CMS suspended the enforcement of its Covid-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from the District of Columbia, Maryland, and New York.

• District of Columbia: The Biden administration on Friday announced that it would be sending nine million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to Africa and two million doses to other regions as part of an effort to fast-track vaccine distribution and increase global vaccination rates. "Just today, we are shipping 11 million doses. Eleven million doses in one day. That's more doses shipped by the U.S. in a single day than what all but seven other countries have delivered in total since the start of this pandemic," said White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeffrey Zients. (Chalfant, The Hill, 12/3)

• Maryland: CMS on Thursday announced that it would suspend the enforcement of its Covid-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers because of multiple pending lawsuits. In addition, the agency said surveyors will not be permitted to survey providers regarding their compliance with the rule's requirements during pending litigation. CMS did not clarify what will happen when and if the temporary holds are lifted. This announcement came after a federal district court in Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction that blocked the enforcement of the mandate in all but 10 states—which were already covered under a similar preliminary injunction issued by a Missouri court. (AHA News, 12/3)

• New York: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) last week announced that Philip Dormitzer would join the company as its global head of vaccine research and development on Dec. 3 following his departure from Pfizer, where he was the top viral vaccine-science executive. Dormitzer has filled the long-vacant post after the company's previous head of vaccine research, Emmanuel Hanon, departed in April. Dormitzer brings extensive experience developing vaccines such as mRNA and RSV vaccines to the company. "I am delighted to have Phil, a renowned vaccinologist and scientific leader, join GSK," said Hal Barron, GSK's chief scientific officer. "The importance of vaccines has never been clearer, and the pace of technological innovation has rarely been greater." (Roland, Wall Street Journal, 11/30)