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The strategy used by the Baltimore City Health Department described in “Meet the Baltimore ‘vaccine ambassadors’ working to personally convince those who are still hesitant to get the COVID shot” (Oct. 29) has been successful, but should be reevaluated with interactive collaboration between policymakers, scientists and community members. With misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines circulating online and within social circles, these diverse stakeholders should come together to decide the best path forward in curbing the spread of COVID-19. I believe we should consider further expanding the role of community members and social scientist researchers in this vaccination initiative. (11/18)

As the air gets colder and drier and people in most of the United States move indoors, a winter spike in COVID-19 cases is beginning to materialize. The drop in new infections across the Deep South after a difficult summer raised hopes that the country could get through this winter without another surge. But that no longer seems likely. With less than 60 percent of Americans fully vaccinated, the U.S. remains vulnerable to renewed winter outbreaks. European countries with even higher vaccination rates are experiencing a substantial uptick in infections. (Ashish K. Jha, 11/18)

The message dinged our phones on Oct. 27: “Not great news, but a friend just shared there are six confirmed COVID cases in the fourth-grade class. ”The group chat of parents and caregivers of third-graders at the Manning Elementary School in Jamaica Plain is usually about misplaced homework and after-school activities. This was something else, and it eventually became clear that the Manning School was facing the largest COVID-19 outbreak of the year in Boston Public Schools — now surpassed by the Curley K-8 School in Jamaica Plain and Orchard Gardens in Roxbury in total cases. (Kate Mitchell Balla, Mei A. Elansary, Bevin E. Kenney and Philip A. Ledrer, 11/18)

In September, President Joe Biden announced a COVID-19 vaccination mandate that affects 100 million workers across the public and private sectors. The mandate requires all federal employees and federal contractors to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. It also applies to private sector companies with at least 100 employees. For this latter group, exemptions are possible, which then require weekly testing in lieu of vaccination. The response to the mandate hasmostly fallen along political lines. (Sheldon H. Jacobson, 11/18)

The decision by federal appeals judges to block the Biden administration’s rule requiring vaccination or testing for companies with at least 100 employees shows that some courts in the United States do not consider COVID-19 to be a serious issue. The administration has since suspended enforcement of its rule. The judges, by ignoring reality, are failing us. (Dorit Reiss, 11/18)

No one knows when the pandemic will end. But the worst of it may be over for the United States after this winter. For good reasons — growing vaccine eligibility, boosters and new antiviral treatments — and bad — high levels of prior infections — it’s possible the ongoing Delta surge could be the last major spike in hospitalizations and deaths for the United States. (Zeynep Tufekci, 11/18)

It’s the news that every parent in the era of COVID-19 dreads: There’s an uncontrolled coronavirus outbreak at your child’s school, and so it’ll have to close — again.Thankfully, school closures have been rare in Massachusetts since in-person learning resumed. But with infection numbers again rising, and an outbreak in Jamaica Plain offering a fresh reminder of how disruptive closures can be, schools need to redouble their testing efforts in order to keep classrooms open. (11/19)