Texas Bars COVID Vax Mandate; Oregon Nurses to Strike? Halloween’s a Go, Fauci Says

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued an executive order barring any entity in the state from mandating COVID-19 vaccines. (CBSDFW)

Hospitals are seeing more and more cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) in children, with CDC reporting a 12% rise in the rare COVID-linked condition since late August. (CNN)

While the FDA wrestles with vaccination for U.S. kids, India is recommending its homemade COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, for children ages 2 and up. (Reuters)

Delaying England’s initial pandemic lockdown was a “serious” error led by unchallenged “groupthink, ” according to a new report that charged that failures in testing and contact tracing exacerbated the crisis. (Reuters)

In Italy, protests against the country’s vaccine passport — the Green Pass — are turning violent. (CBS News)

As of Tuesday at 8 a.m. EDT, the unofficial U.S. COVID-19 toll reached 44,456,936 cases and 714,064 deaths, up 116,528 cases and 710 deaths since this time a day ago.

Kaiser Permanente’s nurses and other healthcare workers in Oregon voted to authorize their union to call a strike. (KATU)

Meanwhile, a nurse’s strike at Saint Vincent Hospital in Massachusetts has stretched on for over 7 months, with negotiations between their union and hospital officials breaking down. (NBC News)

Wisconsin parents have filed lawsuits in federal courts after their sons contracted COVID while attending schools they said had lax virus protocols. (CNN)

In other school news, parents are stashing air-quality monitors in their kids’ backpacks to measure CO₂ levels as a gauge of ventilation and COVID transmission risk. (Business Insider)

Do not expect vaccination mandates for domestic air travel any time soon, said NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, MD. (Washington Post)

But Halloween is a go, said Fauci: “Particularly if you’re vaccinated, you can get out there.” (NPR)

A teary goodbye between a Baby Boomer and her long-time, retiring primary care doctor raises questions about the burgeoning physician shortage. (Kaiser Health News)

At least 85% of the world’s population has experienced weather events worsened by climate change. (Washington Post)

With the NBA season’s tip-off just a couple of weeks away, the Brooklyn Nets acknowledged that anti-vax guard Kyrie Irving will not play in home games due to New York City’s vaccination mandate. (Washington Post)

Germany’s CureVac is giving up on its first COVID-19 vaccine after subpar trial results. (Bloomberg)

Samsung conglomerate chief Jay Y. Lee said in a South Korea court that he illegally used the sedative propofol 41 times in recent years; prosecutors say he obtained the controlled substance under the guise of a skin treatment. (Reuters)