Axios

The Supreme Court on Friday declined a request to intervene by a small group of teachers who challenged New York City’s vaccination mandate for public school employees.

Why it matters: A small group of teachers had argued that the mandate violates their religious freedom because the city limits eligibility for religious exemptions by requiring support from a religious official, among other things.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized a new antibody treatment to fight Omicron.

Why it matters: The drug, developed by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, is an critical tool for treatment as new variants continue to spread, the FDA said,

Pfizer and BioNTech announced Friday that they are postponing their application to the Food and Drug Administration for the companies' COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of six months and four years old.

The big picture: The companies said they "will wait for the three-dose data" because they "believe it may provide a higher level of protection in this age group."

Carlyle Group has agreed to acquire a stake in Orsini Specialty Pharmacy, joining Consonance Capital as an approximately equal investor in the rare disease specialty pharmacy business, sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: Fueled by genomics and technology advances, rare disease drug and gene therapy development is accelerating quickly.

Psychedelic startup Mindstate just scored an $11.5 million vote of confidence in the form of an angel investment from Neuralink co-founder Max Hodak.

Why it matters: The deal — which is mammoth for a seed round — reflects investors' taste for psychedelics for behavioral health applications, including treating depression, anxiety and PTSD.

Vaccine uptake is fading, but doctors and health care workers are trying to reach the tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans — one conversation at a time.

The big picture: Persuading the remaining unvaccinated takes a lot more time and effort, and health care workers who have found success are not writing off holdouts as anti-vaxxers.

Eli Lilly announced Thursday that it has agreed to supply the U.S. government with up to 600,000 doses of its developmental drug, bebtelovimab, in a deal worth at least $720 million.

Why it matters: Bebtelovimab is an antibody treatment that was found to neutralize COVID-19 variants, including Omicron, Lilly noted in its December report.

The number of abortions performed in Texas fell by 60% in the first month after the most restrictive abortion ban in the U.S. went into effect, according to data released Thursday by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

By the numbers: In August, there were a total of 5,404 clinic abortions conducted. That number fell dramatically in September to 2,197.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) on Thursday rescinded the state's mask mandate in public places, including schools, effective immediately.

Why it matters: Nevada now joins several other Democrat-controlled states that have also ended their mask requirements and other restrictions meant to lower the spread of COVID-19 this week.

The life expectancy at birth for people in Hawaii is 80.9 years, according to state-by-state data released Thursday by the CDC National Center for Health Statistics.

• The life expectancy at birth for Mississippians is 74.4 years. [Corrected]

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) explained his decision to lift his state's mask mandate because his state's hospitalization rates are down, he said in a CNBC interview on Thursday.

Driving the news: 552 patients in Connecticut are hospitalized with COVID as of Wednesday, down from 1,270 hospitalizations on Jan. 27th, according to state data.

Partners Group is acquiring OMERS Private Equity's majority stake in Forefront Dermatology, one of the country’s largest players in the business of skin treatment. The seller, alongside physicians and executives, sits poised to put more skin in the game via a new minority investment, the firms tell Axios.

Why it matters: After a year in which zero dermatology platform deals got done, the sector is seeing activity pick up, with Forefront marking the second such transaction this month alone in a specialty that remains highly fragmented.

Ready or not, states across the U.S. have begun another great unmasking as they prepare to enter the post-Omicron phase of the pandemic.

Why it matters: Reasonable experts don't exactly agree on whether it's the right time to start exposing our faces in public again, which makes it difficult to gauge how much of this broader shift is based in science versus changing risk tolerance.

New COVID cases are plunging all across America, and Omicron's death toll is also slowing down.

The big picture: The U.S. is on its way out of this wave of the pandemic after less than two months.

Tens of millions of people have flocked to pharmacies over the past year to get COVID vaccines and tests, and pharmacy chains are salivating at the thought of retaining some of those people as long-term customers.

The bottom line: "We have seen a lot more traffic in the stores, and that's manifesting itself in more prescriptions and increased basket sizes in some instances," CVS Health CFO Shawn Guertin told Wall Street yesterday.