Peter Hotez on new omicron variant, vaccine fatigue and the bivalent booster

Plus: A life sciences complex gets its first tenant. Tomlinson on restaurant workers. Chatting with William Shatner.

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View in browser NEW YEAR SALE: Get 3 Months of the Local News Source You Need for Only 99¢. Subscribe Today. J.R. Gonzales Senior Digital Production Editor john.gonzales@chron.com No comment from the condemned. Despite some late legal wrangling over the drugs used when conducting lethal injections, the state carried out its first execution of the year as former police officer Robert Fratta was put to death Tuesday night in Huntsville.  Fratta was convicted in the 1994 death of his estranged wife, Farah Fratta, in a murder-for-hire plot he was found guilty of orchestrating. He offered no final words before being put to death. Skies will be mostly cloudy today with highs in the upper 70s.   Today's top story   Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Peter Hotez on the new COVID XBB1.5 variant and the bivalent booster. He discusses the new omicron variant, vaccine fatigue, bivalent booster and a potential humanitarian crisis in China.   Five other stories to read today   Texas Medical Center life sciences complex gets its first tenant. The school will serve as the anchor tenant of the Dynamic One building, occupying 114,000 square-feet of space for labs and start-up companies, according to a news release from the Texas Medical Center and developers Beacon Capital Partners. The building is expected to open later this year.   Tomlinson: What will it take to treat restaurant workers fairly? The truth is hard to swallow. Closure of the world's best restaurant reveals how the industry exploits workers, writes Chris Tomlinson.   Did Biden and Trump both mishandle documents? [Editorial] Here we go again, but this time, with cooperation, writes the Editorial Board.   Texans CEO Cal McNair: 'We weren't happy with what was happening.' It wasn't just the team's record that led McNair and general manager Nick Caserio to fire Smith, McNair said in an exclusive interview with the Houston Chronicle on Monday night.   Q&A: William Shatner talks space, 'Khan' and the pandemic. William Shatner, at 91, comes to Houston having been to space. He may discuss space travel, but he's more likely to talk about "The Wrath of Khan."   One last thing ...   As someone who paid a little more than $5 for a dozen eggs on Tuesday, I got a kick out of Ryan Nickerson's story explaining why eggs cost so much these days. It's enough to make one wonder if it makes more economic sense to raise chickens and have your own eggs. – J.R., who notes that you haven't read the last on this issue                 GET 3 MONTHS OF THE LOCAL NEWS SOURCE YOU NEED. Unlimited Digital Access for Only 99¢ Act Now No Commitment | Cancel Anytime Unsubscribe  |  Manage Preferences  |  Privacy Notice Houston Chronicle 4747 Southwest Freeway, Houston, TX 77027 © 2023 Hearst Communications