Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) on Tuesday announced that masks will be required inside K-12 school buildings.
The big picture: The move is a reversal from his initial stance earlier this month, when he said he wanted to leave the decision on mask requirements to individual school districts, citing guidance from the CDC, which "strongly recommend" the practice: "They're not mandating it, and neither am I."
Full FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine appeared to drive an uptick in intent about getting vaccinated, though it wasn't as impactful as the COVID-19 surge or vaccine mandates, Google Trends data suggests.
Why it matters: The FDA approval is one of the last levers the Biden administration has been hoping would prod the vaccine-hesitant.
Two of the FDA's top vaccine regulators, Marion Gruber and Phil Krause, are leaving the agency, which was first reported by BioCentury.
Why it matters: The FDA appears to be increasingly rudderless at a crucial time in the pandemic. The agency still has no permanent commissioner and now is losing two highly regarded vaccine experts all while officials weigh full approval of the COVID-19 vaccines for adults, initial authorization for kids, and booster shots for many.
Jury selection begins today in USA v. Elizabeth Holmes, with the actual jury trial to get underway on Sept. 8.
Why it matters: Theranos was the biggest fraud in Silicon Valley history, putting both hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of patients' health at risk.
The number of U.S. kids who are homeschooled has nearly doubled during the pandemic.
Why it matters: Some parents have lost faith in traditional schools, others fear exposing their kids to the coronavirus — and the broad exodus could further weaken America's struggling public education system.
A huge reason why the pandemic response — or the lack of one — feels so chaotic right now is that the U.S. doesn't have a well-defined goal, experts recently argued in a pair of op-eds.
Why it matters: Policy decisions and individual behavioral choices should ideally be aligned in pursuit of an agreed-upon outcome, but as of now, we don't have one.
Vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. is showing signs of crumbling, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
Fewer adults than ever now say they won't take the shot, and in the past two weeks there has been a sharp increase in the share of parents who plan to get their younger kids vaccinated as soon as it's allowed.
Florida's Department of Education announced Monday it has withheld funds from two districts that defied Gov. Ron DeSantis' order banning mask mandates in schools.
Driving the news: Amid a surge of COVID-19 cases largely driven by the Delta variant, several Florida school districts have implemented mask mandates, despite threats from the Republican governor and state officials to withhold funds for doing so.
Why it matters: The law bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks, and before many people know they are pregnant. The law also offers at least $10,000 to citizens who successfully sue any person assisting pregnant people in violation of the ban. It is one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the U.S.
The Education Department said Monday that it launched investigations into five GOP-led states that banned mask mandates in schools.
Driving the news: In letters to education chiefs in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah, the department's Office for Civil Rights said the bans could discriminate against students with disabilities or underlying medical conditions.
The Council of the European Union voted on Monday to recommend reinstating a ban on non-essential travel from the United Statesdue to its high rate of COVID-19 infections.
Why it matters: The decision, which is non-binding and will ultimately be up to individual member states to implement, comes after weeks of EU officials criticizing the Biden administration for not lifting U.S. restrictions on travel from Europe.
An outbreak at an elementary school classroom in Marin County, California, appears to have been caused by an unvaccinated teacher who was occasionally unmasked, a new case study out Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
Why it matters: The outbreak — in which about 50% of the students got infected with COVID-19 — highlights the challenge of sending unvaccinated children back to school, particularly in light of the Delta variant’s increased transmissibility.
The financial forecast for hospitals in the second half of this year is looking decidedly stormier, thanks to the Delta variant, according to a new report from credit rating agency Fitch Ratings.
The big picture: The impact of Delta stretches across all areas of a hospitals' balance sheets and will likely hurt margins in the near- and medium-term.
Hospitals, drug companies, health insurers, medical device manufacturers and other health care suppliers generated record sales and profits during the second quarter, according to an Axios analysis of financial statements.
The big picture: Health care spending soared as Americans got vaccinated and resumed seeing their doctors between April and June. However, the coronavirus is raging again and may change behaviors going into the flu season.
