WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court declined Friday to block Maine's requirement for health care workers to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, even though it doesn't contain a religious exemption.

ERs Are Swamped With Seriously Ill Patients, Although Many Don’t Have Covid Certain patients who couldn’t get in to see a doctor earlier in the pandemic, or were avoiding the covid risks inside hospitals, have become too sick to stay away. Many ERs now struggle to co… khndamond Kaiser Health News

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Even if lots of children have had Covid, they’ll still benefit from the vaccine, experts say

A startling statistic emerged as advisers to the Food and Drug Administration debated use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in ages 5 to 11 last week. According to one federal scientist, by June an estimated 42 percent of these children had already been infected with the coronavirus.

That figure was much higher than anyone expected. But the estimate, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, might have overstated the percentage of children who were infected, several experts said in interviews. Among other flaws, the percentage was based on tests known to have a high rate of “false positives” — signaling the presence of antibodies where there were none.

America’s falling Covid case rate, in 3 charts New cases have fallen 57 percent since early September, with experts attributing the fall to increased immunity. NBC News

The number of new Covid-19 cases in the United States has dropped by nearly a quarter in the last two weeks, further signaling a downward trend in the country’s fourth wave of the pandemic.

Sweden's pandemic response faulted as too slow, unprepared COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden’s response to the spread of coronavirus was too slow and its preparations to handle a pandemic were insufficient, a stinging official report concluded Friday. The Scandinavian country has stood out among European nations for its comparatively hands-off response to the pandemic, emphasizing individual responsibility and choices instead of mandated government health measures. AP NEWS

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Do You Need A Booster If You Had COVID And Got The Vaccine? If you have "natural" immunity and you've been vaccinated, here's what experts say you should do about additional shots. YahooNews

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other developments

Covid-19 infections and deaths are dropping across Latin America Covid-19 is slowly retreating across most of North, Central and South America, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday. NBC News

BRASILIA — Covid-19 is slowly retreating across most of North, Central and South America, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday, reporting that last week the continent’s death and infection figures were the lowest in over a year.