Adios, Travel Mask Mandate; Moderna Touts Its Variant Vaccine; Renaming Cancer?

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A federal judge in Florida struck down the Biden administration’s mask mandate for airplanes, airports, and public transportation, ruling that the CDC exceeded its authority. (CNN)

And just like that, major airlines — including Delta, United, American, and others — have made masking optional on their aircrafts. (NPR)

Uber also tossed its mask requirement for riders and drivers. (Newsweek)

Moderna announced that a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine that also targets mutations in the Beta variant better neutralized Omicron than its original formulation out to 6 months; the company is also testing an Omicron-targeted bivalent vaccine before selecting a fall booster offering.

Pediatricians and health officials in multiple states are worried COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is spilling over to routine vaccinations for measles, chickenpox, meningitis, and other diseases. (Politico)

“Is this going to be the rest of my life?” Two years, three bouts of COVID, and 11 doctors later, the medical community is still perplexed by this young woman’s long COVID. (Washington Post)

As of Tuesday at 8 a.m. EDT, the unofficial COVID toll in the U.S. reached 80,727,041 cases and 990,267 deaths, increases of 59,740 and 384, respectively, since this time yesterday.

Women and people over 80 were more likely to report side effects from a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine than other older adults. (JAMA Network Open)

The CDC updated its method for determining travel risk with COVID-19, and will now reserve Level 4 warnings for special cases, such as to warn of “extremely high case counts, emergence of a new variant of concern, and healthcare infrastructure collapse.”

Shanghai reported three deaths from COVID-19 on Monday, the first from its recent Omicron outbreak. (CNN)

Investing more money into primary care was associated with an estimated $2.4 billion in savings and nearly 90,000 fewer emergency room visits among Californians enrolled in HMOs, according to a study conducted by the California Health Care Foundation.

As more states impose restrictions on abortion, medical students’ options for abortion training are becoming more and more scarce. (AP)

In Los Angeles County, homeless people are dying in record numbers. (New York Times)

The Supreme Court threw out a case surrounding the legality of Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas; the Biden administration had revoked permission for states to require people to work to qualify for the program. (Fierce Healthcare)

And the High Court also ruled against an Air Force officer who refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19, citing religious reasons. (New York Times)

Some doctors are advocating to rename certain low-grade prostate cancer, so that patients with minimal risk skip unnecessary radiation and surgeries. (AP)

GE Appliances recalled more than 150,000 refrigerators that have freezer handles that can fall off when someone tries to open it, posing a falling risk. (NPR)