The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal challenging New York’s mandate requiring that schoolchildren under 18 be vaccinated against serious diseases including COVID-19, and did not question the state’s decision to repeal religious exemptions in 2019.
Justices upheld the state court’s ruling that said New York’s removal of religious exemptions was not targeting religion as the decision came after the “worst measles outbreak in a quarter century.”
Meanwhile, reported COVID-19 cases are surging in the southern tip of South America. Officials in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay expressed hopes that the latest wave will not be as deadly as others, citing the high vaccination rates in several countries.
We’re updating this page with the latest news about the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the U.S. and the world. Click here to see the rest of our coronavirus coverage and here to see how we track the daily spread across Washington.
Germany to loosen COVID-19 entry rules over the summer
Germany’s health minister says the government plans to suspend a pandemic rule requiring people to show proof of vaccination, a negative test result or recent recovery from COVID-19 to enter the country over the summer.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told the Funke newspaper group in comments published Wednesday that the rule, which applies to everyone age 12 and above regardless of where they are traveling from, will be suspended from June 1 to the end of August.
Germany has not had any countries on its list of “high-risk areas” for the coronavirus since early March.
Pfizer to offer low-cost medicines, vaccines to poor nations
Pfizer said Wednesday that it will provide nearly two dozen products, including its top-selling COVID-19 vaccine and treatment, at not-for-profit prices in some of the world’s poorest countries.
The drugmaker announced the program at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, and said it was aimed at improving health equity in 45 lower-income countries. Most of the countries are in Africa, but the list also includes Haiti, Syria, Cambodia and North Korea.
The products, which are widely available in the U.S. and the European Union, include 23 medicines and vaccines that treat infectious diseases, some cancers and rare and inflammatory conditions. Company spokeswoman Pam Eisele said only a small number of the medicines and vaccines are currently available in the 45 countries.
New York-based Pfizer will charge only manufacturing costs and “minimal” distribution expenses, Eisele said. It will comply with any sanctions and all other applicable laws.
The drugmaker also plans to provide help with public education, training for health care providers and drug supply management.
Another, faster-spreading omicron subvariant dominates new COVID cases in U.S.
Another form of the omicron subvariant BA. 2 has become the dominant version among new U.S. coronavirus cases, according to federal estimates released Tuesday, a development that experts had forecast over the past few weeks.
There was no indication yet that the new subvariant, known as BA. 2.12.1, causes more severe disease than earlier forms did. BA. 2.12.1 made up about 58% of all new U.S. cases, according to estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the week ending May 21.
As Americans approach their third Memorial Day weekend of the pandemic, the country is averaging more than 100,000 new confirmed cases per day for the first time since February, according to a New York Times database. Newly reported cases have been rising in nearly every state, many infections go uncounted in official statistics, so the true number of infections may be higher. As of Monday, there were an average of more than 24,700 people with the virus hospitalized nationally, an increase of 28% over the past two weeks.
BA. 2.12.1 spreads more rapidly than previous versions of omicron including the form which sent U.S. cases soaring over the winter. The new version evolved from BA. 2, which itself was more contagious than any variant that came before it. New York state health officials said in mid-April that the omicron subvariants known as BA. 2.12 and BA. 2.12.1 accounted for more than 90% of new cases in central New York state.
In New York City, omicron subvariants are powering the fifth wave of virus cases and officials put the city on “high COVID alert” last week, after rising case counts and hospitalizations reached a level that could put substantial pressure on the health care system. There was no sign that mask mandates were coming back in New York City, even as federal health officials warned that a large share of Americans were living in areas with “medium to high” levels of virus transmission.
Pandemic-weary Americans plan for summer despite COVID surge
A high school prom in Hawaii where masked dancers weren’t allowed to touch. A return to virtual city council meetings in one Colorado town after the mayor and others tested positive following an in-person session. A reinstated mask mandate at skilled nursing facilities in Los Angeles County after 22 new outbreaks in a single week.
A COVID-19 surge is underway that is starting to cause disruptions as the school year wraps up and Americans prepare for summer vacations. Many people, though, have returned to their pre-pandemic routines and plans, which often involve travel.
Case counts are as high as they’ve been since mid-February and those figures are likely a major undercount because of unreported positive home test results and asymptomatic infections. Earlier this month, an influential modeling group at the University of Washington in Seattle estimated that only 13% of cases were being reported to U.S. health authorities.
Hospitalizations are also up and more than one-third of the U.S. population lives in areas that are considered at high risk by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Northeast has been hit the hardest.
