Using the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker and Thursday as the first day of the week, here is the FEHBlog’s weekly chart of new COVID cases for 2021:

Here is a link to the CDC’s weekly chart of new COVID admissions which also continues to trend up.

Here is the FEHBlog’s weekly chart of new COVID deaths for 2021.

Here is the FEHBlog’s weekly chart of new COVID vaccinations administered and delivered from the 51st week of 2020 through the 50th week of the 2021. For the second week in a row, administered vaccines including boosters has exceeded 10 million for the week.

Here’s a link to the CDC’s weekly interpretation of its COVID statistics. The CDC weekly review will not be published again until January 7. Hopefully by then the FDA will have granted emergency use authorization to the Pfizer early onset COVID pill. That would be a great holiday gift for America.

The CDC’s Fluview reports that “Seasonal influenza activity in the United States is increasing, including indicators that track hospitalizations. The amount of activity varies by region.”

From the COVID vaccine front, the Wall Street Journal informs us that

Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE  have pushed back plans to request authorization of their Covid-19 vaccine in children ages 2 to 5, after the shot generated a weaker than expected immune response in a key study. 

The companies said Friday they would begin testing the addition of a third dose in the children, and if successful, would ask U.S. health regulators to authorize use sometime during the first half of 2022.

STAT News tells us that CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has approved her Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice’s unananimous “preferential recommendation to the Covid vaccines based on messenger RNA technology on Thursday — a decision aimed at steering people away from the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine because of concerns about a rare but serious side effect.” STAT dives into more detail in an accompanying article titled “The Tragedy of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID vaccine.

In COVID vaccine mandate news the Wall Street Journal reports this evening that

A federal appeals court Friday reinstated Biden administration rules that require many employers to ensure that their workers are vaccinated or tested weekly for Covid-19.

A divided panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved a stay issued by another court that had blocked the rules. The majority, in a 2-t,o-1 ruling, said legal challenges to the administration’s vaccination-and-testing requirements were likely to fail.

This decision was made in the consolidated challenge to the OSHA action. The Sixth Circuit reversed a Fifth Circuit stay of the OSHA action. The plaintiffs are likely to ask all of the 6th Circuit’s active judges to consider this issue, e.g., a motion for rehearing en banc

In other judicial news, STAT News reports that

A federal court judge has reversed the hotly contested Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan after deciding a bankruptcy judge did not have authority to grant immunity to the Sackler family members who control the controversial drug maker. * * *

One legal expert explained the decision is significant. “The decision is an important recognition of the arguments made (by the U.S. Trustee and the eight states) and the concerns they had. That is an important value for a justice system,” Melissa Jacoby, a professor at the University of North Carolina who specializes in bankruptcy law, wrote us.

So what happens next?

“…It is too soon to know what the effect will be. It is possible the Sacklers will increase their monetary offer to avoid further litigation to try to make the releases fully consensual, even though I can imagine grounds on which the 2nd circuit (appeals court) would reverse the district court,” she continued. “Presumably, they are examining those options right now.”

In M&A news, Healthcare Dive informs us that

— Intermountain Healthcare and Colorado-based SCL Health signed a definitive agreement Wednesday to move forward with merger plans to create an $11 billion health system spanning six states.

— The deal is expected to close next April. Financial terms were not disclosed.

— Intermountain CEO Marc Harrison will serve as the leader of the combined organization.