Biden says omicron variant concerning but not ‘cause for panic’; CDC urges all adults to get boosters

South Africa has recorded a sharp increase in covid-19 cases, including among children under 2 years old, a top epidemiologist said Monday, as the country reckons with the consequences of being the first to report the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Health-care providers and officials said they are making preparations to deal with what is effectively a fourth wave of the pandemic in the country — including by ensuring that enough pediatric hospital beds to deal with the possible increase in young children’s hospital admissions.

“I am expecting we will top over 10,000 cases by the end of the week per day,” South African epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim said during a virtual government-led news briefing.

He noted, however, that vaccines still appeared to be effective in avoiding serious symptoms: “We can expect that we will still see high effectiveness for hospitalization and severe disease, and that protection of the vaccines is likely to remain strong.”

A Maine medical board said it suspended a doctor’s license after reviewing his covid-19 “exemption letters” and reports that he spread misinformation about the coronavirus.

The state’s Board of Osteopathic Licensure froze Paul Gosselin’s license for 30 days starting Nov. 19, pending further action at a hearing. Osteopathic doctors tend to talk about a “whole body” approach to health and embrace alternative treatments.

The announcement marks a rare crackdown on medical providers who allegedly mislead people about the pandemic. The Federation of State Medical Boards warned this summer that doctors who spread falsehoods about coronavirus vaccines could have their medical licenses revoked or suspended — but few doctors have been publicly disciplined.

The board in Maine gave few details of its concerns about Gosselin but said he “engaged in conduct that constitutes fraud or deceit.” It also accused the doctor of “incompetence” and “unprofessional conduct.”

It did not provide more information about the exemption letters. Some people have sought medical exemptions from vaccination mandates as the societal costs of refusing the shots rise.

The website for Gosselin’s Waterville-based practice, Patriots Health, links to another website suggesting that hydroxychloroquine can treat covid-19. It doesn’t. Gosselin’s site also promotes advice from the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, a group of doctors that has touted the deworming drug ivermectin as a covid-19 treatment and preventive despite no proof it works.

The “role of vaccination” is a small footnote in the organization’s posted protocol, which says ivermectin, vitamins and other substances can provide a “safety net for those who cannot or have not been vaccinated.”

Doctors dismayed by patients who fear coronavirus vaccines but clamor for unproven ivermectin

A contact page for Gosselin’s practice prominently mentions exemption letters and lists his email as “QPatriotHealth@Gmail.com.”

Gosselin did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday evening.

Doctors who disparage masks and vaccines have faced growing scrutiny. Earlier this fall, the Oregon Medical Board said it revoked a doctor’s license and fined him $10,000 for “dishonorable or unprofessional conduct” that included falsely telling patients that masks are ineffective and even dangerous to one’s health.

The airline industry breathed a sigh of relief after a busy holiday travel period that ended with more than 2.4 million people moving through airport security checkpoints Sunday, the busiest day for domestic air travel since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

The sheer volume of people flying for the Thanksgiving holiday marked a milestone for air travel as passenger counts inch closer to levels not seen since the pandemic was declared. The Transportation Security Administration screened 20.9 million people during the 10-day travel period that ended Sunday, which is 89 percent of levels recorded before the pandemic, according to TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein.

The increase signals robust demand for end-of-the-year travel as more people are eager for in-person celebrations nearly two years into the public health crisis.

As President Biden exhorts Americans to get coronavirus vaccines and booster shots to beef up protections against the delta and omicron variants, another age group might soon become eligible for extra doses: 16- and 17-year-olds.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech are expected to ask the Food and Drug Administration in the coming days to authorize its booster shot for that age group, according to two people familiar with the situation. The regulators are expected to sign off quickly, said the individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue.

Currently, Americans who are 18 and older are eligible for boosters six months after receiving the second shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. They can receive the Johnson & Johnson booster two months after getting the single-shot vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention significantly expanded its recommendations for booster shots on Monday, saying that all adults 18 and older should get them as the omicron variant of the coronavirus stokes concerns.

All American adults became eligible for booster doses of the coronavirus vaccine earlier this month, but the CDC previously focused on the most vulnerable age group — saying that people over 50 should make sure to get boosted while others had the option.

CDC director Rochelle Walensky said the emergence of the omicron variant — which could be more transmissible — underscores the need for people to become vaccinated or to receive booster shots.

“I strongly encourage the 47 million adults who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to vaccinate the children and teens in their families as well because strong immunity will likely prevent serious illness,” she said in a statement.

Walensky also said increased testing for the coronavirus will help authorities identify the omicron variant faster.

With federal sign-offs, all American adults now eligible for coronavirus vaccine boosters

A federal judge in Missouri has partially halted another one of the Biden administration’s key vaccine requirements, blocking the imposition of a rule for certain health-care workers in 10 states.

The Biden administration issued the vaccine mandate, for health-care workers at facilities that received funding from Medicare and Medicaid, in early November through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It was estimated to apply to some 1.7 million workers at 76,000 facilities across the country.

But in a 32-page ruling, the judge, Trump appointee Matthew T. Schelp, said that a preliminary injunction to halt the rule was warranted because he believed the arguments made by the plaintiffs, 10 mostly Republican-dominated states, that the CMS lacked authority to implement the requirement, probably had merit.

He also questioned whether there was enough data about transmissibility and vaccination status, and said that he believed the order was probably “arbitrary and capricious.”

The ruling is another legal blow to the Biden administration’s efforts to combat the pandemic by increasing vaccination rates through mandates and requirements. A rule from the Department of Labor, that would require private companies of 100 or more employees to institute mandatory vaccine or weekly testing programs, has also been stopped in the courts, by a panel of three judges, two of whom were appointed by former president Donald Trump.

The order will halt the CMS vaccine mandate in the 10 states that brought the lawsuit: Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The CMS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pointing to rising covid cases and the omicron variant, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell says the latest virus challenges pose risks to job growth, economic activity and inflation, according to prepared testimony Powell will deliver on Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee.

“Greater concerns about the virus could reduce people’s willingness to work in person, which would slow progress in the labor market and intensify supply-chain disruptions,” according to Powell’s prepared remarks, which were released on Monday.

Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are set to testify on the policy response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Powell’s testimony also outlines progress the economy has made since it was yanked into a brutal recession in the spring of 2020. The unemployment rate has dropped to 4.6 percent and the gross domestic product appears on track to grow about 5 percent in 2021, the fastest pace in years.

But the Fed is grappling with inflation that has climbed to 30-year highs, and the ongoing pandemic continues to hang over the economy. Fed policymakers largely point to global supply chains to explain rising prices, saying that inflation won’t come down until supply chains have time to clear their backlogs and catch up with consumer demand. Yet there’s no guaranteed timeline for when that will happen, and the delta variant already proved to policymakers and economists how a wave of covid cases can hamstring the recovery.

“The rise in Delta variant cases temporarily slowed progress this past summer, restraining previously rapid growth in household and business spending, intensifying supply chain disruptions, and, in some cases, keeping people from returning to work or looking for a job,” according to Powell’s prepared remarks.

New York City officials on Monday issued an advisory recommending all residents wear masks in indoor public settings, citing the emergence of the omicron variant.

There have been no confirmed cases of the variant in the city or elsewhere in the United States. But New York City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said he expects it will be detected in the coming days based on what’s known about its global spread.

He said the new advisory strengthened the city’s recommendation around masking and applied regardless of vaccination status. New Yorkers are currently required to wear masks on mass transit; the new guidance is aimed at settings such as grocery stores, offices and retailers.

“Of course, it is most important for people who are unvaccinated to wear masks in all settings,” Chokshi said during a news briefing. “But what we’re saying today is delivering a clear message that when you’re indoors, regardless of whether you’re vaccinated or not, everyone should be wearing a mask.”

The guidance stops short of a mandate. Asked why the city went with an advisory over a mandate, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said officials contemplated making masks mandatory but determined more data was needed to show a requirement was “the right move.”

He added that authorities wanted to keep the focus on vaccination as the most important tool against the virus.

“That is the key strategy,” de Blasio said. “And if we think a massive mandate is going to play a crucial role, we’ll move on it quickly. We do not feel that yet today.”