The Wall Street Journal: Biden Proposes $1.9 Trillion Covid-19 Relief Package
President-elect Joe Biden is calling for a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan to help Americans weather the economic shock of the pandemic and pump more money into testing and vaccine distribution. Mr. Biden in a speech Thursday evening described his priorities related to the pandemic for the early days of his administration, pressing the often-divided Congress for urgent, unified action. His plan calls for a round of $1,400-per-person direct payments to most households, a $400-a-week unemployment insurance supplement through September, expanded paid leave and increases in the child tax credit. Aid for households makes up about half of the plan’s cost, with much of the rest going to vaccine distribution and state and local governments. (Rubin and Collins, 1/14)

The Washington Post: Biden Unveils Emergency Coronavirus And Stimulus Plan, With Major Focus On Vaccines 
Biden’s proposal is divided into three major areas: $400 billion for provisions to fight the coronavirus with more vaccines and testing, while reopening schools; more than $1 trillion in direct relief to families, including through stimulus payments and increased unemployment insurance benefits; and $440 billion for aid to communities and businesses, including $350 billion in emergency funding to state, local and tribal governments. (Werner and Stein, 1/14)

Politico: 'A Call For Unity': Biden Lays Out Vast Federal Expansion Of Pandemic Response 
Across a planned two-day rollout of his pandemic strategy, Biden will also propose creating a federal public health corps of 100,000 people and deploying them to states to staff vaccination sites, bolster contact tracing and launch new programs to better reach rural communities. Biden’s team says they’ve been consulting for weeks with lawmakers in both parties and are pushing for bipartisan support for the plan. But as they anticipate pushback from GOP lawmakers on the size and scope of the legislation, their strategy involves taking their case for urgent action directly to the public and bringing pressure on Congress to support it. (Ollstein and Cancryn, 1/14)

AP: Biden Unveils $1.9T Plan To Stem COVID-19 And Steady Economy
Called the “American Rescue Plan,” the legislative proposal would meet Biden’s goal of administering 100 million vaccines by the 100th day of his administration, and advance his objective of reopening most schools by the spring. On a parallel track, it delivers another round of aid to stabilize the economy while the public health effort seeks the upper hand on the pandemic. “We not only have an economic imperative to act now — I believe we have a moral obligation,” Biden said in a nationwide address Thursday. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Barrow, 1/15)

Stat: Biden Requests $415 Billion To Ramp Up Covid-19 Response
The proposal, however, was light on specifics. The aides pledged, for instance, to invest in new Covid-19 treatments, but provided little detail. Biden also plans to unveil the specifics of his vaccination plan on Friday, aides said. It’s unclear how that announcement will differ from the Thursday funding request, and how much additional detail the president-elect will offer. (Facher and Cohrs, 1/14)

Reuters: Biden Unveils Plan To Pump $1.9 Trillion Into Pandemic-Hit Economy 
“A crisis of deep human suffering is in plain sight, and there’s no time to waste,” Biden said in prime-time remarks from Delaware. “We have to act and we have to act now.” ... “This will be one of the most challenging operations efforts we’ve ever undertaken as a nation. We’ll have to move heaven and earth to get more people vaccinated.” (Mason and Renshaw, 1/14)

Also —

The Hill: Business Groups Applaud Biden's COVID-19 Relief Plan 
President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion plan to provide economic relief during the coronavirus pandemic was largely welcomed by the business community that has been a loud advocate for further relief. Biden’s plan, which he announced Thursday, includes $415 billion focused on fighting COVID-19, upwards of $1 trillion on direct aid to individuals and families and another $440 billion in aid to businesses. (Gangitano, 1/14)

The New York Times: What’s In Biden’s $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Plan 
That $1.9 trillion figure is a lot of money, to put it mildly. Congress passed a $900 billion relief program in December, and its package in March was also about $2 trillion. By way of comparison, the major financial crisis spending package — the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 — clocked in around $800 billion. (Smialek, 1/14)

In related news on covid's economic toll —

The New York Times: Unemployment Claims Rise Sharply, Showing New Economic Pain 
Ten months after the coronavirus crisis decimated the labor market, the resurgent pandemic keeps sending shock waves through the American economy. Though more than half of the 22 million jobs lost last spring have been regained, a new surge of infections has prompted shutdowns and layoffs that have hit the leisure and hospitality industries especially hard, dealing a setback to the recovery. (Ember, 1/14)

The New York Times: Biden Picks Former F.D.A. Chief To Lead Federal Vaccine Efforts 
President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has chosen Dr. David Kessler to help lead Operation Warp Speed, the program to accelerate development of Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, according to transition officials. Dr. Kessler, a pediatrician and lawyer who headed the Food and Drug Administration during the presidencies of George Bush and Bill Clinton, has been a key adviser to Mr. Biden on Covid-19 policy and is co-chair of the transition team’s Covid-19 task force. (Kaplan, 1/15)

AP: Biden Taps Former FDA Chief Kessler To Lead Vaccine Science
Dr. David Kessler, who will have the title of chief science officer of COVID response, headed the Food and Drug Administration in the 1990s under presidents of both political parties. He has been acting as a top pandemic adviser to Biden and his appointment was announced Friday by the presidential transition office. Kessler will work out of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, assuming responsibility for the scientific side of Operation Warp Speed, an effort launched under the Trump administration to rapidly develop vaccines and treatments. The drive has already produced two highly effective vaccines, and more are on the way. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Perrone, 1/15)

CNN: Andy Slavitt, Former Acting Head Of CMS Who Worked On Fixing Botched Healthcare.Gov Rollout, To Join Biden's Covid Team 
Andy Slavitt, the former acting chief of Medicare and Medicaid under the Obama administration, is expected to join President-elect Joe Biden's Covid-19 team in a senior advisory role, CNN has learned. Slavitt's role is expected to be temporary, sources said, as the incoming Biden administration is days away from inheriting the daunting task of getting the spread of Covid under control and quickly vaccinating the country. The expected hire underscores the all-hands-on-deck approach the Biden team appears to be taking when it comes to the coronavirus, as it looks to meet its goal of administering 100 million vaccine shots during Biden's first 100 days in office. (Lee and Dean, 1/14)

In related news —

Reuters: Biden To Unveil Coronavirus Vaccine Distribution Plan As Cases Soar 
President-elect Joe Biden will on Friday outline his plan to ramp up vaccinations against COVID-19 as he prepares to take office amid soaring infection rates and an early rollout by the Trump administration he called “a dismal failure.” Biden has promised to take more serious action to curb the virus than his predecessor, President Donald Trump, and get 100 million vaccine shots into the arms of Americans during his first 100 days in office. (Hunnicutt, 1/15)

The Hill: Biden Plans For $20 Billion Mass Vaccination Campaign 
President-elect Joe Biden will unveil a $415 billion plan to fight the coronavirus Thursday, including $20 billion for vaccines, drawing a sharp contrast to the fragmented approach from the Trump administration. Biden will unveil the package in an address Thursday evening, part of a two-day rollout of his virus response strategy. (Weixel, 1/14)

CNN: States Skeptical Of Biden's Covid-19 Vaccine Plan As They Await The Missing Details 
State officials are skeptical that President-elect Joe Biden can meet his goal of 100 million coronavirus shots in his first 100 days, with a week to go before his start date and a slew of unanswered questions still swirling around his plan. Multiple state officials and sources familiar with the Biden transition team's outreach told CNN in recent interviews that they are unclear on major details of the Biden team's plans -- including those for mass vaccination sites, vaccine supply issues and funding for local governments. (Lee, Murray and Holmes, 1/14)

Also —

The Hill: Hotels Offer Properties As Vaccine Administration Sites To Biden Team 
The leading hotel trade group is offering properties to President-elect Joe Biden's transition team for use as COVID-19 vaccine administration sites across the country. The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) said in a Thursday letter to Biden’s incoming coronavirus coordinator, Jeffrey Zients, that its members are uniquely positioned to help with vaccine rollout during the next phases of distribution. (Gangitano, 1/14)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Is First State To Administer 1 Million COVID-19 Vaccines
Texas is the first state to administer more than 1 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday. So far, the state has handed out just over a million doses to a total of 890,000 Texans. About 130,000 of those individuals have received both of the shots required to become fully immunized, according to the Department of State Health Services’ vaccine dashboard. “This is the biggest vaccination effort we have ever undertaken, and it would not be possible without the dedication and tireless efforts of our health care workers,” Abbott said in a release. “We still have a long road ahead of us, but Texans continue to prove that we are up to this challenge.” (Harris, 1/14)

AP: In Coronavirus Vaccine Drive, Deep South Falls Behind
The coronavirus vaccines have been rolled out unevenly across the U.S., but four states in the Deep South have had particularly dismal inoculation rates that have alarmed health experts and frustrated residents. In Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina, less than 2% of the population had received its first dose of a vaccine at the start of the week, according to data from the states and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As in other parts of the country, states in the South face a number of challenges: limited vaccine supplies, health care workers who refuse to get inoculated and bureaucratic systems that are not equipped to schedule the huge number of appointments being sought. (Thanawala, 1/15)

The New York Times: As California Eases Vaccine Rules, Many Complain Of Chaos 
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement on Wednesday seemed sweeping: California would open up eligibility for a coronavirus vaccine to anyone 65 or older, effectively abandoning a rollout plan that was meant to ensure that the most vulnerable would be first in line. A day later, residents of the vast and varied state were trying to navigate what many described as vaccination chaos. (1/15)

AP: False Availability Claim Spurs Rush To NYC Vaccine Site
New Yorkers lined the sidewalks and cars jammed the streets near a Brooklyn coronavirus vaccine site Thursday after false rumors spread of extra doses available to the general public. Messages spread online claimed several hundred doses had to be given out by Thursday evening and that any adult was welcome, whether they had an appointment or not. (1/15)

AP: Expanded Vaccine Rollout In US Spawns A New Set Of Problems
The rapid expansion of COVID-19 vaccinations to senior citizens across the U.S. has led to bottlenecks, system crashes and hard feelings in many states because of overwhelming demand for the shots. Mississippi’s Health Department stopped taking new appointments the same day it began accepting them because of a “monumental surge” in requests. People had to wait hours to book vaccinations through a state website or a toll-free number Tuesday and Wednesday, and many were booted off the site because of technical problems and had to start over. (Har, Peltz and Breed, 1/15)

Also —

AP: Instacart, Others Push Incentives To Get Workers Vaccinated
As vaccinations continue across the U.S., some companies are offering financial incentives to encourage their workers to get the shots. Instacart Inc., the grocery delivery service, announced Thursday that it would provide a $25 stipend for workers who get the COVID-19 vaccine. It joins others, including Trader Joe’s and Dollar General, which plan to pay workers extra if they get vaccinated. (Olson and Durbin, 1/15)

Las Vegas Review Journal: Largest COVID Vaccination Site In Nevada Opens After Dress Rehearsal
The largest COVID-19 vaccination site in the state will officially open Friday to members of the public — at least those who were able to make appointments on the Southern Nevada Health District’s website before it crashed. The vaccination site at Cashman Center in Las Vegas had what was described as a by-invitation-only soft launch Thursday aimed at working out operational bugs, officials said at an on-site briefing. The site, operated by the health district, Clark County, Las Vegas and the Nevada National Guard, is expected eventually to be able to immunize several thousand people per day. (Hynes, 1/14)

North Carolina Health News: Providers, Rural Directors Dispute Slow Vaccine Complaints 
It’s hard to tell that the mass vaccination clinic set up by UNC Health was only a few days old. There was no crush of patients at the door. Instead, a steady stream of gray-haired people, some on canes, walkers or in wheelchairs, arrived at the Friday Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to find a registration desk to check their appointments once they got inside the door. (Hoban, 1/15)

The technology behind the vaccine rollout is scrutinized —

Stat: Vaccine Registration Technology Is Failing. Here's How To Fix It
The crashes of online vaccine scheduling systems have become a sad symbol of how technology has hampered the nation’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign, leaving people unable to sign up or find out when and where they can get their shots. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The technology and expertise to schedule people and line them up according to priority levels is widely available, health data experts said. (Ross, 1/14)

The Hill: Tech Coalition Working To Create Digital COVID-19 Vaccination Passport 
A coalition of health and technology organizations are working to develop a digital COVID-19 vaccination passport to allow businesses, airlines and countries to check if people have received the vaccine. The Vaccination Credential Initiative, announced on Thursday, is formulating technology to confirm vaccinations in the likelihood that some governments will mandate people provide proof of their shots in order to enter the nation. (Coleman, 1/14)

The Washington Post: Companies Scramble To Expand Coronavirus Vaccine Supply 
Production of the two coronavirus vaccines authorized in the United States is accelerating, even as companies with experimental vaccines nearing the end of trials struggle to meet ambitious manufacturing targets. That means the United States should have 200 million doses each from the companies with authorized shots, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — enough to guarantee that more than 70 percent of adults will be able to get the two-shot vaccination by the end of July. That is comparable to the share of adults some polls suggest will be willing to roll up their sleeves. (Johnson, 1/14)

Politico: Trump Wants Billions Cut From Global Covid Vaccine Distributor 
President Donald Trump has sent lawmakers a sweeping package of spending cuts to consider before he leaves office, including billions in funding for a global health and vaccine distribution program involved in the Covid fight, according to the package obtained by POLITICO. The $27.4 billion in proposed cuts is known as a rescission request — a largely symbolic package of spending claw-backs that the White House presents to Congress. There is no chance that Congress actually acts on the request. But the inclusion of $4 billion in funding for GAVI, a public-private partnership promoting vaccination in low-income countries, will likely fuel more criticism of the president’s approach to global health efforts in general and the Covid pandemic in particular. (Emma, Lippman and McGraw, 1/14)

In other vaccine news —

The Wall Street Journal: Israel Vaccine Data Suggests Decrease In Covid-19 Infection Rate After First Dose 
Early data from Israel suggests Covid-19 infection rates began to decrease among a group of vaccine recipients two weeks after they received the first shot of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s vaccine, offering important insights to other countries as they roll out their own campaigns. The small country—whose roughly nine million population is about the size of New York City’s—has vaccinated nearly a fourth of its population in just under a month, the first country to hit that mark as it fights an upsurge in new infections. (Schwartz and Lieber, 1/14)

NBC News and AP: Wisconsin Pharmacist Accused Of Spoiling Covid-19 Vaccine Has License Suspended
A state board on Wednesday suspended the license of a Wisconsin pharmacist accused of ruining more than 500 doses of Covid-19 vaccine because he thought it was unsafe.Steven Brandenburg was working at Advocate Aurora Health in Grafton, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee, when he was arrested last month following an investigation into the 57 spoiled vials of the Moderna vaccine. He has not been criminally charged. A status conference in the case is scheduled for Tuesday. (1/14)

The Hill: Gottlieb: Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Looks Like Promising 'Third Entrant' 
Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that the new single-dose coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson “looks like a good profile for a vaccine.” "All in all this looks like a good profile for a vaccine," Gottlieb said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday after early data showed promising results for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. “It's an indication we are probably going to have a third entrant here." (Lonas, 1/14)

KHN: 5 Reasons To Wear A Mask Even After You’re Vaccinated 
As an emergency physician, Dr. Eugenia South was in the first group of people to receive a covid vaccine. She received her second dose last week  — even before President-elect Joe Biden. Yet South said she’s in no rush to throw away her face mask. “I honestly don’t think I’ll ever go without a mask at work again,” said South, faculty director of the Urban Health Lab at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “I don’t think I’ll ever feel safe doing that.” (Szabo, 1/15)

CNN: Coronavirus Pandemic Will Knock More Than A Year Off Average US Life Expectancy, Study Finds 
The coronavirus pandemic is not only having an immediate impact in terms of the deaths of thousands of Americans, it's also taking more than a year off the average US life expectancy. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences projects that Covid-19 will reduce US life expectancy in 2020 by 1.13 years, with a disproportionate number of deaths occurring among Black and Latino populations. (Kallingal, 1/15)

ScienceDaily: COVID-19 Reduced U.S. Life Expectancy, Especially Among Black And Latino Populations
The COVID-19 pandemic, which claimed more than 336,000 lives in the United States in 2020, has significantly affected life expectancy, USC and Princeton researchers have found. The researchers project that, due to the pandemic deaths last year, life expectancy at birth for Americans will shorten by 1.13 years to 77.48 years, according to their study published Thursday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That is the largest single-year decline in life expectancy in at least 40 years and is the lowest life expectancy estimated since 2003. (1/14)

NBC Los Angeles: New Study Finds Coronavirus Has Reduced Life Expectancy For Blacks And Latinos  
The declines in life expectancy are likely even starker among Black and Latino communities. For Blacks, the researchers project their life expectancy would shorten by 2.10 years to 72.78 years, and 3.05 years for Latinos to 78.77 years. Whites are also impacted, but their projected decline is much smaller -- 0.68 years -- to 77.84 years. (1/14)

CNN: The US Coronavirus Death Toll Is Projected To Surpass 400,000 By Inauguration Day 
At the current rate of daily fatalities, the US death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic may surpass 400,000 before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Wednesday. Another 14,400 Americans are projected to die from the virus over the next six days, according to an ensemble forecast published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Caldwell, 1/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Newly Reported U.S. Covid-19 Cases Top 200,000 For Ninth Straight Day 
Newly reported coronavirus cases in the U.S. remained above 200,000 for the ninth day in a row, while hospitals continued to see large numbers of Covid-19 patients. The U.S. reported more than 224,000 new coronavirus cases for Wednesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The nation’s death toll grew by more than 3,800 Wednesday, lower than the record of more than 4,000 fatalities the previous day, but still higher than daily levels recorded last year. Overall, the U.S. Covid-19 death toll exceeded 387,000. (Hall, 1/14)

The New York Times: 400,000 More US Deaths Than Normal Since Covid-19 Struck 
Since March, at least 400,000 more Americans have died than would have in a normal year, a sign of the broad devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. An analysis of mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows how the pandemic is bringing with it unusual patterns of death, even higher than the official totals of deaths that have been directly linked to the virus. (Katz, Lu and Sanger-Katz, 1/14)

The Wall Street Journal: The Covid-19 Death Toll Is Even Worse Than It Looks 
The recorded death count from the Covid-19 pandemic as of Thursday is nearing 2 million. The true extent is far worse. More than 2.8 million people have lost their lives due to the pandemic, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from 59 countries and jurisdictions. This tally offers the most comprehensive view yet of the pandemic’s global impact. Deaths in these places last year surged more than 12% above average levels. Less than two-thirds of that surge has been attributed directly to Covid-19. Public-health experts believe that many, if not most, of the additional deaths were directly linked to the disease, particularly early in the pandemic when testing was sparse. Some of those excess deaths came from indirect fallout, from health-care disruptions, people avoiding the hospital and other issues. (Overberg, Kamp and Michaels, 1/14)

The Atlantic: COVID-19 Deaths Are 25 Percent Higher Than In Any Other Week
For 16 weeks, throughout the fall and then straight through the data disruptions around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day, the number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 has risen. On October 13, there were 36,000 people with COVID-19 in U.S. hospitals. Yesterday, on January 13, there were 130,000. This week, after two weeks of holiday-muddled death data, the inevitable consequence of these rising hospitalizations arrived. States reported 23,259 COVID-19 deaths this week, 25 percent more than in any other week since the pandemic began. For scale, the COVID-19 deaths reported this week exceed the CDC's current estimate for flu-related deaths during the entire 2019–20 season. (1/14)

Bloomberg: World Edges Close To 2 Million Covid-19 Deaths, Led By U.S.
Led by the U.S., the world is about to hit a frightening Covid-19 benchmark, with 2 million people dead and few expectations for the numbers to start dropping any time soon. “You want to get to the point first where the virus can’t outrace you,” said Gregg Gonsalves, an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health and co-director of the Global Health Justice Partnership. “It’s very hard to project out in any fine level of resolution how many people will be dead from this, in even 6 months to a year.” (Fay Cortez, 1/15)

USA Today: US Officials Urge Americans To Ask Their Doctors About Monoclonal Antibodies For COVID. But Is It Too Little, Too Late?
Federal officials say monoclonal antibodies are in full supply, but patients and providers are not taking advantage of them to treat COVID-19. In a briefing Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services and Operation Warp Speed urged Americans to ask their doctors about the treatment to prevent severe illness and help ease the crushing burden of the pandemic on hospitals. “We now have all the tools we need to both prevent and fight back against COVID-19,” said U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams. “But tools that never leave the toolbox don’t get the work done.” (Rodriguez, 1/14)

CNBC: U.S. Health Officials Push Hospitals To Administer Unused Covid Antibody Drugs
The U.S. has shipped over half a million doses of antibody treatments that have the potential to keep high-risk Covid patients out of hospitals if given early enough in their infection. This would help already overburdened hospitals avoid additional strain, but the drugs are still being underutilized despite their promising results, Trump administration health officials said Thursday. That’s because many patients don’t know how to access them, and hospitals aren’t prescribing the medications or arranging the infusion sites necessary to administer the drugs, they said. (Higgins-Dunn, 1/15)

NBC News: Monoclonal Antibodies Could Ease Record Covid Hospitalizations. Why Are They Going Unused?
So why aren't people getting it? Simply put, a lack of time, resources and awareness. Monoclonal antibodies must be given soon after a person has tested positive. "These medications work best when given early," Surgeon General Jerome Adams said during Thursday's briefing. (Edwards, 1/15)

In other health care industry news —

The Hill: Streamlining The Process Of Prior Authorization For Medical And Surgical Procedures
Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and John Thune (R-S.D.) have done a great service to their constituents and to their nation by introducing the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act. This is the much anticipated Senate companion to H.R. 3107 the Protecting Seniors Timely Access to Care Act. It should be a pivotal stepping stone for health care reform in the new administration. (Richard Menger, 1/14)

Roll Call: Pandemic Spurs Technology Growth In Insurance Industry 
Insurers increased their use of catastrophe models, drones and mobile apps during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they anticipate growth in such technology to continue once the health crisis passes. Some growth in what is known as "insurtech" was driven by the social distancing measures and quarantines that accompanied the pandemic, while adoption of other technologies came despite it. (Sagalow, 1/14)

The Oklahoman: As COVID Cases Soar, Oklahoma Doctors Are Prepared To Determine Who Receives Care, And Who Doesn’t
As COVID-19 cases surge across Oklahoma, hospital leaders throughout the state remain in talks with ethicists and lawyers over how to handle the allocation of critical resources for patients on the brink of death. Those conversations heated up in April, when the Oklahoma Department of Health — with input from doctors, chief medical officers and other healthcare experts — published its Hospital Crisis Standards of Care, a set of guidelines for delivering healthcare if resources run scarce during the pandemic. “It is the most sobering conversation I’ve ever been a part of,” said Patti Davis, president of the Oklahoma Hospital Association. (Dulaney, 1/14)

Modern Healthcare: California Hospitals Prepare Ethical Protocol To Prioritize Lifesaving Care
California hospitals are preparing the ethical protocol to guide who may get lifesaving care as providers struggle to meet the growing demand sparked by the latest COVID-19 surge. While hospitals have yet to implement crisis-level care rationing, the steady increase of 40,000 new COVID-19 cases a day continues to threaten hospital capacity. Space and staff are stretched, particularly in Southern California, as the state endures a surge 4 to 5 times the size of the spike in summer. (Kacik, 1/14)

Stat: In Los Angeles, Ambulances Circle For Hours And ICUs Are Full 
The situation here is dire. Every minute, 10 people test positive for Covid-19. Every eight minutes, someone dies. Ambulances circle for hours, unable to find ERs that can accept patients. Hospitals are running out of oxygen. ICU capacity is at zero. Patients lie in hallways and tents. Emergency room nurses have more patients than they can handle — sometimes six at a time. (McFarling, 1/15)

The Hill: Health Officials Estimate One In Three LA County Residents Have Been Infected By Coronavirus 
Los Angeles County scientists now estimate that 1 in 3 residents have contracted COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday. That would mean at least 3 million of the county's 10 million residents have been infected — more than triple the number confirmed through testing, according to the Times. (Polus, 1/14)

Also —

Stat: More Infectious Coronavirus Variants Could Exacerbate Record Deaths, Cases
As horrific as the U.S. Covid-19 outbreak looks right now, it is almost certainly about to get worse. They’ve raced through South Africa, the United Kingdom, and, increasingly, elsewhere, and now, new, more infectious variants of the coronavirus have also gained toeholds in the United States. If they take off here — which, with their transmission advantages, they will, unless Americans rapidly put a brake on their spread — it will detonate something of a bomb in the already deep, deep hole the country must dig out of to end the crisis. (Joseph, 1/14)

Politico: Officials: Trump's Promised $200 Drug-Discount Cards Won't Happen 
The White House will not be able to make good on President Donald Trump's campaign promise to give older Americans discount cards to use for medicine, said four officials with knowledge of the deliberations, citing time pressures and still-unfinished planning. "It would take days to get all the sign-offs we still need, plus the time to print the letters and make the cards," said one official involved in the process, who spoke on condition of anonymity and noted that Inauguration Day is now three business days away. "We ran out of time." (Diamond, 1/13)

CNBC: $200 Medicare Drug Discount Cards From Trump Won't Happen
Those promised $200 prescription drug cards for Medicare beneficiaries won’t be coming. With little time left before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20, the Trump administration is backing off its plan to send the discount cards to roughly 39 million Medicare enrollees, an official for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services confirmed to CNBC. The agency’s head, Seema Verma, earlier told Business Insider that she didn’t anticipate the cards being sent. (O'Brien, 1/14)

In news about CMS administrator Seema Verma —

CNBC: Medicare Chief Verma: Resigning 'A Dereliction Of Duty' Amid Covid
Seema Verma never considered resigning from her job running the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs in the wake of last week’s deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol, even after several Trump administration officials stepped down to protest the president’s encouragement of a mob of angry protestors. “From where I stand, given that we’re in the middle of a pandemic, I felt like it would be a dereliction of my duty and my commitment to the agency and to the people that we serve, to leave my post and without ensuring a smooth transition to the Biden administration,” Verma said in an interview Wednesday as the House began debate on impeaching the president for a second time. (Coombs, 1/13)

In other news about Medicare —

Modern Healthcare: MedPAC Votes To Boost Hospital Payments, Freeze Or Cut Other Providers
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission on Thursday voted to recommend that Congress increase Medicare payments to acute-care and long-term care hospitals by 2% and keep physician payments the same for 2022. The panel will also recommend eliminating scheduled updates to Medicare base payment rates for ambulatory surgical centers, outpatient dialysis centers, hospices and skilled nursing facilities. MedPAC plans to recommend Congress lower Medicare payments for home health agencies and inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 5%. (Brady, 1/14)

Becker's Hospital Review: MedPAC To Recommend 2% Payment Boost For Hospitals Next Year
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission voted Jan. 14 to recommend a 2 percent raise in Medicare payments for hospitals next year. The commission said it wants to give the payment boost to both acute-care and long-term care hospitals. The 2 percent payment increase will result in about a $750 million to $2 billion increase in acute-care hospital spending for Medicare and about $50 million for long-term care hospitals. (Paavola, 1/14)

Stat: Medicare Part D Spent Twice What The VA Paid For The Same Drugs
Medicare Part D spent more than twice as much on hundreds of prescription drugs than the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2017, largely because the agency representing military veterans was able to negotiate prices directly with drug makers, according to a new report. (Silverman, 1/14)

Politico: Trump Admin Races To Enact Term Limits For Top Health Scientists 
The Trump administration is rushing to enact term limits for top federal health scientists that could increase political pressure on some of the most prominent critics of the president’s pandemic response — even after Trump leaves office, say three current senior health officials. The regulation, which the Department of Health and Human Services could issue as a direct final rule within days, would mandate job reviews every five years for career federal scientists who serve as center directors at the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health agencies. The reviews could lead to renewal — or reassignment. (Lim and Owermohle, 1/14)

Stat: Trump Administration To Let Nearly All Doctors Prescribe Buprenorphine
The Trump administration announced a major shift in addiction medicine policy Thursday, giving doctors dramatically more flexibility to prescribe a popular and effective drug used to treat opioid use disorder. The change will allow almost all physicians to prescribe the addiction drug buprenorphine, regardless of whether they’ve obtained a government waiver. (Facher, 1/14)

NBC News: In 'Nasty Parting Shot,' HHS Finalizes Rule Axing LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Protections
With little more than a week left to the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services has finalized a rule permitting social-service providers that receive government funds to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Critics claim the new guidance could have wide-ranging implications for agencies that address adoption and foster-parenting, as well as homelessness, HIV prevention, elder care and other public services. (Avery, 1/12)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Axes MFAR Rule For Good
CMS on Thursday officially killed its controversial Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation after putting it on ice in September. The Trump administration proposed the rule in November 2019 because it worried that states were gaming the state-federal Medicaid financing system to collect additional federal dollars. But a wide range of stakeholders opposed the rule, including providers, state regulators and governors, patient advocacy groups and some members of Congress. That's because it would have ramped up federal oversight of how states fund their Medicaid programs and possibly led to significant funding cuts. (Brady, 1/14)

In other Trump administration news —

Modern Healthcare: AHA Freezes Political Contributions To Lawmakers Who Objected To Electoral College Results
The American Hospital Association is the latest healthcare organization to publicly announce it will suspend all political contributions to lawmakers who voted to object to the election results last week. In a statement Thursday, the AHA said it will "immediately suspend" contributions to members of Congress who voted to object to electoral college results. AHA's decision follows that of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, which made a similar announcement earlier this week. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America has also followed the lead of the Blues association. Other healthcare organizations are responding to last week's events by reviewing their policies for political contributions or pausing them entirely. (Castellucci, 1/14)

Politico: Harold Bornstein, Trump’s Eccentric Ex-Doctor, Dies 
Harold Bornstein, President Donald Trump’s former personal physician, has died. He was 73.News of Bornstein’s death first surfaced last Thursday, after a paid notice was published in The New York Times. The Times notice did not state a cause or place of death, and Bornstein’s office did not immediately return a request for comment from POLITICO. The shaggy-haired, bespectacled gastroenterologist first came to public prominence in 2015, when he authored a note for the Trump campaign memorably predicting his patient “will be the healthiest individual elected to the presidency.” (Forgey, 1/14)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: On Capitol Hill, Actions Have Consequences
The reverberations from the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump continue. A broad array of business groups, including many from the health industry, are halting contributions to Republicans in the House and Senate who voted against certifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden. Meanwhile, Republicans in the House who have refused to wear masks or insisted on carrying weapons are being subjected to greater enforcement, including significant fines. (1/14)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Finalizes Rule To Revamp ACA Exchanges
CMS on Thursday significantly changed how Affordable Care Act exchanges will run, including allowing states to waive some requirements and to use web-based brokers to sell insurance by 2023, moves that insurers and other industry groups have said would essentially privatize the exchanges. In its annual benefit and payment parameters rule, the agency said states will be able to use Section 1332 waivers to individualize their exchanges and eliminate some statutory requirements. States will be allowed to add web-based brokers as the primary way that residents enroll in individual market plans. The agency put the onus on states to ensure those brokers and insurers meet any eligibility requirements. (1/14)

FierceHealthcare: CMS Finalizes Some Regulations Governing ACA Exchanges For 2022
CMS has finalized a number of proposals in its rule governing the ACA's exchanges in 2022, including lower user fees. In the final rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) set user fees for qualified health plans at 2.25% of the premium, down from 3%. The agency said that steadily cutting down user fees since 2018 has allowed it to decrease premiums by 8%. The rule would also set fees for state-based exchanges that use Healthcare.gov to 1.75%, down from 2.25%. (Minemyer, 1/14)

In other news about the Affordable Care Act —

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Kemp, Trump Proposal To Block ACA Shopping Website Draws Legal Fight
Advocates for the federal health insurance program known as Obamacare filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging Georgia’s plan to block access to coverage through the program’s online marketplace. The federal lawsuit argues that in allowing Georgia to ignore certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration was illegally attempting to gut the law, which has withstood repeated challenges in Congress and the courts. “Millions of Americans have bought insurance on the ACA’s exchanges,” said John Lewis, senior counsel with the Washington-based organization Democracy Forward and the lead lawyer on the lawsuit. “I would hate to see another state pursue the same thing that Georgia’s trying to pursue.” (Hart, 1/14)

Reuters: Planned Parenthood Sues To Block Georgia From Ditching ACA Exchange
A Planned Parenthood affiliate and an Atlanta women’s health center have sued the Trump administration to block its approval of Georgia’s plan to stop using the Affordable Care Act’s healthcare.gov health insurance exchange. In a complaint filed Thursday in Washington, D.C., federal court against the Department of Health and Human Services, Planned Parenthood Southeast and Feminist Women’s Health Center said the plan would harm them because more of their patients would be uninsured. (Pierson, 1/14)

AP: Louisiana Sees Another Drop In Health Insurance Through Marketplace
Louisiana saw its fifth annual drop in health insurance enrollment through the individual marketplace set up through President Barack Obama’s federal health overhaul law. The Advocate reports that enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s individual market fell to 83,159 this year, down from 87,748 policyholders last year. The program offers income-based, taxpayer-subsidized private health insurance plans for people who aren’t covered on the job. (1/14)

The Hill: Hospital Offering Employees Money In Exchange For Getting COVID-19 Vaccine 
One of Houston's largest hospitals is offering a $500 bonus to employees who receive a vaccine for COVID-19. The reporting of the bonus comes as health systems around the country have reported difficulties convincing health care workers to get vaccinated before their patients. (Bowden, 1/14)

KHN: Geography Is Destiny: Dentists’ Access To Covid Shots Depends On Where They Live 
Dr. Monte Junker, an Oregon dentist, is waiting for his turn to get vaccinated for covid even though he considers himself a front-line health worker. “If they offered it to me today, I would be there,” he said. In December, just before the first vaccines were cleared for emergency use, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention immunization advisory board recommended that health care workers — as well as nursing home residents and staff members — be the first to be inoculated because of their high risks of infection. (Galewitz, 1/15)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Is Driving These Nurses To Quit 
After five years, Kami Cayce worked her last shift as a nurse in September. For the 27-year-old Texan, the decision to leave seemed inevitable after a tumultuous year turned upside down by the coronavirus. After initial stay-at-home orders, Cayce’s workplace, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center, resumed non-emergency and elective surgeries at rates even higher than before covid-19. Cayce says her workload increased dramatically while concerns about coronavirus were still top of mind. “Nurses were forced to work above capacity while understaffed. Because of the increased volume of surgeries, patients would sometimes wait for a room for up to 10 hours after surgery,” said Cayce, a post-operation recovery nurse. (Youn, 1/14)

KQED: Exhausted Health Care Workers Feel Betrayed By Those Who Ignore COVID Rules
The crush of COVID-19 patients from post-holiday surges continues to overwhelm California hospitals. The state passed a grim milestone this week, with more than 31,000 people dead from the virus. The state recorded an average of more than 500 deaths over the past seven days. In the Bay Area, Santa Clara County has run out of morgue space, and three 65-foot trailers have been brought in to house the deceased; the county may soon activate a “mass fatality plan.” Besides patients and their families, no one is feeling the pain of this catastrophe more than health care workers. The onslaught has exhausted them, but many also use the word "betrayed" to describe their feelings toward the public, and they have grown angry at people for skirting safety rules because they know much of the suffering is avoidable. (McClurg, 1/14)

TheWeek: Vaccine Maker BioNTech Reports Potential Multiple Sclerosis Breakthrough
BioNTech, the German biotechnology company that paired with Pfizer to develop the first COVID-19 vaccine approved in the U.S., reports in the journal Science that a new vaccine using the same mRNA technique has proved effective in treating or stopping multiple sclerosis in lab mice. MS is caused not by a virus but by the immune system malfunctioning and attacking the protective covering of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, disrupting signals between those cells and their targets in the body, causing neurological, sensory, and motor issues. BioNTech said it successfully encoded MS-specific autoantigens that, when delivered via its experimental vaccine, stopped MS symptoms in mice bred with a condition mirroring MS in humans, and prevented further deterioration in mice with early signs of MS. Mice given a placebo showed typical MS symptoms. (1/12)

FierceBiotech: BioNTech CEO Applies COVID-19 Vaccine's MRNA Tech To Multiple Sclerosis 
In mice with autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a model for human MS, the team found that the vaccine was processed by lymphoid antigen-presenting cells without triggering a systemic inflammatory immune response, even when delivered at very high antigen concentrations. It did not impair the animals' ability to launch a protective immune response. The vaccine blocked all clinical signs of MS in mice, while control animals experienced the typical symptoms of the disease. (Liu, 1/7)

New York Daily News: BioNTech Achieves Breakthrough In Multiple Sclerosis Vaccine 
Existing treatments typically “work by systemically suppressing the immune system,” Angus Liu writes in Fierce Biotech. “That can control MS, but it also leaves patients vulnerable to infections.” BioNTech’s vaccine did not compromise normal immune function. The researchers said their findings suggest that mRNA vaccines, which can be developed quickly, could soon be used to treat “disease-causing antigens of individual patients.”(Schladebeck, 1/12)

Yahoo Finance: BioNTech, Firm Behind Pfizer's COVID-19 Jab, Develops Potential Vaccine For Multiple Sclerosis
With the MS vaccine, the mRNA technology stops the body's immune system from attacking neurons in the brain and spinal cord which can lead to the loss of bodily function. Clinical trials on mice revealed the jab not only stopped the disease from progressing but restored some motor skills which had been lost. (Riaz, 1/13)

Fox News: Coronavirus Treatment With Umbilical Cord-Derived Stem Cells Shows Promise, Experts Call For Large Trials
After a small study suggested stem cells from umbilical cords offered coronavirus patients a safe treatment, boosting survival rates and fast-tracking recovery, outside experts are echoing calls for large, multicenter clinical trials to conclude efficacy. The anti-inflammatory effects from so-called mesenchymal stem cells have sparked interest among some scientists in the search for additional treatments against the novel virus, especially as the country continues to set record-highs in daily deaths, and more contagious variant strains pose a threat to already burdened health systems. Researchers from the University of Miami published early findings in the Stem Cells Translational Medicine journal last week. In a double-blind randomized trial, half of 24 coronavirus patients suffering from lung damage received two stem cell infusions, with 100 million cells each, several days apart, while the other 12 patients had two infusions of placebo. (Rivas, 1/14)

Boston Globe: Researchers Test Common Drugs In Quest For Treatments For Early COVID-19
Little-noticed groups of medical researchers are racing to find treatments for COVID-19 in its early stages, hoping to keep infected people out of the hospital with everyday remedies like antidepressants or vitamins. Instead of seeking new drugs, the researchers are pulling common generics off pharmacy shelves, and even eyeing the nutritional-supplement aisles, in search of agents with proven safety and, perhaps, hidden superpowers. And they’re pioneering a new approach to medical research — mail-order clinical trials, in which patients can take the medication and monitor its effects without leaving home. (Freyer, 1/14)

In other research news —

CIDRAP: Men More Vulnerable To COVID-19 Complications, Death Than Women
Men are more likely to test positive for COVID-19, have complications, and die from their infections than females—regardless of age, according to a study published yesterday in PLOS One. The study, led by researchers at Houston Methodist Research Institute in Texas, used electronic medical record data from a large healthcare provider to analyze the link between sex and COVID-19 in 14,992 adults from Mar 2 to Aug 22, 2020. (1/14)

Stat: Former Merck Employee Arrested For Stealing Trade Secrets On Cancer Research 
A former Merck (MRK) cancer researcher was arrested and charged with stealing a raft of trade secrets just before taking a job with a competitor, according to the Department of Justice. In a criminal complaint filed in a federal court in New Jersey, officials allege that Shafat Quadri, who was employed as a director of medical and scientific affairs for immuno-oncology, allegedly copied and removed thousands of files containing proprietary information on various projects researching treatment for different cancers. (Silverman, 1/14)

AP: Google Muscles Up With Fitbit Deal Amid Antitrust Concerns
Google has completed its $2.1 billion acquisition of fitness-gadget maker Fitbit, a deal that could help the internet company grow even stronger while U.S. government regulators pursue an antitrust case aimed at undermining its power. Thursday’s completion of the acquisition comes 14 months after Google announced a deal that immediately raised alarms. Google makes most of its money by selling ads based on information it collects about its billions of users’ interests and whereabouts. Privacy watchdogs feared it might exploit Fitbit to peer even deeper into people’s lives. (Liedtke, 1/14)

Stat: Two Ways Fitbit Could Boost Google's Health Ambitions
Google’s newly-finalized purchase of Fitbit is poised to provide the tech giant with a potentially lucrative toehold into two competitive markets: clinical trials and employer benefits. The $2.1 billion buy-out could give Google an edge in the race to court employers and health plans as companies seek to boost staff benefits amid the pandemic, industry observers told STAT. (Brodwin and Aguilar, 1/15)

In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —

The Hill: Report Faults 'Broken' System For Insulin Price Spikes 
Insulin prices have soared in recent years due to a “broken” system that rewards companies for raising costs on a drug that hasn’t been significantly improved in its 100-year existence, congressional investigators said Thursday. A scathing report from the offices of Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, found that in the convoluted drug pricing system, competition, rather than lowering costs, often drives price increases. (Hellmann, 1/14)

Stat: Aurinia In 'Show-Me Phase' As FDA Nears Approval Decision On Its Drug
Next week, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve a new medicine from Aurinia Pharmaceuticals that will be used to treat patients with lupus nephritis, a serious autoimmune kidney disease. If the decision goes Aurinia’s way, the oral drug called voclosporin will be the first commercial product developed successfully by the drug maker, founded in 1993 and based in Victoria, British Columbia, in Canada. (Feuerstein, 1/15)

Fox News: Workaholics At A Greater Risk Of Depression, Study Finds
If you are a workaholic, depression or a lack of sleep, could be in the offing according to a new study. The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health reports that workaholics -- described as people with "a compulsion or an uncontrollable need to work incessantly" -- are twice as likely to be depressed and have poorer sleep quality than normal employees. The international group of researchers examined the work habits of 187 French workers and found that people in jobs with strong demands were five times more likely to be prone to work addiction. (Best, 1/14)

CIDRAP: Vision Problems Arise In Young School Kids In COVID-19 Quarantine 
The prevalence of near-sightedness, or myopia, increased 1.4 to 3 times in Chinese children aged 6 to 8 years during COVID-19 quarantine, according to a study today in JAMA Ophthalmology. (Van Beusekom, 1/14)

AP: Disneyland Ends Annual Passes 10 Months After Virus Closure
Disneyland is ending its annual pass program 10 months after the theme park shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, the theme park said Thursday. The park in Anaheim, California, said it would begin issuing pro-rated refunds to eligible passholders. (1/14)

The New York Times: U.S. Figure Skating To Pay $1.45 Million To Ex-Skater Who Says He Was Abused 
U.S. Figure Skating has reached a $1.45 million settlement with a former skater who had accused the organization of failing to protect him from sexual abuse by Richard Callaghan, a once-prominent coach of Olympians. The former skater, Adam Schmidt, had filed a lawsuit in San Diego in 2019 that said that Mr. Callaghan had repeatedly abused him from 1999 to 2001, beginning when Mr. Schmidt was 14 years old. (Levenson, 1/14)

KHN: When Covid Deaths Aren’t Counted, Families Pay The Price 
On Sundays, Bishop Bruce Davis preached love. Through his Pentecostal ministry, he organized youth parades and gave computers, bicycles and food to families in need. During the week, Bruce practiced what he preached, caring for prisoners at a Georgia hospital. On March 27 he began coughing, and on April 1 he was hospitalized. He’d tested positive for covid-19. The virus swept through his household, infecting his wife and daughter and hospitalizing their disabled son. Ten days after landing in the hospital, Bruce died. (Bailey and Cahan, 1/15)

KHN: Journalists Examine How Covid Polarizes Communities 
California Healthline senior correspondent Anna Maria Barry-Jester discussed public health backlash on WABE’s “Did You Wash Your Hands?” on Jan. 5. ... KHN Colorado correspondent Rae Ellen Bichell dissected how covid-19 exacerbates tensions between counties in Colorado on NPR’s “Weekend Edition” on Jan. 9. ... KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner talked about mental health care and the pandemic on WAMU/NPR’s “1A” on Jan. 11. (1/15)

The New York Times: Nine Michigan Leaders Face Charges in Water Crisis that Roiled Flint
After a criminal investigation that stretched close to two years, prosecutors in Michigan on Thursday announced 41 counts — 34 felonies and seven misdemeanors — against nine officials who once worked in the highest echelons of state government. Along with the former governor were his trusted advisers, top medical officials and two emergency managers who had been tasked with guiding Flint out of financial distress. (Gray and Bosman, 1/14)

AP: List Of Officials Charged In Flint Water Crisis, Allegations
Here are the former Michigan, state-appointed and local officials charged in the Flint water crisis, titles at the time, and charges, allegations and maximum penalties they face if convicted, including: Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon: Nine felony counts of involuntary manslaughter. (1/14)

In news from West Virginia and Connecticut —

Charleston Gazette-Mail: Investigation Finds No Crime With Syringe Distribution Group In Charleston
After a months-long investigation, the Charleston Police Department reported Wednesday there is nothing illegal about community health group Solutions Oriented Addiction Response providing clean needles to people who inject drugs. Charleston Police Chief Tyke Hunt said Thursday that harm reduction programs should not be under the authority of police, but rather medical professionals. “When you’re looking at a big picture like harm reduction, the chief of police shouldn’t be the person in charge,” Hunt said. “I — the police — should only be enforcement.” The investigation into SOAR started in October, after a WCHS-TV report brought the group’s syringe program to Hunt’s attention. (Coyne, 1/14)

The CT Mirror: COVID Deaths And Infections In CT Nursing Homes Decline As More Residents Are Vaccinated
For the first time in several weeks, the number of COVID-19 deaths and infections in long-term care facilities in Connecticut decreased sharply — raising the possibility that systematic vaccinations are curbing the virus’s deadly path through the state’s most vulnerable residents. Over the week of Jan. 6-12, there were 85 deaths in nursing homes and 312 residents who were infected — both numbers lower than during previous weeks. (Altimari, 1/14)

Bloomberg: Canadian Health Officials Back Delaying Second Dose Of Vaccine
Canadian public health officials are endorsing plans by some local governments to delay the second dose of Covid-19 vaccines beyond the timeline recommended by pharmaceutical companies. An advisory group overseeing the vaccine rollout said Thursday that provinces can likely wait as long as six weeks to give a second dose without impacting the vaccine’s effectiveness -- double the timeline recommended. (Bolongaro, 1/14)

NPR: Israel To Start Vaccinating Palestinian Prisoners Next Week
Israel's health minister announced Thursday the country would vaccinate Palestinian prisoners against COVID-19, after Israel's president said withholding vaccines was against Israel's Jewish and democratic values. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said the prisoners would be vaccinated early next week, on Monday or Tuesday. The minister informed NPR of the decision before making a public announcement. The decision comes amid a larger debate about whether Israel, which is leading the world in vaccinations per capita, should ensure vaccines for the Palestinian public in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which is blockaded by Israel and Egypt. (Estrin, 1/14)

Bloomberg: Norway Warns of Vaccination Risks for Sick Patients Over 80
Norway says there are risks that Covid-19 vaccinations may be too risky for the very old and terminally sick, after 23 people died within a short time of receiving their first shot. Of those deaths, 13 have so far been autopsied with the results suggesting that common side effects may have contributed to severe reactions in frail, elderly people, according to the Norwegian Medicines Agency. “For those with the most severe frailty, even relatively mild vaccine side effects can have serious consequences,” the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said. “For those who have a very short remaining life span anyway, the benefit of the vaccine may be marginal or irrelevant.” (Treloar and Erik Taraldsen, 1/15)

AP: China Builds New Quarantine Center As Virus Cases Rise
A city in northern China is building a 3,000-unit quarantine facility to deal with an anticipated overflow of patients as COVID-19 cases rise ahead of the Lunar New Year travel rush. State media on Friday showed crews leveling earth, pouring concrete and assembling pre-fabricated rooms in farmland outside Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital of Hebei province that has seen the bulk of new cases. That recalled scenes last year, when China rapidly built field hospitals and turned gymnasiums into isolation centers to cope with the initial outbreak linked to the central city of Wuhan. (1/15)

The New York Times: Hopes For Tokyo’s Summer Olympics Darken 
Plans for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games are growing more uncertain by the day. As coronavirus cases rise throughout Japan and in several large countries in Europe and the Americas, officials both in Tokyo and with the International Olympic Committee have begun to acknowledge that holding a safe Games might not be possible, endangering dreams that the Olympics could serve as a global celebration of the end of the pandemic. (Futterman, 1/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Smart Face Masks? Fever-Sensing Doorbells? CES 2021 Tech Promises Covid Protection. 
Good news, everyone, I’m still breathing. At least, that’s what my smart mask says.In fact, it tells everyone around me, via a small color-customizable LED light. (I chose purple.) It illuminates when it’s recording my respiratory cycle. Look, do I have the coolest mask at the supermarket? 100%. Do I need it? 100% not. The connected $150 AirPop Active+ mask, which I’ve been testing for the past few days, was officially announced this week at what can now only be called CPS—the Covid Protection Show. Bye-bye, CES! (Stern, 1/13)

The Washington Post: This Photographer Shows Us How The Long-Term Effects Of Covid-19 Are Being Studied At A Hospital In Rome
It’s now 2021, and globally, we are still dealing with the novel coronavirus and its fallout. Though vaccines have been approved, their rollout is taking time, so we are urged to continue practicing the precautions we followed throughout most of 2020. One of the unfortunate aspects of the virus and covid-19, the disease it causes, is the lingering health problems that some experience. In Italy, photographer Marco Carmignan spent some time at the Day Hospital Post-Covid-19 of the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, which opened in April last year to treat covid-19 patients recovering from the virus and dealing with its long-term effects. (Dickerman and Carmignan, 1/8)

The New York Times: An Appreciation For Vaccines, And How Far They Have Come 
This time of year, my thoughts turn to the DTP vaccine. Last year I wrote about the apocryphal “Christmas miracle” of 1891, in which the newly discovered diphtheria antitoxin may (or more likely, may not) have been used before it had been approved to save a child’s life. Still, the moral was that bacteriology, that new 19th-century science, had figured out how one of the deadly microscopic bacteria did its damage, with a poison that could choke off children’s airways, and had invented an antidote, and that was miracle enough. (Klass, 1/11)

Bloomberg: Covid Vaccines: National Regulators Cut The Red Tape At Their Own Pace
If one country approves a coronavirus vaccine, should another just trust it and follow suit? Covid-19’s rapid global spread pushed labs and manufacturers to develop vaccines quickly. Several are now in use and more are in various stages of development. Early predictions that a vaccine would take 12 to 18 months to arrive seemed optimistic. Hand it to the  pharmaceutical companies; they stepped up and delivered. Now, the greater burden is on regulators to deploy vaccines in their countries. Drug approval processes vary by nation and there isn’t a universal one-stop procedure, though various bodies tend to communicate. This means timelines of deployment vary from place to place, often delaying shots going into arms. (Trivedi, 1/11)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Are We At The Beginning Of The End Of COVID-19? The Tricky Road To Herd Immunity, Explained
One year into a changed world, the numbers defy comprehension. More than 21 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States — a rate approaching one in 15 people — plus untold millions who had mild or no symptoms and were never identified. Add the millions who have now received their first doses of vaccine, and it is fair to wonder: Can we start to look forward to when life returns to normal? The answer hinges on that often-misunderstood concept of herd immunity, made all the more complicated by the emergence of two variants of the coronavirus that seem to spread more rapidly, one of which is already in the U.S. Evidence so far suggests that the new mutations will have little, if any, impact on how well the vaccines work, and they do not seem to result in more severe illness. (Avril, 1/8)

The New York Times: A Year After Wuhan, China Tells A Tale Of Triumph (And No Mistakes)
At a museum in Wuhan, China, a sprawling exhibition paints a stirring tale of how the city’s sacrifices in a brutal 76-day lockdown led to triumph over the coronavirus and, ultimately, rebirth. No costs appear to have been spared for the show, which features a hologram of medical staff members moving around a hospital room, heart-rending letters from frontline health workers and a replica of a mass quarantine site, complete with beds, miniature Chinese flags and toothbrush cups. (Qin and Hernandez, 1/10)

Modern Healthcare: How The Biden Administration, Congress Can Heal Healthcare
Amid the worst health crisis of our lifetimes, American voters ranked the economy and healthcare as top issues in a pre-election Gallup poll, perhaps not a surprise given that an estimated 14.6 million individuals lost employer-sponsored health insurance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The incoming Biden administration and the 117th Congress can begin to improve the health of our citizens and the American economy with policies that support a sustainable, value-based healthcare system. (Connolly, 1/13)

And more good reads —

The New York Times: Tommy Lasorda’s Death Starts A Conversation About His Son 
When Penelope Spheeris heard that Tommy Lasorda died on Thursday at 93, she knew many people would be touched by the sad news, particularly in Los Angeles. The city has long been her home, and it is also where Lasorda became a baseball icon, leading the Dodgers to two World Series titles during his Hall of Fame career. But Spheeris’s mind quickly turned to someone else in the Lasorda family that she had known and missed: his son, Tommy Jr., known as Spunky, who was gay and died in 1991 at 33 from complications from AIDS. She cried. (Wagner, 1/11)

ProPublica: The Nursing Home Didn’t Send Her To The Hospital, And She Died 
In early April, before COVID-19 hit her state hard, Palestine Howze was in a Durham, North Carolina, nursing home, living in pain. She had lost her legs to diabetes, and for months she had been suffering through a bedsore. In her medical records, staff noted that Howze, 71, would moan through the night. Her daughters had been told about the bedsore back in August 2019, and it was a small spot, no bigger than a quarter when Howze’s daughter Lisa saw it. But as it persisted, they wondered why it wasn’t going away. They say the facility reassured them that the wound was under control. Then on April 2, 2020, Lisa Howze received a call from the nursing home. The sore had become infected. (Campbell, 1/8)

The New York Times: The Sperm Kings Have A Problem: Too Much Demand 
The sperm kings of America are exhausted. These men are flying all over the place. They are shipping their sperm with new vial systems and taking the latest DNA tests because that is what women want now. Sure, they can talk on the phone, but they say it has to be quick because they are driving to Dallas or Kansas City or Portland, Maine, in time for an ovulation window. They would like to remind me they have day jobs. “People are fed up with sperm banks,” said Kyle Gordy, 29, who lives in Malibu, Calif. He invests in real estate but spends most of his time donating his sperm, free (except for the cost of travel), to women. He also runs a nearly 11,000-member private Facebook group, Sperm Donation USA, which helps women connect with a roster of hundreds of approved donors. His donor sperm has sired 35 children, with five more on the way, he said. (Bowles, 1/8)

The New York Times: When Getting High Is A Hobby, Not A Habit 
It doesn’t take long to get to what is perhaps the boldest and most controversial statement in Carl Hart’s new book, “Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear.” In the prologue, he writes, “I am now entering my fifth year as a regular heroin user.” In all honesty, I don’t know how to feel about this admission. It’s not easy to square all that I’ve learned about this drug with the image I also hold of Hart: a tenured professor of psychology at Columbia University, an experienced neuroscientist, a father. Hart knows this. He knows about the discomfort his readers might feel when they encounter his full-throated endorsement of opiates for recreational use. He offers the information in a spirit of radical transparency because he believes that if “grown-ups” like him would talk freely about the role of drugs in their lives, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in, a mess brought about by our ruinous drug policies, which have had such profound — and profoundly unequal — consequences for those who fall afoul of them. (Schwartz, 1/12)

Stat: Is Doctors' Doing Less Why More People Are Surviving Covid-19? 
Last month as my colleagues and I took care of Mrs. Smith (not her real name), a middle-aged woman hospitalized with Covid-19, every day felt like an education in learned helplessness. No matter what our team did, her infection kept getting worse. At first she was breathing just room air. Then she needed extra oxygen delivered by a small tube sitting below her nostrils. After that she needed more oxygen delivered through a facemask. (Haider J. Warraich, 1/15)

Bloomberg: Is Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 Vaccine A Game Changer?
We won’t know the efficacy of the vaccine for another couple of weeks — that’s when the first results from late-stage, phase III trials will be reported — but the data from an earlier stage in the trial that was  just published in a peer-reviewed article in the New England Journal of Medicine helps us make some predictions. The findings, looking at various aspects of the immune response after one or two doses, look better than the preliminary report from the same trial that we saw in September. After just one dose, the immune reaction looks similar to that seen with two doses of the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. vaccines, though it’s important to note that different methods were used to measure antibody levels, so they are not directly comparable. What’s also good is that the antibody response continued to remain strong and even improved up to 71 days after the first dose, while the effect in people older than 65 was pretty much the same as that seen in younger adults. Given all this, and the fact that the Pfizer vaccine had close to 90% efficacy in its phase III trial between the first and second dose, I am optimistic that J&J’s phase III will also report very strong efficacy. (Sam Fazeli, 1/14)

Fox News: Biden’s $1.9 Trillion ‘Rescue Plan’ Could Destroy 4 Million Jobs — Here’s A Better Idea
All that Biden’s proposal does is stimulate Washington and many of the governments in blue states in America, which have lockdown governors who have bankrupted their own states. Casey Mulligan of the University of Chicago and I estimate that at least 4 million jobs would be destroyed by the Biden bill because all of the free money makes work less essential and — in many cases — less financially attractive than getting off the couch and working. That’s some stimulus. (Stephen Moore, 1/14)

The New York Times: The Coronavirus Is Erasing Minority Women From The Workforce
For years, the story of working women in the United States has been one of slow but steady progress. Against this backdrop, the latest monthly employment figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics delivered an acute shock. A net total of 144,00 jobs were lost in December, the clear effect of the continuing economic downturn. But while male employment increased slightly, 156,000 women lost their jobs, mainly in pandemic-hit sectors such as hospitality and education. And since the employment of white women actually increased, on net these losses fell on women of color.This is the scourge of the pandemic: It is landing multiple blows on those least able to bear them, widening inequalities stemming from gender, class and race. (Diane Coyle, 1/14)

The New York Times: Disabled Americans Are Losing A Lifeline
At a time when the pandemic has hit the disabled and elderly the hardest, they also face the erosion of a critical income lifeline, Supplemental Security Income (S.S.I.). The program has collapsed during the pandemic: From July to November 2020, the Social Security Administration awarded benefits to about 100,000 fewer individuals compared with the same period in 2019. In July 2020 the agency distributed just 38,318 new awards — the fewest in 20 years of available data.At this rate, more than 230,000 low-income disabled and elderly Americans will miss out on vital cash benefits and access to health care (via Medicaid, which S.S.I. recipients generally qualify for) in one year. (Jonathan Stein and David Weaver, 1/14)

The Washington Post: Four Years Ago, I Set Out In An RV To Understand Trump’s Appeal. Here’s What I Found. 
We went back and forth, in the way that friends do — friendly, teasing, laughing. At one point the electrician began sharing a story about an experience with his union — more new members and fewer jobs. But then he slipped as he described the new union members, the “colored” ones. I didn’t bat an eye in the momentary awkwardness, while he quickly corrected himself. But there it was — the heart of the Trump thing. Race. (Donna F. Edwards, 1/14)

The Baltimore Sun: The Death Of Dr. Amanda Cook Zivic From COVID-19: A Loss For Family And Friends, For Psychiatry, In Some Way For Us All 
We stand on the banks of a swelling river of news about infections, hospitalizations, deaths. Some of us know people who died in the pandemic, but many do not. The casualty reports have started to become background noise, or like the small-print lists of American combat deaths that years ago appeared in newspapers. (Dan Rodricks, 1/14)

Portland Press Herald: Maine Democratic Leaders: Mainers Deserve A COVID-19 Patient Bill Of Rights 
Ten months ago, the first COVID-19 case was reported in Maine. Almost overnight, our lives were upended and our sense of normalcy shattered. Throughout it all, Mainers have shown resilience, but it hasn’t been easy. With each passing holiday, birthday or life event, it gets harder and harder to be apart. Mainers are more than ready for their lives to go back to normal. Grandparents want to play with their grandkids. Children want to be able to visit and hug their parents again. That’s why we’re proud to introduce L.D. 1, An Act to Establish a COVID-19 Patient Bill of Rights. It takes basic steps to protect the health and safety of Mainers, and gets us closer to restoring our communities and economy. (Troy Jackson and Ryan Fecteau, 1/14)

The Wall Street Journal: The Good News On Cancer 
Ready for some good news for a change? The American Cancer Society reported this week that cancer mortality declined by a record 2.4% in 2018 and 31% since the 1991 peak. Credit better and earlier diagnostics and therapies and a decline in smoking. About 40% of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and the risk increases with age. Cancer is the leading cause of death for middle-aged Americans and two to three times more likely to kill someone in their 50s or 60s than even Covid-19. The incidence of some cancers like breast, liver and kidney is also increasing partly for demographic and lifestyle reasons. (1/14)

Los Angeles Times: Climate Change Remains The Greatest Crisis Of Our Crisis-Filled Era
As the nation deals with the tragic drama of President Trump’s final days in office, and the world reels under a now-year-long assault by a virus, the Earth continues to evolve into a dangerously inhospitable environment. And it is our collective fault. This past year was, in essence, in a statistical tie with 2016 for the hottest on record, with temperatures driven upward by the warming effects of human activities that spew carbon and other greenhouse compounds into the atmosphere. (1/14)