Happy Wednesday! O.J. Simpson was discharged early from parole in Nevada on Tuesday, making him, in the words of his lawyer, a “completely free man.”

That’s just what American society has been missing these past few years: A completely free O.J. Simpson.

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• A large, real-world study out of South Africa found that—during the country’s current Omicron wave—two doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine were just 33 percent effective against infection, but 70 percent effective against severe disease requiring hospitalization. Those infected with the Omicron variant, however, were found to be 29 percent less likely to require hospitalization than those infected with the D614G variant in 2020. “Furthermore, hospitalized adults currently have a lower propensity to be admitted to high-care and intensive-care units, relative to prior waves,” one of the study’s authors said.

• Pfizer announced Tuesday that a final analysis of clinical trial data confirmed that Paxlovid—the company’s oral COVID-19 antiviral—reduced the risk of hospitalization or death in high-risk patients by 89 percent when taken within three days of symptom onset, and is likely effective against the Omicron variant. President Joe Biden cheered the news, but noted “several steps remain before the Pfizer pill can become available, including authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.”