WASHINGTON — The Senate has passed legislation to beef up security for Supreme Court justices.

Lawmakers are seeking to ensure that justices and their families are protected as the court deliberates abortion access and whether to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

The bipartisan bill passed by voice vote with no objections Monday.

While it doesn't provide additional funding, that could come later.

The measure aims to put the court on par with the executive and legislative branches, making certain the nine justices are provided security as some protesters have gathered outside their homes.

The legislation comes one week after Politico leaked a draft of a Supreme Court opinion that indicated Roe v. Wade would be overturned as soon as June.

The bill now moves to the House for its consideration before heading to President Joe Biden’s desk.

The CDC published new information Friday about the performance of COVID-19 booster shots.

In a new study, researchers found that after receiving a third dose of the vaccine, protection wanes over time.

When the omicron variant was dominant, effectiveness decreased as soon as four months after the third dose.

However, protection from serious illness was still high after the third dose.

In the study, effectiveness was higher among people who had received the booster shot, than among people who only received two doses of the vaccine.

Researchers also noted that effectiveness after a booster was higher when delta was the dominant strain.

Health experts expect protection from the vaccines to wane.

Previous evidence had already suggested that vaccines offered less protection against the omicron variant in comparison to earlier versions of the virus.

The CDC still recommends people to remain up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations to protect themselves against the virus.

Lawmakers in a handful of states are seeking greater protections for election officials amid growing concerns for their safety after they were targeted by threats of violence following the 2020 presidential election.

Widespread threats against those who oversee elections, from secretaries of state to county clerks and even poll workers, soared after former President Donald Trump and his allies spread false claims about the outcome of the presidential election.

The threats and harassment are not limited to prominent figures but also have been directed at lower-level staff at county election offices. Much of the legislation would create or boost penalties for threats against election workers.

In Vermont, as Reuters reports, lawmakers have proposed multiple bills that could make it easier to prosecute those who make threats towards election officials. In Maine, lawmakers have proposed legislation that would make penalties for such threats harsher. In Washington, lawmakers in that state voted to make threats of this kind towards election workers a felony.

Reuters documented more than 850 "threats and hostile messages" directed towards U.S. election officials and workers, the outlet reported. More than 100 of those incidents met the federal requirement for criminal prosecution.

Vermont's Democratic Secretary of State Jim Condos told the Associated Press, “Nationally, we are seeing longtime experienced election leaders and their staffs leaving their positions for other work because they’ve had it, this is it, this has crossed the line.”

The Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine provides immunity that lasts at least eight months and appears to provide adequate protection against the worrying delta variant, the company said in a statement Thursday night.

"Current data for the eight months studied so far show that the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generates a strong neutralizing antibody response that does not wane; rather, we observe an improvement over time," Dr. Mathai Mammen, head of research and development at J&J's Janssen vaccine arm, said in a statement.

The company said one dose of the vaccine elicits a lasting antibody response and generates immune cells called T-cells that last eight months.

Dr. Dan Barouch of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School and colleagues tested blood taken from 20 volunteers in an early stage, Phase 1/2 trial of the vaccine.

"These data are promising and reassuring," Barouch told CNN. Barouch has submitted his findings to the BioRxiv pre-print server.

"Data showed that T-cell responses — including CD8+ T-cells that seek out and destroy infected cells — persisted over the eight-month timeframe examined," the company said.

These are not real-world efficacy data, but antibody and T-cell response usually indicate protection, Barouch said.

Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have both said their two-dose vaccines are protective for at least six months and researchers at Washington University in St. Louis reported earlier this week that their studies of vaccinated volunteers indicate protection from the vaccines should last much longer than that — even for years. They did not test the J&J vaccine.

Barouch's team also tested blood from the vaccinated volunteers against the most worrying variants of the virus, including the delta variant first seen in India, the beta variant first seen in South Africa, and the gamma variant spreading in Brazil.

"We see robust neutralizing antibody coverage of the variant," Barouch said. Neutralizing antibodies are the immune system proteins that inactivate a virus before it can replicate.

"A single dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generated neutralizing antibodies against a range of variants of concern, which increased over time, including against the increasingly prevalent and more transmissible delta variant, the partially neutralization-resistant beta, the gamma variants and others," the company said.

Separately, a Janssen team in the Netherlands studied blood taken from eight vaccinated volunteers in the company's Phase 3 trial and found similar results against the variants.

Earlier Thursday, J&J said a second or booster dose of its vaccine would not be necessary.

Dr. Anthony Fauci agreed. "With regard to the idea of boosting, there's a lot of talk about that — but right now I think we still need to remember that in fact, the J&J vaccine is a highly effective vaccine that has been recommended very clearly and has received an emergency use authorization," Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a White House briefing Thursday.

However, J&J, along with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is testing to see whether giving people two doses of its vaccine will provide better protection.

CNN —

The U.S. is hitting major COVID-19 vaccination milestones, but health experts say those who are not inoculated should not rely on protection from those who are, as their infection risk hasn't gone down in response to declining cases.

"The work ahead of us is going to be really challenging because while the people who are fully vaccinated are well protected, we still have to keep on convincing individuals who are not yet vaccinated that they are not safe," CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen said. "The pandemic is not over for them."

The risk for unvaccinated people is in fact about the same as it was in the middle of the January surge, Wen said citing an analysis from the Washington Post.

Half of the adult population in the U.S. is fully vaccinated, according to data published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And for those people, the upcoming Memorial Day weekend — an event identified as a major source of spread last year — may look much like it did prior to 2020.

"Thanks to vaccines, tens of millions of Americans are able to get back to something closer to normal visiting friends and family," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at the White House coronavirus briefing Tuesday.

The CDC guidance hasn't changed for those who are unvaccinated, however, as they are still at risk for infection, Walensky said.

"If you are not vaccinated, I want to encourage you to take this holiday weekend to give yourself and your family the gift of protection by getting vaccinated," Walensky said. "We are on a good downward path, but we are not quite out of the woods yet."

While an Axios-Ipsos poll showed that only 44% of Americans socially distanced last week, down 12 percentage points from two weeks ago, Wen advised that unvaccinated people keep masking, distancing and practicing precautions.

Taking steps closer to more normal childhoods

There was also promising data Tuesday on COVID-19 infections in children.

With nearly 40,000 new cases, the U.S. saw the lowest number of weekly cases among children since early-October, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Currently, only children 12 and older are eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations. While studies are underway for safety and efficacy in younger children, a vaccine for younger children likely won't be available until late fall or early winter, Dr. Anthony Fauci said.

But given the number of vaccinated teachers and the significant decline in cases, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease told the House Appropriations committee on Tuesday that it should be safe for children of all ages to go back to in-person class in the fall.

A return to some normalcy for children is a welcome development for many, especially in light of the mental health challenges the pandemic has posed.

"People sort of shrug and say, 'Well, you know, kids are resilient,' but wait a minute, this is really an incredible unprecedented challenge to their life experience," National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins told the House Appropriations committee on Tuesday.

There are several questions new research will have to address, Collins said.

"What has it meant for them to be out of school, which is normally the place where a lot of socialization and education happens for this prolonged period. And what about this issue of being fearful of an illness that might actually affect your families, might suddenly be blamed on you if you were the one who happened to bring the illness in?" Collins said.

Lottery tickets and full scholarships for vaccinations

In the meantime, states are finding new ways to persuade residents to get vaccinated.

In Delaware, officials announced a partnership with the Delaware Lottery to twice-weekly drawings for vaccination incentives.

Delawareans aged 12 and older who were vaccinated "from May 25-June 29, and any Delawarean ages 12-17 vaccinated to date, will be entered to win $5,000 in cash and additional prizes in twice-weekly drawings conducted by the Delaware Lottery," according to a statement from Governor John Carney's office.

Other prizes include a four-day vacation, a full scholarship to a Delaware public university and tickets to events, according to the statement.

"Incentive programs are one of three key levers that are becoming widely recognized for increasing vaccine rates," said Dr. Karyl Rattay, Director of the Delaware Division of Public Health.

The Delaware plan mirrors initiatives in other states. Ohio, for example, has announced a lottery for vaccinated residents while West Virginia is offering a $100 savings bond to residents ages 16 to 35 who get the vaccines.

In Arkansas, every resident who gets vaccinated starting May 25 will be given a $20 lottery scratch-offs or a gift certificate with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission for $21 that can be redeemed for fishing license or a hunting/fishing license in the state, Gov. Asa Hutchison announced in a press conference.

Editor’s note: With our coronavirus coverage, our goal is not to alarm you but to equip you with the information you need. We will try to keep things in context and focus on helping you make decisions. See a list of resources and frequently asked questions here.

You've likely noticed items like hand sanitizer, toilet paper and pasta flying off of grocery store shelves, but what are people buying while they’re quarantined at home?

Not surprisingly, online sales during the coronavirus pandemic jumped 25% in just two days (March 13–15) compared to the first 11 days of the month. According to Adobe Analytics research on over a trillion web visits, that spike was driven by online grocery shopping, which saw a more than 100% increase in daily sales. States like California, New Hampshire and Oregon saw the biggest boost in web sales.

The other most popular items people shop for: health products, gym equipment and home supplies.

Retail experts say people are buying to fulfill three main needs - protection, entertainment and connection.

For virus protection, sales of gloves, masks and hand sanitizer surged a staggering 817%. Over the last two months, over-the-counter drug purchases increased by 198% for cold and flu medications and 152% for pain relievers.

Online sales of toilet paper spiked by 186%, and canned foods and shelf-stable food sales increased 69%, according to Adobe.

And after gyms and fitness clubs across the country shut down last month, online orders for workout gear saw a 55% boost, an increase higher than those typically seen after New Year’s Day or just before swimsuit season.

As stay-at-home orders have been issued across the country, people are also shelling out money for easy entertainment like board games, puzzles and video games.

Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner says demand for classic board games like Clue, Monopoly, Sorry and Operation have been particularly strong.

Other Hasbro products like Jenga, Connect Four and Play-Doh are also seeing sales soar, Goldner said. The toy-making titan is also planning to launch new products as more people stay inside.

And yes, data also shows that adults are looking for fun during quarantine, too. According to Rolling Stone, sales of certain intimacy items have risen since the pandemic started. But there are pages of articles about that topic elsewhere, so we’ll let you research that trend on your own.