| January 24, 2022 
 So you’re not vaccinated and you’ve heard omicron is a milder form of COVID-19. And you’ve been reading social media posts that suggest natural immunity is even stronger than immunity produced by a vaccine. So, you think, why not catch COVID now and get it over with? Bad idea, experts say. Very bad idea, for a number of reasons. Reason No. 1: Omicron is not necessarily milder for people who are unvaccinated, says Dr. Liam Sullivan, a Grand Rapids infectious disease specialist with Spectrum Health. He theorizes that that hospitalizations aren’t increasing at the same rate as case numbers because of the higher number of breakthrough cases among people who are fully vaccinated and re-infections among people who already have had COVID. READ MORE ►With omicron surging, is getting COVID inevitable in Michigan?  Grand Valley State University is making higher education more affordable for low-income students in Michigan by expanding a tuition-free program that was first launched last year. The university has expanded the Grand Valley Pledge program, which covers tuition costs for students who come from a family income of less than $50,000, to eligible students statewide, GVSU President Philomena Mantella announced last week. The scholarship program was initially only available to students in Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon, Grand Traverse, Calhoun and Wayne counties when it was first announced in February 2021. READ MORE  Brave souls flocked to the accumulating shelf along Lake Michigan over the past couple weeks as frigid weather helped grow the Great Lakes ice cover. Throughout January, ice across the basin expanded beyond early projections that suggested the winter of 2022 might feature near-record low ice coverage. That’s changed. Now, maximum ice cover is expected to peak at 49 percent — a substantial jump from initial National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast modeling at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor. READ MORE ►Michigan's new climate plan is a strong start, but environmentalists say faster action is needed  Matthew Stafford rewrote every page of the Detroit Lions record book. But he also never won anything in 12 seasons here. Not a Super Bowl. Not a division title. Not even a playoff game. Nothing. Nada. And that left a gaping hole in his legacy in Detroit. Nothing can change that now. But in the last week, Stafford has flipped the lazy narrative that he couldn’t win. Just ask Tom Brady. Brady led Tampa Bay on a 24-0 run to knot up a divisional-round game against the Los Angeles Rams in the final minute. Problem is he also left 42 seconds on the clock. And as anyone watching the Lions over the years can attest, that’s way too much time for Stafford. READ MORE ►Listen to our Dungeon of Doom Detroit Lions beat writer roundtable  Twenty-two years into her career Alicia Kowalczyk saw Blue Cross Blue Shield as her last stop before retirement. She loved her job, her coworkers, and the stability she provided her family. But when the company’s vaccine policy conflicted with her beliefs of 49 years, she had to choose which piece of her identity to sacrifice. “I’m supposed to be a safety net for [my kids,]” she said. “I have to choose between my livelihood and the insurance and all of that or going through a medical procedure that I 100% don’t agree with.” She’s among the 250 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan employees who were terminated on Jan. 5 for not complying with the company’s vaccination deadline. READ MORE ►Michigan businesses react to Supreme Court rejecting vaccine mandate Get your local news 24/7 Connect with MLive
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