COVID News Timeline (Dec. 2021-May 2022)

DECEMBER 2021

December 1: “US Reports 1st Case of Omicron Variant in Returning

Traveler” (Associated Press)

December 1: “Meta Removes Over 600 Accounts Linked to COVID

Disinformation E#ort by China” (Axios)

December 6: “New York City Orders a ‘1st-in-the-Nation’ Vaccine

Mandate for Private Companies” (NPR)

December 9: “CDC’s Covid Vaccination Rates Appear In$ated,

Experts Worry” (NBC News)

December 13: “China Reports First Omicron Covid-19 Case in the

Mainland” (!e Wall Street Journal)

December 14: “As U.S. Nears 800,000 Virus Deaths, 1 of Every 100

Older Americans Has Perished” (!e New York Times)

December 15: “C.D.C. Virus Tests Were Contaminated and Poorly

Designed, Agency Says” (!e New York Times)

December 17: “WHO Approves Novavax Vaccine for Emergency

Use Against COVID” (ABC News)

December 20: “EU Approves Fi%h Jab as WHO Urges Greater E#ort

to End Pandemic” (Medical Xpress)

December 27: “CDC Recommends Shorter COVID Isolation,

Quarantine for All” (Associated Press)

December 30: “US Children Hospitalized with COVID in Near-

Record Numbers” (Associated Press)

JANUARY 2022

January 4: “New COVID Records in US, UK, France as Omicron

Runs Rampant” (Medical Xpress)

January 6: “COVID-19 May Have Killed Nearly 3 Million in India,

Far More "an O&cial Counts Show” (Science)

January 13: “COVID-19 Pill Rollout Stymied by Shortages as

Omicron Rages” (Associated Press)

January 14: “Supreme Court Halts COVID-19 Vaccine Rules for US

Businesses” (Associated Press)

January 19: “US Begins O#ering Free COVID Test Kits, But Doubts

Persist” (Associated Press)

January 20: “WHO Says No Evidence Healthy Children Adolescents

Need COVID-19 Boosters” (Reuters)

January 26: “Covid-19 Deaths in the U.S. Top 2,100 a Day, Highest

in Nearly a Year” (!e Wall Street Journal)

January 26: “Hospitals are Denying Transplants for Patients Who

Aren’t Vaccinated Against Covid, with Backing from Ethicists” (

STAT News)

January 28: “Welcome to Beijing’s Covid Olympics: ‘"e Situation Is

Going to Be Strict for a While’” (!e Wall Street Journal)

January 31: “"e Latest Covid Variant is 1.5 Times More Contagious

"an Omicron And Already Circulating in Almost Half of U.S.

States” (CNBC)

January 31: “US Gives Full Approval to Moderna’s COVID-19

Vaccine” (Associated Press)

FEBRUARY 2022

February 1: “Pandemic Pits Health Care Experts Against the Media”

(Axios)

February 2: “’Take Back Life’: More Nations Ease Coronavirus

Restrictions” (Associated Press)

February 3: “A Deluge of Medical Waste Is Swamping the Globe, a

U.N. Report Says” (!e New York Times)

February 4: “COVID Falling in 49 of 50 States as Deaths Near

900,000” (Associated Press)

February 4: “Covid-19 Vaccines Linked to Menstrual Cycle

Changes” (!e Wall Street Journal)

February 4: “Lockdowns Only Reduced COVID-19 Death Rate by

0.2%, Study Finds: ‘Lockdowns Should be Rejected Out of Hand’”

(Fox News)

February 14: “CDC: COVID-19 Booster E#ectiveness Wanes A%er

Four Months” (!e Scientist)

February 16: “WHO: New COVID Cases Drop by 19% Globally,

Deaths Stable” (Associated Press)

February 17: “California Adopts Nation’s First ‘Endemic’ Virus

Policy” (ABC News)

February 25: “CDC to Signi!cantly Ease Pandemic Mask Guidelines

Friday” (Associated Press)

February 25: “Another Casualty of Russia’s Invasion: Ukraine’s

Ability to Contain the Coronavirus” (!e New York Times)

MARCH 2022

March 3: “Arthritis Drug Reduces Mortality in Severe COVID-19

Huge Clinical Trial Finds” (Science)

March 4: “Most EU Women Blame COVID Pandemic for Spike in

Gender Violence—Poll” (Reuters)

March 7: “Mainland China Daily Local COVID Cases Climb to

2-Year High” (Reuters)

March 8: “WHO Says COVID Boosters Needed, Reversing Previous

Call” (Associated Press)

March 16: “Report: N.Y. Health Agency ‘Misled’ Public on Nursing

Home COVID Deaths” (Axios)

March 21: “Overwhelmed by Omicron, Hong Kong Runs Out of

Space for Its Dead” (!e Wall Street Journal)

March 23: “Omicron BA.2 Variant Represents Rising Share of U.S.

Covid-19 Cases” (!e Wall Street Journal)

March 29: “CDC Recommends Second Booster Shot for Americans

Over 50” (Axios)

APRIL 2022

April 4: “New Laws Let Visitors See Loved Ones in Health Care

Facilities, Even in an Outbreak” (NPR)

April 6: “"e F.D.A. Suspends Use of a Glaxo Antibody Drug in the

U.S. as an Omicron Subvariant Spreads” (!e New York Times)

April 12: “WHO Says It Is Analyzing Two New Omicron COVID

Sub-Variants” (Reuters)

April 14: “Shanghai Cases Hit Record as Xi Reiterates Urgency of

COVID Curbs” (Reuters)

April 15: “WHO: COVID Cases, Deaths in Africa Drop to Lowest

Levels Yet” (Associated Press)

April 15: “Valneva Covid Vaccine Approved for Use in UK” (BBC)

April 18: “BA.2 Proves the Pandemic Isn’t Over, But People Are

Over It” (!e Wall Street Journal)

April 26: “FDA Approves First COVID Treatment for Children

Under 12” (Axios)

MAY 2022

May 5: “WHO: Nearly 15 Million Deaths Associated with

COVID-19” (Associated Press)

May 5: “FDA Limits Use of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 Vaccine,

Citing Clotting Risk” (STAT News)

May 5: “CDC Tracked Millions of Phones to See If Americans

Followed COVID Lockdown Orders” (VICE News)

May 9: “Covid-19 Cases Rise in Parts of U.S. with High Vaccination

Rates” (!e Wall Street Journal)

May 16: “FDA Rejects Antidepressant Seen as Possible Covid-19

Treatment” (STAT News)

May 16: “’A Pretty Big Deal’: U.S. Makes COVID-19 Technologies

Available for Use in Developing Countries” (Science)

May 17: “FDA Clears COVID Booster Shot for Healthy Kids Ages 5

to 11” (Associated Press)

May 18: “FDA Greenlights Nonprescription Test for Covid, Flu and

RSV” (NBC News)

May 19: “WHO Clears China’s CanSino COVID Vaccine for

Emergency Use” (Associated Press)

May 24: “As Reports of ‘Paxlovid Rebound’ Increase, Covid

Researchers Scramble for Answers” (STAT News)

May 26: “Rhode Island to Open First Federally Backed COVID Site

Providing Anti-Viral Pills” (Axios)

‍