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The Mayo Clinic is terminating about 1% of its 73,000 employees for failing to comply with its COVID-19 vaccination requirement by Monday's deadline. The needs of its patients come first and the Mayo Clinic stands firmly behind the evidence supporting the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines, the Rochester, Minnesota-based health system said in statement. The health system didn't share the exact number of workers it let go. (Bannow, 1/5)

Nurses unions are asking the courts to force the Biden administration to issue permanent standards for preventing COVID-19 in workplaces after it announced plans to withdraw parts of an emergency temporary standard for healthcare workers. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has "failed" to protect nurses and other workers as the law requires, NNU, New York State Nurses Association, Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals and other unions argued in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. (Hellmann, 1/5)

The U.S. Postal Service has asked federal labor officials for a temporary waiver from President Biden’s coronavirus vaccine mandate, setting up a showdown on pandemic safety measures between the president and one of the government’s largest agencies. In a letter dated Jan. 4 to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Deputy Postmaster General Douglas A. Tulino wrote that requiring workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or present weekly negative tests would hurt the agency’s ability to deliver the mail and strain the nation’s supply chains. (Bogage, 1/5)

California announced it is extending its statewide indoor mask mandate until at least Feb. 15 due to the rise in COVID-19 cases driven by the fast-spreading omicron variant, according to health department officials. "We are and continue to be concerned about our hospitals," Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly told The Associated Press Wednesday. "Some facilities are going to be strapped." State officials reinstated the indoor mask mandate on Dec. 15 last year and it was originally due to expire on Jan. 15. (Franklin, 1/5)

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued St. Louis County on Wednesday to try to overturn a new mask requirement approved by local legislators the day before. The mask order, which took effect at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, requires masks in public indoor spaces for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people older than 5. The County Council voted 4-3 Tuesday to approve the measure in response to a record surge in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. (Benchaabane, 1/5)

It was after a deadly COVID-19 outbreak at a nursing home in North Canaan this past fall that local hardware store owner Bob Riva said he and his staff started wearing masks again at work. But he was hesitant to require that his customers do the same. One of Riva’s clerks wanted to put up a sign. “I said, ‘Sure, you can, but we have to be very cautious. Say please.’” The clientele at 130-year-old C.A. Lindell Hardware & Lumber reflect the demographics of the community — many are elderly — and Riva said he’s cognizant of their health. At the height of the pandemic over a year ago, the store had a mask mandate in place, but some younger customers pushed back. Riva recalls people swearing at him and threatening to call the police. (Phillips, 1/6)

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott pitched the idea of a regional vaccine passport to county executives from Maryland’s largest jurisdictions Wednesday in spite of what he said are his own misgivings about the fairness of such a program. In a virtual meeting with the Big Eight — leaders from Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties — Scott, a Democrat, said he floated the idea of the counties joining the city in a proposal to require a so-called passport — a digital certification that confirms a person’s inoculation against the coronavirus — to enter certain venues. (Opilo, 1/6)