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Has the omicron wave peaked in the U.S.?
Covid-19 cases are finally falling in the United States, welcome news after nearly two months of skyrocketing case counts driven by the highly infectious omicron variant.
“Nationally, the case numbers are coming down, which I consider an optimistic trend,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a White House Covid briefing Friday.
But the falling numbers don’t mean Americans are out of the woods.
That’s because, as cases fall, a huge number of people will still be infected: As many people who got sick as cases soared to their peak will get infected on the downward slope, said Dr. Jonathan Li, an infectious disease physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
“It’s a great sign that the slope is going down but case rates remain very high,” he said.
Friday, the seven-day average of cases in the U.S. was 743,913 cases, down 7 percent from the week before, according to NBC News data. Deaths, however, rose slightly, from an average of 1,979 on Jan. 14 to 2,131 on Friday.
According to Katriona Shea, a professor of biology at Pennsylvania State University and a member of the coordination team for the Covid-19 Scenario Modeling Hub, a group of institutions that pool multiple models to create pandemic projections, cases and hospitalizations are expected to peak before the end of January in most states.
Cases are already falling in parts of the Northeast, Walensky said. “We are starting to see steep declines in areas that were first peaking, so areas of the Northeast — New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut — are really starting to come down.”
Shea said that cases in the rest of the country and deaths, which lag behind cases, are expected to trail shortly after.
The big dropoff in cases in large states like New York can make the nationwide average look lower, even though cases are still rising in many states, but she expects all states to hit their peaks soon after Northeastern states.
Even so, people should not see this as a time to ease up on precautions, she said.
“People think that if the peak is at the end of January, then we’re done. But a lot of damage can be done on the other side of that peak,” Shea said.
The omicron variant now accounts for nearly 100 percent of new Covid cases in the nation, CDC data show. Although early evidence suggests this strain of the virus is less likely to cause severe disease than its predecessors, many more people are being infected than ever before, so the number of people dying will still be significant, she said.
People also shouldn’t expect a smooth decline.
“It wouldn’t be surprising if we saw a few more bumps in the road, temporary bounce backs that don’t get back at the level of the peaks we’re seeing now, but are still brief periods of increase on this general trend of a decline,” said Justin Lessler, a professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health in Chapel Hill.
These brief spikes will likely be driven by lags in reporting and behavior changes, such as traveling more over holiday weekends, he said.
According to Li, although much of the decline is driven by immunity and fewer hosts for the variant to infect, behavior changes also play a vital role. If these behavior changes such as wearing masks ease up, it could blunt the speed of the decline, he said.
The latest Covid-19 Scenario Modeling Hub predictions, published Thursday, projected that by April, cases could drop to the lows seen in June 2021, before the delta wave hit.
What the models cannot predict, however, is how the virus may evolve.
“All it takes is one new variant,” Shea said. “There was no indication of omicron and there were other variants that did not take off. Omicron made a huge change and it’s definitely possible it could happen again.”
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COVID hospitalizations plateau in some parts of the US, while a crisis remains in others
COVID-19 cases have sharply risen again across the US and around the world, with the new Omicron variant accounting for most new cases. The winter surge has prompted many experts and officials to reemphasize the importance of masking indoors and social distancing, in addition to getting vaccinated, including booster shots.
Below, we’re gathering all the latest news and updates on coronavirus in New England and beyond.
New Zealand will move to tighter Covid-19 restrictions at the end of the day after evidence shows that omicron is circulating in the community.
The move to the “red” settings will include more mask wearing, gathering limits and increased distancing requirements at hospitality outlets, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a news conference Sunday in Wellington. Businesses will remain open and people can travel. Red isn’t a lockdown, she said.
“The goal at red is to slow the spread of the virus,” she said. “We have significant capacity in the system to attempt to stamp out outbreaks.”
Nine Covid cases reported previously in the South Island city of Nelson have been confirmed as omicron, which has triggered the response, Ardern explained. The cases in a single family had attended a wedding in Auckland where one guest has also tested positive, and an Air New Zealand worker on their flight is also infected.
For students in surge, a ‘new normal’ and plenty of worries
Massachusetts — still faced with record-setting COVID-19 caseloads, nearly two years into the pandemic — the 17-year-old begins each day with a high-stakes calculation: How to get to her first class on time, alongside 1,500 other students, while limiting her risk of exposure to the virus?
If she enters Worcester Technical High School too early, she will have to wait in the cafeteria with hundreds of other students, some unmasked as they eat breakfast, until the 7:10 a.m. bell that releases the crowd into the hallways. But if she waits too long to avoid the rush, she risks being tardy to class, even if she sprints upstairs to her fourth-floor classroom.
It is the first of dozens of decisions she must make as she navigates a pandemic-era school day during the Omicron surge, a routine she agreed to document this month for the Globe to help shed light on the experience of thousands of Massachusetts students. Since December, more than 100,000 positive cases of the virus have been reported among the state’s 911,000 students.
Omicron spreads to rural Alabama
New infections are climbing steeply in rural Alabama, even though the omicron surge appears to have leveled off in urban areas like Birmingham, Mobile and Montgomery, al.com reported.
Alabama is the second-least vaccinated state in the U.S., with less than 48% of people fully vaccinated, compared with the U.S. average of almost 63%. Hardest hit in the omicron wave are counties with the lowest vaccination rates, al.com reported. The state hit a record on Thursday of 46% of tests positive for Covid-19.
Tom Cruise’s next ‘Mission: Impossible’ films are delayed over COVID
One of the biggest movies slated for 2022 — “Mission: Impossible 7″ starring Tom Cruise — is being pushed into next year in the latest blow to struggling cinemas.
The film, which had already been postponed before, will shift from September to July 2023, according to a statement from ViacomCBS Inc.’s Paramount Pictures. Although filming wrapped last year, editing and other post-production chores have been delayed by the surge of the omicron variant.
The next picture in the series, “Mission: Impossible 8,” is also moving, from July 2023 to June 2024.
What to know about cruise travel while Omicron spreads
It’s not the most carefree time to go on a cruise.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently warned all travelers, even those who are vaccinated, to avoid cruise ships. Infections are soaring during the omicron surge, with ships reporting 14,803 coronavirus cases onboard between Dec. 30 and Jan. 12. That number was below 200 in early December. Passengers and crew have told horror stories about being stuck in isolation for days, with only lukewarm room service and in-room TV to pass the time.
There is a fresh level of uncertainty to sailing now: Several cruise lines have canceled trips in the near future and longer term, and ports have been turning ships away.
Despite the CDC’s advice, travelers will still book cruises as long as they’re allowed. Here are answers to 10 common questions they may be asking at this stage of the omicron wave.
Omicron wave leaves US food banks scrambling for volunteers
Food banks across the country are experiencing a critical shortage of volunteers as the omicron variant frightens people away from their usual shifts, and companies and schools that regularly supply large groups of volunteers are canceling their participation over virus fears.
The end result in many cases has been a serious increase in spending by the food banks at a time when they are already dealing with higher food costs due to inflation and supply chain issues.
Vaccine passport protests in Europe draw thousands of people
Thousands of people gathered in European capitals Saturday to protest vaccine passports and other requirements governments have imposed in hopes of ending the coronavirus pandemic.
Demonstrations took place in Athens, Helsinki, London, Paris and Stockholm.
Marches in Paris drew hundreds of demonstrators protesting the introduction from Monday of a new COVID-19 pass. It will severely restrict the lives of those who refuse to get vaccinated by banning them from domestic flights, sports events, bars, cinemas and other leisure venues. French media reported that demonstrators also marched by the hundreds in other cities.
In Sweden, where vaccine certificates are required to attend indoor events with more than 50 people, some 3,000 demonstrators marched though central Stockholm and assembled in a main square for a protest organized by the Frihetsrorelsen – or Freedom Movement.
Omicron nears US peak even as some regions still face struggle
The omicron variant is starting to loosen its grip on the U.S. Northeast, but experts warn that it will take more time for the latest wave of Covid-19 to recede nationwide.
The strain’s fast surge and swift descent in one of the most populous parts of the U.S. echoes its trajectory in areas of Europe and South Africa, where infections skyrocketed only to come back down nearly as quickly. That’s raised hopes that while omicron has at times seemed like a replay of the worst days of the early pandemic, it will soon ebb.
However, the shape of the omicron wave may look different in various parts of the U.S., depending on vaccination rates and hospital capacity in those areas. While omicron has been milder than other variants, it has strained health-care providers across the country, and infections in children have been higher this time around.
Little evidence that COVID spreads by contact with overseas mail, China says
Chinese officials say experts have seen little to suggest that Covid-19 is spreading via non-frozen goods after a recent infection of the omicron variant in Beijing was said to be traced to overseas mail.
Experts have insufficient evidence so far on non-frozen imported goods transmitting Covid-19 to people in China, according to He Qinghua, an official with the National Health Commission, at a press conference on Saturday. Earlier this week, the Beijing Municipal Health Commission said a positive case sometimes handled international mail at work and authorities couldn’t rule out the possibility of the person getting infected through such an instance.
Further studies need to be carried out, He said. Global studies and virus control practices show the coronavirus mainly spreads through close human-to-human contact, he said.
“Humans contracting the virus via tainted goods is not the main spreading channel, but we cannot rule out such a possibility,” he added.
In the Beijing instance, samples taken from a package and some documents inside international mail received by the person tested positive for the virus.
Airlines in Europe say they are flying near-empty planes as Omicron derails travel. They say EU rules mean they can’t stop
As the Omicron variant derails travel plans around the world, airlines say strict European Union regulations are forcing them to fly near-empty flights — unnecessary and environmentally harmful flights that they argue they need to fly to save their long-term takeoff and landing slots at European airports.
Airlines must use a certain percentage of their designated slots at airports to hold on to them. But low demand during the pandemic has led airlines to fly near empty flights, often known as ghost flights, to meet the requirements. Lufthansa, a large German airline, has said it canceled 33,000 trips, or 10 percent of its winter flights, because of low demand but still anticipates needing to fly 18,000 “poorly booked” flights to secure its slots.
China’s success taming virus could make exit strategy harder
The sweeping “zero-tolerance” strategy that China has used to keep COVID-19 case numbers low and its economy functioning may, paradoxically, make it harder for the country to exit the pandemic.
Most experts say the coronavirus around the world isn’t going away and believe it could eventually become, like the flu, a persistent but generally manageable threat if enough people gain immunity through infections and vaccines.
The Fugees are the latest artists to cancel shows over the pandemic
Pandemic woes continue to disrupt the attempts of artists to resume live performances. Months after delaying their 25th anniversary reunion tour to early this year, The Fugees announced Friday that the tour would be canceled altogether, saying the pandemic made performing safely too difficult. On Thursday, Adele postponed her Las Vegas residency only a day before its debut.
In a post on Instagram, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Pras Michel, who were promoting the anniversary of their Grammy Award-winning album “The Score,” said they were putting safety first.
“We want to make sure we keep our fans and ourselves healthy and safe,” the post read.
The group said that “now it may not currently be our time for revisiting this past work,” adding that it remained hopeful that “if opportunity, public safety and scheduling allow,” a future reunion tour might be possible.
Jan. 21, 2022
Passenger from Ireland charged with assault on Delta flight to New York
A belligerent Delta Air Lines passenger who refused to wear a mask during a recent eight-hour flight from Dublin to New York has been charged with assaulting and intimidating a member of the crew — one of several who tried to get him under control — as he terrorized everyone aboard throughout the trip.
Shane McInerney, 29, a Galway, Ireland, resident, threw tantrums and stubbornly went maskless on the Jan. 7 international flight despite being asked “dozens of times” by crew members to put one on, court documents say.
He also created chaos in other ways throughout the trip — including mooning people as he was escorted back to his seat, throwing a drink can at the head of another passenger, and kicking the seat of the person in front of him, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Brooklyn.
Two hours into the flight, the captain, on a break, spoke to McInerney, who took off his cap twice, put it on the captain’s head, then allegedly held his fist to the captain’s face and said: “Don’t touch me.”
As the plane was landing, when passengers and crew members were seated and wearing seat belts, McInerney defiantly stood in the aisle and refused to sit, officials said.
McInerney was charged with assaulting and intimidating a crew member on Delta Flight 45. He was released on a $20,000 bond when he appeared before a judge a week ago. His case was unsealed on Friday.
NFL ends daily COVID-19 testing for all players
The NFL is curtailing daily testing of all players, vaccinated or unvaccinated, for COVID-19.
In a memo sent to the 32 clubs and obtained by The Associated Press, the league said Friday that medical experts from the NFL and the players’ union agreed to the change. Those doctors have seen enough evidence of a decrease in positive tests in the last month to feel comfortable with dropping daily tests.
Last month, weekly testing for vaccinated players and personnel was stopped, but anyone who reported symptoms of COVID-19 or was part of targeted surveillance still was subjected to testing.
“Following consultation with our jointly retained infectious disease experts, the NFL and NFL Players Association have updated the NFL-NFLPA COVID-19 protocols to eliminate the distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated players to determine testing cadence,” the memo said. “Effective immediately, all players and tiered staff will be subject to strategic and targeted testing.”
The league will continue symptom-based testing and screening for symptoms.
White House official says US is moving toward a time when ‘COVID won’t be a constant crisis’
The official in charge of President Biden’s coronavirus response team expressed optimism Friday about the future of the pandemic, saying the nation is “moving toward a time when COVID won’t disrupt our daily lives, where COVID won’t be a constant crisis but something we protect against and treat.”
The official, Jeff Zients, made the remark at a White House news conference as the national coronavirus caseload was on a slight downward trajectory, largely because of declines in major cities in the hard-hit Northeast. That trend also prompted Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to sound an upbeat note.
Latin America, Asia latest to get hit with Omicron surge
In Costa Rica, officials are encouraging those infected with the coronavirus to skip voting in upcoming national elections. On the other side of the world, Beijing is locking down residential communities as the country anxiously awaits the start of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 4.
In Latin America and Asia, where the omicron variant is making its latest appearance, some countries are imposing such restrictions while others are loath to place new limits on populations already exhausted by previous constraints.
Omicron quickly swept through the places it first hit, such as South Africa, the U.K. and the United States, pushing daily cases far higher than at any time during the pandemic.
The Americas reported nearly 7.2 million new COVID infections and more than 15,000 COVID-related deaths over the past week, the Pan American Health Organization said Wednesday. Coronavirus infections across the Americas almost doubled between Jan. 1 and Jan. 8, from 3.4 million cases to 6.1 million, PAHO said.
Infections are accelerating in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Peru, and hospitalizations are rising in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, said PAHO Director Carissa Etienne. The Caribbean islands are experiencing their steepest increase in COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, Etienne noted.
Mass. Nurses Association calls on Baker to declare state of emergency
The Massachusetts Nurses Association has called for Governor Charlie Baker to declare a state of emergency through the end of March and establish new protections for health care workers who are exhausted by the crushing demands of the pandemic, according to a letter from the group.
Union President Katie Murphy, a registered nurse, warned in the letter Thursday that the state’s health care system is nearing a breaking point and said Baker should reinstate the provisions of his March 10, 2020, emergency declaration, made one day before the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
COVID hospitalizations plateau in some parts of the US, while a crisis remains in others
Fewer people in the United States are being admitted to hospitals with the coronavirus than a week ago, suggesting that the record-breaking surge in hospitalizations driven by the omicron variant could soon decline, following recent case trends. But the country remains far from the end of the omicron wave, and in many areas it could be weeks before the strain on hospitals subsides.
The number of people hospitalized with the virus nationwide and those sick enough to require intensive care remain at or near record levels. In much of the West, in parts of the Midwest and in more rural areas of the country, where omicron surges have hit later, cases and hospitalizations are still growing significantly.
FDA authorizes antiviral drug remdesivir as an outpatient therapy for people with COVID-19
Federal regulators Friday authorized the antiviral drug remdesivir for covid-19 outpatients at high risk of being hospitalized, providing a new treatment option for doctors struggling with shortages of effective drugs to counter the coronavirus.
The Food and Drug Administration said the intravenous treatment, which had been limited to patients in the hospital, could be administered to outpatients with mild-to-moderate illness.
Remdesivir, manufactured by Gilead Sciences, was among the first coronavirus treatments authorized in 2020. The drug received full agency approval later that year for people 12 and older. Treatment of younger children is permitted under an emergency use authorization, but Friday’s expansion to outpatients includes both age groups.
Arizona sues Biden to keep school anti-mask rules
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey sued the Biden administration on Friday over its demand that the state stop sending millions in federal COVID-19 relief money to schools that don’t have mask requirements or that close due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Phoenix comes a week after the U.S. Treasury Department demanded that Ducey either restructure the $163 million program to eliminate restrictions it says undermine public health recommendations or face a repayment demand. The Treasury Department also wants changes to a $10 million program Ducey created that gives private school tuition money to parents if their children’s schools have mask mandates.
Rio de Janeiro delays Carnival parades as Omicron spreads
The world-famous Carnival festivities in Rio de Janeiro will be held in late April rather than the final weekend of February, as the number of coronavirus cases in Brazil spikes and the omicron variant spreads across the country.
“The decision was made respecting for the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil and the need, at this time, to preserve lives and join forces to drive vaccination throughout the country,” said a statement issued Friday jointly by the cities of Rio and Sao Paulo, which also delayed the start of its Carnival parades until April 21.
Earlier in the afternoon, Rio’s Mayor Eduardo Paes and his Sao Paulo counterpart Ricardo Nunes held a video call along with their respective health secretaries and each city’s league of samba schools that put on the parade, according to the statement.
Mass. reports 86,450 breakthrough COVID-19 cases, raising total to 6.8 percent of fully vaccinated people
Massachusetts on Friday reported 86,450 more COVID-19 cases among fully vaccinated people since last week, bringing the total since the beginning of the vaccination campaign to 348,510 cases, or 6.8 percent of all fully vaccinated people.
The data, which is typically released on Tuesdays, was reported on Friday after delays due to network connectivity issues, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said.
Preteens may be vaccinated without parents under California bill
California would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent under a proposal introduced Friday by a state senator who said youngsters “deserve the right to protect themselves” against infectious disease.
Currently in California, minors ages 12 to 17 cannot be vaccinated without permission from their parents or guardians, unless the vaccine is specifically to prevent a sexually transmitted disease. Parental consent laws for vaccinations vary by state and region and a few places such as Philadelphia, San Francisco allow minors to consent to their own COVID-19 vaccines.
Wiener’s bill would lift the parental requirement for that age group for any vaccine that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If the bill passes, California would allow the youngest age of any state to be vaccinated without parental permission.
That includes immunizations against the coronavirus, but Wiener said vaccine hesitancy and misinformation has also deterred vaccinations against measles and other contagious diseases that can then spread among youths whose parents won’t agree to have them vaccinated.
“You have parents who are blocking their kids from getting the vaccines or … they may not be anti-vaccine but they just aren’t prioritizing it,” Wiener told reporters at a news conference at San Francisco’s Everett Middle School. “Those kids deserve the right to protect themselves.”
Mass. reports 13,935 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 102 deaths
Massachusetts on Friday reported 13,935 new confirmed coronavirus cases and said 29,322 vaccinations, including booster shots, had been administered. The Department of Public Health also reported 102 new confirmed deaths.
Why you should take COVID-19 precautions even as Omicron declines
Recent news on the Omicron-fueled coronavirus surge has been encouraging. Massachusetts cases are dropping from stratospheric heights. Coronavirus traces in Boston-area waste water, considered a harbinger of future cases, are plummeting. And some experts are predicting a lull ahead — or even the beginning of the end of the pandemic.
But don’t get too excited, experts say, emphasizing that it’s crucial for people to take precautions even as cases fall, both to protect themselves and to ensure that the steep case declines continue.
US judge blocks Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal workers
A federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction Friday blocking the White House from requiring federal workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, although the ruling came months after the White House said that 95% of federal workers were already in compliance.
The Justice Department said it would appeal the ruling.
What can Google search trends for COVID-19 symptoms tell us about the direction of the pandemic?
In what may be another encouraging sign that the surge of the Omicron variant is subsiding in Massachusetts and around the country, the volume of Google search trends for COVID-19 symptoms is declining.
Data provided by Google on trends in searches for COVID-19 symptoms showed that after rising through most of December, the number of searches for symptoms like fever, chills, and cough began to drop in the last days of 2021 in the United States and Massachusetts.
The decline in search volume for certain COVID symptoms appears to align with data from the state’s Department of Public Health that show COVID-19 cases are declining in the state. According to state data, the seven-day average of new cases is 30 percent lower than when it peaked last week. And in the United States, the seven-day average of daily cases is beginning to tick downwards after appearing to reach a peak a few days ago, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Having trouble ordering free COVID-19 rapid tests? Here’s what to do.
The government website where you can order free COVID-19 tests is up and running, and every American home is eligible to receive four at-home tests. It’s a very simple process — except when it’s not.
If you haven’t ordered your free rapid tests, visit www.covidtests.gov, click on the blue “Order Free At-Home Tests” button, and it will take you to a page on the US Postal Service’s website where you fill out your name and address. No payment is necessary, so you don’t need a credit card or health insurance information. Tests are supposed to start being mailed out the week of Jan. 24, and orders should ship within 7-12 days of placing the order, according to the website.
Changing Course: American Air tweaks meals to boost masking
American Airlines and its flight attendants agreed to change the carrier’s onboard food service to maximize the amount of time that passengers keep their face masks on.
Effective Jan. 26, the first three courses of meals in first class will be served at once, rather than separately, on some cross-country flights and routes to Europe, Asia and South America. In coach on those flights, beverages will be offered only with meal service, according to a memo sent to flight attendants Friday.
On domestic trips of 1,500 miles or more, a second beverage service will be made on-request.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants proposed the new standards, which are temporary, to help reduce contact between flight attendants and passengers while travelers face coverings are off. Federal rules meant to limit spread of the new coronavirus require passengers to wear masks during flights unless they are eating or drinking.
Mass. employers added 222,000 jobs last year
Massachusetts employers added 20,100 jobs in December, according to data released on Friday, wrapping up a year in which they struggled to fill open positions.
Employment in the state increased by more than 222,000 jobs in 2021 but remains about 155,000 below the pre-pandemic level of February 2020. Hiring has been restrained by COVID-19 disruptions and the reluctance of many residents to jump back into the labor force.
Somerville health panel rejects indoor business vaccine mandate
Somerville’s Board of Health on Thursday voted 2-1 to reject a proposed COVID-19 vaccination requirement for indoor businesses such as restaurants, gyms, clubs, and theaters.
“I don’t feel like I’m ready to sign on to this mandate for this virus at this time,” said Dr. Brian Green, chair of the health board, during the panel’s meeting prior to the vote. “Because what we know about Omicron is that this is not going to have any effect of decreasing transmissibility in the restaurants and gyms.”
Green, however, suggested he could support such a mandate under different circumstances.
Almost a quarter of Bulgarians testing positive for COVID, country responds
Health authorities stepped up anti-infection measures in Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia, and other major cities in response to a surge in new coronavirus cases driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant.
Schools are limiting in-person classes, requiring students in all grades except first through fourth to switch to distance learning. The precautions also ban mass events and require restaurants and bars to operate at half of their customer capacity. All catering and entertainment establishments have to close no later than 10 p.m., and visitors need valid health certificates to be admitted.
Bulgaria, which has the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rate in the European Union and a population of 6.5 million, reported on Friday 8,932 new virus cases and 87 deaths. The country’s test positivity rate for the virus increased to about 24 percent.
Booster shots improve protection against Omicron, CDC studies show
Three studies released Friday offered more evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are standing up to the Omicron variant, at least among people who received booster shots.
They are the first large US studies to look at vaccine protection against Omicron, health officials said.
The papers echo previous research — including studies in Germany, South Africa and the UK — indicating available vaccines are less effective against Omicron than earlier versions of the coronavirus, but also that boosters significantly improve protection.
Firefighters union pushes back against vaccination mandate for Boston’s workforce
In the latest instance of resistance to Boston’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for its city workforce, the influential firefighters union is pushing back against the new requirement with a planned news conference that will detail its objections at Florian Hall on Friday.
The Boston Firefighters Local 718 has invited its members “to stand in opposition to Mayor [Michelle] Wu’s anti-labor actions.”
“Her blatant disregard for the collective bargaining process by unilaterally revising a memorandum of agreement with an effective testing option cannot go unchecked,” read a message from the union to its members.
COVID boosters should start with most vulnerable, says WHO
The World Health Organization says that coronavirus vaccine boosters should now now be offered to people, starting with the most vulnerable, in a move away from its previous insistence that boosters were unnecessary for healthy adults and an acknowledgment that the vaccine supply is improving globally.
At a press briefing on Friday, the U.N. health agency said it was now recommending booster doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, beginning in the highest-priority groups, about four to six months after receiving the first two doses, in line with guidance from dozens of countries that embarked upon booster programs months ago.
6 Czech players test positive before Olympic training camp
Six players on the Czech Republic’s Olympic hockey team have tested positive for the coronavirus, national team coach Filip Pešán said Friday.
The six players, all unnamed, are among a group of 12 that came from the Russia-based KHL.
“It’s a complicated situation and it’s changing every hour,” Pešán said, adding none of the positive players had any symptoms.
Those who tested negative will stay in a bubble in a hotel near the team’s training facility in Prague while the positive individuals will isolate at home and join the team later, depending on negative tests.
The Czechs have named a preliminary 24-man squad for the Beijing Olympics. Anticipating possible positive coronavirus tests, Pešán has 30 substitutes available to step in.
Former Boston Bruins center David Krejci will lead the hockey team in Beijing, where the NHL won’t participate. The 35-year-old Krejci left Boston in July after 14 NHL seasons to continue his career at home in the Czech Republic.
The first part of the team is set to fly to Beijing on Thursday.
Adele postpones Las Vegas residency, citing pandemic impact
Adele has postponed a 24-date Las Vegas residency hours before it was to start, citing delivery delays and coronavirus illness in her crew.
The chart-topping British singer said she was “gutted” and promised to reschedule the shows.
In a video message posted on social media, a tearful Adele said: “I’m so sorry but my show ain’t ready.”
“We’ve tried absolutely everything that we can to pull it together in time and for it to be good enough for you but we’ve been absolutely destroyed by delivery delays and COVID,” she said, adding that “half my team are down with” the virus.
Adele had been due to perform 24 shows at Caesars Palace Hotel starting Friday following the release of her fourth album, “30.”
In a tweet, Caesars Palace said it understood fans’ disappointment but added: “Creating a show of this magnitude is incredibly complex. We fully support Adele and are confident the show she unveils at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace will be extraordinary.”
Australia records deadliest day of pandemic with 80 deaths
Australia on Friday reported its deadliest day of the pandemic with 80 coronavirus fatalities, as an outbreak of the Omicron variant continued to take a toll.
But Dominic Perrottet, premier of the most populous state, New South Wales, said a slight decrease in hospitalizations gave him some hope about the strain the outbreak is putting on the health system.
The previous record of 78 deaths was set on Tuesday. There have been just under 3,000 coronavirus deaths in Australia since the pandemic began.
New South Wales, home to Sydney, reported a record 46 deaths. They included a baby who died from COVID-19 in December, one of several historical cases that were investigated.
China mandates 3-day Olympic torch relay amid virus concerns
China is limiting the torch relay for the Winter Olympic Games to just three days amid coronavirus worries, organizers said Friday.
The flame will be displayed only in enclosed venues that are deemed “safe and controllable,” according to officials speaking at a news conference.
No public transit routes would be disturbed and normal life would continue for the 20 million residents of the capital, where a handful of new COVID-19 cases have been recorded over recent days.
Beijing’s Deputy Sports Director Yang Haibin said safety was the “top priority,” with the pandemic, venue preparations and the possibility of forest fires in Beijing’s cold, dry climate all factored in.
The relay will run Feb. 2-4, taking in the three competition areas of downtown Beijing, the suburb of Yanqing, and Zhangjiakou in the neighboring province of Hebei.
The Games have already been impacted on a scale similar to that experienced by Tokyo during last year’s Summer Olympics.
Preteens may be vaxed without parents under California bill
California would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent, the youngest age of any state, under a proposal late Thursday by a state senator.
Alabama allows such decisions at age 14, Oregon at 15, Rhode Island, and South Carolina at 16, according to Senator Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco who is proposing the change. Only Washington, D.C., has a lower limit, at age 11.
Wiener argued that California already allows those 12 and up to consent to the Hepatitis B and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, and to treatment for sexually transmitted infections, substance abuse, and mental health disorders.
“Giving young people the autonomy to receive life-saving vaccines, regardless of their parents’ beliefs or work schedules, is essential for their physical and mental health,” he said. “It’s unconscionable for teens to be blocked from the vaccine because a parent either refuses or cannot take their child to a vaccination site.”
Currently in California, minors ages 12 to 17 cannot be vaccinated without permission from their parents or guardian, unless the vaccine is specifically to prevent a sexually transmitted disease.
Wiener’s bill would lift the parental requirement for that age group for any vaccine that has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That includes immunizations against the coronavirus, but Wiener said vaccine hesitancy and misinformation has also deterred vaccinations against measles and other contagious diseases that can then spread among youths whose parents won’t agree to have them vaccinated.
Austria takes big step toward COVID vaccine mandate for adults
Austria’s lower house of Parliament voted Thursday to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for almost everyone 18 and older, putting the nation on the path to be the first in Europe with such a wide-reaching mandate.
The law would take effect Feb. 1. The bill must still pass in the upper house and be signed by the president, Alexander Van der Bellen, but both are considered formalities at this point.
While Austria’s bill is the first of its kind, other European nations are pushing large segments of their populations to get vaccinated. Italy has made vaccines mandatory for those older than 50, with fines for those who do not comply, and Greece has mandated vaccines for those 60 and older. Other European countries have made vaccine passports compulsory for certain activities.
Under the Austrian law, people who are pregnant or cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and those who have recently recovered from COVID-19 will be exempt.
Once the law goes into effect, all households will be notified. The government said it would begin routine checks of vaccination status in mid-March, including during traffic checks.
Once the vaccine checks begin, people who can’t immediately produce proof of vaccination will be reported to authorities and can be fined up to 600 euros ($685). If people contest their fine, it can increase to 3,600 euros (about $4,000).
The law is set to last until 2024. Austria’s current rate of vaccination is 75%, similar to that of France and of Italy, and new cases are averaging 17,846 a day, according to a New York Times database.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, opponent of vaccine and mask mandates, tests positive for coronavirus
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, R, who has challenged the Biden administration’s efforts to mandate vaccines, reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus, his office confirmed.
“He remains working diligently for the people of Texas from home,” spokesman Alejandro Garcia said in a statement.
Paxton’s office did not answer questions about whether he was vaccinated or when he was infected.
Social media posts showed him attending a rally for former president Donald Trump over the weekend.
The attorney general, whom Trump endorsed, filed a lawsuit this month to challenge the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate efforts.
Paxton has staunchly opposed attempts by President Biden to make coronavirus vaccines compulsory for health-care workers in facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funds, for troops in the Texas National Guard, and for staff members at Head Start programs. He has also fought requirements for parents, teachers, and children to wear masks at schools.
Jan. 20, 2022
About 1.5 percent of Beijing Olympics arrivals have COVID
About 1.5% of athletes and others entering Beijing for the Winter Olympics are testing positive for Covid, with all of the infections caught within five days of arrival, according to the International Olympics Committee’s Covid-19 support team. There have been no signs of transmission within the closed-loop bubble established by the organizers, and just 0.02% of those screened inside the area have tested positive.
The results show that early identification of infections and mitigation measures designed to stop their transmission is an effective alternative to quarantine requirements, the organizers said.
Japan eyes more quasi-emergency measures, Yomiuri says
Japan’s government may expand a state of quasi-emergency to eight more prefectures, covering 24 of the country’s 47 regions in total, the Yomiuri newspaper reported without attribution. The expansion would include Osaka and its vicinity.
An official decision on the measure, which allows local governments to place restrictions on businesses, will be made as early as Jan. 25, the newspaper said. It also reported that the government is looking to extend existing measures in three prefectures — Okinawa, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi — by two weeks.
San Francisco coronavirus cases fall rapidly
San Francisco’s infections are falling rapidly from a peak a week and half ago, the city’s department of health said Thursday. The seven-day average of cases dropped to about 1,705 per day as of Jan. 12 from 2,164 on Jan. 9, while hospitalizations are also expected to peak in the next few days at a level that’s within the health system’s capacity.
Mayor London Breed said the city’s response to the omicron-fueled surge demonstrates it can handle large outbreaks while keeping schools and the economy open.
“We know that this virus will be with us for the foreseeable future, but we have the tools in place and the experience managing Covid to not let it completely upend our lives,” she said in a statement.
Mass. reports dip in new public school coronavirus cases with 28,151 among students and 4,758 among staff
For the first time since early December, coronavirus cases among both students and staff in Massachusetts public school have decreased, according to data released Thursday.
State education leaders reported 28,151 new cases among public school students and 4,758 among staff members for the week that ended Wednesday.
The 32,909 total cases were 15,505 fewer, or about 32 percent less, than those reported last week. The decrease in school cases comes as data shows that cases statewide have peaked after an Omicron-fueled surge.
14,384 confirmed cases and 86 deaths. See today’s COVID-19 data from Mass.
Massachusetts on Thursday reported 14,384 new confirmed coronavirus cases and said 31,190 vaccinations, including booster shots, had been administered. The Department of Public Health also reported 86 new confirmed deaths.
The state also reported that 3,144 patients were hospitalized for COVID-19. The seven-day percent positivity was 15.03 percent.
Nearly half of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Massachusetts are ‘incidental’ cases, new state data show
New state data show 51 percent of COVID hospitalizations in Massachusetts on Tuesday were patients who were seriously ill from the virus, while 49 percent of patients were admitted for other reasons but happened to test positive upon admission.
The state launched its new method of reporting primary vs. incidental COVID-19 hospitalizations on Thursday, reporting that on Jan. 18, 1,624 people were in the hospital primarily because they were seriously sick with the virus while 1,563 patients had tested positive for COVID-19 while being hospitalized for other reasons.
Some experts predict a lull but say COVID could have more tricks up its sleeve
The surge fueled by the Omicron variant will likely fade in the weeks ahead in the United States, experts say, and encouraging case declines have already emerged in Massachusetts and other states in the Northeast.
But what comes after that? Some experts are expecting a lull in the pandemic followed by a decline in the severity of future waves. But many also warn that it’s hard to predict where the pandemic will go next — and a new variant could throw everything into doubt.
COVID-19 cases have peaked in Massachusetts
The latest wave of COVID-19 in Massachusetts has crested, with the number of new cases dropping precipitously since last week, prompting even the most wary prognosticators to see a flicker at the end of the tunnel.
The data indicate Massachusetts is headed toward a respite, and the United States also will see cases decline, said Dr. Jacob Lemieux, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital. But he cautioned that “every expectation with this virus comes with a caveat because it’s always making us look silly.”
Biden’s team says it’s on alert for Omicron disruptions in China
The Biden administration is monitoring real-time data obtained from businesses operating in China to determine whether outbreaks of the Omicron variant of coronavirus pose a risk to US supply chains, an administration official said.
It’s too early to tell whether there will be any impact on the American economy from the variant’s spread in China or from aggressive efforts by officials there to stamp it out, the official said.
The official asked not to be identified discussing the administration’s efforts because the data is not public.
Free rapid tests are about to roll out in the US. In other countries, they’re already part of daily life.
The US government is just beginning to roll out free antigen home tests. A website for ordering launched this week, with the first batches – four per household – scheduled for delivery later this month. But while up to now home tests have been expensive and hard to find in much of America, in other countries – Britain, Singapore and India among them – rapid self-tests have been widely accessible for some time. And people have incorporated them into their everyday lives.
Whereas the Biden administration announced it is buying 1 billion rapid tests, Britain’s National Health Service has already distributed 1.7 billion free home tests (in a country of 67 million) over the past nine months. With packs of seven available by home delivery and at pharmacies, people have boxes in their kitchen, next to the daily bread, ready to go.
Coronavirus levels in Boston-area waste water continue to plunge
In another encouraging sign that Omicron may be loosening its grip on the state, the amount of coronavirus detected in Eastern Massachusetts waste water has continued its dizzying decline in recent days, according to data released Thursday by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
The numbers have dropped to less than a quarter of their Omicron-fueled peaks early this month, though they are remain higher than they were during last winter’s surge.
Plane heading to London returns to Miami over maskless passenger
An American Airlines flight to London returned to Miami after a passenger refused to follow the federal requirement to wear a face mask, according to the airline.
The airline called Miami police, and officers escorted a woman off the plane at Miami International Airport Wednesday evening without incident. A spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department said American Airlines staff dealt “administratively” with the passenger.
The Cambridge startup tracking COVID in America’s wastewater
When talking with Mariana Matus and Newsha Ghaeli about poop, it can veer into the philosophical.
“The behavior of a city is imprinted in its sewage,” Ghaeli said. “It’s like the fingerprints of our health.”
Their company, Biobot Analytics, has met the pandemic moment. What started as a research idea at MIT, focusing on how wastewater data can help mitigate the spread of disease, has turned into something bigger. Now, it’s a fast-growing startup — with over 65 employees and millions in funding — that has contracted with over 700 towns, across every state in the country, to study their sewage and help policy makers predict how bad the coronavirus could get in their communities.
NBC will not send announcers to Beijing for Winter Olympics
NBC will not be sending its announcers and most hosts to the Beijing Olympics due to continued concerns about rising COVID-19 cases worldwide and China’s strict policy about those who test positive.
It will be the second straight Games for which the broadcast teams will work mostly out of NBC Sports headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, rather than the host city.
MBTA patron refuses to wear mask, hits Transit police officer in face, officials say
A 29-year-old Sturbridge man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly striking a Transit police officer after refusing to don a mask to ride the T at North Station, officials said.
In a statement, MBTA Transit Police identified the man as Rutul Jaiswal.
Police were called to the North Station Commuter Rail around 9:45 a.m. because Jaiswal had allegedly refused “to wear a mask while attempting to travel on the MBTA,” the release said.
36 percent lower risk of hospitalization from Omicron found in Denmark
The risk of ending up hospitalized after a COVID-19 infection is 36 percent lower for people who were exposed to the Omicron than the Delta variant, according to a new study from health authorities in Denmark.
The study in the Nordic nation, which has one of the world’s most ambitious programs for testing and variant screening, showed that 0.6 percent of those infected with the new variant were admitted to hospital, compared with 1.5 percent of those who tested positive for Delta.
US jobless claims rise to 286,000, highest since October
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in three months as the fast-spreading Omicron variant disrupted the job market.
Jobless claims rose for the third straight week — by 55,000 to 286,000, highest since mid-October, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out weekly volatility, rose by 20,000 to 231,000, highest since late November.
A surge in COVID-19 cases has set back what had been a strong comeback from last year’s short but devastating coronavirus recession. Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, had fallen mostly steadily for about a year and late last year dipped below the pre-pandemic average of around 220,000 a week.
‘It’s been a desperate call’: Substitute teachers in high demand as districts grapple with teaching shortages
With Massachusetts school districts facing debilitating teacher shortages due to COVID-19, substitutes are among the staff members sorely needed but in scant supply. In an attempt to keep classrooms covered, school systems across the region are desperately trying to find anyone to fill in as the most recent surge of the virus pummels the teaching population.
As incentives, districts like Woburn and Brockton recently announced pay hikes to recruit more substitutes. Since the onset of the pandemic, both Boston and Cambridge have waived the requirement for substitute teachers to have a bachelor’s degree; Cambridge now requires at least one year of professional experience working with students, said spokesperson Sujata Wycoff, and Boston requires unlicensed candidates to pass an online course, according to the current job listing.
New Mexico is short on substitute teachers. The governor asked the National Guard and state employees for help
As school districts across the country scramble to find substitute teachers to fill in for instructors out sick with COVID, New Mexico is tapping into unconventional resources for help: the National Guard and state employees.
The initiative, which Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, D, said is the first in the nation, encourages government workers and National Guard members to volunteer to become licensed substitute teachers, Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday.
“Our schools are a critical source of stability for kids — we know they learn better in the classroom and thrive among their peers,” Lujan Grisham said in a news release. " . . . The state stands ready to help keep kids in the classroom, parents able to go to work, and teachers able to fully focus on the critical work they do every single day.”
Government employees and National Guard members who volunteer will be placed on administrative leave or active duty status and receive their normal salaries.
Employers across various industries are reeling from staff shortages as the Omicron variant spreads throughout the country. Hospitals, grocery stores, and airlines are all struggling to keep up with demands as employees call out because they are sick or need to quarantine after being exposed to the virus.
Staff shortages at schools have been a primary concern for government officials, who worry about how a third year of instability will impact students. Some school districts have taken creative steps to keep students in classrooms and operations running. Superintendents in Texas and Michigan have asked parents to volunteer as substitutes. In Vermont, school board members have filled in as custodial workers, and in Georgia, a school principal has been helping out in the cafeteria. In Delaware, a charter school offered to pay parents $700 to take their children to school and pick them up at the end of the day.
Dutch artists protest COVID lockdown of cultural venues by hosting approved haircuts at shut-down museums
Some of the Netherlands’ most celebrated museums, concert halls, and art centers opened their doors Wednesday to host hairdressers, nail artists, and fitness instructors, in playful protest against what they see as inconsistencies in the country’s coronavirus protocols.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said last week that businesses such as beauty salons and fitness centers would be allowed to resume operations after a strict lockdown that was imposed in mid-December. But cultural venues such as theaters and galleries would remain shut for at least another week, he said.
That proved a step too far for performance artists Sanne Wallis de Vries and Diederik Ebbinge, who organized the Hair Salon Theater initiative to bring hairdressers and nail artists to still-shuttered cultural venues on Wednesday.
The Dutch cultural sector has been flexible and adaptive, the organizers said in a statement, but believed that the “dire situation” facing the arts should be highlighted. They asked for a plan for reopening the sector and noted that few infections had been linked to arts groups over the pandemic, suggesting that it was possible to resume cultural life carefully.
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam was among the several dozen cultural venues that partnered with the Hair Salon Theater initiative. Customers who reserved seats ahead of time were able to get $38 haircuts or $34 Van Gogh-themed manicures while sitting amid the impressionist master’s portraits. (Masking and social distancing were mandatory.)
New Zealand says it won’t use lockdowns when Omicron spreads
New Zealand is among the few remaining countries to have avoided any outbreaks of the Omicron variant — but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Thursday an outbreak was inevitable and the nation would tighten restrictions as soon as one was detected.
But she also said that New Zealand would not impose the lockdowns that it has used previously, including for the Delta variant.
“This stage of the pandemic is different to what we have dealt with before. Omicron is more transmissible,” Ardern said. “That is going to make it harder to keep it out, but it will also make it more challenging to control once it arrives. But just like before, when COVID changes, we change.”
Ardern said that within 24 to 48 hours of Omicron being detected in the community, the nation would move into its “red” setting. That would allow businesses to remain open and domestic travel to continue, but would require schoolchildren to wear masks and limit crowds to 100 people.
Why are men more likely to die of COVID? It’s complicated
It’s one of the most well-known takeaways of the pandemic: Men die of COVID-19 more often than women do.
Early on, some scientists suspected the reason was primarily biological, and that sex-based treatments for men — like estrogen injections or androgen blockers — could help reduce their risk of dying.
But a new study analyzing sex differences in COVID-19 deaths over time in the United States suggests that the picture is much more complicated.
While men overall died at a higher rate than women, the trends varied widely over time and by state, the study found. That suggests that social factors — like job types, behavioral patterns, and underlying health issues — played a big role in the apparent sex differences, researchers said.
NBC will not send announcers to Beijing for Winter Games
NBC will not be sending its announcers and most hosts to the Beijing Olympics due to continued concerns about rising COVID-19 cases worldwide and China’s strict policy about those who test positive.
It will be the second straight Games for which the broadcast teams will work mostly out of NBC Sports headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, rather than the host city.
“Something significant has changed virtually every day for the last three months, forcing us to adjust our plan numerous times. And I expect that to continue as well as the challenge of doing the Olympics,” said Molly Solomon, the head of NBC’s Olympics production unit.
Video: Houston hospital turns to virtual ICUs to fight Covid surge (CNBC)
“With COVID’s changing conditions and China’s zero-tolerance policy, it’s just added a layer of complexity to all of this, so we need to make sure we can provide the same quality experience to the American viewers. That’s why we are split between the two cities.”
NBC Sports spokesman Greg Hughes said in a phone interview the network no longer plans to send announcing teams for Alpine skiing, figure skating, and snowboarding to China. Those had been among the handful of announcers expected to travel, but NBC’s plans changed over the past couple of weeks.
“Our plans will continue to evolve based on the conditions, and we’re going to stay flexible as we move through this,” Hughes said.
NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel is one of 250 people the network already has in Beijing. Most of those are technical staff.
US hospitals brace as deadlines loom from a vaccine mandate
Health care workers in two dozen states must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by March 15 after a Supreme Court decision last week, a ruling that has left some already understaffed hospital systems bracing to possibly lose workers just as the highly contagious Omicron variant is inundating them with patients.
The new guidance was issued Friday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services after the court upheld President Biden’s vaccine mandate for health care workers. It will affect about 10 million people at about 76,000 health care facilities participating in the Medicaid and Medicare program, including hospitals and long-term care facilities.
Experts say mandates are effective in persuading more people to become vaccinated, which they say is essential to helping prevent the spread of the virus. And Biden has continued to push for more vaccinations and testing, reiterating that schools should remain open and the time for lockdowns was over.
“We’re moving toward a time when COVID-19 won’t disrupt our daily lives,” Biden said at a news conference Wednesday. He called a recent Supreme Court decision to block a vaccination-or-testing mandate for large private employers “a mistake.”
The CDC’s guidance Friday meant that health care workers in 24 states where vaccine mandates were not yet in effect must receive at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine within 30 days and must be fully vaccinated by March 15, a spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said.
The states affected are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. For these states, the federal vaccine requirement had been blocked by a lower court.
The guidance does not yet apply to Texas, where a preliminary injunction still prevents such requirements.
The Supreme Court’s decision does not affect timelines already in place for the other 25 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories, where health care workers must by fully vaccinated by Feb. 28, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
New Jersey mandates booster shots for hospital, nursing home, and prison employees
Employees of New Jersey hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, and jails will be required to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus — with a booster — or risk losing their jobs, Governor Philip D. Murphy announced on Wednesday.
Workers at most medical facilities in the state were already required to be vaccinated by Feb. 28 under President Biden’s mandate for health care workers at entities receiving federal money, which recently withstood a Supreme Court challenge.
But Murphy’s requirement goes further, mandating health care workers to get booster shots as well, and it represents a significant shift for the state’s prison and jail system, where staffing levels are already strained and vaccination is well below the statewide rate.
Murphy, a Democrat who was sworn in to a second term on Tuesday, had given workers the option to satisfy the state’s earlier vaccination requirement by getting regularly tested for the coronavirus.
“Testing out will no longer be an option,” Murphy said outside a testing site in South Jersey. “We are no longer going to look past those who continue to put their colleagues, and, perhaps, I think, even more importantly, those who are their responsibility, in danger of COVID. That has to stop.”
