Student COVID-19 cases are dropping, in line with statewide declines. At the same time, businesses and workers have questions about how Indiana's government will respond to the new Biden administration vaccine rule. And experts say it's too soon to call COVID-19 "endemic."

Marion County Public Health Department Director Dr. Virginia Caine said the goal is to reduce the spread of COVID.

The Indiana Health Department added booster shots given to its daily tracking of vaccine distribution.

Thirteen independent music venues across Marion County each received an average of nearly $19,000 through the program created to support recovery from the pandemic.

Camp officials recently completed a campaign to vaccinate over 6,100 evacuees against measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox. Flu vaccinations will begin this weekend, as will second doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

The number of individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 remains high across the country and the Midwest. With the delta variant dominating cases, patients now are younger, sicker and often require more intensive care, hospitals like Methodist in Des Moines are facing pressure.

After a year and a half of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health experts believe we're still a way off from endemic — a term used for a disease that is normally seen in a population.

The Indiana Department of Labor will be charged with enforcing the new rule, although labor unions have long said the agency is routinely underfunded.

The state health department's tracking shows Indiana giving about 6,000 shots a day through last week -- about half the rate from early September.

Lawmakers score a major victory in their legal battle over emergency powers. Indiana announces a half-a-billion dollar grant program to stabilize the child care industry. And the state reports its fewest number of new COVID-19 cases in more than a month.