Apple is scaling back its plans for HealthHabit, an app that Apple employees could use to track fitness goals and talk to clinicians and coaches, Insider's Blake Dodge reports.
More than 50 Apple workers spent significant time on the app, and there could be layoffs in their future. HealthHabit could be shut down, or it could continue in a scaled-down manner.
The announcement comes as as a bit of surprise, not just because top administration leaders were saying just a few days ago that most people didn't need boosters at this time.
The plan also comes ahead of any recommendations on when, or if, to boost from the independent advisory groups that guide the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Those advisory boards serve as an independent check in the review process for new vaccines. And at least one expert sitting on the FDA's panel, Dr. Paul Offit, has repeatedly expressed skepticism for the idea that booster shots are needed now.
Regardless, a smattering of top US health officials, including the heads of the FDA and CDC, said Wednesday they are planning to start offering booster shots starting September 20 to people in the US.
They're focused on signs that protection from the vaccines may wane over time, and that boosters could also help protect people against the Delta variant.
If you missed it, we released our fifth annual list of 30 people who are 40 years old or younger and changing the healthcare industry.
From turning video games into therapeutics (Akili Interactive CEO Eddie Martucci, 39) to shaping Google's future healthcare ambitions (Vivian Neilley, 27, head of Alphabet's standards program), to advancing the next wave of gene-editing tools (Scribe Therapeutics CEO Benjamin Oakes, 32), this year's crop reflects just how sprawling the future of healthcare could be.
