The Washington Nationals and Vice President Bob Boone are parting ways over the team's vaccine mandate for all full-time staff, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
Driving the news: The Nationals informed staff of the vaccine mandate on Aug. 14. Employees had until Aug. 26 to provide either proof of full vaccination or one dose of the vaccine or apply for an exemption, per WashPost.
Joe Rogan announced on Wednesday that he has tested positive for coronavirus, adding that he took a series of medications, including ivermectin, a drug primarily used to treat parasites in animals that the Food and Drug Administration says people should avoid.
Why it matters: Rogan is one of the most influential podcast personalities in the world. In the past, some of his more controversial comments have been criticized and have put Spotify, Rogan's exclusive podcast distributor, in an awkward position.
A school in Texas closed for the rest of the week on Tuesday after two teachers died from COVID-19 within a week, the Waco Tribune-Herald reports.
State of play: The campus at Connally Junior High School won't open until after Labor Day for deep sanitation, after sixth-grade social studies teacher Natalia Chansler died on Aug. 28, having notified the school three days earlier that she tested positive for COVID-19.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is directing the city's municipal office workers to return to in-person work by Sept. 13, the New York Times reports.
The big picture: Despite growing concerns about the Delta variant, de Blasio is intent on showing the city reopening, a promise made during an aggressive vaccination campaign.
The World Health Organization added a coronavirus strain called Mu, which was first detected in Colombia in January, to its "Variants of Interest" list on Monday.
Why it matters: The WHO warned that data suggests protection from prior infection or vaccination may not be as strong against the Mu variant, adding that further research is needed to confirm that.
Hospitalizations from COVID-19 for people in their 30s hit a record high this week, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: Adults from ages 30 to 39 largely avoided hospitalizations from coronavirus during the early phases of the pandemic, but lagging vaccination numbers and highly active lives are driving hospitalizations in the age group, per the Journal.
The CDC is asking unvaccinated people to not travel this Labor Day weekend, citing the surge in COVID-19 cases largely driven by the Delta variant.
What they're saying: "First and foremost, if you are unvaccinated, we would recommend not traveling," CDC director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House COVID-19 press briefing Tuesday.
The U.S. has discarded at least 15.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since March 1, according to government data obtained by NBC News.
Why it matters: The data comes as the Delta variant spreads rapidly across the country, and after the Biden administration announced plans to roll out booster shots — renewing the need for an ample vaccine supply.
Workers are more likely to get vaccinatedwhen their employers require them to, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
Why it matters: While that may sound obvious, the data proves that mandates are an important public health tool.
The average person is losing about 2.2 years of life expectancy due to air pollution, according to new research by the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute.
Driving the news: The Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), published Wednesday, shows that the burden of harmful air pollution is unevenly distributed — with China making rapid, measurable progress in cleaning up its air, and other global hotspots now emerging in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Medicare won't be able to fully pay for patients' hospital bills by 2026, a similar forecast from last year, according to the latest report from Medicare's trustees.
The bottom line: The coronavirus pandemic both drastically lowered payroll taxes that fund Medicare and stymied care that Medicare pays for. But the virus "is not expected to have a large effect on the financial status of the trust funds after 2024," the trustees said.
Signs are beginning to publicly emerge that the scientists responsible for bureaucratic decision-making about drug policy are frustrated with how the White House has handled coronavirus vaccine boosters.
Why it matters: The Biden administration has made clear that its priority, when it comes to boosters, is to stay ahead of the virus. But in doing so, it's also getting ahead of the process by which such decisions are usually made.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Tuesday announced he is reactivating the National Guard and directing up to 370 additional people to help hospitals as they reach capacity.
Why it matters: There were only four intensive care unit beds available Tuesday in the entire state, out of nearly 400, the Republican governor wrote in a news release. There are more COVID-19 patients in ICU beds in the state "than ever before. The vast majority of them are unvaccinated," the release states.
