Some mandates have successfully motivated workers to get vaccinated, but those holding out now face terminations. Several hospital networks in New York have begun to fire healthcare workers who did not get a coronavirus shot in time for the state’s vaccine mandate, while United Airlines said it will begin terminating nearly 600 employees who refused to comply. As mandates continue, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new study showing that the COVID-19 booster shot will likely cause side effects similar to the second shot.

Coronavirus-related shutdowns at Vietnamese factories are causing the latest supply-chain headache for retailers, who say they were already expecting delays and shortages ahead of the holiday season. Outbreaks across the globe have caused lingering supply issues and higher prices for labor and shipping costs, although many economists are forecasting that U.S. recovery will regain momentum following a delay in spending driven by the delta variant outbreaks.

U.S. Senators introduced legislation on Tuesday that would require critical infrastructure entities to report data breaches to the U.S. government. The legislation, which would mark the first requirement of its kind, comes after several high-profile cybersecurity incidents this year including attacks on Colonial Pipeline and JBS USA. Frustrated by logjams in Congress, the Federal Trade Commission is considering its own rule changes that would strengthen privacy protections for consumer data.

State lawmakers in Alabama are weighing whether to use up to $400 million in pandemic relief funds to finance the construction of more prison space, underscoring the debate over how to address high coronavirus outbreaks in prisons. Opponents are urging lawmakers to consider sentencing reform instead of building more space. The U.S. justice department sued the state of Alabama in December over conditions in state prisons that put inmates at risk of peer violence and excessive force.

U.S. officials have declared the ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 other species as officially extinct, highlighting the severity of extinction worldwide due to climate change and habitat loss. Scientists say the rise in the number of pandemics coincides with tropical deforestation, urging governments worldwide to do more to prevent the destruction of nature.