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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer maintain a list of Covid-19 travel advisories for foreign countries, the agency said on Monday, another sign of the gradual shift toward prepandemic normalcy even as about 1,400 people around the world are dying each day from the virus. The agency said it would instead issue travel health notices only for “a concerning Covid-19 variant” or other situation that would change travel recommendations for a particular country, as it does with other diseases like monkeypox, polio and yellow fever. (Cameron, 10/3)

The agency said that regardless of their destination, international travelers should stay up-to-date on their Covid-19 vaccines and follow CDC guidance for international travel. Being "up-to-date" means having all doses from the primary vaccination series as well as any boosters for which you are eligible. (Hunter and Brown, 10/3)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by Missouri and nine other states - mostly Republican-led - to President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers in healthcare facilities that receive federal funds. (Chung, 10/3)

A federal appeals court in New Orleans on Monday became the latest to hear arguments on whether President Joe Biden overstepped his authority with an order that federal contractors require that their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. The contractor mandate has a complicated legal history. It is being challenged in more than a dozen federal court districts, and the mandate has been blocked or partially blocked in 25 states. At one time, enforcement was blocked nationwide under a ruling by a Georgia-based federal judge. But an appeals court in Atlanta narrowed the scope of that ruling to the seven states that had sued in that case. (McGill, 10/3)

A state board on Monday rejected claims for $1 million payments for 52 prison inmates who were given six times the proper dose of COVID-19 vaccines last year. The three-member State Appeals Board, which considers state legal financial obligations, unanimously denied the claims from inmates who received the extra doses in April 2021. The 52 inmates who each sought a $1 million payment were among 77 prisoners at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison who had been given overdoses of the Pfizer vaccine by prison nursing staff. (Pitt, 10/3)

Norwegian Cruise Line, one of the largest cruise lines in the world, said Monday that passengers will no longer be required to show they are vaccinated against COVID-19, show the results of such a test, or wear a mask. The new policy goes into action Tuesday. Harry Sommer, chief executive of Norwegian Cruise Line  cited “significant, positive progress in the public-health environment.” (Fottrell, 10/4)