WHO: China's COVID plan is 'unsustainable' due to omicron GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization said China’s extreme approach to containing the coronavirus is unsustainable because of the highly infectious nature of the omicron variant, but that it’s up to every country to decide what policy to pursue. AP NEWS

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Covid-19 vaccine boosters are critical for older adults. Why aren't more people getting them? Even as top U.S. health officials say it's time America learns to live with the coronavirus, a chorus of leading researchers say faulty messaging on booster shots has left millions of older people at serious risk. Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News CNN

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FDA declines to authorize common antidepressant as COVID treatment The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has decided not to authorize the antidepressant fluvoxamine to treat COVID-19, saying that the data has not shown the drug to be an effective therapeutic for fighting the virus. Leroy Leo,Michael Erman Reuters

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What happens when the government stops buying Covid-19 vaccines? The federal government has distributed Covid-19 vaccines and treatments for free so far, but most likely, the handouts won’t last forever. Rachel Cohrs STAT

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At some point, Covid-19 vaccines and treatments will be bought and sold just like other drugs and medical products. But big questions loom about how and when the transition will happen, about how bumpy it will be.

New US hospitals face fiscal crisis over COVID relief money THOMASVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A whole town celebrated in 2020 when, early in the coronavirus pandemic, Thomasville Regional Medical Center opened, offering state-of-the-art medicine that was previously unavailable in a poor, isolated part of Alabama. AP NEWS

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With about 420,000 health care providers nationwide already receiving assistance from a $178 billion pot, the government isn’t covering 100% of losses for anyone, said Chris Lundquist, a spokesman for the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, which is overseeing the program. ...

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine contributed to avert

Lancet

Americans without health insurance were disproportionately affected by COVID-19--Study

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In our analysis of over 26 million cases, we estimated the impact of insurance coverage on COVID-19 mortality using daily individual-level data on COVID-19 cases, hospitalization, and mortality, as well as the delay between symptom onset and COVID-19 test results. Data were aggregated by state, gender, race, and age, and matched with demographic controls and health insurance coverage rates.

We find that nearly 60,000 excess deaths from COVID-19, over 220,000 additional hospitalizations, and 2.9 million additional cases are associated with lack of health insurance. We also find that, prior to emergency appropriations that were enacted to cover the costs of testing, insurance coverage is associated with prompter testing following symptom onset during the initial phase of the pandemic.

Further, we explored the effect of Medicaid expansion on COVID-19 outcomes, comparing counties across state lines. We find that the impact of being in a state with Medicaid expansion compared to an adjacent country in a state without Medicaid expansion is consistent with our national-level findings regarding the effect of health insurance coverage. ...

NYC health chief: Wear masks indoors; 'high' COVID alert level coming New York City is approaching a ‘high’ level of COVID-19 alert, according to Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan. In a tweet issued Monday morning, Vasan said he was urging all New Yorkers to wear a mask while indoors. FOX 5 NY FOX 5 New York

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Raising the alert level from medium to high indicates an increased and significant level of community spread. 

US deaths from COVID hit 1 million, less than 2 1/2 years in The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 1 million on Monday, a once-unimaginable figure that only hints at the multitudes of loved ones and friends staggered by grief and frustration. The confirmed number of dead is equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 336 days. AP NEWS

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 1 million on Monday, a once-unimaginable figure that only hints at the multitudes of loved ones and friends staggered by grief and frustration.