California state senator Scott Wiener has introduced a bill lowering the vaccine age of consent from 18 to 12.

"California law already allows 12-17 year olds to access various forms of healthcare without parental consent, eg: HPV & hep B vaccines, abortion care, birth control, mental healthcare, domestic violence-related care," Wiener tweeted Friday. "Let’s let teens protect their health."

San Francisco's director of public health and youth advocates were among those who joined Wiener at a Friday news conference introducing the legislation.

One youth advocate, Nyla, a seventh-grader, said, "We're exposed to so much that we're old enough to have a say so when something will benefit us. … This bill gives me hope for kids whose parents don't always make decisions in their best interest even when they mean well."

-ABC News' Izzy Alvarez

Los Angeles County reported 102 new deaths on Thursday, marking the highest daily death toll since March 10, 2021.

Daily deaths doubled in just one week, according to county officials.

Of Thursday's 102 fatalities, 90% were residents who tested positive for COVID-19 after Christmas Eve, which means they likely had omicron, county officials said in a statement.

"As deaths often lag behind surges in cases and hospitalizations, we may see an even higher number of deaths in the coming weeks," county officials warned.

The positivity rate in New York state has dropped to the single digits for the first time since Dec. 20, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Friday, another indicator that the omicron surge is receding in the state.

The positivity rate now stands at 9.75%, down from over 23% on Jan. 2, which was the highest rate in New York during the omicron wave.

"This is still to be taken very seriously," Hochul stressed at a Friday briefing, noting that hospitalizations are still high.

-ABC News' Will McDuffie

The CDC says three new studies show the importance of vaccines and boosters in protecting against severe COVID-19 infection from delta or omicron.

The first study found that a third shot slashed the risk of an emergency room or urgent care trip by 94% during delta and 82% during omicron.

The second study found that, during the delta and omicron waves, the unvaccinated were nearly 14-times more likely to be infected and 53-times more likely to die compared to people who are vaccinated and boosted.

The third analysis found that three doses of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine -- as opposed to two doses or none -- provided protection against both delta and omicron against symptomatic infection. However, the protection was greater against delta compared to omicron.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Italian police have arrested a nurse accused of pretending to inject COVID-19 vaccines into the arms of anti-vaxxers so they could benefit from vaccination certificates.

Investigators used a hidden camera to capture the nurse working at a vaccination center in Palmero. A clip from the footage, released Saturday by Italy's State Police, purportedly shows the woman preparing a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and then emptying the syringe into a piece of gauze before pretending to inject it into an individual's arm. She faces charges of forgery and embezzlement, according to police.

Police said the woman also faked her own booster shot so she could continue working at the vaccination center, in coordination with another nurse who was arrested last December on similar charges. The other nurse is accused of faking COVID-19 vaccinations for 11 people, including a well-known leader of an anti-vaccine movement, according to police.

New restrictions came into force in Italy on Jan. 10, barring people who aren't fully vaccinated against COVID-19 from accessing restaurants, gyms, swimming pools, theaters, cinemas, sport events and public transport. Unvaccinated individuals who recently recovered from COVID-19 are exempt from the new rule, which will be in force until March 31. The measures were imposed amid a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections across the European country.