12/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Newsom Says Over Half Of California Cases Are Omicron As He Lays Out Plan For Testing, Boosters
California’s 2 million health care workers will have to get a COVID booster shot by Feb. 1, and those who have yet to be boosted will have to undergo testing twice a week until they do, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. Newsom also announced a state schools testing program that will provide one to two rapid tests for every K-12 student in public schools as they return to classrooms from winter break. The state will also expand operating hours at state-run testing centers that have reached capacity. (Ho, 12/22)

The Boston Globe: ‘We Have The Tools To Turn The Tide’: While COVID Cases Soar In Massachusetts, New Omicron Data Offers Promise
On a day when Massachusetts reported a single-day record for new COVID-19 cases, two teams of British researchers offered a glimmer of hope that the fast-moving Omicron variant may cause less severe illness than earlier variants, and US regulators authorized the first pill to treat the coronavirus. Also on Wednesday, researchers in South Africa reported that cases there dropped by 20 percent in the past week, suggesting the country’s Omicron-fueled surge of infections may have peaked after about a month. Still, federal, state, and local officials continue to urge caution ahead of Christmas and are pleading with unvaccinated individuals to get their shots and vaccinated people to get a booster. (Stoico and McDonald, 12/22)

AP: Pfizer Pill Becomes 1st US-Authorized Home COVID Treatment 
The long-awaited milestone comes as U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all rising and health officials warn of a tsunami of new infections from the omicron variant that could overwhelm hospitals. The drug, Paxlovid, is a faster way to treat early COVID-19 infections, though initial supplies will be extremely limited. All of the previously authorized drugs against the disease require an IV or an injection. An antiviral pill from Merck also is expected to soon win authorization. But Pfizer’s drug is all but certain to be the preferred option because of its mild side effects and superior effectiveness, including a nearly 90% reduction in hospitalizations and deaths among patients most likely to get severe disease. (Perrone, 12/22)

NPR: FDA Authorizes Pfizer's Paxlovid For COVID-19
The pill ... is taken twice a day for five days in combination with a second medicine called ritonavir, a generic antiviral. "Today's authorization introduces the first treatment for COVID-19 that is in the form of a pill that is taken orally — a major step forward in the fight against this global pandemic," said Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "This authorization provides a new tool to combat COVID-19 at a crucial time in the pandemic as new variants emerge and promises to make antiviral treatment more accessible to patients who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19." (Hensley, 12/22)

Stat: FDA Authorizes Pfizer Pill To Treat Covid-19 In Patients As Young As 12
Initial supplies of Paxlovid will be limited. Pfizer has said it expects to produce more than 180,000 courses of the treatment this year. The company said Wednesday it now expects to provide 120 million courses by the end of 2022, up from 80 million previously, thanks in part to new contract manufacturers. Pfizer has contracted with the U.S. government to provide 10 million courses by the end of 2022 at a cost of $5.29 billion. (Herper, 12/22)

NBC News: FDA Authorizes First Covid Pill, From Pfizer, For Emergency Use
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement Wednesday that the company is ready to begin delivery of the drug to the U.S. "immediately." "This breakthrough therapy, which has been shown to significantly reduce hospitalizations and deaths and can be taken at home, will change the way we treat Covid-19, and hopefully help reduce some of the significant pressures facing our healthcare and hospital systems,” he said. The FDA did not seek the advice of its independent advisory panel, called the Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee, when it reviewed data on Pfizer's pill. (Lovelace Jr., 12/22)

And there's good news about the efficacy of remdesivir —

The Washington Post: Remdesivir Can Help When Used On An Outpatient Basis 
The antiviral drug remdesivir can help keep unvaccinated people at risk of severe covid-19 out of hospitals, according to a study that found the treatment reduced hospitalization and death by 87 percent when given soon after diagnosis. (Goldstein, 12/22)

CNN: Supreme Court Schedules January 7 Oral Arguments In Challenges To Biden Vaccine Mandates 
The Supreme Court said Wednesday it is scheduling oral arguments for January 7 in the cases challenging the Biden administration's Covid-19 vaccine requirements for large employers and certain health care workers. The arguments were scheduled after Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh were asked to intervene in lower court disputes over the mandates. Kavanaugh had been asked by challengers to the employer mandate to reverse an appeals court ruling that said the administration could enforce its vaccine-or-testing rules for large companies. (Sneed and de Vogue, 12/22)

The Washington Post: Supreme Court Sets Special Hearing For Biden's Vaccine Rules For Health-Care Workers, Private Businesses
It is highly unusual for the justices to schedule such hearings on emergency requests. Both will be considered Jan. 7, the Friday before the court was to resume its normal schedule of oral arguments. One of the cases involves a rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that requires employers with 100 or more workers to have staff vaccinated or tested on a regular basis. The other is from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and it requires vaccination for workers at facilities that receive federal funds tied to those programs. (Barnes, 12/22)

Fox News: Supreme Court To Hear Oral Arguments On Challenges To Biden Vaccine Mandates
Several Republican-led states, businesses, and other opponents have put Biden's mandates in legal limbo for weeks, with federal courts having halted their enforcement pending the outcome of the legal challenges. ... "The reasoning across the cases is basically the same, which is that these statutes don’t give the president or the agency in question the authority to issue the mandates," said Gregory Magarian, a constitutional law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. (Lee, 12/22)

Politico: 'Nothing's Been Good Enough': Biden Admits Covid Testing Has Fallen Short 
President Joe Biden acknowledged Wednesday that the country could have been better prepared as widespread shortages of at-home testing kits continue to hinder efforts to combat Covid-19.Asked in a rare one-to-one interview with ABC News’ David Muir if the testing situation was “good enough,” Biden replied that “No, nothing’s been good enough.” (Thompson, 12/22)

The New York Times: Biden Promised 500 Million Tests, But Americans Will Have To Wait 
President Biden promised Americans he is making 500 million coronavirus tests available free of charge, but help is at least weeks away — if not longer — for anxious Americans facing a surge of new virus cases. Mr. Biden’s administration has not yet signed a contract to buy the tests, and the website to order them will not be up until January. Officials have not said how many tests people will be able to order or how quickly they will be shipped once they begin to be available next month. Manufacturers say they are already producing tests as fast as they can. (Shear and Stolberg, 12/22)

The New York Times: The Biden Administration Plans To Buy More Covid Treatments, But Doctors Are Nervous About The Coming Weeks.
The White House announced Wednesday that it was ramping up purchases of Covid treatments, as federal health officials tried to reassure Americans that it was safe to travel during the holiday season — so long as they are vaccinated and avoid large gatherings. ... Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said the administration would double its existing supply — to more than one million doses — of sotrovimab, a monoclonal antibody treatment made by GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology that is expected to work for Omicron cases. The drug, aimed at preventing high-risk Covid patients from developing severe disease, has been in very limited supply. (Stolberg, Jewett and Robbins, 12/23)

The Washington Post: Jill Biden Has Become The Premier Vaccine Ambassador From A Worried White House 
Since March, the first lady has been the administration’s leading ambassador promoting the vaccine — taking her difficult pitch not only to major cities, but also some of the most conservative and Biden-hostile places in the country. And her appeals have become more and more urgent. (Yuan, 12/22)

Both the president and vice president test negative for covid —

AP: Biden Negative For COVID-19 After Close Contact, VP Exposed
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both tested negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday following separate incidents in which they were had close contact with aides who later tested positive for the coronavirus, the White House said. The incidents underscore how troublesome the pandemic is becoming inside the White House. (Superville, 12/23)

NBC News: Jim Clyburn Tests Positive For Covid After Seeing Biden Last Week
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, he said in a statement. Clyburn, D-S.C., said he is asymptomatic. He said that he is fully vaccinated and that he had a booster shot in September. Clyburn was with President Joe Biden on Friday when Biden traveled to South Carolina to speak to graduates of South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, Clyburn's alma mater. (Satlin, 12/22)

Also —

The Washington Post: Biden Says He Will Run For Reelection In 2024 If He’s In Good Health
President Biden on Wednesday said he would run for reelection in 2024 if he’s “in good health,” adding that he was eager to possibly face Donald Trump.The president, confirming his past comment that he would seek four more years in the White House, said during an interview with “ABC World News Tonight” anchor David Muir that he would run again if his health did not deteriorate. Asked whether he would run against Trump if the former president was the Republican nominee, Biden chuckled and said he would. “Why would I not run against Donald Trump as the nominee?” Biden said. “That would increase the prospect of running.” (Kornfield, 12/22)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Manchin Blows Up Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ 
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) dashed the hopes of President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats for passage of the giant “Build Back Better” bill before the end of the year, when he announced his opposition to the measure in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” Democrats still hope to salvage at least some pieces of the bill, but the effort will drag into the 2022 midterm election year. (12/22)

NPR: To Block Omicron, Wear An N95 Or Other High-Filtration Mask
With another coronavirus variant racing across the U.S., once again health authorities are urging people to mask up indoors. Yes, you've heard it all before. But given how contagious omicron is, experts say, it's seriously time to upgrade to an N95 or similar high-filtration respirator when you're in public indoor spaces. "Cloth masks are not going to cut it with omicron," says Linsey Marr, a researcher at Virginia Tech who studies how viruses transmit in the air. (Godoy, 12/23)

Bloomberg: Best Masks For Covid? Cloth Masks Could Be Bad Against Omicron, Expert Says
Omicron is once again making people think twice before reaching out for their colorful, reusable cloth face masks. “They can be really good or really terrible,” depending on what fabric is used, said Trish Greenhalgh, professor of primary health care services at the University of Oxford. Double or triple-layer masks made of a mix of materials can be more effective, but most cloth coverings are just “fashion accessories,” according to Greenhalgh. (Anghel, 12/22)

In more news about the omicron variant —

CNN: How Long Should You Isolate If You Have Covid-19 But Are Vaccinated? There Is Some Debate 
As the highly transmissible Omicron and Delta coronavirus variants continue to sweep across the United States, health officials warn that more people are expected to get infected -- even those who are fully vaccinated -- and they need to stay home and isolate themselves so they don't spread the virus to others. Anyone who has Covid-19 should isolate for 10 full days, according to current guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But this holiday season, there has been growing debate around the number of days to isolate if you test positive for Covid-19 but don't have symptoms and are fully vaccinated -- or, better yet, got a booster dose. (Howard, 12/22)

Bloomberg: Omicron Brings Risks To Pregnant Women Unvaccinated For Covid
The omicron variant is heightening risks for this little-talked-about demographic: pregnant women. Left out of early vaccine trials and faced with confusing messages and misinformation on the dangers to their unborn children, a disproportionately large number of pregnant women have steered clear of Covid shots. About 75% of expectant mothers in the U.K. and about 65% in the U.S. remain unvaccinated, making them among the groups most at risk of getting infected and being exposed to severe forms of the disease as the fast-spreading omicron strain sweeps across the globe. (Ring, 12/23)

Stat: Regulator: Need For Omicron Vaccine Depends On Staying Power Of Variant
Whether Americans will need additional vaccines specifically tailored to the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus may depend on how long it circulates in the United States, a top regulator told STAT in an interview Wednesday. “If it turns out that Omicron is the new variant that actually things settle into, well then of course we will probably need an Omicron-specific vaccine,” said Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine regulator. “On the other hand, if this is just a variant that’s passing through and we get [a new variant] in a month or two, we won’t need that.” (Florko, 12/22)

Bangor Daily News: Omicron Is Making Maine’s Shortage Of A Key COVID-19 Treatment Even Worse
Maine does not currently have enough sotrovimab to treat scores of new omicron patients, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah said Wednesday. In response, providers will likely restrict treatments to only the most at-risk patients, according to hospitals and epidemiologists. “I wish as a country we had more sotrovimab, because if the country did, then Maine would,” Shah said. The omicron variant was first detected in Maine last week as hospitals around the state were still contending with the effects of a surge in delta variant cases that has hammered hospitals and strained health care resources. The U.S. CDC has already said omicron is the dominant strain nationally and Maine health officials expect it to overtake the delta variant here within weeks. (Russell and Marino Jr., 12/23)

In related news —

The Texas Tribune: Omicron May Hit Low-Income, Uninsured Texans Hardest 
So much of the last two years has felt surreal for the staff at Centro De Salud Familiar La Fe, a federally qualified health center in El Paso. Seemingly overnight, the women’s health center became a coronavirus unit. They began offering COVID-19 testing, and then, as soon as they could, vaccine pop-ups. They’ve made public service announcements and gone door to door, encouraging people to get vaccinated. But despite the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, some things did not come as a surprise — like how hard it hit their low-income and uninsured clients. (Klibanoff, 12/22)

Stat: A Biologist Weighs In On Omicron, Vaccines, And The CDC’s Variant Forecast
What do the data so far tell us about Omicron and whether it causes milder disease than previous Covid-19 variants? What can we expect to see as Omicron infections crash up against the country’s health care system? Why do Omicron waves seem to decline so quickly after scaling such heights? We don’t know. So we asked Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, for his thoughts. (Branswell, 12/22)

The New York Times: The Flu Makes an Unwelcome Comeback as Omicron Surges
The flu virus, which all but disappeared in early 2020, is once again circulating in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported about 2,500 cases from clinical tests nationwide for the week that ended Dec. 11. That number is typical for this time of year, but it also represents a level of cases that has not been seen since before the coronavirus pandemic. (12/22)

The New York Times: National Guard Empties Bedpans and Clips Toenails at Nursing Homes
Over the past two weeks, 30 Guard members have been working as certified nursing assistants at North Ridge Health and Rehab, a sprawling nursing home in suburban Minneapolis, which has been so badly hobbled by an exodus of employees that administrators have been forced to mothball entire wings, severely limiting new admissions. (Jacobs, 12/22)

Burlington Free Press: FEMA Sends First Responders To UVM Medical Center To Help With Omicron Variant Surge
The Federal Emergency Management Agency sent 20 first responders to UVM Medical Center on Dec. 17 to help with record numbers of patients, many of whom are "very sick" with COVID-19 or other serious conditions, according to a news release. "We are very thankful that the State of Vermont advocated for these federally funded resources and that we have been able to receive some of the deployment from across the state to shore up critical staffing areas," Dr. Stephen Leffler, president and chief operating officer of UVM Medical Center, said in a news release. (D'Ambrosio, 12/23)

In related news about hospitals that are struggling —

CNN: For The Second Christmas In A Row, Hospital Workers Will Face The Trauma Of Covid-19 Patient Deaths 
With the potentially more transmissible Omicron now the most widely detected variant in the US, hospitals are preparing for additional Covid-19 cases as millions of Americans face infection. And for the second year in a row, many doctors and nurses on the frontlines of the pandemic will be treating these patients over the Christmas holiday. Haleigh Seizys, a Covid-19 ICU nurse at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, told CNN's Ana Cabrera on Wednesday that staff are "very worried about what's to come after the holidays," urging people to get vaccinated to protect themselves and others against severe illness. (Caldwell, 12/23)

Politico: Hospitals Grapple With Omicron — And Legal Brawl Over Vaccinating Staff
With Omicron cases surging and health care workers in short supply, hospitals and nursing homes are grappling with a patchwork of rules for vaccinating their staff against Covid-19 and in some cases begging off immunization requirements the Biden administration expected to start enforcing on Jan. 4. Court challenges brought by mostly Republican states have frozen the administration’s vaccine mandates for health workers in 25 states, upsetting an already delicate balance between patient safety and pandemic readiness as health facilities brace for a wintertime surge of cases. (Levy, 12/22)

New Hampshire Public Radio: As Federal Staff Depart Elliot Hospital, A Crisis Continues 
Michael Player recently visited New Hampshire for the first time, but he didn’t have a ton of time to see the sights. “I intend to come back to New Hampshire with my wife when I’m not working 12-hour shifts in a hospital,” says Player, who has been running a 24-person Disaster Medical Assistance Team at Elliot Hospital in Manchester, which is facing an unprecedented volume of COVID and non-COVID patients. After spending 11 days at Elliot Hospital, Player is returning to Virginia where he’ll continue working his day job until he’s called up again by the federal National Disaster Medical System to help another hospital in crisis. (Fam, 12/22)

The Boston Globe: Leaders Of 9 Massachusetts Hospitals Ask The Public To Do 5 Things To Help Control COVID-19 Surge
Leading health experts warn that Massachusetts hospital capacities have reached a “crisis point” due to rising COVID-19 cases and are urgently pleading with the public to take five steps to lessen the strain on its healthcare system. In a joint statement signed by the leaders of nine state hospitals Wednesday, health experts said emergency rooms and hospitals are “nearing full capacity” as the Omicron variant dominates the region ahead of the holiday season. Here are the five crucial steps residents can take to ease the COVID-19 strain on hospitals, as outlined by the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association. (Redefer, 12/22)

Also —

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Franklin County Health Director Resigns, Citing Threats Against Her
Franklin County’s health director has resigned, alleging threats of violence against her, county Presiding Commissioner Tim Brinker confirmed on Wednesday. Angie Hittson was hired by the county in October 2007, according to salary records. In 2013 she was promoted to director of the health department, she said on social media. She is a registered nurse, according to state records, and before working for Franklin County, she worked at St. Anthony’s Medical Center — now Mercy Hospital South — and SSM Health, according to her LinkedIn profile. But Hittson told the county in her resignation letter that she was overwhelmed by threats during the coronavirus pandemic, Brinker said, as the county worked to trace COVID-19 infections, coordinate quarantines, and hold vaccination clinics. (Merrilees, 12/22)

North Carolina Health News: Senior Centers Use Holiday To Reunite Lonely Amid COVID 
In January, staff and volunteers at a Wendell senior center were already making plans for this December’s holiday fest for members, one that would make up for a COVID-canceled event last Christmas. It still took 30 volunteers and two staff people the better part of a year to assemble and present this December’s Eastern Wake Senior Center gathering — with no cash budget. The result was a combination family reunion, pandemic healer, gift presentation and social therapy session for a local population of about 100 older people in need of this kind of relief. (Goldsmith, 12/23)

KHN: As Patients Fell Ill With Covid Inside Hospitals, Government Oversight Fell Short 
One by one, the nurses taking care of actress Judi Evans at Riverside Community Hospital kept calling out sick. Patients were coughing as staffers wheeled the maskless soap opera star around the California hospital while treating her for injuries from a horseback fall in May 2020, Evans said. She remembered they took her to a room to remove blood from her compressed lung where another maskless patient was also getting his lung drained. He was crying out that he didn’t want to die of covid. (Weber and Jewett, 12/23)

Anchorage Daily News: Dozens Of Alaska Doctors Receive Packages, At Work And At Home, From Group Promoting Unproven COVID-19 Treatments
Doctors asking the Alaska State Medical Board to crack down on colleagues spreading COVID-19 misinformation say they’re receiving holiday packages, some at their homes, from a group pushing for alternative treatments like ivermectin. The delivery of the packages from the Alaska Covid Alliance came off as threatening and invasive, several doctors said. Each package — at least some of which arrived in holiday-themed gift bags — included chocolates, a letter acknowledging the recipients’ signatures on a recent letter to the medical board and a 28-page pamphlet advocating for mostly unproven COVID-19 treatments. (Berman and Hollander, 12/22)

CNN: Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship Prevented From Entering 2 Island Nations Due To Covid-19 Outbreak
A Royal Caribbean cruise ship was denied entry into two island nations after 55 fully vaccinated crew members and passengers contracted Covid-19 only days after the ship had set sail from Fort Lauderdale, the Miami Herald reported Wednesday. Odyssey of the Seas was barred from entering Curacao and Aruba, effectively remaining at sea until its planned return December 26 to Fort Lauderdale, according to the Herald. (Alonso and Elamroussi, 12/22)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

NBC News: You Just Tested Positive For Covid. Here’s What To Do Next
For those who have Covid, the CDC recommends isolating for 10 days from the onset of symptoms, with the first day of symptoms counting as day zero. People who are asymptomatic should isolate for 10 days from the date they were tested. Isolating means staying home and avoiding others. (Chuck, 12/22)

Chicago Tribune: Illinois Sets New Daily Coronavirus Case High
Days before Christmas, Illinois health officials on Wednesday reported 16,581 new confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus, setting a record for daily cases and pushing the total number of reported infections since the start of the pandemic past 2 million. While cases are soaring, the news isn’t all bad. With screenings for the coronavirus more widespread than ever before, the case positivity rate — the percentage of new cases as a share of total tests — remains well below its peak during the fall 2020 surge. (Petrella, 12/22)

Houston Chronicle: Texas COVID Deaths Are 35 Percent Higher In 2021 Than First Year Of Pandemic
Texas has recorded more COVID-19 deaths in 2021 than in the first year of the pandemic, even though vaccines have been available for all adults since March. The first case of COVID-19 in the United States was recorded in February 2020, and the pandemic was declared the following month. The current year began amid a winter surge of infections, which was followed by a rapid rise in vaccinations in the spring that later ebbed. The climbing death toll, public health experts said, is almost entirely driven by people who are unvaccinated. From mid-January through October, just 8 percent of Texas virus deaths were among inoculated residents. (Despart, 12/22)

Crain's Detroit Business: Chicago Using Wastewater To Predict COVID Outbreaks
Using samples from local sewage systems is proving to be a useful tool in helping identify COVID hotspots and predict spread throughout communities. Over the past several months, a group of public health and academic scientists organized by the Discovery Partners Institute have been testing wastewater throughout Chicago and Illinois to monitor outbreaks. The programs could help pave the way for permanent water surveillance that would monitor other dangerous illnesses. (Davis, 12/22)

And in covid research —

Fox News: COVID Patients Reporting Residual Voice Problems After Infection
After the initial phase of Covid-19, some patients are experiencing problems with their voice, health experts told Fox News. These voice issues include hoarseness, quality of voice, and a condition called vocal fatigue, which can have an impact on a person’s quality of life, speech professionals told Fox News. "If a patient is feeling fatigued after using their voice, they may tend to not want to communicate as often as usual. They may withdraw from social activities as speaking becomes taxing and no longer pleasurable. A patient may not be able to perform their regular duties in their workplace as speaking is too difficult," Catherine Crowley, PhD., CCC-SLP, who is the Chair of the Communication Sciences and Disorders School of Health Professions and Nursing at LIU Post in Brookville, N.Y., told Fox News during an interview. (McGorry, 12/22)

CIDRAP: 1 In 4 With Metabolic Syndrome And COVID At Risk For Breathing Distress 
An international study of 29,040 hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients finds that metabolic syndrome was tied to significantly greater odds of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death. While obesity, diabetes, and hypertension are known risk factors for severe COVID-19, the researchers said that little was known about the risk of metabolic syndrome—a cluster of conditions that includes high blood pressure, high blood glucose, excess fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol levels. Metabolic syndrome, a chronic low-grade inflammatory state, is a risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. (Van Beusekom, 12/22)

USA Today: Will Having COVID Affect Fertility? Virus Linked To Low Sperm Count
Couples hoping to become pregnant have another reason to take precautions against COVID-19 – the virus might reduce sperm counts, making it harder to conceive a baby, according to a new study. The peer-reviewed study, published on Monday in the Fertility and Sterility journal, took samples from 120 men in Belgium averaging about 35-years-old. Research found that sperm count was reduced in 37% of men tested less than one month after COVID-19 infection. One to two months after infection, sperm counts were reduced in 29% of men tested, and 6% of men showed reduced sperm counts  two months past infection. (Miranda, 12/22)

CNBC: WHO Says Covid Vaccine Booster Programs Will Prolong Pandemic
World Health Organization officials on Wednesday criticized blanket Covid-19 vaccine booster programs as poor countries struggle to obtain initial doses, warning that the unequal access to immunizations could lead to more mutated variants that drag out the crisis. “Blanket booster programs are likely to prolong the pandemic, rather than ending it, by diverting supply to countries that already have high levels of vaccination coverage, giving the virus more opportunity to spread and mutate,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing. (Miao, 12/22)

But omicron itself could speed the pandemic's trajectory —

CNBC: Omicron Could Potentially Hasten The Covid Pandemic's End, Says Expert
Just weeks ago, the U.S. was on track to end the pandemic in 2022. Then, omicron hit — throwing scientists’ projections into disarray. The rapidly spreading Covid variant is now responsible for 73% of U.S. cases, a rate which White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci called “unprecedented” during a Good Morning America appearance on Tuesday. Now, some researchers say omicron could actually hasten the virus’ transition from pandemic to endemic, albeit with large numbers of illnesses and potential deaths along the way. (Scipioni, 12/22)

CNBC: Covid: 4 Charts Show Current State Of Pandemic Heading Into 2022
Nearly two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, reported daily infections are rising again as the omicron variant spreads rapidly around the world, in countries ranging from the U.S. and the U.K. to South Africa and Australia. The World Health Organization labeled omicron a variant of concern. While much remains unknown about it, the WHO warned that the variant is spreading “significantly faster” than the delta strain and could change the course of the pandemic. Still, “2022 must be the end of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said Wednesday. (Lee, 12/22)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

Fox News: Army Develops COVID-19 Vaccine That May Provide Protection Against All Variants
The U.S. Army has developed a vaccine it says may provide protection against all COVID-19 variants. The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) developed a 24-sided object to which it attached various protein spikes from coronavirus variants. The vaccine has completed phase 1 trials, but researchers have yet to test it against the omicron variant, an Army spokesman told Fox News. Researchers received a sample in early 2020 and focused efforts on developing a vaccine that would work against potential variants. Two years later, the initial results show promise. (Aitken, 12/22)

Bloomberg: Long Wait Times For Some Groups To Get Vaccines Could Be Discriminatory: HHS
Vaccine programs with disproportionate wait times in communities of color could be deemed discriminatory, the Department of Health and Human Services said. The HHS Office for Civil Rights released a guidance Wednesday for health-care providers and systems that get federal funding. These groups must “ensure fair, equitable access to vaccines” to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Affordable Care Act, the HHS said. Race, color, national origin, and language spoken cannot be a barrier for communities to get vaccinated, the guidance said. (Reed, 12/22)

KHN: Watch: One City’s Effort To Raise Vaccination Rates Among Black Residents
About 72% of Americans have received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine. During much of the vaccine rollout, Hispanic and Black Americans have been less likely than white Americans to get vaccinated. The gap between white and Hispanic Americans has largely closed, but the vaccination rate for the Black community still lags significantly behind. KHN correspondent Sarah Varney and PBS NewsHour producer Jason Kane report on how Hartford, Connecticut, has tried to close the gap in vaccination rates. (Varney and Kane, 12/23)

NPR: Chicago And Boston Will Require Proof Of Vaccination In Indoor Settings
Residents of Chicago and Boston will soon be required to show proof of full vaccination in order to enter indoor spaces like gyms, restaurants and entertainment venues, in the latest example of cities tightening public health rules to combat the spread of the omicron variant. The Chicago Department of Public Health announced Tuesday that beginning Jan. 3, the city will require everyone ages 5 and up to be fully vaccinated in order to access indoor dining, fitness and recreation venues. They must present either their vaccination card, a photocopy of it, a digital record or a printed record from their vaccine provider. (Treisman, 12/22)

The Washington Post: D.C. To Require Coronavirus Vaccination To Enter Most Businesses 
People 12 and older will be required to show proof of coronavirus vaccination to enter many businesses in D.C., including restaurants, starting in mid-January under rules that Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced Wednesday. (Brice-Saddler, Weil and Portnoy, 12/22)

Salt Lake Tribune: More Anti-Vaccine Bills Coming To The Utah Legislature
Two bills seeking to protect vaccine-hesitant Utahns from discrimination in the workplace or community are slated to debut in the 2022 session, which begins next month. HB 60 from St. George Republican Walt Brooks bans so-called “vaccine passports.” Private businesses could not require customers to prove they’re vaccinated against COVID-19. Government entities would also be blocked from requiring proof of vaccination. The bill bars employers from requiring employees to provide proof of vaccination status. They would also not be allowed to require individuals to get vaccinated under some circumstances. (Schott, 12/22)

In updates on mask mandates —

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Federal Judge Rejects School Mask Mandate Challenge
A federal judge in Las Vegas on Wednesday dismissed a challenge to the Clark County’s School District’s student mask requirement, rejecting claims by parents of two students that the pandemic-driven mandate and its enactment violated their constitutional rights. U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey’s ruling unsparingly denies the plaintiff’s various claims, citing precedents from U.S. Supreme Court rulings and other court jurisdictions both contemporaneous with the current COVID-19 pandemic and dating as far back as a 1905 Massachusetts case. (Dentzer, 12/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Amazon To Require All U.S. Warehouse Workers To Wear Masks Again 
Amazon.com Inc. said all workers at its hundreds of U.S. warehouses will have to wear masks again starting Wednesday, a mandate prompted by the rapid spread of the coronavirus’s Omicron variant. (Needleman, 12/22)

Bloomberg: Covid Surge: Omicron Triggers Mandatory Mask Order In Colorado Ski Country
A surge in Covid-19 cases -- believed to be the omicron variant - is triggering a mandatory mask order in Colorado ski country at the peak of the holiday travel season. The Eagle County Board of Health, meeting in an emergency session Wednesday, reinstated an indoor mask mandate “regardless of vaccination status.” The popular resort towns of Vail and Avon are located in Eagle County. (Del Giudice, 12/22)

The Texas Tribune: Gov. Greg Abbott Stays Hands-Off As Omicron Spreads In Texas
As other states are mobilizing to respond to the rapidly spreading omicron variant, Gov. Greg Abbott is not budging on his hands-off approach to the coronavirus pandemic that was cemented months ago. In March, Abbott ended the statewide mask mandate, marking the beginning of a sharp shift toward preaching “personal responsibility” and an outright rejection of any government mandate — whether state or local — to curb the pandemic. That philosophy carried the state through the delta variant this fall, even as hospitals were overrun and deaths climbed. Now as the state stares down the latest variant, Abbott remains unmoved, continuing to rule out any mask or vaccine mandates and business shutdowns. “We’re moving forward with life as we know it,” Abbott said Tuesday in a radio interview when asked about omicron. (Svitek, 12/23)

In related news about covid mandates —

AP: California Sets Feb. 1 Deadline For Health Worker Boosters
California’s roughly 2.5 million health care workers have until Feb. 1 to get a coronavirus vaccine booster shot or risk losing their jobs, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. Newsom gave more details on the booster mandate during a Wednesday news conference at a vaccine clinic in Oakland. He had initially announced the new rule on Tuesday afternoon. (Beam, 12/23)

Politico: Newsom, Unions Commit To Keeping ‘Our Classrooms Open’
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday pledged to keep California schools open in a statement he issued with the state's influential teachers unions the day after President Joe Biden said K-12 classrooms must not close. "As we approach the new year, we reaffirm our shared commitment to one another, to our parents and to our students: to keep each other safe and to keep our classrooms open," the joint statement said. It was signed by unions including the powerful California Teachers Association, one of Sacramento's biggest lobbying forces. (Luthi, 12/22)

AP: Department Of Corrections Fined $60K For COVID Rule Lapses 
The Washington Department of Corrections has been fined $60,000 for failing to enforce COVID-19 protective measures at the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen. The state Department of Labor & Industries said in a news release Wednesday that the agency began an investigation and inspection after a correctional officer tested positive for COVID-19 in June and died. (12/23)

AP: Man Who Kept Diner Open To Pay Bills Dies After COVID-19
A man who defied state orders and kept his restaurant open last year during the pandemic, partly to pay medical bills, has died of complications from COVID-19. John Parney, 62, operated the Quincy Diner in Quincy in southern Michigan. He was admitted to a hospital with COVID-19 in September, went home but quickly developed significant health problems that put him back in the hospital, according to a GoFundMe page. (12/23)

Fox News: Several Major Universities Announce Remote Start To Spring Semester Due To Omicron Variant 
George Washington University, Columbia University, Duke University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Temple University, University of California at Los Angeles, University of California at San Diego and the University of Washington have all announced they will begin their spring semester remotely, adding to the already growing number of colleges and universities taking similar measures. (Sabes, 12/22)

Inside Higher Ed: More Colleges Move January Programs Online
More colleges are adopting policies to discourage—or in some cases ban—students from being on campus in January. ... DePaul, Harvard and Stanford University students won’t have in-person classes the first weeks of the semester, those universities announced; Pennsylvania State University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the U of Southern California are considering such a move. (Jaschik, 12/21)

The Washington Post: UCLA, Columbia, Duke Plan Temporary Shift To Virtual Instruction In January 
Columbia University, Duke University and the University of California at Los Angeles will start with remote classes in January, part of a growing number of colleges choosing a temporary pivot online as coronavirus cases rise and the omicron variant spreads nationally. (Svrluga, 12/22)

The Boston Globe: On College Campuses, Omicron Is Fueling More Stress For Students As It Causes Another Round Of Closures
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is compounding pressure on college students and administrators, prompting some to announce at least a temporary return to remote learning in January at the same time that many students are feeling more stressed out and exhausted than ever. This semester, many students had finally gotten into the groove of in-person learning and teaching and finally felt connected to their peers, but in the past two weeks, the variant has begun to tear across campuses. Harvard graduate student Tanush Jagdish, an evolutionary biologist whose lab also helped Harvard set up its COVID testing lab, said he hopes the university switches back to in-person classes after the first few weeks of the semester. (Krantz, 12/22)

And college football is in chaos —

The New York Times: College Football Playoff Warns Teams Could Forfeit Because Of Virus 
Under the policies that playoff officials outlined on Wednesday, a team that is unavailable to play in a semifinal game on Dec. 31 will forfeit, allowing its intended opponent to advance automatically to the national title game, which is scheduled for Jan. 10 in Indianapolis. (Blinder, 12/22)

The Wall Street Journal: The Covid War Of Attrition That Could Decide College Football’s National Title
The organizers of the biggest games of the college football season have reached a decision that once would have sounded completely ridiculous: The winner of the national championship this season may not even have to step onto the field. With the Omicron variant surging, the possibility of disruption to the college bowl season is high. On Wednesday, for example, Texas A&M said it doesn’t have enough available scholarship players and will no longer play in the Gator Bowl, which is scheduled to be held on Dec. 31 in Jacksonville, Fla. (Diamond, 12/22)

CBS News: Potential Breast Cancer Vaccine Undergoing Testing
A potential vaccine that would prevent the most deadly and aggressive type of breast cancer — triple-negative breast cancer — is undergoing testing. The key protein for the vaccine, which would be a "holy grail" of cancer treatment, was found through "a matter of luck and tenacity in going through databases and looking for proteins," Dr. Vincent Tuohy said, almost like finding a needle in a haystack. The vaccine works by jumpstarting the immune system and attacking any tumors that contain a specific protein that should not be present unless a woman is lactating. (Narula, 12/22)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Stat: Scientists See Conviction Of U.S. Researcher With China Ties As A Threat
The trial was supposed to be a bellwether — an indicator of whether federal investigators might ease up in their scrutiny of university labs with potential ties to China. Already, a University of Tennessee engineer had been found not guilty of any misconduct. The Justice Department had dropped charges against five other researchers, who’d been accused of covering up links to the Chinese military. If Harvard University nanotechnology star Charles Lieber were let off, too, it might deal a blow to the China Initiative, a Trump-era search for academics involved in scientific espionage. Instead, Lieber was found guilty on Tuesday — not of espionage or theft of intellectual property, but of lying to federal agents and failing to report foreign income and assets on his tax filings. (Boodman, 12/23)

Stat: 3 Contentious Decisions The FDA Will Make In 2022 
It’s going to be a bumpy 2022 for the Food and Drug Administration. Even as the agency waits for the Senate to confirm a permanent leader, it’s gearing up for a battle with lawmakers over the future of the user-fee program that provides nearly half its revenue. On top of that, it is still struggling to keep up with responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. The FDA is also gearing up for some of the most monumental decisions in recent memory. The decisions span the FDA’s vast portfolio, but they have one thing in common: They’re going to generate outsized controversy, and could even land the agency in court. (Florko, 12/23)

Stat: 7 Challenges That Could Make Or Break Biogen's 2022 
Can Biogen pull itself back from the brink? The company is ending 2021 with dismal sales of its treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and its stock depressed. Management is slashing the drug’s price and cutting expenses. Now, 2022 will likely determine whether the storied biotech company can steer itself out of corporate disaster. (Garde, Feuerstein and Cohrs, 12/23)

Also —

AP: Jurors In The Elizabeth Holmes Trial May Take Next Week Off 
The jurors responsible for assessing 11 charges of fraud and conspiracy against former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes are scheduled to begin their third day of deliberations on Thursday. If they haven’t reached a verdict by the end of the day, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila and the attorneys for both sides will discuss the possibility of taking a break until Jan. 3. The jury had originally signaled that it was willing to deliberate during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. (Liedtke, 12/23)

CNN: 'Don't Weigh Me' Cards Aim To Reduce Stress At The Doctor's Office 
A body positivity website has created free "Don't Weigh Me" cards for patients who find stepping on the scale at the doctor's office stressful. The cards, created by California-based More-Love.org, are available for free to individuals, excluding the cost of postage. There is also the option for businesses to purchase the cards, at $35 per 100 cards. The cards read: "Please don't weigh me unless it's (really) medically necessary," adding "If you really need my weight, please tell me why so that I can give you my informed consent," as shown in photographs on More-Love.org. (Goodwin, 12/22)

In other health industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Lenox Hill Surgeons Sue UnitedHealth, Aetna Over Reimbursements
UnitedHealth Group and CVS Health's Aetna have been hit with a trio of lawsuits alleging the insurance companies failed to properly reimburse surgeons. Physicians at the Surgical of Greater New York and New York-based Seckin Medical filed three lawsuits charging insurers with underpaying for services performed at Northwell Health's Lenox Hill Hospital in the city. Aetna, UnitedHealth Group and the law firms representing the doctors didn't respond to requests for comment. (Devereaux, 12/22)

Modern Healthcare: Envision Sued Over Role In California Emergency Departments
A physician group's lawsuit against Envision Healthcare will test the limits of California's ban on the corporate practice of medicine. The American Academy of Emergency Medicine Physician Group argues that Envision's emergency department contract with Placentia-Linda Hospital in Placentia violates state law because it takes too much decision-making power away from doctors—something the state law seeks to prevent—and places it with Envision, which is owned by the private equity firm Kravis, Kohlberg and Roberts. (Bannow, 12/22)

KHN: An Anesthesiology Practice’s Busy Day In Court Collecting On Surprise Bills
Owen Loney’s surprise bill resulted from an emergency appendectomy in 2019 at a Richmond, Virginia, hospital. Insurance covered most of the cost of the hospital stay, he said. He didn’t pay much attention to a bill he received from Commonwealth Anesthesia Associates and expected his insurance to cover it. A few months ago, he got a notice that Commonwealth was suing him in Richmond General District Court for $1,870 for putting him under during the surgery, court records show. (Hancock, 12/23)

The Baltimore Sun: An Apparent Cyberattack Downed Maryland’s Health Department And COVID Data. Here’s What We Know And Don’t Know
Earlier this month, the Maryland Department of Health fell victim to an apparent cyberattack that prompted the agency to take some of its servers offline. One result was the department couldn’t update most of the metrics on its COVID-19 data dashboard for weeks. The state has disclosed few details about what it describes as a “network security incident” first detected Dec. 4, even after it restored on Monday some of the coronavirus data reporting earlier this week. Some 28,500 Marylanders contracted the virus during the two weeks the servers were offline, according to the state data, backing up public health officials’ warnings of another COVID-19 surge driven by the rapidly spreading and even more contagious omicron variant. (Mann, 12/23)

Also —

KHN: Nursing Homes Bleed Staff As Amazon Lures Low-Wage Workers With Prime Packages
The sleek corporate offices of one of Amazon’s air freight contractors looms over Villaspring of Erlanger, a stately nursing home perched on a hillside in this Cincinnati suburb. Amazon Prime Air cargo planes departing from a recently opened Amazon Air Hub roar overhead. Its Prime semi-trucks speed along the highway, rumbling the nursing home’s windows. This is daily life in the shadow of Amazon. “We haven’t even seen the worst of it yet,” said John Muller, chief operating officer of Carespring, Villaspring’s operator. “They are still finishing the Air Hub.” (Varney, 12/23)

KHN: Rural Communities Left Hurting Without A Hospital, Ambulance Or Doctors Nearby
Georgia’s Echols County, which borders Florida, could be called a health care desert. It has no hospital, no local ambulances. A medical provider comes to treat patients at a migrant farmworker clinic but, other than a small public health department with two full-time employees, that’s about the extent of the medical care in the rural county of 4,000 people. (Miller, 12/23)

KHN: Deep Roots Help This Chicago Pharmacist Avoid Creating Another Drugstore Desert 
Del-Kar Pharmacy in the North Lawndale neighborhood has had a front-row seat to history. Martin Luther King Jr. bought his daily newspaper there when he lived in Chicago in the late 1960s. The Black Panthers’ local headquarters was a block away, and the pharmacy shared a building with the Conservative Vice Lords, a notorious street gang whose members still check in on owner-pharmacist Edwin Muldrow today. (Hawryluk, 12/23)

The Washington Post: Texas Abortion Law: Providers Seek Quick Resolution In Challenge After Supreme Court Ruling 
Abortion providers in Texas, eager to restore access to the procedure there, asked a federal appeals court on Wednesday to immediately return their case to a district judge in Austin who previously blocked the nation’s most restrictive abortion law. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is weighing whether to transfer the case instead temporarily to the Texas Supreme Court, a step requested by state officials that could delay resolution for months. (Marimow, 12/22)

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Gov. Mike DeWine Signs ‘Born Alive’ Bill That Could Shutter Last Two Southwest Ohio Abortion Clinics 
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a ‘born alive’ abortion bill that could close the last clinics in Dayton and Cincinnati, abortion opponents announced Wednesday afternoon. Pictures of DeWine’s signing the bill into law were captured and posted to Twitter by Ohio Right to Life, the Ohio Republican Party and the Center for Christian Virtue. The two organizations published the photos before the governor’s office made its official announcement. DeWine’s announcement didn’t include any personal quotes or feelings on the bill. However, DeWine has long supported restricting abortion rights. (Hancock, 12/23)

In other news from across the U.S. —

Modern Healthcare: More Employers, Unions Shifting Retirees From Traditional Medicare To MA
Come April 2022, more than a quarter million retired New York City government workers and their dependents are expected to transition from traditional Medicare to privatized health insurance. The city's move to insure retirees under a Medicare Advantage plan represents a trend among self-insured customers that has accelerated nationwide over the past decade. In December, 5 million MA members came from group plans sponsored by unions or employers, up 6% year-over-year and 132% from the 2.1 million enrollees a decade ago, according to the latest federal data. While enrollment through group plans represents a small portion of the 27.2 million total MA enrollees, these plans are growing in popularity as companies look to attract and retain talent during the Great Resignation and governments look to cut healthcare costs and offer additional benefits, said Brad Ellis, senior director of insurance at Fitch Ratings. (Tepper, 12/23)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Louisiana Saw Fifth Highest Population Loss In U.S. In 2021, According To New Estimates
Louisiana’s population shrank by more than 27,000 in the year ended July 1, the fifth biggest decline among U.S. states, as deaths rose and births dwindled due to the coronavirus pandemic and tens of thousands of more residents left the state than moved in, according to new Census Bureau estimates. The decline marks the fourth time in five years the state has lost residents and is the largest one-year decline since nearly 275,000 people were forced out of the state during Hurricane Katrina. (Adelson, 12/22)

AP: Authorities: Carbon Monoxide Caused Deaths Of 7 In Minnesota 
Seven members of an immigrant family from Honduras whose bodies were found inside a Minnesota home last weekend died of apparently accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, authorities said Wednesday. ... Police Chief Shannon Monroe said the carbon monoxide came from either the home’s furnace or a van in the garage. Technicians couldn’t find a defect in the furnace that would have sent carbon monoxide into the home. (Kolpack, 12/23)

And the Unabomber is transferred to a medical facility —

The Washington Post: Ted Kaczynski, The 79-Year-Old Unabomber, Transferred To Prison Medical Facility 
Theodore Kaczynski — who came to be known as the “Unabomber” for killing three people and injuring many more in a series of mail bombings over 17 years — has been transferred to a federal prison medical facility known for treating inmates with significant health problems, a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman said Wednesday. (Zapotosky, 12/22)

Reuters: AstraZeneca Vaccine Booster Works Against Omicron, Oxford Lab Study Finds 
A three-dose course of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the rapidly-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, the pharmaceutical company said on Thursday, citing data from an Oxford University lab study. (Aripaka, 12/23)

Bloomberg: Sinovac Vaccine Efficacy: Three Doses Fail To Protect Against Omicron In Study
Two doses and a booster of the Covid-19 vaccine made by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd., one of the most widely used in the world, didn’t produce sufficient levels of neutralizing antibodies to protect against the omicron variant, a laboratory study found. The research suggests that people who’ve received Sinovac’s shot, known as CoronaVac, should seek out a different vaccine for their booster: Getting Germany’s BioNTech SE’s messenger RNA as a third dose saw those previously fully vaccinated with CoronaVac significantly improve in protective levels of antibodies against omicron, according to the study from the University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. (Hong, 12/23)

Reuters: France Cancels Order For Merck's COVID-19 Antiviral Drug 
France has cancelled its order for Merck & Co's COVID-19 antiviral drug following disappointing trial data and hopes instead to receive Pfizer's competing drug before the end of January, the health minister said on Wednesday. (Spencer and Parodi, 12/22)

NBC News: Puerto Rico's High Vaccination Rates Help Minimize Hospitalizations Amid Surge
Two months ago, Puerto Rico led all states and U.S. territories in Covid-19 prevention and vaccination rates among adults and children. Now, with the rise of the omicron variant, Puerto Rico remains among the top three U.S. jurisdictions (alongside Vermont and Guam) with the highest rates of Covid-19 vaccinations, according to NBC News’ vaccination tracker. (Acevedo, 12/22)

In news about the Beijing Winter Olympics —

AP: China Puts 13 Million Residents In Lockdown Ahead Of Games 
China is redoubling efforts to control new virus outbreaks with a lockdown of the 13 million residents of the northern city of Xi’an following a spike in coronavirus cases. The measure comes just weeks before the country hosts the Winter Olympics in Beijing, roughly 1,000 kilometers (6210 miles) to the west. (12/23)

Reuters: Winter Olympics: China Expects COVID Cases Due To Games Arrivals, Flags Omicron Risk
Organisers of the Beijing Winter Olympics said on Thursday they expect a "certain number" of COVID-19 cases in China due to foreigners arriving for the Games, and strongly urged participants to get vaccination boosters due to the spread of the Omicron variant. Officials also sought to alleviate concerns about health care for participants prompted by COVID as well as an accident last month in a luge training session at the Beijing venue during which a Polish slider suffered a severe leg injury. (Tian, 12/23)

USA Today: COVID Deaths Obscured By Inaccurate Death Certificates
In late January, the official death toll from COVID-19 in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, stood at 210. At a makeshift memorial at a local Episcopal church, friends and relatives planted small, white flags representing how many people had died. Some inscribed flags with the names of those they had lost. But a couple hundred flags were missing. Those people almost certainly died from COVID-19, according to an examination of newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but their death certificates don’t mention it. Instead, they list conditions with symptoms that look a lot like COVID-19, such as Alzheimer’s disease, hypertension and diabetes. (12/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Behind A New Pill To Treat Covid: A Husband-And-Wife Team And A Hunch 
The bright orange capsule that could transform Covid-19 treatment wasn’t on the radar in January 2020 when the pandemic was unfolding. The drug had never been tested in humans. Lab experiments suggested people would need an enormous dose. And some scientists had raised concerns it might be toxic. Wayne Holman had a hunch. The antiviral, discovered by an Emory University scientist, had fought off two coronaviruses in lab experiments. It might work against the new coronavirus too, he thought. Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP, a company founded by Dr. Holman and his wife, Wendy Holman, licensed the drug’s rights. (McKay and Hopkins, 12/20)

The Wall Street Journal: The Pandemic Didn’t Unfold How Dr. Christine Hancock Expected 
On Feb. 26, Christine Hancock thought Jaime Milton was about to die. Her 48-year-old patient had skipped the dialysis that kept him alive. The day before, she called him six times before he picked up. He was gasping for breath and unable to complete a full sentence. Dr. Hancock told him he might not live until the next day. He promised to go to the hospital. When he failed to arrive at the emergency room, she called the police. He wouldn’t go with the paramedics who came to his house. (Mathews, 12/16)

Also —

The Washington Post: MIT Professor’s AI Predicts Breast Cancer Risk From Mammograms 
When Regina Barzilay returned to work after her breast cancer leave seven years ago, she was struck by an unexpected thought. The MIT artificial-intelligence expert had just endured chemotherapy, two lumpectomies and radiation at Massachusetts General Hospital, and all the brutal side effects that come along with those treatments. “I walked in the door to my office and thought, ‘We here at MIT are doing all this sophisticated algorithmic work that could have so many applications,’” Barzilay said. “‘And one subway stop away the people who could benefit from it are dying.’” (Zeitchik, 12/21)

The New York Times: ‘Schizophrenia’ Still Carries A Stigma. Will Changing The Name Help? 
For decades, Linda Larson has been trying to distance herself from the diagnosis she was given as a teenager: schizophrenia. She accepts that she has the mental disorder but deeply resents the term’s stigma. People hear it and think, “violent, amoral, unhygienic,” she said. Ms. Larson, 74, is part of a group trying to remove that association — by changing the name of the illness. The idea is that replacing the term “schizophrenia” with something less frightening and more descriptive will not only change how the public perceives people with the diagnosis, but also how these people see themselves. (Brown, 12/20)

The Boston Globe: ‘The Urgency Is Greater Than It Has Ever Been’: Four Suicides Rock WPI Campus As Colleges Grapple With Student Mental Health Concerns 
The first student loved Legos, the quiet camaraderie of hours spent alongside his classmates, piecing the tiny bricks into intricate designs of his own invention. The second played the bass guitar and liked venturing with his friends through the virtual worlds of Pokémon Go. The third was a heavy metal fan who shared their time at Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a circle of friends from their fraternity. The fourth, an Eagle Scout, led a Boy Scout trip to the vast wilderness of northern Minnesota; he spent the pandemic learning cooking and beekeeping. All four were students at WPI, a rigorous school filled with students who excel in science and technology, and have an eclectic array of other interests. And all four died in the last five months — three from suicide, and one from an apparent suicide, according to death records, the school, and family members. (Krantz, 12/20)

AP: Another Danger To Illicit Drug Users: Animal Tranquilizer
Brooke Goodwin came home one night last March after being out with friends. She had just turned 23 the day before, had a good job and was planning to go away with friends the following weekend. Her mother, whose bedroom is next door to the kitchen, heard her daughter get some food and go to bed. But Brooke never came downstairs the next day. Her older sister found her in her room. She had overdosed on a toxic mix of the powerful opioid fentanyl cut with xylazine, an animal sedative that is making its way into the illicit drug supply, particularly in the Northeast. (Rathke, 12/23)

The New York Times: How The Building Industry Blocked Better Tornado Safeguards 
After a tornado killed 162 people in Joplin, Mo., safety experts and cement manufacturers proposed a way to save lives: Require most new apartments, commercial structures and other large buildings in tornado-prone areas to have safe rooms — concrete boxes where people can shelter, even if the building around them is torn to shreds. Safe rooms provide “near-absolute protection” during a tornado, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They can cost as little as $15,000 for a small shelter in a commercial building, and possibly could have saved the six workers who died when a tornado destroyed the Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Ill., two weeks ago. But the 2012 proposal was blocked by a little-known organization that sets the building codes widely used by states and cities around the country.

Stat: How Medicine Erased Black Women From A 'White Man's Disease'
What Christi Taylor-Gentry remembers most about third grade are the times when the teaching stopped and she and her twin sister were sent out of the room. They were new at Lanier Elementary. Their parents were newly divorced, their mom living in a subdivision on the northwestern edge of Tulsa, Okla., with manmade ponds and curvy sidewalk-less streets. It was the 1970s — two decades after Brown v. Board of Education, but Tulsa schools had only just been dragged toward desegregation. Taylor-Gentry’s parents chose Lanier, on the south side: A school in the white part of town, they figured, would have more to put into their kids’ education. Every morning, before the 20-minute drive, she and her sister would wake at 5, submit to their mom’s vociferous combing or get a light comb-clunk on the head. (Boodman, 12/21)

Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Officer With Tourette, Fired For Uttering Racial Slur, Quits Legal Battle
A former Rogers police officer with Tourette syndrome recently gave up his legal battle to regain his job after being fired for saying a racial slur during a training exercise. Byron Flickinger sued the city on Oct. 8 in response to the Civil Service Commission upholding his firing at a Sept. 3 hearing. The lawsuit was dismissed Nov. 29 at Flickinger's request. George Rozzell, one of Flickinger's attorneys, said Thursday that his client resolved the matter with the city. Flickinger's appeal was in Benton County Circuit Court. "Mr. Flickinger is a dedicated police officer and will continue in that role," he said. Flickinger, 31, is now an officer with the Decatur Police Department. (Neal, 12/20)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Indepth: Children’s Healthcare Of Atlanta Amasses Immense Wealth As A Nonprofit Hospital System
Andy and Mandy Johnson were devastated when doctors told them their baby had an inoperable brain tumor. Determined to give their daughter a fighting chance, the Ben Hill County couple made a commitment to get the 7-month-old seen by clinicians at Children’s Scottish Rite Hospital. So for most of her young life, Ashlynn, who is now 4, has made weekly trips under blankets in the backseat of her parents’ car to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. For her parents, that has meant hours on the road from daybreak to nightfall, nursing a sick toddler, while leaving behind their two other young children at home in Fitzgerald, nearly 200 miles away. (Berard, 12/19)

In obituaries —

The New York Times: Darby Penney, Who Crusaded For Better Psychiatric Care, Dies At 68 
In 1995, the old Willard Psychiatric Center in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York was closed down, and hundreds of dusty trunks and suitcases that belonged to deceased patients were found in an attic. Many of those patients had never left Willard, which opened in 1869, their lives concluding in unmarked graves in its cemetery. Much like those graves, this trove of objects was destined to be forgotten. But that changed when a crusading New York State Office of Mental Health worker named Darby Penney learned of its existence. (Vadukul, 12/21)

The New York Times: Anne Emerman, Champion of Disability Rights, Dies at 84
Anne Emerman, a lifelong New York City activist for the civil rights of people with disabilities, was particularly outspoken about voting rights. When asked in 1991 why, if she couldn’t get to her polling place, she couldn’t just vote by absentee ballot, she replied: “I am not absent, I am not on vacation, I am part of my community.” Her answer reflected her belief that unless people with disabilities could show up at the ballot box and be seen as voters, they would be ignored by politicians. (Seelye, 12/22)

USA Today: COVID Nurse Feeling The Toll Of Treating Virus Patients
Two years ago, at age 52, nurse Amy Rosenberg had her first panic attack. She works full time on a COVID-19 unit but this day, she was sitting behind the wheel in a car wash and she felt trapped. “That’s when I realized I now have claustrophobia,” she said. “Because of what I do to people. You get intubated, you get strapped, you get flipped. I realized that’s my biggest fear: That it could happen to me.” (Connie Schultz, 12/23)

The Atlantic: Omicron Is The Beginning Of The End 
It feels like everyone I know has COVID. During earlier stages of the pandemic, most of my friends were spared a direct brush with the virus. Perhaps they used to be much more careful. Or perhaps they were just lucky. Whatever the reason, their good fortune has now run out. Seven close friends recently told me they had tested positive. Several more strongly suspect they have COVID but are unable to get their hands on a test. Thankfully, everyone has decidedly mild symptoms (no doubt in part because they all are vaccinated and they are not in high-risk categories). (Yascha Mounk, 12/22)

Bloomberg: Rapid Tests Can Save Christmas, If You Can Find Them 
As terrifying as the rapidly spreading omicron variant is, fewer Americans should have to spend the holidays alone this year out of fear of contracting Covid-19. Not only do we have life-saving vaccines. For many people, rapid tests can effectively flag those who are likely to be infectious, allowing others to gather safely. Sadly, many people won’t be able to get those tests when they’d do the most good — right before a holiday visit. We can hope that President Joe Biden's pledge to get 500 million free tests mailed out to any U.S. household that requests one will help remedy the underuse of an important pandemic control tactic. (Faye Flam, 12/22)

Stat: An Omicron Oddity: Unlinking Case Rates And Death Rates 
Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, the case fatality rate was frightening. This metric represents the proportion of all known people infected with a disease who die from it. The World Health Organization initially put it as high as nearly 16% in Algeria. Several colleagues and I at Vital Transformation began closely following the data on Covid-19 early in the pandemic. We wondered if case fatality rates might be skewed by lack of testing. We collected data on various indictors that early on were thought to be influencing the spread of Covid-19. (Duane Schulthess, 12/22)

The Tennessean: Moderna Has Moral Obligation To Do More In Fight Against COVID-19
These days, it is hard to avoid getting caught up in the daily churn over mask and vaccine mandates. Log into Facebook or turn on any cable news station and you will hear plenty of opinions from good folks with differing and deeply held point of views. Wherever one falls on the ideological spectrum about the appropriate next steps in the fight against COVID-19, it is worth taking a step back to marvel at how far our country has come in the last 12 months. (Joe Ingle, 12/22)

The New York Times: A Message From Britain On Using Rapid Tests 
Since 2020, Britain has used rapid at-home antigen tests to help combat the spread of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. Today, these tests are widely available for anyone who wants them, free of charge (though there have been shortages during the Omicron surge). People in Britain are encouraged to use them regularly and before attending events like games or concerts. (Alan McNally, 12/23)

USA Today: COVID Pandemic Will End When Countries Stop Hoarding Vaccines
As 2021 draws to a close, it’s a good time to look back, and to look forward. This has been another tough year, but there’s also a lot to be grateful for. While no country is out of the woods from the pandemic, we have many new tools to prevent and treat COVID-19. Nearly 9 billion doses of vaccine have been administered globally, saving millions of lives. (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, 12/22)

The Washington Post: The Covid Blame Game Focuses On The Wrong Thing 
For nearly two years, many Americans have treated coronavirus infections as something that can, and should, be avoided by rigorous, proscribed behavior. You should have known better than to go into that restaurant! What, you went to a wedding? Did you wear a mask? Did everyone else? Was it indoors? (Helanie Olen, 12/22)

NBC News: Covid's Mental Health Toll Makes Therapists Hard To Find. Insurance Companies Make It Harder.
Ask anyone about a recent experience trying to find a therapist and you will be regaled with stories of unreturned calls, long waitlists and hopelessness. If they need a therapist who takes insurance, the stories quickly become nightmares. (Maggie Mulqueen, 12/22)

USA Today: We Need To Battle The Overdose Epidemic And COVID-19 Pandemic
The United States passed grim milestone after grim milestone over the course of the coronavirus pandemic. People were forced to live in the shadows, exist in isolation and were oftentimes driven to the brink of despair. As a result, our nation passed a different, albeit equally heartbreaking milestone: a record number of Americans dying as a result of a drug overdose. (Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, 12/22)

Chicago Tribune: The Notorious Sackler Family, Owner Of Purdue Pharma, Points The Way To Reform 
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon found that a bankruptcy court overstepped its authority by approving a settlement deal giving the Sacklers immunity from lawsuits in return for $4.5 billion — a fraction of the fortune they made by lying about the dangers of their synthetic painkiller, OxyContin. The family members have denied many of the allegations against them, and none has accepted full responsibility for ruined lives and economic damage from opioid addiction. They should have been stopped back in 2007, when Purdue admitted that it had falsely marketed OxyContin as nonaddictive and had submitted false claims to the federal government for medically unnecessary prescriptions. (12/22)

Stat: I Work In A Locked Psychiatric Ward. These Days, You Do Too
At parties, I used to explain to people who wanted to know what I do — I’m a psychiatrist — that caring for people with mental illness on a psych ward is like working in a place apart from the world. I don’t say that anymore. These days, the whole world feels like the psych ward. Everyone is discouraged by past harms and present fears. The people who need meds the most are the most reluctant to take them. Most everyone wants out, but many worry they will never leave, and everyone wonders how things will be on the other side. (Abraham Nussbaum, 12/23)

Modern Healthcare: The Many Roles Of An Emergency Department Chaplain 
"ACTIVE SHOOTER, multiple casualties" scrolled across my large screen TV. I dropped everything, grabbed my credentials, and headed toward the hospital. My phone rang as I approached the entrance. The emergency department coordinator blurted, "Dr. Tom, can you come NOW? We need you." I answered, "I'm already on my way. Be there shortly." (Rev. Thomas C. Tucker, 12/20)

The Star Tribune: Don't Let Desperate Front-Line Heroes Struggle Alone 
I feel as if two cultures are competing for our attention. As a physician, it can seem like I'm living in two starkly different worlds. The first world I see around me is one where people are tired after a couple of years of uncertainty and working to hold their heads above water. They avoid talking about COVID-19 and focus on the positive. They're in emotional survival mode. The second world I see around me is a world of continued suffering and pain in the hospitals and a feeling by those who are faced with it directly that their suffering is not recognized. (Erin Meyers, 12/22)