Reopening America

Did you weather the pandemic storm and stick with your employer over the last couple of years?  Well, you could be underpaid.  The hot job market and Great Resignation has led to a lot of movement and forced employers to lure new candidates with bigger paychecks and that has led to a divide with current employees.  Aki Ito, senior correspondent at Business Insider, joins us for how salaries for new hires are on average 7% higher than existing workers.

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After two years of the pandemic, many are reviving their efforts to connect with more people in their networks and it could be overwhelming.  But how many friends do you actually need?  Research says that the magic number of close friends is about 3-5.  Fostering these relationships take time and energy with research saying it takes 200 hours to become close with someone.  Allie Volpe, senior reporter at Vox, joins us for more.

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At the beginning of the year there was a lot of talk in California about vaccine mandates and requirements for employees and students.  Now, as politics and Covid fatigue have set in, those plans are all doomed.  Low vaccination rates in children and pushback from unions representing police and firefighters have also played big role in doing away with the plans.  Rachel Bluth, correspondent for Kaiser Health News, joins us for how the most popular vaccine legislation has been those to ban them.

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Vaccine experts advising the FDA have endorsed a new Covid vaccine made by Novavax saying that the shot’s benefits outweigh any risks associated with it.  The vaccine will still need full approval before coming on the market, but it will be the first one available using a more traditional, protein-based technology.  Liz Essley Whyte, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what to know about its effectiveness and concerns.

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Schools have been struggling to meet the mental health needs of students and new data is showing just how much the pandemic has impacted them.  7 in 10 public schools are seeing a rise in children seeking services and 76% of faculty and staff have expressed concerns about depression and anxiety in students since the start of the pandemic.  Laura Meckler, national education reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for how only about half of schools surveyed say they can effectively provide needed services.

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As we continue to ride another Covid wave some people are testing positive for the coronavirus for 10 days or longer, leading them to ask questions about how long they might be infectious to others and if they need to continue isolating.  The answers are unclear because antigen tests could be picking up leftover viral debris but you can otherwise be free of symptoms.  Emily Anthes, science reporter at the NY Times, joins us for what to know.

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As we get through the current wave of Covid infections, it seems that the effort to update vaccines can’t keep up with the changes in the virus itself.  While still dealing with the Omicron variant, we are seeing subvariants that appear to be more resistant to antibodies and evade protection from previous infection.  Clinical trials are under way for updated vaccines, but the FDA will decide this summer if we will move forward with them.  Caitlin Owens, healthcare reporter at Axios, joins us for what to know.

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New Census figures are showing that big cities have been in a decline.  The largest cities lost a greater share of people than small and mid-sized ones.  New York, San Jose, and Chicago saw the greatest numbers of people leaving, while Texas and Arizona had seven of the ten fastest growing cities.  All of these migrations were accelerated by the pandemic and work-from-home capabilities.  Paul Overberg, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for why people are leaving.

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Rebound Covid… it’s an issue that has been popping up for some getting sick, but it is also happening to people that were treated with the antiviral Paxlovid.  Some are getting better and testing negative, only to rebound with symptoms and test positive after the illness has dissipated.  It has caused the CDC to change its guidelines and tell people with rebound symptoms to isolate for another 5 days.  Karen Weintraub, health reporter at USA Today, joins us for what to know.

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Why is it so hard to get a restaurant reservation right now?  It’s great for restaurants trying to make their rebound from the pandemic, but tough for customers as you need to plan a little better or have a bit of luck.  Everyone is trying to get back out and there could be fewer options because of pandemic closures.  Lane Florsheim, style reporter at the NY Times, joins us with some tips for nailing down that reservation.

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