How drug companies are planning for the Omicron variant

Hello,

Welcome to Insider Healthcare. I'm healthcare editor Leah Rosenbaum, and today in healthcare news:

• Pharma companies are already planning their counterattack against the new Omicron variant;
• The CDC on Monday called on all adults to get their COVID-19 booster shots;
• Four states are changing their laws to allow people who were fired for not getting vaccinated to claim unemployment benefits. 

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Omicron has drug companies preparing for the worst. Here are their plans to counterattack the newest COVID-19 variant.

• Drug companies are preparing for Omicron to be the next major challenge of this pandemic.
• The newest variant's mutations could weaken vaccine protection, though that is still unknown.
• While much is still uncertain, the pharmaceutical industry is already planning its counterattack.

Read more>>

CDC strengthens its stance on boosters, saying everyone should get an extra shot to protect against the Omicron variant

• Previously, the CDC approved boosters for all vaccinated adults, but said priority should go to adults over 50.
• On Monday, director Rochelle Walensky strengthened that message, calling on all American adults to get extra shots.
• Walensky said boosters are key in light of the newly detected Omicron variant.

Here's what you need to know>>

4 GOP-controlled states are changing their unemployment laws to allow those defying COVID-19 vaccine mandates to get benefits

• GOP-controlled legislatures are seeking to undermine President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate. 
• Four states have passed bills that would provide unemployment benefits to those fired for refusing the vaccine.
• Vaccine mandates have become an issue of fierce partisan controversy. 

See the full story>>

More stories we're reading:

• How 3 millennial morticians are using social media and tech to modernize the traditionally secretive death-care industry (Insider)
• Regulators refused to listen when neighborhood members complained that air pollution was impacting their health (ProPublica)
• Federal judge blocks Biden administration's vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in 10 states (Insider)
• How inequitable access to COVID-19 vaccines relates to the new Omicron variant (STAT)

-Leah