Pfizer Vaccine Approval Imminent; Delta Plus Lurks Abroad; NYC’s Vax Passport Plan

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The FDA hopes to fully approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by early September. (New York Times)

South Korea announced at least two cases of the Delta Plus variant, which is thought to be even more infectious than the Delta variant. (Washington Post)

As of Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. EDT, the unofficial U.S. COVID-19 toll was 35,242,078 cases and 614,317 deaths, increases of 108,109 cases and 559 deaths versus this time a day ago.

The CDC extended a ban on evictions in parts of the country with substantial or high COVID transmission until Oct. 3. (CNN)

New York City will become the first major U.S. city to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter restaurants and gyms, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced. (Reuters)

Chicago will not follow New York’s lead immediately but will be “watching to see how this plays out,” the city’s public health commissioner said. (NBC Chicago)

“We’re not shutting down,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) insisted, despite record-breaking numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. (CBS News)

President Biden shot back, “get out of the way of people trying to do the right thing,” in response to the state banning COVID mitigation efforts, such as mask mandates. (Politico)

While in Arkansas, Governor Asa Hutchinson (R) said he regrets signing a bill that prevents government authorities from implementing mask mandates. (Newsweek)

Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital will give a supplemental mRNA vaccine to people who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot. (ABC 7 News)

“I’m glad former President Trump got vaccinated, but it would have been even better for him to have done so on national television,” former HHS secretary Alex Azar wrote in a New York Times guest essay.

Free health plans are available for some uninsured people through the Affordable Care Act, though the special enrollment period ends Aug. 15. (NPR)

Eli Lilly plans to seek FDA approval for donanemab, its investigational Alzheimer’s drug that cleared amyloid plaques and slowed cognitive decline, by year end. (Reuters)

Medexus Pharmaceuticals and medac GmbH received a complete response letter from the FDA that requested more data for treosulfan, part of a preparative regimen for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

And in sports, Greece’s synchronized swimming team will not compete in the Olympics after four members tested positive for COVID-19. (NPR)