COVID News Timeline (Dec. 2021-May 2022)

December 1: “US Reports 1^st Case of Omicron Variant in Returning Traveler” (Associated Press)
December 1: “Meta Removes Over 600 Accounts Linked to COVID Disinformation Effort by China” (Axios)
December 6: “New York City Orders a ‘1^st-in-the-Nation’ Vaccine Mandate for Private Companies” (NPR)
December 9: “CDC’s Covid Vaccination Rates Appear Inflated, Experts Worry” (NBC News)
December 13: “China Reports First Omicron Covid-19 Case in the Mainland” (The Wall Street Journal)
December 14: “As U.S. Nears 800,000 Virus Deaths, 1 of Every 100 Older Americans Has Perished” (The New York Times)
December 15: “C.D.C. Virus Tests Were Contaminated and Poorly Designed, Agency Says” (The New York Times)
December 17: “WHO Approves Novavax Vaccine for Emergency Use Against COVID” (ABC News)
December 20: “EU Approves Fifth Jab as WHO Urges Greater Effort to End Pandemic” (Medical Xpress)
December 27: “CDC Recommends Shorter COVID Isolation, Quarantine for All” (Associated Press)
December 30: “US Children Hospitalized with COVID in Near-Record Numbers” (Associated Press)

January 2022

January 4: “New COVID Records in US, UK, France as Omicron Runs Rampant” (Medical Xpress)
January 6: “COVID-19 May Have Killed Nearly 3 Million in India, Far More Than Official Counts Show” (Science)
January 13: “COVID-19 Pill Rollout Stymied by Shortages as Omicron Rages” (Associated Press)
January 14: “Supreme Court Halts COVID-19 Vaccine Rules for US Businesses” (Associated Press)
January 19: “US Begins Offering Free COVID Test Kits, But Doubts Persist” (Associated Press)
January 20: “WHO Says No Evidence Healthy Children Adolescents Need COVID-19 Boosters” (Reuters)
January 26: “Covid-19 Deaths in the U.S. Top 2,100 a Day, Highest in Nearly a Year” (The Wall Street Journal)
January 26: “Hospitals are Denying Transplants for Patients Who Aren’t Vaccinated Against Covid, with Backing from Ethicists” ( STAT News)
January 28: “Welcome to Beijing’s Covid Olympics: ‘The Situation Is Going to Be Strict for a While’” (The Wall Street Journal)
January 31: “The Latest Covid Variant is 1.5 Times More Contagious Than Omicron And Already Circulating in Almost Half of U.S. States” (CNBC)
January 31: “US Gives Full Approval to Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine” (Associated Press)

February 1: “Pandemic Pits Health Care Experts Against the Media” (Axios)
February 2: “’Take Back Life’: More Nations Ease Coronavirus Restrictions” (Associated Press)
February 3: “A Deluge of Medical Waste Is Swamping the Globe, a U.N. Report Says” (The New York Times)
February 4: “COVID Falling in 49 of 50 States as Deaths Near 900,000” (Associated Press)
February 4: “Covid-19 Vaccines Linked to Menstrual Cycle Changes” (The Wall Street Journal)
February 4: “Lockdowns Only Reduced COVID-19 Death Rate by 0.2%, Study Finds: ‘Lockdowns Should be Rejected Out of Hand’” (Fox News)
February 14: “CDC: COVID-19 Booster Effectiveness Wanes After Four Months” (The Scientist)
February 16: “WHO: New COVID Cases Drop by 19% Globally, Deaths Stable” (Associated Press)
February 17: “California Adopts Nation’s First ‘Endemic’ Virus Policy” (ABC News)
February 25: “CDC to Significantly Ease Pandemic Mask Guidelines Friday” (Associated Press)
February 25: “Another Casualty of Russia’s Invasion: Ukraine’s Ability to Contain the Coronavirus” (The New York Times)

March 3: “Arthritis Drug Reduces Mortality in Severe COVID-19 Huge Clinical Trial Finds” (Science)
March 4: “Most EU Women Blame COVID Pandemic for Spike in Gender Violence—Poll” (Reuters)
March 7: “Mainland China Daily Local COVID Cases Climb to 2-Year High” (Reuters)
March 8: “WHO Says COVID Boosters Needed, Reversing Previous Call” (Associated Press)
March 16: “Report: N.Y. Health Agency ‘Misled’ Public on Nursing Home COVID Deaths” (Axios)
March 21: “Overwhelmed by Omicron, Hong Kong Runs Out of Space for Its Dead” (The Wall Street Journal)
March 23: “Omicron BA.2 Variant Represents Rising Share of U.S. Covid-19 Cases” (The Wall Street Journal)
March 29: “CDC Recommends Second Booster Shot for Americans Over 50” (Axios)

April 4: “New Laws Let Visitors See Loved Ones in Health Care Facilities, Even in an Outbreak” (NPR)
April 6: “The F.D.A. Suspends Use of a Glaxo Antibody Drug in the U.S. as an Omicron Subvariant Spreads” (The New York Times)
April 12: “WHO Says It Is Analyzing Two New Omicron COVID Sub-Variants” (Reuters)
April 14: “Shanghai Cases Hit Record as Xi Reiterates Urgency of COVID Curbs” (Reuters)
April 15: “WHO: COVID Cases, Deaths in Africa Drop to Lowest Levels Yet” (Associated Press)
April 15: “Valneva Covid Vaccine Approved for Use in UK” (BBC)
April 18: “BA.2 Proves the Pandemic Isn’t Over, But People Are Over It” (The Wall Street Journal)
April 26: “FDA Approves First COVID Treatment for Children Under 12” (Axios)

May 5: “WHO: Nearly 15 Million Deaths Associated with COVID-19” (Associated Press)
May 5: “FDA Limits Use of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 Vaccine, Citing Clotting Risk” (STAT News)
May 5: “CDC Tracked Millions of Phones to See If Americans Followed COVID Lockdown Orders” (VICE News)
May 9: “Covid-19 Cases Rise in Parts of U.S. with High Vaccination Rates” (The Wall Street Journal)
May 16: “FDA Rejects Antidepressant Seen as Possible Covid-19 Treatment” (STAT News)
May 16: “’A Pretty Big Deal’: U.S. Makes COVID-19 Technologies Available for Use in Developing Countries” (Science)
May 17: “FDA Clears COVID Booster Shot for Healthy Kids Ages 5 to 11” (Associated Press)
May 18: “FDA Greenlights Nonprescription Test for Covid, Flu and RSV” (NBC News)
May 19: “WHO Clears China’s CanSino COVID Vaccine for Emergency Use” (Associated Press)
May 24: “As Reports of ‘Paxlovid Rebound’ Increase, Covid Researchers Scramble for Answers” (STAT News)
May 26: “Rhode Island to Open First Federally Backed COVID Site Providing Anti-Viral Pills” (Axios)