“Although vaccination is the best way to prevent Covid-19, universal masking is a close second, and with masking in place, in-school learning is safe and more effective than remote instruction, regardless of community rates of infection. Vaccination is the strongest method for preventing the ill effects of Covid, but students under 12 years of age are ineligible for the vaccines.” NYT (gift article for ND readers): We Studied One Million Students. This Is What We Learned About Masking. (It sucks that our kids need to wear masks. It’s also mostly the fault of those fighting to prevent them from being required to.)

+ Dallas and Austin school districts defy governor’s order, will require masks.

+ COVID vaccines to be required for military under new US plan.

+ Bangladesh vaccinating Rohingya refugees amid virus surge. (Where ever the virus is left to fester, variants can occur. All of us are connected in this fight, whether we act like it our not.)