AP: Manchin Upends Biden's Agenda, Won't Back $2 Trillion Bill
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin all but delivered a death blow to President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion domestic initiative, throwing his party’s agenda into jeopardy, infuriating the White House and leaving angry colleagues desperate to salvage what’s left of a top priority. The West Virginia senator’s brazen announcement, delivered on “Fox News Sunday” after only a cursory heads-up to the president’s staff, potentially derails not only Biden’s “Build Back Better Act,” but sparks fresh questions over passing voting rights legislation and potentially other significant bills that would require his vote in the 50-50 Senate. (Mascaro, Fram and Yen, 12/19)

Politico: White House Lights Up Manchin After He Crushes Biden's Megabill 
With an evenly split Senate, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer needs every Democrat to go along with the legislation, which only requires a simple majority vote. That dynamic gives Manchin enormous leverage over Biden's agenda, allowing him to single-handedly sink a priority that Democrats have spent much of the year working on. Manchin’s rollout on Fox News infuriated Democrats Sunday morning. Psaki said that the senator had brought Biden an outline of a bill similar in size and scope that "could lead to a compromise acceptable to all." (Everett, Wu and Lemire, 12/19)

The Hill: White House Says Manchin Went Back On His Word 
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) opposition to President Biden's social spending package was "a breach of his commitments," calling his reversal on the bill "inexplicable." "Senator Manchin’s comments this morning on FOX are at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances," Psaki said in a statement on Sunday shortly after Manchin told Fox's Bret Baier that he was a "no" on the legislation. (Gangitano, 12/19)

NBC News: 'Betrayed': House Progressives Erupt Over Manchin Build Back Better Opposition
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., led the progressive charge in denouncing Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V.a., on Sunday after he said he would not support President Joe Biden's Build Back Better Act. "Today, Senator Manchin has betrayed his commitment not only to the President and Democrats in Congress but most importantly, to the American people," Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in a statement. "He routinely touts that he is a man of his word, but he can no longer say that. West Virginians, and the country, see clearly who he is." (Finn, 12/19)

What next? —

NBC News: Democrats Plot Next Steps After Manchin Knifes Biden's Build Back Better Act
Democrats, stunned and angry at Sen. Joe Manchin's move Sunday to knife the Build Back Better Act, are grappling with whether President Joe Biden's signature legislation can be salvaged in a smaller form. Based on remarks by Manchin, D-W.Va., some lawmakers see a glimmer of hope that the roughly $2 trillion bill could still be restructured to meet his demands, albeit with painful sacrifices. Put another way: The patient may not have a heartbeat, but they believe it can still be resuscitated. (Kapur, 12/20)

Politico: Dems Trip Over Their Own Sky-High Expectations 
As 2021 draws to a close on an exceedingly sour note for their party, some Senate Democrats conceded in recent days that they need to talk more about accomplishments — and less about aspirations. "Our greatest skill is not how we sell our programs. We spend a lot of time trying to create programs that really help people," said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), a freshman who flipped a GOP seat last fall. “We created a bipartisan infrastructure bill. When I started, people told me it was impossible, it would never happen. So on that level it’s successful. Is it successful on a grander level? No.” (Levine and Everett, 12/19)

Politico: How 14 Policies Could Survive — Or Die — After Manchin’s ‘No’ 
Here‘s where Manchin stands on individual pieces of the president’s plan: What’s in it: Expanded Medicare benefits to include dental, vision and hearing. That coverage would be phased in over most of the next decade. Manchin's take: Manchin objected to adding new benefits, warning the entitlement program is headed toward insolvency in its present form. He eventually acceded to a pared-back plan to cover just hearing, but then said that even those benefits may be a problem — citing concerns about the program’s cash flow. (Scholtes, Bustillo and Choi, 12/19)

Also —

Bloomberg: Goldman Cuts US GDP Forecast After Manchin Rejects Biden's $2 Trillion Bill 
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its forecast for U.S. economic growth after Senator Joe Manchin rejected the Biden administration’s roughly $2 trillion tax-and-spend program, leaving Democrats with few options for reviving the economic agenda. (Heath and Chua, 12/19)

The Washington Post: Moderna Says Booster Protects Well Against Omicron Coronavirus Variant
Vaccine manufacturer Moderna said Monday that a booster dose of its coronavirus vaccine significantly raised antibody levels against the omicron variant, amid growing concerns about its rapid spread in the United States. A booster dose of Moderna’s vaccine — half the dose used in the original shots for adults — increased antibody levels against omicron by 37 times, the company said in a statement, citing preliminary data. Those antibodies “should provide some good level of protection as we go into the holiday season,” Paul Burton, Moderna’s chief medical officer, said in an interview. (Pietsch, 12/20)

NBC News: Moderna Says Covid Booster Effective Against Omicron, But Will Still Develop New Shot
The drug company said its currently FDA-approved 50 microgram booster was found to increase neutralizing antibody levels against omicron 37-fold compared to pre-boost levels. Meanwhile, it found that a 100 microgram booster dose gave an 83-fold increase in neutralizing antibody levels. The company said it would still be working to develop an omicron-specific booster, however, with the shot expected to advance into clinical trials in early 2022.(DaSilva, 12/20)

And Moderna has halted its patent dispute with the U.S. government —

Stat: Moderna Pauses Bitter Dispute With The NIH Over Covid-19 Vaccine Patents
Moderna has halted a rancorous patent dispute with the U.S. government over assigning credit for its Covid-19 vaccine, saying the ongoing quarrel “could interfere with further discussions aimed at an amicable resolution” with the National Institutes of Health. The move comes amid intensifying complaints that many vaccine makers are failing to make their intellectual property available so that still other companies can produce vaccines needed for a global eradication campaign. Moderna, which recently projected $18 billion in vaccine sales this year, has been a particular focus of criticism because U.S. taxpayers provided $2.5 billion to help develop the shot. (Silverman, 12/19)

Also —

Modern Healthcare: Pfizer, Moderna CEOs Top Modern Healthcare's Most Influential List
COVID-19 vaccines teased hope of a return to normal while igniting a fierce debate concerning the government’s and private employers’ authority to mandate measures aimed at ending a generational public health crisis. Pfizer, Moderna and BioNTech produced vaccines for the deadliest global outbreak in the last century, which is why Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel top Modern Healthcare's Most Influential People in Healthcare in 2021. Pfizer's influence and scope gave Bourla an advantage over Bancel. Meanwhile, vaccine mandates exacerbated underlying political tensions, evoking rancorous opposition. (12/18)

NBC News: Pfizer Is Testing A Third Covid Vaccine Dose In Young Kids, Delaying Trial Results
Pfizer and BioNTech are testing a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine in an ongoing trial of children ages 6 months to under 5 years after the companies found that the two-dose regimen didn’t generate a strong enough immune response in some children, the companies announced Friday. The change to the trial protocol means that the companies won't have data to submit to regulators until the first half of 2022. That's a change from earlier this month, when Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the company could have data on young kids by the end of this year. (Lovelace Jr., 12/17)

Fox News: Low-Dose Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Fails In Trial On 2 To 5 Year Olds
A low dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine failed to produce an adequate response in children aged two to five years of age. The companies announced the results from ongoing critical trials on Friday and said that after testing children 6 months to 5 years of age with one-tenth of the adult dose, children between 6 months and 2 years produced an immune response similar to people aged 16 to 25 after two doses but children between 2 and 5 did not. (Mark Miller, 12/17)

CNN: Pfizer's Child-Sized Vaccine Fails To Produce Expected Immunity In Younger Kids; Company Adds Third Dose To Trials 
It showed that two child-sized doses of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine were not producing the expected immunity in the 2- to 5-year-olds, although they were doing so for the babies up to age 2.So the company said it would "amend" the trial to add a third dose. "The study will now include evaluating a third dose of 3 micrograms at least two months after the second dose of the two-dose series to provide high levels of protection in this young age group," it said. (Fox and Langmaid, 12/17)

And another death is linked to the Pfizer shot —

Reuters: New Zealand Links 26-Year-Old Man's Death To Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine 
New Zealand authorities on Monday said they had linked a 26-year-old man's death to Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine after the person suffered myocarditis, a rare inflammation of the heart muscle, after taking his first dose. The death is New Zealand's second linked to a known but rare side effect from the vaccine after health authorities in August reported a woman had died after taking her doses. (12/19)

In other news from Pfizer —

Fox News: Pfizer COVID-19 Pill May Not See Approval For 'Months' Despite 'Impressive' Data
The new Pfizer COVID-19 pill may not see Emergency Use Authorization for another month as health officials continue to highlight the promising effects it may bring. Dr. Anthony Fauci praised the data presented by Pfizer regarding the COVID pill, which someone would take within 48 hours of showing symptoms and continue to take for three to five days. Initial trial data indicates that the pill is up to 90% effective at preventing serious illness and death, which has prompted Pfizer and officials to seek Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). Under the authorization, hospitals could administer the pill for treatment in extreme cases. (Aitken, 12/19)

CNBC: Pfizer Executives Say Covid Could Become Endemic By 2024
Covid will become an endemic disease as early as 2024, Pfizer executives said Friday, meaning the virus will transition from a global emergency to a constant presence causing regional outbreaks across the world — much like the flu. “We believe Covid will transition to an endemic state, potentially by 2024,” Nanette Cocero, global president of Pfizer Vaccines, said during an investor call Friday. (Miao, 12/17)

Bloomberg: Vaccine Data Gaps Point To Millions More In U.S. Who Lack Shots
The U.S. government has over-counted the number of Americans who are at least partly vaccinated against the coronavirus, state officials warn, meaning millions more people are unprotected as the pandemic’s winter surge gathers steam. Last weekend, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised a bellwether metric -- the share of people 65 and older with at least one shot. The agency reduced the proportion from 99.9%, where it had been capped for weeks, to 95%, without changing its raw shot totals. The move acknowledged a dynamic state officials have discovered: in collating reams of data on vaccinations, the U.S. has counted too many shots as first doses when they are instead second doses or booster shots. (Wingrove, 12/18)

Reuters: U.S. Administers 495 Mln Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccines - CDC 
The United States has administered 495,101,938 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Sunday morning and distributed 605,236,885 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 493,632,529 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Saturday out of 605,954,475 doses delivered. (12/19)

The Washington Post: Less Than A Third Of People Have Boosters In The U.S., And Some Medical Experts Are Calling For More Urgency 
Officials and public health experts are strengthening their calls for people to get booster shots as the omicron variant proliferates across the United States, where less than a third of the fully vaccinated population has received an additional coronavirus vaccine dose. As of Sunday, more than 60.2 million booster doses had been administered across the country — that’s enough for about 30 percent of the fully vaccinated U.S. population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 54 percent of vaccinated people 65 years and older have gotten a booster, the CDC said. (Firozi and Villegas, 12/19)

In more news on the vaccine rollout —

The Hill: Nursing Homes Scramble To Get Residents Boosted
Nursing homes are scrambling to get residents vaccinated with coronavirus booster shots, as the looming omicron wave brings new urgency to the effort. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 55 percent of nursing home residents have received a booster shot, despite being eligible for more than two months. Officials more recently said the number has risen to 60 percent.  Infections among nursing home residents have been rising in recent weeks, averaging close to 4,000 new cases a week. (Weixel, 12/19)

Politico: Colorado Governor Supports Redefining What It Means To Be Fully Vaccinated 
After a series of controversial remarks about the pandemic, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Sunday said his state is likely headed toward changing the definition of what it means to be “fully vaccinated” to a three-dose regimen. “It looks like from everything that we know that to significantly reduce the risk of the Omicron variant, three doses of the vaccine are needed,” Polis told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press.” (Greene, 12/19)

AP: Troops Find Religious Exemption For Vaccines Unattainable 
More than 12,000 military service members refusing the COVID-19 vaccine are seeking religious exemptions, and so far they are having zero success. That total lack of approvals is creating new tensions within the military, even as the vast majority of the armed forces have gotten vaccinated. The services, urgently trying to keep the coronavirus pandemic in check by getting troops vaccinated, are now besieged with exemption requests they are unlikely to approve. Meanwhile, troops claiming religious reasons for avoiding the shots are perplexed because exemptions are theoretically available, yet seem impossible to obtain. (Baldor, 12/19)

KHN: Vaccine Promoters Struggle To Get People Boosted In California’s Fields 
Since the start of the pandemic, Luz Gallegos and her team of 56 advocates for immigrants have battled the scorching sun, illiteracy and deadly propaganda in the fields and fruit groves of the Coachella Valley. As they fanned out to educate farmworkers on how to protect themselves from covid-19, they quickly learned that rumors and disinformation often account for most of the news farmworkers in the area are getting about the disease. The need for boosters and the looming threat of the omicron variant have made covid communication extra challenging. (de Marco, 12/20)

KHN: The Vaccine Rollout Was A Success. But Events Within And Beyond Biden’s Control Stymied Progress
Eleven months ago, President Joe Biden assumed office during one of the most critical moments of the covid-19 pandemic. Case counts and death rates were shockingly high. The vaccine rollout, which had started under former President Donald Trump, was disjointed. People were generally sequestered in their homes, and kids were relegated to remote learning. Biden promised to change all that. He said he would differ from Trump in that he would listen to the scientists, encourage the use of masks and give the federal government a stronger role in addressing the pandemic. He also pledged to deliver the “most efficient mass vaccination plan in U.S. history” and to get 100 million covid shots administered in his first 100 days. (Knight, 12/20)

KHN: Journalists Review Public Views On Vaccines And The Arc Of Covid Testing
KHN correspondent Rachana Pradhan discussed how the public opinion of vaccines has changed in the past year with Newsy on Tuesday and how supply chain disruptions hurt hospital care with KCRW’s “Press Play” podcast. ... KHN interim Southern bureau editor Andy Miller discussed the health and economic benefits of testing incarcerated people for HIV on WUGA’s “Georgia Health Report” on Dec. 10. (12/18)

AP: Fauci Says Omicron Variant Is `Just Raging Around The World'
The COVID-19 omicron variant is “just raging around the world,” the White House’s top medical adviser said Sunday as President Joe Biden prepares to issue “a stark warning of what the winter will look like” for unvaccinated Americans. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “the real problem” for the U.S. hospital system is that “we have so many people in this country who are eligible to be vaccinated who have not yet been vaccinated.” (Boak, 12/19)

NPR: U.S. Could See 1 Million Cases Per Day, Warns Departing NIH Director Francis Collins
After spending more than 12 years as director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins is retiring this weekend. But he's no less worried about the public health agency's latest pandemic curveball. As the omicron variant threatens record-breaking rates of infections in the U.S., Collins departs with a warning. If Americans don't take COVID-19 seriously, the country could see 1 million daily infections, he said. "We cannot afford to let down our guard," Collins told NPR's Scott Detrow in an interview with Weekend Edition. (Bowman, 12/19)

And President Joe Biden will address the nation Tuesday —

CBS News: Biden To Deliver Address On COVID Omicron Variant Tuesday 
President Biden plans to speak about the Omicron variant on Tuesday, a White House official confirmed to CBS News. Mr. Biden's speech comes as the nation sees a spike in COVID-19 cases. "Building off his Winter Plan, the President will announce new steps the Administration is taking to help communities in need of assistance, while also issuing a stark warning of what the winter will look like for Americans that choose to remain unvaccinated," the official said. (Ake and Reardon, 12/18)

New York says it needs federal help to deal with the omicron surge —

Politico: De Blasio Tells Biden: New York Needs Help Now
Outgoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is urging the Biden administration to send help as the Covid-19 Omicron variant rises dramatically in the city's five boroughs. The variant's lightning-fast spread in the city forced the cancellation of Radio City Music Hall's annual "Christmas Spectacular" over the weekend and led Saturday Night Live to broadcast without a live studio audience and with a smaller cast. (Garcia, 12/19)

CBS News: De Blasio Says NYC Will Ramp Up Testing Amid COVID-19 Surge And Omicron Fears
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday that New York City will be opening more testing sites amid the spike in COVID-19 cases and fears of the new Omicron variant. With long lines at testing sites reported throughout the city, de Blasio said the "world has changed" and the demand in testing is "unlike we have ever seen before, just like we have a surge in cases just like we have never seen before." (Linton, 12/19)

The Washington Post: Lawmakers, Business Leaders Raise Alarms About Dwindling Federal Aid As Covid Cases Rise 
The swift arrival of a new coronavirus variant has rekindled economic anxieties in Washington, as congressional lawmakers, business leaders and consumer advocates begin to worry whether there is enough federal aid to shield Americans from another round of financial despair. Over the course of the nearly two-year pandemic, Congress has committed nearly $6 trillion toward combating the contagion and bringing a battered economy back from the brink. But some of the most significant programs to keep businesses afloat and help households pay bills have expired or run out of funds, raising new risks for the future of the country’s recovery, particularly as the omicron variant wave begins to take hold. (Romm, 12/19)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Doctors, Nurses Getting Hit, Spit On In COVID-19 Surge
Doctors, nurses and other hospital workers already face the deadly threat of the coronavirus daily as they report to Michigan hospitals. Now, they're facing additional threats during the state's fourth COVID-19 surge that is filling hospitals -- violence and hostility from patients and the patients' loved ones. Hospital staffers are joining the inauspicious ranks of other public-facing workers -- such as grocery store, restaurant, retail and airline employees -- who are being berated and even physically assaulted by frustrated and inconsiderate customers scoffing at and lashing out against pandemic protection rules. (Hall, 12/20)

Chicago Tribune: Hospital Beds Scarcer Than Ever During COVID-19 Pandemic
Illinois hospitals are being flooded with patients more than at any other time of the pandemic, a Tribune analysis of state data has found, with fewer beds open than during the deadliest COVID-19 surge a year earlier. State regulators say hospitals become “seriously stressed” in regions where bed availability drops below 20%. As of Thursday night, intensive care units in the region covering DuPage and Kane counties averaged 15% of their beds available, and that’s the best rate in the Chicago area. At worst, the rate was 7% for hospitals in the region covering Will and Kankakee counties. (Mahr, Schencker and Petrella, 12/17)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Full ICUs, 100 Dying A Day: The Winter Coronavirus Surge Is Straining Pa.’s Health-Care System
Hospitals across much of Pennsylvania are at capacity, health-care workers are exhausted and stretched thin, and about 100 people a day are dying from the coronavirus as the winter surge worsens. A quarter of the state had no or few ICU beds available by week’s end, and about two-thirds of counties were down to their last available hospital beds. Over the last few weeks, average new infections and hospitalizations have climbed, particularly in central and western parts of the state, making Pennsylvania among the worst-hit states this winter. (McDaniel and McCarthy, 12/18)

Axios: Ohio National Guard Dispatched To Hospitals As COVID Cases Surge
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Friday that he has mobilized 1,050 members of the National Guard to assist with COVID-related staffing issues in hospitals across the state. More than 4,700 people are currently hospitalized in Ohio for COVID — equating to 1 in every 5 hospital patients, according to DeWine's office. "This is the highest number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 this year, and the number of hospitalized patients is rapidly approaching an all-time high." (Chen, 12/18)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

CNN: 3 Democratic Lawmakers Announce Positive Covid-19 Tests
Three Democratic members of Congress announced Sunday that they have breakthrough coronavirus infections. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey as well as Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado shared that they had tested positive for Covid-19 via tweets from their official accounts. They all reported having received Covid-19 booster shots and experiencing mild symptoms. (Clary, 12/19)

Houston Chronicle: Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner Says He Has COVID-19, Plans To Isolate
“I was not feeling well overnight and thought I was suffering from allergies or a sinus infection, so I decided to get tested before starting my daily schedule,” Turner said in a statement released by his office. The diagnosis comes as cases are again rising in the region. Average daily cases in the Texas Medical Center reached an eight-week high, officials confirmed earlier this week, tripling the daily caseload of the previous week. That has led to a renewed focus on vaccine preparedness before the Christmas travel period, including a free citywide vaccine clinic in downtown Houston on Friday, where Turner was supposed to be among the featured guests. (Begley and Bauman, 12/17)

Axios: Washington State Senator Dies Month After Revealing COVID Illness 
Washington state Sen. Doug Ericksen, a rigid conservative, died last Friday at age 52, his family confirmed in a statement Saturday. The Washington Republican's death Friday came a month after he told a local radio station that he had tested positive for coronavirus while in El Salvador, per CNN. Ericksen's cause of death has not been made public. Ericksen was elected to the state Senate after serving six terms in the state House, according to his website. (Reyes, 12/19)

The CT Mirror: A Cancer Patient Was Sent To Prison For DUI. He Died Behind Bars Of COVID.
William Lamprecht stood before the judge in a Torrington courtroom in September fearing the four months he was about to spend in prison would become a death sentence. The 62-year-old man, who had been battling an alcohol and drug addiction for years, was awaiting his fate after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol in New Milford last year. But cocaine and vodka weren’t the only things destroying his body – Lamprecht also was fighting follicular lymphoma, for which he took Truxima – a drug his doctor warned the court could cause immunosuppression. (Altimari and Lyons, 12/19)

Also —

Fox News: Move Over Superman, COVID-19 ‘Super Immunity’ Possible After Breakthrough Infections, Study Finds
Even though there’s only one Superman, "super immunity" may be possible in vaccinated patients who develop COVID-19 breakthrough infections. These patients generate antibodies that were as much as 1,000% more effective than compared to those generated two weeks after the second Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, according to a Journal of the American Medical Association article published this week. "We have not examined the omicron variant specifically, but based on the results of this study we would anticipate that breakthrough infections from the omicron variant will generate a similarly strong immune response among vaccinated people," senior author Dr. Fikadu Tafesse noted in a press release. (Sudhakar, 12/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Monoclonal Antibodies Can Save Lives. But Bay Area Sees Worryingly Few Takers
Most days, Total Infusion, an Oakland clinic that administers monoclonal antibody treatment to patients with COVID-19, is quiet — too quiet, says the center’s director of infusion therapy, Kee Conti. “Our chairs are empty,” Conti said. “My refrigerator is full of therapeutics, and there are patients that need them and just aren’t getting the message.” In November, Total Infusion gave monoclonal antibodies to fewer than 100 people — even though it has the capacity, staff and supply to double that. Meanwhile, more and more people across the Bay Area and state are testing positive for COVID in what looks to be a lead-up to a winter surge and are likely candidates for the treatment. (Ho, 12/18)

The Washington Post: What Home Supplies Should You Have If Someone Is Infected? 
It’s a good idea to keep some basic supplies at home if you do get a case of covid-19 that doesn’t require hospitalization. Sterling N. Ransone, a family physician in Deltaville, Va., and president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, recommends putting together a kit with a few of these key items. (12/19)

In updates on covid testing —

The CT Mirror: Sema4 Pulls Out Of COVID Testing Contract With State
Sema4, the Stamford-based laboratory ensnared in a controversy over investments made by first lady Annie Lamont’s venture capital firm, has informed public health officials and its investors that it will no longer provide COVID testing, leaving the state without one of its key partners as the demand for testing rises. Sema4 was one of four companies hired in July by the Department of Public Health to manage 23 testing sites across the state, according to DPH officials. The company notified some of its testing partners this week that it will exit the testing business by mid-January and return to its core business, which is genomic testing. (Altimari and Phillips, 12/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Tests Get Harder To Find As Omicron Variant Spreads 
Waiting times for Covid-19 tests are growing in parts of the U.S. as concerns over the Omicron variant, new infections and the coming holidays drive up demand. Websites for CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. showed some parts of the country with no available testing appointments until later next week or more than a week out. CVS said people might need to wait a couple of days to get a test appointment in places where demand is high. A Walgreens spokeswoman said availability varies by region. (Abbott and Terlep, 12/19)

USA Today: 'Everything Was So Confusing': 44 People Test Positive For COVID On Royal Caribbean Symphony Of The Seas Ship
At least 44 people on board Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas ship that ended a 7-day cruise in Miami on Saturday were positive for COVID-19 during the sailing, the cruise line said. Those 44 people who tested positive represented 0.72% of the 6,074 passengers and crew members on board Symphony of the Seas, which left Miami on Dec. 11and made stops in St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Perfect Day at CocoCay (Royal Caribbean's private island), spokesperson Lyan Sierra-Caro told USA TODAY. (Hines, 12/19)

The New York Times: Covid Surge Puts Many Americans On Edge About Traveling 
Across the nation, Covid-19 cases are surging and the Omicron variant is spreading, throwing the scheduling of schools, concerts and sports leagues into question. Just days away from a holiday weekend, Americans are also grappling with whether to change their traveling or gathering plans. Millions are forging ahead, but, for many, a sense of unease has crept in. “My entire family is pretty uncertain about what to do there, what the rules should be,” Max Farmer, 24, who lives in San Francisco, said. “With Omicron, there’s just a lot of uncertainty.” (Heyward, 12/19)

The Hill: NIH Director: Holiday Travel For Unvaccinated 'Not A Great Idea' 
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins said on Sunday that holiday travel would not be advisable for unvaccinated people due to the quickly spreading omicron variant. Appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation," Collins said that any travel should be done "very carefully." "I think airplanes, now with required masking, probably being on an airplane is a fairly safe place to be. But think about how you're going to get there and how you can make sure you're safe along the way," said Collins. (Choi, 12/19)

In other travel and recreation news —

The New York Times: New York City Weighs Fate Of New Year’s Eve Celebration
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city was weighing whether the annual New Year’s Eve ball-drop celebration in Times Square would be held as planned amid the Omicron virus variant’s rapid spread through New York City.Mr. de Blasio said Sunday that he was in talks with the sponsors of the gathering, but noted that the event was outside and required proof of vaccination. He promised to have a decision one way or the other before Christmas. (Ashford, 12/19)

The Washington Post: ‘It Feels Like 2020 All Over Again’: As Covid Cases Climb, D.C.-Area Residents Take Extra Precautions
Vendors in downtown D.C. on Saturday said the number of shoppers they’ve seen opting to wear a face mask — or two — even while browsing outdoor stands at the annual holiday shopping village has grown noticeably over the last two weeks. For Mallory and Bori Oludemi, both 29, double-masking seemed like the responsible thing to do to protect themselves and their families, a small group of which plan to gather around Christmas. Though the couple has received full doses of the coronavirus vaccine, the Oludemis’ booster shot appointments aren’t for another two weeks. (Lang, 12/18)

And sports teams are feeling the crush of covid —

NPR: U.S. Professional Sports Leagues Call An Audible As Omicron Infections Climb
The world of professional sports is back in disarray with the entry of the omicron variant. Players have been benched after testing positive, games have been canceled or postponed and leagues and players' unions are scrambling to figure out how to move forward under a cloud of uncertainty. The NHL has postponed 27 games so far and will postpone another 12 through Thursday because of COVID. The NBA postponed five games because of the number of players and staff who had entered the league's COVID-19 protocols. NFL game delays were also piling up. (Hernandez, 12/19)

AP: NHL Stops Cross-Border Games, Shuts Down 7th Team 
The NHL and its players association temporarily clamped down on teams crossing the Canadian border and shut down operations of two more teams on Sunday for a total of seven in hopes of salvaging the season as COVID-19 outbreaks spread across the league. The Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs were added to the list of teams told to shut down operations, joining the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames, Nashville Predators and Boston Bruins. (12/20)

NBC News: Harvard Plans To Go Remote In January As Covid-19 Cases Surge
Harvard University announced Saturday that it will return to remote learning for the first few weeks of 2022 as infection concerns grow in the face of a new coronavirus variant. The Ivy League institution told students and staff that it would spend the first three weeks of January returning to online courses as coronavirus infections increase locally and worldwide. Only students who were authorized to remain on campus or are given permission to return to campus should plan on coming back from winter break in that time. (Madani, 12/19)

Axios: Omicron Surge Pushes Elite Colleges Back Into 2020 Mode 
The rapid spread of the Omicron variant is forcing colleges and universities to adjust their pandemic policies, with Harvard announcing Saturday that it will go remote for the first three weeks of January in an attempt to stymie the spread on campus. Omicron is threatening to overturn the new normal as it drives COVID-19 cases to double every 1.5 to 3 days in areas where there is community spread. (Saric, 12/19)

In other school news —

The New York Times: C.D.C. Says Unvaccinated Students Exposed To Virus Can ‘Test And Stay’ 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday that unvaccinated students exposed to the coronavirus can remain in school, as long as they are tested for the virus twice in the week after and both tests come back negative. The new guidance, known as the “test-to-stay” protocol, could ease the burden on children who have been expected to stay home if a close contact tested positive for the virus, and on parents who have had to scramble to retrieve them from school or find day care. It also aims to minimize disruptions to learning as two highly contagious variants of the virus spread across the country, causing some school closures and threatening to upend the strategies that federal and state officials adopted to return to in-person classes in the fall. (Weiland and Anthes, 12/17)

The Boston Globe: What Happens When Students Remove Masks? These Mass. Schools Are Finding Out.
At least five schools in Massachusetts — including Westborough’s high school and middle school, Norwell High School, and King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham — have allowed vaccinated students to unmask. Most of the school districts have not seen significant increases in COVID cases among students or staff, state data show. Until this past week, neither had Hopkinton High. But as of Friday, the school had recorded 15 new cases. “It’s been exciting to get back to some sense of normalcy, but as we’re seeing an uptick in cases, we’re once again getting reality shoved at us,” said Hopkinton math teacher Jenna Galster, whose statistics class was about half-masked Thursday. To become exempt from the state’s school mask mandate, the schools had to first attest to the state that 80 percent of students and staff were fully vaccinated. (Martin, 12/19)

In mental health news —

AP: Schools Use Therapy-Based Programs For 'Overwhelmed' Kids 
On a windy December morning in rural southwest Michigan, an American flag flapped at half-staff outside Paw Paw Early Elementary School. A social worker with a miniature therapy dog named Trixie offered comfort at the entry doors. Children wearing face masks scampered off buses into the morning chill, some stooping to pet the shaggy pup before ambling inside. Like kids in so many cities and towns around the globe, the youngsters in Michigan’s Van Buren Intermediate School District have been through a lot these past few years. A relentless pandemic that continues to disrupt classrooms, sicken friends and loved ones, and has left some district families jobless and homeless. Three student suicide attempts since in-person school resumed full-time this fall, two student suicides last year. And now, a deadly shooting just two days earlier at a school a few hours away. (Tanner, 12/20)

Cincinnatti Enquirer: Mental Health Crisis Among Children: Ohio At Breaking Point
For long before the pandemic, Ohio’s mental health care for children stood in crisis: not enough access, beds or caregivers. The head of the state’s pediatric hospital association says matters have only gotten worse nearly two years into the global health emergency. But by the end of the year, a panel of experts must drop a report pointing the way for the state to improve the system, from the ground up. Formed through 2019 legislation signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, the panel’s report will propose ways to broaden availability, recruit and retain workers and build needed facilities. Most of all, the group has focused on prevention. (Saker, 12/20)

Chicago Tribune: COVID-19 Hardships Fuel Student Behavior Crisis 
When Illinois classrooms fully reopened for in-person learning this fall, teachers anticipated many of their students would need plenty of academic and emotional support to recover from 18 months of COVID-19 disruptions to their education. But just three months into the new school year, pandemic-era quarantines and virus outbreaks have been upstaged by a surge in troubling student behavior that even veteran educators say is unlike anything they have witnessed during decades of teaching. (Cullotta, 12/19)

CNN: Dr. Francis Collins: Outgoing NIH Director Says Trump And Other Republicans Pressured Him To Endorse Unproven Covid-19 Remedies And To Fire Fauci 
The outgoing director of the National Institutes of Health said Sunday that he faced political pressure from then-President Donald Trump and other Republicans to endorse unproven Covid-19 remedies such as hydroxychloroquine and to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Francis Collins, whose last day as NIH director is Sunday, told CBS News that he got a "talking to" by Trump, but that he held his ground and would have resigned if Trump made him endorse remedies for Covid-19 that were not based in science. (McPhillips and Cole, 12/19)

Fox News: Retiring NIH Director Says He Was Never Pressured To Fire Fauci, Slams Atlas Over Herd Immunity 
Retiring National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins told Fox News on Friday that he was never asked to fire his nationally-recognized subordinate Anthony Fauci, despite the NIAID director's frequent clashes with Trump administration officials over federal coronavirus mitigation policy. He also criticized former Trump coronavirus task force member Dr. Scott Atlas for touting herd immunity as a potential strategy for dealing with the pandemic. Collins, 71, will leave the agency on Sunday after more than a decade in its top position. (Creitz, 12/18)

Dr. Collins also slammed "fringe epidemiologists" —

Fox News: Outgoing NIH Director Says 'Hundreds Of Thousands Would Have Died' From COVID If US Hadn't Listened To Him
Outgoing National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins took aim at the makers of the "The Great Barrington Declaration," refusing to step down from calling them "fringe epidemiologists" while arguing "hundreds of thousands" would have died of COVID-19 if the country followed their advice. Collins told Fox News host Bret Baier Sunday that he was "not going to apologize" for comments Friday in front of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis in which he called advocates of herd immunity "fringe epidemiologists," arguing that "hundreds of thousands of people would have died if we had followed that strategy." (Lee, 12/19)

NPR: COVID Is The Real "Enemy," Outgoing NIH Director Tells Fox News
"We've got to remember, this is the enemy," Collins said, holding up a model of the virus. "It's not the other people in the other political party. It's not the people on Facebook who are posting all sorts of crazy conspiracies. This is the enemy. We in this country have somehow gotten all fractured into a hyper-polarized, politicized view that never should have been mixed with public health. It's been ruinous and history will judge harshly those people who have continued to defocus the effort and focus on conspiracies and things that are demonstrably false." (Schwartz, 12/19)

A congressional report released Friday concludes that the Trump administration downplayed covid on purpose —

NBC News: Trump White House Made 'Deliberate Efforts' To Undermine Covid Response, Report Says
The Trump administration engaged in “deliberate efforts” to undermine the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic for political purposes, a congressional report released Friday concludes. The report, prepared by the House select subcommittee investigating the nation’s Covid response, says the White House repeatedly overruled public health and testing guidance by the nation’s top infectious disease experts and silenced officials in order to promote then-President Donald Trump's political agenda. (Shabad, 12/17)

Also —

CBS News: NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins On A Life In Science
For Dr. Francis Collins, the adventure of owning a Harley is nothing compared with the challenge of running the sprawling National Institutes of Health: "We have 27 institutes and centers," he told correspondent Rita Braver. "They range everything from institutes that are focused on a disease – the National Cancer Institute – to some that are focused on organ systems – the National Eye Institute, for Infectious disease, heart, lung and blood. And I've had a pretty good time getting the best people in the world to come and lead those institutes." But now, after 12 years on the job – one of the longest runs in history – Collins will step down today. (12/19)

Modern Healthcare: Data Breaches Reported So Far This Year Have Surpassed Full-Year 2020
The latest data from the Human Services Department's Office for Civil Rights show the largest number of healthcare data breaches in a year since regulators started tallying them in 2010. This year's total beat last year's by a single incident. These breaches didn't affect as many patients as the worst year on record. Nealy 43 million patients' data were compromised in 2021, fewer than half the number recorded in 2015, when bad actors accessed confidential information on 112.5 million people. This year did see more data breaches than the previous two years, however. (Kim Cohen, 12/17)

In other health industry news —

Modern Healthcare: CMS Finalizes New Medicare Residency Slot Implementation
Hospitals serving the highest-need areas and unserved populations will get priority for new Medicare-funded residency slots, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a long-awaited final rule published Friday. The additional spots will be phased in over five years, and funding will total roughly $1.8 billion over the next 10 years. The first 200 slots will be announced Jan. 31, 2023. The policy is part of CMS' final inpatient prospective payment system for 2022. (Goldman, 12/17)

Modern Healthcare: More Docs Consider Retirement Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
Physician pay increased as the labor market tightened, although the pay bump isn't expected to slow the wave of doctors retiring or leaving the field, according survey results published Thursday. Doctors' average pay increased 3.8% in 2021, up from a 1.5% rise in 2020, Doximity found by polling more than 46,000 physicians. But nearly half of respondents indicated they were thinking about leaving the field, on top of the 1% of the workforce who already retired early under the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Kacik, 12/17)

Reuters: Oracle Plans To Buy Cerner For 'Mid 90's' Per Share - CNBC Reporter
Enterprise software maker Oracle Corp expects to buy electronic medical records company Cerner Corp in an all-cash deal for "mid 90's" per share, a CNBC reporter tweeted on Sunday, citing sources. The deal could be announced Monday morning, according to the tweet. (12/19)

Also —

Politico: 'A Lot Of Money On The Table': Fight Brews Over Surprise Medical Bills 
A year after Congress came up with a fix for surprise medical bills, health insurers, hospitals and doctors are still spending millions to tailor the fine print in their favor. The aggressive campaign by health insurers, hospitals, doctors and big employers to influence how the Biden administration interprets the law is playing out through ad campaigns, lobbying efforts and in the courts, amid accusations that each side is profiting from a broken health system. (Wilson, 12/19)

The CT Mirror: With Medical Bills Soaring, Nonprofits, Crowdfunding, Payment Plans Offer Some Debt Relief
A Dec. 8 search of “medical bills Connecticut” on the fundraising website GoFundMe generated more than 200 fundraisers. Among them, $24,782 was raised for pancreatic cancer treatment for a patient at Hartford Hospital, $15,035 for a patient with neuroblastoma at the Masonic Healthcare Center in Wallingford, and $9,700 raised for a 9-year-old who was treated at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center for a tumor. In addition to cancer treatment, people raised funds for reasons ranging from help with medical bills after a road accident to purchasing a therapy robot for a child. (Srinivasan, 12/18)

NBC News: ‘Get That Money!’ Dermatologist Says Patient Care Suffered After Private Equity-Backed Firm Bought Her Practice
The email to the health care workers was like something out of “The Wolf of Wall Street.” “We are in the last few days of the month and are only 217 appointments away from meeting our budget,” the August 2020 memo stated. “Don’t forget the August bonus incentive for all patients scheduled in August! That’s the easiest money you can make. Get that money!!”The “Get that money!!” entreaty wasn’t addressed to a bunch of hard-charging, coke-snorting stockbrokers. It went to Michigan-based employees of Pinnacle Dermatology, a private equity-owned group of 90 dermatology practices across America. (Morgenson, 12/20)

AP: Jurors Begin To Weigh Evidence In Elizabeth Holmes' Case 
The jurors now responsible for assessing 11 charges of fraud and conspiracy against former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes are scheduled to begin their first full day of deliberations Monday. They have plenty of evidence to review after a three-month trial that captivated Silicon Valley. That included the testimony of 32 witnesses — including Holmes herself — and more than 900 exhibits. The eight men and four women on the jury took the weekend off after Judge Edward Davila handed them the case late Friday afternoon. They are charged with decide whether Holmes turned her blood-testing startup into a massive scam. If convicted on all counts, Holmes, 37, could face up to 20 years in prison. (Liedtke, 12/20)

In other pharmaceutical industry news —

Stat: AbbVie Asks The ITC To Investigate Alvotech's Plans For A Biosimilar Humira
In its latest bid to defend its franchise product, AbbVie (ABBV) has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission in hopes of preventing a would-be rival from selling a lower-cost version of its Humira treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other ailments. The drug maker argued that Alvotech, which is seeking a toehold in the U.S. for biosimilar medicines, misappropriated trade secrets and should not be allowed to market its version once it becomes available in the U.S. Alvotech, which is based in Iceland, is awaiting regulatory approval after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cited pandemic travel restrictions that delayed plant inspections. (Silverman, 12/20)

The New York Times: A Popular Test Claims To Boost I.V.F. Success. The Science Is Unclear. 
For patients undergoing in vitro fertilization, there is a common test to help determine the best time to transfer the embryo for a successful pregnancy. But new research has patients and doctors questioning whether the test — one of a growing number of expensive “add-ons” for I.V.F. patients — is effective for first-time patients. The test, called an endometrial receptivity analysis, takes a biopsy of the interior lining of the uterus. Then a lab analyzes the tissue for more than 200 genes to predict the best time to place the embryo in the uterus, according to the test’s manufacturer, Igenomix. (Klein, 12/18)

Stat: Scientists Study Microbiome's Role In CAR-T Outcomes In Cancer Patients
As cancer-killing CAR-T cells course through the body, they make occasional pit stops at the gut. What they do there — and which gut microbes they meet up with — could potentially change the prospects of these engineered immune cells. Scientists are just beginning to tease apart the conditions that might lead to a gut microbiome to influence how well CAR-T therapy works. (Chen, 12/20)

Stat: For An Antiviral Researcher, Covid Brings Attention — And Opportunity
In February 2020, Jeffrey Glenn was prepping for a meeting at the Food and Drug Administration when his phone suddenly rang. “What do you think about this virus?” asked the caller, a philanthropist who was worried about the pathogen that would later be named SARS-CoV-2. Like everyone else, Glenn, a gastroenterologist and molecular virologist at Stanford Medicine, knew precious little about the virus at the time. He was in the process of designing new medicines for influenza and other viruses. But having spent years in drug development, he knew how hard it was to convince others to care about the threat of pandemics. In most cases, after all, the money was in developing drugs for diseases such as cancer, not infectious diseases. That, however, was about to change. (Hayden, 12/20)

KHN: Local Pharmacists Fill Rx Void As Big Brands Pull Out Of Rural Areas 
Bill Mather, a pharmacist in the small Iowa city of Greenfield, wanted to make sure his neighbors could fill their prescriptions without driving long distances or enduring long wait times. So when pharmacy chains and big-box stores began expanding into rural markets, he sold his drugstore in 2007 to Pamida, a grocery chain owned by the Shopko department store company, hoping that would keep his practice alive. Then, in 2019, when Shopko declared bankruptcy, shuttering more than 360 stores, he and another Shopko pharmacist helped open a new drugstore for the city of about 2,000 people. (Hawryluk, 12/20)

In obituaries —

NPR: Alan Scott, The Doctor Credited With Developing Botox For Medicine, Dies At 89
Alan Brown Scott, the ophthalmologist credited with developing the drug Botox for medical use, died at the age of 89 on Thursday, his family confirmed to NPR. Scott, a Berkeley, Calif., native, was suffering from an acute illness for 10 days and was in the intensive care unit, his daughter Ann Scott said. "He definitely loved his work and he was also a really great father," Ann Scott said, saying her father often involved his kids in his research and work. (Shivaram, 12/18)

Dallas Morning News: American Red Cross Calls For Blood Donations Ahead Of Holidays During Lowest Supply In Over A Decade
The American Red Cross is urging people to donate blood as the organization experiences the lowest blood supply and donor turnout that it’s had ahead of the holiday season in more than a decade. While donor turnout typically declines during the holidays, turnout in recent months has been especially low and especially troubling, said Krystal Smith, communications director for the American Red Cross North Texas Region. Blood shortages mean patients who are seriously injured may not be able to get blood transfusions they need, and can lead to some patients deferring major surgeries such as organ transplants. (Marfin, 12/17)

In other public health news —

Reuters: P&G Recalls Some Conditioner, Shampoo Sprays On Finding Carcinogens
Procter & Gamble Co said on Friday it was voluntarily recalling some dry conditioner and shampoo sprays sold in the United States and Canada from its Pantene and Herbal Essences brands due to the presence of a cancer-causing chemical. The recall also includes products from its Aussie and Waterless brands made in the United States and some discontinued items from its Old Spice and Hair Food brands, in which P&G said it detected "unexpected levels" of benzene, a human carcinogen. (12/17)

NBC News: Artificial Food Dyes May Cause Behavior Problems. A Bill Aims To Warn Parents.
[A] growing number of families, scientists, pediatricians and legislators ... believe there is a strong connection between synthetic food dyes and children’s behavior — something the Food and Drug Administration does not entirely agree with. In 2011, the FDA reviewed the possible link between artificial food dyes and hyperactivity and determined no causal relationship could be established for children in the general population who have not been diagnosed with behavioral disorders. The agency revisited the issue in 2019, and maintained its stance.  (Chuck, 12/20)

USA Today: Homicide Is A Leading Cause Of Death During Pregnancy. These Women Are More Likely To Be Killed
Homicide was the leading cause of death for pregnant and postpartum women in the U.S. in 2018 and 2019 – exceeding all top causes of maternal death “by more than twofold,” found authors of a recent study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Pregnant Black women like Lloyd were killed at significantly higher rates. The rates could be even higher because data collection is uneven, experts say. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, does not track maternal homicide as a pregnancy-related death. (Hassanein, 12/19)

Also —

The Washington Post: Pennsylvania Woman Delivers Baby As Tesla Helps Drive Her To The Hospital 
Yiran Sherry woke up a September morning to do laundry at her Pennsylvania home and to prepare her 3-year-old son for school. But those plans of going about her daily chores were thwarted when her daughter decided to make her debut to the world in the front-passenger seat of a black model 3 Tesla. “I was anticipating a nice day at the hospital,” her husband, Keating Sherry, 34, said in an interview. “This one, it was a shock.” Their daughter is believed to be the world’s first Tesla baby, the Guardian reported. (Beachum, 12/19)

Louisville Courier Journal: Abortion In US: Kentucky Looks To Outlaw Abortion Medication By Mail
In many states, women now may obtain medication by mail to induce abortions after seeing their doctors by telehealth, under a federal rule change last week lifting a requirement for an in-person medical visit. But it will make little difference to women in Kentucky or 18 other states that already have laws requiring patients to visit a doctor or other health provider to obtain medication to terminate an early pregnancy. And in Kentucky, a lawmaker is seeking to outlaw abortion medication by mail — as Texas did Dec. 1 — a move that would further blunt any impact of Thursday's action by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (Yetter, 12/20)

In other news from across the U.S. —

Anchorage Daily News: Days After Mayor’s Office Denied It Happened, Details Continue To Emerge On Decision To Briefly Shut Off Fluoride In Anchorage Water Supply
While many questions remain unanswered, information continues to emerge surrounding Mayor Dave Bronson’s decision to briefly shut off fluoridation of Anchorage’s water supply. The incident was first made public by the Alaska Landmine last weekend in an article citing anonymous sources. After initially denying the incident occurred, the mayor’s office issued a statement Tuesday confirming that it did, in fact, happen on Oct. 1. Members of the Anchorage Assembly said they were shocked by Bronson’s decision to shut off fluoridation and have questioned whether the mayor broke city code at the water plant that day. (Goodykoontz, 12/19)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah's Low Mammogram Rates Could Be Bolstered By New Technology
Mammograms aren’t going away anytime soon – they are still vital in catching and treating breast cancer early, experts say. But researchers in Utah are working on new ways to screen for breast cancer that would be as easy as getting your vitals checked. Ioniq Sciences, which is based in Salt Lake City, teamed up with a University of Utah assistant professor from the College of Engineering to create a device that sends an electrical current – so small it can’t be felt – through a patient’s body to detect a change in fluid that may indicate a person has cancer. (Jacobs and Mesch, 12/19)

AP: Alabama Sees Slight Decline In Infant Mortality 
Alabama has tied its lowest infant mortality rate, matching a mark set in 2018, but remained significantly above the national rate for babies dying before their first birthday. Alabama’s infant mortality rate was 7.0 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2020, compared to a provisional national rate of 5.5 per 1,000, the Alabama Department of Public Health said in a news release. The 2020 numbers continued longstanding racial disparities. (12/19)

AP: Louisiana Offers New Autism Designator For Driver's Licenses
People with autism can now get that designation added to their Louisiana driver’s license. Customers can request to have an “autism” indicator added to their licenses if they have documentation to prove that a qualified medical or mental health professional has diagnosed them with autism, the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles said. The autism indicator will appear under the license photo and can also be displayed through the LA Wallet app. (12/19)

AP: Israel To Ban Travel To US, Canada Over Omicron Variant 
Israeli ministers on Monday agreed to ban travel to the United States, Canada and eight other countries amid the rapid, global spread of the omicron variant. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office announced the decision following a Cabinet vote. The rare move to red-list the U.S. comes amid rising coronavirus infections in Israel and marks a change to pandemic practices between the two nations with close diplomatic relations. The U.S. will join a growing list of European countries and other destinations to which Israelis are barred from traveling, and from which returning travelers must remain in quarantine. (12/20)

And in Europe —

AP: Netherlands Enters Strict Lockdown Amid Omicron Surge 
Nations across Europe moved to reimpose tougher measures to stem a new wave of COVID-19 infections spurred by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, with the Netherlands leading the way by imposing a nationwide lockdown. All non-essential stores, bars and restaurants in the Netherlands will be closed until January 14 starting Sunday, caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at a hastily arranged press conference Saturday night. Schools and universities will shut until January 9, he said. In what is surely to prove a major disappointment, the lockdown terms also rein in private holiday celebrations. Residents only will be permitted two visitors except for Christmas and New Year's, when four will be allowed, according to Rutte. (12/19)

Bloomberg: Covid Hospitalizations Spike In London As Omicron Spreads
The number of people hospitalized with coronavirus is starting to rise in London, the latest sign that omicron has taken hold in the capital. It comes as the U.K. reported its third consecutive day of record numbers of new coronavirus cases. Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, warned on Wednesday that the “phenomenal pace” at which the strain is spreading will trigger a surge in admissions to hospital over Christmas. That now appears to be happening in London. There were more than 1,500 people hospitalized with coronavirus in the city on Friday, a rise of almost 30% from a week earlier, the latest data from NHS England show. (Capel, 12/17)

The Hill: Europe Gives US Gloomy Portrait Of What's To Come With Omicron
Several experts said data is signaling the country is heading for a rough next few weeks coinciding with the holiday season, with Michael Osterholm, the director for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. He called it “a perfect storm in all regards.” “We're going to end up in a viral blizzard here in this country in the next three to eight weeks,” the former Biden adviser told The Hill.  (Coleman, 12/19)

In more omicron news from around the globe —

Axios: WHO: Omicron COVID-19 Variant Detected In 89 Countries 
The Omicron variant has been detected in 89 countries and has a "substantial growth advantage" over the Delta variant, the World Health Organization announced. COVID-19 cases detected with the newest variant are doubling every 1.5 to 3 days in areas where there is community spread, WHO said. "Omicron is spreading rapidly in countries with high levels of population immunity," said the organization. It added: "Given current available data, it is likely that Omicron will outpace Delta where community transmission occurs." (Doherty, 12/18)

The New York Times: Most Of The World’s Vaccines Likely Won’t Prevent Infection From Omicron 
A growing body of preliminary research suggests the Covid vaccines used in most of the world offer almost no defense against becoming infected by the highly contagious Omicron variant. All vaccines still seem to provide a significant degree of protection against serious illness from Omicron, which is the most crucial goal. But only the Pfizer and Moderna shots, when reinforced by a booster, appear to have initial success at stopping infections, and these vaccines are unavailable in most of the world. (Nolen, 12/19)

Stat: The Tragedy Of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid Vaccine 
Johnson & Johnson’s Covid vaccine was going to be a shot for the world. Now, under the weight of a mountain of bad PR, one wonders if the world will want it. On Thursday, a panel advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted unanimously that the shots developed by Pfizer and Moderna should be recommended over the J&J one. That won’t matter much to J&J as a business — in the third quarter the vaccine generated only $500 million of the company’s $23 billion in revenue. But the recommendation is confusing news for the public, a slight to one of the world’s largest drug companies, and a disappointing setback for researchers, both inside and outside J&J, who hoped that the shot and the technology behind it would make a huge difference in the fight against a raging global pandemic. (Herper, 12/17)

The New York Times: Most Covid Infections May Soon Be Breakthroughs. Here’s What That Means. 
Omicron — the latest variant of SARS-CoV-2 — is steadily working its way through populations with high levels of immunity around the world. There are going to be many coronavirus cases in the coming days and weeks, with little to stop the spread, even if existing immunity can still prevent serious illness. The United States, where Delta still reigns supreme for now, is reporting over 120,000 new daily coronavirus cases. In Britain, Omicron cases are surging. (Eleanor Cummins, 12/19)

The Atlantic: Omicron Is Coming. Here’s What To Do. 
The omicron wave is upon us, and the national conversation is vacillating between panic and indifference. Those who are near panic point to rapidly rising case counts and lockdowns in several European nations. Those who are indifferent lean into reports of Omicron being a milder coronavirus variant; after nearly two years of COVID, that can feel like reason enough to put the pandemic in the rear-view mirror and get on with their life. Both perspectives are understandable, but neither is helpful. Successfully navigating the next wave of the coronavirus pandemic requires charting a middle course. (Ashish K. Jha, 12/19)

Bloomberg: Omicron Upends New York, Northeast As Delta Stays Strong 
The change of expert opinion was sudden. Researchers at Harvard Medical School now say the omicron variant, not delta, is likely fueling the current surge in Covid-19 cases in the northeastern U.S. That’s cause for alarm, because they still don’t know much about the variant, and it’s unclear how well vaccines will protect people. Harvard’s labs are optimized for speed but omicron is spreading faster than they can track it. (Brooke Sample, 12/18)

Los Angeles Times: Can We Prevent Another Winter Of Despair With Omicron? 
Predicting future COVID waves and hospital surges is always fraught with challenges, but there are early indications from Texas, Minnesota, Britain and South Africa that the U.S. health system will experience yet another great challenge. There is little doubt we are headed for an unprecedented COVID surge from Delta and Omicron variants combined as we head into the winter. Worse, this grim scenario means the two variants will accelerate while the U.S. healthcare workforce is already depleted and exhausted. (Peter Hotez, 12/17)

The New York Times: What Our Omicron Future Should Look Like 
If you want to know what the Omicron variant means for protecting you and your community in the next few months, look at New York City. The variant is causing a dramatic surge of cases in the unvaccinated and vaccinated alike and will almost certainly become the dominant strain in weeks — a process that took the Delta variant months. This will soon happen across the country, adding to the wintertime surge many places are already experiencing because of Delta infections. (Jay K. Varma, 12/20)

Los Angeles Times: Without Context, COVID Tallies Are Misleading 
Since the start of the pandemic, public health authorities have been fastidiously counting the number of people infected with the coronavirus. For both the medical profession and the media, these rising figures have been the principal way of framing the pandemic in the U.S.: “124,000 new cases a day,” “802,000 COVID deaths since February 2020.” But this information offers an incomplete picture of the crisis, potentially warping the public’s understanding in ways that could prolong the pandemic and even add to its toll. (Jim Downs, 12/19)

Bloomberg: Vaccine Mandates Win In Court, Not A Moment Too Soon With Omicron 
A federal appeals court overseeing the consolidation of dozens of legal challenges to the Biden administration’s Covid-19 testing and vaccine mandates for businesses ruled on Friday evening that the White House’s effort can move forward. Demonstrating that common sense and a healthy regard for public safety are still alive and well in some corners of the country, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, based in Ohio, ruled that the mandates represent “an important step in curtailing the transmission of a deadly virus that has killed over 800,000 people in the United States, brought our healthcare system to its knees, forced businesses to shut down for months on end, and cost hundreds of thousands of workers their jobs.” (Timothy L. O'Brien, 12/20)

Newsweek: More Testing Can End The War On Cancer. Washington Can Help 
Medical research shows one in two women and one in three men in America will develop cancer in their lifetimes. Far too often, people in physicians' offices throughout the United States hear the following heartbreaking words from their doctor, "I'm sorry, but it's too late." Amid all the cancer research, there is now a breakthrough blood test that detects different types of cancer, most of which currently have no other means for early detection, that could be in patients' hands if the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) did not stand in the way. (Melanie Campbell, 12/17)

Chicago Tribune: One Way To Tackle America’s Youth Mental Health Challenge: Change Billing 
I wiped down tables at an inpatient child and adolescent psychiatric unit when the intercom rang. A few minutes later, four adult security guards arrived. Their purpose? To restrain an enraged teen. I felt conflicted, unsettled yet aware that the teenager posed a risk to self and others. I also wondered how these escalated situations were prevented in the past, recalling moments when a trusted staff member calmed patients on the verge of outburst. Unfortunately, personalized preventive measures like this are less feasible as mental health care workers for youth are in short supply across the U.S. (Tony Liu, 12/20)

Stat: After Rebuke Of Bankruptcy Settlement, 'Sacklers Don’t Deserve A Pass'
Your neighbor’s kid is still sitting in jail for selling heroin — to people who were initially hooked by OxyContin. Your friend who lost both her brother and niece to addiction fueled by the false notion that OxyContin was virtually nonaddictive still struggles with misplaced guilt over their tragic deaths. Your local support group leader has to pick and choose which funerals to attend because there are so many: more than 1 million families have now lost loved ones to overdose death since 1996, the year OxyContin was introduced. (Paul Pelletier and Beth Macy, 12/19)

The Baltimore Sun: Perpetual Stress Is Taking A Toll On All Of Us 
As the head of Bridges, which sponsors 25 ministries in six states (one in Germantown), I’ve seen our local leaders learning how to live and function during a dangerous malady which is impacting millions of people. But I don’t mean COVID-19; I mean the PTSD that results from it. And it’s far from “post.” The PTSD we’re dealing with is ongoing, it’s Perpetual Traumatic Stress Disorder. (12/20)

Stat: Clinical Labor Pricing Updates Can Address Staff Shortages, Financial Strain
The ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on primary care physicians are jarring. Fewer than 30% of primary care physicians are reporting that their practices are on solid financial footing. Coupled with worsening staffing shortages and burnout, the challenges facing physicians have never been more evident. The pandemic has compounded the financial strain caused by unbalanced and outdated Medicare payments. A big reason is that clinical labor pricing has not been updated in nearly 20 years. (Sterling N. Ransone, Jr., 12/20)

The New York Times: The Medicaid Reentry Act Could Save Lives 
Each year, more than 650,000 people are released from state and federal prisons. Nine million others churn through local jails. For many, the transition back to the outside world poses an acute risk. Studies have shown a decline in the health of the recently released, who experience significantly higher rates of death and hospitalization compared to the general populace. The first two weeks can be especially dangerous. Among the most common killers of this population are suicide, cardiovascular disease, homicide and, topping the list, drug overdoses. A 2007 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that the formerly incarcerated in Washington State were around 129 times as likely to die of an overdose in the first two weeks after their release as other state residents. The opioid epidemic has hit this cohort extra hard. (Michelle Cottle, 12/20)

Stat: "Move Fast And Break Things" Doesn't Work For Health Care Companies
Entrepreneurs at tech startups are likely to hear the Mark Zuckerberg adage that it’s important to “move fast and break things.” The concept that moving quickly to get ahead of competitors and get products in customer hands is appealing, but it doesn’t work across all industries. Health care is one of the fields where moving too fast and “breaking” things could have disastrous results. Theranos is just one example where this type of philosophy was a horrendous idea. (Elizabeth Ruzzo, 12/17)