First Edition: Jan. 25, 2021

KHN: Anti-Vaccine Activists Peddle Theories That Covid Shots Are Deadly, Undermining Vaccination
Anti-vaccine groups are exploiting the suffering and death of people who happen to fall ill after receiving a covid shot, threatening to undermine the largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history. In some cases, anti-vaccine activists are fabricating stories of deaths that never occurred. “This is exactly what anti-vaccine groups do,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, an infectious diseases specialist and author of “Preventing the Next Pandemic: Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti-Science.” (Szabo, 1/25)

KHN: Vaccine Ramp-Up Squeezes Covid Testing And Tracing
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, under growing pressure to jump-start a faltering covid-19 vaccine rollout, jetted to Los Angeles on Jan. 15 to unveil a massive new vaccination site at Dodger Stadium that is expected eventually to inoculate 12,000 people a day. The city-run venue had been the biggest covid testing site in the U.S., administering over 1 million tests in its nearly eight months of operation — and over 10,000 a day during the recent surge. Its redeployment to the cause of vaccination, Newsom declared, provides “an extraordinary world-class site for a world-class logistics operation.” (Wolfson, 1/25)

KHN: Amid Covid Health Worker Shortage, Foreign-Trained Professionals Sit On Sidelines
As hospitals nationwide struggle with the latest covid-19 surge, it’s not so much beds or ventilators in short supply. It’s the people to care for the sick. Yet a large, highly skilled workforce of foreign-educated doctors, nurses and other health practitioners is going largely untapped due to licensing and credentialing barriers. According to the Migration Policy Institute think tank in Washington, D.C., some 165,000 foreign-trained immigrants in the U.S. hold degrees in health-related fields but are unemployed or underemployed in the midst of the health crisis. (Hawryluk, 1/25)

USA Today: British Officials Say COVID-19 Variant Discovered In UK May Be 30% More Lethal
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Friday that a coronavirus variant first detected in the country in September may be about 30% more deadly than previous versions of the disease. Johnson unveiled the worrying statistic in a London news conference. British scientists already had concluded that the variant, known as B.1.1.7, spread 30%-70% faster than the previous dominant coronavirus strain in the U.K. In addition to spreading faster, "it may be associated with a higher degree of mortality," Johnson said. (Hjelmgaard and Weintraub, 1/22)

CNN: CDC Reviewing New Data That Suggests Coronavirus Variant Identified In UK Could Be More Deadly
Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist and member of President Joe Biden's coronavirus transition team, said he has reviewed the UK report, as well as other data that has not been publicly released, and he is "convinced" that the new variant is deadlier. "The data is mounting -- and some of it I can't share -- that clearly supports that B.1.1.7 is causing more severe illness and increased death," said Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "Already we know this variant has increased transmission, and so this is more very bad news." (Cohen, 1/24)

NPR: Biden To Implement Travel Restrictions To Combat New Coronavirus Variants
President Biden will reimpose a ban on many non-U.S. citizens attempting to enter the country. The move is an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19 and contain new variants of the disease that have cropped up in several countries around the globe, according to media reports Sunday. The ban, expected to start Monday, would prohibit travelers from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and 26 countries in Europe that allow travel across open borders, called the Schengen Area, according to Reuters. It will also block entry to travelers from Brazil and South Africa, where researchers discovered new variants of the virus. (Diaz, 1/25)

The Hill: Biden To Ban Most Non-US Citizens Traveling From South Africa Over New COVID-19 Variant: Report 
President Biden is expected to ban most non-U.S. citizens traveling from South Africa from entering the U.S. due to the COVID-19 variant recently discovered there. A top Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official told Reuters in an interview that Biden will restrict entry for travelers who are not U.S. citizens and have visited South Africa within the last two weeks. (Coleman, 1/24)

CNBC: Biden To Restrict Travel With South Africa, U.K., Brazil To Slow New Covid Strains
The CDC also announced on Sunday that it will remove the option for airlines with flights from countries that lack Covid-19 testing to apply for temporary waivers for some travelers. The agency will implement the order on Tuesday. (Newburger and Josephs, 1/24)

Politico: Biden To Ban Travel From South Africa, Reinstate Restrictions On Brazil And U.K. 
The White House official also confirmed that the administration would not allow airlines to make exemptions to a separate order set to go into effect this week, which will require all international travelers to show proof of a negative Covid test before entering the U.S. Airlines had requested temporary waivers permitting them to carry some travelers coming from countries with limited testing capacity. However, CDC officials told Reuters that they would consider case-by-case humanitarian exemptions for some travelers. (Beasley, 1/24)

CNN: Biden's Mask Mandate: Transportation Officials Weigh Options To Enforce Biden's New Requirement For Travelers 
Federal transportation officials are considering a range of options to enforce President Joe Biden's new face mask requirement for interstate travelers, including the possibility of fines in the thousands of dollars, multiple sources told CNN. The normal rulemaking process can take months, at least, to complete, so officials are believed to be considering emergency actions that could take effect much sooner. Biden signed an executive order Thursday mandating interstate travelers wear a mask, and on his first day in office, he challenged Americans to wear masks for 100 days to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. (Wallace, 1/24)

USA Today: Biden's COVID-19 Testing Push Calls For More Supplies And Rapid Tests
President Joe Biden seeks to reset the nation’s inconsistent coronavirus testing efforts with a $50 billion plan and more federal oversight. Biden’s plan calls for a newly created Pandemic Testing Board to coordinate a “clear, unified approach” to testing for COVID-19, a marked difference from the Trump administration’s policy of states establishing their own plans with federal support. Laboratories have ramped up production to more than 2 million tests each day, but stubborn problems persist. Some labs struggle to complete timely tests – particularly when demand surges – because of shortages of critical supplies. (Alltucker, 1/24)

CNN: Sanders Says Democrats Will Use Reconciliation 'As Soon As We Possibly Can' To Pass Covid-19 Relief Package
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the incoming chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said Sunday that Democrats would use a rare procedural tactic to pass major parts of a Covid-19 relief package if Republicans refuse to move on the measure. Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" that Democrats will use the move -- known as reconciliation -- "as soon as we possibly can" to pass the package by 51 votes in the Senate, rather than 60, if Republicans don't move the legislation. (Diaz, 1/24)

Politico: Bernie Sanders: Dems Will Use Reconciliation To Pass Covid Relief ‘As Soon As We Possibly Can’ 
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday said Senate Democrats would pass a Covid-19 relief bill as soon as possible through budget reconciliation, which would allow the package to pass with a simple majority vote rather than with the support of 60 senators. “We are going to use reconciliation, that is 50 votes in the Senate plus the vice president, to pass legislation desperately needed by working families in this country right now,” the Vermont senator told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” on Sunday. The new Senate stands on 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tiebreaking vote when needed. (Hooper, 1/24)

Politico: Bipartisan Group Of Senators Pushes Back On Biden Covid Plan 
A bipartisan group of senators told White House officials on Sunday that the stimulus spending in President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief plan provides too much money to high-income Americans, an opening setback in the new administration's complex pandemic negotiations with Congress. Biden’s proposal would provide $1,400 direct payments to Americans, some of whom senators say don’t need the money. Still, the discussion was civil and there was a “consensus” on the need to act urgently on vaccine distribution, said multiple senators on the call. It was also a sign that the Biden White House will be more hands on than former President Donald Trump, who nearly refused to sign the last relief bill after making a flurry of last-minute requests after the bill already passed Congress. (Barron-Lopez and Everett, 1/24)

The Hill: Biden Officials Hold Call With Bipartisan Group Of Senators On Coronavirus Relief Plan
Officials in President Biden’s administration on Sunday held a call with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss the White House’s proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. Several senators confirmed their participation in the call, with a couple of Democratic senators describing the conversation as “productive.” (Coleman, 1/24)

The Hill: More Than Two-Thirds Of Americans Approve Of Biden's Coronavirus Response: Poll 
More than two-thirds of Americans approve of President Biden’s response to the coronavirus pandemic days after he was inaugurated, according to a poll released on Sunday. The ABC News/Ipsos poll determined that 69 percent of respondents approved of Biden’s handling of the pandemic in his first few days as president, a difference from former President Trump’s mostly underwater ratings on the same issue. (Coleman, 1/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden To Lift Restrictions On Transgender Military Service Members 
The White House is expected to lift restrictions on transgender service members in the U.S. military as soon as Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, reversing a directive by former President Donald Trump. The move was expected after President Biden on his first day in office signed an executive order aimed at preventing discrimination based on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. He directed all agencies to address any policies in place that discriminated against individuals on either basis. (Youssef and Lubold, 1/24)

Politico: Deborah Birx: ‘Parallel Set Of Data’ On Covid-19 Was Delivered To Trump 
While Deborah Birx served as the White House coronavirus response coordinator under President Donald Trump, “outside advisers” were bringing him “parallel” sets of data on the Covid-19 pandemic, she said in an interview that aired on Sunday. “I saw the president presenting graphs that I never made,” Birx said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “So, I know that someone — or someone out there or someone inside was creating a parallel set of data and graphics that were shown to the president.” (Hooper, 1/24)

CNBC: Birx Says Someone Was Giving Trump 'Parallel Data' About Covid Pandemic
[Dr. Deborah] Birx, who announced her retirement as President Joe Biden took office last week, said she doesn’t know the identity of the person who gave the president different information. She added that there were Covid-19 deniers within the Trump administration. “There were people who definitely believed that this was a hoax,” she said. “I think the information was confusing at the beginning. I think because we didn’t talk about the spectrum of the disease, everyone interpreted what they knew.” (Newburger, 1/24)

The Washington Post: Deborah Birx Says She Regularly Considered Quitting Trump Coronavirus Team, In 'Face The Nation' Interview 
Facing criticism from the administration she worked for and some in the scientific community, Deborah Birx, coordinator of the Trump White House’s coronavirus response, “always” considered quitting her job, she said in an interview set to air Sunday. “I mean, why would you want to put yourself through that every day?” Birx said in a clip of her conversation with Margaret Brennan on CBS News’ “Face The Nation.” (Kornfield, 1/22)

The New York Times: Fauci On What Working For Trump Was Really Like 
In an hourlong conversation with The New York Times over the weekend, Dr. Fauci described some of the difficulties, and the toll, of working with President Donald J. Trump: ... "The people around him, his inner circle, were quite upset that I would dare publicly contradict the president. That’s when we started getting into things I felt were unfortunate and somewhat nefarious." (McNeil Jr. 1/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Contracted By Scores Of National Guard Members In Washington 
Nearly 200 members of the National Guard deployed to Washington in the days leading up to Wednesday’s presidential inauguration have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and some officials fear cramped rest and working quarters contributed to the spread, defense officials said. Approximately 26,000 Guard members from all 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia were deployed following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to secure the city through the Jan. 20 inauguration. (Youssef and Corse, 1/22)

CBS News: 38 Capitol Police Officers And 150 National Guard Members Have Tested Positive For COVID-19 Since Capitol Attack
Thirty-eight members of the U.S. Capitol Police force and about 150 National Guard members have tested positive for COVID-19 since responding to the deadly attack on the Capitol earlier this month, officials told CBS News. Gus Papathanasiou, the chairman of the union that represents Capitol police, told CBS News that cases have "spiked" since the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that brought the police in close quarters with the rioters. (Krawczyk, 1/22)

Politico: ‘Packed Us Together Like Sardines’: Guard Deployed To Capitol Struggles To Contain Covid 
The National Guard has struggled to implement a plan to test troops flowing into and out of Washington, D.C., for Covid-19, with some Guard members being forced to find their own tests and others pressured to leave their quarantine early to report to duty. Already, hundreds of Guard members who poured into Washington, D.C., after the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol have tested positive for Covid-19 or are quarantining in nearby hotels, three Guard sources said. Guard leadership has declined to release an official number of positive cases, but troops and lawmakers alike worry that the deployment is becoming a superspreader event. (Seligman, Desiderio and Bertrand, 1/22)

The Washington Post: Numerous Capitol Police Officers Who Responded To Riot Test Positive For Coronavirus 
Since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, 38 U.S. Capitol Police employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the head of the officers’ union said Saturday. Cases are also climbing among members of the D.C. National Guard stationed around the Capitol. ... “It’s mostly officers and supervisors, all sworn personnel” who have contracted the potentially deadly virus, [said Gus] Papathanasiou, the head of the labor committee for the Capitol Police officers’ Fraternal Order of Police chapter. “Who knows if it’s going to increase?” There were about 1,400 Capitol Police officers on duty. (Jackman, 1/23)

CNBC: CDC Director Says Federal Government Does Not Know How Much Covid Vaccine The U.S. Has
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Sunday that the federal government does not know how much coronavirus vaccine the nation has, a complication that adds to the already herculean task before the Biden administration. “I can’t tell you how much vaccine we have, and if I can’t tell it to you then I can’t tell it to the governors and I can’t tell it to the state health officials,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told “Fox News Sunday.” (Macias, 1/24)

Politico: Biden Health Officials Express Concern About Short-Term Vaccine Supply Crunch 
Top Biden administration health officials on Sunday expressed concern about limited vaccine supplies but offered measured optimism that the worse-than-expected rollout would be improved, while warning that the current crunch for doses posed a pressing threat. “I think that the supply is probably going to be the most limiting constraint early on, and we’re really hoping that after that first hundred days we will have much more production,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said on “Fox News Sunday.” (Naranjo, 1/24)

The Washington Post: Vaccine Supply Hinders Expanding Beyond Goal Of 100 Million Shots, Biden Health Official Says
The United States needs to move faster to immunize the public against the coronavirus, but efforts to accelerate beyond President Biden’s goal of 100 million shots in 100 days may be hindered by the supplies of vaccine doses, according to Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I think that the supply is probably going to be the most limiting constraint early on, and we’re really hoping that after that first 100 days, we’ll have much more production,” Walensky said on “Fox News Sunday.” (Goldstein, Wang, Firozi, Knowles and Kornfield, 1/24)

Boston Globe: US Officials Express Concern Over Possible Shortage Of COVID-19 Vaccine
The United States needs to move faster to immunize the public against the coronavirus, but efforts to accelerate beyond President Biden’s goal of 100 million shots in 100 days may be hindered by the lack of vaccine doses, according to Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Four other Biden officials also tried on Sunday to manage public expectations about vaccine distribution, as frustration grows among Americans over long lines, canceled appointments, and other daunting issues. The officials also tried to smooth over confusion about President Biden’s goal of 100 million shots. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease specialist, called the figure “a floor, not a ceiling,” on the CBS program “Face the Nation.” (1/25)

The New York Times: Biden Officials Try To Assure A Vexed Public That Vaccination Snarls Will Be Ironed Out.
Four Biden officials tried on Sunday to manage public expectations about vaccine distribution, as frustration grows among Americans over long lines, canceled appointments and other daunting issues. The officials also tried to smooth over confusion about President Biden’s goal of 100 million shots in the first 100 days of his administration. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease specialist, called the figure “a floor, not a ceiling,” on the CBS program “Face the Nation.” (1/25)

Bloomberg: CDC Says Vaccine Doses May Be Spaced Further As FDA Eases Stance
Follow-up doses of the Covid-19 vaccines could be given up to six weeks later if it’s not feasible to get them in the recommended interval, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also offering some flexibility for “modest delays.” The guidance posted in a Jan. 21 update to the CDC website said a second dose should be administered as close to the recommended schedule as possible, either three weeks for the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE vaccine or four weeks for the Moderna Inc. shot. (Tozzi, 1/22)

Politico: Pfizer Ships Fewer Covid Vaccine Vials To U.S. After Trump FDA Label Change 
Pfizer is counting extra coronavirus vaccine it uses to top off each of its vials toward its commitment to deliver 200 million shots for the U.S. pandemic response — even though there aren't enough syringes capable of squeezing out the extra fluid. The Trump administration Food and Drug Administration on Jan. 6 approved a Pfizer request to update its vaccine label to clarify that six doses, instead of five, can be drawn from each vial. The new label came several weeks after the agency said pharmacists could administer any surplus they could successfully extract from the vials. (Roubein and Owermohle, 1/22)

ProPublica: How Many Vaccine Shots Go To Waste? Several States Aren’t Counting
Experts say that waste reporting is essential during a vaccination campaign to encourage careful handling and the use of every viable dose and, more importantly, to identify potential problems in the shipping and cold storage operations. With inconsistent reporting requirements and no enforcement of a federal mandate to report wastage, vaccine providers have little incentive to acknowledge wasting vaccines, said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University. Jha said he thinks that the true number of wasted doses across the country is far higher than a handful. (Gabrielson, Chen and Simon, 1/21)

Becker's Hospital Review: 1,900 Moderna Vaccine Doses Spoiled At Boston Hospital After Freezer Is Unplugged
Almost 2,000 doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine were spoiled when a cleaning contractor accidentally loosened a plug on a freezer at Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center in Boston, The Boston Globe reported Jan. 21. Pharmacy staff found the freezer, holding 1,900 doses of the vaccine, had failed, and the doses were compromised, Kyle Toto, a spokesperson for VA Boston Healthcare System told the Globe. (Anderson, 1/22)

Becker's Hospital Review: Nurse Accidentally Administers Empty Syringe At Colorado COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic
A contract nurse working at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Pueblo, Colo., accidentally administered an empty syringe to a patient, local news station FOX 21 reported Jan. 21. In a statement shared with the news station, a spokesperson from the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment said the syringe was new since routine safety protocol requires used syringes be discarded immediately. The health department identified the mistake through "normal safety processes," and provided the individual with a COVID-19 vaccination after determining the person was safe.  (Carbajal, 1/22)

CNN: 'Healthy, Young' Americans Will Likely Get Covid-19 Vaccine In Mid- To Late Summer, Expert Says
It likely will be months from now until the vaccine is widely available to the American public, infectious disease expert Dr. Celine Gounder told CNN Sunday night. "We're looking at probably middle of the summer, end of the summer before the average, healthy, young American has access to vaccination," Gounder told CNN Sunday. (Maxouris, 1/25)

Stat: Covid-19 Vaccine FAQs: When We Can Get It, How To Find Out, And More
It seems like it’s all anyone wants to talk about these days: Covid vaccine. When can we get it? How can we find out? How well will the vaccines work? How close will they get us back to the life we see in TV shows and movies filmed in the before times, when only health workers and trick-or-treaters wore masks and social distancing wasn’t part of anyone’s vernacular. (Branswell, 1/25)

The Hill: Walmart Expands Coronavirus Vaccine Operation 
Walmart is preparing to expand its coronavirus vaccine operation to seven more states beyond the two where it’s currently offering vaccinations, a spokesperson for the company confirmed to The Hill on Friday. Walmart will begin providing vaccinations in Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina and Texas, as well as in Chicago and Puerto Rico, this week and next, according to the spokesperson. (Williams, 1/22)

The New York Times: How West Virginia Became A U.S. Leader In Vaccine Rollout 
Since the nation began distributing vaccines more than a month ago, it has moved far more slowly than officials hoped and has been stymied by widespread logistical problems. But West Virginia has stood out for its success in getting people vaccinated. About 9 percent of all West Virginians have received a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, a larger segment than in every state but Alaska and double the rate of some. No state has given a larger share of its residents second doses, a crucial step to securing the best chance at immunity. (Mervosh, 1/24)

NPR: COVID-19 Vaccine Highlights Need To Protect Pregnant Women 'Through Research'
Doctors who treat pregnant patients are finding themselves in a tough and familiar spot as the COVID-19 vaccines roll out: making decisions about the use of a particular medicine in this group of patients without any clinical evidence to guide them. "We've been denied that evidence," says Dr. Judette Louis, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of South Florida. While it has been headline news that the COVID-19 vaccines haven't yet been tested in pregnant people, the problem is broader. "There are very few vaccines that have," Louis says. (Mertens, 1/25)

Stat: CDC Reports Rare Allergic Reactions To Moderna's Covid-19 Vaccine 
The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, like the one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, appears to induce rare anaphylactic reactions in a small number of people who receive the vaccine, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest. As of Jan. 19, there have been 15 confirmed cases of anaphylaxis after receipt of Moderna’s vaccine and 45 confirmed cases of anaphylaxis after receipt of the Pfizer vaccine, the CDC said in a statement to STAT. (Branswell, 1/22)

Politico: Amazon’s Offering To Help Biden’s Vaccine Push. There May Be A Reason Why. 
Amazon is offering to lend President Joe Biden its operational expertise to shuttle coronavirus vaccines quickly across the country as the government struggles with logistics of the inoculation rollout. But the move could also help the company boost its own ambitions of expanding into the $3.8 trillion health care marketplace. The company made a pitch on Wednesday, just hours after Biden was sworn in, offering few details about how it envisions helping with the struggling vaccine distribution effort. But if it’s accepted, the offer may give Amazon a valuable new trove of health data just as it’s expanding into pharmacy and digital health. That worries critics — including progressives calling on Biden to keep Big Tech firms at arms’ length. (Luthi, 1/23)

AP: In Ambulances, An Unseen, Unwelcome Passenger: COVID-19
It’s crowded in the back of the ambulance. Two emergency medical technicians, the patient, the gurney — and an unseen and unwelcome passenger lurking in the air. For EMTs Thomas Hoang and Joshua Hammond, the coronavirus is constantly close. COVID-19 has become their biggest fear during 24-hour shifts in California’s Orange County, riding with them from 911 call to 911 call, from patient to patient. (Dazio, 1/25)

Stat: PhRMA Sues To Block Trump Administration 340B Rule 
The trade group for the pharmaceutical industry on Friday sued to block a new process, outlined by the Trump administration, that aimed to help drug makers and health care providers resolve disputes over a federal drug discount program. (Cohrs, 1/22)

FiercePharma: Eli Lilly's COVID-19 Antibody Shows It Can Prevent The Disease. But Will Doctors Use It? 
The data show antibodies could be useful as a COVID prevention tool in vulnerable populations as an additional tool to vaccines, SVB Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges said in a note Thursday. Unfortunately, Lilly would need to clear some hurdles to get its therapy to patients.“[T]his hinges on quick, targeted distribution of antibodies to high-risk individuals by the U.S. government, which is a significant unknown factor,” Porges said, “and infused administration continues to post a challenge to distribution.” (Liu, 1/22)

Stat: Colchicine, A Gout Drug, Shows Preliminary Promise For Covid-19 
A press release from a Canadian research group raised hopes that treating people recently diagnosed with Covid-19 with colchicine, a drug commonly used to treat gout, could reduce the risk they will need to be hospitalized. But outside experts said the data provided were too limited to draw conclusions, leading to discussions of the risks of conducting science via press release, instead of in more detailed manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. (Herper, 1/23)

Modern Healthcare: Want More Diversity In Clinical Trials? Start With The Researchers
“Creating a more diverse clinical research pool starts with a more diverse clinical research workforce,” said Jim Kremidas, executive director for the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. “We have to address the need for more clinical research professionals to keep up with the growing number of trials and ensure those trials are more representative of all our communities.” Last November, ACRP expanded its digital campaign to attract racial and ethnic minority college students.The association is encouraging minority high school juniors and seniors and college freshmen to search the organization’s website to learn about schools offering degrees in clinical research as well as information to help them get started in their careers with a list of training and internship programs. (Ross Johnson, 1/23)

Modern Healthcare: Rural Hospital Closures Harm Residents' Health
More than 110 rural hospitals have closed from 2013 through 2020, which means that residents had to travel an additional 39 miles for some services, the Government Accountability Office found. Outpatient utilization rates decreased as hospitals closed and the number of physicians fell, dropping from a median of 71.2 per 100,000 residents in 2012 in counties with closures to 59.7 in 2017. Residents' health declined as a result. Medicare beneficiaries had a higher prevalence of the 10 most common chronic conditions when they lived in communities that lost their hospital. Sixty-two percent of those who lived in areas with hospital closures had high blood pressure in 2017 compared to 56.3% who resided in communities without closures, according to the report. (Kacik, 1/22)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Pushes Healthcare Providers To Travel Nurses
As the pandemic nears the one-year mark, healthcare providers still struggle to find travel nurses to handle the surge of COVID-19 patients. And those workers come at a price, with the competition for nurses doubling or even tripling normal pay rates, meaning wealthier hospitals can woo a disproportionate number of nurses. Staffing agencies said the demand they’re seeing is unprecedented in their company histories. “The industry has never seen demand like this,” said April Hansen, executive vice president of the staffing firm Aya Healthcare. “This is new territory for everyone.” (Bannow and Christ, 1/23)

Reuters: German Scientists Make Paralyzed Mice Walk Again
German researchers have enabled mice paralyzed after spinal cord injuries to walk again, re-establishing a neural link hitherto considered irreparable in mammals by using a designer protein injected into the brain. ... The paralyzed rodents that received the treatment started walking after two to three weeks, the team’s head Dietmar Fischer told Reuters in an interview. (Nitschke and Szymanska, 1/21)

1/22: Reports Detail Pediatric Eye Injuries Related To Hand Sanitizer
As the pandemic has made hand sanitizer ubiquitous, perhaps it was inevitable that clinicians would report sanitizer-related eye injuries in children. Two brief studies published yesterday in JAMA Ophthalmology look into this topic, with the first finding a sevenfold year-to-year increase in sanitizer/eye exposure in French children from April to August, and the second looking at two cases of toxic keratopathy (cornea injury). (1/22)

Modern Healthcare: Avocado A Day Keeps The Doctor Away
Forget the apple, how about an avocado a day to keep the doctor away? New research in the Journal of Nutrition—albeit funded by the Hass Avocado Board—suggests eating the fruit daily—yes, it is a fruit—can greatly improve gut health. “We know eating avocados helps you feel full and reduces blood cholesterol concentration, but we did not know how it influences the gut microbes and the metabolites the microbes produce,” Sharon Thompson, graduate student in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Illinois and lead author on the paper, said in a news release. (1/23)

The New York Times: 5 Ways Teens Can Get More Fruits And Vegetables Into Their Diets 
If you’ve been watching your teenager devour processed foods like potato chips, chicken nuggets or sugary cereals and drinks, you are not alone. Comfort food has been especially alluring during the pandemic, for parents and kids alike. But according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this has been a problem for teens long before the pandemic: Most teenagers in the United States have not been eating enough fruits and vegetables. (Caron, 1/22)

AP: Insurers Add Food To Coverage Menu As Way To Improve Health
Food has become a bigger focus for health insurers as they look to expand their coverage beyond just the care that happens in a doctor’s office. More plans are paying for temporary meal deliveries and some are teaching people how to cook and eat healthier foods. ... This push is still relatively small and happening mostly with government-funded programs like Medicaid or Medicare Advantage, the privately run versions of the government’s health program for people who are 65 or older or have disabilities. But some employers that offer coverage to their workers also are growing interested. (Murphy, 1/23)

The Hill: Las Vegas-Area District Moves To Partially Reopen Schools Amid Surge In Student Suicides 
The Clark County School District in Nevada is moving to partially reopen schools in response to a surge of student suicides, The New York Times reports. Eighteen students in the county took their own lives in the final nine months of 2020, the Times reports, leading the Clark County school board to approve returning some elementary school grades and struggling classes back to in-person learning despite the continuing spread of the coronavirus. (Choi, 1/24)

Chicago Sun Times: Chicago Teachers Union Votes To Refuse In-Person Work, Defy Chicago Public Schools’ Reopening Plan
Chicago Teachers Union members have voted to defy Chicago Public Schools’ reopening plans and continue working from home Monday because of health and safety concerns. City officials had said in recent days they would view the collective refusal of in-person work as a strike, but in response to Sunday’s vote results said they will delay the scheduled return of thousands of teachers and staff until Wednesday “to ensure we have the time needed to resolve our discussions without risking disruption to student learning.” (Issa, 1/24)

AP: With COVID-19 Variant Positives, Michigan Pauses Athletics
The entire University of Michigan athletic department is pausing after several positive tests for the new COVID-19 variant that transmits at a higher rate. The state Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday it issued recommendations for the school, although not an order. The school said Saturday night its move followed the positive COVID-19 tests for several individuals linked to the athletic department. The entire department could be in quarantine for two weeks. (1/25)

The Hill: Miami Heat To Use Coronavirus-Sniffing Dogs As Team Plans To Bring More Fans Back 
The Miami Heat will host some fans in person during upcoming games using coronavirus-sniffing dogs amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The NBA team announced last week that it will use the specially trained dogs at AmericanAirlines Arena in in Miami. The animals have been trained to sit next to an attendee if they detect the presence of the COVID-19 virus. (Pitofsky, 1/24)

Politico: Newsom To Lift Stay-At-Home Orders Across California
Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to lift stay-at-home orders statewide Monday, allowing restaurants to reopen for outdoor dining and salons to resume appointments indoors, according to two sources close to the governor and a restaurant industry email. The change will enable those sectors to reopen in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley and Southern California for the first time since early December. Restaurateurs have been particularly vocal about their frustration with the regional dining ban after purchasing heat lamps and other equipment to get through the winter months. (Marinucci and Yamamura, 1/25)

AP: North Carolina Field Hospital Helps Fight Coronavirus Surge
Chris Rutledge peels an N-95 mask off her tired face, revealing the silhouette it leaves behind. Her name and a tiny heart are drawn on the face covering in black marker so her patients know who she is. “I look terrible when it comes off,” she jokes as she takes a break during her ninth straight day of 12-hour shifts inside a temporary field hospital in Lenoir, North Carolina. Rutledge, a 60-year-old retired nurse from Lisbon, Iowa, is one of dozens of health care workers who have been treating coronavirus patients inside 11 massive white medical tents set up in the parking lot of Caldwell Memorial Hospital. (Morgan, 1/25)