COVID Closes Texas Town; Vax Resistant Strain ‘Likely’?; Oregon’s Outdoor Mask Rule

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COVID has hit this small Texas town so hard that the schools closed and then the town shut down. (CNN)

The Ohio legislature is considering a bill that would bar employers in the state from instituting vaccine mandates for their employees. (Associated Press)

Ohio State University, meanwhile, just announced a vaccine mandate for students, faculty, and staff members.

Vice President Harris’s trip to Vietnam was delayed due to a possible case of “Havana Syndrome” in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city. (USA Today)

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said it was “likely” that a vaccine-resistant strain of COVID-19 will emerge, raising questions about vaccine evasion. (Business Insider)

President Biden received a report from intelligence agencies about the novel coronavirus’ origin, but it was “inconclusive.” (Washington Post)

Johnson & Johnson said a second booster dose of its single-dose vaccine generated a sharp increase in spike-binding antibodies.

As of Wednesday at 8 a.m. EDT, the unofficial COVID-19 toll in the U.S. was 38,077,523 cases and 630,838 deaths, increases of 135,903 and 1,274, respectively, from this time yesterday.

Delta variant cases rising at a slower pace could mean good news for the economy. (CNBC)

A Nebraska state senator is criticizing the state’s governor and the Department of Veterans Affairs for advertising job openings for unvaccinated nurses to work with “sick and aging” veterans. (KETV.com)

Longtime Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, 80, died Tuesday of unspecified causes. A heavy smoker, he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2004 but recovered completely. (CNN)

Want to go to a football game at Louisiana State University’s Tiger Stadium? You’ll have to be vaccinated. (ESPN)

Oregon governor Kate Brown (D) has instituted an outdoor mask mandate in most public outdoor settings. (KATU.com)

Meanwhile, in New York state, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said she would institute a mask mandate for students and require staff to be vaccinated or tested weekly. (Bloomberg)

Compared to other wealthy countries, the U.S. has many more unvaccinated seniors in certain areas, making the surge from the Delta variant worse than it otherwise would be. (New York Times)

Hypertension afflicts nearly 1.3 billion people globally, and although rates of hypertension haven’t changed much, the burden has shifted more to lower-income countries, according to the WHO. (Reuters)

The CDC is investigating a Salmonella outbreak linked to Italian-style deli meats, which has sickened 36 people across 17 states, and includes 12 hospitalizations.

People may want to get their flu shots a little earlier than usual this year, experts say. (CNN)