In Idaho, public health leaders announced statewide rationing of care services, with only emergency treatments available. Similar measures are in place in individual hospital areas across Alaska and Montana. Across the globe, South Korea is in the grips of a major COVID wave, China has vaccinated over one billion of its citizens, and several European countries are introducing COVID passes.

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The 63-year-old, from Nevada, tested positive for COVID-19 last November and was admitted to St. Rose Dominican Hospital, Siena Campus in Henderson, before quickly being moved into intensive care and being placed on a ventilator, according to a fundraiser started by his son, Scott Sweeney. Jim Sweeney was on the ventilator until mid-February and remained in hospital and a rehab center until April.

His son claims that while the hospital he was treated in was covered by the insurance plan, the doctors he was treated by were not in the network, despite him having no choice over who saw him.

FULL STORY: Man With Insurance Left With $80K Hospital Bill After COVID Battle

The panel, made up of outside experts who advise the Food and Drug Administration, will debate research which suggests immunity levels in those who have been vaccinated wane over time and boosters can reverse that.

They are scheduled to vote on this question on Friday: Does the evidence show that a Pfizer booster would be safe and effective for people 16 and older? In the event of a yes vote, the FDA is expected to quickly approve boosters for Pfizer’s shot.

India has been struggling with the rollout since the country was hit by waves of COVID variants - particularly Delta - earlier this year.

But now, more than half of eligible people have had at least one dose and 20 percent are fully vaccinated.

Palin, who was the Republican governor of Alaska from 2006 to 2009, appeared on Fox News’ Gutfeld! and discussed her vaccine status during a conversation about CNN host Don Lemon, who said it was time to “start shaming” unvaccinated people.

He was fined the equivalent of $12,000 and told he had shown “an obvious willingness to do harm” by showing Macron in a Nazi uniform.

France officially scrapped laws about “offense to the President” in 2013 but the head of state is still protected against “insult”, although cases rarely go to trial.

Dr. Tedros warned that patients are not receiving the medication they need, with health professionals forced to scout out pharmacies for remaining supplies.

Urgent care centers are similarly swamped and hundreds of patients are waiting in emergency departments for beds to open up so they can be admitted, wrote Mount Carmel CEO Lorraine Lutton, OhioHealth CEO Dr. Steve Markovich, Nationwide Children’s Hospital CEO Tim Robinson, and Dr. Andrew Thomas, Chief Clinical Officer at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.

In Franklin County alone, just 10 of 562 ICU beds were available as of yesterday and 11 of the county’s 2,276 general medical or surgical beds were open, said Jeff Klingler, president, and CEO of the Central Ohio Hospital Council.

It comes as neighboring England scrapped plans to do the same “vaccine passport” scheme despite infection rates remaining high in the whole of the U.K.

First Minister Mark Drakeford previously said that it was something the government was seriously considering for large events but added there were “lots of practical and ethical issues to think about”.

He was admitted to the hospital on April 10, where he was intubated. His mother, Cheryl Nuclo, then had him flown to a hospital in Atlanta, where she lived. Doctors told him his prognosis wasn’t good.

FULL STORY: 24-Year-Old Given Option of Double Lung Transplant or Death After Severe COVID Diagnosis

The review found that existing studies on Long COVID in children and teenagers have major limitations, with some not showing a difference in symptoms between those who have been infected with the virus and those who have not.

15 new cases were announced yesterday - much lower than most days last month but still too high for the government to loosen restrictions.

“We have made great progress to contain our current outbreak and are working hard to ease restrictions next week. Reopening quarantine-free travel with Australia at this point could put those gains at risk,” COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said in a statement.

Idaho is the only state so far to enact a statewide “crisis standards of care” so far - but Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas, and Arkansas all have 10 percent or less of their ICU beds available.

READ MORE: Hospitals in 10 States Are at or Nearing Crisis Levels Since Surge in Delta Variant

Follow Newsweek’s liveblog throughout Friday for all the latest.