NPR: Biden Sets Goal Of July 4th To 'Mark Independence' From Coronavirus
President Biden is aiming for the country to begin to find a degree of normalcy and begin to move on from the coronavirus pandemic by the July 4th holiday, Biden announced in his first prime-time address Thursday night from the White House on the one-year anniversary of the pandemic. Biden said meeting a goal of small family gatherings "will make this Independence Day truly special." It would "not only mark our independence as a nation, but mark our independence from this virus," the president said. Biden stressed he was not calling for gatherings of large groups, however, and he warned that getting there would take work by all Americans, continuing social distancing, wearing masks and getting vaccinated. (Montanaro and Weiner, 3/11)

AP: Biden Aims For Quicker Shots, 'Independence From This Virus'
Biden announced an expansion of other efforts to speed vaccinations, including deploying an additional 4,000 active-duty troops to support vaccination efforts and allowing more people — such as medical students, veterinarians and dentists — to deliver shots. He is also directing more doses toward some 950 community health centers and up to 20,000 retail pharmacies, to make it easier for people to get vaccinated closer to their homes. Biden added that his administration is planning to launch a nationwide website to help people find doses, saying it would address frustrations so that there would be “no more searching day and night for an appointment.” (Miller and Lemire, 3/12)

The Washington Post: Biden Directs States To Make All Adults Eligible For Vaccine By May 1
Biden’s speech, clocking in at 24 minutes, served as an inflection point on the 51st day of his presidency. The president had spent his first few weeks carefully managing expectations for recovery and frequently blaming the Trump administration for many of its early challenges, criticisms he renewed indirectly on Thursday night. But Biden took greater ownership of the pandemic battle — and exposed himself to a potential backlash if he does not deliver. “If we do our part, if we do this together, by July Fourth, there’s a good chance you, your family and friends can gather in your backyard and have a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day,” Biden said. “After this long hard year, that will make this Independence Day something truly special, where we not only mark our independence as a nation, we begin to mark our independence from this virus.” (Sullivan, 3/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Tells States To Make All Adults Eligible For Covid-19 Vaccine By May 1 
The president spoke on the same day that he signed into law a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package, one year after much of the U.S. economy ground to a halt, as the virus spread. In a 23-minute speech, Mr. Biden said the U.S. was operating on a war footing and urged the weary public to maintain vigilance against the virus. He also reflected on the toll that the pandemic has taken on millions of Americans. ... At times, Mr. Biden struck an optimistic tone—touting the administration’s progress in its early stages—but he also reminded Americans that a return to normalcy would require caution and an adherence to public-health guidelines. (Restuccia and Siddiqui, 3/11)

Also —

The New York Times: Biden Tells Nation There Is Hope After A Devastating Year 
Seeking to comfort Americans bound together by a year of suffering but also by “hope and the possibilities,” President Biden made a case to the nation Thursday night that it could soon put the worst of the pandemic behind it and promised that all adults would be eligible for the vaccine by May 1. During a 24-minute speech from the East Room, Mr. Biden laced his somber script with references to Hemingway and personal ruminations on loss as he reflected on a “collective suffering, a collective sacrifice, a year filled with the loss of life, and the loss of living, for all of us.” (Rogers, 3/11)

Politico: ‘We All Lost Something’: Biden Honors Covid Victims, Accelerates Vaccine Timeline 
At least twice, Biden spoke about the need for grandparents to reconnect with their grandchildren, a missing familial bond during a pandemic that older adults are more susceptible to. Recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Monday allowed for fully vaccinated people to visit indoors with unvaccinated healthy people from a single household, without wearing masks or physical distancing. The new guidance used grandparents and grandchildren as an example. (Cancryn and Din, 3/11)

The New York Times: We Fact-Checked Biden’s Prime-Time White House Address
President Biden, in a prime-time address on Thursday night, exaggerated elements of the coronavirus pandemic along with his, and his predecessor’s, response to it. Here’s a fact-check. (Qiu, 3/11)

The Washington Post: Fact-Checking Biden’s Address To The Nation
President Biden’s address to the nation was heavy on emotion and hope, but light on facts. Here are two moments where the president stretched the truth. (Kessler, 3/11)

PolitiFact: Fact-Checking Joe Biden On The American Rescue Plan
The address was the culmination of Biden’s weeks of effort to get the rescue plan through Congress. Here, we’ll fact-check a few claims from Biden’s Thursday night speech, as well as some of his talking points from recent weeks about the impact on COVID-19 on jobs, food insecurity and schools. (Sherman, 3/11)

The Washington Post: Biden’s Vaccine Victories Build On Trump Team’s Work 
President Biden beckoned leaders of two of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies to the White House on Wednesday and credited his administration for the “nearly unprecedented collaboration” between the longtime rivals, Merck and Johnson & Johnson, now jointly producing a coronavirus vaccine. But the breakthrough touted by Biden was first conceived by Trump officials last year, culminating in a Jan. 4 conference call arranged between Merck and Johnson & Johnson’s senior leaders, said four Trump administration officials with knowledge of the efforts. (Diamond and Stanley-Becker, 3/11)

Also —

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Biden Mentioned A Pa. Woman During His Address Who Just Wanted ‘The Truth.’ We Found Her.
Kirsten Hess wasn’t watching President Joe Biden’s prime-time address Thursday marking one year of the coronavirus pandemic. But she got about 20 text messages telling her to turn on the TV. “Last summer, I was in Philadelphia and I met a small-business owner, a woman,” Biden said. “I asked her, I said, ‘What do you need most?’ Never forget what she said to me. She said, looking me right in the eye and she said, ‘I just want the truth. The truth. Just tell me the truth.’” (Terruso, 3/11)

6ABC Philadelphia: President Joe Biden's Primetime Speech Being Met With Mixed Reaction  
President Joe Biden's first primetime address to the nation marking the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic has been met with mixed reaction. As many Philadelphians wait their turn to get vaccinated, those who are eligible waited in long lines at the FEMA mass vaccination site at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Thursday night. (Brooks, 3/12)

NPR: Poll: Biden Approval 62% On Handling Of COVID-19 Pandemic
There is no more pressing issue for the U.S. — or the world — right now than the COVID-19 pandemic. And politically, how President Biden is perceived to be handling it over the next year or so could define his presidency and his chances for reelection, if he runs. So far, he's off to a good start, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey, out Thursday. Sixty-two percent of Americans approve of how Biden is handling the pandemic. (Montanaro, 3/11)

Roll Call: Biden Signs Bill To Provide Almost $2 Trillion In COVID-19 Relief 
President Joe Biden signed the first major legislative achievement of his young presidency Thursday afternoon, moving to get a $1.86 trillion COVID-19 aid package into law as quickly as possible. “In the weeks that this bill has been discussed and debated, it’s clear that an overwhelming percentage of the American people: Democrats, independents, Republican friends, have made it clear, the people out there have made it clear they strongly support the American Rescue Plan,” Biden said in the Oval Office. (Lesniewski, 3/11)

NBC News: What's In The $1.9 Trillion Covid Bill Biden Just Signed? You Might Be Surprised.
President Joe Biden signed the massive Covid-19 stimulus bill into law Thursday, touting provisions that will put money into the pockets of millions of Americans. But the bill is more than stimulus payments and jobless benefits. It also includes a litany of programs: health insurance subsidies, a cash-for-kids allowance to slash child poverty, state and local aid (which can't be used to cut taxes) and money for schools, restaurants, pensions, homeowners, renters, farmers and funerals. Here are some of the key provisions. (Kapur and Sarlin, 3/11)

CNBC: The Government Will Fully Cover Laid-Off Workers' COBRA Premiums
The government will pay for laid-off workers to maintain their employer-sponsored health insurance through September, thanks to a provision in the $1.9 trillion stimulus package signed into law on Thursday by President Joe Biden. As part of the relief bill, the government will subsidize COBRA premiums for former workers of a company until the fall. COBRA, or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, permits people who leave a company with 20 or more employees to pay to stay on their workplace insurance plan for as long as 18 months. (Nova, 3/11)

In related news —

The New York Times: Forecasters Expect Biden’s Stimulus To Rapidly Boost Economy 
Just hours after he signed a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill into law, President Biden said the package would help to reopen schools and defeat the virus more quickly. Mr. Biden, in a prime-time address, noted that the measure provides $130 billion for schools, an amount that he said will “accelerate a massive effort to reopen our schools safely.” (Tankersley, 3/11)

AP: COVID Relief Bill Could Permanently Alter Social Safety Net
President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package is being hailed by Democrats and progressive policy advocates as a generational expansion of the social safety net, providing food and housing assistance, greater access to health care and direct aid to families in what amounts to a broad-based attack on the cycle of poverty. With more than $6 billion for food security-related programs, more than $25 billion in emergency rental assistance, nearly $10 billion in emergency mortgage aid for homeowners, and extensions of already-expanded unemployment payments through early September, the package is full of provisions designed to help families and individuals survive and recover from pandemic-induced economic hardships. (Khalil and Fram, 3/12)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Expanding The ACA In An Unpredicted Way 
For the first time since its enactment in 2010, the Affordable Care Act is slated for major benefit expansions, courtesy of the covid relief bill approved by Congress this week. But the changes are only temporary, so the measure also tees up a fight to make them permanent. Meanwhile, the uneven distribution of vaccines continues — with some states finding themselves with more shots than takers, while others continue to have too many arms chasing too few shots. (3/11)

Axios: COVID-19 Stimulus Has Made Americans More Generous 
When people have more money, they're more generous to others. The stimulus hasn't just seen the government giving money to the needy. It's helped increase the amount of money in the economy broadly, and that in turn has increased Americans' propensity to help each other out financially. (Salmon, 3/11)

Roll Call: Senate Votes To Move Becerra Nomination To Floor 
The Senate on Thursday voted, 51-48, to discharge Xavier Becerra’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services from the Senate Finance Committee, teeing up floor debate and a confirmation vote as soon as next week. Becerra appeared to have the votes to be confirmed to the role overseeing the massive agency, after Sens. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, said separately they would vote to confirm him. (McIntire, 3/11)

AP: Democrats Muscle Ahead With Biden's Health Secretary Pick
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., forced a vote to discharge Becerra’s nomination Thursday that succeeded 51-48. The vote clears the way for floor debate on confirming him to the position. “I’m perplexed that none of my Republican colleagues would vote for him,” Schumer said before the vote. “He’s a capable man. He’s worked hard to make sure that people get health care.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., noted that Biden’s prior Cabinet nominees had so far received bipartisan support. “There’s a reason Mr. Becerra could not get one single Republican vote to move out of committee,” McConnell said. “It’s because he’s such a thoroughly partisan actor with so little subject matter expertise.” (Freking, 3/11)

Politico: Senate Advances Becerra Nomination For HHS Secretary 
Becerra, the California attorney general, has come under fire from Republicans for his record on abortion rights and past support for "Medicare for All." Manchin said he had spoken with Becerra about the nominee's pledge to “uphold the law in regards to the Hyde Amendment” — the longstanding ban on federal funding for abortion that Biden and other Democrats want to abolish. Collins said she looked forward to working with Becerra on "shared goals" including lowering the price of prescription drugs and boosting domestic drug manufacturing to reduce reliance on global supply chains. (Miranda Ollstein, 3/11)

CBS News: Xavier Becerra Headed For Confirmation As Health Secretary With Support From Manchin And Collins 
It's unclear whether any Republican will join Collins in voting to confirm Becerra, as many have claimed he lacks the experience to lead the department. Outside conservative groups are also working to drum up opposition to his nomination. (Quinn, 3/11)

AP: Justices Call Off Arguments Over Medicaid Work Requirements
The Supreme Court said Thursday it has called off upcoming arguments over a Trump administration plan to remake Medicaid by requiring recipients to work, agreeing to a request from the Biden administration. The court had been scheduled to take up the issue on March 29. But the Biden administration already has decided preliminarily that work requirements do not fit with Medicaid’s goal of providing health care to lower-income people. (3/11)

Modern Healthcare: Supreme Court Cancels Arguments In Medicaid Work Requirements Case
The Supreme Court will no longer hear oral arguments later this month in a case challenging the legality of Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas and New Hampshire. The announcement on Thursday follows a request by the Biden administration's Department of Justice to cancel the hearings because HHS is reviewing the approval of work requirements in several states. CMS has indicated it may withdraw approvals in the nine states that received work requirement waivers from the Trump administration, including Arkansas and New Hampshire, which would make the legal challenges moot. (Hellmann, 3/11)

FierceHealthcare: Supreme Court Pulls Medicaid Work Requirements Case Off Docket 
Legal experts say the move likely means the case won’t be heard this term and possibly may not be heard at all, especially with the Biden administration signaling a different approach to work requirements. “By taking the cases off the docket, the court is signaling that it won’t hear them this term and probably that it’ll never hear them at all,” University of Michigan Law Professor Nicholas Bagley told Fierce Healthcare. (King, 3/11)

SCOTUSblog: Court Nixes Upcoming Argument On Medicaid Work Requirements
The court, however, has not yet acted on [Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth] Prelogar’s request to vacate the two lower-court decisions at issue. Those decisions – both from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit – found that the Trump administration’s approval of work requirements in the Medicaid programs of Arkansas and New Hampshire violated federal law. Prelogar told the justices last month that the decisions have caused “uncertainty” about the authority of health officials to approve pilot projects in state Medicaid programs. (Romoser, 3/11)

In other Medicaid news —

Modern Healthcare: Ohio Sues Centene Over Alleged Pharmacy Benefits Overcharges
Ohio's attorney general sued Centene Corp. on Thursday, alleging the St. Louis-based insurer used a "web of subcontractors" to obscure drug costs and overcharge the state's Medicaid program for millions of dollars in pharmacy benefits. "Corporate greed has led Centene and its wholly owned subsidiaries to fleece taxpayers out of millions," Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement. "This conspiracy to obtain Medicaid payments through deceptive means stops now." (Tepper, 3/11)

Stat: Ohio AG Sues Health Plan Over Its PBM Contracts, Medicaid Costs 
In the latest bid to pull back the curtain on pharmacy benefit managers, the Ohio attorney general filed a lawsuit claiming Centene (CNC), a health insurer, misrepresented pharmacy costs that caused the state Medicaid program to spend millions of dollars unnecessarily. The lawsuit alleges that a managed care plan called Buckeye Health Plan, which is owned by Centene, used a “web of subcontractors” to provide prescription drug benefits to the state Medicaid program. In the process, Buckeye collected $20 million that raised concern among state officials, a finding that came to light during an audit that was conducted in 2018. (Silverman, 3/11)

Modern Healthcare: House To Vote On Pause To Medicare Sequester Cuts
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote next week on extending a pause on Medicare cuts to providers, just weeks before they are scheduled to take effect. The 2% cut, which took effect since 2013, was temporarily lifted by Congress in December in response to the pandemic and its effect on providers' finances. The cut will take effect again April 1 without congressional action, but hospitals are pushing hard for another moratorium. (Hellmann, 3/11)

The Hill: House To Advance Bill Preventing Automatic Medicare Cuts
Statutory pay-as-you-go laws require that legislation that increases the deficit be offset. Without offsets, automatic spending cuts from mandatory programs, known as sequestration, go into effect. While programs such as Social Security are exempt, Medicare can lose up to 4 percent and a slew of means-tested anti-poverty programs could be wiped out without action. Without a law to reset the pay-as-you-go amounts, the massive $1.9 trillion coronavirus-relief measure would require the White House Office of Management and Budget to issue a report at the end of the calendar year that would trigger the sequestration. (Elis, 3/11)

In other Medicare news —

CNBC: You Can Still Change Medicare Advantage Plan For 2021. What To Know
If you’ve discovered your 2021 Medicare Advantage Plan is not a good fit for you, now is the time to do something about it. Through the end of March, Advantage enrollees can either drop their plan and return to basic Medicare (Part A hospital coverage and Part B outpatient care) or switch to another Advantage Plan. (O'Brien, 3/11)

Stat: Medicare Spending On Neurology Drugs Jumped While Claims Barely Budged
During a recent five-year period, Medicare spending on hundreds of medicines to treat various neurologic conditions, such as epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, rose 50%, but the number of claims increased only 8%, according to a new study. Consequently, Medicare spent $4 billion in 2013 but doled out $6 billion by 2017 for these treatments. (Silverman, 3/11)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Model Not Right For All, Some Analysts Argue
Interest in a universal public option modeled on or linked to Medicare is growing as healthcare costs rise, but some analysts are saying the interest is based on faulty assumptions. On its surface, the policy sounds appealing—it could expand health insurance access and lower overall healthcare costs. A study released on March 1 by the Kaiser Family Foundation found the eye-catching results that if commercial and individual insurance paid providers at Medicare rates, it would reduce healthcare spending by 41% in 2021, or $350 billion. (Tepper, 3/11)

CNN: US Coronavirus: Here's Why Experts Say The US May Be Fooled By Improving Covid-19 Numbers And What That Means For The Summer 
Covid-19 numbers may be on the decline in the United States after a year of collective grief. But with tens of thousands of deaths expected over the next few months, experts are warning Americans not to drop their guard just yet. (Holcombe, 3/12)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada Adds Highest One-Day Total Of New COVID Cases In Nearly A Month
Nevada registered its highest one-day total of new COVID-19 cases in nearly a month, with 618 recorded over the preceding day, according to state data posted Thursday. The figure was the largest since the state reported 813 new cases on Feb. 13, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services posted on the state’s coronavirus website. It also was well above the 14-day moving average of 234 new cases per day, the state data showed. The state also reported 13 new deaths from the disease caused by the new coronavirus, which also was well above the 14-day moving average of five fatalities per day. (Brunker, 3/11)

AP: First Case Of Brazil COVID-19 Variant Found In Washington
A COVID-19 variant first identified in Brazil has been detected in Washington state, health officials said Thursday. Public Health – Seattle & King County said the UW Medicine Virology Lab detected the presence of the P.1 variant in a COVID-19 King County test sample. Three COVID-19 variants, including the variant first identified in the UK and the variant first identified in South Africa, have now been detected in Washington state. (3/12)

In related news about the spread of the coronavirus —

Roll Call: One-Tenth Of Congress Had COVID-19, Cases Halted Soon After Vaccination
Roughly 1 in 10 members of Congress contracted COVID-19 in the past year since the pandemic significantly changed daily life in the United States and on Capitol Hill. At least 71 lawmakers had COVID-19 at some point in 2020 or 2021, based on public statements they made about testing or being presumed positive for the virus or testing positive for antibodies, according to a GovTrack database. (McPherson and Cioffi, 3/11)

The Baltimore Sun: Two Dorms At Baltimore Jail Placed On Quarantine After Confirmed Positive COVID-19 Cases, Department Says 
Two dorms at the Metropolitan Transition Center in Baltimore have been quarantined after a confirmation of coronavirus cases there, Maryland’s prison system confirmed Thursday. The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services quarantined inmates in the two dorms, a spokeswoman said, based on guidance from the state health department, prison system protocol and the particular site’s “layout.” (Jackson and Davis, 3/12)

Also —

Axios: Fauci Says COVID Death Toll Would Have "Shocked" Him A Year Ago 
Speaking on the one-year anniversary of the pandemic declaration, White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said Thursday he would have been "shocked" to hear a year ago that the U.S. coronavirus death toll would surpass 500,000. It's a higher death toll than the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action in World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War combined. The White House projected on March 31 that the virus could kill 100,000–240,000 Americans — even with strict social distancing guidelines in place. (Allassan, 3/11)

Axios: Fauci "Very Much" Concerned About Post-COVID Mental Health Pandemic 
NIAID director Anthony Fauci told CBS News Thursday that he's "very much" concerned about a post-COVID mental health pandemic. Three in four adults in the U.S. reported a high stress level related to the pandemic, while one in four essential workers have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder since the start of the public health crisis, according to a survey from the American Psychological Association (APA) conducted in late February. (Chen, 3/11)

Salt Lake Tribune: Mental Health Has Been ‘A Second Pandemic’ During A Year Of COVID-19, Utah Doctors Say
A year of the COVID-19 pandemic — which has caused more than half a million deaths nationwide, and more than 2,000 in Utah — also has done damage to our mental wellbeing, the head of the Huntsman Mental Health Institute said. Mental health has become “a second pandemic within that pandemic right now,” Dr. Mark Rapaport, the institute’s CEO and chair of the University of Utah’s department of psychiatry, said Thursday, on the first anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration that the COVID-19 spread was a global pandemic. (Means, 3/11)

The Washington Examiner: New York Will End Quarantine Requirements For Domestic Travelers In April
The requirement for out-of-state visitors to quarantine upon arrival to New York will be lifted April 1, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday. Domestic travelers will no longer be required to quarantine upon arrival to the city, but Cuomo said that "it is still being advised as an added precaution." (Deese, 3/11)

AP: Oklahoma Governor Lifting Coronavirus Restrictions In State
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Thursday that statewide coronavirus restrictions will be lifted because increasing vaccinations and decreasing numbers of new cases and hospitalizations. “There will be no statewide restrictions on events for Oklahomans,” Stitt said. “I’m also removing a requirement to wear masks inside state buildings ... wearing a mask should be a personal decision based on your circumstances.” Limits of 50% occupancy in public buildings and masking requirements, extended in February, will be rescinded Friday, Stitt said. (3/11)

AP: Walz Plans To Dial Back Virus Restrictions For Gatherings
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Thursday he’s planning significant rollbacks of COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings, following an update by state health officials showing that 70% of the state’s senior citizens have now been vaccinated. “They will be probably our biggest turn because we’re at a point where we have not been since this thing started, and it will start to give guidance on larger gatherings starting as early as April,” Walz said Thursday during a visit to a Twin Cities high school. (3/11)

Also —

Politico: Biden's New Covid Workplace Rules Set To Collide With Reopenings 
The Biden administration is expected to issue new temporary rules next week to curb Covid-19 spread in the workplace, setting a collision course with the growing number of states loosening restrictions on businesses to aid their reopening. The mandates — which would add enforcement powers to guidelines that are now just optional — threaten to further roil the politics around President Joe Biden’s cautious reopening strategy and ramp up tensions between the administration and the business community, particularly with industries hard-hit by closures like restaurants and entertainment and hospitality venues. (Luthi and Rainey, 3/11)

The Washington Post: Americans Leaving Home More Often Than Before Coronavirus Pandemic 
Americans have begun leaving home more often than before the coronavirus pandemic took hold, reflecting a pent-up desire to venture out as new cases have declined, according to University of Maryland researchers tracking the movement of cellphones. The number of daily trips per person — when a cellphone moved more than a mile from home — had hovered around 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels since rebounding over the summer. But by mid-February, after a slight slump amid a surge in new cases, the number regularly started to exceed pre-pandemic travel. (Shaver, 3/11)

FierceHealthcare: Cigna: Some COVID-19 Patients Report Lingering Neurological, Heart Conditions Post-Recovery 
People who have recovered from a COVID-19 diagnosis face potentially new diagnoses for neurological, behavioral health and cardiovascular conditions, new data from Cigna show. Cigna researchers analyzed (PDF) claims data on 150,000 commercial plan members and their family members between April and June 2020 and found that 5.8% reported neurological conditions post-COVID. In addition, 5.1% reported heart conditions such as heart failure or coronary artery disease, and 5% reported mental health disorders following a COVID-19 diagnosis, the study found. (Minemyer, 3/11)

CIDRAP: Study Highlights COVID Spread In Hospitals Despite Use Of Masks, Goggles
Harvard University scientists detail three cases of COVID-19 spread despite the use of medical masks and eye protection in a study today in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health sequenced the genomes of SARS-CoV-2 specimens from patients and employees at Brigham and Women's Hospital in which spread occurred despite one or both parties wearing ASTM Level 1 masks with ear loops. These masks are designed to filter 95% of bacteria and 0.1-micrometer particles.Three cases of viral transmission despite use of masks occurred from November 2020 to mid-January 2021, as determined by matching virus genomes. The first involved an asymptomatic, unmasked 82-year-old patient who infected two patient care assistants wearing masks and face shields. Both assistants developed symptoms 4 and 5 days after the patient's diagnosis. One had spent 4 hours with the patient on hospital day 3, and the other tended to the patient for 8 hours on day 4. (3/11)

The Washington Post: Covid-19 Patients With Cancer, HIV, May Play A Role In Incubating Variants 
Deepa Bhojwani recalled feeling lucky her 2-year-old cancer patient with covid-19 bounced back quickly after being seen for a fever in the emergency department at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. But in the months that followed, an unnerving thing happened. The toddler’s condition flip-flopped from sick to well to sick again and so on, resulting in six hospitalizations over 196 days — and each time, the boy was positive again for the coronavirus. Bhojwani, a leukemia specialist, wondered whether the lab results might be a mistake or — terrifyingly — a rare case of reinfection. But when the medical team dove deeper, it found evidence the original virus had been inside the boy all along, evolving into more efficient forms. “We know viruses mutate,” Bhojwani said. “But we didn’t expect this.” (Cha, 3/11)

KHN: CDC’s ‘Huge Mistake’: Did Misguided Mask Advice Drive Up Covid Death Toll For Health Workers? 
Since the start of the pandemic, the most terrifying task in health care was thought to be when a doctor put a breathing tube down the trachea of a critically ill covid patient. Those performing such “aerosol-generating” procedures, often in an intensive care unit, got the best protective gear even if there wasn’t enough to go around, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. And for anyone else working with covid patients, until a month ago, a surgical mask was considered sufficient. (Jewett, 3/12)

Axios: COVID Antibiotic Use Raises Concern For Rising Resistance, Pew Says 
Doctors tended to overprescribe antibiotics to COVID-19 patients in hospitals during the early pandemic months, but programs designed to limit overuse are helping, according to an analysis from Pew Charitable Trusts. Antibiotic resistance is a serious threat globally and in the U.S., with rising deaths due to bacterial infection, dwindling novel drugs to treat them, and huge associated economic costs. Many worry the pandemic will only make the problem worse. (O'Reilly, 3/11)

Fox News: CDC Could 'Soon' Ease School Distancing Guidelines To 3 Feet
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) could "soon" ease its coronavirus-related physical distancing guidelines for in-person learning from six-feet to three, researchers tell Fox News. A researcher among those who recently penned an opinion piece claiming the CDC misinterpreted findings, including data on safe distancing in the classroom, told Fox News an unnamed CDC employee expects a shift in the agency’s guidance "soon." (Rivas, 3/11)

Bay Area News Group: COVID: Studies Show Students Are Safe With Less Distancing
Now, health experts and many parents are calling on the California Department of Public Health to revise its six-foot guidance, as Illinois and Massachusetts have done, as well as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Our evidence shows schools are operating similarly safely with three feet and not six,” said Emily Oster, an economics and public policy professor at Brown University who was among the authors of a study out this week. It found no significant difference in K-12 student and staff infection rates in Massachusetts public schools whether they had implemented three-foot or six-foot student spacing when other measures such as universal masking were implemented. (Woolfolk, 3/11)

In other school news —

AP: UT To Return To 'Fully In-Person' Campus Starting In Fall
The University of Tennessee on Thursday announced that it will return to a “fully in-person campus experience” in Knoxville starting in the fall. According to a news release, this will include in-person teaching in classrooms at capacity, normal campus housing, reopening dining halls and allowing more fans at athletic events. (3/12)

AP: NC Bill To Return More Students To Classrooms Becomes Law
North Carolina elected leaders finalized a directive on Thursday that will put more K-12 students in classrooms five days a week by telling all districts to offer in-person instruction no later than early April. The order was contained in legislation that Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law hours after the House approved the bill unanimously. The Senate gave it a similar vote on Wednesday. The Democratic governor and Republican legislators negotiated the compromise legislation, which resolved issues that prompted Cooper to veto a previous school-reopening measure nearly two weeks ago. (Robertson, 3/12)

Axios: The Pandemic's Toll On Teens 
The pandemic has been hard on everyone, but the impact on teenagers has been uniquely profound. High schoolers spent much of the past year isolated and on the sidelines, and that lack of human connection combined with shortened or canceled sports seasons has taken a devastating toll. (Tracy, 3/11)

CBS News: Pfizer Vaccine 97% Effective Against Symptomatic COVID-19, Study Shows 
Pfizer-BioNtech's coronavirus vaccine offers more protection than earlier thought, with effectiveness in preventing symptomatic disease reaching 97%, according to real-world evidence published Thursday by the pharma companies. Using data from January 17 to March 6 from Israel's national vaccination campaign, Pfizer-BioNtech found that prevention against asymptomatic disease also reached 94 percent. (3/11)

Axios: Pfizer Data From Israel Finds Vaccine Prevents 94% Of Asymptomatic Infections 
The latest analysis from Israel, where a world-leading 44% of the population has received two vaccine doses, suggests that the Pfizer vaccine could significantly reduce asymptomatic transmission — a key driver of infections — in addition to preventing severe illness and death. (Gonzalez, 3/11)

ABC News: Pfizer Vaccine Shows 94% Effectiveness Against Asymptomatic Transmission Of COVID 
As concerning COVID variants spread and the companies behind the three authorized vaccines hurry to test their shots against them, there's other promising news from Thursday's announcement: this latest analysis was performed when more than 80% of Israel's COVID-19 cases were from the UK variant B.1.1.7 -- demonstrating that the Pfizer vaccine is equally effective against this variant, which is known to be more contagious, and possibly even more deadly, Israel's Ministry of Health reported. (Silberman, 3/11)

In other news about Pfizer and Moderna —

NPR: Pfizer And Moderna Make Progress On COVID-19 Vaccine Goals
Distributions skyrocketed the last two weeks, according to an NPR analysis of archived data from the CDC's vaccination tracker. Since early January, they wobbled between 8 million and 10 million total doses a week. But in both the last week of February and again the first week of March, the companies delivered around 20 million doses. If Pfizer and Moderna can keep it up, they'll both hit 100 million. Both companies have expressed confidence. In a statement to NPR, Pfizer spokesman Steven Danehy also reiterated a promise CEO Albert Bourla made in late January to deliver even more doses by the end of the month. (Lupkin, 3/11)

KHN: To Extract More Doses Per Vial, Vaccinators Put Squeeze On FDA To Relax Vaccine Handling Advice 
President Joe Biden has promised enough covid vaccine to immunize every willing adult by June 1. But right now, the gap between supply and demand is so dramatic that vaccinators are discovering ways to suck the final drops out of each vaccine vial — if federal regulators will let them. Pharmacists involved in the covid vaccination drive say it’s common to have half a dose left in a Pfizer vial after five or even six doses have been administered — and to have half a dose left after 10 doses have been drawn out of a Moderna vial. Combining two half-doses could increase vaccinations by thousands at a time when 2 million or so doses are being administered every day in the country. (Allen, 3/12)

KHN: ‘Explained By KHN’: Consumer Concerns About The Covid Vaccines 
The twists and turns of the American health system can sometimes leave people lost, confused and looking for answers. We’ve created a new video series — “Explained by KHN” — in which our correspondents and editors answer common health care and health policy questions. As promising news about the development, efficacy and distribution of covid-19 vaccines spread across the United States, questions about the shots were even more viral. In this edition of “Explained by KHN” we will answer common consumer questions about the covid vaccines. (Allen, Appleby and Lofton, 3/12)

Fox News: Patients Expecting COVID-19 Vaccine Injected With Empty Syringes At Kroger Location In Virginia: Report
Multiple patients at a Kroger location in Virginia who were hoping to receive the COVID-19 vaccine were reportedly injected with an empty syringe by mistake, according to a local report. A health care professional at the location at Kroger location in Chesterfield County was "under the impression" that a colleague had filled the syringes before the patients came in for their appointments, local news station WRIC reported. Fewer than 10 people were injected with an empty syringe. The patients affected by the mishap were later contacted to come back for the actual vaccine, per the news station, which added that the Virginia Department of Health was subsequently contacted and has been "working with [the Kroger location] on this issue." (Farber, 3/11)

Fox News: Kansas Hospital Trashes Hundreds Of Coronavirus Vaccine Doses Due To Mistake
A Kansas hospital was forced to throw away nearly 600 COVID-19 vaccine doses this week due to a "process error," health officials said Thursday. Lawrence Memorial Hospital said it received 570 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health on Wednesday. The doses are typically delivered while frozen -- so they can be placed in a freezer at the hospital until they are ready for distribution. The Lawrence, Kansas, hospital, in a release, said it followed this procedure, "not realizing they were already thawed." (Aaro, 3/12)

Houston Chronicle: Outdated Population Data May Be Costing Texas Millions Of COVID-19 Vaccine Doses
Texas health officials and Gov. Greg Abbott say the federal government is using outdated population figures to calculate the number of COVID-19 vaccines sent to Texas — an inaccuracy that has potentially cost the state millions of doses. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been using a five-year average of census data, from 2014 to 2018, to determine weekly vaccine allocations. But state officials say those numbers underestimate Texas’ adult population by roughly 1 million people — a large part of the reason why Texas ranks so low in its distribution compared to other states. (Harris and Rubio, 3/11)

WUSF Public Media: 'We're Losing Time': Expert Urges Florida To Expand COVID Vaccine Eligibility 
Some infectious disease experts say Florida's efforts to restrict who is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine are starting to be counterproductive. Health News Florida's Stephanie Colombini talked with Dr. Glenn Morris, Director of the University of Florida's Emerging Pathogens Institute, who said it's time to make it easier for people to get shots. (Colombini, 3/11)

In other news on the vaccine rollout —

The Hill: Fauci: CDC Will Release New Guidance For Vaccinated Americans 'Very Soon'
The nation's top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said Thursday that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would issue new guidance in the coming days for Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19. In an interview Thursday evening with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, President Biden's chief medical adviser said that a "series" of announcements would come in the days ahead defining best practices for Americans who have already received one or two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. (Bowden, 3/11)

AP: Wisconsin Greatly Expands Coronavirus Vaccine Eligibility
Wisconsin is expanding coronavirus vaccine eligibility to at least 2 million more people later this month, including anyone 16 or older with common pre-existing medical conditions such as being overweight, pregnant or having high blood pressure, health officials announced Thursday. People who don’t have pre-existing conditions that would qualify them as of March 29 or who haven’t otherwise qualified to get vaccinated yet are expected to become eligible sometime in May, the state Department of Health Services said. (Bauer, 3/11)

Los Angeles Times: California Releases Details On How Millions Can Get COVID-19 Vaccinations Beginning Monday
Four days before an estimated 4.4 million Californians with disabilities or underlying health conditions become eligible for the vaccine, the California Public Health Department released guidance on the verification process. Notably, the state is not requiring that eligible disabled or sick individuals present documentation of their condition. Instead, all will be required to self-attest that they meet the criteria. Disability rights advocates had pressed for a process that would not create unnecessary barriers, especially for those less mobile, prompted by issues with vaccine line-jumping. The state also offered specific examples of people who would qualify for eligibility but are not explicitly listed. (Shalby and Smith, 3/11)

NBC News: Covid Vaccinations Are Free — But They're Taking A Toll On Local Pharmacies' Bottom Lines
Pharmacists may be on the front line of Covid-19 vaccination distribution, but they feel increasingly like an afterthought when they try to get paid for it. A common complaint among community pharmacists is that they are sapped physically, mentally and financially by hours of paperwork, piles of rejected claims and unceasing billing audits just to receive some level of payment for administering vaccines. And it’s a problem that could push some of these small businesses to the brink financially. (McCausland, 3/12)

Also —

The Hill: 49 Percent Of GOP Men Say They Won't Get Vaccinated: PBS Poll
Nearly half of U.S. men who identify as Republicans said they have no plans to get the coronavirus vaccine, according to a new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll released Thursday. The study, which surveyed 1,227 U.S. adults from March 3 to March 8, found that approximately 30 percent of Americans overall said they do not plan on getting vaccinated.  (Castronuovo, 3/11)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Posted Higher Profits In Second Half Of 2020 Even As COVID Cases Soared
As COVID-19 cases reached unprecedented levels in the final months of 2020, some of the country's biggest health systems made more money than they did in the comparable 2019 period—even without counting their federal grants. Company executives pointed to two big contributors: sicker than usual patients and a higher-than-expected ratio of privately insured patients, both on the COVID and non-COVID sides. The pandemic narrowed the subset of people willing to visit hospitals. Those that did tended to have very serious illnesses or injuries and they also were more likely to have commercial insurance, which pays hospitals much more than Medicare and Medicaid. (Bannow, 3/11)

AP: 'Silver Lining': Hospitals Keep Practices Born In COVID Rush
As coronavirus surged in New York last year, officials at the state’s largest hospital system realized their old way of transferring patients to relieve stress on swamped emergency rooms just wasn’t going to cut it. Instead of time-consuming phone calls and emails, Northwell Health created a quicker, more efficient “crowd-sourcing” method using an online spreadsheet to match patients in need of a transfer with hospitals having available beds. Now, Northwell Health, which operates 23 hospitals and 700 outpatient clinics in the New York City region, has made that system — born in the midst of a crisis — a permanent part of its operations. (Shaffrey, 3/11)

Bloomberg: Quest Sees Direct-To-Consumer Testing Taking Off Post-Pandemic
Commercial laboratory Quest Diagnostics Inc. sees a growing direct-to-consumer testing opportunity following the Covid-19 pandemic, as patients seek greater control of their health care and the crisis accelerates a shift to digital technologies. Direct-to-consumer testing for medical needs like colorectal cancer and others could bring in $250 million in revenue for Quest by 2025 in a total market worth about $2 billion, the company said at its investor day on Thursday. (Court, 3/11)

Also —

Becker's Hospital Review: Surgeons Seen As Better Communicators When Wearing Clear Masks, Study Finds
Patients were more likely to report good communication with surgeons who wore clear masks instead of standard cloth medical masks in a study published March 11 in JAMA Surgery. Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill asked 15 surgeons to wear either clear or covered masks during clinic visits with new patients. Researchers then interviewed 200 patients, half of whom saw surgeons with clear masks and half who saw surgeons in traditional masks.  (Bean, 3/11)

Axios: NYC Hospital CEO Steven Corwin Remembers Facing The COVID "Tsunami" 
Steven Corwin, chief executive of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, said the medical center had four cases of COVID on March 8 of last year. By March 29 that number had jumped to 600. In an interview on Thursday with Axios Re:Cap, Corwin described how the hospital managed the "tsunami" of cases in the early days of the pandemic while struggling to maintain a supply of protective and medical equipment during a global supply shortage. (Knutson, 3/11)

Stat: How Will Doctors Handle Contraception Apps Like Natural Cycles And Clue?
Two years ago, Danielle Castillo decided to end her 13-year relationship with the pill. She had been using hormonal birth control since she was 17, and it often made her nauseous and lowered her libido. Engaged to a supportive partner but not yet ready to have children, the Cleveland-based social media marketer started researching alternatives. What she found, through online searches and Facebook groups, was Natural Cycles, an app the FDA cleared in 2018 to be marketed as birth control. (Palmer, 3/12)

NBC News: 'Vasectomy Mayhem' At Virginia Urologist Draws Trademark Complaint From NCAA
The NCAA is challenging a group of Virginia urologists who trademarked the phrase "Vasectomy Mayhem," claiming it's too close to its famed basketball tournament, "March Madness." The governing body of college sports accused Virginia Urology, a practice based in Richmond, Virginia, of improperly cashing in on the cherished "March Madness" brand, according to the NCAA's filing to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's appeals board. (Li, 3/11)

The New York Times: A $22,368 Bill That Dodged And Weaved To Find A Gap In America’s Health System
John Druschitz spent five days in a Texas hospital last April with fever and shortness of breath. It was still the early days of the pandemic, and doctors puzzled over a diagnosis. They initially suspected coronavirus and hung signs outside his door warning those entering to wear protective equipment. Mr. Druschitz had already spent two weeks at home with worsening symptoms. He recalls one doctor telling him, “This is what it does to a person.” Ensuing lab work, however, was ambiguous: Multiple molecular tests for coronavirus came back negative, but an antibody test was positive. (Kliff, 3/10)

CBS News: When Will COVID-19 End? A Year Into The Pandemic, Public Health Experts Say: Never 
When is this finally going to end? That's the question on many minds after a year of living through the COVID-19 pandemic. But public health experts say we do have an answer, and you're not going to like it: COVID-19 is never going to end. It now seems poised to become an endemic disease — one that is always a part of our environment, no matter what we do. (Silverstein, 3/11)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Predictions: One Year In, Here’s How 8 Conjectures Have Held Up 
It has been a year since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Even by then, the virus already had begun to upend life nearly everywhere. In those initial months, the world was awash with predictions, some grounded in facts and scientific theories, others based on political interests and misinformation. Here’s how eight of the most prevalent predictions have held up. (Berger, 3/11)

CBS News: Family Who Lost 5 Loved Ones Opens Up About COVID's Devastating Toll 
In the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, one family in New Jersey lost five loved ones to COVID-19. The virus spread quickly through their family after they gathered for a dinner. Italian and Catholic, Grace Fusco nourished her 11 children in Freehold Township, New Jersey. CBS News talked to four of her children — Joe, Toni, Adrienne and Liz — one year after what would be the last family dinner. "The only thing we are guilty of is being a close-knit family, where we always together," Joe said. (Battiste, 3/11)

CBS News: Duke Basketball Season Over After Positive Coronavirus Test, Ending 24-Year NCAA Streak
Duke has pulled out of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and officially ended its season after a member of the program tested positive for coronavirus. The Blue Devils' streak of 24 consecutive NCAA Tournaments is now over. "Since last March when the pandemic started, we have listened to our medical experts and always put safety at the forefront of any determinations regarding competition," said Duke Athletic Director Kevin White. "As a result, this will end our 2020-21 season." (Smith, 3/11)

In other public health news —

The New York Times: Sickle Cell Treatment Not Linked To Cancer, Researchers Say 
Just a few weeks after a promising gene therapy for sickle cell disease seemed to have hit a roadblock, prospects for the treatment now look better. Preliminary data suggesting that it might cause cancer have not held up. In the gene therapy, scientists insert a normal gene into patients’ DNA to help correct sickle cell disease, which is caused by a devastating mutation. The cutting-edge treatment may prove to be a cure, and a company that is testing the treatment, Bluebird Bio, had been on track to apply to the Food and Drug Administration for approval next year. (Kolata, 3/10)

The New York Times: More Childhood Lead Poisoning Is A Side Effect Of Covid Lockdowns 
Over the past half-century, public health officials have made enormous progress in protecting American children from lead poisoning and the irreversible neurological damage it can cause. Since the 1970s, the percentage of children with high levels of lead in their blood has plummeted. But in 2020, a new health threat, the coronavirus, endangered these hard-earned gains. When Covid-19 cases spiked last spring, lockdowns and day care closures confined young children to their homes, where lead exposure can be particularly high. (Anthes, 3/11)

Stat: The Uncounted: People Who Are Homeless Are Invisible Victims Of Covid-19
They are the invisible victims of Covid-19, marginalized not just in life, but also in death. Despite the extraordinarily detailed statistics that parse the ages, races, and comorbidities of the nation’s more than 500,000 Covid deaths, no one seems to have any idea how many homeless people have died. (McFarling, 3/11)

Dallas Morning News: Texas Rangers Stop Using Hypnosis After Dallas Morning News Investigation Reveals Dubious Science
The Texas Department of Public Safety has ended the controversial practice of using hypnosis to investigate crimes. A department spokesman said the hypnosis program ended in January 2021, more than forty years after its inception, because its officers are now relying on better investigative practices. The decision comes less than a year after The Dallas Morning News published a two-part series, “The Memory Room,” which raised serious questions about the efficacy of using hypnosis on criminal cases. The News investigation found Texas built one of the most prolific programs for police hypnosis in the country, repeatedly doubling down on the practice despite scientific evidence that hypnosis can distort witness memories and lead to false convictions. (McGaughy, 3/11)

Health News Florida: Those Opposing THC Cap Say It Will Force Patients To Buy More 
As the number of medical marijuana patients in Florida grows, Republican lawmakers in Tallahassee are once again exploring a possible cap on the level of THC in medical marijuana. Sally Peebles, a partner with the cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg and chair of the state’s Medical Cannabis Advisory Committee, said Wednesday two issues are of concern now: the high price of medical marijuana and dispensaries running out of the high-demand product. (Corum, 3/11)

Billings Gazette: Tribes Line Up To Oppose Cuts Of Tribal Health Positions In State Health Department
Leaders of Montana's tribes lined up with others Thursday to oppose a decision to cut two tribal health positions from the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. A budget subcommittee in February approved removing the positions of the tribal liaison and director of American Indian health within the department. On Thursday the House Appropriations Committee heard debate on the issue as part of a hearing on the health department's budget. (Michels, 3/11)

KHN: University Of Missouri Settles Lawsuits Over Knee Surgeries Involving Veterinarian 
The University of Missouri has settled a collection of personal injury and false advertising claims over knee surgeries for $16.2 million, in what appears to be one of its largest public payouts in recent years. The 22 plaintiffs, a handful of whom were minors, filed suits from 2018 through 2020 over “BioJoint” surgeries pioneered by two university employees, orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Stannard and veterinarian Dr. James Cook. The procedure involves a complex operation that the Mizzou BioJoint Center’s website calls a “biological joint restoration,” replacing parts of the knee with cadaver bones or cartilage to treat arthritis or joint damage. Some plaintiffs alleged in court documents that the procedure was sold to them as a way to avoid a traditional artificial knee replacement. (Weber, 3/12)

CNN: AstraZeneca Vaccine Suspended By Several European Nations As Blood Clot Reports Investigated 
Denmark, Iceland and Norway have suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine while the European Union's medicines regulator investigates whether the shot could be linked to a number of reports of blood clots. Denmark announced a two-week suspension on Thursday following a number of reports of clotting in the country, including one fatal case. Iceland and Norway followed suit, but did not say how long their suspensions would last. (Mortensen, Elwazer and Siad, 3/11)

The Washington Post: More Nations Suspend Use Of AstraZeneca Vaccine As E.U. Probes Blood Clot Concerns 
A growing number of countries in Europe and elsewhere have halted the use of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, after people reportedly developed blood clots in the days following vaccination — and despite a lack of formal evidence that the shot is unsafe. Italy, Romania and Thailand joined at least eight other European nations this week in suspending the injections either from specific batches or as part of a total freeze, citing the potential adverse events, while the European Union’s drug regulator conducts an investigation. (Cunningham, 3/12)

CNBC: AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine Suspended In Some Countries Over Blood Clot Fears
The coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has now been suspended in a number of countries across Europe and Asia, following reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people. Many other nations, however, have defended their use of the shot and said they will continue their respective inoculation campaigns. (Meredith, 3/12)

Bloomberg: Australia Backs AstraZeneca Vaccine As Blood Clots Probed
Australia won’t pause the rollout of AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine, even as some European countries temporarily suspend use of the shots while possible blood clots are investigated. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday that health authorities had not raised any concerns about the vaccine and would continue to monitor developments overseas. Officials spoke with the European Medicines Agency overnight, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. (McKay, 3/12)

In other global vaccine developments —

Reuters: Exclusive: EU Told To Expect No AstraZeneca Vaccines From U.S. In Near Future - Sources
Washington has told the European Union that it should not expect to receive AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines manufactured in the United States any time soon, two EU sources said on Thursday, in a new blow to the bloc’s supplies. The U.S. message could complicate vaccination plans in the 27-nation EU, which has been grappling since January with delays in deliveries from vaccine makers. (Guarascio and Chalmers, 3/11)

The New York Times: The U.S. Is Sitting On Tens Of Millions Of Vaccine Doses The World Needs
Tens of millions of doses of the coronavirus vaccine made by the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca are sitting idly in American manufacturing facilities, awaiting results from its U.S. clinical trial while countries that have authorized its use beg for access. The fate of those doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine is the subject of an intense debate among White House and federal health officials, with some arguing the administration should let them go abroad where they are desperately needed while others are not ready to relinquish them, according to senior administration officials. (Weiland and Robbins, 3/11)

Axios: Biden And Leaders Of Australia, India, Japan To Unveil Plan To Boost Asia's Vaccine Supply 
President Biden and his counterparts from India, Japan and Australia — collectively known as "the Quad" — will announce a plan to increase vaccine supplies to countries in Asia during a video summit on Friday, a senior administration official told reporters. This is the first time that a Quad summit will bring together the leaders of all four countries, demonstrating a growing commitment to a group the U.S. sees as key to countering the influence of China in the Indo-Pacific. (Allen-Ebrahimian and Lawler, 3/12)

Bloomberg: It’s Still ‘America First’ On Vaccines As Russia, China Fill Gap
After failing to broker a deal with Pfizer Inc., Argentine President Alberto Fernandez was so desperate to secure Covid-19 vaccines that he rushed a passenger plane to Moscow in December to bring in Sputnik V doses before his own regulators had a chance to approve the shot. The approval for emergency use arrived hours before the Aerolineas Argentina flight carrying 300,000 of the Russian shots landed at the Buenos Aires airport, to much media fanfare. (Wainer and Gillespie, 3/12)

Axios: Most Developing Countries Still Haven't Administered A Single Vaccine Dose 
Wealthy nations — including the U.S., the U.K. and the EU — have vaccinated their citizens at a rate of one person per second over the last month, while most developing countries still haven't administered a single shot, according to the People's Vaccine Alliance. As higher-income countries aim to achieve herd immunity in a matter of months, most of the world's vulnerable people will remain unprotected. (Owens, 3/11)

CNN: Meet 'Gen C,' The Covid Generation
Some experts have started to use a new term to talk about seismic changes they're seeing -- changes that could cause ripple effects in children's lives far into the future. They've given a new name to the world's newest generation: Gen C, or Generation Covid. "Covid is such a big mega-event in human history," says Haim Israel, head of thematic investing for BofA Global Research, who described Gen C in a widely cited report last year. "It's going to be the most defining moment for this generation." (Shoichet, 3/11)

The Washington Post: How The Coronavirus Devastated A Generation
In one of the hardest-hit parts of the West’s most aged nation, the coronavirus blitzed through a generation in a matter of weeks. It killed more than 100 of 400 residents in the local nursing home. It forced this city to rush-order eight refrigerated trailers to hold the corpses. It created a horrifying landscape of ambulances racing to the private homes of seniors, who were dying at a rate 400 percent above the norm. “The pain was atrocious,” said Gilberto Anelli, 82, who lost his wife of 57 years and now starts every morning speaking to her photograph. (Harlan and Pitrelli, 3/3)

The Atlantic: Unlocking The Mysteries Of Long COVID
The quest at mount sinai began with a mystery. During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in New York City, Zijian Chen, an endocrinologist, had been appointed medical director of the hospital’s new Center for Post-COVID Care, dedicated both to research and to helping recovering patients “transition from hospital to home,” as Mount Sinai put it. One day last spring, he turned to an online survey of COVID‑19 patients who were more than a month past their initial infection but still experiencing symptoms. Because COVID‑19 was thought to be a two-week respiratory illness, Chen anticipated that he would find only a small number of people who were still sick. That’s not what he saw. (O'Rourke, 3/8)

The Atlantic: The Differences Between The Vaccines Matter
There’s a problem here. It’s certainly true that all three of the FDA-authorized vaccines are very good—amazing, even—at protecting people’s health. No one should refrain from seeking vaccination on the theory that any might be second-rate. But it’s also true that the COVID-19 vaccines aren’t all the same: Some are more effective than others at preventing illness, for example; some cause fewer adverse reactions; some are more convenient; some were made using more familiar methods and technologies. As for the claim that the vaccines have proved perfectly and equally effective at preventing hospitalization and death? It’s just not right. (Bastian, 3/7)

The Wall Street Journal: How Covid-19 Will Shape Sports—Even After The Pandemic Fades 
In the first major American sports event after a novel coronavirus shuttered sports last spring, millions watched NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announce draft picks from his basement while the league’s coaches and general managers made their decisions from home offices. Sports has changed a lot since the NBA shut down on a jarring night last March 11. Leagues rushed to change the way they operate in order to play through the spread of a deadly virus. Protocols were instituted. Bubbles were constructed. Stadiums were emptied. Rules were changed.  (Beaton, 3/9)

Politico: In 2018, Diplomats Warned Of Risky Coronavirus Experiments In A Wuhan Lab. No One Listened.
On January 15, in its last days, President Donald Trump’s State Department put out a statement with serious claims about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The statement said the U.S. intelligence community had evidence that several researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology laboratory were sick with Covid-like symptoms in autumn 2019—implying the Chinese government had hidden crucial information about the outbreak for months—and that the WIV lab, despite “presenting itself as a civilian institution,” was conducting secret research projects with the Chinese military. The State Department alleged a Chinese government cover-up and asserted that “Beijing continues today to withhold vital information that scientists need to protect the world from this deadly virus, and the next one.” The exact origin of the new coronavirus remains a mystery to this day, but the search for answers is not just about assigning blame. Unless the source is located, the true path of the virus can’t be traced, and scientists can’t properly study the best ways to prevent future outbreaks. (Rogin, 3/8)

Also —

The Washington Post: Black Women’s Health Problems During Menopause Haven’t Been A Focus Of Medicine. Experts And Activists Want To Change That. 
As they mark life’s milestones, Black women, by many measures, have worse health outcomes than White women. They experience higher rates of infant and maternal mortality, lower rates of cervical and ovarian cancer survival, and less access to hospice care. Even menopause is different, with Black women experiencing more hot flashes and night sweats than White women. Although a two-decade study of women of different races and ethnicities has provided insight into the health problems related to menopause and aging, questions persist about how the health of Black women during and after menopause, particularly their experience of hot flashes, is affected by their lived experience. (Vander Schaaff, 3/6)

The Washington Post: What Really Works To Help An Aging Brain. It’s Not Going To Function Like It Did In Your 20s, But There Are Things You Can Do. 
When you reach a certain age, every lost key or hard-to-conjure word comes with a nagging question — is my mind slipping? The answer, unfortunately, is probably yes, but that doesn’t mean that you’re becoming senile or have something to worry about, says Denise Park, distinguished university chair in behavioral and brain sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. Most people experience a little bit of forgetfulness as they get older, particularly in their 60s and 70s, Park says, and this is the result of subtle changes in processing speed that begin in your 20s. Initially, these changes are too small to perceive, but eventually they become noticeable. (Aschwanden, 3/7)

The New York Times: The Long, Sad Decline Of Mark Pavelich, A ‘Miracle On Ice’ Star 
C.T.E., which can be diagnosed only after death, has been found in dozens of former athletes who had mental difficulties later in life. The N.F.L. star Junior Seau, as well as other athletes who died by suicide, was found to have had the type of brain damage associated with C.T.E. The news of Mark Pavelich’s death angered at least one teammate who had tried to help him through his mental and legal difficulties — Barry Beck, a former Ranger. Since Pavelich was declared “mentally ill and dangerous” by a county court judge in 2019, Beck had used Facebook to provide updates on Pavelich’s condition, and to call on the N.H.L. to do more to help former players struggling with mental illness that might stem from head injuries. (Boudette, 3/9)

The New York Times: We Did Not Suffer Equally
The past year was devastating. Weddings, holidays and celebrations were put on hold as social life was suspended. Anxiety, distress and loneliness soared, careers stalled, and jobs disappeared. Over 500,000 people in the United States lost their lives. At the start, it felt that we were all in it together. As affluent international travelers, celebrities and heads of government contracted the virus, many believed Covid-19 would be a great equalizer. But as the weeks and months wore on, that was revealed to be an illusion. In America, your experience of lockdown — and of the pandemic as a whole — depended not on luck or chance or fortune. It was instead largely foretold by something far more prosaic: the position you held on the socioeconomic spectrum, by your class, race and gender. (Yaryna Serkez, 3/11)

USA Today: COVID Anniversary: A Doctor's Lessons From A Year In The Pandemic
Thursday marks the first anniversary of when the greatest of nations was shut down by the smallest of viruses. March 11, 2020, was the day the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, cases were rising within our borders, and then-President Donald Trump could no longer credibly argue that the novel coronavirus would “magically disappear. ”At that time, there were roughly 1,200 cases in the USA and 40 deaths. One year from hell later and we have almost 30 million known infections and have lost more than 526,000 lives. The end is finally in sight, but it shouldn’t have taken us half a million dead mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers to get there. It is worth reflecting on the lessons we learned in the past 12 months, and ensure we put them into action before the next pandemic arrives. In particular, we need to trust science again and fill the gaps in our national public health policies. (Dr. Thomas K. Lew, 3/11)

NBC News: Covid Long-Haulers Are Often Women. Maybe It'll Change The System's Perspective On Our Pain.
While more men have died of Covid-19 at time of writing, Frances Williams, a professor of genomic epidemiology at King's College London, says that preliminary data from the Covid Symptom Tracker app — which she helped develop — shows women are slightly more likely to suffer long-term effects following a Covid infection. By way of contrast, in post-viral fatigue, women outnumber men two to one. In chronic fatigue syndrome (or myalgic encephalomyelitis), they make up 85 percent of patients. (Gabrielle Jackson, 3/8)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Intellectual Disability Is The Top Unspoken Risk Factor For COVID-19. So Why Is It Not Prioritized For Vaccine? 
Imagine: Your family is a happy one. Your adult child lives with you. She is content and industrious. She has therapy three days a week and has started a small business making and selling dog biscuits with some of her peers in one of her therapeutic groups. Like everyone else, you are concerned about COVID-19. You are older but not in the age where vaccination is currently eligible. Some of your daughter’s therapists still come to the house. They also go to the houses of other clients. Every day you worry what will happen if you get exposed and sick from COVID-19, not just for your own sake, but for hers. You also worry about her getting sick. And you should. (Wendy Ross 3/11)

Bay Area News Group: California’s Blue Shield Vaccine Deal Rife With Problems 
It would not have been fair to expect Gov. Gavin Newsom’s response to the coronavirus to be neat and orderly. After all, we’re in the middle of a pandemic. We haven’t been through this before. There is no simple playbook, especially for a state as large and complex as California. The governor and state officials have had to figure it out as they go along. Such is the nature of an unprecedented crisis. To a certain extent, that helps explain the confusion over the state’s testing, the bungled attempt at contact tracing, the constantly changing criteria for sheltering and reopening businesses, and the botched effort to reopen schools. (3/11)

Los Angeles Times: Time To Stop Messing Around With Time. Dump The Clock-Changing Foolishness, Already
It’s nearly that time of year again when Americans reset their clocks one hour ahead, grumble about losing an hour of sleep — and wonder why on Earth we keep observing the outdated tradition of tinkering with time twice a year. It’s a good question. There’s no practical benefit to the biannual clock-changing ritual beyond reminding people to check their smoke alarm batteries. But there are plenty of annoyances and maybe some health risks too. (3/12)

Boston Globe: Let’s Spring Forward — And Not Turn Back
It is never easy to give up an hour of sleep, and it will be even harder this weekend, after an exhausting year of dealing with a deadly global pandemic. But spring forward we must, as our cell phones automatically adjust to change time forward one hour Sunday morning, and we must fiddle with the coffee makers and desk clocks that require us to make the change manually. There is no better time for lawmakers to act on an issue that not only enjoys bipartisan support but will also literally allow them to bring more light into the lives of Americans: Pass the Sunshine Protection Act, and make this the last time we have to change time. (3/12)

Also —

Bloomberg: The Opioid Death Toll Is Rising Amid Covid-19 
Since 1999, when the unconstrained prescription of painkillers was beginning to emerge as a public-health crisis, more than 535,000 lives have been lost to opioid overdoses. If that grim number seems familiar, it’s just a bit higher than Covid-19’s toll of 527,000 deaths so far. Covid-19 and the opioid crisis are linked in other ways, too. The pandemic has driven an alarming increase in overdose fatalities over the past year, as people struggling to recover from opioid dependence have been undone by isolation, job loss and the added difficulty of getting support and treatment with social-distancing rules in effect. All this at a time when lethal illicit fentanyl is increasingly turning up in street narcotics, including counterfeit hydrocodone and oxycodone pills. The 12 months ending last July saw 61,000 deaths, a surge from the previous year — even though the period includes only the first five months of the pandemic. (3/10)

Stat: Reining In Drug Patents Isn't A Silver Bullet Against High Drug Prices 
It’s a laudable goal. High drug prices are a major public health concern; there is broad political support for reining in the cost of drugs; and Americans pay a lot for drugs. A recent pharmaceutical spending report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development found that U.S. residents spend roughly 50% more on drugs per person than residents of Switzerland, the second highest-spending country, and about twice as much as the median of its peer OECD countries. (Jacob S. Sherkow, 3/12)

Stat: Choosing The Right USPTO Director Can Help Lower Drug Prices 
As the Biden administration fills key Cabinet positions, its attention must turn to other critical areas of the U.S. government, like appointing a new director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This agency is unusual in the federal government because it operates solely on fees collected by its users and not on taxpayer dollars. The office has been working under an acting director, Drew Hirshfeld, since the previous director, Andrei Iancu, officially resigned on Jan. 19, 2021. The USPTO director that President Biden selects will provide important signal of the administration’s patent priorities and can have a positive impact at a time when patents are being abused to support high drug prices. (Matthew Lane, 3/12)

Boston Globe: A Long, Strange Trip To The Mainstream For Psychedelics 
Massachusetts General Hospital wouldn’t seem like a natural fit for a center devoted to mind-altering drugs. The Harvard-affiliated medical behemoth is the very definition of establishment. But this week, MGH launched the Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics to study the potential of psilocybin and other psychoactive drugs to treat conditions such as depression, addiction, trauma, and more. Forget the beads and bellbottoms: The new center at MGH signifies that the field of psychedelic therapy has arrived. (Renee Loth, 3/12)