Here are eight COVID-19 updates from the past week:
1. High vaccination rates and some immunity from prior infections in New York City have made COVID-19 more manageable, and experts anticipate the virus will soon enter an endemic-level phase.
2. The FDA's vaccine advisory panel voted Oct. 26 to recommend the FDA authorize Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5-11.
3. Daily U.S. COVID-19 cases are expected to decline by about 20 percent, on average, over the next three weeks, according to CDC forecast models cited by The New York Times on Oct. 26.
4. An average of 796,100 COVID-19 vaccine doses per day were administered in the last week, a 4 percent decrease from the week before. Here's how vaccination rates are changing in each state — up in 28, down in 22.
5. As of Oct. 24, just three states — Colorado, Vermont and New Hampshire — were averaging more COVID-19 cases Oct. 22 than they were two weeks ago.
6. AY.4.2, a descendant of the delta coronavirus variant that has gained some traction in the U.K. and has been detected in the U.S., is the newest strain making headlines. Here's six recent updates on coronavirus variants.
7. The effect of vaccination mandates and the COVID-19 pandemic have often been discussed from the angle of employees who have left their organizations and their managers, but the effect on executive hiring is less explored. Here's how vaccination mandates are affecting CEO recruitment.
8. CDC models predict the nation's daily COVID-19 cases will drop about 20 percent by Nov. 13, perhaps an early signal of the beginning of the end of COVID-19's pandemic-level status. As the pandemic phases out, here's how we talk about it.