Florida Defies CDC on Kids’ COVID Vax; More Free Tests; Is Infection Inevitable?

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The Florida Health Department plans to recommend against COVID-19 vaccination in healthy children, directly contradicting CDC guidelines. (Tampa Bay Times)

At least 16 confirmed attacks on Ukraine health facilities have occurred since Russia invaded, and the country is experiencing shortages of vital medical supplies, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned. (Reuters)

In a reversal, the WHO now recommends COVID-19 boosters, particularly for those at high risk for severe disease.

The FDA may soon authorize Novavax’s COVID vaccine, which is expected to gain traction among some vaccine holdouts. (Fortune)

As of Tuesday at 8 a.m. EST, the unofficial U.S. COVID toll is 79,339,497 cases and 960,314 deaths, up 68,031 cases and 1,693 deaths from this time yesterday.

Too sick to work, but many COVID long-haulers are being denied disability benefits. (Washington Post)

The White House has made a second round of free COVID-19 tests available to all U.S. households. (NBC News)

Two years into the pandemic, these data visualizations paint a grim picture of the effects of COVID-19. (Kaiser Health News)

The CDC urged Americans to avoid travel to Hong Kong and New Zealand due to high levels of COVID transmission. (Reuters)

Still haven’t contracted COVID? Some experts believe ending up with the virus is not inevitable. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Moderna announced that it plans to begin developing and testing vaccines that target 15 worrisome pathogens, and will permanently waive its COVID-19 vaccine patents in low- and middle-income countries. (Reuters)

Researchers identified new genetic variations linked to severe COVID-19 illness, which could pave the way for more therapeutics. (Nature)

In the middle of receiving treatment for a miscarriage, a Texas woman was hit with a hospital bill for $3,500. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

The FDA’s 5-year plan to increase the numbers of Black participants in clinical trials looks to have failed. (Health Affairs)

Oregon created a task force to propose “bridge plans,” insurance policies that provide basic health and dental coverage for people who are unenrolled from Medicaid when their earnings increase. (OPB)

The Department of Health and Human Services chose Karl Mathias, PhD, to be its new chief information officer, the eighth person to fill the job in the last 7 years. (Healthcare IT News)

In masking news, public school students in New York City were allowed to shed their masks yesterday, though many chose not to. (New York Times)

In Chicago, the teachers union is pushing back after the public school district lifted its masking mandate. (Chicago Tribune)

Puerto Rico, one of the last in the U.S. to ease pandemic restrictions, is dropping its indoor mask mandate. (AP)