Pandemics

First on CNN: HHS secretary sends letter to state governors on what's to come when Covid-19 public health emergency ends | CNN Plans are moving forward at the US Department of Health and Human Services to prepare for the end of the nation's Covid-19 public health emergency declaration in May. Jacqueline Howard CNN

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On Thursday, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra sent a letter and fact sheet to state governors detailing what exactly the end of the emergency declaration will mean for jurisdictions and their residents....

Maine community colleges stop requiring COVID-19 vaccine SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine's community college system has ended a requirement that on-campus students received the COVID-19 vaccine. The Maine Community College System's board ended the requirement and change is effective immediately, the system said in a Wednesday statement. AP NEWS

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Maine Community College System president David Daigler said high vaccination rates in the state and improved outcomes for people who contract COVID-19 played a role in the decision. Better access to a broader range of preventative and treatment options for COVID-19 also played a role, he said.

Denialism is seeping into legislation and undermining public health Denialism represents a shift in the common practice of disputing notions that we may not agree with to the outright rejection of facts in an antagonistic way. dtodd The Hill

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‘No one really wants to talk about COVID anymore,’ the WHO’s pandemic lead laments. But the ‘worst case’ possibility of a new coronavirus exists “Omicron can cause severe disease” and “is not nature’s vaccine,” experts warned, raising concerns that evolution could produce a more dangerous variant—or a new coronavirus altogether. YahooFinance

... “until no one is at risk, everyone is at risk” of a disease that continues to evolve and affect different countries to different extents, Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for COVID-19 at the WHO, added.