The Washington Post: Biden Sets New Goal Of 200 Million Shots In His First 100 Days
President Biden’s first vaccine promise — 100 million shots in his first 100 days — was met 42 days early. So on Thursday he doubled it, saying 200 million doses will have been administered under his presidency by April 30. The nation is already poised to meet the revised target, as the seven-day average of daily vaccinations surpasses 2.5 million. Vaccine supply is also expected to expand in April, prompting numerous states to throw open eligibility to everyone 16 and older. (Stanley-Becker and Sun, 3/25)

CNBC: Biden Sets New Covid Vaccine Goal As Coronavirus Pandemic Continues
“I know it’s ambitious — twice our original goal — but no other country in the world has come close ... to what we’re doing,” Biden told reporters as he opened his first news conference as president. “I believe we can do it.” As of Friday, 100 million coronavirus vaccinations had been given since Biden was inaugurated. That benchmark — which Biden set as his original target Dec. 8 — was reached on his 59th day in office. (Mangan and Lovelace Jr., 3/25)

The Hill: Reporters Ask Biden Zero Questions On COVID-19
President Biden didn't get a single question at his first press conference about the coronavirus pandemic that has been the biggest story for the last year. (Chalfant, 3/25)

In other news about the Biden administration —

Modern Healthcare: Community Health Centers To Get $6 Billion From HHS For Vaccine Programs
The Biden administration on Thursday said HHS will give approximately 1,400 community health centers across the country $6 billion to expand COVID-19 vaccinations, testing and treatment to vulnerable populations. The funding, which Congress appropriated through the most recent relief bill, will be distributed by HHS starting next month as part of the Biden administration's efforts to ensure communities of color, low-income populations and people living in rural areas receive COVID-19 vaccines, testing and treatment. (Hellmann, 3/25)

KHN: Democrats Could Undo Trump Policies Faster, But They’re Not. Why?
Undoing many of the policies of his predecessor is one of President Joe Biden’s top priorities. In early February, Biden even got a little defensive about all the executive actions he was taking in his first days in office to halt policies set by President Donald Trump. “I’m not making new law,” he said Feb. 2. “I’m eliminating bad policy.” But as easy as it sounds on the campaign hustings or in a 30-second political ad, it’s complicated to overturn rules from earlier administrations. There is one tool, however, that Biden and the Democratic Congress could use to undo the policies the Trump administration left behind. A little-used law called the Congressional Review Act allows a new administration with a like-minded Congress to fast-track the repeal of regulations and other executive actions with simple majority votes in both chambers and no filibuster in the Senate. (Rovner, 3/26)

KHN: The Great Undoing: Which Of Trump’s Policies Will Biden Reverse?
KHN has put together an interactive tool of significant health policies implemented by the Trump administration using its own authority — executive orders, agency guidance or formal regulations — and is tracking Biden administration and court actions. (Rovner)

The New York Times: These 31 States Are Expanding Covid-19 Vaccine Eligibility
At least 31 states have pledged to make vaccines universally available to their adult populations by mid-April, and many more have announced plans to expand eligibility on or before May 1, a goal set by President Biden. Alaska, Mississippi, Utah and West Virginia have already made all adults eligible to receive shots, and some local jurisdictions have also begun vaccinating all adults. (Tumin, 3/26)

Los Angeles Times: All California Adults To Be COVID Vaccine Eligible In April 
California is dramatically expanding the eligibility for COVID-19 vaccines, offering the shots to virtually all residents 16 and older beginning next month, the state announced Thursday. Residents who are at least 50 years old can get vaccines starting April 1, and all Californians 16 and older will be eligible starting April 15. (Money and Shalby, 3/25)

Tampa Bay Times: Florida To Lower Coronavirus Vaccine Eligibility To 40, Then To 18
Florida will lower the age for coronavirus vaccination to 40 on Monday, then to all residents 18 and older a week later, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday, marking the largest and final expansion of eligibility in the state’s rollout of shots for adults. The news, announced on Twitter, brings long-awaited relief to younger residents across Florida — and to the state as a whole as COVID-19 infections are falling and the pandemic seems to be inching closer to its end. (Reeves, 3/25)

KTAR: Here's What You Need To Know About Arizona's Expanded Vaccine Eligibility
Arizona threw the doors open on COVID-19 vaccine eligibility at 8 a.m. Wednesday. The age requirement dropped from 55 to as low as 16 for state-run vaccination sites and other metro Phoenix points of dispensing. By 8:20 a.m., all of this week’s remaining appointments for state-operated sites were filled, the Arizona Department of Health Services said. (Stone, 3/24)

Axios: Minnesota To Expand COVID Vaccine Eligibility To Everyone Over 16 On March 30 
All Minnesotans 16 and older will be eligible to sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment starting Tuesday, Gov. Tim Walz announced Wednesday. It's coming at a critical time in our quest to return to pre-pandemic life. While hospitalizations and deaths remain down, cases are rising, especially among young people. (Van Oot, 3/25)

NBC Connecticut: Conn. Moves Up Vaccine Eligibility For 16 And Older To April 1 
Connecticut residents age 16 and older will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine beginning April 1, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday. (3/25)

Axios: The New Vaccine Waiting Game 
Congratulations! You're about to be eligible to ... wait some more for the vaccine. States are expanding eligibility for COVID vaccines by broad age groups — and some are opening it to all adults. But that doesn't always mean they have enough vaccine supplies to offer appointments to everyone in the new groups. (Nather, 3/26)

In related news —

Arizona Republic: Some Disabled Arizonans Upset With State Opening COVID-19 Vaccine To All Ages Before Them
Arizona's vaccine rollout program first began as an age-based system that also prioritized vaccines for frontline workers, such as hospital staff, regardless of age. That changed on Monday when the state announced that anyone over the age of 16 would be eligible for the vaccine at state-run sites. But that's drawn the ire of some in the state's disability community, who say they are now being unfairly made to compete with millions for appointments that are usually gone in minutes. (Frank, 3/25)

KTAR: Arizona COVID Vaccine Appointments All Booked 20 Minutes After Age Drop
All available COVID-19 vaccine appointments at Arizona’s state-run sites were snapped up within 20 minutes of the minimum age requirement dropping to 16 on Wednesday morning. At 8 a.m. Wednesday, COVID-19 vaccine eligibility was extended to all adults at state-run sites and other points of dispensing in Maricopa County, with the age cutoff set at 16 for the Pfizer vaccine and 18 for Moderna or Johnson & Johnson shots. (Stone, 3/24)

WMFE: NBA's Miami Heat Offers Vaccinated-Only Seating For Home Games 
Fans of the Miami Heat who are fully vaccinated will have their own seating at the team’s home games this season. The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that “vaccinated-only” seating will be offered at the American Airlines Arena starting on April 1. (3/25)

Axios: Pfizer And Moderna COVID Vaccines Safe For Pregnant Women, Study Says 
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are deemed safe and effective for pregnant women, according to a pre-print study out Thursday in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. The study, which has yet to be peer reviewed, is in line with statements from health officials and the World Health Organization that pregnant and lactating women may take the vaccine. (Fernandez, 3/25)

Stat: Pfizer And BioNTech To Begin Testing Covid-19 Vaccine In Children
Pfizer and BioNTech said Thursday they are beginning a study aimed at showing their Covid-19 vaccine can be used in children as young as 6 months. The study follows the launch of a separate and ongoing trial in children ages 12 to 15, which was fully enrolled in January. That study could lead to results by the end of the first half of the year, depending on the data, and then to an emergency use authorization. (Herper, 3/25)

Stat: HHS Is Urged To Use Its Patents For The Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine
Seeking to quickly widen global access to Covid-19 vaccines, academics, and patient advocates are urging the Biden administration to use a key patent owned by the U.S. government to boost manufacturing and distribution of the Moderna (MRNA) shot. In a letter to federal officials, the group noted that a soon-to-be-issued-patent covering the use of spike proteins in the vaccine was jointly developed by the company and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The patent has not been licensed to Moderna; the group maintains it is an “important policy tool” that can be used to ensure any licensing agreement fosters greater access. (Silverman, 3/25)

In updates on the AstraZeneca vaccine —

Stat: What To Make Of AstraZeneca's Vaccine Data — And Debate Around Them
AstraZeneca’s up-and-down quest to develop a vaccine for Covid-19 stands out from what has otherwise been a remarkably straightforward process in the U.S. And the latest twist for AstraZeneca’s vaccine, involving a contentious back-and-forth with federal authorities, only adds confusion to an already muddled process. (Feuerstein, Garde and Tirrell, 3/26)

CNBC: AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine: All The Issues And Problems The Shot Has Faced
Heralded as “the vaccine for the world,” AstraZeneca’s Covid shot has been accompanied by high hopes ever since its inception. But unlike other coronavirus vaccines, the shot developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has been plagued by problem after problem. AstraZeneca’s troubles started almost as soon as it published interim trial data and have continued ever since. (Ellyatt, 3/25)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Getting Down To Work At HHS
As questions swirl about the covid vaccine made by AstraZeneca, public health experts are worried the confusion could create more doubts among people already hesitant to get a vaccine. Meanwhile, the first Senate-confirmed officials are settling into their offices at the Department of Health and Human Services, starting with new Secretary Xavier Becerra, who was confirmed on a 50-49 vote. Becerra, at least at first, appears focused on the rollout of new benefits for the Affordable Care Act passed as part of the recent covid relief bill. (3/25)

AP: Rutgers To Require Students Be Vaccinated For Virus In Fall
Rutgers University will require that all students be vaccinated for the coronavirus before arriving for classes in the fall, the university said Thursday. The federal government’s assurance of vaccine supply for all Americans prompted Rutgers to make the decision, the university said in a statement. Brian Strom, chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences and executive vice president for health affairs, said the vaccine is the key “to the return of campus instruction and activities closer to what we were accustomed to before the pandemic.” (3/26)

USA Today/NorthJersey.com: Rutgers University First In US To Require COVID Vaccine For Students
A national organization that advocates for the health of college students said it was not aware of any other schools that require COVID vaccinations currently. "While we know it has been a topic of discussion among campus decision-makers, at this point in time, we are not aware of any other colleges or universities that are mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for students," Rachel Mack, a spokeswoman for the organization, the American College Health Association, said in an email. (Koloff, 3/26)

NBC News: Colleges Consider Requiring Covid Vaccinations For Students As Young Adults Drive Rise In Cases
Dickinson State University in North Dakota has a plan to encourage students to get their Covid-19 vaccinations: Students who have been fully vaccinated will receive a pin or a bracelet that will exempt them from the campuswide mask mandate, university administrators announced this week. The Dickinson vaccination incentive is voluntary. On Thursday, Rutgers University in New Jersey said it would require its more than 71,000 students to be vaccinated to attend fall classes on campus. Students who are studying only remotely won't have to be vaccinated, and there will be medical and religious exemptions, the university's president, Jonathan Holloway, said in a statement. (Syal, 3/26)

In related news about the vaccine rollout —

Axios: Amazon Plans To Vaccinate Frontline Workers In Fulfillment Centers 
Amazon plans to start vaccinating frontline employees in the next few weeks, starting with fulfillment centers in Missouri, Nevada and Kansas. Amazon and its subsidiary Whole Foods employed more than 1.3 million frontline workers in the U.S. between March and September last year. About 1.4% of those employees, more than 19,800, tested or were presumed positive, as of October 2020. (King, 3/25)

Boston Globe: As Many Workers Resist COVID-19 Vaccines, Calls Grow For State To Make Shots Mandatory 
Large pockets of first responders, front-line health workers, and other public-facing employees are so far refusing COVID-19 vaccination by the thousands in Massachusetts, prompting calls for state government and private employers to make getting shots a condition of hiring. Already, the president of one of the largest senior care operators in the state, Hebrew SeniorLife, has said its facilities plan to require COVID vaccines for new employees later this spring when shots are more widely available. And Attorney General Maura Healey earlier this week suggested that public safety employees, such as State Police and prison workers, should be expected to get the shots. (Stout and Weisman, 3/25)

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Pharmacists Weigh Ordering Fewer Shots
In another sign of waning demand for coronavirus vaccines from eligible Arkansans, the head of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association said Thursday that a pharmacy group is considering reducing the amount of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech that it orders next week. Association CEO John Vinson said members of the Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network have seen strong demand for the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but less for Pfizer's, which requires two shots spaced three weeks apart. (Davis, 3/26)

Modern Healthcare: Dialysis Centers To Get COVID-19 Vaccines For Patients
Dialysis centers will get thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses to vaccinate their patients and employees, the Biden administration announced Thursday. The doses will be provided directly to dialysis centers for patients who receive treatment at least three times a week. People on dialysis who contract COVID-19 are at greater risk for serious illness and death. In fact, a study published earlier this year in the Canadian Medical Journal Association found that patients undergoing long-term dialysis were more than five times likelier to be infected with COVID-19 and nearly four times as likely to die than the general population. (Hellmann, 3/25)

Stat: A User's Guide: How To Talk To Those Hesitant About The Covid-19 Vaccine
As the Covid vaccine supply increases throughout the U.S., the next hurdle to reaching herd immunity will be convincing those who are hesitant about vaccines to receive their shots. Surveys show Black and Hispanic adults are more likely to be “waiting to see” before they get a vaccine (but are also less likely to say they definitely won’t take one than white adults). Experts say the best way to tackle vaccine hesitancy is for people to have conversations with those they trust, whether a doctor, pastor, family member, or friend. (McFarling, 3/26)

KHN: How One State’s Public Health Defunding Led To Vaccination Chaos
Missourians have driven hours to find vaccines in rural counties — at least those with cars and the time. Tens of thousands of doses are waiting to be distributed, slowly being rolled out in a federal long-term care program. Waitlists are hundreds of thousands of people long. Black residents are getting left behind. Missouri’s rocky vaccine rollout places it among the bottom states nationwide, with 23.7% of the population vaccinated with at least one dosef as of Thursday, compared with the national average of 26.3%. If Missouri were on par with the national rate, that would be roughly equivalent to more than 162,000 additional people vaccinated, or almost the entire population of the city of Springfield. (Weber, 3/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Tries To Stem Border Surge With Diplomacy, More Shelter Space
Besides the diplomatic efforts, officials are trying to find more bed space for unaccompanied minors at shelters run by the Department of Health and Human Services so they can be moved out of Border Patrol custody more quickly. On Thursday, the Office of Refugee Resettlement was caring for 11,900 minors—96% of its current capacity—with another 5,156 minors in Border Patrol custody waiting to be transferred to shelters. ORR, the HHS agency that cares for the minors until it can find them suitable adult sponsors, has raced to open at least seven other temporary shelters so far, including new sites at the convention center in San Diego and on military bases in San Antonio and Fort Bliss, Texas. (Hackman and Parti, 3/25)

Houston Public Media: Biden Administration To House Unaccompanied Migrant Children At San Antonio, El Paso Military Bases
The Biden administration officially plans to use military bases in San Antonio and El Paso to house a growing number of unaccompanied migrant children in federal custody. The Department of Defense approved a request to temporarily house unaccompanied migrant children at its Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland and at El Paso's Fort Bliss. (Mendez and Palacios, 3/25)

KTXS: Sen. Cornyn Confirms That Freeman Coliseum Will House Up To 2,400 Migrant Children
Unaccompanied migrant children seeking asylum could be housed in a large building just a couple of blocks from the Alamo. Sen. John Cornyn tweeted out that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would have 2,400 beds set up at the Freeman Coliseum to house unaccompanied migrant children, along with 350 beds at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. (Galli, 3/25)

Fox News: HHS Asks Federal Employees To Volunteer To Help With Child Migrant Surge
The Biden administration is calling for federal employees to help with a spike in child migrants, as officials scramble to cope with the influx -- just hours after President Biden downplayed the surge. In a job posting, the Department of Health and Human Services requests federal government employees for a 120-day deployment to support the department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) at facilities where unaccompanied children are housed. (Shaw, 3/25)

Bloomberg: U.S. Covid Cases Are Rising Again, Reversing Months Of Progress 
Covid cases in the U.S. are rising again, reversing course after months of decline and threatening another setback in the return to normality. The seven-day average of new cases jumped to 57,695 Wednesday, 9.5% above the prior week, marking the biggest increase since Jan. 12, according to Johns Hopkins University data. (Querolo and Court, 3/25)

CNN: US Coronavirus: Dangerous Covid-19 Variants Could Mean All Bets Are Off On The Road To Normalcy, Expert Warns 
The evidence that Americans are gearing up for a return to normal life is growing apparent. States are relaxing capacity restrictions for public areas and private gatherings. More school districts are reopening for in-person learning. Travel is increasing, with TSA data showing more than 1 million daily passengers in US airports for two consecutive weeks, the longest such stretch since the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns in early 2020. However, many experts reiterate that Covid-19 is far from over. (Caldwell, 3/26)

SF Gate: Hawaii Tourist Spots Packed With Spring Breakers From States Without Mask Mandates
Hawaii's famed beaches are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels as a spring break surge of travelers floods the islands — and many are coming from states that do not have outdoor mask mandates, which Hawaii does. Hawaii saw 28,000 travelers enter the state on Saturday, the highest number since the pandemic locked down the state in March, HawaiiNewsNow reported. The local TV station reported many of these tourists aren't wearing masks outdoors, with a number of them telling the station that their home states don't require it. Seventeen states recommend but do not require masks be worn in public. (Dowd, 3/23)

AP: Michigan Sees Virus Surge, But Tighter Restrictions Unlikely
Michigan, which not long ago had one of the country’s lowest COVID-19 infection rates, is confronting an alarming spike that some experts worry could be a harbinger nationally. In what public health authorities across the U.S. have been warning for months might happen around the country, the resurgence is being fueled by loosened restrictions, a more infectious variant and pandemic fatigue. While vaccinations in Michigan are helping to protect senior citizens and other vulnerable people, the upswing is driving up hospitalizations among younger adults and forcing a halt to in-person instruction at some schools. (Eggert and White, 3/26)

In related news —

AP: As Contact Tracing Ebbs In Parts Of US, NYC Stays Committed
Coronavirus contact tracing programs across the U.S. scaled back their ambitions as cases surged in winter, but New York City has leaned into its $600 million tracing initiative. The city hired more tracers during the holiday season surge and in early March hit its goal of reaching at least 90% of people who test positive, a mark it hadn’t reached since around Thanksgiving. Last week, the number hit 96%. Overwhelmed tracing programs elsewhere confronted the wave by switching to automated calls, limiting the types of cases they trace or telling infected people simply to reach out to their contacts themselves. (Peltz, 3/26)

CNN: Eli Lilly: US Government Stops Distribution Of Covid-19 Antibody Treatment Due To Spread Of Coronavirus Variants 
The US government in coordination with Eli Lilly said it will no longer distribute the Covid-19 monoclonal antibody therapy bamlanivimab for use on its own. The halt is due to the "sustained increase" in coronavirus variants in the United States. The government stopped distributing the treatment on Tuesday. Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration updated guidance to say the therapy on its own may not work as well against variants. (Christensen, 3/25)

In other covid research —

CIDRAP: Scientists Report That SARS-CoV-2 Infects Oral Cells
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, infects cells in the mouth, according to a study published today in Nature Medicine. This could change perceptions on how the virus travels to the lungs or the digestive system as well as how it is transmitted from person to person, the researchers write. The investigators created a map of the mouth's tissues and found some salivary gland and gum cells were vulnerable to the virus because of their potential to create ACE2 and TMPRSS2 proteins, or the entry points of SARS-CoV-2 infection. To confirm their suspicions, they looked at 18 COVID-19 cadavers, of which 88.9% had the virus in their salivary glands. Infection was also found in two sets of tissues, affecting five of six mucosal sites. (3/25)

Salt Lake Tribune: University Of Utah Researchers Studying Possible COVID-19 Treatment — An Old Antidepressant
A decades-old antidepressant drug may stop coronavirus from causing serious illness — and the University of Utah is enrolling patients in a study to confirm whether it works. The drug, fluvoxamine, is an early selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor — a common type of antidepressant, similar to Prozac or Zoloft — developed in the 1980s. But, infectious diseases professor Dr. Adam Spivak said Thursday, “there’s a lot of research that suggests it acts as a very strong anti-inflammatory.” (Alberty, 3/25)

CIDRAP: Experts: 3-Foot Rule In Schools Problematic In Light Of COVID Variants
Late last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidance on school reopening, saying that 3 feet, not 6 feet, of physical distancing between students was sufficient in most elementary schools—regardless of the level of community spread of COVID-19. At the same time that CDC officials were updating school policy, they were also warning that B117, a variant strain 50% more transmissible than the wild-type virus, would likely become the dominant strain in the United States by April. In some states, such as Florida and California, the variant, which was first detected in the United Kingdom, already accounts for 25% of cases. (Soucheray, 3/25)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Sinks Not-For-Profit Hospitals' Operating Margins
While COVID-19 relief measures boosted not-for-profit hospitals' cash on hand, the pandemic sunk their median operating margin, according to a new report. Not-for-profit hospitals recorded a median operating margin of 0.5% and operating cash flow margin of 6.7% in fiscal 2020, which were down 2.4% and 8.4% respectively year over year, according to Moody's Investors Service preliminary median report that gathered data from June 30 and Sept. 30 of last year. Medicare advanced payments, deferral of payroll taxes, suspension of retirement contributions and deferral of capital spending led to substantially higher median days cash on hand, which rose from 44 days to 246.9 days. (Kacik, 3/25)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 'Survival Mode' Sparking New Hospital Challenges
Hospitals are struggling with a new set of problems because they have been operating in "survival mode" for the past year, according to a report from HHS' Office of Inspector General released on Tuesday. Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic worsened longstanding challenges in healthcare delivery, access and health outcomes, it has also created new issues as health systems try to restart routine hospital care. Hospitals reported that they continue to suffer from staffing shortages that affect patient care and that exhaustion and trauma have taken a toll on staff's mental health, HHS OIG said. They're also dealing with various problems related to vaccine distribution and vaccine hesitancy among their staff and communities. (Brady, 3/25)

KHN: ‘Incredibly Concerning’ Lawsuit Threatens No-Charge Preventive Care For Millions
With a challenge to the Affordable Care Act still pending at the Supreme Court, conservatives are continuing to launch legal attacks on the law, including a case in which a Texas federal judge seems open to ending the requirement that most Americans must receive preventive services like mammograms free of charge. Businesses and individuals challenging the ACA’s first-dollar coverage mandate for preventive services have legal standing and legitimate constitutional and statutory grounds to proceed with their lawsuit to overturn it, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled late last month in Fort Worth. O’Connor, who previously found the entire ACA to be unconstitutional, denied most of the federal government’s motion to dismiss the case, Kelley v. Azar. (Meyer, 3/26)

KHN: Her Doctor’s Office Moved One Floor Up. Her Bill Was 10 Times Higher
Kyunghee Lee’s right hand hurts all the time.She spent decades running a family dry cleaning store outside Cleveland after emigrating from South Korea 40 years ago. She still freelances as a seamstress, although work has slowed amid the covid-19 pandemic. While Lee likes to treat her arthritis with home remedies, each year the pain in the knuckles of her right middle finger and ring finger increases until they hurt too much to touch. So about once a year she goes to see a rheumatologist, who administers a pain-relieving injection of a steroid in the joints of those fingers. (Weber, 3/26)

Also —

Roll Call: Surgeon Who Treated Giffords After Shooting Launches Bid For House Seat
As the trauma surgeon who treated former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after a gunman shot her and 18 others outside a Tucson, Ariz., grocery store, Randy Friese has more firsthand experience than most with mass shootings. Friese was thinking about that now-infamous January 2011 day on Thursday, when he announced plans to run for Congress in a seat that includes parts of Tucson. “I feel the pain and the sorrow and the loss and the grief all over again,” he said in an interview. “There’s this personal sense of, I should be doing more, I should accomplish more.” (Akin, 3/25)

Navy Times: Lawmakers Call On Biden To Make COVID Vaccines Mandatory For The Military
A group of lawmakers is calling on President Joe Biden to make the COVID vaccines mandatory for all military members. Calling unvaccinated troops “a critical threat to our national security and public health,” U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., sent a letter to the White House Wednesday urging Biden to issue a “waiver of informed consent” that would force troops, if ordered, to get the vaccines as soon as they were eligible. (Ziezulewicz, 3/25)

Kaiser Health News: Military Exposed To Toxic Fumes From Burn Pits Set To Get Bipartisan Boost
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Friday planned to roll out what could be the most ambitious attempt ever tried to treat American war fighters poisoned in deployments overseas. The bipartisan bill, modeled on both Agent Orange legislation and the 9/11 health act, aims to help unknown thousands of veterans who got sick after being exposed to toxic substances from massive open fire pits where the military burned its garbage, as well as other sources. (McAuliff, 3/26)

Related Coverage: Doctors Found Jet Fuel in Veteran’s Lungs. He Can’t Get Full Benefits.

Stat: FDA Panel Says Risks Of Pfizer Pain Drug Outweigh The Benefits 
A panel of expert advisers to the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday concluded that the risks of an investigational pain treatment from Pfizer might outweigh its benefits — likely a major obstacle to the drug’s approval. The treatment, an injectable painkiller that has been studied in osteoarthritis, has been linked to rare but serious cases of joint damage. Pfizer proposed a post-approval plan to mitigate those dangers, but in a 19-1 vote, the FDA’s assembled experts found that the company’s proposal would be insufficient to keep patients safe. (Garde, 3/25)

Stat: EPA Rule On Citrus Farming Challenged Over Antibiotic Resistance Concerns
Amid rising concern over antibiotic resistance, a coalition of advocacy groups has filed a lawsuit to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from letting citrus farmers spray streptomycin in hopes of preventing or treating diseases that harm their trees. The move comes after the EPA significantly expanded use of the medically important antibiotic on citrus trees in California, Texas, and other states where citrus is grown. However, the groups argue this will contribute to antibiotic resistance by causing germs to mutate and eventually harm countless people. And they allege the EPA failed to ensure that the spraying will not harm human health. (Silverman, 3/25)

Stat: With Time Running Out, ALS Patient Fights With Biogen Over Access To Drug
Earlier this year, Lisa Stockman Mauriello was diagnosed with a fast-moving form of ALS, a fatal neurological disease that gradually causes muscle weakness and paralysis. So her doctor sought to enroll her in a clinical trial for an experimental drug being developed by Biogen (BIIB) called tofersen. But even though he is a clinical investigator in the late-stage study, Biogen would not admit her because enrollment had recently ended. (Silverman, 3/25)

Boston Globe: Broad Institute Launches $300 Million Effort To Harness AI To Fight Diseases
The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard is launching a new, $300 million initiative that applies advanced computer science to some of the hardest problems in medicine — an endeavor it said could uncover new ways to fight cancer, infectious disease, and other illness. The Cambridge research center early Thursday announced the creation of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center, named for the former Google chief executive and his wife, who are major funders of the effort. (Rosen, 3/25)

CIDRAP: CDC Notes Dramatic Drops In HPV In Females Since Vaccine Introduced
Since the introduction of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in 2006, rates of HPV infections among females fell 88% in teens 14 to 19 years and by 81% in those aged 20 to 24 by 2018, according to a study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Vaccination against HPV, which is transmitted through sex, has been recommended for girls at age 11 or 12 years since 2006 and for boys since 2011 to prevent cervical, anogenital, and oropharyngeal cancers and anogenital warts. Catch-up vaccination is recommended for men and women through age 26. (3/25)

Modern Healthcare: Research Points Way To Prioritize Patients For Mammograms
Researchers have found a way for providers to prioritize which patients need mammograms the soonest based on a few simple questions about whether a woman has a lump or other potential symptoms of breast cancer, according to a new study. Lead author Diana Miglioretti from the University of California Davis School of Medicine said she and other researchers wanted to help providers prioritize screenings during the pandemic, when patients are delaying care. (Gillespie, 3/25)

Today: Caffeine And Pregnancy: Study Evaluates Moderate Consumption
When it comes to consuming caffeine during pregnancy, moms-to-be often feel confused. Some think it's best to cut it out completely while others seem content to have a 12-ounce cup of coffee every morning. A new study in JAMA Network Open looks at caffeine consumption and birth weight and found that even women who enjoy less than the recommended amount of caffeine can have slightly smaller babies. (Holohan, 3/25)

The Baltimore Sun: Researchers Find Harmful ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Pesticide Used Against Mosquitoes In Maryland 
Lab tests ordered by environmental groups found harmful chemicals, called PFAS, in a pesticide that Maryland uses for its mosquito control program, the groups said Thursday. PFAS — per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances — are known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in nature, and they’re found in all kinds of products, from nonstick cookware to firefighting foams. (Condon, 3/25)

Kaiser Health News: Military Exposed To Toxic Fumes From Burn Pits Set To Get Bipartisan Boost
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Friday planned to roll out what could be the most ambitious attempt ever tried to treat American war fighters poisoned in deployments overseas. The bipartisan bill, modeled on both Agent Orange legislation and the 9/11 health act, aims to help unknown thousands of veterans who got sick after being exposed to toxic substances from massive open fire pits where the military burned its garbage, as well as other sources. (McAuliff, 3/26)

Politico: Why The Pandemic Could Make This Year's Flu Shot Less Potent
Precautions aimed at tamping down the coronavirus helped nearly eradicate last year’s flu season — but that could backfire by making it harder to develop effective vaccines for next winter’s flu. The hospitalization rate for the 2020-21 flu season was just 0.7 per 100,000 people, the lowest it’s been since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began collecting such data in 2005. Measures such as social distancing, wearing masks and staying indoors likely helped hold pediatric flu deaths to just one last flu season, compared to 196 in the 2019-20 season. (Hilton, 3/25)

The New York Times: Executive With Ties To Cuomo Got Special Access To Virus Testing
The president of Regeneron, a pharmaceutical company with longstanding ties to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, received special access to coronavirus testing last year as the first wave of the pandemic tore through New York and tests were severely limited. The company requested tests from the state for its president, Dr. George Yancopoulos, and his family after a “member of his household became infected with Covid-19,” a company spokeswoman said. State officials granted the request and tested the family at home in March. (Goodman, Ferré-Saduriní and McKinley, 3/25)

The New York Times: A Tenth Of N.Y.C.'s Covid Dead May Be In Mass Graves On Hart Island
As many as one-tenth of the people who have died from the coronavirus in New York City may go unclaimed and be buried on Hart Island, the city’s potter’s field, according to an analysis of city data. The analysis, a collaboration between Columbia Journalism School’s Stabile Center of Investigative Journalism and a nonprofit news website, The City, found a huge increase in burials on Hart Island in 2020 — 2,334 adults were buried there, up from 846 in 2019. The reporters, citing public health officials, attributed the increase largely to the pandemic: people killed by the coronavirus or by other medical issues that went unaddressed because of the crisis. (Slotnik, 3/25)

In updates from California, Arizona, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida —

The New York Times: U.S.C. Agrees To $1.1 Billion Settlement In Gynecologist Abuse Case
The University of Southern California on Thursday announced that it will pay more than $1.1 billion to the former patients of a campus gynecologist accused of preying sexually on hundreds of patients, marking what university officials called “the end of a painful and ugly chapter in the history of our university.” The staggering sum — a combination of three sets of settlements with thousands of alleged victims of Dr. George Tyndall — sets a record for collegiate sex abuse payouts, compensating a generation of young U.S.C. women. (Hubler, Arango and Hartocollis, 3/25)

Politico: VA Asking California If Net Neutrality Law Will Snag Veterans' Health App
Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs are privately sounding the alarm that California's new net neutrality law could cut off veterans nationwide from a key telehealth app, according to a government communication between federal agencies obtained by POLITICO. Two internet providers in California have told the VA that the new law could force them to end agreements offering free, subsidized data to veterans participating in the telehealth app called VA Video Connect, according to the email from one VA official, who described the department as having "concerns" about the possibility. Such a cutoff "would be nationwide and not limited to Veterans and caregivers in California," the official wrote. (Hendel, 3/25)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Landlords Who Received Rental Aid Filed Evictions Anyway
Arizona landlords who received money from a state program that aimed to prevent evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic filed nearly 2,500 eviction notices during the pandemic, an Arizona Republic investigation found. Gov. Doug Ducey's office launched the Arizona Rental Property Owner Preservation Fund in August with $5 million to assist landlords whose tenants were not paying their rent during the COVID-19 crisis. The state added an additional $5 million to the fund in September after the initial funds quickly ran out. (Boehm, Reagor and Chapoco, 3/25)

The Hill: Tennessee GOP Bill Would Ban Textbooks With LGBTQ Content
A bill proposed by Republican Tennessee state lawmakers would ban textbooks and teaching materials that contain LGBT content. The bill, H.B. 800, was introduced by state Rep. Bruce Griffey (R) in February and is slated to be considered by the state's Education Instruction Subcommittee on March 30, according to KENS5. (Jenkins, 3/25)

Georgia Health News: Showdown With House Looms After Senate Panel Guts Patient Visit Bill 
A Senate committee has gutted legislation that would require hospitals and long-term care facilities to allow a “legal representative’’ to visit a patient or resident during a health emergency. A stripped-down House Bill 290 was approved by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday after about 90 minutes of testimony and debate. (Miller, 3/25)

WFSU: Southern Poverty Law Center Reports On Use Of Baker Act On Children 
More than 37,000 children were sent for involuntary psychiatric exams in the 2018-19 fiscal year. The number has grown every year for the past decade. Lawmakers are aware of it. So are advocates, law enforcement and state agencies. Legislative solutions remain elusive and proposals on the Baker Act this year appear to be going nowhere. (Hatter, 3/25)

Health News Florida: Florida Lawmakers Look Again At Vaping Regulations 
More than two years after the U.S. surgeon general declared youth vaping an epidemic, Florida lawmakers again are working on an effort to regulate the sale of electronic cigarettes and raise the age to use tobacco and vaping products from 18 to 21. Gov. Ron DeSantis last year vetoed a proposal that would have banned the sale of nearly all flavored e-cigarette products and brought the state into compliance with federal laws aimed at curbing teen vaping. (Kam, 3/25)

In news about tuberculosis —

Anchorage Daily News: For Second Straight Year, Alaska Ranks No. 1 In The Nation For Highest Rate Of Tuberculosis  
In 2020 Alaska once again recorded the highest rate of tuberculosis infections in the country, with 58 documented cases, according to a federal report released this month. Although the nation as a whole saw a 20% reduction in incidence of TB last year, Alaska’s rate remained equally high in 2020 as it was in 2019, at 7.9 cases per 100,000 people, the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates. (Berman, 3/25)

Axios: WHO: Pandemic Is Prolonging Countdown To Halt Tuberculosis
Various organizations including the World Health Organization are saying early data indicate there may be a significant increase in diseases like tuberculosis in the years ahead due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 12 years of progress for worldwide programs to halt TB have been lost over the past 12 months of the pandemic — endangering the goal of eliminating the disease by 2030, some experts say. (O'Reilly and Snyder, 3/25)

Reuters: Britain Approves 20-Second COVID-19 Test, Distributor Says
Britain’s medicine regulator has approved a 20-second COVID-19 test, the product’s distributor said on Friday as it launched a testing system it said could be used in airports, sports venues and businesses. Rapid tests are seen as a key plank of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown, but concerns have been expressed about the accuracy of existing lateral flow devices. (3/26)

AP: UK Extends Emergency Coronavirus Powers By 6 Months
British lawmakers agreed Thursday to prolong coronavirus emergency measures for six months, allowing the Conservative government to keep its unprecedented powers to restrict U.K. citizens’ everyday lives. The House of Commons voted to extend the powers until September, and approved the government’s road map for gradually easing Britain’s strict coronavirus lockdown over the next three months. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s large Conservative majority in Parliament guaranteed the measures passed by a decisive 484-76 margin. But Johnson faced rebellion from some of his own party’s lawmakers, who argued that the economic, democratic and human costs of the restrictions outweigh the benefits. (Lawless, 3/25)

In news from India —

The Washington Post: U.N. Says Global Vaccine Deliveries Delayed Due To Virus Surge In India
Soaring demand for coronavirus vaccines in one of the world’s worst hotspots is causing a global supply shortage of up to 90 million vaccine doses, according to the United Nations, a setback to immunization efforts primarily in poorer countries. A surge in new cases in India is putting pressure on the Serum Institute — a major global vaccine manufacturer — to divert resources toward domestic production, the U.N.-backed COVAX facility said. The facility seeks the equitable distribution of coronavirus vaccines worldwide. (Cunningham, 3/26)

Axios: India Pauses Vaccine Exports Amid Surge In Cases 
Exports of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine from the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India, have been paused as India grapples with a new spike in cases, Reuters reports. India hasn't exported any doses at all over the past week, according to foreign ministry data — a worrying sign for the COVAX initiative, which aims to send vaccines all over the world and is relying heavily on Indian-made vaccines. (Lawler, 3/25)

In other global developments —

AP: China Outlines COVID-Origin Findings, Ahead Of WHO Report
Chinese officials briefed diplomats Friday on the ongoing research into the origin of COVID-19, ahead of the expected release of a long-awaited report from the World Health Organization. The briefing appeared to be an attempt by China to get out its view on the report, which has become enmeshed in a diplomatic spat. The U.S. and others have raised questions about Chinese influence and the independence of the findings, and China has accused critics of politicizing a scientific study. (Moritsugu, 3/26)

Reuters: Brazil Hits Record 100,000 Coronavirus Cases In A Day, Piling Pressure On Bolsonaro
Brazil on Thursday registered a record 100,158 new coronavirus cases within 24 hours, the Health Ministry said, underlining the scale of a snowballing outbreak that is becoming a major political crisis for President Jair Bolsonaro. The record caseload, along with 2,777 more COVID-19 deaths, comes a day after Brazil surpassed 300,000 fatalities from the pandemic, the world’s worst death toll after the United States. (Fonseca, 3/25)

Axios: 70% Of The World Could Be Vaccinated This Year 
12 billion doses of 13 different vaccines could become available by the end of the year — enough to vaccinate 70% of the globe, a new analysis from the Duke Global Health Innovation Center shows. Key barriers, like unpredictable manufacturing and the variants, make it difficult to ensure supply can be distributed equitably, the report says. (Fernandez, 3/26)

AP: Aid Groups Call On Biden To Develop Plans To Share Vaccines
A coalition of nongovernmental organizations is calling on President Joe Biden to immediately begin developing plans to share an expected surplus of hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses with the world, once U.S. demand for shots is met. (Miller, 3/26)

Bloomberg: Merck’s Little Brown Pill Could Transform the Fight Against Covid
The story of what might become the next major breakthrough in Covid-19 treatment starts on a hotel hallway floor in January 2020, months before you were worried about the virus, weeks before you likely knew it existed. A scientist and a business executive were at a health-care conference in San Francisco, hatching a plan to get a promising drug out of academia and into research trials for regulatory approval. George Painter, president of the Emory Institute for Drug Development, and Wendy Holman, chief executive officer of Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, had met at the Handlery Union Square Hotel to discuss a compound Painter had started developing with funding from the National Institutes of Health. They got so enthusiastic about the possibilities that their meeting ran long and a group of lawyers kicked them out of their room. So they continued on the hall floor, hours after they’d started. (Koons and Griffin, 3/25)

NBC News: When Will It Be Over? 3 Key Numbers Scientists Are Watching To Track The Pandemic
A variety of metrics could indicate that the country is getting the pandemic under control, including the number of new daily cases and the number of deaths. But epidemiologists say three specific metrics are required to get a clear understanding of the country's overall response: the number of Covid-19-related hospitalizations, the virus's so-called reproduction number and the number of vaccinations administered. (Edwards, 3/18)

Bloomberg: America’s Covid Swab Supply Depends on Two Cousins Who Hate Each Other
A year ago, on Friday, March 13, about 50 government officials and experts met for the first time to talk about a crucial problem: how to test more Americans to determine if they were infected with the novel coronavirus. Jared Kushner stopped by; Mike Pence made an appearance later that weekend. SARS-CoV-2 had spread to more than a hundred countries—Tom Hanks had been infected in Australia—and the death toll in the U.S. was expected to reach as high as 250,000. Offices, schools, and streets were emptying; stocks were plunging. The NBA had just suspended its season. It was the official start of the global pandemic. Admiral Brett Giroir, then an assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, had been put in charge of testing, and he had plenty of concerns. But on that afternoon he was mostly concerned about one essential component of the testing process: swabs. Specifically, the particular 6-inch swab flexible enough to sweep the depths of the nasopharynx where the coronavirus replicates, the one now known as the brain tickler, and the only one approved for testing for such respiratory viruses. The U.S. had enough of them to conduct about 8,000 tests a day. That was short by three orders of magnitude—the U.S. needed to do millions of tests a day. Kushner told the admiral to secure a billion swabs however he could and then left. (Carville, 3/18)

The Wall Street Journal: You’re Vaccinated. Can You Finally Take A Vacation? 
Peter Volny, a retired advertising executive, typically flies more than 100,000 airline miles annually with his wife, and has even been to offbeat places like North Korea and Tajikistan in his quest to visit every country on earth. Fully vaccinated at last, he’s determined to make up for the lost pandemic year. “We are decidedly sick of being homebound,” he said. On the calendar: a five-week Greek idyll, an African safari and a trek to the jungles of Suriname and Guyana. Getting the shot, Mr. Volny said, gave him the confidence that “I’m vaccinated and I’m not scared of anything.” After a year of isolation and oppressively endless Zoom sessions, many of the newly vaxxed feel the same way. But it’s not a get-out-of-jail-card quite yet: In Mr. Volny’s case, with the exception of Greece this fall, his journeys can’t happen until 2022. And that gets to the paradox of the vaccine rollout and hopes for a travel reboot: Most of the world isn’t ready to roll back testing and quarantine rules for travelers just yet. We’re still in a pandemic, after all, and only a small percentage of the world’s population has gotten the jab. (Peterson, 3/17)

Bloomberg: A Cruise Executive On What He Will—And Won’t—Do For Customer Safety 
U.S. airports are seeing more travelers than at any point throughout the pandemic, with daily passenger volumes consistently topping 1 million. Some hotels are selling out well past their peak seasons. The pent-up demand for travel is finally materializing into movement—whether the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approves or not. But one sector of the industry is still stuck in place. After a disastrous few months in early 2020, when large cruise ships became early superspreaders for Covid-19, the CDC has kept them moored until further notice, calling cruising a Level 4 (maximum) risk. (Ekstein, 3/23)

Bloomberg: Building a Covid Travel Passport Is a Serious Tech Challenge
When Philippe Srour and his wife, Laurence, took an Air France flight to Paris from San Francisco in mid-March, they were given a novel opportunity to escape some of the madness of pandemic-era travel. In exchange for the promise of less hassle at border and security checks, the couple agreed to use a mobile app to display their Covid-19 test results. The trial wasn’t a total success. Srour, an engineer by training, initially couldn’t get the app to work, because it wouldn’t accept his leap-year date of birth: Feb. 29. Although the airport verification steps ultimately went smoothly, the glitch showed that the AOKpass system from travel-security company International SOS “might need a little more attention,” Srour said after stepping off his flight in Paris. (Patel and Drozdiak, 3/23)

The Washington Post: Biden Didn’t Get Any Questions On Covid-19. That’s A Compliment.
In the tradition of most modern chief executives, Joe Biden arrived at his first formal presidential news conference with a nugget to announce: He was doubling his initial goal and would assure that 200 million coronavirus vaccine shots would be administered to the American public in his first 100 days in office. So it was perhaps odd that the president got no questions from reporters about the pandemic that in the past year has killed nearly 550,000 Americans, devastated the economy and upended just about every aspect of daily life in this country. (Karen Tumulty, 3/25)

Stat: Shattering The Infertility Myth About Covid-19 Vaccines 
During trying times, myths and falsehoods sprout like mushrooms after rainfall. One of many that has emerged so far during the Covid-19 pandemic is that vaccines against the disease will cause infertility in women. It won’t. The likely origin of this myth is a letter sent to the European Medicines Agency (the equivalent of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) by two European anti-vaccination propagandists. They erroneously claimed that the “vaccine contains a spike protein called syncytin-1 [that is] vital for the human placenta in women.” (Eve C. Feinberg, 3/25)

Houston Chronicle: We Need An Operation Warp Speed For Underlying Causes Of Health Disparities
Disparities in COVID-19 infections have brought to light what many have known all along: there is no equity in health in the United States. Notice I did not say health care. It is true, there is a lack of equity in health care as well. Five million Texans do not have health care coverage, and that number is bound to grow as businesses close and people lose their jobs — and health insurance. However, watching COVID infections ravage communities of color, sometimes devastating several generations in a single family, it is obvious that COVID-19 found an easier place to take hold in certain populations than in others. (Ann Barnes, 3/26)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Debate Has Changed On The Obama Health Law
This week marked 11 years since Barack Obama signed his signature health overhaul into law. And despite years of loud protests from Republicans, the Obamacare system only seems to be taking deeper root. That was borne out at a Tuesday hearing on Capitol Hill, as a U.S. House committee focused on ways to improve the current system. Instead of familiar promises to ‘repeal and replace’ the Obama health law, some GOP lawmakers used the hearing to try to figure out how best to refine and improve it. (Jamie Dupree, 3/25)

Also —

The New York Times: Governor Cuomo, End Long-Term Solitary Confinement 
The State of New York stands poised to overhaul the use of solitary confinement in its prisons and jails — a practice widely recognized as inhumane, arbitrary and counterproductive. Last week, state legislators passed the HALT (Humane Alternatives to Long-Term) Solitary Confinement Act, aimed at restricting the conditions under which inmates are held in isolation, including limiting confinement to no more than 15 consecutive days. The bill passed both the Senate and the Assembly with a supermajority of support and now awaits action by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He should move promptly to sign the reforms into law. The new restrictions would take effect a year after the bill becomes law. (3/25)

The New York Times: I Survived 18 Years In Solitary Confinement 
Imagine living alone in a room the size of a freight elevator for almost two decades. As a 15-year-old, I was condemned to long-term solitary confinement in the Florida prison system, which ultimately lasted for 18 consecutive years. From 1992 to 2010. From age 15 to 33. From the end of the George H.W. Bush administration to the beginnings of the Obama era. For 18 years I didn’t have a window in my room to distract myself from the intensity of my confinement. I wasn’t permitted to talk to my fellow prisoners or even to myself. I didn’t have healthy, nutritious food; I was given just enough to not die. (Ian Manuel, 3/25)