AP: Biden Urges Concern But Not Alarm In US As Omicron Rises
President Joe Biden urged concern but not alarm as the United States set records for daily reported COVID-19 cases and his administration struggled to ease concerns about testing shortages, school closures and other disruptions caused by the omicron variant. In remarks Tuesday before a meeting with his COVID-19 response team at the White House, Biden aimed to convey his administration’s urgency in addressing omicron and convince wary Americans that the current situation bears little resemblance to the onset of the pandemic or last year’s deadly winter. The president emphasized that vaccines, booster shots and therapeutic drugs have lessened the danger for the overwhelming majority of Americans who are fully vaccinated. (Miller, 1/5)

The Hill: Biden Tamps Down Omicron Alarm, Urges Vaccinations 
“Folks, I know we’re all tired and frustrated about the pandemic. These coming weeks are going to be challenging. Please wear your mask in public to protect yourself and others. We’re going to get through this,” President Biden said. “We have the tools to protect people from severe illness due to omicron if people choose to use the tools.” (Chalfant, 1/4)

The Hill: Biden: Schools Should Stay Open Despite Omicron Wave 
President Biden on Tuesday reiterated his belief that schools in the United States should remain physically open despite the wave of coronavirus cases driven largely by the omicron variant. Biden noted during remarks at the White House that his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan included billions of dollars to help support school reopenings during the coronavirus pandemic. (Chalfant, 1/4)

Politico: White House Embraces A Manage-Not-Contain Omicron Game Plan 
When President Joe Biden took office last January amid a winter Covid-19 surge, he vowed an all-out federal assault aimed at vanquishing the virus. A year later, with the country facing unprecedented levels of disease once again, his administration is now hoping to fight it to a draw. (Cancryn and Cadelago, 1/4)

CBS News: Omicron Now 95% Of New COVID-19 Infections In U.S., CDC Estimates 
The Omicron variant made up around 95.4% of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an updated estimate published on Tuesday. Only two regions of the U.S. — New England and part of the Midwest — have yet to reach 90% locally. The Delta variant, which was dominant up until a few weeks ago, makes up nearly all the other cases. (Tin, 1/4)

CBS News: Children Represent 17.7% Of COVID-19 Cases As U.S. Sees Record High For Weekly Cases 
The United States recorded more than 3 million new COVID-19 cases this past week, a record high for weekly cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. As schools and businesses determine whether to resume in-person learning in the new year, children's cases are also up, with 325,340 cases in the week between December 23 and December 30, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. That week, children represented 17.7% of the reported cases in the U.S. (O'Kane, 1/4)

But pressure may be easing in intensive-care units —

The New York Times: In Omicron Hot Spots, Hospitals Fill Up, But I.C.U.S May Not 
In hospitals around the country, doctors are taking notice: This wave of Covid seems different from the last one. Once again, as they face the highly contagious Omicron variant, medical personnel are exhausted and are contracting the virus themselves. And the numbers of patients entering hospitals with the variant are surging to staggering levels, filling up badly needed beds, delaying nonemergency procedures and increasing the risk that vulnerable uninfected patients will catch the virus. But in Omicron hot spots from New York to Florida to Texas, a smaller proportion of those patients are landing in intensive care units or requiring mechanical ventilation, doctors said. (Anthes and Ghorayshi, 1/4)

Bloomberg: Covid-19: Omicron Spares U.S. ICUs So Far, Mirroring South Africa
U.S. hospitals are so far seeing significantly fewer severe outcomes from the omicron wave than they saw in past Covid-19 spikes, mirroring the experience of South Africa and the U.K. Even New York, the uber-dense site of one of the nation’s worst outbreaks, is seeing similar results. The U.S. is reporting a weekly average of 485,363 cases, about twice the peak of last winter, and true prevalence is projected to be far higher. But U.S. hospitals have just 64% of the Covid patients in adult intensive-care beds as they did at last winter’s peak, and hospital deaths with Covid are around 52% of last winter’s worst period. (Levin, 1/4)

Reuters: WHO Sees More Evidence That Omicron Causes Milder Symptoms
More evidence is emerging that the Omicron coronavirus variant is affecting the upper respiratory tract, causing milder symptoms than previous variants and resulting in a "decoupling" in some places between soaring case numbers and low death rates, a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday. "We are seeing more and more studies pointing out that Omicron is infecting the upper part of the body. Unlike other ones, the lungs who would be causing severe pneumonia," WHO Incident Manager Abdi Mahamud told Geneva-based journalists. (Farge and Roy, 1/4)

Dr. Fauci says people should turn their focus to hospitalizations, not case counts —

USA Today: Hospitalization Numbers Reflect COVID Vaccine Effectiveness: Experts
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that with many infections causing few or no symptoms, “it is much more relevant to focus on the hospitalizations as opposed to the total number of cases.” Those hospital admissions averaged 14,800 per day last week, up 63% from the week before. That's still short of the peak of 16,500 per day a year ago when the vast majority of the U.S. was unvaccinated. Deaths have been stable over the past two weeks at an average of about 1,200 per day, well below the all-time high of 3,400 last January. Other experts argue that case counts are still a cause for concern in their own right. (Thornton, 1/5)

AP: COVID Case Counts May Be Losing Importance Amid Omicron 
The explosive increase in U.S. coronavirus case counts is raising alarm, but some experts believe the focus should instead be on COVID-19 hospital admissions. And those aren’t climbing as fast. Dr. Anthony Fauci, for one, said Sunday on ABC that with many infections causing few or no symptoms, “it is much more relevant to focus on the hospitalizations as opposed to the total number of cases.” Other experts argue that case counts still have value. (Johnson, 1/5)

NBC News: Biden Doubles Order For Pfizer Covid Pills As Surge Closes Schools, Businesses
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. will double its order for a pill from Pfizer to treat Covid infections so it has enough courses for 20 million people. Biden said the evidence suggests that those who are vaccinated are less likely to develop severe illness, especially with a booster dose. But he said more work needs to be done to get Americans vaccinated, with the unvaccinated making up the vast majority of recent hospitalizations. (Pettypiece, 1/4)

The Washington Post: Doctors Bemoan Limited Supply Of Game-Changing Antiviral Pills Amid Winter Surge 
Easy-to-take antiviral pills, authorized just before Christmas, were hailed as a potential turning point in the fight against the coronavirus because of the medicines’ ability to keep high-risk people out of the hospital. But doctors say the limited initial supply of the pills, especially Pfizer’s Paxlovid, means they are unlikely to alleviate the strain on many hospitals confronting climbing admissions and staffing shortages made worse by omicron infections. In communities with soaring case numbers, physicians are especially eager to offer the pills, which people can take at home to avoid serious illness. (Shepherd, 1/4)

Also —

Reuters: Dr Reddy's To Launch Generic COVID-19 Merck Drug At About 50 Cents A Pill 
Indian drugmaker Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd will launch its generic version of Merck's antiviral COVID-19 pill, molnupiravir, and price it at 35 rupees ($0.47) per capsule, a company spokesperson said on Tuesday. The overall cost for a patient treated with a 5-day course of 40 capsules of the generic drug, to be sold under brand name 'Molflu', will come up to 1,400 rupees ($18.77). In comparison, the treatment with Merck's pill in the United States costs $700. (1/4)

NPR: CDC Now Recommends Pfizer Boosters After 5 Months, Down From 6
People who were initially immunized with two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine should receive a booster shot after five months, rather than six, according to a new recommendation from the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The move comes after the Food and Drug Administration on Monday authorized the change in the Pfizer booster interval, saying that a third shot after five months may "provide better protection sooner for individuals against the highly transmissible omicron variant." In a statement, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky ... urged eligible Americans to receive a booster as soon as possible. (Sullivan, 1/4)

And more about booster shots —

The Washington Post: Israeli Study Says Second Booster Causes Fivefold Antibody Jump 
A fourth shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine generated a fivefold boost in antibodies a week after the jab, according to preliminary results of a study made public by the Israeli government Tuesday. The findings offer one of the first looks at how effective a second booster shot might be at reducing the health impact of the omicron variant spreading rapidly around the globe. (Hendrix, 1/4)

AP: High Court Confirms Justices Have Received COVID-19 Booster 
The Supreme Court says all nine justices have received COVID-19 booster shots. The court's confirmation came Tuesday amid the omicron variant surging and in-person arguments over vaccines scheduled at the court on Friday. The court confirmed that the justices have received boosters only after The Associated Press published a story saying the high court would not say whether the justices had received a third dose of the vaccine. That story followed repeated attempts to get an answer about the shots. (Gresko and Sherman, 1/4)

The Washington Post: Some Republican Leaders Scornful Or Silent About Coronavirus Vaccine Booster Shots 
The push for widespread booster shots to protect against omicron has highlighted the United States’ persistent partisan divides over vaccination, with some Republican leaders silent on the issue and some disparaging shots anew as the meaning of “fully vaccinated” evolves along with the coronavirus. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) said last week that he has no plans to get boosted, telling a reporter, “I’m perfectly healthy.” A few days later, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee used their official Twitter account to spread false information, asking: “If the booster shots work, why don’t they work?” The tweet was later deleted. (Knowles and Beachum, 1/4)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

The New York Times: Covid Vaccinations Do Not Lead To Pre-Term Births, Study Says 
Women who received Covid vaccinations while pregnant were at no greater risk of delivering their babies prematurely or of giving birth to unusually small babies than pregnant women who did not get vaccinated, a new study reports. The study, one of the first to examine the health of babies born to women vaccinated during pregnancy, was a reassuring signal. Low-birth-weight babies and infants born early are more likely to experience developmental delays and other health problems. (Rabin, 1/4)

Los Angeles Times: Man Attacks O.C. Vaccine Clinic Workers, Calling Them 'Murderers'
One of Parsia Jahanbani’s biggest fears was realized when a man calling healthcare workers “murderers” attacked him and other staff members outside a mobile vaccine clinic in Tustin last week, he said. After a security guard asked the man to wear a mask, he became increasingly angry — claiming medical workers were complicit in a COVID-19 hoax and that “he was ‘not a sheep’” — said Jahanbani, the mobile operations manager for Families Together of Orange County, where the clinic was operating in the parking lot Dec. 30. (Seidman, 1/4)

AP: Tech Founder Out After Antisemitic, Anti-Vaccine Screed
A Utah tech company founder and onetime prominent figure in state Republican politics resigned from the board of the company he started Tuesday after sending an email outlining an antisemitic vaccination conspiracy theory. David Bateman, founder and board chair of the company Entrata, claimed the COVID-19 vaccine is part of a plot by “the Jews” to exterminate people, Fox13 reported. (1/5)

Politico: CDC Recommits To Isolation And Quarantine Guidelines Without Tests 
After days of criticism over new isolation and quarantine guidelines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday doubled down on its policy, pointing to data that it says supports its guidance that Americans who contract Covid-19 or have not been boosted and are exposed to the virus can return to normal life after five days if they wear a mask. (Banco, 1/4)

CBS News: CDC Stops Short Of Requiring Test For Ending COVID Isolation, But Says They're The "Best Approach" 
"If an individual has access to a test and wants to test, the best approach is to use an antigen test towards the end of the 5-day isolation period. Collect the test sample only if you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your other symptoms have improved," the CDC said. (Tin, 1/4)

AP: CDC Posts Rationale For Shorter Isolation, Quarantine 
In laying out the scientific basis for the revisions, the agency said more than 100 studies from 17 countries indicate that most transmission happens early in an infection. The CDC acknowledged the data come from research done when delta and other pre-omicron variants were causing the most infections. But the agency also pointed to limited, early data from the U.S. and South Korea that suggests the time between exposure and the appearance of symptoms may be shorter for omicron than for earlier variants. (Stobbe, 1/4)

Also —

NBC News: Health Care Workers Concerned By Shorter Isolation After Covid Infections
Melody Butler, a registered nurse in New York, woke up the day after Christmas with a headache, chest tightness and a feeling of malaise — an at-home rapid test confirmed she was Covid-positive. Eight days later, she returned to work at the hospital, still a bit fatigued and prepared to wear full protective gear to prevent any potential spread. As the highly transmissible omicron variant took hold and spread throughout the holidays, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week revised its isolation recommendations, reducing the isolation time for asymptomatic health care workers from 10 days to seven with a negative test — or fewer days “if there are staffing shortages.” (Lee, 1/4)

Detroit Free Press: Nearly 700 Employees Test Positive For COVID-19 At Henry Ford Health
Nearly 700 Henry Ford Health System employees have tested positive for the coronavirus in the last seven days, the system's chief clinical officer said Tuesday. That's about 2% of approximately 33,000 employees in the health system that became the first in Michigan to announce last summer that it would mandate COVID-19 vaccines for its workers. The news comes as COVID-19 cases surge in Michigan and across the country, the highly transmissible omicron variant becomes more dominant, and short-staffed hospitals and testing locations continue to be overrun. (Hall, 1/4)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Police Will Provide Security At City COVID Testing Sites
Milwaukee police will provide security at COVID-19 testing locations run by the city after multiple incidents of line-cutting and altercations. Demand for testing has ramped up since the rise of the Omicron variant and the arrival of the holiday season, with almost 16,000 tests performed at three city-run testing locations since Dec. 20. Lines have been intimidatingly long, creating stress, heightened emotions and multiple incidents involving people waiting in line and COVID-19 testing staff, according to the Milwaukee Health Department. In response, it will increase security and have Milwaukee police present at testing facilities to assist with lines and safety. (Hughes, 1/4)

WJCT News: Jacksonville COVID Testing Site Pulls Back As Panic Over Testing Grows 
Jacksonville’s only city-funded, drive-thru COVID testing site is limiting its capacity to 150 rapid tests a day —administered on a first-come, first-served basis. The operators of the Neptune Beach site, Telescope Health, announced the new limit on social media Monday, after it had to temporarily shut down last week because of traffic issues near the former Kmart on Atlantic Boulevard. The situation reflects the crush of demand for COVID testing as the omicron variant pushes caseloads to record highs day after day. (Heddles, 1/4)

NBC News: Indiana Limits Eligibility For Rapid Antigen Covid-19 Tests Because Of Shortage
As the availability of Covid-19 tests dwindles nationwide, Indiana said it will restrict rapid antigen tests to young people and at-risk individuals. The state Public Health Department released guidelines Tuesday that limit rapid antigen testing “to individuals aged 18 and younger and symptomatic individuals aged 50 and older” because of the national shortage. (Ali, 1/4)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis-Area Officials Warn Of Scams, ‘Illegitimate Operations’ As COVID Test Sites Pack 
Area officials and residents on Tuesday reported concerns that unauthorized or even fraudulent COVID-19 testing sites were operating in the region, as demand for tests continued to soar. The sites in doubt ranged from south St. Louis to Belleville. Authorities and residents said the operators collected personal patient information but sometimes didn’t provide test results and other times operated at sites without permission. In one case, police shut down an operator that was asking residents for Social Security and passport numbers. (Merrilees, 1/4)

Houston Chronicle: FEMA Will Open Six New COVID Testing Sites In Texas As State Awaits Antibody Treatments
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will open six new COVID-19 testing sites across Texas, after state officials last week asked the federal government to help manage the state’s rising caseloads. The six sites, approved Monday, will be located in Bexar, Cameron, Dallas, Harris, Hidalgo and Tarrant counties. State officials said they expect the centers to open sometime next week, and a FEMA spokesperson said the department is “working with our federal partners to quickly source the request.” The exact locations of the testing sites have not yet been determined. (Harris, 1/4)

When will free tests from the federal government arrive? —

Axios: White House To Start Delivering At-Home COVID Tests "Later This Month" 
The Biden administration is finalizing contracts to mail millions of at-home COVID-19 rapid tests "later this month," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. President Biden began ramping up testing efforts after receiving widespread criticism for not making at-home tests widely available ahead of the emergence of the Omicron variant, which has driven up infections across the U.S. (Reyes, 1/5)

Modern Healthcare: GOP Senators Press HHS On COVID-19 Testing
Two senior Republican senators are pressing President Joe Biden's administration on the availability of COVID-19 testing after Congress appropriated tens of billions of dollars to improve access. In a letter sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra Monday, Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) ask how the department allocated $83 billion Congress authorized for pandemic response, following a holiday season when people scrambled for hard-to-find tests. Blunt is ranking member of the appropriations subcommittee with authority over HHS and Burr is ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. (Hellmann, 1/4)

And more about covid tests —

Bloomberg: Walmart, Kroger Raise At-Home Covid Test Price as Deal With Biden Expires
Walmart Inc. and Kroger Co. are boosting the price of a popular at-home Covid-19 test after a deal with the White House to sell the kits at cost expired. The price of BinaxNOW tests at Walmart is rising to $19.88 this week from $14, the company said in an email Tuesday. Kroger said it reinstated “retail pricing” after completing the three-month commitment to President Joe Biden’s administration. The grocer now lists a price of $23.99 on its website. Each pack includes two tests. Walmart said it retained the lower price during the holidays even after the expiration of the deal with the White House. That agreement also extended to Amazon.com Inc., which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. (Case, 1/4)

CBS News: Social Media Users Rack Up Views By Wasting COVID-19 Tests 
Some Americans seem determined to throw cold water on the merits of COVID-19 testing — literally. In the latest sign of ongoing public resistance to what is by now conventional medical wisdom about how to detect the disease, social media users are deliberately misusing scarce at-home COVID-19 tests to produce false positive results by running the devices under tap water. (Cerullo, 1/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Find Covid-19 Home Tests Using Online Product Trackers 
You don’t have to run all over town hunting for self-test kits. Just be ready to buy when the bot says they are in stock. During the holidays, getting a PlayStation 5 under the tree required patience, luck and an online bot-powered product tracker. Now, the same shopping tools can help people find at-home Covid-19 tests, which have grown scarce as the Omicron variant rages across the country. (Brown, 1/4)

In related news from Florida —

WUSF Public Media: DeSantis, Ladapo Introduce More Antibody Sites And A Shift To 'High-Value' Testing 
Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, Florida’s surgeon general on Monday indicated the state Department of Health would issue guidance to “unwind the testing psychology” of the federal government. Dr. Joseph Ladapo was joined at news conference by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who announced the state will open new monoclonal antibody sites in the Orlando area, Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. “And we have the ability to add five to 10 more sites as the demand may be," DeSantis said. "But that is all contingent on the federal government.” (Dailey, 1/4)

The Washington Post: Civil Rights Advocate Ben Frazier Is Detained After Trying To Attend A DeSantis News Conference In Jacksonville
The handcuffing of a Florida community activist who wanted to sit in on a news conference Tuesday with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) quickly overshadowed the governor’s daily message criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Footage of Ben Frazier being handcuffed in Jacksonville spread across the Internet, leading Democrats to criticize the governor for the community organizer’s detention. DeSantis’s news conferences, in which he often blames the Biden administration for holding up monoclonal antibody treatment doses, are usually tightly controlled. (Rozsa, 1/4)

The Texas Tribune: Greg Abbott Sues Biden Administration Over National Guard Vaccine Mandate 
In the state’s latest push against federal vaccine mandates, Gov. Greg Abbott is suing the Biden administration for requiring Texas Army National Guard members to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The suit, filed Tuesday in the Eastern District of Texas, is the latest in what has been a slew of litigation against federal vaccine mandates that Texas has either brought forth or taken part in during the pandemic. The legal battles include litigation over vaccine mandates for large businesses, health care workers and federal contractors. (Waller, 1/4)

AP: National Guard Members In Texas Refuse Vaccine 
Texas officials indicated Tuesday that thousands of National Guard members are refusing COVID-19 vaccines in the latest challenge against a Biden administration order that requires all members of the military to get one. A lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton comes a week after a federal judge rejected a similar challenge brought by Oklahoma’s governor, amid growing Republican opposition to the vaccination mandate for Guard members. (1/5)

Los Angeles Times: Thousands Of U.S. Military Defy COVID-19 Vaccine Order
The latest data from the military show that roughly 30,000 active-duty service members remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, despite a Defense Department mandate issued in August and deadlines that have passed. Their defiance of a military order is a striking illustration of how deeply politicized the pandemic has become in the United States. “Racism, suicide, addiction to conspiracy theories — you name it. If you can find it in the civilian population, you can find it within the military,” said Peter Feaver, a political scientist at Duke University who specializes in civil-military relations. “The difference is that the military has a wider range of tools to include more day-to-day control over the lives of its members ... to monitor and manage these problems.” (Hernandez, 1/5)

In related news about the mandate —

San Diego Union-Tribune: Lawsuits Challenging Military Vaccine Requirement Face An Uphill Climb In Court 
The lawsuits face a steep legal hurdle, experts say. Federal courts have consistently refused to step in on military manning issues, according to Bob Muth, a law professor at the University of San Diego and former Marine Corps lawyer. “It’s well-established case law,” Muth said. “Generally speaking, federal courts give great deference to the military in ensuring force readiness. You can’t have service members running into court challenging every order they receive.” (Dyer, 1/2)

KOMO: Fact Check Team: The Impact Of The Military Vaccine Mandate
Some of the nation’s soldiers facing discharge claim they are being crushed by President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate and say it’s pushing out the military’s best and brightest. (Bowens and Seward, 1/3)

CNN: Chicago Public Schools Cancels Classes After Union Votes To Go Virtual 
The Chicago Teachers Union voted to teach virtually rather than in the classroom, triggering a cancellation of classes Wednesday which the school district leadership warned would happen if the union vote passed. CPS, the third-largest school district in the country, resumed in-person learning Monday in conditions union leaders described as unsafe as the Omicron virus variant sent Covid-19 cases soaring around the country. (Waldrop and Jimenez, 1/5)

Politico: Thousands Of Teachers, Students Absent As Omicron Ravages Florida
Schools in Florida are reporting droves of absences among teachers and students this week, a sign that the highly contagious Omicron variant is already wrecking the budding new semester. With Covid-19 cases skyrocketing throughout the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis is pledging to keep schools open and in-person classes churning without any mask mandates or new restrictions. The DeSantis administration instead is messaging that asymptomatic people should resist being tested for the coronavirus as hundreds of students and teachers miss the first days of school in 2022. (Atterbury, 1/4)

Bay Area News Group: COVID: Tests Find Hundreds Of Bay Area Students Infected Before Return To Class
The Oakland school district said Tuesday that teachers, students and their families had reported 21,000 results from at-home tests and identified 472 positive cases — 396 among students, 64 among staff and 12 among family members. Combined with other testing over the winter break, the district reported a total of 920 infections among students or staff. At Berkeley Unified School District, of 7,687 students and staff who uploaded test results, 227 of them had tested positive, public information officer Trish McDermott said. On-campus surveillance testing, available since the fall, turned up an additional six positive cases Monday, she said. “The at-home testing kept a lot of COVID out of our schools,” McDermott said. “Their positive status was determined before they set foot on a campus. We think that’s a system that works.” (Jimenez and Woolfolk, 1/4)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Archdiocese Of New Orleans Drops Masking In Schools As Omicron Cases Multiply
The Archdiocese of New Orleans has dropped a mask mandate for its Catholic schools in Orleans Parish, prompting questions and anger from some parents and health experts about whether it made sense to change the rule during the current surge in coronavirus cases. In a letter sent to parents Monday, Superintendent RaeNell Houston said that the quarantine and isolation policies in New Orleans Catholic schools for children and staff exposed to COVID-19 meet new city criteria that would allow the schools to end mask rules. She noted that children could still wear masks and that individual schools could also establish mandates "based on the number of infections and exposures." (Woodruff, 1/4)

AP: Arizona Governor Wants Schools Open Despite Virus Surge 
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday took what he called “preemptive action” to keep public school students in classrooms despite rising coronavirus hospitalizations as the more contagious omicron variant spreads. The Republican governor on Tuesday announced a program to give private school vouchers if their children’s schools close or move to remote learning. He’s using federal coronavirus relief funds, despite warnings from the U.S. Treasury Department that two earlier school programs he created are not allowed under the American Rescue Plan Act. (Christie and Davenport, 1/5)

The CT Mirror: As COVID Rates Rise, State Remains Committed To Keeping Schools Open
As Connecticut’s daily COVID-19 test positivity rate reached 23.85% Tuesday, state leaders stressed their commitment to keeping schools open, despite school districts throughout the state using professional development days or inclement weather days to delay students’ return to classrooms due to COVID concerns. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep kids in classrooms safely,” Gov. Ned Lamont said. “Nothing compares to a great teacher in a classroom.” (Watson and Altimari, 1/4)

In higher-education news —

The Washington Post: Colleges Scramble To Quarantine Students As Covid Cases Increase 
Thousands of college students ended 2021 and will begin 2022 in isolation and quarantine as the omicron variant surges in the United States. For school administrators, the sudden outbreaks sparked logistical scrambles to get students swiftly and safely housed away from others. (Svrluga, 1/4)

AP: Schools React With Various COVID-19 Rules As Classes Resume
Classes at the University of Missouri in Columbia start on Jan. 18, and spokesman Christian Basi said the school currently doesn’t anticipate any schedule changes. Furthermore, students will not be required to wear masks indoors, even if they’re not vaccinated. However, Stephens College, a private women’s college in Columbia, will return to remote learning for the first two weeks of spring semester, from Jan. 10-21, spokesperson Derrell Carter told The Columbia Missourian. (Stafford and Hollingsworth, 1/4)

NBC News: Babies Born In Pandemic Have Slight Developmental Lag, Study Finds
Babies born during the early months of the pandemic scored slightly lower on a screening of their developmental skills than those born prior to the pandemic, regardless of whether their mothers had Covid-19 during pregnancy, a study published Tuesday revealed. The study, in JAMA Pediatrics, followed 255 babies born in March to December 2020 in New York City, which was the U.S. epicenter in the pandemic’s early days. (Chuck, 1/4)

In other news about the pandemic —

Dallas Morning News: Nearly 200 Dallas Police And Fire-Rescue Workers Quarantined In Latest COVID-19 Surge
Close to 200 Dallas police and fire workers are quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19 as cases of the omicron variant surge, according to both departments. More than three-quarters of the infected first responders (155) are Dallas Fire-Rescue workers. It’s the highest number of fire staff out at one time, Jason Evans, a Fire-Rescue spokesman, said Monday. The department, for example, had 29 cases in July, 76 cases in August and 59 in September. The city began ordering mandatory testing of fire staff in August after cases increased in the summer. (Bailey Jr., 1/4)

Detroit Free Press: Gov. Whitmer Isolating After Her Husband Tests Positive For COVID-19
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is isolating after her husband, Marc Mallory, tested positive for coronavirus, a spokesman said Tuesday. “Today, the first gentleman tested positive for COVID-19 after feeling under the weather," said Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy. "After the positive test, Gov. Whitmer took a rapid test, which came back negative, and is awaiting the results of a PCR test out of an abundance of caution." (Egan, 1/4)

ABC News: 79th Annual Golden Globes Will Have No Red Carpet, No Audience, No Media Coverage 
The upcoming Golden Globes will be a very quiet affair -- a far cry from what used to be known as the rowdiest awards show of the season. The 79th annual Golden Globes will be held Jan. 9 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California -- the same location as usual -- but this year there will be no audience, no red carpet and no media credentials provided for journalists to cover the event. (Iervolino, 1/4)

NPR: Seth Meyers And Jimmy Fallon Test Positive For COVID-19
As the omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to spread across the U.S., both of NBC's late-night talk show hosts, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon, have announced they've tested positive for COVID-19. "The bad news is, I tested positive for COVID (thanks, 2022!)," Meyers said in a tweet Monday. "The good news is, I feel fine (thanks vaccines and booster!)." Meyers said the network had canceled the remainder of shows scheduled from Tuesday to Friday. "Tune in next Monday to see what cool location we will try and pass off as a studio!!!" Meyers added. (Franklin, 1/4)

Southern California News Group: Former California Assembly Candidate Who Opposed Vaccine Mandates Has Died Of COVID-19 Complications
Orange County Deputy District Attorney Kelly Ernby, who ran for state Assembly in 2020 and had become a leader with the Republican Party of Orange County, has died suddenly, a week after telling friends she was very sick with COVID-19. She was 46 years old. “I lost a dear friend to Covid complications,” Ben Chapman, chair of the Greater Costa Mesa Republicans, tweeted Monday. “You’ve been nothing but an inspiration to many of us here in Orange County.” Condolences were pouring in online Monday for Ernby, who was a Huntington Beach resident and presumed 2022 candidate for Assembly. (Staggs, 1/4)

NBC News: Married California High School Sweethearts Die From Covid Hours Apart
A Latino couple in Southern California died from Covid-19 just hours apart from each other. Alvaro and Sylvia Fernandez, 44 and 42, both died from Covid on Dec. 19. The couple had met in their teens and were married for 25 years. "They were high school sweethearts. They've been together since she was 15," Salvador Fernandez, Alvaro Fernandez's brother, told NBC Los Angeles. "One couldn't live without the other." Family members told NBC Los Angeles the couple were unvaccinated and Alvaro Fernandez had diabetes. They tested positive for the virus days before their deaths, according to the family. (Flores, 1/4)

Stat: Some Drug Makers Quietly Resumed Donations To Lawmakers Who Denied Biden's Election Victory 
Three major drug makers each donated tens of thousands of dollars last year to Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying President Biden’s election, despite pledges to withhold or pause such contributions, a new analysis found. During the second half of 2021, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson gave $32,500, $49,500, and $22,500, respectively, to members of the so-called “Sedition Caucus,” after claiming they would suspend contributions to members of Congress who voted against certifying the election, according to Accountable.US, a government watchdog that analyzed political contributions. (Silverman, 1/4)

In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —

Stat: Applied Therapeutics Tried To Muzzle Short Sellers — But The Truth Came Out
When short sellers began raising questions about New York-based Applied Therapeutics’ treatment for a rare metabolic disorder, the company could have ignored the investors. Or tried to prove them wrong. Instead, I’ve learned, the company deployed heavy-handed legal tactics to scare them into silence. (Feuerstein, 1/4)

Stat: Telehealth Companies Cut Costs By Reimagining The Front Desk
Telehealth companies struggling to stand out in a crowded virtual care market are increasingly leaning on chatbots, online questionnaires, and automated follow-ups to triage patients and trim costs, letting them care for more patients for less money. Patients seeking on-demand doctors’ visits and quick prescriptions have a growing number of choices, ranging from private companies like Nurx and Ro mainly offering non-emergency care like birth control consultations to behemoths like Amwell tackling primary and urgent care. Despite a surge of patients seen during the pandemic, many of these virtual care companies still haven’t turned a profit. And in a sea of competitors offering similar services, the money they save through automation could make a difference in their financial success. (Ravindranath, 1/5)

Stat: The Health Tech Tracker For The First Quarter: 13 Industry Events To Watch
As we enter the pandemic’s third year, we’ll be watching to see whether skyrocketing digital health funding continues at 2021’s breakneck pace — or whether investors will gradually lose interest in the slate of new startups eager to make health care more like the consumer experience. And like last year, this quarter will likely usher in more consolidation as health care giants snap up smaller startups, and even, sometimes, their competitors. (Ravindranath, Palmer and Aguilar, 1/5)

Stat: 3 CRISPR Editing Innovations To Watch In 2022 
During the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the world’s scientists — including Jennifer Doudna, the researcher best known for her Nobel-worthy role in the discovery of the gene editing technology called CRISPR — put their work on hold to pitch in studying and testing for the novel coronavirus. Last year saw the return, if not an avalanche, of at least a steady pour of CRISPR advances, including the first successful use of in vivo editing in early human trials. (Molteni, 1/5)

Houston Chronicle: New Brain Surgery Technique Treats Patients In Fort Bend County Area
The Fort Bend County area now has an innovative, minimally invasive technique for treating chronic subdural hematomas, or serious bleeding between the skull and the brain caused by head trauma. According to a news release, Dr. Tsz Yeung Lau, a board-certified neurosurgeon at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, recently performed the county’s first meningeal artery embolization to stop a patient’s bleeding. The patient was a woman in her 80s who was taking blood thinners for a heart condition and had recently fallen and hit her head. She had developed severe, debilitating headaches from the bleeding. (Maness, 1/4)

Stat: Robert Califf Is A Fervent Believer In Data. At The FDA, Will That Be Enough?
At his confirmation hearing last month to lead the Food and Drug Administration, Robert Califf was pressed by U.S. senators for his views on the opioid crisis, on tobacco and e-cigarette regulation, and on his relationship with pharmaceutical and tech companies. Califf came prepared and, by all accounts, sailed through. But the hearing did little to address a fundamental question: Who is Robert Califf, and what can we expect him to do? (Herper, 1/5)

Also —

The Wall Street Journal: In Elizabeth Holmes Trial, U.S. Gave Patients A Small Stage
Prosecutors proved that Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes defrauded big-name investors about the capabilities of her blood-testing startup. But their charges involving lower-profile patients fell flat after the government gave them a smaller stage at the trial. At the heart of the case was the argument that Ms. Holmes attracted hundreds of millions of dollars from investors after launching patient-testing services that she falsely promised were ready for prime time, and she disregarded the chaos its inaccurate results could inflict on patient lives. In the end, Theranos voided tens of thousands of test results under pressure from regulators. (Weaver and Somerville, 1/4)

Stat: Why The Holmes Conviction Hinged On Defrauding Investors, Not Patients
The trial of Elizabeth Holmes resulted in a mixed verdict, but one outcome is clear: This was a big victory for prosecutors in a high-profile case where the defendant now faces a lengthy prison sentence. Holmes’ conviction on four fraud charges involving huge sums of money invested in Theranos, the now-shuttered blood testing startup with Holmes at the helm, means she will likely spend many years behind bars. The three wire fraud counts accounted for more than $144 million in investments, a sum that will significantly drive up the length of her sentence, legal experts said. (Ross, 1/4)

Becker's Hospital Review: Smoke Damage Closes Colorado Hospital For Foreseeable Future
Centura-Avista Adventist Hospital — the only full-service hospital in Louisville, Colo. — has closed for the foreseeable future due to smoke damage from the Marshall fire that spread across Boulder County. "There are no care services available at the hospital at this time. Patients who are in need of immediate care should go to the nearest hospital to receive services, or if you are having a life threatening emergency, please call 911," the hospital said in a statement Jan. 1. (Carbajal, 1/4)

In other health care industry news —

Philadelphia Inquirer: Delaware County Memorial Hospital Is Closing Its Birthing Unit
Crozer Health plans to close the maternity and neonatal intensive care units at Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill and consolidate services at the larger Crozer Chester Medical Center in Upland, about 12 miles away. The changes will be effective Jan. 21, Crozer said Monday. A statement said it “is exploring transportation options for patients who may struggle with reliable transportation.” Crozer, owned by the for-profit Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., is making the change “to be able to continue providing the highest-quality care and maintain staffing and services for our community,” Crozer’s statement said. (Brubaker, 1/4)

Modern Healthcare: HCA Purchases Florida Urgent Care Network
HCA Healthcare has acquired the largest urgent network in Florida, the for-profit health system announced Tuesday. The Nashville, Tennessee-based hospital chain closed its purchase of MD Now Urgent Care and its 59 locations last month. Prior to the deal, HCA Healthcare operated 170 urgent care facilities around the U.S. "The addition of MD Now Urgent Care in Florida enhances our already strong capabilities in a rapidly growing state by providing convenient outpatient care options for our patients," HCA Healthcare CEO Sam Hazen said in a news release. "It also connects MD Now patients to a comprehensive statewide network of care, including acute care and specialty services should they be needed." (Devereaux, 1/4)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Anchor Network Becomes Independent Not-For-Profit Organization
The Healthcare Anchor Network, a collective of more than 1,000 hospitals that encourages community-focused purchasing, hiring and investment, said Tuesday it has officially become an independent, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Since its founding in 2017, the Washington, D.C.-based group had been a program within the not-for-profit research group The Democracy Collaborative. But leaders determined that HAN, which now has 70 health system members with more than $150 billion in assets that purchase over $75 billion annually, could stand on its own. (Bannow, 1/4)

Modern Healthcare: Health Systems Eye Outpatient Sector As Hospital M&A Continues To Slump
Annual hospital merger transaction activity sunk to the lowest level in more than a decade, a new report shows. Announced deals dropped to 71 in 2021, the lowest mark since 2009 and the fourth consecutive annual decline, according to the healthcare advisory firm Ponder & Co. The COVID-19 pandemic's disruption paused many planned transactions, as relief funding and reimbursement cut delays allowed many health systems to hold steady, experts said. "Buyers are much more selective and judicious when it comes to taking on potentially challenged assets, questioning whether they can make it work in this environment," said Jake Aygun, director of Ponder's M&A group. (Kacik, 1/4)

Also —

Chicago Tribune: Northwestern To Launch New Institute To Study Aging 
Some people look and act younger than they are. Others seem to age prematurely, acquiring wrinkles, gray hair and an assortment of health problems earlier than their peers. Now, a new institute at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine will aim to find out why, and whether there’s a way to slow or reverse the aging process and the toll it can take on people’s health. The Potocsnak Longevity Institute, which is launching this month, will focus on research related to aging, and on treating patients suffering from its effects. (Schencker, 1/4)

Los Angeles Times: Boy Scouts Sex Abuse Survivors Reject Settlement
The Boy Scouts of America’s bid to emerge from bankruptcy appeared to fall just short Tuesday when a $2.7-billion settlement offer failed to garner enough votes from thousands of men who say they were sexually abused in Scouting. Although 73% of the nearly 54,000 claimants who cast ballots voted to accept the settlement, the proposal needed at least 75% to ensure confirmation by the bankruptcy judge presiding over the case, according to plaintiffs’ lawyers. (Christensen, 1/4)

In updates on "surprise billing" —

Roll Call: Lawmakers Push For Surprise Billing Changes As Law Takes Effect 
All Americans are protected as of Jan. 1 from unexpected out-of-network medical bills, thanks to the implementation of legislation to ban surprise medical billing, but many lawmakers want the Biden administration to make more changes to line up with what they argue was Congress’ intent in crafting the law. “At this point, it’s another principle involved. Can you just really totally reject that which Congress has said because you don’t like it? Or because maybe a couple of members of Congress who didn’t get their way and influence you?” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., told CQ Roll Call, expressing his frustration. (Cohen, 1/5)

KHN: Listen: How The New ‘No Surprises’ Law Tackles Unexpected Medical Bills
The federal No Surprises Act, which aims to eliminate unexpected out-of-network medical bills, took effect Jan. 1, and KHN correspondents hit the airwaves to explain the new law. KHN senior correspondent Julie Appleby appeared on NPR’s “Weekend Edition” on Sunday to give background on why the law was necessary: Surveys showed that up to 1 in 5 emergency department visits and 1 in 10 elective surgeries resulted in an unexpected, out-of-network bill. (1/5)

In other public health news —

Stateline: More Americans Can Use Food Stamps For Restaurants, Prepared Meals
Maryland resident Rhona Reiss began speaking out about gaps in the food stamp program the day she learned it wouldn’t cover rotisserie chicken. Under long-standing federal policy, benefits can’t be used to buy hot or prepared foods—even for older adults like Reiss, who is 77. But that policy is shifting in Maryland and in states across the country. In the past two years, six states have opted in to a little-used federal program that allows older adults to use their food benefits on select, low-cost restaurant meals. The Restaurant Meals Program, as it’s known, also covers people with disabilities and people experiencing homelessness. The program is most widely available in California and Arizona, with newer entrants such as Maryland and Illinois still ramping up their operations. (Dewey, 1/4)

Bloomberg: Should You Quit Your Job? Record Number Americans Resigned In Nov. 2021
A record 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in November while openings remained elevated, highlighting persistent churn in the labor market. The increase in departures was broad across industries and pushed the quits rate up to 3%, matching the most in data back to 2000. Meanwhile, the number of available positions fell to 10.6 million from an upwardly revised 11.1 million in October, the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed Tuesday. (Rockeman, 1/4)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Las Vegas Weather: 2021 Ties For 6th Hottest Year In History
The year 2021 tied for the sixth warmest year on record in Las Vegas, according to the National Weather Service. The average temperature was 71.5 degrees, well ahead of the normal 70.1 degrees. The record average temperature was also reached in 2020. Harry Reid International Airport has reached its six hottest years nearly every year since 2016, the lone exception being 2019. The hottest year was 2017 with an average temperature of 72.3. While global warming might be considered a factor, the growth of Las Vegas has a major impact, says weather service meteorologist Andy Gorelow. (Clemons, 1/5)

The New York Times: N.Y. Prisons Punished 1,600 Based On Faulty Drug Tests, Report Finds
New York’s prison system unjustly penalized more than 1,600 incarcerated people based on faulty drug tests, putting them in solitary confinement, delaying their parole hearings and denying them family visits, the New York State inspector general said in a damning report released on Tuesday. The arbitrary penalties were meted out across the state over an eight-month period in 2019, while the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision relied on improperly administered drug tests made by the company Microgenics, the report found. The tests led to “rampant false positive” results for buprenorphine, an opioid used to treat addiction, as well as synthetic cannabinoids. (Zraick, 1/4)

In news from Montana —

Billings Gazette: MT Bought More Than $1.5M In Cannabis On Opening Weekend Of Recreational Sales
The recreational cannabis market in Montana topped $1.5 million in sales in its first weekend, according to the state revenue department. With a statewide 20% sales tax on recreational cannabis, that opening weekend haul — $1,566,980 — amounts to $313,396 in tax revenue for the state. The Department of Revenue's Cannabis Control Division tallied a combined total of $1,999,597 with recreational and medical sales last Saturday and Sunday. The 4% tax on the $432,617 in medical sales provided an additional $17,305 in tax revenue to the state. (Larson, 1/4)

KHN: Medical Marijuana Users Brace For Shortages As Montana’s Recreational Market Opens 
More than a year after voters approved legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Montana, anyone older than 21 can now enter a dispensary and buy cannabis. That has medical marijuana user Joylynn Mane Wright worried. Wright lives in Prairie County, the state’s fifth-least-populated county, with nearly 1,100 people. She already drives about 35 minutes to get to the marijuana dispensary nearest her home, which is 2½ hours northeast of Billings. And now she wonders how much more difficult it will be to get the cannabis she uses to relieve the chronic pain she developed after a 2017 spinal surgery. (Franz, 1/5)

In other news from across the U.S. —

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Ford Says Nevada Will Rejoin Multistate Opioid Settlement
Nevada will reverse course and rejoin a $26 billion multistate settlement with opioid distributors and manufacturers in light of recent court decisions and other changes that could delay the state receiving funds, Attorney General Aaron Ford announced Tuesday. Ford said that the state would receive some $285 million through a pair of settlements. “After multiple new developments, I ultimately decided that it was in Nevada’s best interest to join this settlement,” Ford said in a streamed press conference Tuesday. (Dentzer, 1/4)

Kansas City Star: Kelly Calls For Review Of KS Mental Hospital After Escapes 
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is calling for an expedited independent security review of Larned State Hospital, a psychiatric facility that treats criminal offenders, after two of its patients escaped within the past six months. The Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services, which oversees the hospital, announced Tuesday an ongoing effort to find an external investigative firm. That review aims to comprehensively assess the problems with the hospital and “produce recommendations to improve security and keep Kansans safe,” Kelly said. “This administration is taking action to identify and fix the flaws that allowed two dangerous residents to escape from a state-operated facility, to ensure that it does not happen again,” Kelly said in a statement. (Lukitsch, 1/4)

KHN: With Sexually Transmitted Infections Off The Charts, California Pushes At-Home Tests
California has become the first state to require health insurance plans to cover at-home tests for sexually transmitted infections such as HIV, chlamydia and syphilis — which could help quell the STI epidemic that has raged nearly unchecked as public health departments have focused on covid-19. The rule, part of a broader law addressing the STI epidemic, took effect Jan. 1 for people with state-regulated private insurance plans and will kick in sometime later for the millions of low-income Californians enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program. (Bluth, 1/5)

AP: Bills Open Window For Anderson Victims To Sue U Of Michigan 
More than 1,000 sexual abuse victims of a University of Michigan sports doctor would get a window in which they could sue the school for damages under new bills that the Legislature will consider. It is the second time since 2018 that the state might retroactively open a period for lawsuits to proceed if abuse occurred under the guise of medical treatment. Similar legislation was enacted following the conviction of former women’s national gymnastics team physician Larry Nassar, who molested hundreds of girls and women, including at Michigan State University. (Eggert, 1/4)

The Washington Post: D.C. Students Will Get Free Pads And Tampons In School Bathrooms 
D.C. students will have access to free pads and tampons in school bathrooms, under legislation approved Tuesday by the D.C. Council. The bill, which was introduced by Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) — whose 2020 council campaign focused on the need for the legislature to better include the perspectives of women — requires public and private schools to stock period products in every girls’ and non-gender-specific bathroom in middle and high schools. (Weil, 1/4)

The Guardian: Okinawa May Declare Emergency Covid Measures As Virus Spreads From US Base 
Japan’s government is poised to declare a quasi-state of emergency on the southern island of Okinawa, media reports said, after a Covid-19 outbreak traced to US military bases spread to the civilian population. The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, could announce the measures this week, the Mainichi newspaper said, after Okinawa officials reported 225 new cases on Tuesday, including 47 of the Omicron strain. Tokyo, by comparison, registered 151 new infections. (McCurry, 1/4)

In news from Europe —

The New York Times: Britain Can ‘Ride Out’ The Omicron Wave Without A Strict Lockdown, Boris Johnson Says 
Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain on Tuesday said that despite the record surge in coronavirus cases, the limited restrictions currently in place in England were the right approach and would be maintained. “We have a chance to ride out this Omicron wave without shutting down our country once again,” Mr. Johnson said at an evening news conference, adding, “We can keep our schools and businesses open, and we can find a way to live with this virus.” (Specia, 1/4)

CNBC: Omicron Wave Seems To Have Peaked In South Africa, London Next?
In a matter of weeks, the omicron Covid-19 variant — first detected in South Africa and Botswana in November — has surged around the world, leading to millions of new cases and the re-imposition of coronavirus restrictions in many countries. The U.S. and Europe have been rolling out booster shots as fast as they can following research findings by Covid vaccine makers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna that the omicron variant undermines the effectiveness of the standard two doses of their Covid shots, but that booster shots significantly increase the level of protection against the variant. (Ellyatt, 1/5)

Fox News: COVID-19 Variant Found In France Nicknamed IHU: Report
An official from the World Health Organization told a press conference Tuesday that another COVID-19 variant has infected a dozen people in France and has been on the agency’s radar, according to a report. Bloomberg reported that the ‘IHU’ variant, which was nicknamed by researchers at the Marseille-based Mediterranee Infection University Hospital Institute (IHU), has infected individuals in the southern Alps region in the country. Abdi Mahamud, a WHO incident manager, told researchers in Geneva that it's too soon to "speculate on virological, epidemiological or clinical features" of the variant that was identified in November—at about the same time as omicron. (DeMarche, 1/5)

Bloomberg: WHO Downplays Threat Of Covid-19 Variant Found In France
The World Health Organization said a coronavirus variant found in France hasn’t become much of a threat since it was first identified in November. The variant “has been on our radar,” Abdi Mahamud, a WHO incident manager on Covid, said at a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday. “That virus had a lot of chances to pick up.” The variant was identified in 12 people in the southern Alps around the same time that omicron was discovered in South Africa last year. The latter mutation has since traveled the globe and kindled record levels of contagion, unlike the French one that researchers at the IHU Mediterranee Infection -- helmed by scientist Didier Raoult --nicknamed IHU. (Fourcade and Mulier, 1/4)

Newsweek: French President Emmanuel Macron Says Someone Who Refuses COVID Vaccine Is 'Not A Citizen'
French President Emmanuel Macron has insisted that French people who continue to refuse to get COVID-19 vaccines are not acting like citizens. Macron made the remark during in interview published by the Le Parisien newspaper on Tuesday. The French president said he hoped to "hassle" those who were "irresponsible" enough to refuse vaccines into getting their jabs. ... "When my freedoms threaten those of others, I become someone irresponsible," he added. "Someone irresponsible is not a citizen." (Slisco, 1/5)

In other covid news from around the globe —

ABC News: COVID Outbreak In Belgian Research Station In Antarctica 
A research station in Antarctica is battling a COVID-19 outbreak despite being located in one of the most remote corners of the world. Since mid-December, 11 of the 33 workers at Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have tested positive for the virus. (Kekatos, 1/4)

Bloomberg: Brazil Faces Virus Onslaught As Influenza Spreads With Omicron
Brazil’s hospital system may be at risk as a surge of influenza courses through the country just as the omicron strain takes hold. Some people have been hit by back-to-back infections -- or even come down with both at the same time, what’s been dubbed “flurona.” It’s happened in at least three states so far, and experts say that number is likely to grow as omicron, a more contagious variant of coronavirus, becomes more prevalent. “It’s not a surprise considering there are two highly infectious viruses circulating in Brazil at a time when people are being less careful with the use of masks and social distancing,” said Jean Gorinchteyn, the health secretary for the state of Sao Paulo, one of the three that has reported cases of simultaneous infections. (Viotti Beck, Aragaki and Gamarski, 1/4)

AP: Djokovic Medical Exemption Sparks Australian Open Debate 
With his medical exemption approved, Novak Djokovic may have some explaining to do when he gets to Melbourne to defend his Australian Open title. The exemption allows the top-ranked Djokovic entry to the tournament regardless of his vaccination status for COVID-19, a subject he has declined to clarify amid months of speculation he could miss the season-opening major unless he can prove he’s had two doses of a coronavirus vaccine. (Pye, 1/5)

Reuters: Djokovic Needs To Prove Exemption Or Go Home - Australian PM
Novak Djokovic needs to prove that he has a genuine medical exemption from COVID-19 vaccination when he lands in Australia or he will be "on the next plane home", Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday. The world No. 1 announced on Tuesday he received an exemption to play in the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne and said he was heading to Australia. (1/5)

CNBC: Here's What To Know About Your 2022 Medicare Costs
When the calendar flips to 2022, certain Medicare costs will creep higher. For the program’s 63.6 million beneficiaries — most of whom are 65 or older — annual adjustments can affect premiums, deductibles and other cost-sharing aspects of Medicare. While each change doesn’t necessarily involve a huge dollar amount, experts say it’s important to consider how any increases will affect your household budget. (O'Brien, 12/31)

In other news about prescription drug costs —

WBFO: Hochul Signs New Laws Reducing Prescription Drug Costs 
Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a series of new laws aimed at reducing the cost of prescription drugs and helping struggling, independently-owned pharmacies, but vetoed a third that supporters argue would reduce costs for the state's Medicaid program. Three bills known as the Pharmacy Rescue Package received near unanimous bi-partisan approval in the state legislature. They aim to lower the cost of prescription drugs by regulating so-called pharmacy benefit managers. (Finnerty, 1/4)

Orange County Breeze: New California State Report Shows Rise In Cost Of Prescription Drugs 
The California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) today released the Prescription Drug Cost Transparency Report for Measurement Year 2020. The report looks at the impact of the cost of prescription drugs on health plan premiums and compares this data over four reporting years: 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Among other findings, the report reveals that health plan spending on prescription drugs increased by $1.5 billion since 2017, including an increase of $500 million in 2020. (Henderson, 1/2)

The Oregonian: Oregon’s New Drug Price Transparency Project Finds Eye-Popping Prescription Costs 
Joan Morgan’s father faced a $10,000 a month price tag for a drug to keep him alive after he was found to suffer from a rare genetic mutation, she told Oregon regulators earlier this month. But that figure pales in comparison to other high-cost drugs detailed in a new state report previewed at the hearing, which was held by the state’s Prescription Drug Price Transparency Program. Genetic therapies from the global biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb topped the list of pricey new drugs reported to the program, which was created by the Legislature in 2018 to increase transparency around drug costs. The 2021 report draws from data collected since the program’s last annual report was released in October 2020. (Green, 12/26)

Also —

The Wall Street Journal: How Biogen Fumbled Aduhelm, Its Once-Promising Alzheimer’s Drug
For more than a decade, Biogen Inc. BIIB -0.99% worked on a new drug for Alzheimer’s disease that seemed to have blockbuster potential. Early results were so impressive that Biogen raced toward regulatory approval—a risky gambit that drove up the stock as investors anticipated sales of the first approved drug in nearly two decades to slow the advancement of a disease affecting six million Americans. (Walker and Pulliam, 1/4)

Bloomberg: Prescription Weight Loss Drugs For Obesity Work—If Your Doctor Lets You Get Them 
Many overweight people and all obese people are candidates for a prescription. Yet no more than 3% of qualifying Americans are taking weight loss medications, and most haven’t even heard of them. The American Board of Obesity Medicine has certified 5,242 obesity medicine doctors in total, up from 587 in 2013. So far, though, most doctors simply aren’t prescribing the medications. (Court, 1/4)

FiercePharma: 2022 Forecast: Will Biopharma's Offices Ever Go Back To 'Normal'? Sanofi, Novartis And More Chime In
Through much of 2021, it seemed as if COVID-19 vaccines were enabling many countries to gently ease back into normalcy. Those hopes hit a rude awakening late in the year when the omicron variant emerged, and now industry leaders are forced—again—to quickly adapt. How is biopharma preparing to work in 2022? In recent weeks, we've asked leaders at a range of companies about their workplace expectations next year, and how they can continue their lifesaving work despite the latest challenges posed by the pandemic. (Sagonowsky, 12/22)

The Tennessean: Why Prescription Drug Access Should Be Treated As A Racial Justice Issue
The past 18 months opened many Americans' eyes to the ways racial inequality affects health. Throughout the pandemic, Black and Hispanic people have died from COVID-19 at higher rates than their white neighbors. And public protest shone a light on the disproportionate impact of police violence on Black people. There's a growing awareness of the many reasons people of color experience poor health outcomes, including the stresses of racism itself. But one area of racial health disparity isn't often discussed: the lack of equitable access to prescription drugs. (Kevin B. Kimble, 1/3)

The Hill: Drug Price Controls Are Essential For Small Businesses
As small businesses across the country buckle up for another possible winter of COVID-19, they suffered an avoidable blow in Washington, D.C., this month on meaningful and much-needed prescription drug reform for their employees. The stalled Build Back Better Act (BBB), which includes key health care and prescription drug reforms small businesses have long been clamoring for, would bring down onerous health care costs, provide relief to consumers, and spur job growth and higher wages for employees on Main Streets across America. But now the bill’s uncertain fate is throwing yet another wrench in the gears for small businesses who are working tirelessly to keep their doors open. (Dr. Erika Gonzalez, 12/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Drug Prices Haven’t Been Going Up
Build Back Better may be dead, but its proposed drug price controls will likely reappear: negotiating prices for high-cost drugs in Medicare and price controls for most drugs limiting price increases to the annual inflation rate. President Biden insists such controls are needed because pharmaceutical companies are “jacking up prices on a range of medicines.” He promises “to end the days when drug companies could increase their prices with no oversight and no accountability.” Yet while inflation has skyrocketed under Mr. Biden, drug prices are lower than when he took office. As the consumer-price index over the past year rose 6.8%, the largest increase in 39 years, prescription-drug prices fell 0.3%. (Joel Zinberg, 12/26)

Stat: Use March-In Rights To Prevent Prostate Cancer Drug Price Gouging 
Astellas Pharma, a drug company headquartered in Japan, is charging U.S. patients $156,000 a year for the prostate cancer drug Xtandi (enzalutamide) — more than three to five times what it charges residents of other wealthy countries, and five times more than it charges in Japan. Adding insult to injury, Xtandi was discovered by scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, with grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Army. (Peter Arno, Robert Sachs and Kathryn Ardizzone, 1/3)

Also —

The Wall Street Journal: Is Fluvoxamine The Covid Drug We’ve Been Waiting For?
The Food and Drug Administration last week authorized two oral antiviral medicines for the early treatment of Covid-19. But don’t get too excited. The U.S. will still have a meager treatment arsenal this winter. The U.S. has been relying on monoclonal-antibody treatments, but most don’t hold up against the Omicron variant. One, by GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology, does better at neutralizing the variant, but supply is limited. Pfizer’s newly authorized antiviral pack Paxlovid will also have to be rationed. There will be more of Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics’ newly authorized antiviral, molnupiravir, but patients may be reluctant to take the drug. Some scientists worry it could cause DNA mutations in people, though the FDA determined that the likelihood of this was low when used on a short-term basis. (Allysia Finley, 12/28)

Bloomberg: Medicare Needs To Test The New Alzheimer’s Drug Aduhelm Before Paying
Since last summer, Medicare has been evaluating whether to pay for a newly approved, exorbitantly priced drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Its decision was always going to be fraught: The data on the drug’s potential benefits are ambiguous at best, and its risks are considerable. About 40% of patients who have taken it have suffered swelling or bleeding in the brain. Others have experienced disabling nausea, dizziness, headaches and confusion. Biogen, the manufacturer, is investigating a patient death. Then there is the price: $28,200 a year for the average patient. (This is half the drug’s original cost, which Biogen cut to deflect widespread anger.) It’s one reason that Medicare increased its annual premium for 2022 by more than $250. (Peter B. Bach and Rita F. Redberg, 1/3)

Bloomberg: Who Should Get First Dibs On The New COVID Pill?
Scientists who’ve been reluctant to talk up any new COVID-19 treatment are suddenly using the expression “game changer” to describe the Pfizer antiviral pill Paxlovid. But the changed game will include rationing. It’s no coincidence that it works the same way as the drugs that changed everything with the AIDS epidemic. Called protease inhibitors, they turned HIV from a death sentence to a manageable disease. (Faye Flam, 1/4)

Bloomberg: Omicron Is Overloading Hospitals And Raising The Cruel Issue Of Triage
At some point after he became chief surgeon in Napoleon’s army, Dominique Jean Larrey started walking across blood-soaked battlefields to pick out those among the wounded who could still be saved, usually by instant amputation of limbs. In time, he developed a system of sorting and separating — trier in French — the casualties. Ignoring rank and nationality, he considered only those who had the greatest chance of surviving. His method became known as triage.In worst-case scenarios, triage is nowadays accepted almost universally as necessary and justified. And yet, the idea still rests on an act of cruelty — cruel both to a victim and to the doctor having to make the decision. It often necessitates allowing one human being to die in order to ration the care that might let another live. (Andreas Kluth, 1/5)

The New York Times: We Have To Stop Relying On Luck To Weather The Pandemic 
I have some good news and some bad news, and they’re both the same. Seven independent lab studies have found that while Omicron’s mutations make it exceptionally good at causing breakthrough cases even in people who have been vaccinated or previously infected, they also render it less able to effectively infect the lower lungs, a step associated with more serious illness. Plus, in country after country where Omicron has spread, epidemiological data shows that vaccines are still helping prevent severe disease or worse. (Zeynep Tufekci, 1/5)

CNN: My Toddler Got Covid. This Is What I Realized
After spending the last two years terrified of getting Covid-19, last month our four-year-old daughter -- too young to be vaccinated, much less boosted -- got sick. There was an outbreak in her pre-K classroom, so as soon she got a temperature, we did an at-home test. We spent a few sleepless nights fighting to bring her 103-degree fever down as our little warrior coughed and struggled with congestion. Her doctor told us to only take her to the hospital if she had trouble breathing. The biggest "weapon" I had to help my kid was over-the-counter medicine to reduce her fever. (Anushay Hossain, 1/4)

The Washington Post: Fighting Omicron Means Facing Reality. Slogans Don’t Help. 
The new year dawns with a pandemic of twin peaks. One is a medical and public health crisis, an enormous cascade of new daily cases, ultra-contagious but evidently less severe than in the past. The other is a wave of disruption caused by the sheer volume of spreading illness, threatening hospitals and health-care systems and confronting the country with a tsunami of absenteeism. Once again, the public faces threats to personal well-being and to the nation’s health and safety. (1/4)

The Baltimore Sun: Amid Omicron, Maryland Must Ensure Convenient COVID Testing On A Mass Scale 
As a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, I was required to test for COVID-19 weekly throughout this past semester. Hopkins uses a saliva PCR testing system for asymptomatic screening: participants make same-day appointments, deposit saliva into test tubes, and receive lab results through MyChart — often all within a day. As cases rose in Maryland, what initially felt like a mild annoyance in my week quickly became a welcome reassurance: The testing was fast, free, noninvasive, and I could be around loved ones and feel reasonably confident that I was likely not passing COVID-19 onto them. (Laura E. Kroart, 1/4)

Dallas Morning News: It Shouldn’t Be This Hard To Find A COVID Test In Dallas
Two days before Christmas our families shared a meal together. We sang songs at the piano and played board games. No one suspected COVID-19. We wouldn’t have even tested, except for the airplane flight the next day. By Christmas Eve, one of the spouses had a positive test result. We were fortunate that we didn’t end up in the hospital, but still, Christmas was ruined. And that was just the start of our troubles. Surely, we thought, testing the rest of us would be easy and straightforward. How wrong we were. (Jo Guldi and Macabe Keliher, 1/5)

Stat: Improving Access To Methadone Can Save Lives 
The United States recently reached a grim milestone: 100,000 overdose deaths in one year. This spike is the result of numerous factors, from the social isolation and economic destruction of the Covid-19 pandemic to a surge in the availability of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid. Although an effective treatment for opioid use disorder exists — methadone, a medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1947 — restrictive federal regulations create powerful barriers to people seeking access to this lifesaving medicine. ... I introduced into the U.S. Congress the Opioid Treatment Access Act, which would improve access to and modernize the delivery of opioid treatment for people with opioid use disorder. (Rep. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.), 1/4)

NBC News: Employees Are Tired, Stressed And Burned Out. That's Why I Give Mine 'Wellness Days.'
Texts from Egypt’s New Kingdom period suggest that even when workers were too sick to build the royal tombs, they were still paid. The pharaohs apparently calculated that allowing for health needs leads to better work. And that’s a society that literally treated many workers as slaves. Some 5,000 years later, we need to modernize how we support worker health — though companies that have yet to offer even basic paid sick leave should finally catch up to the ancient Egyptians. Instead of merely continuing to compensate workers once they are ill, we need to rethink time off to keep employees healthy. (Daniel Freedman, 12/28)

The Baltimore Sun: In Maryland, The New Year Presents A Golden Opportunity To Protect A Woman’s Right To Choose 
It appears to be a matter of when, not if, the U.S. Supreme Court will hand down a ruling that will overturn the constitutional rights of women as spelled out under Roe v. Wade. It was apparent when the court rejected intervening in a Texas law that bans most abortions by means of vigilante lawsuits, as well as in views key justices expressed during arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case that restricts abortions in Mississippi after 15 weeks. The court’s politically conservative majority is clearly interested in rolling back reproductive rights in a big way. Might Roe be overturned entirely and immediately? It is not beyond the pale despite the landmark decision’s near-half-century of existence, and all those reassurances spouted during the most recent confirmation hearings that precedents (and “super-precedents”) would be respected. Court observers expect a decision in Dobbs to be issued by late June. (1/4)

Stat: Health Tech Needs To Rebuild Trust In The Wake Of The Theranos Verdict
Monday’s news that Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and CEO of Theranos, was found guilty of three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud investors makes for sensational headlines. But these headlines make it easy to lose sight of what is most important in this story and who was hurt: people reluctant to undergo diagnostic testing who could have benefited from Theranos’ purported innovations that would have lowered barriers to testing. They are now left with the status quo and have yet another reason to question the medical-innovation establishment that claims to want to help them. (David Stein, 1/4)

Chicago Tribune: Breast Cancer Is Disproportionately Killing Black Women In Chicago. Here’s What Needs To Change. 
When I was young, my aunt and my grandma would braid my hair every Sunday. I didn’t realize how much time I spent with them until my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer and started to use those Sundays to rest after grueling chemotherapy sessions. My grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer and died a week later from the disease. Like many Black women, my aunt and grandma’s diagnoses were late, and their prognoses were poor. Across the United States, breast cancer disproportionately kills Black women. While the incidence of breast cancer among Black women is similar to that of white women, Black women have a 42% higher mortality rate. This disparity worsens among women younger than 45, with Black women having a mortality rate double that of white women. (Tecora Turner, 1/4)

Modern Healthcare: CEO Roundtable: Building On Lessons Learned To Prepare For Next Challenges 
With COVID in our lives for nearly two years, the most progressive healthcare organizations see handling the virus largely in their rearview mirrors. Now the work involves implementing the lessons learned from the global pandemic and determining how to remain viable while losing fatigued and disillusioned talent. We asked leaders from a diverse set of companies to weigh in on their priorities and strategies for 2022. (Gregory Deavens, Michael Dowling and Tim Hingten, 1/4)