NYC to require workers to get COVID vaccinations; mask rules studied

New York City will require teachers, police officers and the rest of the 340,000 city employees to get coronavirus vaccines by mid-September or face weekly coronavirus testing, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday.

The plan immediately drew qualified criticism from Henry Garrido, head of the city's largest municipal employees union with 150,000 members, who acknowledged that his union encourages vaccination.

"Weekly testing is clearly subject to mandatory bargaining," Garrido said in a statement. "New York City is a union town and that cannot be ignored.”

The city, like the nation, is battling a steady rise in new cases mostly blamed on the delta variant and vaccination hesitancy. Last week, the city had announced it was mandating vaccinations or weekly testing for workers in the city’s hospital system. The deadline for all city employees coincides with the start of public school, and de Blasio has said he expects all pupils to be in classrooms full time.

The mayor said his vaccination-testing plan "is about our recovery. This is about what we need to do to bring back New York City. This is about keeping people safe."

Also in the news:

►Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., has contracted COVID-19 for the second time, saying this bout has been "far more challenging." Higgins hasn't said whether he has received a COVID-19 vaccine, but he has been vehemently opposed to masking and was a constant critic of mitigation mandates.

►Tokyo Olympic organizers announced 10 new positive tests on Sunday among people connected to the Games, bringing the total to at least 137, including 16 athletes, the New York Times reported.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has had more than 34.4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 610,800 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 194.2 million cases and 4.15 million deaths. More than 163 million Americans – 49.1% of the population – have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

What we're reading: Florida leads the nation in new cases, recording more this week than California, Texas, New York and Illinois combined. And like elsewhere, the unvaccinated make up nearly all of the hospitalized and the dead. But residents, including many health care workers, are still wary of the shot. Read more.

Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY's Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group.

Doctors, medical groups call for mandatory vaccinations

More than 50 major American health care and medical groups called for employers of health and long-term care workers to mandate COVID-19 vaccines. The joint statement Monday included the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians and American Academy of Pediatrics, and said mandating vaccines is "the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment" of healthcare workers to put the needs of patients and residents of long-term care facilities first.

"We stand with the growing number of experts and institutions that support the requirement for universal vaccination of health workers," the statement said.

Fauci: CDC could soon recommend masks even for fully vaccinated people

Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is weighing revising their COVID-19 guidelines to recommend that even fully vaccinated individuals wear masks in public. Fauci, the nation’s top government infectious disease official, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he’s taken part in conversations about altering the guidelines, something he described as being “under active consideration.” In the last two weeks, COVID-19 cases have increased 171% nationally, fueled by the delta variant. The death rate is up 19% over the week before.

With 49.1% of the nation fully vaccinated, the U.S. is a long way from herd immunity, made more difficult by the rapid spread of the Delta variant, now accounting for 83% of cases nationwide.

A USA TODAY Network analysis of federal and state vaccination data found one quarter or less of residents are fully vaccinated in approximately 120 counties that are home to more than 3.6 million people across nine southern states.

Heavy hitters backing federal funds for minor league baseball

Lawmakers in Congress have introduced the Minor League Baseball Relief Act to help the minor league teams hurting economically from the pandemic. The bill would provide up to $550 million in federal relief funding. Eligible teams could get up to $10 million, with allowable expenses such as payroll costs, rent, utilities, worker protection expenditures and payments to independent contractors.

“For many working families, catching a weekend minor league baseball game ... is an affordable and fun family outing,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. “Baseball isn’t just America’s pastime, it also represents an economic lifeline for many communities.

Michigan commissioners to return $65k in bonuses from COVID relief aid

Elected officials in a Michigan's Shiawassee County who gave themselves bonuses totaling $65,000 with federal COVID-19 relief aid are returning the money. The commissioners acted after the prosecutor said the payments were illegal, The Argus-Press reported. The Michigan Constitution bars additional compensation for elected officials “after services had already been rendered,” prosecutor Scott Koerner said.

The commissioners, all Republicans, voted on July 15 for the plan to give $557,000 to 250 county employees as “hazard pay” for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. The smallest amounts for recipients were $1,000 to $2,000. But County Board Chairman Jeremy Root got $25,000. Two more commissioners received $10,000 each, while four others received $5,000 each.

Workers switch jobs at record pace amid burnout, chance for higher pay

The easing pandemic and reopening economy have set off an unprecedented reshuffling of the U.S. workforce. Americans are quitting jobs in record numbers, typically to take another position. They’re on the move mainly to make the most of a historic burst of job openings, often at higher wages, according to a survey by Joblist for USA TODAY. Many are changing jobs because they’re burned out after working so hard during the pandemic or finally beginning job searches that they put off during the health crisis, according to results of the survey by Joblist, which provides online tools to job seekers.

Mark Meadors was putting in more than 70 hours a week at four jobs, a full-time HR position and part-time gigs at a grocery store, boat dealership and in the Air Force Reserves. He quit the HR, grocery store and boat dealer positions recently to take a more secure human resources job at a university and continue his duties in the Air Force Reserves.

“It was a relief,” Meadors said. “I’ve got to attend to the needs of my family and I’ve got to be there for them.”

– Paul Davidson

Study: AstraZeneca then Pfizer shots boosts antibody level

A South Korean study found evidence of increased antibody levels when people received a mixed vaccination schedule of an AstraZeneca shot then the Pfizer vaccine, Reuters reported. The study follows one from the U.K. with similar results when mixing AstraZeneca then Pfizer, rather than two doses of AstraZeneca. The FDA has not yet authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine in the U.S.

Public health officials have asked whether a "mix-and-match" vaccine schedule would be safe and effective. There have also been questions over whether a booster dose will be needed for those who received two shots of Moderna or Pfizer or one shot of Johnson & Johnson in the U.S as coronavirus variants spread.

Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization's chief scientist, however, called the mixed approach a "dangerous trend" earlier this month, adding that it could lead to people deciding for themselves which vaccines to combine and how many doses to receive.

Canada and Thailand have allowed some form of mixing and matching in certain circumstance, but so far no such combination of vaccines is authorized in the U.S.

Unvaccinated snow leopard tested positive for COVID-19 at San Diego Zoo

Humans are not the only ones catching COVID-19 during the surge. An unvaccinated snow leopard at the San Diego Zoo has contracted the coronavirus, according to a statement from the zoo. The 9-year-old snow leopard named Ramil tested positive for the virus on Friday after a wildlife care specialist noticed he had a cough and nasal discharge, the statement said.

The snow leopard appears to be doing well with no other symptoms, according to the statement. Ramil shared the same habitat as a female snow leopard and two Amur leopards who may have also been exposed. It is assumed that they have been exposed and are currently under quarantine as veterinarians monitor their symptoms.

In January, three gorillas tested positive for COVID at the San Diego Zoo, the first known case in apes. The San Diego Zoo announced on July 6 that animals at the zoo and safari park would be receiving COVID-19 vaccines for some of their animals, including wild cats and mustelids. The doses from Zoetis, a New Jersey-based veterinary pharmaceutical company, require two vaccines three weeks apart, similar to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

– Steven Vargas

'He’s regretful': Radio host who doubted vaccines hospitalized

A conservative Tennessee-based talk radio host has changed his previously skeptical messaging on vaccines after being hospitalized with COVID-19, his family said.

Phil Valentine, who has posted on social media dissuading his audience from getting vaccinated if they aren't "in danger of dying" from COVID, has been hospitalized in the critical care unit and is receiving supplemental oxygen, but is not on a ventilator, according to his brother.

Valentine told listeners after being diagnosed – but before being hospitalized – that he chose not to get a COVID vaccine because he thought he probably wouldn't die from the disease.

His brother, Mark Valentine, said on WWTN-FM in Nashville this week that his brother has never been an "anti-vaxxer," but was "pro-information” and “pro-choice" regarding the vaccine.

“First of all, he’s regretful that he wasn’t a more vocal advocate of the vaccination,” Mark Valentine said. “For those listening, I know if he were able to tell you this, he would tell you, 'Go get vaccinated. Quit worrying about the politics. Quit worrying about all the conspiracy theories.’"

– Jeanine Santucci

Contributing: Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY; The Associated Press.

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NYC to require workers to get COVID vaccinations; mask rules studied

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