Doctors and patients are facing tough choices because of the national blood crisis The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a 62% drop in blood drives at schools and colleges, according to the American Red Cross. Jonathan Franklin
ERs are overwhelmed as omicron continues to flood them with patients Omicron may cause milder disease, but the sheer number of patients makes this wave far worse for the health care system. With packed emergency rooms, patients can wait days to get moved to a bed. Will Stone
How the health care worker vaccine mandate will work, with SCOTUS' go-ahead NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services about the Supreme Court ruling on the vaccine mandate for health care workers. Ari Shapiro
'The worst' it's been: Covid hospitalizations reach all-time high in Washington state Since the highly-infectious omicron variant was discovered in Washington state last month, health officials have warned that a surge in cases could cause hospitals to become severely overwhelmed. Health care workers say that moment is now here. Liz Brazile
Inslee deploying 100 National Guard to help hospitals, orders pause on non-emergency procedures Following the lead of Oregon and other states, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday that he will deploy 100 members of the National Guard to assist hospitals struggling to respond to a spike in Covid-19 patients due to the highly-contagious omicron variant. Austin Jenkins
President Biden announces more tests, masks and emergency hospital staff President Biden announced new measures to respond to the COVID surge. He is sending troops to hospitals in some states and said that more tests and masks are being ordered for distribution nationwide. Selena Simmons-Duffin
Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a vaccine mandate for many health care workers Employers won't have to require their workers to get the COVID vaccine or get regularly tested. The Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration's push to get more of the private sector vaccinated. Andrea Hsu
We asked how you're feeling about Covid these days. This is what you told us There's a meme going around: "Omicron means parents are doing it all again. Isolde Raftery
Quebec's 'unvaxxed tax' has people rushing to get vaccinated Quebec has reported the most COVID-19 deaths of any Canadian province. Only around 10% of its population is unvaccinated, but they make up 50% of all intensive care cases. Bill Chappell
Biden announces plans to buy 500 million more COVID tests and to offer free masks The new order doubles the number of tests the White House plans to buy — for a total of 1 billion kits. Biden said a website will launch next week so Americans can order the free tests. Brian Naylor
