NPR: Biden Says All Adults Will Be Vaccine Eligible By April 19
President Biden announced Tuesday that he is moving up the deadline for states to open up COVID-19 vaccinations to all U.S. residents 18 and older by about two weeks. Less than a month after directing states to expand eligibility to all adults by May 1, Biden changed that deadline to April 19. "No more confusing rules, no more confusing restrictions," Biden said. (Treisman, 4/6)

Roll Call: Biden COVID-19 Vaccination Timeline Ends Confusion About State Criteria 
President Joe Biden urged unvaccinated seniors to get their COVID-19 vaccines as quickly as possible on Tuesday, before announcing that all adults across the country should be eligible for shots starting April 19. "They're going to have to make the appointment now," Biden said of seniors during a visit to a vaccination site at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. The visit came ahead of his formal announcement at the White House about eligibility expanding to adults nationwide in less than two weeks. (Lesniewski and Kopp, 4/6)

In related news —

CNN: Half Of Adults Could Have A Covid-19 Vaccine Dose By The Weekend, But Experts Say It's Too Soon To Declare Victory 
The US is on track to vaccinate half of all adults by the weekend with at least one Covid-19 shot, according to a White House adviser, but that does not mean the country is finished with the pandemic. "We do have to remember that there are 100 million-plus adults that still haven't been vaccinated," White House senior adviser for Covid-19 response Andy Slavitt told CNN's Chris Cuomo Tuesday. "They're not there yet, and you don't win the war until you bring everybody over with you." (Holcombe, 4/7)

The New York Times: About 80 Percent Of K-12 Teachers And Staff Have Gotten A Vaccine Dose 
Nearly 80 percent of school staff and child care workers in the United States have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Tuesday. The announcement comes as the Biden administration has made an ambitious push to reopen schools and return to in-person instruction by the president’s 100th day in office. That goal has been tempered by new dangerous virus variants, protests from teachers’ unions, and the fears and frustrations of students and parents. (Waller, 4/7)

The Hill: Vaccination Pace Picks Up Steam; Normality Appears Closer 
The accelerating pace of vaccinations across the United States is offering hope that something close to normality is on the horizon. A significant taming of the pandemic in the U.S. could be just a matter of a few weeks, with an average 3 million people being vaccinated each day and 4 million alone getting shots on Saturday. Across the country, more than 75 percent of people 65 or older have received at least one shot, as have more than 40 percent of all adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Sullivan, 4/6)

AP: Nearly Half Of New US Virus Infections Are In Just 5 States
Nearly half of new coronavirus infections nationwide are in just five states — a situation that is putting pressure on the federal government to consider changing how it distributes vaccines by sending more doses to hot spots. New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey together reported 44% of the nation’s new COVID-19 infections, or nearly 197,500 new cases, in the latest available seven-day period, according to state health agency data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Total U.S. infections during the same week numbered more than 452,000. (Bynum and Smith, 4/6)

In updates on the covid variants —

AP: Health Department IDs Missouri's First Case Of Virus Variant
Missouri’s health department on Tuesday announced it identified the first case of a new vaccine variant in the state. Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services announced a Jackson County resident tested positive for a COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa. (Ballentine, 4/7)

Health News Florida: South African COVID-19 Variant Identified In Orange County 
Florida continues to have the country’s most COVID-19 variant cases, with 3,279 reported Monday, including 24 of the closely watched B.1.351 variant, first identified in South Africa. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Florida had 3,191 cases of the B.1.1.7, first identified in the United Kingdom, and 64 of the P.1 variant, first detected in Brazil. (Prieur, 4/6)

Albuquerque Journal: Navajo Nation Confirms New Virus Variant
Navajo Nation epidemiologists have confirmed a case of the B.1.429 COVID-19 variant on the reservation in the Chinle, Arizona, area. The virus strain was first discovered in California and has become prevalent in new COVID-19 infections in Arizona and Nevada. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has listed the mutation as a “variant of concern.” “We know this is capable of spreading rapidly and efficiently,” said Dr. Laura Hammitt, infectious disease programs director at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health. “Current COVID-19 vaccines are expected to greatly reduce the chances of severe disease.” (Davis, 4/6)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

NH Times Union: State Warns Of Outbreak After Magdalen College Easter Services; Virus Was Widespread On Campus 
The state is warning that anyone who was on Magdalen College’s campus in recent weeks might have been exposed to COVID-19, and the college president has told families that all students might have been exposed. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has identified at least 16 COVID-19 cases associated with the outbreak, according to an announcement. The college has fewer than 90 students total, according to federal records. The campus is now closed to the public. (Albertson-Grove, 4/6)

New York Post: Michigan Officials Investigating After 246 ‘Fully Vaccinated’ Residents Get COVID-19, 3 Die: Report
The group — whose cases were reported between Jan. 1 and March 31 — tested positive at least two weeks after receiving the last dose of the inoculation, a health official told the Detroit News. "Some of these individuals may ultimately be excluded from this list due to continuing to test positive from a recent infection prior to being fully vaccinated," Lynn Sutfin, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said in an email Monday. (Steinbuch, 4/6)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Nine Georgia Senators Tested Positive For COVID-19 During Session; House Refuses To Share Stats
Nine Georgia senators tested positive for COVID-19 during this year’s legislative session held with numerous safety protocols in place. Georgia Senate leaders credited the protocols established before the session started in January with keeping the infection rate of the virus low during their 40 legislative days. The session adjourned last week. (Prabhu, 4/6)

Stat: Covid-19 Reinfections Still Seem Rare, But The U.S. Lacks Good Data 
Reinfections from Covid-19 continue to seem rare, and are not responsible for the current, stubbornly high case counts in the United States, according to scientists and the latest findings. At least, that’s what researchers are left to conclude. Experts say the country and individual states don’t have strong systems to determine how frequently people are getting reinfected — another consequence of the nation’s limited surveillance network. They’re calling for better data collection and analysis around second cases of Covid-19. (Joseph, 4/7)

KHN and The Guardian: Lost On The Frontline: Explore The Database 
Journalists from KHN and The Guardian have identified 3,607 workers who reportedly died of complications from covid-19 after they contracted it on the job. Reporters are working to confirm the cause of death and workplace conditions in each case. They are also writing about the people behind the statistics — their personalities, passions and quirks — and telling the story of every life lost. (The Staffs of KHN and The Guardian, 4/7)

Stat: 1 In 3 Covid-19 Patients Are Diagnosed With A Neuropsychiatric Condition
Six months after being diagnosed with Covid-19, 1 in 3 patients also had experienced a psychiatric or neurological illness, mostly mood disorders but also strokes or dementia, a large new study shows. About 1 in 8 of the patients (12.8%) were diagnosed for the first time with such an illness, most commonly anxiety or depression. Compared to control groups of people who had the flu or other non-Covid respiratory infections, first-ever neuropsychiatric diagnoses were almost twice as high. (Cooney, 4/6)

Bloomberg: Covid Boosts Risks For Mental, Neurological Disorders In Study
A third of Covid-19 survivors were diagnosed with a neurological or psychiatric condition in the six months after being infected, according to the first large-scale research to compare the risks to other illnesses, including influenza. The University of Oxford study analyzed health records of 236,379 Covid-19 patients infected last year, according to a report in The Lancet Psychiatry journal. As might be expected, anxiety and mood disorders were the most common diagnoses, at 17% and 14% of patients respectively. But the study also found 7% of those made sickest by the virus had a stroke and 2% were diagnosed with dementia. (Rutherford, 4/6)

BBC News: Covid-19 Raises Risk Of Depression And Dementia, Study Suggests 
Anxiety and mood disorders were the most common diagnosis among those with Covid, and these were more likely to be down to the stress of the experience of being very ill or taken to hospital, the researchers explained. Conditions like stroke and dementia were more likely to be down to the biological impacts of the virus itself, or of the body's reaction to infection in general. (Schraer, 4/6)

AP: Most Kids With Serious Inflammatory Illness Had Mild COVID
Most children with a serious inflammatory illness linked to the coronavirus had initial COVID-19 infections with no symptoms or only mild ones, new U.S. research shows. The unusual post-infection condition tends to be milder in kids who were sicker with COVID-19, although more than half of affected youngsters received intensive hospital care, according to an analysis by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Tuesday in JAMA Pediatrics. (Tanner, 4/6)

The New York Times: Many Children With MIS-C Had No Covid-19 Symptoms 
Many children and teenagers who developed the mysterious inflammatory syndrome that can emerge several weeks after contracting the coronavirus never had classic Covid-19 symptoms at the time of their infection, according to the largest study so far of cases in the United States. The study, led by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that in over 1,000 cases in which information about whether they got sick from their initial Covid-19 illness was available, 75 percent of the patients did not experience such symptoms. But two to five weeks later, they became sick enough to be hospitalized for the condition, called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), which can affect multiple organs, especially the heart. (Belluck, 4/6)

In related pediatric news —

USA Today: COVID: Kids Fare Better Than Adults. New Study Attempts To Answer Why.
Since the start of the pandemic, health experts have offered numerous theories to explain why children fared better than adults against COVID-19. Some thought kids were less likely to come into contact with the virus as schools closed. Others hypothesized they might not have a specific molecule essential for the virus to attach to host cells. But a new study provides evidence that children may evade severe disease because a natural part of their immune response stops the virus early in its tracks, according to researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Health System and Yale University. (Rodriguez, 4/6)

CNN: Why Young People Are Not Safe From Covid-19 — Dr. Wen Explains 
There has been a worrisome trend emerging in recent weeks: Cases among younger people are rising. In Michigan, hospitalizations among people in their 30s have climbed by over 600%, and those in their 40s by 800%. Average daily cases for children have also risen by over 200%. In Massachusetts, the largest increase in Covid-19 infections has been in children and teens. What accounts for these trends? We discuss with CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen. (Chiu, 4/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Vaccine Developed By U.S. Army Begins Human Testing 
The U.S. Army will start testing among adult volunteers an Army-developed Covid-19 vaccine that researchers say may protect against a variety of coronavirus variants. Army doctors plan to start testing on Tuesday the protein-based shot in as many as 72 adults ages 18 to 55 at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md., the institute said. The team will test whether the vaccine safely induces the desired immune response in study subjects. (Loftus, 4/6)

In other updates on the vaccine rollout —

The Oregonian: All Oregonians Over 16 Will Be Eligible For COVID Vaccine April 19 
All Oregonians over the age of 16 will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 19, Gov. Kate Brown announced Tuesday, nearly two weeks earlier than originally planned. Widespread vaccine eligibility was previously expected May 1. (Williams, 4/6)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Is Expanding Preregistration For The COVID Vaccine. Here’s What You Need To Know. 
Everyone in Maryland who is 16 or older will be eligible next week to get the coronavirus vaccine at any site offering shots in the state, Gov. Larry Hogan said Monday. And people 16 and older can get shots this week, starting Tuesday, at the state’s five mass vaccination sites. The state will require the hundreds of other vaccine providers in Maryland to offer shots to adults and older teenagers, a total of almost 4.9 million people, as of April 12. (Oxenden, 4/6)

Axios: Coronavirus Vaccine Shopping Can Be Surprisingly Easy 
Many coronavirus vaccination sites are making it easy for people to shop for the vaccine they want. Public health officials have advised for months that the best vaccine to get is the one that's first available. But giving people a choice about which shot to get could help improve overall vaccination rates, especially among more hesitant Americans. (Owens, 4/7)

Boston Globe: Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition, Alleging Unsanitary Conditions, Wants Grove Hall CVS To Stop Vaccinating
The Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition is asking officials to shut down the vaccination program at the CVS in Grove Hall after the civil rights group alleged that the store was unsanitary and allowed people seeking vaccinations to gather close together while waiting over the weekend. Louis Elisa, a member of the group’s steering committee, visited the CVS on Saturday after hearing concerns from neighbors and found a trash can overflowing with refuse and “a crowd of people bunched up together” as they awaited shots of the vaccine, he said in a phone interview Monday night. (Fox, 4/6)

Bangor Daily News: Maine Tells 90K Who Signed Up For COVID-19 Vaccines On State Site To Pursue Other Options
Maine health officials said Tuesday that 90,000 people who signed up with the state’s long-awaited coronavirus vaccine registration system should not wait for it to notify them for appointments two weeks after it was launched with few providers using it. The idea for the system was to create a waiting list for people who might get vaccinated through providers who do not have a robust scheduling system. Procurement forms for the system indicate Maine authorized $4.4 million on call center services to help with pre-registration and nearly $800,000 on a scheduling service. (Andrews, 4/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: Gov. Newsom Vows To Keep Coliseum Vax Site Open, Says State Will Match Supply
Both the Coliseum and the Cal State Los Angeles vaccination site “are remaining operational,” Newsom told a news conference at San Francisco City College. Both were started as special federal-state sites to provide large numbers of shots in low-income areas. “It will be a seamless operation. The only thing is that we’re not going to get the direct allocation of vaccines from the federal government,” Newsom said. “That’s the only change. Otherwise, there will be no perceptible change in a meaningful way to the public.” (Bobrowsky, 4/6)

KHN: California Counties A Hodgepodge Of Highs And Lows In Vaccinating Vulnerable Seniors 
Even as California prepares to expand vaccine eligibility on April 15 to all residents age 16 and up, the state has managed to inoculate only about half its senior population — the 65-and-older target group deemed most vulnerable to death and serious illness in the pandemic. Overall, nearly 56% of California seniors have received the full course of a covid vaccine, according to the latest data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s about average compared with other states — not nearly as high as places like South Dakota, where almost 74% of seniors are fully vaccinated, but also not as far behind as Hawaii, which has reached 44%. The data, current as of Tuesday, does not include seniors who have received only the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine. (Gold, 4/7)

Houston Chronicle: Gov. Greg Abbott Issues Executive Order Against Requiring Vaccine Passports In Texas
Gov. Greg Abbot issued an executive order early Tuesday banning state agencies from requiring “vaccine passports” to enter public spaces or receive public services. The passports, either digital or printed, would verify that a person has been fully immunized against COVID-19 and allow people to more freely travel and shop. (Harris, 4/6)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Law Blocks Government Agencies From Requiring Employees Or Clients To Be Vaccinated
If a private company in Utah wants to use a so-called vaccine passport to determine which customers have been inoculated against the coronavirus, there’s nothing stopping them. But a newly passed law blocks state government from requiring people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. On the final day of the 2021 Legislature, a bill blocking the state government from requiring Utahns to get the COVID vaccine won final passage. HB308 was signed 11 days later by Gov. Spencer Cox. (Schott, 4/6)

NH Times Union: Sununu Opposes Vaccine Passports 
Requiring citizens to have a government-issued vaccine passport to travel and to attend public events would needlessly stir more controversy over the risk of contracting COVID-19, Gov. Chris Sununu said Tuesday. During a Washington Post live interview with columnist Karen Tumulty on Tuesday, Sununu said private businesses and colleges have every right to impose vaccine requirements on their workers or students, though some of those requirements would likely get tested in court. (Landrigan, 4/6)

Fox News: WHO Against Coronavirus Vaccine Passports For The Time Being, Spokesperson Says
The World Health Organization (WHO) does not back the use of coronavirus vaccine passports for travel, a spokesperson said. WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said the world health agency does not back the use of these passports — proof that one has been vaccinated against COVID-19 — because it is not yet known if those who have been vaccinated against the virus can still transmit it. She cited equity concerns as another reason the WHO does not endorse the use of them at this time. (Farber, 4/6)

In related news about vaccination cards —

San Francisco Chronicle: Online Scammers Traffic In Fake COVID Vaccination Cards, Authorities Warn
Fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards are being sold online, and authorities have warned individuals not to buy or make one — which is illegal. “Be aware of individuals selling fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards and encouraging others to print fake cards at home,” the FBI said in a public service announcement last week. “Fake vaccination record cards have been advertised on social media websites, as well as e-commerce platforms and blogs.” (Flores, 4/5)

The Washington Post: Long Lines, Frustration At Walk-Up Vaccine Site In Maryland 
Excitement gave way to frustration outside a mass vaccination site in Hagerstown, Md., on Tuesday, as hundreds of people seeking the coronavirus vaccine without appointments were turned away and others were left waiting as long as seven hours for their shots. (Tan, 4/6)

WUSF Public Media: On First Day Of Open Vaccine Eligibility, Steady Stream Of Walk-Ups At FEMA Site 
On Florida's first day of open vaccine eligibility, a line wrapped around the Tampa Greyhound Track, one of the state's four federally supported vaccination sites. As people poured out of the vaccination tents smiling, the relief was palpable. "Me and my family have been kind of living in a bubble and really quarantining hard for like 16 months. So it felt like hope for the future for the first time,” said Jasmine Keyes, of Land O’ Lakes. (Miller, 4/6)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Mass COVID-19 Vaccine Sites In Las Vegas Crowded But Not Overwhelmed
In stark contrast to earlier this year, Clark County has plenty of COVID-19 vaccine this week, as well as staff to administer it and space in which to do so. Local public health officials now face a different challenge. “Now we need people to come and get vaccinated,” JoAnn Rupiper, chief administrative nurse for the Southern Nevada Health District, said on Tuesday. The health district, county government and partnering agencies have ramped up to vaccinate thousands of residents who are newly eligible for doses. Monday marked the first day that anyone 16 or older could get a shot in Nevada. (Hynes, 4/6)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Vaccine Appointments In Louisiana Are Going Unfilled -- Sooner Than Officials Thought
“We’ve hit the low-hanging fruit of people who are very anxious, ‘I want to be vaccinated yesterday,’” said Dr. Jeffrey Elder, LCMC Health medical director of emergency management who oversees the system’s mass vaccination effort at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. “Now, we’re in the trenches.” The change in vaccine demand and supply represents a shift that public health experts knew was coming, but did not expect this soon, said Elder, a situation spurred by the supply increase. And it could be a sign that Louisiana may have a lot of work ahead. (Woodruff, Rddad and Gagliano, 4/7)

Georgia Health News: Employer Teamwork Boosts Vaccine Access For Latino Community
Three rival Georgia carpet companies took a break from their floor-covering competition to focus on a foe that united them: COVID-19. Mohawk Industries, Shaw Industries and Engineered Floors collaborated on a COVID vaccination event for the workers at their Dalton-area plants recently. Almost 5,000 shots were administered over two weeks in the northwest Georgia city that’s called the “carpet capital of the world.” (Miller, 4/6)

NBC News: Meet Some Of The 'Vaccine Fairies' Helping Vulnerable Americans Book Appointments
Once upon a time, when the Covid-19 vaccines first started being distributed, the states and drug store chains set up websites to book appointments that were so glitchy and so maddeningly hard to use that many people were plunged into despair. Then, like magic, the “vaccine fairies” appeared. (Siemaszko, 4/5)

In updates about side effects of the covid vaccine —

Drudge Report: Local Teen Diagnosed With Guillain-Barre Syndrome Questions COVID-19 Vaccine After Receiving First Dose
Wyatt McGlaun, a teenager in The Woodlands, said he got Guillan-Barre syndrome a few weeks after his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. “I wanted to get the vaccine. I felt it was the right thing to do,” McGlaun said. “I wanted to travel and enjoy my last summer before college.” However, he said, he got extremely weak and had difficulty walking when he was admitted to CHI St. Luke’s in The Woodlands where he was diagnosed. (Hernandez, 4/5)

USA Today: COVID Vaccine Side Effects Study: Rashes, Skin Reactions Not Dangerous
Getting COVID-19 can cause all manner of odd skin reactions. A new study finds some of them, including COVID toes, a measles-like rash and shingles also can be rare, and thankfully brief, side effects of getting the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. The minor, though sometimes itchy and annoying, reactions were seen in a database of 414 cases of delayed skin problems linked to the vaccines and reported to health care professionals. The cases were collected between December and February before the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had been authorized, so it was not included. (Weise, 4/7)

Politico: Senior Trump And Biden Officials Knew For Months About Problems At Vaccine Plant
Senior officials in the Trump and Biden administrations knew of oversight and quality assurance problems at Emergent BioSolutions’ Baltimore plant months before the company accidentally contaminated 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter and an internal report. Officials with the Trump administration’s vaccine program, Operation Warp Speed, and the Department of Health and Human Services were sent a report in June 2020 on Emergent’s inner workings. Written by a government official, the document concluded that the company’s plan for manufacturing urgently needed Covid-19 vaccines was inadequate. Emergent’s problems hiring and retaining skilled workers meant that it could not guarantee success in producing the shots, said the two people, who read the report and described it to POLITICO. (Banco and Owermohle, 4/6)

The New York Times: U.S. Bet On Covid Vaccine Manufacturer Even As Problems Mounted 
More than eight years ago, the federal government invested in an insurance policy against vaccine shortages during a pandemic. It paid Emergent BioSolutions, a Maryland biotech firm known for producing anthrax vaccines, to have a factory in Baltimore always at the ready. When the coronavirus pandemic arrived, the factory became the main U.S. location for manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, churning out about 150 million doses as of last week. (Hamby, LaFraniere and Stolberg, 4/6)

The Washington Post: Biden Administration To Launch $9,000 Funeral Assistance Program For Covid Victims
The Biden administration next week will launch a funeral assistance program that will provide up to $9,000 to cover the burial costs of each American who died of covid-19 — the largest program of its type ever offered by the federal government. The program is open to families regardless of their income, as long as they show documentation and have not already received similar benefits through another program. (Jordan and Sullivan, 4/6)

In other news from the federal government —

NBC News: CDC's Messaging Problem Highlights Pandemic's Uncertain Future
At a particularly crucial juncture in the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a messaging problem. The CDC and its director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, have been the subjects of growing criticism over statements and guidance that have been revised or walked back. The U.S. faces something of a conundrum. Millions of Americans are getting vaccinated every day, and state and local governments are relaxing restrictions. Meanwhile, as case numbers rise in parts of the country, public health experts worry about the possibility of a fourth surge. There are no easy answers. (Chow, 4/6)

Fox News: Trust In CDC During Coronavirus Pandemic Saw Declines, Survey Suggests
Public trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during the coronavirus pandemic dropped between May and October 2020, a survey found, with the most significant decline reported among non-Hispanic White and Hispanic respondents. The survey, conducted by the RAND Corporation, involved 2,000 Americans and rated the trust on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest. The average drop in trust among respondents was by about 0.7 points or 10%, the researchers said. The survey broke groups down into subgroups by ethnicity, voting intentions, age, and rural versus urban. (Hein, 4/6)

Politico: Congress Shoveled Out Billions To Boost Contact Tracing. It May Have Come Too Late. 
Beleaguered state and local coronavirus contact tracing programs are about to get billions of dollars in aid from Congress. But that likely won’t be enough to overcome the latest surge of cases, reporting gaps and other complications that now make it all but impossible to quickly track chains of transmission. It’s the latest challenge for a public health effort that's been stymied by a shortage of disease trackers — and by infected patients who are unwilling to quarantine or turn over close contacts. (Ollstein and Goldberg, 4/6)

Politico: Covid Survivors Look To Turn Grief Into Lobbying Clout
Activists with chronic illnesses helped save Obamacare from repeal. Gun violence survivors built a movement to take on the NRA. Now, a cohort of Covid survivors is working to turn their grief into political power. As President Joe Biden pitches a multi-trillion-dollar package to shore up the country’s physical infrastructure, the new advocates — including people who lost loved ones to the virus — are focusing their grassroots lobbying on the follow-up plan Biden is expected to unveil later this month addressing the country’s “human infrastructure.” They’ll press the White House and Congress to prioritize mandatory paid sick leave and make permanent the temporary expansion of Obamacare subsidies that was approved as part of Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, among other goals. (Ollstein, 4/5)

In updates on Obamacare —

Roll Call: Democrats Hope To Extend New Insurance Subsidies Before 2022 Midterms
Health insurance shoppers who buy coverage on the state and federal exchanges are likely to see a discount in their premiums as soon as next month, thanks to the recent COVID-19 relief law, but prices could rise again in 2023 if Congress doesn’t extend new subsidies before then. As Democrats consider what aspects of their health agenda their next legislative push may include, lawmakers say they plan to extend the enhanced premium tax credits that were authorized through 2022 in the COVID-19 relief law enacted last month, but they haven’t laid out a specific plan for doing so. (McIntire, 4/7)

NPR: Woman Gets New Trachea In Groundbreaking Transplant Surgery
A medical team in New York City says it has performed the first complete surgical transplant of a windpipe. The trachea is basically a tube that transports air to and from the lungs, so you might think it would be easy to transplant. But not so. In fact, trachea transplants have been one of the last big challenges in this area of medicine. (Harris, 4/6)

AP: Woman Recovering After Rare Windpipe Transplant From Donor
Sonia Sein said she spent the last six years “trying to catch every breath at every moment” after extensive treatment for her severe asthma damaged her windpipe. She is breathing freely again after getting an unusual transplant. In January, doctors at New York’s Mount Sinai replaced her trachea, the tube that ferries air from the mouth to the lungs. (Renault and Ritzel, 4/6)

CNN: A New York Woman Is Thriving After Receiving The First Trachea Transplant 
After years of struggling to breathe and fearing she might suffocate in her sleep, Sonia Sein says she feels well enough to dance around with her grandchildren after undergoing the first-ever human trachea transplant at Mount Sinai in New York. "For me, it felt like right after, I was able to breathe. When I took that first breath it was heaven," said Sein, who had the life-changing surgery in January. (Williams, 4/6)

The New York Times: ‘There Was Nothing Anybody Could Do For These Patients.’ Now There Is. 
The first successful direct transplant of a trachea is a medical milestone that could help thousands of people with airways damaged by ventilators and other causes. (Belluck, 4/6)

New York Post: Why Redheads Feel Less Pain, According To Scientists
They may be ginger — but their skin isn’t. In a seemingly paradoxical study, US researchers found that redheads have a preternaturally high pain tolerance — wait for it — due to a mechanism that ups their susceptibility to sunburns. "These findings describe the mechanistic basis behind earlier evidence suggesting varied pain thresholds in different pigmentation backgrounds," said Dr. David Fisher of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Massachusetts. He led the fiery study published in the journal Science Advances. (Cost, 4/6)

CIDRAP: Study Shows HPV Vaccine Exposure In Pregnancy Is Safe
New data on women who received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine inadvertently in early pregnancy shows the vaccine did not cause miscarriages or adverse birth outcomes, according to a study yesterday in JAMA Network Open. The HPV vaccine is not recommend in pregnancy, but safety data are limited on inadvertent exposure. (4/6)

CIDRAP: Doctor Group Advises Shorter Antibiotic Course For Common Infections 
The American College of Physicians (ACP) has released new guidelines recommending a short course of antibiotics for four common bacterial infections. The best practice advice, published yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, addresses antibiotic therapy for four of the most common bacterial infections seen in inpatient and outpatient settings: community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), acute bronchitis with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), urinary tract infection (UTI), and cellulitis. The recommendations are based on published clinical guidelines and peer-reviewed literature, including randomized clinical trials that have compared shorter antibiotic courses to longer ones. (Dall, 4/6)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Immunotherapy May Not Help Certain Liver Cancer Patients, Study Finds
Until recently, the standard treatment for patients newly diagnosed with advanced liver cancer was a drug that blocks certain cell molecules. Unfortunately, Sorafenib has rough side effects and usually doesn’t work; only about 11% of late-stage patients survive five years. Immune-boosting drugs called checkpoint inhibitors are improving that grim outlook. A year ago, results of a groundbreaking clinical trial led to the first approval in a dozen years of a new initial treatment regimen that includes Tecentriq, a checkpoint inhibitor. (McCullough, 4/7)

Stat: Fibrogen Admits False Safety Data For Anemia Pill Shared With FDA, Investors
Fibrogen acknowledged Tuesday that the company has been touting false heart-safety data for its experimental anemia pill for at least two years — a shocking revelation that raises even more questions about the drug’s approvability. Shares of Fibrogen fell 27% to $25 in Tuesday’s after-hours trading session as investors questioned the credibility of the company’s management team and mulled the ramifications of revised heart-safety data that may no longer be strong enough to pass muster with the Food and Drug Administration. (Feuerstein, 4/6)

Axios: LumiraDx, COVID Test Startup, In $5 Million SPAC Deal 
LumiraDx, a British diagnostics startup that makes COVID-19 tests, has agreed to merge with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) CA Healthcare Acquisition Corp. in a deal valued at $5 million, the companies announced Tuesday. LumiraDx has also secured a $300 million loan from BioPharma Credit and another $100 million from Capital One Financial, per the statement. (4/7)

Stat: Biotech VCs Have More Money Than Ever To Invest. What Could Go Wrong?
There’s more money sloshing around in biotech than ever before. Over the past year, several trends have converged to create a historic financing environment for startups, full of what industry insiders call “dry powder.” Experts say this kind of environment could be great for the industry as a whole, allowing startups to raise more money and move much faster. But venture capitalists also told STAT that increased interest in biopharma companies means competition for investment has become unusually fierce. (Sheridan, 4/7)

Stat: Medical Device Firms’ Payments To Doctors Outstrip Those From Pharma
The medical device industry gave doctors consulting fees, lunches, lodging, and other incentive payments worth $904 million between 2014 and 2017, per a new study — more than $80 million more than the pharmaceutical industry lavished on physicians over the same time period. Experts told STAT that the findings, published Monday in Health Affairs, raise new questions about the industry’s influence on physician behavior — particularly since the medical device industry pulls in far less in revenue than the pharmaceutical industry. (Diaz, 4/6)

In biotech industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Biosimilars Need A Policy Boost, Experts Say
Physicians and patients are warming up to biosimilars but policy tweaks are needed to boost utilization, industry observers said. Around three-quarters of physicians see biosimilars as equally safe and effective as their corresponding biologic and 71% of patients are willing to take them with a doctor's recommendation, according to a new NORC at the University of Chicago survey of more than 1,200 physicians and patients. But the therapies' adoption has been slowed by price manipulation and patent litigation. (Kacik, 4/6)

Stat: Akili’s Therapeutic Game Will Be Tested As A Treatment For Covid ‘Brain Fog’
Akili, which made history last summer by earning regulatory clearance for the first video-game based therapy, now plans to test if its software can help adults suffering from Covid “brain fog.” Two randomized remote studies, one conducted by Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the other by Vanderbilt University Medical Center, will assess whether AKL-T01, the treatment that Akili commercially markets for ADHD as EndeavorRx, can help improve cognition symptoms in Covid survivors. (Aguilar, 4/7)

Boston Globe: MIT Scientists Launch Initiative To Solve Biotech’s ‘Missing Women’ Problem
A group of prominent MIT scientists that formed to address gender inequities in the biotech industry released a report Tuesday that says male faculty at the school start companies at a higher rate than their female peers, and proposes a way to help close the gap. The report ― which comes after two years of research by the Boston Biotech Working Group ― outlines a plan, called the Future Founders Initiative, that calls for collaborations between the university, venture capital firms, and faculty. (Anissa Gardizy, 4/6)

Becker's Hospital Review: How A Massachusetts Hospital Supply Leader Spotted Fake N95 Masks
A supply chain manager at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Mass., told CBS Boston that after ordering 30,000 3M N95 masks from a third-party vendor, he was able to spot from a shipping box label that the masks were counterfeit. Barry O'Shaughnessy, a procurement manager at the hospital, told the publication that he went through a third-party vendor to get the masks since he wasn't able to get enough from the hospital's normal suppliers.  (Anderson, 4/6)

ProPublica: The Emergency 911 System Where Callers Still Don’t Always Get Proper CPR Instructions 
It’s been nearly two years since Rhode Island lawmakers approved funding to train all 911 call takers to provide CPR instructions over the phone, but new data shows no improvement in people’s chances of receiving CPR in the critical minutes prior to the arrival of first responders. Only about one in five people who went into cardiac arrest in their homes or someplace other than a hospital or health care setting in Rhode Island last year received CPR before police, fire or emergency medical providers showed up, according to data provided to The Public’s Radio by the state Department of Health. The state’s bystander CPR rate has remained between 19% and 21% since 2018. (Arditi, 4/6)

Health News Florida: Lawmakers Address Medical Necessity, Reporting Requirements 
Physicians wouldn’t be required to determine medical necessity for behavior analysis services for Medicaid patients under proposals moving through the Legislature. The House and Senate are considering identical bills that would make a variety of changes to Florida’s Medicaid laws, from allowing doctoral-level, board-certified behavior analysts to determine medical necessity for patients to deleting a number of state-mandated reporting requirements. (4/6)

Modern Healthcare: Providers See Losses In COVID-19 Property Insurance Lawsuits
Healthcare providers are leaving no stone unturned when it comes to recouping pandemic-related financial losses. They've had success with the federal government, which has doled out more than $160 billion in stimulus grants and counting. But legal efforts like those from big names like Northwell Health, RWJBarnabas Health and Carilion Clinic to force property insurers to pay hundreds of millions in claims for business lost during the COVID-19 crisis so far haven't gotten a positive reception from judges. (Bannow, 4/7)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Providers Enter Philadelphia's Legal Fight To Enact Gun Laws
New filings in an ongoing lawsuit by Philadelphia city officials against the state over the right to enact municipal gun control regulation sheds light on how healthcare stakeholders may tackle gun violence. An amicus brief filed Monday in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania by gun control advocates that included the city of Philadelphia and the organization CeaseFire Pennsylvania included statements from nine area physicians. (Ross Johnson, 4/6)

In news about health care personnel —

KHN: Doctor Survived Cambodia’s Killing Fields, But Not Covid
Linath Lim’s life was shaped by starvation. She was not yet 13 when the Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia and ripped her family apart. The totalitarian regime sent her and four siblings to work camps, where they planted rice and dug irrigation canals from sunrise to sunset — each surviving on two ladles of rice gruel a day. One disappeared, never to be found. (Bazar, 4/7)

Modern Healthcare: Front-Line Workers Want More Assistance After A Year Of COVID-19
More than half of front-line care workers say the stress of the COVID-19 crisis continues to hurt their health over a year after it began, but only 13% received support services, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation/Washington Post survey. Front-line workers under 30 were the hardest hit, with 56% reporting the pandemic stress had a negative impact on their physical health and 75% on their mental health. (Gellman, 4/6)

Boston Globe: Most Boston Hospital Chiefs Moonlight On Corporate Boards 
As chief of Boston Children’s Hospital, one of the most esteemed pediatric hospitals in the world, Sandra Fenwick had outsized influence. After the pandemic struck last spring, she used that clout to lobby Massachusetts legislators for more money for telemedicine, a suddenly essential alternative to in-person visits. She also spoke glowingly about remote care during an online forum last September, saying that satisfaction among patients and staff was hitting “eight, nine, and 10.’’ The hospital, she told a Harvard public health professor, would objectively study the best uses of telemedicine, but she predicted it “is absolutely here to stay.” (Kowalczyk, Ryley, Arsenault and Wen, 4/6)

KHN: Events Of 2020 Moved Medical Students To Political Activism
Inam Sakinah and her classmates will forever be known as the students who started medical school during the 2020 covid-19 pandemic. All of them had prepared for this step for years, taking hours of hard science classes in college, studying for the medical school admissions test and often volunteering, working or even getting master’s or other advanced degrees before starting on the long path to earning a medical degree. (Knight, 4/7)

ABC News: Baby Bath Seat Sold On Amazon Recalled Due To Drowning Hazard 
A baby bath seat sold exclusively on Amazon has been recalled due to drowning concerns. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said about 5,000 BATTOP Foldable Infant Bath Seats are being recalled after the product failed to meet the federal safety standard for baby bath seats. (Pelletiere, 4/6)

Axios: Black Eyed Peas Frontman Will.I.Am Launches High-Tech Face Covering 
Will.i.am, founder of the Black Eyed Peas, is launching a $299 mask — complete with noise cancellation headphones — with help from N95 manufacturer Honeywell. The rapper and entrepreneur is betting people will splurge on a souped-up face covering as a fashion statement and for its wearable tech element, even as the pandemic eases and the pace of vaccinations pick up. (Brown, 4/6)

Stateline: Health Officials Split On Rapid COVID Tests As Admission Tickets
Epidemiologists and other public health experts are debating whether to use rapid COVID-19 tests as admission tickets to schools, businesses and entertainment and sports venues. Even with the quickening pace of vaccinations, it will be months before all Americans who want COVID-19 vaccines receive them. As a result, testing could become ubiquitous as a requirement for students, office workers, spectators and visitors seeking to gather indoors. Many enterprises have been doing such testing for months, from colleges and universities to Hollywood movie productions to professional sports teams. In New York, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he wants to use extensive testing to enable Broadway to reopen. (Ollove, 4/6)

Boston Globe: Opening Of Baseball Season Showcases How Those In Red States And Blue States Are Living Different Realities
The Texas Rangers held their season-opening game on Monday night. It was a sold-out evening with over 38,000 in the stands. It appeared a majority of the fans didn’t wear masks, which is in full compliance with the state law. Texas Governor Greg Abbott did away with a mask mandate weeks ago, proudly the first governor to do so. Fans and players alike were quoted in news stories about how the game felt like a return to normal for them, especially after last season when no fans were allowed in the stadium. Meanwhile, in New York, Yankee Stadium was only allowed to operate at 20 percent capacity. And every person in attendance 2 years old or older needed proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Without proof, they weren’t allowed in the stadium. (Pindell, 4/6)

Also —

AP: Lawmakers Call YouTube Kids A 'Wasteland Of Vapid' Content 
A House subcommittee is investigating YouTube Kids, saying the Google-owned video service feeds children inappropriate material in “a wasteland of vapid, consumerist content" so it can serve them ads. The inquiry comes despite Google agreeing to pay $170 million in 2019 to settle allegations that YouTube collected personal data on children without their parents’ consent. (Ortutay, 4/6)

Los Angeles Times: California Aims To Fully Reopen Its Economy June 15 
California is aiming to fully reopen its economy June 15, more than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic upended the lives and businesses of millions across the state. Officials emphasize the move hinges on two factors: a sufficient vaccine supply and stable and low hospitalization numbers. (Money and Luna, 4/6)

ABC News: Disneyland Announces New Details On Reopening Plan, Reservation System And Safety Guidelines 
With its April 30 reopening date approaching, Disneyland Resort has announced details of how it plans to safely welcome guests for the first time in over a year. The reopening plan includes new rules regarding ticket reservations as well as enhanced health and safety measures. (Azari, 4/6)

AP: ACLU Sues McMaster For Ordering State Workers' Office Return
The American Civil Liberties Union this week sued South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, arguing that his executive order requiring state agencies to “immediately expedite” employees’ return to the office during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic exceeds the governor’s authority. The complaint, filed Monday in state court, asked that a judge halt McMaster’s order, which the ACLU said “is contrary to the safety, security, and welfare of the state.” (Kinnard, 4/6)

AP: Nebraska Advances Unemployment Benefit For Family Caregivers
Nebraska residents who stop working temporarily to care for a family member with a serious health condition could claim unemployment benefits under a bill that lawmakers advanced Tuesday. Lawmakers gave the measure first-round approval with a 27-11 vote. (4/6)

NBC News: Why One Organization Is Placing Sanitation Units Under Bridges And In Atlanta's Parks
Terence Lester has spent nearly half his life helping people dealing with homelessness live with dignity. When the pandemic began to overtake cities and stretch hospitals to capacity, he understood the existential challenges the homeless would encounter as they tried to avoid contracting the deadly virus. One simple obstacle: hand-washing. (Bunn, 4/6)

In other state news —

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Transgender-Bill Veto Overridden
Arkansas became the first state in the nation Tuesday to ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors, after a majority of the state Legislature voted to override the governor's veto. The GOP-sponsored legislation prohibits providing surgeries -- which are not currently done on children in the state -- and hormones to people under 18. Barring legal action -- which human-rights groups have promised -- the law will go into effect during the summer. (Wickline and Herzog, 4/7)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Autism: Ohio Medical Marijuana Program May Add To Conditions
Parents, physicians and even a handful of state lawmakers have repeatedly asked Ohio's State Medical Board to add autism to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana, and each time it's said no. "I think they have been put in a difficult situation," said Republican Sen. Steve Huffman, an emergency room physician who co-wrote Ohio's medical marijuana law. "We still don’t have the scientific data that I believe the board is looking for, and we can’t have it because of the federal government." (Staver, 4/6)

Indianapolis Star: 'Slap In The Face For Pregnant Workers': Weakened Pregnancy Accommodation Bill Goes To Holcomb
Legislation allowing women to ask for pregnancy accommodations — but not requiring business to provide them — is on its way to Gov. Eric Holcomb's desk. It's far from what advocates of a more expansive pregnancy accommodation bill had hoped for — including the governor. Holcomb had called for a much stronger bill during his State of the State. However, he's indicated he will sign the act. (Lange, 4/7)

AP: State Urges Homeowners To Test Wells For Arsenic, Uranium
Connecticut health officials are urging homeowners who rely on well water to have their systems checked for arsenic and uranium contamination. The advice comes as the result of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey released Tuesday that found almost 4% of private wells in the state have elevated levels of arsenic and 4.7% have higher concentrations of uranium than acceptable under guidelines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (4/6)

Fox News: Oxford Halts AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccinations In Kids' Trial
The University of Oxford has suspended AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccinations in a small clinical trial for children, while the U.K.’s medicines regulator examines reports of rare blood clotting in vaccinated adults. An Oxford spokesperson said "there are no safety concerns in the pediatric clinical trial," in a statement sent to Fox News. (Rivas, 4/6)

AP: Official: EU Agency To Confirm AstraZeneca Blood Clot Link
A top official at the European Medicines Agency says there’s a causal link between AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine and rare blood clots, but that it’s unclear what the connection is and that the benefits of taking the shot still outweigh the risks of getting COVID-19.Marco Cavaleri, head of health threats and vaccine strategy at the Amsterdam-based agency, told Rome’s Il Messaggero newspaper on Tuesday that the European Union’s medicines regulator is preparing to make a more definitive statement on the topic this week. (Winfield and Pylas, 4/6)

Bloomberg: Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine Rolled Out in U.K. for First Time
The U.K. began rolling out the Moderna Inc. vaccine on Wednesday, bolstering Britain’s Covid-19 immunization program amid concerns over AstraZeneca Plc’s shot and a shortfall of doses this month. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Moderna shot would first be offered in west Wales. It is the third approved vaccine to be offered in Britain, alongside shots from AstraZeneca and partners Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, and its rollout is around two weeks earlier than expected. (Ashton, 4/7)

AP: EU Life Expectancy Drops Across Bloc Amid Virus Pandemic
Life expectancy across much of the European Union has dropped last year, as the 27-nation bloc struggled with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The EU statistical agency Eurostat said Wednesday that “following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, life expectancy at birth fell in the vast majority of the EU member states.” It said the biggest drop was in Spain, with a loss of 1.6 years compared with 2019. (4/7)

In other global developments —

Reuters: Japan's Osaka Cancels Olympic Torch Run, Declares COVID-19 Medical Emergency
Japan’s western region of Osaka on Wednesday cancelled Olympic torch events scheduled across the prefecture, as record coronavirus infections prompted its government to declare a medical emergency. (Swift, 4/5)

Stat: A Controversial Court Case In Brazil Will Tackle Pharma 'Monopolies'
After years of anticipation, the Brazilian Supreme Court is holding a hearing this week on a case that has pitted the pharmaceutical industry against consumer advocates over patent rights and the extent to which many prescription drugs are affordable. At issue is the constitutionality of a provision in the country’s intellectual property law allowing lengthy extensions on patents. Currently, patents are protected for 20 years from the date that an application is filed, as well as another 10 years at the time a patent is granted. Moreover, the government can take 10 years or more to review patent applications. (Silverman, 4/6)

Health News Florida: House Panel Scales Back Bill On Pharmacy Benefit Managers 
A House panel Tuesday approved health care measures that deal with pharmacy benefit managers and what is known as “step therapy” protocols, but it made changes that narrowed the pharmacy benefit managers bill (HB 1155). “Everything of substance has been taken out. Everything that would actually do something has been taken out. This bill has been so neutered so much it doesn’t even have a gender any more,” said Barney Bishop, a lobbyist for a group called Small Business Pharmacies Aligned for Reform. (4/1)

Stat: California Once Again Delays Launch Of A Closely Watched Prescription Drug Purchasing Program 
For the second time this year, California officials have delayed a much-ballyhooed effort to start a program in which the state would negotiate prescription drug prices and create a vast, single bulk-purchasing system. But this time, it is unclear when the initiative will get off the ground. A notice on the California Department of Health Care Services website says the new Medi-Cal Rx program was scheduled to start on April 1, but has been delayed. No start date was given and a department spokesperson wrote us that an update will be provided next month. The website indicates a meeting is scheduled for May 19. (Silverman, 4/6)

The Montana Standard: Bill Would License Prescription-Drug Middlemen
As the regulatory agency for the insurance industry in Montana, we are tasked to review health insurance rates offered by commercial plans, like Blue Cross or Pacific Source. One clear and unchanging trend is that health insurance plans spend a tremendous amount of money paying for prescription drugs for enrollees. (Downing, 4/2)

North Carolina Health News: Legislative Leaders Pause PED Reports 
In 2016, the state prisons’ medical system was allowing millions to slip away by passing up federal discounts from costly inmates’ prescriptions, a legislative watchdog team observed. Then came a pointed report from the agency, the Program Evaluation Division, that brought about a mandate for change in 2018. And legislation changing the practice resulted the next year. (Goldsmith, 4/7)

Modern Healthcare: Centene Says Ohio AG Lacks 'Basic Understanding' Of Medicaid Program
Centene Corp. criticized the Ohio attorney general for lacking a "basic understanding" of the state's $26 billion Medicaid program, claiming he wasted taxpayer time and money accusing Centene of overcharging the state by millions in drug costs. "There are no secrets here; there is nothing that needs to be hidden or, in fact, that even justifies the filing of this lawsuit," Centene wrote in a federal court filing in Ohio on Friday. (Tepper, 4/6)

The Washington Post: Trump Gave Drug Companies Win On Prices, But Biden May Roll It Back 
Two weeks before President Donald Trump left office, his administration bestowed a parting gift on the U.S. prescription drug industry. It proposed a rule to block the government from citing exorbitant prices to seize control of a drug’s production. The rule, drawn up by a division of the Commerce Department, would settle a long-running battle over when government is justified in exercising “march in” rights over taxpayer-supported government inventions. The 40-year-old Bayh-Dole law gives the government power to grant a license to another manufacturer if a company is not making a government-sponsored invention available to the public on “reasonable terms.” (Rowland, 3/31)

NY Daily News: How Medicare Members Can Lower Prescription Drug Costs 
With the cost of prescription drugs rising and many in the nation experiencing employment disruptions, a lot of people may still be struggling to afford essentials like their medications. Here are answers to a few common questions Medicare beneficiaries may have about drug price increases, as well as a few simple ways to help lower costs. Prescription drug prices are getting expensive. According to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, half of all Part D-covered drugs had list price increases that exceeded the rate of inflation between July 2018 and July 2019. Among the drugs with list price increases exceeding inflation between 2018 and 2019, the median list price increase was 6.4%, or 3.5 times the rate of inflation. (Cissell, 4/1)

Orlando Sentinel: Pharmacy Managers Help Keep Prescription Costs Down
Our nation’s top priority is to get the upper hand on COVID-19 and vaccinate as many individuals, including the elderly and essential workers, as quickly as possible. CVS Health is proud to partner with the federal government in dozens of states to deliver more than 4.5 million vaccinations as of March 28, including over 249,000 doses to over 2,000 Florida skilled-nursing facilities, assisted-living centers, and other similar facilities. In the past year, millions of Americans have put their lives at risk to help care for patients with COVID-19 and other conditions, keep grocery stores and pharmacies stocked, educate students and provide many other necessary services. Their dedication has sustained us in these troubled times. (Travis Tate, 4/5)

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: It Is Time To Address The Bully In Florida’s Prescription Drug Program  
Florida is home to over 1,400 unique independent pharmacies, many that provide exceptional care and lead to lifelong relationships between patients and their pharmacy. As the relationship between providers, insurance companies and drug manufacturers has become more complex, the pharmacy benefit manager role was created to help manage claims. As pharmacy claims increased and became more complicated, the power of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) increased. PBMs, however, have little accountability, which allows them to engage in anti-competitive practices. (Jackie Toledo, 3/31)

The Star Tribune: Bipartisan Plan Can Cut Prescription Drugs Costs 
The centuries-old expression "Hobson's choice" indicates that one has to take or leave something offered. In other words, it might not even be a real choice. As policymakers from opposing sides of the aisle who often disagree, we're both big fans of policies that provide options that benefit Minnesota. This is particularly true when it comes to addressing rising health care costs and getting the best possible deal on prescription drug benefits for Minnesota state employees and taxpayers. (Michelle Benson and Michael Howard, 4/5)

Forbes: Inclusion Of H.R. 3 Drug Price Control Measures In Infrastructure Bill May Negatively Impact Drug Industry
After successfully passing the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, Democrats are setting their sights on another massive spending package that is centered around infrastructure. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly said that measures to contain prescription drug pricing would be included in the infrastructure legislation. Specifically, Pelosi stated that “one of the considerations that members are discussing is whether we have aspects of H.R. 3, the Elijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now legislation” incorporated in the forthcoming infrastructure bill. (Joshua Cohen, 4/4)

The Washington Post: Drug Companies Keep Merging. Why That’s Bad For Consumers And Innovation. 
The Federal Trade Commission’s acting chairwoman, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, recently announced that the agency would collaborate with regulators in Canada and the European Union to review its guidelines for evaluating drug company mergers. This move may signal more active policing of consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry. For prescription drug users and society at large, this is a welcome — and long overdue — change, one with the potential to spur innovation and offer more treatment options to Americans. (Robin Feldman, 4/6)

Yahoo Finance: Democrats May Finally Cut Some Drug Prices
Many politicians promise to do it, but none, so far, have been able to make a meaningful dent in prescription drug prices. Congressional Democrats are now signaling this may be the year something happens. Democrats need funding for the huge spending plans President Biden hopes to pass later this year. New revenue sources getting the most attention are proposed increases in the corporate tax rate, and higher income and capital gains taxes on the wealthiest Americans. (Rick Newman, 4/1)

Bloomberg: Not Even A Fourth Wave Can Crush Vaccine Optimism Now 
I've just finished a couple of weeks in Delray Beach, Florida, and I have to tell you: It's a whole different pandemic down here. The restaurants are full; the stores are hopping. Waiters and salespeople wear masks, but most other people don't, not even in crowded bars. South Floridians are acting as if the pandemic is over, even though it plainly isn't. Most of my friends in New York tend to view Floridians as idiots, at least when it comes to Covid-19. They're convinced that Governor Ron DeSantis is hiding the true number of fatalities, and that his refusal to impose a mask mandate and his insistence on keeping the economy relatively open are the irresponsible acts of a Trump wannabe. (Joe Nocera and Faye Flam, 4/6)

The New York Times: So You Got A Vaccine. Should You Have To Prove It? 
More than 19 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus and upward of 665 million vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. As these numbers continue to rise, countries have begun issuing or considering “vaccine passports. ”Vaccine passports — proof through a phone app or on a piece of paper that you’ve had your shots — are a potential ticket to freedom for millions of vaccinated people around the world. Israel already has them. The European Union and China have also announced a version of them. In the United States, there’s talk about what such a certification might look like. (Jane Coaston, 4/7)

USA Today: COVID Vaccine Side Effects: Give Essential Workers 2 Days Of Paid Leave
Essential workers, often low-wage and compensated by the hour, are getting vaccinated at lower rates than other groups. Many attribute this reduced vaccine uptake to “vaccine hesitancy” due to false beliefs or even justified skepticism. But there is a systematic “Catch-22” that has been created: At least 40% of people who get vaccinated experience flu-like symptoms one to two days after their injection, and anyone with these symptoms is not allowed to come to work. Compounding this risk is if the person has already been infected with COVID-19, their likelihood of experiencing flu-like symptoms is even higher. (Brita Roy and Dr. Howard P. Forman, 4/7)

Boston Globe: Vaccine ‘Passports’ — With Crucial Protections — Can Help Get America Through Herd Immunity Limbo 
A traveler shows up at an airline gate, claiming that she’s been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and thus can fly safely to a country that requires that visitors be inoculated. How, exactly, can an airline — or hotel, or any number of other businesses that need to worry about the vaccination status of their customers — be sure? Solving the problem is one of the key steps on the road to reopening the global economy. And as controversial as they’ve become, “vaccine credentials” that allow individuals to show they’ve been vaccinated should be part of the answer — as long as careful safeguards are included. (4/7)

The Washington Post: An Equitable Vaccine Rollout Must Prioritize The Most Vulnerable Around The World 
Many Americans are breathing a sigh of relief. Across the United States, the vaccine rollout is gaining speed. By May 1, every U.S. adult will be eligible for inoculation. But eligibility is far from equity — and around the world, the pandemic is far from over. Already, vast disparities are emerging in vaccine access — both within countries and between them — especially for Afro-descendant and Indigenous communities. Within countries, the gaps are stark. In the United States, for example, White people remained nearly two times more likely to be vaccinated than their neighbors of color at the end of March. In Brazil, Indigenous populations are 10 times more likely to die of covid-19 than the general population, even as wealthy Brazilians travel abroad to secure shots. And in India, many members of poor Muslim and Dalit communities are denied access to the limited vaccine supply that is available. (Darren Walker, 4/6)

LA Daily News: California Legislature Needs To Improve, Preserve End Of Life Option Act 
Almost two years after I had first met her, she came to my clinic one final time. Lying down on a gurney, her right eye was covered with a shield and her blonde-brown hair was limp and shorter than before.  Her body was half-covered with a soft green blanket that complimented her now one visible eye. She was no longer the feisty young woman I had cared for over the past two years, trying to find a cure for the disease that was ultimately going to kill her. This young woman, who was someone I had taken care of as a palliative care physician along with her oncology team, would now be my first patient choosing to avail herself of the End of Life Option Act. The law, which took effect in 2016, authorizes the compassionate option of medical aid in dying for terminally ill, mentally capable adults with six months or less to live to get a prescription they can take to end their life peacefully. I would walk out of that visit in tears of sadness with the thought of never ever seeing her again, but also with a sense of empowerment knowing that I was helping her and not her cancer write the last chapter of her story the way she wanted. (Chandana Banerjee, 4/6)

Stat: Tax Exemptions For Nonprofit Hospitals: A Bad Deal For Taxpayers? 
Many U.S. hospitals provide charity care to financially disadvantaged patients without the expectation of getting paid for their services. Nonprofit hospitals receive a sizable tax exemption — estimated at almost $25 billion in 2015 (using 2011 data) and likely much larger now — that is largely intended to subsidize the costs of this charity care. (Ge Bai and David A. Hyman, 4/5)

The New York Times: Keeping Trans Kids From Medicine Doesn’t Make Them Disappear 
Trans people have been part of human history for as long as there has been history, and for as long as there have been humans. But with the exception of a few brave souls, until relatively recently, trans individuals were rarely in the public eye in the United States. People knew so little about us that when I came out, at the turn of the millennium, at least one person I tried to explain myself to thought that I’d invented the whole business single-handedly. In retrospect, my transition was made somewhat easier in 2000 because there weren’t quite so many laws designed to make my life harder. Conservatives didn’t seem to fully understand that they were supposed to hate us. (Jennifer Finney Boylan, 4/7)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Worried About Going Back To The Doctor For A Check Up? The Anxiety Is Real. Here’s How To Stay Calm. 
I’m that woman who starts worrying about her doctor’s appointments two weeks before her scheduled visit. Just thinking about stepping on a scale makes me break into a cold sweat. Diabetes runs in my family. It’s only a matter of time until my blood tests reveal sugar issues, right? Could that new birthmark on my leg be skin cancer? I do my monthly breast checks, but what if I missed a telltale sign? It’s no wonder that when I arrive at the doctor’s office — after spending 20 minutes frantically looking for a parking space — that when the nurse takes my blood pressure, it’s off the charts. Twenty minutes and a physical later, it’s dropped back to normal. (But still.) (Elizabeth Wellington, 4/7)