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No family, city or nation has been untouched by the coronavirus pandemic. A pressing and unmet need remains to understand why it happened, what worked in response and what didn’t, and how to prevent the next one. Four senators, two Democrats and two Republicans, have proposed legislation to create a 9/11-commission-style national panel that would examine the pandemic and help prepare for the future. This bill ought to be approved by Congress. (11/15)

Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody and California public health officials are again leading the effort to minimize the ongoing COVID-19 threat. Cody announced Wednesday that the county would provide boosters to any adult, regardless of their age or health status. She called it an interpretation of the federal guidance that seemed to call for booster shots for only people 65 and older, in poor health or in high-risk work settings. California officials took a similar step Thursday when they urged that state vaccination providers give booster shots to any adult who wants one. (11/13)

I am a clinical psychologist in Alabama, where less than half of the population is fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Although children 5 and older are now eligible for vaccinations, mask-wearing remains an important protection from the deadly virus. And, in my state, mask-wearing is a controversial and adversarial issue. Even within families. I treat all kinds of individual and family problems. Recently, I saw a family that had a pandemic-related issue that could not be resolved. The 10-year-old daughter was passionate about wanting to wear a mask at her school. Her parents were dead-set against it because they think “all this pandemic talk is just a bunch of overblown nonsense.” (Alan D. Blotcky, 11/13)

Despite the ongoing push to increase the number of vaccinated people in the U.S., about 80,000 people will be diagnosed today with Covid-19. Most of them won’t need to be hospitalized. Instead, they will manage their care at home. Like millions of people over the past two years, they’ll likely be worried that their symptoms could get worse, and may grapple with a decision of if or when to go to the hospital for evidence-based treatment. (Krisda Chaiyachati, M. Kit Delgado and Anna U. Morgan, 11/15)

Covid-19 can be a nightmare, especially if it becomes severe and requires hospitalization. But imagine the agony of seeing this nightmare over and over again, every day. Such is the intense stress on acute-care nurses, those in hospitals at front lines of the pandemic, and it is taking a terrible toll. (11/15)