Colin Powell Dies of COVID; Moderna for Teens Delayed; ALS Trial Misses Key Endpoint

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Colin Powell, the first Black secretary of state, died from complications related to COVID-19, his family announced. (CNN)

Former President Bill Clinton was released from UC Irvine Medical Center after being hospitalized for a urinary tract infection that spread to his bloodstream. (CNN)

The FDA has delayed its decision on whether to authorize Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents (ages 12 to 17) to further investigate whether the shot may increase the risk for myocarditis in younger individuals. (Wall Street Journal)

In other FDA news, Boehringer Ingelheim announced that its adalimumab biosimilar Cyltezo received approval as the first interchangeable biosimilar to reference product Humira.

And Oyster Point Pharma said the agency approved its nasal spray — varenicline solution (Tyrvaya) — for treating dry-eye disease.

A late-stage trial of Biogen’s amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) drug failed to hit its primary endpoint, the company said, while highlighting favorable secondary endpoints.

While COVID-19 hospitalizations break new records in Montana, Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) has stood firm in support of a state law prohibiting vaccine mandates in private workplaces. (Independent Record)

Meanwhile, Italy just began implementing one of the world’s toughest workplace vaccine mandates. (Washington Post)

In Russia, the official number of COVID cases just passed 8 million, but independent data analysts say both case counts and death tolls are higher than the government is reporting. (AP/Washington Post)

As of Monday at 8 a.m. EDT, the unofficial U.S. COVID-19 toll reached 44,934,620 cases and 724,323 deaths, up 594,212 cases and 10,969 deaths versus this time a week ago.

The Washington Post offers a closer look at a 48-hour race to find an ICU bed for a COVID patient near death.

The CDC released its 2021 holiday guidance, urging families to get vaccinated before gathering and to protect ineligible children by making sure those around them have their shots. (ABC News)

The New York Times asked 10 recently vaccinated New Yorkers what changed their minds.

Dying patients are being turned away from hospices because of pandemic-related staffing shortages. (New York Times)

A private school in Miami that previously threatened not to employ teachers who received the COVID-19 vaccine, now says immunized students must stay home for 30 days after each shot due to false claims of “vaccine shedding” (WSVN-TV)

Threats to public health officials, resignations, and state laws limiting local health officials’ authorities could leave the U.S. even less prepared for the next pandemic. (New York Times)

An uptick in teenage girls displaying physical tics has doctors wondering if Tourette’s syndrome videos on TikTok are to blame. (Wall Street Journal)

Megan Rice, the activist and Catholic nun who served time in federal prison in her 80s for breaking into a government complex to protest nuclear weapons, has died of congestive heart failure. (AP)

Recently convicted murderer Robert Durst is now on a ventilator after testing positive for COVID-19. (NBC Los Angeles)