Officials push back against Biden's COVID guidance

Malarkey.  That’s what one expert thought of President Joe Biden’s Sunday proclamation that “the pandemic is over.” He made the announcement during a “60 minutes” appearance and added, “We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it.” But the main idea — at least according to Biden? Don’t worry about it.  Several public health officials disagree, my colleagues Martin Finucance and Ryan Huddle reported. Case numbers are well below previous peaks but have stubbornly resisted dropping much further. COVID remains one of the top causes of deaths in the country. The new bivalent boosters are just one step on the path to a safer future, many added.  Andrew Lover, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, called Biden’s comment “premature.” “We simply cannot expect to not see new variants,” he said, “and this virus has undermined all of our public health measures again and again.” Other top stories  Massachusetts parents have been slow to bring children ages 4 and under in to get vaccinated, so much so that only 16 percent of those eligible have received one dose.  Walgreens says it's working to reschedule some appointments for the new updated booster shot from Moderna due to “supply interruptions.” The Pfizer booster is still widely available. Longstanding underinvestment in public health information systems has crippled US efforts to collect data needed to fight virus outbreaks, the New York Times found.