The Biden Administration's winter Covid plan

Plus: Germany announces lockdown for unvaccinated

Earlier today, President Biden outlined new federal initiatives to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes expanding access to free at-home Covid testing, tightening testing protocols for international visitors to the United States and extending mask mandates on planes, trains and public transportation through March 18. Additionally, at today’s Forbes Healthcare Summit, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, who leads the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, says her office will double down on vaccine education for seniors and low-income Americans. This includes encouraging already vaccinated seniors to get booster shots and also provide vaccine counseling sessions to Americans in the Medicaid program. “We are really trying to make sure that everyone knows what is available to them,” she said. 

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More Covid News

Nearly a quarter of fully vaccinated adults in the U.S. have received their booster shot against Covid-19, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

Though new jobless claims ticked up from a 52-week low last week, the number of Americans receiving state-level jobless benefits, or insured unemployment, fell to its lowest level since March 2020.

The omicron coronavirus variant seems to be rapidly overtaking delta as the dominant virus strain in South Africa and appears able to evade some of the protection provided by previous infection.

Moderna President Stephen Hoge said Covid-19 booster shots targeting the omicron variant could be ready to present for U.S. authorization by March. 

A second case of the omicron variant in the United States has been detected in a Minnesota resident who recently returned from a multi-day convention in New York City, sparking concerns of a potential super-spreader event.

New research from the Netherlands finds that in rare instances, pregnant women with Covid-19 can experience severe complications in the second half of their pregnancy that result in stillbirths.

What Else We Are Reading

• The two halves of the pandemic (Washington Post)

• Omicron-variant border bans ignore the evidence, say scientists (Nature)

• The Benefits of Vaccinating Kids against COVID Far Outweigh the Risks of Myocarditis (Scientific American)