The body's long-term immune responses help to defend against emerging coronavirus variants even as antibody immunity is waning in people who are vaccinated or who've had prior COVID-19 infections.
The big picture: Variants are testing the success of the COVID-19 vaccines, as antibody levels typically drop after peaking from infection or vaccination.
Driving the news: The Omicron variant is also now spreading in the United States. It's been shown to be highly transmissible and more able to evade vaccines, but a third shot or booster of an mRNA vaccine re-ups protection against Delta and Omicron, Fauci says.
A massive, multi-hazard storm unprecedented for mid-December in the Plains and Upper Midwest affected nearly 100 million people from New Mexico to Wisconsin on Wednesday into Wednesday night.
Why it matters: The latest storm is yet another demonstration that the dial on the extreme weather meter has gone all the way to 11 during 2021. Many of the events this year, including this one, bear the hallmarks of climate change.
An expansive storm is unleashing an array of hazardous weather to a broad swath of the lower 48 states — with winds reaching 85 to 100 mph from Colorado to Iowa, along with record warmth that's fueled an ongoing derecho moving into Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Why it matters: The storm set all-time high temperatures for the month of December on Wednesday, as readings soared into the 70s all the way to the Iowa-Minnesota border. Its winds had knocked out power to some 500,000 customers in 10 states Thursday, with outages climbing in Iowa and Kansas, per poweroutage.us.
At least 39 tornadoes touched down in more than six states Friday into Saturday, as a powerful storm system moved across the Central and southern U.S., the National Weather Service has concluded. Those numbers will fluctuate, and are likely to increase, in coming days, the agency cautioned.
The big picture: The outbreak left at least 88 dead, dozens injured and caused billions in damage. NWS survey teams continue to assess damage to assign intensity ratings to individual tornadoes, and several have turned out to be on the high end of the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
Several U.S. states were under threat from more extreme weather overnight, as heavy rains in Southern California caused flooding and mudslides — triggering mandatory evacuation orders and sparking rescue operations Tuesday.
Threat level: A "rapidly strengthening storm system" was set to generate high winds from the Southwest to the Upper Midwest, with gusts "up to and in excess of 75 mph in some areas," per the National Weather Service. The Southern and Central Plains face "abnormally high temperatures" and the threat of wildfires, the NWS said.
The Kentucky Division of Occupational Safety and Health Compliance will investigate Mayfield Consumer Products after tornados ravaged Mayfield, Ky., and killed at least eight of its factory workers over the weekend, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said Tuesday.
Why it matters: An investigation is launched whenever a worker dies on the job, but multiple employees have told news outlets they were warned they'd be fired if they left their shifts early as the tornado approached.
