Nearly 500 students in Palm Beach County, Florida, have been quarantined because of COVID-19 just two days into the school year, the district's superintendent said Thursday.
Why it matters: Superintendent Michael Burke's announcement comes as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has maintained his executive order banning school districts in the state from requiring the use of masks amid criticism and lawsuits.
Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned Thursday that Americans getting unauthorized booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine undermine the CDC's safety monitoring of recipients.
Why it matters: With booster shots a near inevitability, many Americans are eager to know when they will be able to get one. Some are now circumventing official CDC guidelines and getting a third shot.
More than 800 physicians signed a letter on Thursday calling on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to repeal an executive order that prohibits local officials from requiring masks in school.
Driving the news: The Republican governor is threatening to withhold pay from superintendents and school board members who mandate face masks in schools, even as Florida experiences a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations driven by the Delta variant.
President Biden on Thursday called on Congress to reduce the prices of prescription drugs, the White House said.
State of play: Biden asked Congress to create reforms that will prevent drug companies from raising their prices "faster than inflation." He also urged Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, which it is currently prohibited from doing so by law.
NIAID director Anthony Fauci told "CBS This Morning" on Thursday that it is "likely" everyone will need a vaccine booster shot in the future, but apart from the immune compromised, "we don't feel a need to give boosters right now."
Driving the news: The FDA is expected to update its emergency use authorization for the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines as early as Thursday to allow immunocompromised people to get a third dose, NBC News first reported.
The rise in COVID-19 infections isn't motivating more workers to exit the workforce.
Why it matters: Fear of falling ill or spreading the virus has been the primary reason millions of Americans have either left their jobs or halted their job searches.
Airfares are edging lower as international travel is increasingly being discouraged by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Why it matters: The Delta variant of COVID-19, is casting a shadow over the economic recovery. A dip in airfares that had been surging could be a signal that consumers may pull back in the months to come.
The price of a colonoscopy tops $5,000 on average at some of the priciest hospitals, compared to about $1,700 on average elsewhere in America, according to a new study published in Health Affairs.
What they're saying: "High service prices result in high out-of-pocket expenditure for commercially insured patients, especially those enrolled in high-deductible health plans, and raise health plan premiums for the beneficiaries," the researchers wrote.
The Biden administration is intensely scrutinizing coronavirus vaccines' effectiveness over time, facing the daunting task of timing booster shots right while still convincing the unvaccinated that getting the jab is worthwhile.
The bottom line: The vaccines still work incredibly well at protecting against severe disease and death, meaning the benefits of getting vaccinated are immense. But it's less clear how well they're working at preventing infection, which has huge public health implications with so many Americans still unvaccinated.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced plans Thursday to reopen the country's borders in 2022 while maintaining a COVID-19 elimination strategy — with vaccinated travelers from low-risk countries not required to quarantine.
Why it matters: New Zealand has some of the lowest coronavirus rates in the world, reporting fewer than 2,900 infections and 26 deaths from the virus since the pandemic began. It's detected no community cases for 166 days, containing COVID-19 to managed quarantine facilities.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Wednesday filed documents showing that his wife invested in Gilead Sciences, which makes antiviral drugs, shortly before COVID-19 was classified a pandemic, per the Washington Post.
Why it matters: Paul, who has repeatedly downplayed the severity of COVID-19, missed the filing deadline for such disclosures by 16 months, saying he did not know about the investment at the time.
