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The conservatively stacked Supreme Court rejected the Biden administration's vax-or-test mandate this week as omicron cases exploded across the U.S. Some states are having a hard time staffing essential services, including police, fire, EMS, as a result. Meanwhile, cases in New York state and elsewhere in the Northeast U.S. appear to have turned a corner. Kevin Breuninger and Spencer Kimball have those stories.
In Geneva, the WHO said omicron cases were off the charts across the globe while some states reinstated health emergencies that were scheduled to expire just days ago. On Capitol Hill, Sen. Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci gave us another fiery show. Moderna and Pfizer are both working on omicron boosters.
Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to me at dawn.kopecki@nbcuni.com.
The Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from enforcing its sweeping vaccine-or-test requirements for large private companies, but allowed a vaccine mandate to stand for medical facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid payments. The rulings came three days after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's emergency measure for businesses with 100 or more employees started to take effect. "Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly," the court wrote in an unsigned opinion. Liberal Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented, writing that the majority has usurped the power of Congress, the president and OSHA without legal basis.
-Kevin Breuninger and Spencer Kimball
Acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock gave U.S. lawmakers an ominous warning this week: The nation needs to ensure police, hospital and transportation services don't break down as the unprecedented wave of omicron infections across the country forces people to call out sick. "It's hard to process what's actually happening right now, which is most people are going to get Covid," Woodcock testified before the Senate health committee. "What we need to do is make sure the hospitals can still function, transportation, other essential services are not disrupted while this happens." The U.S., meanwhile, set fresh records for hospitalizations and Covid cases this week as states logged 1.5 million infections. -Spencer Kimball
In considering whether to cover Biogen's controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm under Medicare, CMS concluded that it's only appropriate under limited circumstances, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure tells CNBC. The move came one day after CMS issued new requirements for insurers to cover home Covid tests. With test coverage set to start Saturday, insurers are still scrambling to set up programs, while many of their preferred pharmacies seem to be struggling with home test demand. -Bertha Coombs
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy reinstated a public health emergency as hospitals struggle to keep up with an influx of patients as Covid cases soar amid an ongoing shortage of health-care workers. Murphy said the state is seeing nearly 35,000 new Covid cases daily and, in the past two weeks, more than 10,000 residents have been hospitalized. The emergency declaration allows the governor to exercise certain emergency powers, including mask mandates in schools. New York, on the other hand, is finally starting to turn the corner on the latest wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Kathy Hochul said. "There will come a time when we can say it's all over," Hochul said. "We're not there yet, but boy, it's on the horizon and we've waited a long time for that." -Kevin Breuninger and Lauren Feiner
Dr. Anthony Fauci called out Republican Sen. Rand Paul on the Hill on Tuesday, accusing the lawmaker of spreading bad information and inciting death threats against. "What happens when he gets out and accuses me of things that are completely untrue is that all of a sudden that kindles the crazies out there and I have threats upon my life, harassment of my family and my children with obscene phone calls, because people are lying about me," Fauci told the panel. -Jessica Bursztynsky
A record 15 million new Covid infections were reported across the globe in a single week as omicron rapidly replaces delta as the dominant, and "we know this is an underestimate," said World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom. WHO's technical lead on Covid, Maria Van Kerkhove, said omicron is outcompeting delta just about everywhere it goes. While delta cases similarly peaked in a few months, it didn't take over the globe as quickly nor were the cases as high as omicron. "This is off the charts," she said. -Lauren Feiner
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said a vaccine that targets the omicron variant of Covid will be ready in March, and the company's already begun manufacturing the doses. He said it is still not clear whether or not an omicron vaccine is needed or how it would be used, but Pfizer will have some doses ready since in case countries want it. Moderna's CEO Stephane Bancel, meanwhile, said his company is also working on an omicron-specific booster, which he thinks may be needed this fall. -Spencer Kimball JOIN US
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Jumat, 14 Januari 2022
Supreme Court blocks Biden vaccine mandate | Omicron disrupts essential services | Cases in NY turn a corner
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