U.S. tops highest seven-day death average since last year

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Monday invoked the biblical call to “love your neighbor” as school systems around the state struggled with strong reactions to his ban on local mask mandates, but the Republican also fanned the flames of partisan division in the face of court challenges and protests.

School districts resisting his ban “aren’t recognizing the rights of parents today,” Youngkin told conservative radio host John Fredericks. “And oh, by the way, they haven’t been recognizing the rights of parents all along. So I’m not surprised at all to hear these reactions from school boards that have consistently prioritized bureaucrats and politicians over the rights of parents.”

Somehow, this keeps happening.

For months, we’ve written in this space about how the Republicans’ pushback against coronavirus vaccine mandates could foment — and apparently has been fomenting — opposition to mandates of other vaccines, including for schoolchildren. It’s inherent in their talking points: If vaccines should be a matter of “choice,” why not those more long-standing vaccines, too? High-profile Republicans haven’t generally addressed where they draw the line and why.

Early efforts to wade into allowing more choice on other vaccines had been quickly pulled back. In Tennessee, the state momentarily prevented its health department from communicating with children about any vaccines. In Florida, a prominent state senator suggested that his state might “review” those other vaccine requirements, before walking it back.

Federal health officials reported Tuesday that the omicron variant caused less severe illness in hospitalized patients than earlier virus lineages, even though its explosive transmissibility has caused far more infections and led to more than 2,200 deaths a day on average, one of the highest tolls since early last year.

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that people hospitalized with the omicron variant had shorter stays and less frequent admission to intensive care compared with those hospitalized with other coronavirus variants.

Sen. Mark R. Warner has tested positive for the coronavirus, the Virginia Democrat’s office said in a statement Tuesday.

Warner “is glad that he has been vaccinated and boosted, and at this time his symptoms are extremely mild,” his office said.

The senator’s case was a breakthrough infection, and he will work from home “for the duration of his isolation period,” according to his office.

A New York appeals court judge reimposed New York’s statewide mask mandate on Tuesday, reversing a lower court judge’s Monday ruling that stated the order was unconstitutional.

Judge Robert Miller permitted the state’s request for a stay of a Long Island judge’s ruling as the governor’s office seeks an appeal, Associated Press reported.

Nassau County Justice Thomas Rademacher ruled on Monday that the state’s mask order for public spaces had good intentions but was in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, making it null and void and prompting Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to say that she would pursue all options available to reverse the decision.

Senior administration officials, public health experts and Democrats say that the omicron wave has illustrated gaps in the U.S. global coronavirus strategy, warning that low-income nations are particularly vulnerable to the virus and that the risk of another variant will remain elevated as long as billions of people are unvaccinated.

“The assignment is incomplete,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who is leading a group of Democrats calling for $17 billion in additional funding for global vaccination delivery and infrastructure to immunize people in the developing world. “We need to make this investment going forward, and we need to do it ASAP.”

Angie Wheeler had bonded with her patient, and now his body was failing. The nurse tried not to let him see the concern in her eyes.

It was only the day before that he had told her about his job, his wife and children. Now, the intensive care unit’s head doctor told Wheeler, he needed to be placed on a ventilator. She donned her protective gear and headed in.

Nearly two years into the coronavirus pandemic, Wheeler, 65, knew what to say:

“You’re going to go to sleep, okay? You won’t remember any of this.”

Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, have begun testing a vaccine tailored to battle the omicron variant of the coronavirus, the companies announced Tuesday.

The highly anticipated trial will test several booster scenarios in 1,420 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 55 to determine the best vaccination strategy moving forward.

The questions of when and whether another booster will be needed after a third shot, and what kind, remain a scientific uncertainty and source of anxiety for people hoping for the highest levels of protection. Data has clearly shown that a third shot provides a strong shield against severe illness and hospitalization, but it remains unclear how long that will hold up.