AP: Fauci Warns Against Super Bowl Parties To Avoid Virus Spread
The nation’s top infectious disease expert doesn’t want the Super Bowl to turn into a super spreader. Dr. Anthony Fauci, says when it comes to Super Bowl parties during the pandemic, people should “just lay low and cool it.” He said during TV interviews Wednesday that now isn’t the time to invite people over for watch parties because of the possibility that they’re infected with the coronavirus and could sicken others. (2/3)

NBC News: Experts Warn Against Super Bowl Parties, Urge People To Enjoy The Game At Home
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued specific Super Bowl guidance this year as the Kansas City Chiefs prepare to face off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "The safest way to celebrate events is at home with the people who live with you," the CDC said. "We could have kind of mini superspreader events or little hot spots all around the country starting with those indoor gatherings or even potentially outdoor gatherings if we don’t follow the recommendations," health policy expert Dr. Kavita Patel said Wednesday. (Fieldstadt, 2/3)

CIDRAP: CDC: COVID-19 Cases Drop To Pre-Thanksgiving Levels 
After 2 months of record-setting case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today the United States has finally returned to pre-Thanksgiving levels of COVID-19 transmission. "We are now averaging 144,000 cases per day, and though deaths continue to increase, a recent decline in hospitalizations gives us hope those will also soon fall," said Rochelle Walensky, MD, during today's White House coronavirus press briefing. (Soucheray, 2/3)

And speaking of the Super Bowl ...

ESPN: Kansas City Chiefs' Barber Tests Positive Amid Haircuts, Sources Say
The Chiefs had 20 people, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes, other players and staff members, in line for a haircut Sunday with a barber who tested positive for COVID-19, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Backup center Daniel Kilgore was in the chair when the Chiefs pulled the barber once his COVID-19 test results came in, Schefter reported. Kilgore and the barber both were wearing masks and because Kilgore was deemed a close contact, he told the barber to finish. A source initially had told ESPN that Kilgore was mid-haircut when the barber was pulled. The Chiefs on Monday placed Kilgore and wide receiver Demarcus Robinson on the reserve/COVID-19 list after they were considered to be close contacts. (Teicher, 2/3)

In other news about covid infections —

CIDRAP: Adults 20 To 49 May Have Driven 72% Of US COVID-19 Surges 
Adults 20 to 49 years old may have kindled 72.2% of US COVID-19 resurgences starting in late summer 2020, with those 35 to 49 especially contributing, a study published yesterday in Science suggests. A team led by researchers from Imperial College London analyzed age-specific cell phone mobility data of more than 10 million Americans and linked them to age-specific COVID-19 death data starting on Mar 15, 2020. (Van Beusekom, 2/3)

The Washington Examiner: Two More National Guard Members Die Of COVID-19: Pentagon
Two National Guard members died after contracting COVID-19, bringing the total virus-related death toll since the onset of the pandemic to 19 in the military, according to Department of Defense data. The two service members were an Alabama Air National Guard member and an Army National Guard member from California, a Pentagon spokesperson said, according to the Hill. Their identities have not yet been revealed. (Dima, 2/3)

ABC News: CDC Director Says It's Not Necessary For Teachers To Be Vaccinated In Order To Reopen Schools 
While teachers unions and school systems clash over what is considered a safe return to in-person learning and President Joe Biden looks to reopen a majority of K-8 schools in 100 days, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday it could be possible to get back to school safely without hinging the return to classrooms on vaccines. "Vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for the safe reopening of schools," she said. (Flaherty and Tatum, 2/3)

In related school news —

San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco Sues Its Own School District, Board Over Reopening: 'They Have Earned An F'
The fight over reopening San Francisco’s public schools will take a dramatic, heated turn on Wednesday as the city becomes the first in the state — and possibly the entire country — to sue its own school district to force classroom doors open. City Attorney Dennis Herrera, with the blessing of Mayor London Breed, plans to sue the San Francisco Board of Education and the San Francisco Unified School District for violating a state law compelling districts to adopt a clear plan during the COVID-19 pandemic describing actions they “will take to offer classroom-based instruction whenever possible.” (Knight, 2/3)

The Washington Post: Montgomery County Teacher Vaccination Effort Left Out Private-School Educators At Start 
Cecilia Rajnic is eager to get vaccinated. But after the second-grade teacher heard about an immunization effort that involved thousands of slots for educators in suburban Maryland, she soon learned she was not eligible. She teaches at a Catholic school. “How is it even possible?” she recalled thinking. “I’m a teacher, too, and I’m teaching in person already, so why wouldn’t I have at least the same access?” (St. George, 2/3)

The New York Times: Where Are U.S. Teachers Ineligible To Be Vaccinated? 
As schools across the United States debate whether children will be able to attend classes in person amid an ongoing pandemic, only about half of the states are allowing teachers to get a shot of the Covid-19 vaccine. The New York Times tracks vaccine eligibility rules in all 50 states and found that at least 24 states and Washington, D.C., are providing shots to some teachers of kindergarten through high school, though some of those states only consider teachers eligible for the vaccine in certain counties. (Ivory and Leatherby, 2/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Testing In Schools Bolsters Safety But Is Hard To Set Up, Studies Find 
Regularly testing for Covid-19 in K-12 schools can help identify cases and provide an extra layer of protection for staff and families, according to two reports commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation released on Thursday. Implementing testing, however, is an enormous, logistically complex undertaking, and most schools need significant resources to make it feasible, the reports also found. One of the reports, conducted by research firm Mathematica, assessed programs in six pilot locations that either already have started or are planning to implement rapid antigen testing with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, a philanthropic foundation that has focused on Covid-19 testing for much of the pandemic. Tests were provided by the Department of Health and Human Services. (Abbott, 2/4)

AP: Britain To Test Mixing And Matching Of COVID-19 Vaccines
British scientists are starting a study Thursday to find out if it’s OK to mix and match COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccines being rolled out now require two doses, and people are supposed to get two shots of the same kind, weeks apart. Guidelines in Britain and the U.S. say the vaccines aren’t interchangeable, but can be mixed if the same kind isn’t available for the second dose or if it’s not known what was given for the first shot. (Cheng, 2/4)

The Guardian: Covid: Oxford Trial To Test Efficacy Of Mix Of Vaccines For Individuals
With the steady supply of vaccines always in question, the researchers said the information they collect would be useful not only for the UK but for the whole world. There is also the possibility that giving an individual two different vaccines in a row might give greater protection against the more infectious Covid variants that have emerged in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. (Boseley, 2/4)

Reuters: Britain Trial To Test Combining Pfizer And AstraZeneca Vaccines In Two-Shot Regimen 
Over 800 participants [are] expected to take part, the researchers said. That makes it much smaller than the clinical trials that have been used to determine efficacy of the vaccines individually. The trial will not assess the overall efficacy of the shot combinations, but researchers will measure antibody and T-cell responses, as well as monitor for any unexpected side effects. (2/3)

Bloomberg: Astra, Pfizer Covid Vaccines To Be Combined In Oxford Trial
Mixing vaccines to create an enhanced immune response is common for inoculations targeting diseases such as hepatitis A and B. Combining shots can boost the immune response because the second shot won’t be limited by any immunity the body has built up to the platform delivering the first vaccine. Both the Astra and Pfizer shots target the spike protein that the virus uses to enter cells. The British drugmaker’s vaccine is carried by a weakened chimpanzee adenovirus, while the U.S. company’s shot uses genetic material called messenger RNA. (Ring, 2/4)

GMA: Don't Share Your COVID-19 Vaccination Card On Social Media, Experts Warn 
It's easy to see on social media who among your friends and followers has received a COVID-19 vaccine, with people posting photos to celebrate the seeming light at the end of the yearlong coronavirus pandemic. People who post photos of their COVID-19 vaccination cards though, are putting themselves at risk of falling victim to scams, according to a new warning from the Better Business Bureau. (Kindelan, 2/3)

Reuters: Vaccine Passports: Path Back To Normality Or Problem In The Making? 
Governments and developers around the world are exploring the potential use of “vaccine passports” as a way of reopening the economy by identifying those protected against the coronavirus. Those developing the technologies however, say such tools come with consequences such as potentially excluding whole groups from social participation, and are urging lawmakers to think seriously about how they are used. (Thomas, 2/4)

ABC News: How To Talk To Your Family And Friends About Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine
After COVID-19 emerged in China in late 2019, the world collectively held its breath in anticipation of a vaccine that would protect against the potentially deadly virus and end the pandemic. But now that several vaccines have arrived, uncertainty and important questions have followed for some. How do you engage in a thoughtful discussion with your family, friends or co-workers about the vaccine? (Anoruo, 2/3)

Also —

AP: Judge Orders Oregon Inmates To Be Prioritized For Vaccine
A judge has ordered all inmates in the Oregon prison system to be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccinations — a move that should make prisoners immediately eligible for inoculation. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the preliminary injunction issued Tuesday orders all Oregon Department of Corrections inmates be offered a vaccine as part of phase 1A, group 2, of Oregon’s COVID-19 vaccination plan — putting prison inmates in the same category as people living in nursing homes and other congregate care settings. (2/4)

The Washington Post: Amtrak Offers Cash Bonus To Workers Who Get Coronavirus Vaccine 
The country’s passenger railroad is spending $3 million in cash bonuses to encourage workers to get a coronavirus vaccine, an effort to speed protection of its workforce and passengers. Amtrak is joining a growing list of companies offering cash or other incentives to essential workers as distribution of vaccine expands across the country and is hailed as a way to restore normalcy. The railroad’s goal is to have all of its labor force vaccinated, the company said in a statement. (Lazo, 2/3)

In updates about vaccine side effects —

ABC News: Fact-Check: No Link Between COVID-19 Vaccines And Those Who Die After Receiving Them 
When a Florida doctor died just weeks after receiving a coronavirus vaccine, his story whipped around the internet and spurred fears that the COVID-19 vaccine might have had something to do with his death. But scientists warn that these isolated cases, while tragic, do not mean the vaccines are to blame. (Widmer, 2/3)

Fox News: Cases Of ‘COVID Arm’ Following Vaccination Being Documented By Dermatologists
Cases of so-called "COVID arm" are seemingly on the rise, with some experiencing red, swollen skin days after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The American Academy of Dermatology Association has opened a registry for health care providers to report such reactions in their patients in an effort to better understand the "dermatologic manifestations" of the coronavirus vaccine, they said. Dr. Elizabeth Houshmand, a board-certified dermatologist in Texas, told local news station KXAS-TV that the swollen, red patches some may see on their arm days after receiving the vaccine indicate a "mounting immune response." (Farber, 2/3)

The Baltimore Sun: What Happens After You Get The COVID Vaccine? Here’s What You Should Do And Expect, According To Hopkins Experts 
People who get the COVID-19 vaccine may notice some soreness in their arm and other side effects, which is normal. The good news is that the symptoms are usually short lived, according to experts in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. There are other things to know after a shot, too, such as when to follow up and what other precautions to take. Here are some answers from Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, an assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and Namandjé Bumpus, professor and director of the Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences. (Cohn, 2/2)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore COVID Vaccine Site Offers Only Second Doses Due To Lack Of Supply; Just 250 Shots Given Wednesday 
As others got their second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at Baltimore City Community College’s Liberty Heights campus Wednesday, Juan Morales was denied his first. The 43-year-old cook at Accents Grill in the Greenspring Shopping Center in Pikesville learned that, due to a lack of supply, Baltimore City’s sole vaccination site would offer vaccines only to those who already received their first dose. He missed the email announcing the change, effective all month. (Campbell, 2/3)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland To Open Its First Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic Friday, Though Long Waits Are Expected 
Maryland health officials said they expect to open the state’s first COVID-19 mass vaccination site Friday at the Baltimore Convention Center, though officials already are warning there are limited doses available and to expect a wait for an appointment. That lack of vaccine already has stymied clinics around the state and frustrated people in priority groups who have sought to get in line, any line, for a dose. (Cohn, 2/4)

Boston Globe: State Officials Redirecting Unused COVID-19 Vaccines To Older Residents, High-Risk Communities
Disappointed with the state’s COVID-19 vaccination drive so far, Governor Charlie Baker on Wednesday said officials are redirecting large quantities of unused doses now sitting in freezers to doctors and pharmacies, including many in communities hardest hit by the coronavirus. They’re also designating specific days for local residents, especially people of color, to get shots at the new mass vaccination site at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury, following reports that many who booked initial appointments there were white people from surrounding communities. (Weisman and Andersen, 2/3)

The Washington Post: Some States Are Racing Ahead Of Others With Their Coronavirus Vaccine Rollouts. Their Secret? Keeping It Simple. 
In South Dakota, distribution of the vaccine has been limited to a small number of health-care providers who meet via phone twice a week and can make decisions on the fly as conditions change. Connecticut has teamed with a well-established partnership network while using community ambassadors to advocate for the vaccine among populations where hesitancy runs high. And West Virginia has tightly coordinated its rollout, using the National Guard to speed supplies to where they are needed while streamlining the rules for who can get the shots. (Witte, 2/3)

KHN: ‘Cruel’ Digital Race For Vaccines Leaves Many Seniors Behind 
With millions of older Americans eligible for covid-19 vaccines and limited supplies, many continue to describe a frantic and frustrating search to secure a shot, beset by uncertainty and difficulty.  The efforts to vaccinate people 65 and older have strained under the enormous demand that has overwhelmed cumbersome, inconsistent scheduling systems. (Stone, 2/4)

And patients at five Ohio nursing homes are being revaccinated after a glitch at Walgreens —

Modern Healthcare: Walgreens Reviewing Procedures After Storage Error Leads To Revaccination In Five Ohio Long-Term Care Facilities
Walgreens on Tuesday notified Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine that vials of COVID-19 vaccine administered to patients in five nursing homes Monday were not stored at the proper temperature. In a statement, Walgreens said, "After completing vaccinations on Feb. 1 at five long-term care facilities in Ohio and following our internal controls processes, we discovered the vials containing the vaccine were subject to improper storage before being delivered to these facilities. There is no reason to believe any patients who received these doses will suffer any harm." (Christ, 2/3)

The New York Times: After A Rocky Start, Novavax Vaccine Could Be Here By Summer 
The potential success of Novavax’s candidate carries global implications. Unlike Pfizer’s and Moderna’s shots, the Novavax vaccine can be stored and shipped at normal refrigeration temperatures. The company is setting up plants around the world to produce up to 2 billion doses per year. ... Novavax has signed up more than 20,000 people so far in its late-stage trial in the United States and Mexico, two-thirds of its goal of 30,000 participants. If it keeps enrolling volunteers at the same pace, it will complete recruitment more quickly than the Pfizer and Moderna trials did last year. (Thomas, 2/3)

In news from Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna —

Fox News: Johnson & Johnson Exec On Single-Shot Vaccine: 'Complete Protection Against Death And Hospitalization'
Johnson & Johnson executive Dr. Paul Stoffels addressed the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccine compared to others already available to the public, saying it had revealed "complete protection against death and hospitalization." "We have done this study in the height of the pandemic with huge transmission in the presence of several different variants," the chief scientific officer told "America’s Newsroom," citing the variants in Brazil, South America and South Africa. "What we learned is that the high percent efficacy against severe disease as well as complete protection against death and hospitalization was basically the key finding," he added. (Kaplan, 2/3)

The Washington Post: Pfizer Spent Months Working To Extract Sixth Dose From Vials As Vaccine Production Shortfalls Loomed
Beginning in August, a half-dozen researchers at a Pfizer lab in Massachusetts sat down with vials of experimental coronavirus vaccine to learn how to transform the “overfill” in every vial — an extra amount of liquid that is standard for injectable pharmaceuticals — into a precious sixth dose. Over the next few months, they tested dozens of different combinations of syringes and needles, drawing out vaccine and squirting it into a beaker resting on a digital scale, repeating the experiments 5 to 10 times for each. By Jan. 6, the work paid off. (Rowland, 2/3)

Stat: With A Single Number, AstraZeneca Study Fueled Hopes That Eclipsed Data
A new paper released this week suggested that a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University not only protected clinical trial participants from developing disease, but also may significantly reduce transmission of the virus that causes the disease. In the recent burst of data on Covid-19 vaccines, that suggestion stood out. The question of whether Covid-19 vaccines reduce transmission has been a critical and unanswered one, creating uncertainty over whether people who have been vaccinated will still be able to be infected by and transmit onward SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid, to those who have not yet been vaccinated. (Herper and Branswell, 2/3)

Stat: Comparing Three Covid-19 Vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna, J&J
In an ideal world, a pandemic vaccine could be delivered in a single shot, so supplies could be stretched to cover a lot of people. It would trigger no side effect more significant than a sore arm. And it would be easy to ship and store. Soon, it seems, this ideal of a Covid-19 vaccine will be within reach. (Branswell, 2/2)

Houston Chronicle: Judge Temporarily Blocks Texas From Kicking Planned Parenthood Out Of Medicaid Program
A Texas judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked Republican leaders from kicking Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid, as the nonprofit provider claims the effort did not follow procedure and could unjustly strip some 8,000 low-income women of critical care including birth control, STI treatments and cancer screenings. State health officials had given women on Medicaid until Wednesday to find alternatives to Planned Parenthood for the non-abortion services. Planned Parenthood and other women’s health advocates have warned there are few other providers willing to provide the care, in part because the state’s reimbursement rate is among the lowest in the country. (Blackman and Bureau, 2/3)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Temporarily Blocked From Kicking Planned Parenthood Out Of Medicaid
In a last-minute proceeding on Wednesday, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble granted a temporary restraining order and set a hearing for Feb. 17. The state had given Planned Parenthood's Medicaid patients until Wednesday to find new doctors after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Texas officials who have long sought to block the health provider from participating in the joint federal-state health insurance program for the poor. (Najmabadi, 2/3)

CNN: Judge Temporarily Blocks Planned Parenthood's Ouster From Texas Medicaid Program
The impacts of such a shift could be stark. In 2019, Planned Parenthood provided health care to more than 8,000 Medicaid recipients in the state, according to the most recent figures available from the organization. Additionally, Texas has reported nearly 2.5 million Covid-19 cases and reported over 38,000 deaths from the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Texas has long sought to ban Planned Parenthood from the program -- though Medicaid funding does not cover abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or when the woman's life is at risk, due to the Hyde Amendment, which dates back to 1976. (Kelly, 2/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Open To Sending $1,400 Stimulus Checks To Smaller Group 
President Biden indicated in a call with House Democrats that he was open to sending $1,400 payments to a smaller group of Americans in the next round of coronavirus relief legislation and changing the overall price tag of his $1.9 trillion plan, according to people familiar with the call. Mr. Biden told House Democrats on Wednesday that he wouldn’t change the amount of the proposed $1,400 payments, saying people had been promised that amount, according to the people. (Duehren and Collins, 2/3)

The Hill: House Approves Budget Resolution For COVID-19 Package 
The House on Wednesday approved a budget resolution in a 218-212 vote that would allow Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill without Republican support. Two Democrats, Reps. Ed Case (Hawaii) and Jared Golden (Maine), voted against the measure in the otherwise party-line vote. (Elis, 2/3)

The Washington Post: Stimulus FAQ: The Latest Democratic Plan For The $1,400 Checks
The latest proposal Democrats are considering would send $1,400 payments to individuals earning $50,000 or less and $2,800 to married couples earning $100,000 or less. [Here] are more details on the latest plan, which has not been publicly released yet and could still change. (Long and Stein, 2/3)

Politico: Biden Plunges Fully Into Covid Relief Talks 
After two weeks of letting negotiations over a Covid relief package linger in Congress, Joe Biden hit the gas on Wednesday. The president worked the phones and hunkered down with fellow Democrats at the White House, in what aides described as an overt signal that he wants his massive “rescue” package passed and passed quickly. “If we are going to get our arms wrapped around Covid, we have to act fast, we have to act big and the sooner we can start the better,” said White House senior adviser Cedric Richmond. “That’s how the president looks at it.” (Korecki and Pager, 2/3)

AP: Stuck In DC, Biden Team Pitches Rest Of US On Big Virus Aid
Even as President Joe Biden gathers with senators and works the phones with Capitol Hill to push for a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, his team is increasingly focused on selling the plan directly to voters. His administration has done 60-plus interviews with national TV and radio shows. There have been spots on local TV news and briefings last week with more than 50 groups that ranged from General Motors to Meals on Wheels America and Planned Parenthood. One of the main goals is to stop people from getting bogged down in the tangle of partisan deal-making and convince them that every penny of the “go big” package is needed. (Boak, 2/4)

KHN: Hard Bargain: Biden And Congress Agree On Basic Relief, But Chasms Remain On Covid Plan 
President Joe Biden and a group of Republicans agreed this week on how much Congress should spend on vaccine distribution, covid-19 testing and other health investments that public health officials say are desperately needed to fight the pandemic. But agreement on those popular programs, which make up only 9% of Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief proposal, is not enough to dispense that money quickly. (Huetteman, 2/4)

Reuters: Exclusive: Merck Anti-Baldness Drug Propecia Has Long Trail Of Suicide Reports, Records Show 
Newly unsealed court documents and other records show that Merck & Co and U.S. regulators knew about reports of suicidal behavior in men taking the company’s anti-baldness treatment Propecia when they decided not to warn consumers of those potential risks in a 2011 update of the popular drug’s label. Internal records from Merck were made public in late January, when a federal magistrate in Brooklyn, New York, granted a 2019 Reuters motion to unseal 11 documents filed in years of litigation alleging Propecia caused persistent sexual dysfunction and other harmful side effects. (Levine and Terhune, 2/3)

AP: Merck Loses $2.1B In Q4; Longtime CEO Frazier To Retire
Merck posted a big fourth-quarter loss due to a hefty charge and much higher spending on research, production and overhead. The company also announced Ken Frazier, its longtime chief executive, will retire on July 1. Frazier, Merck’s CEO for the past decade, will be replaced by Rob Davis, the chief financial officer, the company said Thursday. Frazier will become executive chairman of the board during a transition period. (2/4)

And McKinsey has agreed to a settlement related to its role in the opioid crisis —

The New York Times: McKinsey Settles For $573 Million Over Role In Opioid Crisis 
McKinsey’s extensive work with Purdue included advising it to focus on selling lucrative high-dose pills, the documents show, even after the drugmaker pleaded guilty in 2007 to federal criminal charges that it had misled doctors and regulators about OxyContin’s risks. The firm also told Purdue that it could “band together” with other opioid makers to head off “strict treatment” by the Food and Drug Administration. The consulting firm will not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, to be filed in state courts on Thursday, but it will agree to court-ordered restrictions on its work with some types of addictive narcotics, according to those familiar with the arrangement. McKinsey will also retain emails for five years and disclose potential conflicts of interest when bidding for state contracts. And in a move similar to the tobacco industry settlements decades ago, it will put tens of thousands of pages of documents related to its opioid work onto a publicly available database. (Forsythe and Bogdanich, 2/3)

In other pharmaceutical industry news —

Stat: Jazz Pharma To Acquire GW Pharma, Maker Of CBD-Based Treatment
Jazz Pharmaceuticals said Wednesday that it is acquiring GW Pharma, adding an approved childhood epilepsy medicine derived from marijuana to its stable of neuroscience products. (Feuerstein, 2/3)

Stat: Why Some Hospitals Have To Scramble For Oxygen To Treat Covid-19 Patients
As the number of patients at Adventist Health White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles reached 200 a day, the facility quickly began using six times its normal amount of oxygen. To cope, a 6,000-gallon tank was added as a backup to the usual 9,000-gallon tank, but finding that extra tank took two weeks. And once it was in place, it had to be refilled every day or two. (Silverman, 2/4)

NPR: COVID-19 Pandemic's Demands For Extra Oxygen Stretches Suppliers
The cold snap late last year hit El Paso at the exact wrong time; new COVID-19 patients were streaming into hospitals, many needing high flows of oxygen to breathe. That abrupt, massive draw on the gas created myriad problems: It froze the hospital's pipes and the vaporizers on oxygen tanks, restricting the flow by as much as 70%. So local companies built pop-up tents with new oxygen pipes in hospital parking lots. That wasn't the only hurdle; tubes, flow meters, nasal cannulas and portable cylinders needed to make the gas breathable were also in short supply. "When things got pretty bad in our area, we saw the demand for the cylinders at least triple," says Esteban Trejo, general manager of Syoxsa, an El Paso-based oxygen distributor. (Noguchi, 2/3)

In other health care industry news —

The New York Times: A Parallel Pandemic Hits Health Care Workers: Trauma And Exhaustion 
Doctors, paramedics and nurses’ aides have been hailed as America’s frontline Covid warriors, but gone are the days when people applauded workers outside hospitals and on city streets. Now, a year into the pandemic, with emergency rooms packed again, vaccines in short supply and more contagious variants of the virus threatening to unleash a fresh wave of infections, the nation’s medical workers are feeling burned out and unappreciated. (Jacobs, 2/4)

Modern Healthcare: Cigna Eliminates Prior Authorization For Coronary CT Scans
Cigna will no longer require prior authorization for some CT scans of the heart, a move that providers said will relieve administrative burdens among physicians and result in better outcomes for patients. On Feb. 1, Cigna will end prior authorizations for CT angiogram of the heart, coronary arteries and bypass grafts with contrast material. This includes 3D image post-processing. Cigna also removed prior consent for fractional flow reserve-computed tomography. Patients must have stable chest pain and an intermediate risk of coronary artery disease for coverage under the policy. (Tepper, 2/3)

Modern Healthcare: Nurses Union Says HCA Should Invest Profits In COVID-19 Safety, Public Health
National Nurses United, a nurses' union, has criticized hospital chain HCA Healthcare for its $3.75 billion in profits in 2020, claiming that the company instead should have invested that money into public health and COVID-19 safety during the pandemic. The nurses' union called the Nashville-based company's 7.1% year-over-year jump in profits "a clear demonstration of the financial consequences of a year of short-staffing and other cuts affecting patient and worker safety despite a once-in-a-century pandemic." HCA said it is proud of its response during the pandemic and called the union exploitive. (Christ, 2/3)

Modern Healthcare: Oregon Sets First Hospital-Specific Community Benefit Spending Floor
Oregon set its first community benefit spending floor for one of its health systems, establishing a more rigorous regulatory framework that more states may follow, experts said. As mandated by state bill HB 3076 passed in 2019, Portland, Ore.-based Legacy Health will have to spend at least $253 million on community benefits in fiscal 2022 based on its three-year average of unreimbursed care; direct spending on the social determinants of health, health equity and other community benefits; and its operating margin. Oregon officials hope to address unmet needs and health inequities by setting minimum spending thresholds and tracking those investments. They believe a separate state bill to align and coordinate community benefit programs across providers, health plans and public health departments can also help. (Kacik, 2/4)

Detroit Free Press: Clear N95 Face Masks Designed By Ford Could Be Huge For Hearing Impaired, Teachers
Ford Motor Co. has designed and created clear N95 face masks so that hearing impaired people can read lips while protecting themselves from COVID-19, the company announced Tuesday. A patent is pending for the new design, which is awaiting federal approval to qualify for N95 status from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The low-cost, reusable respirators may supplement or replace the use of cloth masks that block facial expression and lips from view as mask wearers seek protection from the increased threat of new coronavirus variants. In addition to the hearing impaired, these masks could be used by people who depend on facial expressions to better do their jobs, like teachers. (Howard, 2/2)

In other mask news —

NBC News: Biden Administration Weighs Plan To Directly Send Masks To All Americans
The Biden White House is considering sending masks directly to American households, according to three people familiar with the discussions, an action the Trump administration explored but scrapped. The Covid-19 Response Team is evaluating the logistics of mailing out millions of face coverings, but no decision has been made, and the proposal hasn't yet reached President Joe Biden for final approval, a White House official said. (Alba, Lee and Welker, 2/4)

CNN: The US May Soon Have Its First Standards For Consumer Face Masks. Are They Strict Enough? 
American consumers may be about to get the first standards for face masks. The coronavirus pandemic triggered a sudden intense need for masks that had Americans making masks at home out of T-shirts and bandanas. Hundreds of new and untested products flooded the marketplace with almost no oversight or regulation, making consumer masks the Wild West of personal protection equipment. That is set to change. ASTM International, an international technical standards organization, and the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, are working on standards to "establish minimum design, performance (testing), labeling, user instruction, reporting and classification, and conformity assessment requirements for barrier face coverings." (Enriquez, 2/4)

USA Today: National Parks Have Added A Mask Requirement In Accordance With Biden's Executive Order. Here's Where
The National Parks Service will now require visitors to wear masks in accordance with an executive order issued by President Joe Biden last month, the United States Department of Interior announced Tuesday. Biden's order, issued the first day he was in office, mandated masks in federal buildings and on federal lands controlled by the executive branch, which includes national park sites, under the supervision of the DOI. (Hines, 2/2)

Stat: Thanks To Physical Distancing, Masks, Doctors See Fewer Cases Of A Polio-Like Condition In Children
Many of the respiratory viruses that normally spike in the United States in the fall and winter are circulating at notably low levels right now — a sunnier side effect of the precautions and policies meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus. (Joseph, 2/4)

Stat: Apple Watch Can Help Track Parkinson's Disease Symptoms, Study Shows
Researchers at Apple, working with specialists who treat Parkinson’s, designed a system that uses the Apple Watch to detect the motor symptoms that are a hallmark of the neurological disease. By monitoring resting tremors and other involuntary movements, the researchers were able to identify the characteristic “on” and “off” patterns of medication’s effects. Their findings were published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine. The research could be a boon to both clinical trials and care for the millions living globally with Parkinson’s. If further developed, the researchers’ system could be used to capture round-the-clock objective measurements of symptoms with the Apple Watch. Specialists often rely on infrequent clinical visits and self-reporting to monitor the disease’s progression and the impacts of medicine. While there are specialized devices in the market that can do such monitoring, there are advantages to using a gadget people recognize and feel comfortable around. (Aguilar, 2/3)

In food-safety news —

CIDRAP: Source Unknown In E Coli Outbreak Linked Infections In 5 States
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday that an investigation is under way into the source of an Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak that has so far sickened 16 people in five states, 1 of them fatally. Affected states are Washington, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Virginia, and New York. The first illness was reported on Dec 23, and the most recent symptom onset was Jan 7. Patient ages range from 10 to 95 years, and 88% are female. ... State and local health officials are interviewing people to see what they ate the week before they got sick.

AP: USDA Warns Illinois Consumers About Potentially Tainted Beef
Health officials are warning consumers in Illinois that they may have bought beef tainted with E. coli bacteria that was produced at a Nebraska plant last month. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said the affected meat was sold by Art’s Food Market in Sandwich, Illinois, which is about 60 miles west of Chicago. The affected ground beef is no longer available for purchase, but officials said consumers could still have it in their refrigerators or freezers. (2/3)

In other public health news —

The Washington Post: Kroger Is Closing Stores Rather Than Giving Workers An Extra $4 In Pandemic ‘Hero Pay’
Two grocery stores in Southern California will shutter in April in response to a local “hero pay” measure requiring a $4-an-hour increase for grocery workers during the pandemic. Kroger, which owns more than a dozen grocery chains, announced this week that it would close a pair of Long Beach stores — a Ralphs and a Food 4 Less — specifically citing the ordinance the city’s mayor signed into law late last month. The city was the first in the state to introduce a measure requiring some grocery retailers to give workers a temporary hourly pay bump during the pandemic. (Firozi, 2/3)

The Washington Post: Mother Of 9-Year-Old Rochester, N.Y. Girl Said Police Rebuffed Her Pleas For Mental Health Help For Her Daughter
The mother of the 9-year-old Rochester, N.Y., girl who was handcuffed and pepper-sprayed by police said Wednesday that she repeatedly told an officer that her daughter was having a mental health breakdown and she pleaded with them to call a specialist instead of trying to detain her. The officer said “no,” Elba Pope said. Pope, 30, said the incident, which sparked nationwide outrage and prompted fresh scrutiny of how law enforcement agencies deal with people in emotional distress, has left her rattled and fearful that her daughter could suffer long-term emotional trauma. “I was saying, ‘We need mental health out there,’ ” Pope said in an interview. “He ignored me.” (Craig and Edelman, 2/3)

AP: Family: Keyontae Johnson's Collapse Unrelated To COVID-19
Florida forward Keyontae Johnson’s collapse during a game nearly two months ago was not related to a positive COVID-19 test, his family said Wednesday. University of Florida Health physicians consulted with other local and national experts who reviewed the relevant imaging and testing related to this case, and Johnson’s family said: “The unanimous conclusion of all experts is that Keyontae’s medical emergency was not related to or a result of a previous or current Covid diagnosis.” (Long, 2/3)

AP: Wisconsin Mother Meets Baby Delivered During COVID-19 Coma
Nearly three months after Kelsey Townsend gave birth to her fourth child, the 32-year-old Wisconsin woman was finally face to face with her. Lucy, now bright-eyed and alert, flashed her a smile. “Hi. I love you. I love you so much. Yeah, I’ve missed you,” Kelsey Townsend told her. Townsend was in a medically-induced coma with COVID-19 when she gave birth to Lucy via via cesarean section on Nov. 4, not long after getting to SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison. She ended up spending 75 days on life and lung support. She finally met Lucy on Jan. 27 — the day Kelsey was discharged from University Hospital in Madison. (Antlfinger, 2/3)

ABC News: 20-Year-Old GameStop Investor Donates Part Of Windfall To Children's Hospital 
Hunter Kahn could have bought the 1990s Corvette he's always wanted with the Wall Street windfall he and a group of amateur day traders earned by joining forces to turn the failing video-game seller GameStop into an overnight stock market darling. But the 20-year-old Cornell University mechanical engineering student from Minnesota said he saw the bonanza as a chance to do something good. (Hutchinson, 2/3)

KHN: Covid-Certified Businesses Try To Woo Leery Patrons
On a sunny Saturday this month, Ruth Hatfield was sitting with a friend’s dog on a sidewalk bench in downtown Grand Junction. Back home in Snowmass Village, 120 miles away through winding Rocky Mountain roadways, local officials had just shut down indoor restaurant dining as covid cases reached some of the highest levels in Colorado. Here in Grand Junction, though, restaurants were open, and Hatfield had sought out those with the local health department’s “5-star certifications,” a designation meant to reassure people it is safe to patronize businesses during the pandemic. Those 5-star restaurants are part of an innovative program that allows businesses that agree to follow certain public health protocols to be open with less stringent rules than would ordinarily apply. (Aschwanden, 2/4)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Health Insurance Marketplaces Reopening In Pa., N.J. To Help With COVID-19 Relief
Pennsylvania will reopen its health insurance marketplace, dubbed Pennie, for a special enrollment period Feb. 15 through May 15 to allow people affected by the coronavirus pandemic to select a new plan. The move is in line with President Joe Biden’s decision to reopen the federal marketplace, healthcare.gov, as part of his COVID-19 relief efforts. New Jersey’s marketplace, Get Covered NJ, will also remain open through May 15. (Gantz, 2/3)

In news from Maine, North Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana —

Bangor Daily News: Penobscot County Will Have A Mental Health Specialist Ride Along With Sheriff’s Deputies
A $750,000 federal grant will allow the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office to have a mental health clinician ride along with sheriff’s deputies and check in with people after their release from the Penobscot County Jail. It’s one of a handful of measures the U.S. Department of Justice grant will fund to improve services for people living with mental illness — both jail inmates and those outside. Penobscot County was one of 29 cities, counties and health departments across the country to receive the grant. It was the only recipient in Maine. (Harrison, 2/4)

North Carolina Health News: Domestic Violence, Abuse Spiked Last Year 
Reports of domestic violence [in North Carolina] spiked in the last year, confirming what advocates and providers had feared and anticipated at the start of the pandemic. Sheriff’s offices across the state saw higher incidents of domestic violence, according to public records requests made out to each county sheriff’s office. In total, these counties reported almost 2,000 additional cases in 2020 over the 2019 tally. The virus has wreaked additional havoc on victims who seek help, North Carolina researchers and providers said, by making it more difficult to access services. (Critchfield, 2/4)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Panel OKs Bill To Limit COVID-19 Lawsuits In Georgia
A proposal to protect businesses from COVID-19-related lawsuits for another year cleared its first hurdle in the General Assembly on Wednesday. The House Special Committee on Access to the Civil Justice System approved House Bill 112. The bill would limit the ability of people to sue businesses and health care providers if they are diagnosed with the disease. Lawmakers approved such limits last summer, but they expire in July. HB 112 would extend the lawsuit protection until July 2022. Under the law, companies are shielded from legal liability unless they show “gross negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, reckless infliction of harm, or intentional infliction of harm.” (Wickert, 2/3)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: 'It's A Slam Upon Our State': Sen. Bill Cassidy Rebukes Joe Biden Over 'Cancer Alley' Remarks
He said “environmental justice” will take center stage as his administration works to improve the health and well-being of communities of color, especially “the hard-hit areas like Cancer Alley in Louisiana or the Route 9 corridor in the state of Delaware,” Biden said. While the executive orders didn’t specify how the Biden administration plans to address Louisiana's petrochemical belt, local environmental activists said the president is clearly concerned about the disproportionate impact of pollution on the state’s mostly Black and low-income communities — a matter they say is rarely discussed by Louisiana politicians. (Baurick, 2/3)

In news from Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California and Alaska —

Salt Lake Tribune: Camp Last Hope In Salt Lake City Dispersing Ahead Of Planned Health Department Sweep
The tents at one of the largest and most organized homeless encampments Salt Lake City has seen in recent years began coming down this week ahead of a Salt Lake County Health Department “cleanup” planned for Thursday morning. Organizers have spent the last few days helping disperse many of the more than 100 unsheltered individuals who have been living at Camp Last Hope — which is located in an industrial area in Utah’s capital city near 900 South and 500 West — to shelter, detox or smaller camps throughout the city. Ty Bellamy, a community organizer with the Black Lives for Humanity Movement, said she was “heartbroken” to see the end of “everything that we’ve built there, what it was for the first month it was there, how peaceful, how clean, how beautiful, how safe.” But she said the work to help unsheltered communities will continue. (Stevens, 2/4)

PBS NewsHour: Arizona Lawmakers Renew Push To Criminalize Abortions In Latest Challenge To Roe V. Wade
Abortion has been at the forefront of conservative politics since the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, in which the court ruled that the Constitution protects a woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. Now, with a 6-3 conservative majority in the nation’s highest court, reproductive rights advocates are worried that right will be chipped away as anti-abortion politicians push legal boundaries to challenge the decision. An Arizona bill proposed on the 48th anniversary of the landmark ruling is among the most direct challenges to Roe in nearly half a century: It calls for the decision to be ignored altogether. (Jones, 2/3)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Clark County Restaurants, Hotels Still High On COVID Exposure List
Clark County residents most frequently visited restaurants, hotels and medical facilities before being diagnosed with COVID-19, according to new data released Wednesday. For the first time during the coronavirus pandemic, the Southern Nevada Health District voluntarily published a list of the county’s most common “possible exposure sites” on its website. The data does not show where a person is known to have contracted COVID-19. Instead, it represents where an infected person traveled in the 14 days prior to them becoming symptomatic or getting tested. (Scott Davidson, 2/3)

KHN: A Recipe For Trouble? Reversal Of California Outdoor Dining Ban Has Heads Spinning
Outdoor dining is resuming in California under state and local orders issued last week — but with covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths still far higher than they were when the bans took effect, restaurant owners and workers are wary of reopening their patios and parking lots. Los Angeles County’s outdoor dining ban began Nov. 25, and a statewide ban, part of a broader stay-at-home order, took effect Dec. 5. No clear data from contact tracing could justify outdoor dining bans, public health officials acknowledged. (Almendrala, 2/4)

Anchorage Daily News: Trident Seafoods Had Just One Medical Professional On Duty At Its Massive Akutan Plant When COVID-19 Broke Out
The urgent job posting from a company contracted to provide medical care at the Trident Seafoods plant in the tiny Alaska village of Akutan on a hard-to-reach island appealed to the wilderness lover: “Are you interested in an Alaskan ADVENTURE? Seasonal positions available! If you are energetic, professional and would be interested in a remote setting, this assignment might be the spot for you!” In reality, the job involved serving as a nurse practitioner for North America’s largest seafood processing facility, idled since mid-January amid a coronavirus outbreak that has infected nearly half its 700 workers. Trident officials say they had nothing to do with the ad. (Hollander, 2/3)

The New York Times: Organizers Of The Tokyo Olympics Unveil An Early Plan To Protect Athletes And Visitors 
No cheering, singing or handshakes. And no riding public transportation without special permission. After nearly two months of relative silence amid new waves of coronavirus infection in Japan and many other countries, organizers of this summer’s Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday released the first of several so-called playbooks that will instruct athletes, officials and members of the news media on the protocols they must follow at this summer’s rescheduled Games. (Rich, Keh and Futterman, 2/3)

The Washington Post: How 9 Destinations Around The World Enforce Mandatory Quarantines
As new and more contagious variants of the coronavirus have emerged in recent months, more nations are implementing mandatory quarantine facilities for entry. Canada and England announced last week that they will closely monitor arrivals in quarantine facilities to prevent new variants from gaining traction, following examples set by nations like New Zealand early in the pandemic. Government-imposed quarantines have proved effective at detecting cases before they get into the country. They effectively halt travel for anyone unwilling to spend (and often pay for) a waiting period confined to a hotel room and monitored by health officials. (McMahon, 2/2)

Bloomberg: Controversy Swirls Around India’s Homegrown Covid Vaccine
A year ago, Krishna Ella was simply known for running a small Indian pharmaceutical company with a reputation for scientific rigor. Then came the pandemic that put the scientist and his family at the center of one of the world’s loudest furors over a coronavirus vaccine. In June last year, India’s drug regulator permitted Ella’s firm -- Bharat Biotech International Ltd. -- to develop a homegrown vaccine in record time. Since then the company has been buffeted by controversies ranging from unrealistic government schedules to sporadic reports of adverse reactions. Matters came to a head last month after the government approved its shot before the completion of final human trials. (Kay, 2/2)

NPR: Why Did COVID-19 Cases Dramatically Decline In India?
Last September, India was confirming nearly 100,000 new coronavirus cases a day. It was on track to overtake the United States to become the country with the highest reported COVID-19 caseload in the world. Hospitals were full. The Indian economy nosedived into an unprecedented recession. But four months later, India's coronavirus numbers have plummeted. Late last month, on Jan. 26, the country's Health Ministry confirmed a record low of about 9,100 new daily cases — in a country of nearly 1.4 billion people. It was India's lowest daily tally in eight months. On Monday, India confirmed about 11,000 cases. (Frayer, 2/1)

The Washington Post: Fried Foods May Taste Good, But They Up Your Chance Of Having Major Cardiovascular Problems, Such As A Heart Attack, By 28 Percent 
Regularly eating fried foods — french fries, fried chicken and the like — ups your chance of having a major cardiovascular problem, such as a heart attack or stroke, by 28 percent, according to new research. Published in the journal Heart, the report also notes that the more you eat, the greater your risk, with each additional weekly serving of a half-cup of fried food increasing that risk by 3 percent. (Searing, 2/1)

CIDRAP: Study: Vaccinating Against 10 Diseases Will Prevent 69 Million Deaths
A modeling study published yesterday in The Lancet estimates that vaccination against 10 diseases from 2000 to 2030 will prevent 69 million vaccine-preventable deaths (VPDs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).The study suggests that a baby born in 2019 in 98 LMICs countries will experience 72% lower mortality from the 10 diseases, including measles, rotavirus, human papillomavirus, and hepatitis, over their lifetime than if there were no immunizations. (1/29)

New England Journal of Medicine: Resumption Of Cardiac Activity After Withdrawal Of Life-Sustaining Measures 
We conducted a prospective observational study of the incidence and timing of resumption of cardiac electrical and pulsatile activity in adults who died after planned withdrawal of life-sustaining measures in 20 intensive care units in three countries. Patients were intended to be monitored for 30 minutes after determination of death. Clinicians at the bedside reported resumption of cardiac activity prospectively. Continuous blood-pressure and electrocardiographic (ECG) waveforms were recorded and reviewed retrospectively to confirm bedside observations and to determine whether there were additional instances of resumption of cardiac activity. (Dhanani et al, 2/1)

New England Journal of Medicine: Dexmedetomidine Or Propofol For Sedation In Mechanically Ventilated Adults With Sepsis
Guidelines currently recommend targeting light sedation with dexmedetomidine or propofol for adults receiving mechanical ventilation. Differences exist between these sedatives in arousability, immunity, and inflammation. Whether they affect outcomes differentially in mechanically ventilated adults with sepsis undergoing light sedation is unknown. (Hughes et al, 2/1)

In pediatric news —

CIDRAP: Study Shows Oral HPV Detected In 23% Of Newborns
New data published late last week in Emerging Infectious Diseases adds to the understanding of human papillomavirus (HPV) carriage in children, showing that HPV can be detected in 22.9% of newborns at birth, but prevalence drops to 8.7% at 3 years. The data come from a longitudinal study of 331 Finnish children who participated in the Finnish Family HPV Study, which explored nonsexual and vertical transmission of HPV from mothers to babies. Women were enrolled at a minimum of 36 weeks into their pregnancy and were subsequently followed up for 6 years. Researchers conducted oral scrapings on children for HPV testing. (1/29)

American Academy Of Pediatrics: Health Care Use Among Latinx Children After 2017 Executive Actions On Immigration 
US immigration policy changes may affect health care use among Latinx children. We hypothesized that January 2017 restrictive immigration executive actions would lead to decreased health care use among Latinx children. (Cholera et al, 2/1)

American Academy Of Pediatrics: Patterns And Predictors Of Professional Interpreter Use In The Pediatric Emergency Department 
Professional interpretation for patients with limited English proficiency remains underused. Understanding predictors of use is crucial for intervention. We sought to identify factors associated with professional interpreter use during pediatric emergency department (ED) visits. (Lion et al, 2/1)

American Academy Of Pediatrics: Use Of E-Cigarettes And Other Tobacco Products And Progression To Daily Cigarette Smoking
We identified 12- to 24-year-olds at wave 1 of the US Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study and determined ever use, age at first use, and daily use through wave 4 for 12 tobacco products. (Pierce et al, 2/1)

Stat: Hospitals Need To Mend Relationships With Their Communities 
In April 2020, Víctor Santamaría was in an intensive care unit at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City with a breathing tube in his throat. His lungs, kidneys, and liver were failing as a result of Covid-19. He was barely hanging on. (David Scales and Devin Worster, 2/4)

Market Watch: A Straightforward Explanation Why More COVID-19 Vaccines Can’t Be Produced With Help From ‘Dozens’ Of Companies
In the last few days, the question of why more drug companies haven’t been enlisted for vaccine production has come up. It’s mostly due to a tweet urging Pfizer and Moderna to share their design with other pharma companies. The problem is, as far as I can see, this is simply wrong. There are not “dozens of other pharma companies” who “stand ready” to produce these mRNA vaccines. To me, this betrays a lack of knowledge about what these vaccines are and how they’re produced. (Derek Lowe, 2/3)

Bloomberg: Covid-19 Mutations Make Immunity Math Incredibly Daunting
Since early in the Covid-19 pandemic, would-be prophets (most of them not infectious-disease epidemiologists) have been predicting that it would soon burn itself out as people recovered from the disease and developed immunity. So far they have been proved wrong again and again as temporary declines in new infections gave way to second and third waves. Still, even infectious-disease epidemiologists agree that there is a point at which widespread immunity to a disease can cause it to decline or even disappear. This “herd immunity” threshold is calculated in its simplest form as a function of a disease’s basic reproduction number, R0, which is how many additional people each person with the disease can be expected to infect (in a population with no previous immunity that makes no behavioral changes in response to the disease). In this equation, the share of the population that needs to be immune to achieve herd immunity is 1 - 1/R0. (Justin Fox, 2/3)

Stat: Kids Don't Need Covid-19 Vaccines To Return To School 
The notion is out there that public school students should not return to in-person learning until they’ve been vaccinated. That proposition worries me. Here are five reasons why schools can and should open at 100% capacity before a vaccine for those under age 16 is available. (Vinay Prasad, 2/3)

The Hill: Science Is Back At The White House; Now It Must Be Integrated Into American Diplomacy 
President Biden underscored the importance of science to his administration by promptly nominating a White House Science Advisor and elevating the role to Cabinet status. That was an excellent start to correcting the Trump administration’s hostility to the role of science in policymaking, but Biden needs to ensure his new Secretaries at key Cabinet agencies are similarly moving to integrate science into their operations. (Kenneth C. Brill, 2/3)

The Wall Street Journal: From Covid Relief To Big Government
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was precise and pointed Monday as she dismissed efforts by 10 Republican senators to forge a compromise with President Biden on his $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill. Following the senators’ meeting with Mr. Biden, she defended the president’s stimulus plan as “carefully designed” and focused on “pressing needs.” The president “will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment,” she concluded. The administration’s package was neither “carefully designed” nor focused only on “pressing needs.” It’s a mishmash of the good, the bad and the in-between, tilted toward delivering cash to blue states and putting in place permanent big-government programs under the guise of temporary emergency measures. (Karl Rove, 2/3)

New England Journal of Medicine: Covid-19 And The States – A Conversation With Ralph Northam
The continuing spread of SARS-CoV-2 remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. What physicians need to know about transmission, diagnosis, and treatment of Covid-19 is the subject of ongoing updates from infectious disease experts at the Journal. In this audio interview conducted on February 3, 2021, the editors are joined by Dr. Ralph Northam, the governor of Virginia, to discuss the logistics of Covid-19 vaccination. (Eric J. Rubin, Lindsey R. Baden, Ralph S. Northam, and Stephen Morrissey, 2/3)

The Washington Post: How Is Alaska Leading The Nation In Vaccinating Residents? With Boats, Ferries, Planes And Snowmobiles. 
Alaska, the state with the largest land mass in the nation, is leading the country in a critical coronavirus measure: per capita vaccinations. About 13 percent of the people who live in Alaska have already gotten a shot. That’s higher than states such as West Virginia, which has received a lot of attention for a successful vaccine rollout and has inoculated 11 percent of its people. But the challenge for Alaska has been how to get vaccines to people across difficult, frigid terrain — often in remote slivers of the state? “Boats, ferries, planes, snowmobiles — Alaskans will find a way to get it there,” said the state’s chief medical officer, Anne Zink, 43. (Cathy Free, 2/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Californians Disapprove Of Gov. Lockdown 
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proven unwilling to live by the Covid distancing rules he imposes on voters. Now voters may be unwilling to allow the first-term Democrat to continue as California’s governor. A new survey in the Golden State suggests that his November party in defiance of pandemic protocols at the acclaimed French Laundry restaurant was even more expensive than it seemed. The elections of 2020 clarified that no one should expect political polls to express mathematical precision. But the recent trend is striking. The University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies reports: Californians are reevaluating their views of the job Gavin Newsom is doing as governor. (James Freeman, 2/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Keeps Abandoning Its Most Effective Pandemic Precautions
The gathering evidence that California’s holiday season stay-at-home orders turned back its worst surge of coronavirus infections yet raises more questions about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to rescind the restrictions last week. While the governor was responding to encouraging trends in new cases and hospitalizations, which continued to fall in recent days, he may have undone the very policy that stemmed the deadliest wave of the pandemic. (2/3)