The latest Last week, an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration issued a nonbinding recommendation for Pfizer-BioNTech boosters for Americans 65 and up or those who are at risk for severe disease. Now, FDA regulators are expected to announce a position on booster shots this as early as this evening. To learn of the FDA's decision as soon as the agency announces it, sign up for breaking news alerts from our Health, Science and Environment journalists. A second Johnson & Johnson dose, given eight weeks after its single-shot vaccine, increases protection against symptomatic and severe covid-19, the drug company said in a news release Tuesday. Those booster shots also resulted in additional antibodies, which could lead to more durable protection and additional defense against variants. "The people who received J&J have been a little concerned that they've been left in the shade when it comes to repeat vaccination," an infectious-diseases professor told me. He said these results suggest J&J recipients might "expect a booster in their future," though full data must be reviewed by federal regulators. Speaking of variants: The World Health Organization's lead covid-19 scientist said delta is the dominant coronavirus variant across the world "by far." Mu and other newcomer variants seem unable to out-compete delta. You may have heard that a patient surge, in part fueled by this more transmissible delta variant, has so overwhelmed U.S. hospitals that they have enacted "crisis standards of care" protocols. What does crisis standards of care mean? Read this FAQ by Post reporter Hannah Knowles for an explanation. As students return to college campuses, some faculty members are experiencing a growing sense of dread. Lecture halls are crowded with unmasked attendees. At certain universities, professors are defying school rules and requiring masks or switching to virtual classes. "I've actually moved both my classes online without the permission of the university because it was way too dangerous," an associate professor of English at the University of Oklahoma told The Post. On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced it has opened a civil rights investigation into Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) mask ban in Texas school districts. Bans on mask mandates "may be preventing schools in Texas from meeting their legal obligations not to discriminate based on disability," read a letter sent to Texas. Similar letters were already sent to Iowa, Florida and other states. The United States has increased its commitment to purchasing more vaccines for donation. The nation will buy 500 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses and distribute them to other countries, President Biden said Wednesday. Critics have said the United States, which now has an abundance of doses, has done too little to support vaccinating the rest of the world. In a Post op-ed, White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients and Secretary of State Antony Blinken say this donation will bring the total of donated doses globally to three for every shot given to Americans. Other important news All but six of 171 school districts in Kentucky have decided to require masks after state lawmakers, the majority of whom are Republicans, repealed a statewide mandate enacted by Gov. Andy Beshear (D). Anti-vaccine activists have been accused of fomenting angry crowds that mobbed the streets of Melbourne, Australia's second-most-populous city. The demonstrators, some of whom were filmed attacking reporters, protested immunization mandates for construction workers and a building work shutdown. Do not inhale hydrogen peroxide to treat the coronavirus – the practice, which has been shared on social media, is dangerous, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America warns. Have health and wellness influencers caused concerns about the coronavirus vaccine for you or someone you know? Post reporters want to hear your story. Tell them here. | 
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