Fauci in the Doghouse; SCOTUS to Review Texas Abortion Law; Public Health’s Downfall

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NIH officials admitted that they funded research to the Wuhan Institute of Virology that enhanced bat coronaviruses, but insisted there were too many genetic differences for one of those viruses to have led to the origin of the COVID pandemic. (Vanity Fair)

Meanwhile, 24 legislators sent a letter to NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, MD, asking why the agency funded research that experimented on puppies. (The Hill)

The U.S. Supreme Court said they would review Texas’ controversial abortion law, but said they would not block it. (NPR)

Bausch + Lomb and Clearside Biomedical announced FDA approval of triamcinolone acetonide injectable suspension (Xipere) for treating uveitis-associated macular edema.

As of Monday at 8 a.m. EDT, the unofficial U.S. COVID toll was 45,444,779 cases and 735,941 deaths, increases of 510,159 cases and 11,618 deaths versus this time a week ago.

Where is the most vaccinated place in America? The answer may surprise you. (CNN)

Florida’s surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, MD, refused a request to wear a mask in a meeting with a state senator who has cancer. (Business Insider)

Parents in western Pennsylvania allege in a lawsuit that University of Pittsburgh Medical Center physicians refused to sign “mask exemptions” for their kids. (Becker’s Hospital Review)

The downfall of trust in public health may be partially self-imposed. (The Atlantic)

A raid in Thailand found that warehouses were exporting used medical gloves to the U.S. (CNN)

Scientists in Africa are attempting to replicate the Moderna vaccine. (AP)

CDC issued an advisory on its Health Alert Network that aromatherapy room spray was the source of non-travel-related melioidosis infections across several states.

The agency is also investigating a Salmonella outbreak in eight states linked to salami sticks, which has sickened 20 and hospitalized three people.

China will begin vaccinating children as young as 3 years old to curb COVID spread. (AP)

Emmy-winning actor Peter Scolari, who starred with Tom Hanks in the 80s sitcom Bosom Buddies, died at age 66 of cancer. (Deadline)

And James Michael Tyler, who played Gunther on Friends, died at age 59 of prostate cancer. (NBC News)

Beware the flesh-eating STD spreading across the U.K. that causes “beefy red” ulcers. (New York Post)