Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) issued an executive order on Thursday that allows businesses to not comply with local mask or COVID-19 vaccine mandates meant to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Moderna is set to start human trials for its experimental mRNA HIV vaccine as early as Thursday, the first time such a trial has ever been conducted.
The big picture: "There's a pressing need for new ways to prevent infection from viruses like HIV and influenza that conventional vaccines have struggled to address and to treat rare genetic diseases and cancers that kill millions each year," Axios' Alison Snyder writes. "Vaccines and therapies based on messenger RNA (mRNA) hold promise as a solution."
Twenty-three AAPI civil rights groups led by the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans are calling on the administration to take extra caution as it prepares results from its investigation into the origins of COVID.
Why it matters: In late May, the Biden administration launched a 90-day probe into COVID's origins amid controversy over the lab leak theory. In a letter delivered to President Biden on Thursday, advocates warn the "simple existence of that report will put our communities at risk."
Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Angus King (I-Maine) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) have tested positive for breakthrough cases of COVID-19, their offices said Thursday.
The big picture: At least four vaccinated senators have tested positive in August, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who announced his breakthrough positive test result earlier this month.
The independent Oversight Board on Thursday upheld Facebook's decision to leave up a post from a medical council in Brazil that claimed lockdowns are ineffective.
The big picture: The board's decision provides insight into how Facebook's removal threshold for content that creates a risk of imminent harm will be applied to posts about COVID-19.
There's a lot of pent-up demand for overseas travel, but one thing holding Americans back is the worry that they'll be stranded in a foreign country if they contract COVID-19 while traveling.
Why it matters: The U.S. requires all arriving air passengers — vaccinated or not, including Americans returning home — to test negative for COVID-19 no more than three days before their trip.
Isolating for an extra 10 days in a hotel room, even in paradise, can be expensive — not to mention risky, if you get really ill and need medical care in a foreign country.
What's happening: A company called Covac Global will send a medical jet, helicopter or even a speed boat — "whatever it takes," they say — to rescue COVID patients in other countries and bring them home for care.
Some vacation destinations are even partnering with Covac to prevent infections from spreading in their country.
The Bahamas government is a client, doing weekly evacuations to transport positive visitors off the island, the company says.
And some hotels, like the Eden Roc in St. Barts, are including evacuation service in their vacation packages.
Context: Most travel insurance policies like Allianz Travel Protection Plan generally don't cover COVID-19 claims because a pandemic is "foreseeable." Nor do they cover fear of travel.
During the ongoing health crisis, however, Allianz says it will temporarily cover emergency medical care as well as trip cancellation for a traveler who becomes ill with COVID-19.
Covac Global focuses on getting them home, regardless of whether they are sick.
The intrigue: It's not trip insurance — it's a membership-based service.
Membership for a 15-day trip is $675 per person; a 30-day trip costs $995. Annual membership is $2,400, for unlimited trips up to 90 days each.
How it works: Unlike most insurers, Covac doesn't require customers to be hospitalized before it authorizes a medical evacuation.
All the company needs is a positive COVID test result and one self-reported symptom, like a scratchy throat, cough or runny nose.
Covac medical personnel will pick up the patient wherever they are and transport them back to the U.S.
They don't have to comply with the CDC's rules on isolation if the medical team delivers them directly home.
"All they have to do is wait in the hotel, and we pay for the whole thing, up to a million dollars, to take them home," CEO Ross Thompson tells Axios.
The bottom line: Since launching the service early in the pandemic, Thompson says Covac has sold "tens of thousands of memberships" and performs "about a dozen" evacuations per month.
Most are fully vaccinated travelers who still contracted COVID while abroad, he said.
The catch: Non-members are eligible for evacuation service too, but it could cost as much as $250,000 door-to-door, depending on where they are.
The American Medical Association has created new billing codes so insurance programs can pay doctors, hospitals and others to administer a third dose of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
Between the lines: America's medical billing systems are ready to go even though the federal policy on widespread booster doses still requires a thumbs-up from the FDA and the CDC's expert vaccine panel.
President Biden signaled Wednesday he's leaning into a heavier-handed approach to the COVID response.
Driving the news: In addition to announcing plans for boosters for the general population, Biden unveiled plans to require staff vaccinations at nursing homes. He also stepped up his fight with GOP governors who are banning school mask mandates.
The 14 million people who received a Johnson & Johnson shot are going to have to wait a few more weeks for answers on boosters due to lack of data, federal health officials said Wednesday.
Why it matters: The CDC currently advises people to stay with the shot they had initially. The effects of mixing doses are still unclear, but "it is anticipated that vaccine boosters will likely be needed," the White House tweeted.
The new coronavirus vaccine data released yesterday by the CDC confirms what other recent research has been saying: The coronavirus vaccines' effectiveness against infection has decreased over time.
Between the lines: There's little to no data that the vaccines' effectiveness against hospitalization will eventually follow suit.
The number of coronavirus cases in most states is still rising, ensuring that the U.S. has a long way to go in its fight against the Delta variant.
Why it matters: Hospitals across the country are filling up with coronavirus patients, and some are running out of available ICU beds. Until cases begin to drop, the health care system will continue to face a crisis, and Americans will continue to suffer preventable deaths.
New Zealand scientists linked the country's growing COVID-19 cluster to the Delta outbreak that began in Sydney, Australia — and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Thursday they're "fairly certain" they've found the source.
Why it matters: Sincethe country entered its highest pandemic restrictions just before midnight Tuesday over one positive local test result, scientists have uncovered links to a traveler who arrived in NZ from Sydney on Aug. 7.
Texas can ban the most common procedure used by doctors for abortions in second-trimester pregnancies, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.
Why it matters: The ruling in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals marks the first time a U.S. federal court has upheld a ban on dilation and evacuation, the standard method of abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The ban is expected to be challenged in the Supreme Court, per the Texas Tribune.
A group of Staten Island small businesses is suing New York City over its mandate requiring people show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to participate in indoor activities.
The big picture: Staten Island reported 237.53 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people as of the week ending on Aug. 15 — the most per capita of any New York City borough, according to government data.
All Washington state teachers and school staff must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 under a new employment condition announced by Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The requirement that includes school bus drivers and volunteers in the public and private sectors marks the strictest vaccine mandate for schools in the U.S. Staff have to be vaccinated by Oct. 18 or face the threat of being fired.
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