First Edition: April 2, 2021

KHN: Backed By Millions In Public And Private Cash, Rapid Covid Tests Are Coming To Stores Near You
Scientists and lawmakers agree that over-the-counter covid tests could allow desk workers to settle back into their cubicles and make it easier to reopen schools and travel. But even as entrepreneurs race their products to market, armed with millions of dollars in venture capital and government investment, the demand for covid testing has waned. Manufacturing and bureaucratic delays have also kept rapid tests from hitting store shelves in large numbers, though the industry was energized by the Food and Drug Administration’s greenlighting of two more over-the-counter tests Wednesday. (Norman, 4/1)

KHN: Beating The Pavement To Vaccinate The Underrepresented — And Protect Everyone
Leonor Garcia held her clipboard close to her chest and rapped on the car window with her knuckles. The driver was in one of dozens of cars lined up on a quiet stretch of road in Adelanto, California, a small city near the southwestern edge of the Mojave Desert. He was waiting for the food bank line to start moving and lowered the passenger window just enough to hear what Garcia wanted. Then she launched into her pitch. “Good morning! We’re here to talk about covid-19 today! Do you have a minute?” she said in Spanish. (Almendrala, 4/2)

KHN: Battle Brews Over Neutral Zone Where Border-Crossing Parties Rendezvous, Risking Detection And Infection
In the shadows of covid travel restrictions, a 42-acre park on the far western edge of the U.S.-Canadian dividing line has become a popular opening in an otherwise closed border, a place where Americans and Canadians can gather without needing permission to go through an official border crossing. What is known as Peace Arch Park has lush green lawns, gardens and a 67-foot-tall white concrete arch erected in 1921 that spans the border. It’s an often muddy, sometimes idyllic place. But the pandemic has transformed this patch of historically neutral ground into a playing field for some fundamental public health questions. (Silberner, 4/2)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Planning For Round Two
Congress is out of session, but that hasn’t stopped Democrats from planning their next round of health legislation. Together with President Joe Biden, they are looking at a broad array of possibilities, from allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices to adding more benefits to the program to creating a government-funded “public option” insurance plan that consumers could choose. Meanwhile, despite financial incentives for states to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the Wyoming legislature this week killed a nascent effort to expand the government health program, and Republicans in Missouri are trying to block implementation of an expansion approved by voters in 2020. (4/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine Is Still Highly Effective Six Months After Second Dose
The Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE remains highly effective six months after its second dose, an indication that protection could last for an even longer period. The findings, released on Thursday, emerged from a continuing review of how volunteers in the shot’s late-stage trial were faring and whether they contracted Covid-19 with symptoms. In the rush to introduce vaccines for a new virus, companies and other vaccine researchers were unable to determine how long shots would provide protection, or whether booster shots would be needed to ensure protection. (Hopkins, 4/1)

Axios: Pfizer Says COVID-19 Vaccine 91.3% Effective Through At Least 6 Months 
Real-world and trial data continue to indicate that the vaccine is highly effective, especially against COVID-19 hospitalization and death. The companies said updated trial results showed the vaccine offered 100% protection against severe disease as defined by the CDC, and 95.3% as defined by the FDA. 927 symptomatic COVID-19 cases were detected among the trial's 46,307 participants — 850 of which came from the placebo group and 77 of which came from the vaccine group. (4/1)

CIDRAP: Pfizer COVID Vaccine 91% Effective For At Least 6 Months
The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is 91.3% effective up to 6 months after the second dose and 100% effective against severe disease as defined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to updated data today from the phase 3 trial. The vaccine was also 100% effective at preventing illness among trial participants in South Africa, where the highly transmissible B1351 variant is dominant, the Pfizer news release said. No safety issues were identified among the more than 44,000 participants 16 years or older over at least 6 months' follow-up after the second shot. (Van Beusekom, 4/1)

The New York Times: Biden Administration Announces Ad Campaign To Combat Vaccine Hesitancy
The Biden administration on Thursday morning announced an ambitious advertising campaign intended to encourage as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. The campaign, with ads in English and Spanish that will air throughout April on network TV and cable channels nationwide, as well as online, comes as the administration is rapidly expanding access to coronavirus vaccines but skepticism about the vaccines also remains high. (Karni, 4/1)

The Washington Post: ‘We Can Do This’: Biden Unveils Pro-Vaccine TV Ads, Network Of Grass-Roots Leaders To Push Shots
The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled its first television advertisements to encourage Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, part of a series of pro-vaccine messages as the White House pushes to achieve the president’s goal of returning the country to some normalcy by July Fourth. The “We Can Do This” campaign will air across cable and broadcast stations nationwide and include targeted multimillion-dollar ad buys for Black and Spanish-language media. (Diamond, 4/1)

CNBC: Biden Considers Health Care Public Option In Economic Recovery Plan
While President Joe Biden tries to steer his mammoth new infrastructure plan through Congress, his administration is planning the next phase of its economic recovery efforts. As the White House prepares to unveil a second proposal focused on education, paid leave and health care, it has given few hints about whether it will include a core Biden campaign plank: a public insurance option. (Pramuk, 4/1)

Modern Healthcare: ACA Exchanges Unveil New Subsidies For Consumers
The federal Affordable Care Act exchanges on Thursday included new subsidies to help 15 million uninsured Americans purchase coverage. The Biden administration approved the subsidies in March, under the American Rescue Plan, estimating that expanded premium assistance would result in four out of five customers purchasing a plan on the marketplaces with premiums of $10 or less per month. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimated the law increased the number of people eligible for a subsidy by 20%, to 21.8 million. (Tepper, 4/1)

Modern Healthcare: MedPAC Calls For Fewer Pay Models, Cutting Medicare Advantage Spending
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, at its meeting on Thursday, approved several Medicare policy recommendations that will appear in its June report to Congress. The congressional advisory panel will recommend that CMS simplify its approach to alternative payment models. Commissioners approved an updated version of the recommendation presented by MedPAC's staff at last month's meeting. (Brady, 4/1)

AP: US Hunger Crisis Persists, Especially For Kids, Older Adults
America is starting to claw its way out of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but food insecurity persists, especially for children and older adults. Food banks around the U.S. continue giving away far more canned, packaged and fresh provisions than they did before the virus outbreak tossed millions of people out of work, forcing many to seek something to eat for the first time. For those who are now back at work, many are still struggling, paying back rent or trying to rebuild savings. “We have all been through an unimaginable year,” said Brian Greene, CEO of the Houston Food Bank, the network’s largest. It was distributing as much as 1 million pounds of groceries daily at various points during the pandemic last year. (Snow, Santana and Choi, 4/1)

CBS News: USDA Drops Trump Plan To Cut Food Stamps For 700,000 Americans
A Trump-era plan to cut food stamps is now off the table after the Biden administration said it is abandoning a previous plan to tighten work requirements for working-age adults without children. Those restrictions were projected to deny federal food assistance benefits to 700,000 adults, a proposal that had had drawn strong condemnation from anti-hunger advocates. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on March 24 said it is withdrawing a Trump administration appeal of a federal court ruling that had blocked the planned restrictions on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps. Trump officials had filed the appeal in May, two months after the coronavirus pandemic had shuttered the economy and caused millions of people to lose their jobs. (Picchi, 4/1)

Axios: White House: Deaths Due To Drug Overdoses Hit 88,000 During COVID Pandemic 
[Acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Regina] LeBelle also revealed a plan designed by the Biden administration to help address "the overdose and addiction crisis" during its first year, saying that "new data suggest that COVID-19 has exacerbated the epidemic." (Gonzalez, 4/1)

NPR: Dr. Rachel Levine: Transgender Health Care Is An Equity Issue, Not A Political One
Dozens of states are considering Republican-led bills that advocates say are harmful to transgender people. The recent spate of bills are "really challenging to see," says Dr. Rachel Levine, the nation's newly confirmed assistant secretary for health. "I really think that the decisions about health care for LGBTQ youth are really between the family, the child, the young person, their doctor, maybe their therapist," said Levine, the first openly transgender official to serve in any Senate-confirmed position, in an NPR interview. (Sullivan and Shapiro, 4/1)

Stat: Federal Agency Urges FDA To Rethink Approach To Inspection Oversight
In a stern letter, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel rebuked the Food and Drug Administration over four instances in which agency officials belatedly downgraded troubling findings at manufacturing plants and also urged the FDA to rethink its approach to oversight of inspections. The investigating agency cited, in particular, a high-profile episode involving a Merck (MRK) vaccine plant in North Carolina, where a whistleblower tipped off the FDA to numerous sanitary problems. An FDA inspector who subsequently visited the plant maintained the violations were serious enough to warrant action by both the FDA and the drug maker. But his recommendations were minimized by supervisors. (Silverman, 4/1)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Testing Declines May Mask The Spread In Some States
Declines in coronavirus testing in many states in the South and the Great Plains are making it harder to know just how widely the virus may be spreading in those states, even as restrictions are lifted and residents ease back into daily life, experts say. States in both regions are reporting few new cases relative to their population, compared with harder-hit states like Michigan or New York. But they are also testing far fewer people. Kansas, for example, is now testing about 60 people a day for every 100,000 in population, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and Alabama only a bit more. The picture is similar in Iowa, Mississippi and elsewhere. (Martínez, 4/1)

AP: Can I Still Spread The Coronavirus After I'm Vaccinated?
Can I still spread the coronavirus after I’m vaccinated?It’s possible. Experts say the risk is low, but are still studying how well the shots blunt the spread of the virus. The current vaccines are highly effective at preventing people from getting seriously sick with COVID-19. But even if vaccinated people don’t get sick, they might still get infected without showing any symptoms. Experts think the vaccine would also curb the chances of those people spreading the virus. “A vaccinated person controls the virus better, so the chances of transmitting will be greatly reduced,” said Dr. Robert Gallo a virus expert at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. (Renault, 4/1)

Axios: The Race Between COVID Vaccines And Emerging Variants
America is in a race to vaccinate people before the country is overwhelmed by variants that are spurring a fourth wave of COVID-19. Spring is here, and when cases were dropping, hope was rising for a more normal summer. But experts warn this will only happen if people keep social distancing, wearing masks and getting vaccinated as soon as they can. (Drage O'Reilly and Chase, 4/1)

Reuters: Exclusive: Fauci Says U.S. May Not Need AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine
The United States may not need AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, even if it wins U.S. regulatory approval, Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor told Reuters on Thursday. The vaccine, once hailed as another milestone in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, has been dogged by questions since late last year, even as it has been authorized for use by dozens of countries, not including United States. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to the White House, said the United States has enough contracts with other vaccine makers to vaccinate its entire population, and possibly enough for booster shots in the fall. (Steenhuysen, 4/2)

Reuters: UK Regulator Found Total Of 30 Cases Of Blood Clot Events After AstraZeneca Vaccine Use
British regulators on Thursday said they have identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events after the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, 25 more than the agency previously reported. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said it had received no such reports of clotting events following use of the vaccine made by BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. (4/2)

Politico: FDA Allows Moderna To Put More Coronavirus Vaccine Doses In Each Vial
The agency also gave permission to vaccinators to extract 11 doses from existing 10-dose vials vials, depending on the availability of certain syringes and needles. Some pharmacies have already said that they have been able to eke extra doses from existing vials. “Both of these revisions positively impact the supply of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, which will help provide more vaccine doses to communities and allow shots to get into arms more quickly,” FDA vaccine regulator Peter Marks said in a statement. “Ultimately, more vaccines getting to the public in a timely manner should help bring an end to the pandemic more rapidly.” (Lim, 4/1)

AP: The Latest: FDA Authorizes 2 Changes To Moderna’s Vaccine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized two changes to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine that can provide extra doses from each vial. The agency said late Thursday it approved new vials from Moderna that can contain up to 15 doses each, compared with the original vials designed to hold 10 doses. Additionally, regulators said providers can safely extract up to 11 doses from the original 10-dose vials. Those changes will be added to instructions for health care workers. The dosing updates should help bolster U.S. supplies and speed vaccinations as the U.S. nears 100 million inoculations against COVID-19. President Joe Biden has vowed to provide enough shots to vaccinate all U.S. adults by late May and recently set a new goal of administering 200 million injections within his first 100 days in office. (4/2)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Probes Cause Of Failed Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 Vaccine Batch
The Food and Drug Administration is investigating what caused a batch of the active ingredient for Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine to be scrapped for failing to meet quality standards at a contract manufacturing plant, according to a person familiar with the matter. The FDA may send an inspection team to assess the situation at the Baltimore plant operated by contractor Emergent BioSolutions Inc., the person said. The regulatory scrutiny follows J&J’s disclosure Wednesday that a batch of the main ingredient for its Covid-19 vaccine manufactured at the Emergent plant didn’t meet standards. The batch didn’t reach the vial-filling and finishing stage, and no doses from it were distributed. (Loftus and Burton, 4/1)

The Washington Post: FDA Found Violations At Emergent Plant That Ruined Johnson And Johnson Vaccine Doses
In April last year, an investigator from the Food and Drug Administration reported problems he had discovered at a Baltimore plant operated by Emergent BioSolutions, a major supplier of vaccines to the federal government. Some employees had not been properly trained. Records were not adequately secured. Established testing procedures were not being followed. And a measure intended to “prevent contamination or mix-ups” was found to be deficient. (Swaine and Rowland, 4/2)

CNN: How The Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine Works 
At the headquarters of biotechnology company Novavax, scientists are developing what they hope could soon be another Covid-19 vaccine for the United States and the world. Data from the company's large-scale Phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine in the US and Mexico are expected this month, but the timeline depends on how quickly it accumulates data on the prevalence of disease in trial areas. The company's vaccine against Covid-19 has been a year in the making, Dr. Gregory Glenn, president of research and development for Novavax, told CNN. The work began even before the world realized it faced a pandemic. (Howard, 4/1)

Stat: Businesses, Health Experts Join Ranks Of ‘Vaccine Passport’ Opponents
When it comes to decrying the concept of “vaccine passports,” conservatives have company. The idea’s detractors now include certain business owners, who fear customer backlash and the hassle or danger of enforcing the policy, and even prominent public health advocates, too. The proof-of-vaccine concept is gaining traction in some circles globally and within the U.S., including among some professional sports teams, a major university, and highly vaccinated countries like Israel. In New York and Hawaii, among other states, governors have pitched the idea as a means of returning to normal life. (Facher, 4/1)

The Washington Post: United States Spent $162 Million On Remdesivir Development But Holds No Patents, Review Finds
A new government report says the United States spent $162 million getting Gilead’s covid-19 drug remdesivir to market but opted against seeking government patents because Gilead invented the experimental medicine years earlier. The drug sells for $3,120 for a five-day course of treatment for covid 19. It brought in $2.8 billion in revenue for Gilead last year and the company expects to make a similar amount in 2020. (Rowland, 4/1)

Bloomberg: Hydroxychloroquine Lives On As Covid Drug Despite Trial Flops
Hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug that former President Donald Trump touted as a “game changer” in the fight against Covid-19, is still being prescribed by physicians in the U.S. though it has proven to be ineffective against the virus in clinical trials. Concern is growing that patients are at risk of harm because physicians continue to prescribe hydroxychloroquine over other potentially life-saving Covid treatments. In June, the Food and Drug Administration revoked the emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine “in light of ongoing serious cardiac adverse events and other serious side effects.” The potential benefits of the drug no longer outweigh the known and potential risks for the authorized use, the agency said in a statement. (Rutherford, 4/1)

CIDRAP: Organ Issues Linked With 'Long COVID-19'
Long-term COVID-19 symptoms include fatigue, "brain fog," and, according to a study published yesterday in BMJ, organ problems like respiratory or heart disease. Compared with the general population, patients who were discharged from COVID-related hospitalization were six times more likely to develop respiratory disease and three times more likely to develop a major cardiovascular disease. They also had a 29.4% rate of readmission and a 12.2% death rate). These results are in line with other recent studies, according to the researchers. (Matt McLemon, 4/1)

CNN: Post-Covid PTSD: The Storm After The Storm 
At first, the thermometer read 101. But when Ricardo Ramirez arrived in the emergency department it just kept rising. He began pleading for his life, begging the fully gowned, gloved, and masked strangers to give him something to stop it. And then, on March 23, 2020, a few hours after he arrived, it hit Ramirez all at once: he was sure he was going to die. (Rios, 4/1)

CIDRAP: Varying Risk Factors For Nursing Home COVID Infection, Death Revealed
Risk factors for COVID-19 infection in US nursing homes were related to county and facility rather than resident characteristics, while risk of hospitalization and death was linked to both facility and resident factors in a nationwide study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston studied coronavirus infections, hospitalizations, and deaths among 482,323 residents at 15,038 nursing homes from Apr 1 to Sep 30, 2020. The virus infected 28.4% of residents, of whom 21.3% were hospitalized, and 19.2% died within 30 days. (4/1)

NPR: Mice That Hear Imaginary Sounds May Help Explain Hallucinations In People 
A technique that induces imaginary sounds in both mice and people could help scientists understand the brain circuits involved in schizophrenia and other disorders that cause hallucinations. The technique appears to offer "a way to study psychotic disorders in animals," says Adam Kepecs, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. It also shows how levels of the brain chemical dopamine determine the likelihood that a mouse or a person will perceive something that isn't really there, Kepecs and a team report in this week's issue of the journal Science. (Hamilton, 4/1)

CBS News: FDA Warns Against Real Water Brand Linked To Hepatitis Outbreak
Federal regulators are cautioning U.S. consumers against drinking "Real Water," a Las Vegas-based product that is still sold online and promoted on social media despite being recalled due to an outbreak of liver illness that has hospitalized five children. The warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration comes as the agency, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Southern Nevada Health District, investigate reports of acute non-viral hepatitis in Nevada linked to the brand of alkaline water. (Gibson, 4/1)

Stat: Virtual Therapy Startups Tackling Mental Health Care For Kids, Teens 
When Alex Alvarado and his co-founders started their virtual therapy company Daybreak Health in February 2020, they saw a “massive need” for better mental health options for teens. Then the pandemic hit, and the gap they were trying to fill grew even bigger. “The need has really obviously skyrocketed in this population, as well as the need for technology-based solutions,” he said. “So it was fortunate for us to be able to help as many kids as we have been during this time.” (Aguilar, 4/2)

Modern Healthcare: Addressing Long-Standing Barriers Needed For Mental And Physical Health Integration
The pandemic's negative impact on the mental health of millions of people has renewed discussions around why that nation's behavioral healthcare system has been inadequate to meet the level demand for care. But the failure to meet patients' mental health needs predated the pandemic. Approximately 43% of the more than 51 million adults estimated to have had a mental health condition in 2019 received treatment, according to care access data compiled by Mental Health America. (Johnson, 4/1)

Stat: An Antitrust Expert Weighs In On The FTC's Complaint Against Illumina
Spare a thought for Illumina. The $56 billion dollar titan of genomics has become the world’s leading supplier of DNA sequencing technology. That’s been great for the company’s bottom line over the years. But Illumina’s market dominance is making it incredibly difficult to expand the business. The latest example came this week when the Federal Trade Commission moved to block Illumina’s $7.1 billion merger with the cancer testing company Grail. Now Grail’s products are meant to detect cancer at the earliest stages when it’s most susceptible to treatment. (Feuerstein, Tirrell and Garde, 4/2)

Modern Healthcare: One Year Into Pandemic, Hospitals Have More PPE, But Prices Still Inflated
Hospitals' spending on N95 masks is up 715% since March 2020, although they have more inventory than during last year's COVID-19 spikes, a new Premier analysis finds. One year into the devastating global pandemic, the supply chain for personal protective equipment has recovered somewhat from the catastrophic weeks of March 2020, but remains strained, with hospitals continuing to pay more than they did pre-pandemic. Those higher prices contributed to hospitals' to lower operating margins in 2020. (4/1)

The New York Times: Doctors Accuse UnitedHealthcare Of Stifling Competition
UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, is being sued in two states by a large group of anesthesiologists who are accusing the company of stifling competition by forcing the doctors out of its network and by using its enormous clout to pressure hospitals and surgeons to stop referring patients to them. The lawsuits, filed Wednesday in Colorado and Texas, were brought by U.S. Anesthesia Partners, a sizable physician-owned practice backed by private-equity investors. The practice claims in the Texas lawsuit that United engaged in “unlawful tactics and pressure campaigns,” including “bribing” surgeons with contracts that paid them much more if they steered patients away from the group’s anesthesiologists. (Abelson, 4/1)

Modern Healthcare: Lack Of Diversity In Healthcare Likely To Continue, Study Finds
Racial and ethnic minorities continue to be underrepresented in the healthcare workforce despite increased attention toward improving diversity, and a new analysis predicts it will only get worse in the coming years. An analysis of diversity occupational data published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open found Black and Latino individuals were underrepresented across 10 healthcare professions when compared to their proportion of working-age adults. (Johnson, 4/1)

Stat: Former CMS Leader Seema Verma Joins Board Of Health Tech Firm Lumeris
She was President Trump’s top Medicare official. Now, Seema Verma, the former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid administrator, is taking a seat on the board of directors at Lumeris, a health tech company that uses software to help health systems manage value-based reimbursement requirements. To some, the appointment could come as a surprise: Verma, a Republican, has publicly criticized some value-based care models and advocated for stricter controls to government health programs, especially in Medicaid, in which she pushed changes like requiring recipients to prove current employment. (Brodwin, 4/1)

CBS News: COVID-19 Cases Spike In Michigan, Fueled By Infections Among Kids
As federal officials warn of a potential fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, Michigan has emerged as one of the most pressing hotspots, with average daily infections now five times what they were six weeks ago. New data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services shows this dramatic surge is due in large part to cases spiking among children and teenagers. According to state data, since February 19, average daily new COVID-19 cases among children under 10 jumped 230%, more than any other age group. The second-highest increase in infections is in the 10 to 19 age group, which saw cases rise 227%. The trends in these groups exceed that of the state as a whole. (Bayer, 4/2)

The Hill: Michigan Identifies First Case Of Brazilian COVID-19 Variant As Virus Surges Statewide
Michigan has identified its first case of the P.1 coronavirus variant first discovered in Brazil, health officials announced Thursday. The confirmation of yet another variant in the state underscores the urgency to vaccinate as many Michiganders as quickly as possible, as the state is in the middle of the country's biggest surge of new infections. The variant was found in a woman in Bay County. The case was diagnosed in early March and she has recovered, state officials said. (Weixel, 4/1)

Modern Healthcare: Atrium Health Navicent Starts Vaccinating Homebound Georgia Residents
Atrium Health Navicent is working with the Georgia Department of Public Health to administer COVID-19 vaccines to residents who are homebound. Nurses with the Macon, Ga.-based health system started administering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine Thursday to individuals identified by the Area Agency on Aging and the Department of Public Health. (Christ, 4/1)

The New York Times: Maine Will Open Covid-19 Vaccination To Anyone 16 Or Older On Wednesday. Virginia Will Do So On April 19
Maine announced on Thursday that adults 16 years and older will be eligible for a vaccine on Wednesday, more than a week sooner than the April 19 deadline the state previously set. Virginia also announced it would allow residents 16 or older to begin getting vaccinated against Covid-19 on April 19, joining more than 40 states that have sped up efforts to open the process to all adults as federal health officials warn about a possible fourth surge of the coronavirus. “The Covid-19 vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel,” Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement. “And that light is getting brighter every day, as more and more Virginians get vaccinated.” (Martínez and Sullivan, 4/1)

Reuters: Pandemic Poised To Surge Again In California's Silicon Valley Tech Hub
A California community that has been a bellwether of the coronavirus pandemic’s rampage across the United States warned on Thursday that the number of cases of more contagious COVID-19 variants is increasing to worrisome levels. “The region’s progress in curbing the pandemic remains precarious,” the health department in Santa Clara County, home to California’s Silicon Valley, said. “County residents are therefore urged to avoid travel, quarantine if travelling, and consistently use face coverings.” (Bernstein, 4/2)

The Hill: Los Angeles County Could Vaccinate 80 Percent Of Residents By June, Officials Say
Eighty percent of Los Angeles County residents could be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of June if an expected increase in doses occurs, health officials said. "Reaching such a milestone is possible with increased allocations, and it would dramatically change the trajectory of the pandemic here in Los Angeles County," Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. Such a high vaccination rate, combined with people who already have antibodies from being infected, could help the county achieve herd immunity. (Weixel, 4/1)

The New York Times: As Nation Speeds To Vaccinate All, Maryland’s Path Shows Challenges Ahead
Maryland offers a microcosm of the issues states face as they rush to open enough vaccination sites to meet President Biden’s goal of making every adult eligible for Covid-19 shots by May 1. It has encountered nearly all the geographic, demographic and human behavioral challenges that come with a public health task of this scale. It has poor urban neighborhoods where many people lack access to regular care; wealthy Washington suburbs whose residents have proved adept at vacuuming up shots meant for other ZIP codes; isolated rural areas; and a sign-up system that has so vexed the citizenry that vaccine hunting has become for many a part-time job. (Steinhauer and Goodnough, 4/1)

AP: 100,000 Appointments Likely On 1st Day Of Open Vaccinations
About 100,000 appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations were expected to be made on Thursday, the first day that anyone 16 years and older was allowed in Connecticut to sign up to get a shot. The move to allow all adults in the state to make appointments comes as Connecticut ranked during the past week among the top 10 states for new cases per capita, Gov. Ned Lamont noted. But he stressed that Connecticut, which has a high testing rate compared to other states, was not among the top 10 for COVID-associated deaths per capita during the past week. (Haigh, 4/2)

CNN: Florida Covid-19: Extreme Policies, Average Statistics Raise Questions Around The State's Coronavirus Data 
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, policy decisions in Florida have been among the most extreme -- often among the first, the only or the few. Florida was one of the first states to roll back capacity restrictions on restaurants and bars and require schools to offer in-person learning. It is one of a few states that never implemented a mask mandate, blocking local jurisdictions from enforcing mask-related rules. However, various Covid-19 data points peg the state right in the middle of the pack. According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, Florida has had the 27th most Covid-19 cases and deaths per capita out of the 50 states overall. (McPhillips, 4/1)

AP: WHO: Europe's Vaccination Program Is 'Unacceptably Slow'
European nations’ immunization campaigns against COVID-19 are “unacceptably slow” and risk prolonging the pandemic, a senior World Health Organization official said Thursday. Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe, said vaccines “present our best way out of this pandemic,” but noted that to date, only 10% of Europe’s population has received one dose and that only 4% have been fully protected with two doses. “As long as coverage remains low, we need to apply the same public health and social measures as we have in the past, to compensate for delayed schedules,” Kluge said. (4/1)

Reuters: India AstraZeneca Shot Delay Could Be 'Catastrophic' For Africa -Health Official
India’s temporary hold on major exports of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 shot will undermine Africa’s vaccination plans, and could have a “catastrophic” impact if extended, the head of the continent’s disease control body said on Thursday. India decided to delay big exports of the shots made in its territory by the Serum Institute of India (SII) to make sure it could meet local demand, two sources told Reuters last week. (4/1)

Reuters: Opposition Grows Against UK Vaccine Passports
More than 70 British lawmakers have signalled their opposition to the introduction of so-called vaccine passports that the government is considering bringing in to help to open the economy as it starts lifting COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. The government is reviewing the idea of asking people to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination to access crowded spaces such as pubs or sports events, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson having already said that a certificate is likely to be needed for international travel. (4/2)

Reuters: COVID-19 Landing In Canada Despite Pre-Flight Testing
More than 1,000 air passengers arrived in Canada infected with COVID-19 over a recent four-week period despite obligatory pre-departure testing, according to federal data that cast doubt on any broad easing of restrictions before the summer travel season. Canada began testing international arrivals in February, requiring air travelers to spend up to three days in hotel quarantine at their own expense until results come back, a measure criticized by airlines hit hard by the pandemic. People who test negative can finish a 14-day quarantine at home. (Mehler Paperny and Lampert, 4/1)

AP: EU Nations Struggle To Full Show Vaccination Solidarity
The European Union is struggling to show complete coronavirus vaccination solidarity among member nations, after a week of negotiations over the distribution of extra doses exposed fissures on Friday. Five EU nations that struggled most to get their vaccination drive going were given extra doses from an alliance of 19 other countries. Three nations weren’t part of the deal, however, showing the difficulties of compromise politics when COVID-19 cases are surging again. (4/2)