Different Takes: Should We Develop An Omicron Vaccine?; Kids Should Stop Masking In School After Omicron

Bloomberg: Should You Get A Vaccine Targeting Omicron? New Covid Jab Has To Meet 3 Tests 
The omicron variant may be infecting people who’ve already had Covid, as well as those who have been fully vaccinated, at a far higher rate than previously thought. But does that mean an omicron-specific vaccine is warranted? After all, the strain has been shown to be much milder and such a targeted vaccine might not work against some new post-omicron variant. (Therese Raphael and Sam Fazeli, 1/27)

The New York Times: Mandatory School Masking Should End After The Omicron Surge
Elissa Perkins, the director of infectious disease management in the emergency department of the Boston Medical Center, told me she spent most of 2020 “imploring everybody I could in every forum that I could to mask.” In the beginning, she said, this was to flatten the curve, and later to protect the vulnerable. But masking, she said, “was intended to be a short-term intervention,” and she believes we haven’t talked enough about the drawbacks of mandating them for kids long-term. (Michelle Goldberg, 1/28)

Los Angeles Times: We Pleaded For Social Distancing Here In San Quentin. The State Refused, And Now COVID Is Raging
I am fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19. I do everything I can to follow the CDC’s guidelines for protecting myself against infection. Yet I fear catching COVID-19 a second time from the sick people all around me in San Quentin State Prison. I am one of 300 plaintiffs who sued the state of California, seeking a court order that would have forced prison officials to ease overcrowding and house one person to each cell, instead of two. Our goal was to increase social distancing in the enclosed, unventilated housing units that are packed at well more than 100% of intended capacity. (Juan Moreno Haines, 1/28)

The Baltimore Sun: University Of Maryland’s ‘Heavy-Handed’ Booster Mandate Not Warranted By Science 
When historians look back at the COVID-19 pandemic, one of many confounding details will be the enthusiasm with which colleges and universities imposed ever-expanding draconian measures on their low-risk student body. Hundreds of U.S. colleges required all faculty, staff, and students to be vaccinated upon Emergency Use Authorization of COVID vaccines. Yet students remain masked indoors (and sometimes out), subject to random asymptomatic testing and limited in their social life. (Chrissa Carlson, 1/28)

The Washington Post: Gov. DeSantis Knows These Covid Treatments Don’t Work. He’s Pushing Them Anyway
If a loved one were sick with the omicron variant and in a hospital, and someone offered a drug that the Food and Drug Administration had prohibited because it didn’t work against omicron, and the manufacturer agreed the treatment wasn’t effective, and the American Medical Association also agreed, and scientific studies showed it wasn’t working, would you urge them to take it anyway? What would you think of the person who offered it? (1/27)

Chicago Tribune: Mask Rules At Chicago’s Museums Have Been Harsh On My Special-Needs Child 
As I showed the worker our five tickets to the Museum of Science and Industry, he looked at my unmasked son and asked how old he was. “Three years old,” I responded. The employee informed me that people over the age of 2 must wear a face covering, unless they request special accommodations in advance, or they won’t be allowed inside. My son was born with a genetic disorder called tuberous sclerosis complex. It causes the brain to develop irregularly, often resulting in cognitive delays and sensory issues, which make my son unwilling to cover his face and unable to understand the ramifications. I explained all of this to museum staff members. They listened sympathetically, but he couldn’t stay. “I’m sorry,” they explained. “It’s our policy.” Thus continued my family’s often-fraught journey through the diverse patchwork of COVID-19 mask rules. (Brian Smith, 1/27)