COVID-19 Update

WaPo: (freebie)

Judge orders protesters to end blockade of Ambassador Bridge by Friday night

An Ontario court on Friday ordered protesters to end their blockade of a key bridge connecting Canada with the United States as the country headed into a third weekend of “Freedom Convoy” demonstrations. The protests have paralyzed the capital, slowed traffic at the border and caused manufacturers on both sides of the border to reduce operations.

Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz gave protesters until 7 p.m. to end the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, the busiest crossing on the U.S.-Canada border and a vital supply route between automakers on both sides. It was not immediately clear what would happen at 7 p.m.

Protesters locked arms, chanted and shouted for freedom 15 minutes after the deadline as Canadian police looked on with no sign of disrupting the demonstrators.

Demonstrators holed up in trucks continue to paralyze parts of downtown Ottawa and block the Ambassador Bridge and crossings in Coutts, Alberta; and Emerson, Manitoba. What began as a protest of rules in both countries requiring that truckers be fully vaccinated to cross the border has snowballed into a much broader movement against pandemic restrictions generally and other complaints.

Here’s what to know

• A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines lose effectiveness after about four months — but still provided significant protection in keeping people out of the hospital during the omicron surge.
• New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) defended the city’s move to hand out termination notices Friday to employees who did not comply with a coronavirus vaccination mandate. As many as 3,000 unvaccinated employees were facing termination.
• The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization Friday to a new monoclonal antibody treatment that works against the omicron variant.