12/17: The C.D.C. recommends boosters. Judge rejects Purdue Pharma’s settlement case over opioid epidemic lawsuits.

Omicron is spreading rapidly throughout the U.S. ahead of the Christmas holiday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are urging people to get vaccinated but is no longer recommending the one-shot J&J vaccine due to its link to rare blood clots. Epidemiologist and infectious disease expert Dr. Celine Grounder, who served on then President-Elect Biden’s transition Covid-19 advisory board, joins CBS Mornings to give her reflections on the state of the pandemic. President Biden’s massive social spending plan is being delayed until the new year, as White House officials say democrats still do not have enough votes to pass the bill that would expand the government safety net. On Thursday evening, a U.S. District Judge in New York rejected Purdue Pharma’s $4.5 billion bankruptcy settlement over thousands of opioid epidemic lawsuits. All 17 missionaries held hostage in Haiti have been released, police say. More than a quarter of a million homes and businesses still have no power after Wednesday’s powerful windstorm that swept the Great Plains and upper Midwest. In Washington, D.C., President Biden has awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award for valor in combat, to 3 soldiers; 2 were recognized posthumously.

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