Happy Thursday! You know Democrats’ abolish-the-filibuster-to-pass-election-reform gambit that everyone has known for weeks was going to fail in the Senate? It failed in the Senate. 

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected former President Donald Trump’s last-ditch efforts to block the release of White House records to the January 6 Select Committee, concluding the material in question—draft speeches and executive orders, handwritten notes, and call/visitor logs from the post-2020 election period—is not protected by executive privilege. The ruling could also affect former Trump aides, like Mark Meadows, who have referenced executive privilege in their refusal to cooperate with parts of the committee’s inquiry.

• Pfizer representatives said this week that multiple lab tests appear to confirm its oral COVID-19 antiviral, Paxlovid, remains effective against the Omicron variant. As a protease inhibitor, Paxlovid works by hindering the virus’ ability to replicate rather than attacking the virus head on—meaning it theoretically would not be affected by mutations to the virus’ spike protein.

• A Centers for Disease Control study released yesterday found that, prior to the emergence of the Delta variant, vaccinated individuals in New York and California were about half as likely as those with natural immunity alone to be reinfected with COVID-19. After Delta became the dominant strain, however, the unvaccinated with natural immunity were less likely to contract COVID-19 than those who were vaccinated and had no prior infection. The study does not take into account booster doses or Omicron, and one of its authors, Dr. Benjamin Silk, told reporters yesterday vaccination is “still the safest way to protect yourself against Covid.”