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Despite being one of the first countries in the world to offer the COVID-19 vaccine, the United States ranks 18th among all the countries in the world for its percentage of population who are vaccinated. As of last month, approximately 63.5% of the U.S. population was fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which means one in three Americans remains unprotected. Cuba, Chile and Iran all rank higher than the U.S. (Omer Awan, 2/16)

As the Omicron surge of the COVID-19 pandemic wanes, cases plummet and the death rate drops, the state’s decision to ditch its mask mandate for most indoor settings on Wednesday makes sense. Omicron is more contagious than earlier variants but not as severe, especially for the vaccinated. And given the mask rule was being ignored by so many Californians, including the governor and mayor of Los Angeles, something had to change. Having sweeping edicts go unenforced undermines public officials’ credibility as much as hypocrisy does. (2/16)

Was that it for COVID in Germany? That's almost the impression you could get. Although the numbers of new infections are still alarmingly high, they have been falling as of late and seem to be past their peak. And that's why the pandemic seems to be fading more and more into the background for most people. (Jens Thurau, 2/16)