First Edition: Oct. 7, 2021

KHN: Our Covid Cocoon: The Parents Aren’t Alright (But Help May Be Coming) 
My unvaccinated 7-year-old son began hacking and sneezing in late September as the hospitals in our home state of Montana started buckling under the latest covid surge. I took him to get tested when his symptoms wouldn’t go away. The cotton swab went up his nostrils and Thomas bucked out of my lap with a mighty snort, nearly ripping the 6-inch swab from the pediatrician assistant’s fingers. It came out bent, but the sample was usable, and as she put it away, I asked a question to which I already knew the answer. “So we’re in quarantine?” She nodded. It would take about 72 hours to get the results, she said. (Volz, 10/7)

KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: How One State Protects Patients From Hospital Lawsuits
In Maryland, hospitals had been suing people — taking them to court and garnishing wages — even though these patients legally qualified for financial assistance, also known as charity care. Those lawsuits are now illegal, because of the state’s new Medical Debt Protection Act. But in many other states, it still happens. This episode, the fourth in our series on charity care, focuses on how that change came about — as well as the coalition of consumer-protection advocates, riled-up activists and health care worker unions that made it happen. (Weissmann, 10/7)

KHN: Collins’ Skillful Piloting Helped NIH Steer Clear Of Political Minefields 
It’s remarkable that the reputation of the National Institutes of Health has remained mostly intact through the covid-19 pandemic, even as other federal science agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have come under partisan fire. That is in no small part due to NIH’s soft-spoken but politically astute director, Dr. Francis Collins. The motorcycle-riding, guitar-playing Collins announced Tuesday he will step down by the end of the year from his job as chief of the research agency, having served more than a dozen years under three presidents. (Rovner, 10/6)

The New York Times: First Malaria Vaccine Approved By W.H.O. 
The World Health Organization on Wednesday endorsed the vaccine, the first step in a process that should lead to wide distribution in poor countries. To have a malaria vaccine that is safe, moderately effective and ready for distribution is “a historic event,” said Dr. Pedro Alonso, director of the W.H.O.’s global malaria program. ... The vaccine, called Mosquirix, is not just a first for malaria — it is the first developed for any parasitic disease. Parasites are much more complex than viruses or bacteria, and the quest for a malaria vaccine has been underway for a hundred years. (Mandavilli, 10/6)

Stat: WHO Recommends Broad Rollout Of World's First Malaria Vaccine
The vaccine, known as RTS,S and developed by GSK, is given in four doses. The complexity of delivering a four-dose regimen in low-resource settings had raised concerns about how useful the vaccine could be in the real world. For that reason, the WHO’s vaccine advisers previously recommended the vaccine be used first in a pilot program. That program began in 2019, with Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi deploying the vaccine. All three countries gave the first three shots of the vaccine at monthly intervals starting at either 5 or 6 months of age, with the last given 18 months or so after the first — around a child’s second birthday. While the initial doses are given at the time other vaccines are administered, the last is not. It was feared that in remote and rural settings, parents might not bring their children back in for a final dose of the vaccine, limiting the vaccine’s usefulness. (Branswell, 10/6)

NPR: WHO Greenlights The World's First Malaria Vaccine — But It's Not A Perfect Shot
The world's arsenal against malaria just got a fancy new bazooka. But it's not the easiest weapon to deploy, it only hits its target 30 to 40% of the time, and it's not yet clear who's going to pay for it. The weapon in question is the RTS,S vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline, which on Wednesday got the green light from the World Health Organization for widespread use. This is not only the first authorized malaria vaccine, it's also the first vaccine ever approved for use against a parasitic disease in humans. (Beaubien, 10/6)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Appeals After Abortion Law Temporarily Blocked By Federal Judge 
A federal judge temporarily blocked Texas’ near-total abortion ban Wednesday as part of a lawsuit the Biden administration launched against the state over its new law that bars abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy. But it’s unclear how U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman’s order may affect access to abortions in the state — or if it will at all. The state of Texas quickly filed a notice of appeal and will almost definitely seek an emergency stay of Pitman's order in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is known as perhaps the nation’s most conservative appellate court. (Oxner, 10/6)

Houston Chronicle: Federal Judge Blocks Enforcement Of Texas Abortion Ban, Calls It 'Offensive'
In a 113-page opinion, Judge Robert Pitman barred state judges and court clerks from hearing lawsuits against abortion providers and others who help women obtain the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy. The law requires private citizens, not state officials, to enforce the new guidelines through litigation in state courts. The decision was quickly appealed by state leaders. In a seething conclusion, Pitman also denied the state’s request to delay any injunction until it has a chance to appeal, writing it had “forfeited the right” by concocting such an obviously unconstitutional law in the first place. Women have had constitutional access to abortion since 1973. (Blackman and Goldenstein, 10/7)

Politico: Federal Judge Blocks Enforcement Of Texas Abortion Law 
The White House and the Justice Department praised the decision. “Tonight’s ruling is an important step forward toward restoring the constitutional rights of women across the state of Texas,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. She added: “The fight has only just begun, both in Texas and in many states across this country where women’s rights are currently under attack.“ (Gerstein and Ollstein, 10/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Federal Judge Blocks Texas Abortion Law
Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder of Whole Woman’s Health, said the organization’s four abortion clinics would immediately resume procedures up to 18 weeks of pregnancy. After the law went into effect, the clinics were having to turn away some 80% of patients seeking abortions, Ms. Miller said previously. Wednesday evening, she called the judge’s ruling amazing. “It’s the justice we’ve been seeking for weeks,” Ms. Miller said. Kimberlyn Schwartz, the spokeswoman for Texas Right to Life, said the organization wasn’t surprised by the ruling and called the injunction unprecedented. “We expect a fair shake at the Fifth Court of Appeals,” Ms. Schwartz said. “The legacy of Roe v. Wade is you have these judges that will bend over to cater to the abortion industry.” (Kendall, 10/6)

AP: EXPLAINER: The Texas Abortion Law's Swift Impact, And Future
In the wording of the new law, abortions in Texas are prohibited once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, usually around six weeks and before some women know they’re pregnant. Enforcement is left up to private citizens who are deputized to file civil lawsuits against abortion providers, as well as others who help a woman obtain an abortion in Texas. Supporters of the law known as Senate Bill 8 were preparing for a ruling that favors the Justice Department’s challenge but believe the measure — the strictest abortion law in the nation — will ultimately be upheld. Texas officials swiftly told the court Wednesday of their intention to seek a reversal. (Weber and Gresko, 10/7)

NPR: White House Will Spend Another $1 Billion On Rapid At-Home COVID Tests
The White House is allocating an additional $1 billion to purchase millions of rapid at-home tests for COVID-19, in response to an ongoing national shortage of these tests. The announcement was made by White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeffrey Zients at a briefing on Wednesday. The money follows a $2 billion investment in September to supply rapid tests to community health centers, food banks and schools. These are over-the-counter swab tests people can purchase at the pharmacy and take at home. They test for antigens, or proteins on the surface of the virus, and can provide fairly reliable results in 15 minutes, especially in people who are symptomatic. (Neel and Huang, 10/6)

CIDRAP: Biden Administration Boosts At-Home COVID-19 Test Supply 
President Joe Biden today announced he is investing $1 billion dollars to quadruple the national supply of at-home COVID-19 tests by December. "We will have a 200 million test supply by December," said Jeff Zients, COVID-19 coordinator, during a White House press briefing. "At the same time we are increasing the supply of at-home tests, we are expanding access to free testing. Every American, no matter their zip code, can access free testing." (Soucheray, 10/6)

Bloomberg: FDA Reviewing Data On Mixing And Matching Covid Booster Shots, Fauci Says
Data that may show the safety and effectiveness of mixing and matching boosters of different Covid-19 shots are under review by U.S. regulators, presidential adviser Anthony Fauci said. A study of adults who received booster doses of different Covid-19 vaccines than their original shots has been completed, Fauci said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power with David Westin,” and the data have been presented to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The National Institutes of Health study looked at the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of mixing and matching of the three U.S. authorized vaccines for booster purposes. (Rutherford, 10/6)

Politico: Top Covid Experts Privately Urge Biden Admin To Scale Back Booster Campaign
A vocal contingent of prominent doctors and scientists is pressing the Biden administration to scrap its plans to provide booster shots to all previously vaccinated adults, according to five people familiar with the matter. Several of these outside experts, including some who advised President Joe Biden’s transition team, objected to the administration’s approach during a private, off-the-record call last week with federal health officials. Current U.S. data on vaccine performance does not justify using boosters widely to reduce the risk of breakthrough infections and slow the virus’ spread, the experts said. (Banco and Cancryn, 10/6)

Roll Call: FDA’s Internal Turmoil Could Impact Boosters, Shots For Kids 
Signs of internal turmoil at the Food and Drug Administration are raising concerns among former agency officials as widely anticipated deadlines on COVID-19 boosters and vaccines for children near. A high-stakes debate about whether the booster shots are necessary recently led to upheaval at the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review, namely the sudden sidelining of that office’s two most experienced regulators. The drama comes amid a critical month for U.S. vaccine policymaking. FDA documents on COVID-19 boosters for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson recipients are expected to become public ahead of meetings of the FDA’s independent advisers on vaccines next week. (Kopp, 10/6)

Politico: Biden Closes In On Pick To Lead Food And Drug Administration 
The Biden administration is closing in on a nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, four people familiar with the process told POLITICO. The White House was nearing a final pick anyway, but National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins' Tuesday announcement that he would step down accelerated the timeline, according to one person with knowledge of the matter. (Cancryn, Owermohle, Lim and Gardner, 10/6)

The New York Times: A New Vaccine Strategy For Children: Just One Dose, For Now
Even as parents in the United States wrestle with difficult questions over vaccinating their children against the coronavirus, families in other countries have been offered a novel option: giving children just one dose of the vaccine. Officials in Hong Kong as well as in Britain, Norway and other countries have recommended a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages 12 and older — providing partial protection from the virus, but without the potential harms occasionally observed after two doses. On Wednesday, Sweden and Denmark joined the ranks, announcing that adolescents should get only one jab of the Moderna vaccine. (Mandavilli, 10/6)

NBC News: Heart Risks Rare After Pfizer Covid Vaccination, Study Finds
Getting at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine increased the risk of a rare type of heart inflammation, especially in young males, according to a large new study from researchers in Israel. However, the diagnosed cases were usually mild, and most of the patients were sent home without ongoing need for treatment. The condition, called myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, has been reported in a very small number of people who received either the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna mRNA vaccines. Symptoms can include chest pain, palpitations and shortness of breath. Most patients who get care recover quickly. (Syal, 10/6)

Fox News: Washington Woman Dead After Rare J&J COVID Vaccine-Induced Blood Clot
A Washington woman succumbed to a rare clotting syndrome after receiving the J&J COVID-19 vaccine, marking the first such death confirmed in the state, health officials announced. The woman, whose name was not revealed by county or state health officials, was in her late 30s and was a resident of King County. She received the vaccine on Aug. 26, 2021 and died over a week later on Sept. 7, according to a statement. The cause of death was thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), according to Seattle & King County Public Health, which described TTS as a rare but serious condition among recipients of the J&J vaccine. The CDC’s Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project confirmed the diagnosis, officials noted, adding that the CDC has reported three other confirmed deaths nationwide from the complication. (Rivas, 10/6)

Bloomberg: Heart Damage Plagues Covid Survivors a Year After Infection, Study Shows
Heart damage from Covid-19 extends well beyond the disease’s initial stages, according to a study that found even people who were never sick enough to need hospitalization are in danger of developing heart failure and deadly blood clots a year later. Heart disease and stroke are already the leading causes of death worldwide. The increased likelihood of lethal heart complications in Covid survivors -- who number in the hundreds of millions globally -- will add to its devastation, according to the study, which is under consideration for publication by a Nature journal. (Gale, 10/7)

CIDRAP: Drug, Alcohol Abusers More Prone To COVID-19 Breakthrough Infections 
Substance use disorders such as alcohol and opioid addiction predispose fully vaccinated people to COVID-19 breakthrough infection, hospitalization, and death, although the overall risk is low, according to a US study yesterday in World Psychiatry. (Van Beusekom, 10/6)

AP: More Than 120,000 US Kids Had Caregivers Die During Pandemic
The number of U.S. children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic may be larger than previously estimated, and the toll has been far greater among Black and Hispanic Americans, a new study suggests. More than half the children who lost a primary caregiver during the pandemic belonged to those two racial groups, which make up about 40% of the U.S. population, according to the study published Thursday by the medical journal Pediatrics. (Stobbe, 10/7)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Sets COVID-19 Vaccine Proof Mandate For Indoor Sites 
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a new ordinance that requires proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter indoor restaurants, shopping malls, movie theaters, hair and nail salons and many other indoor venues. The council was scheduled to vote on the law last week but held off when Councilman Joe Buscaino said he would withhold his vote after raising concerns about how the new rules would be enforced. (Reyes, 10/6)

ABC News: LA Passes One Of The Strictest COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates In US 
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved the ordinance, which will apply to indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, shopping malls, entertainment venues (such as the Staples Center and movie theaters) and personal care establishments (including nail salons, spas and hair salons) starting Nov. 4.Retail establishments, including grocery stores and pharmacies, are not included. The ordinance passed with 11 votes -- one vote short of the 12 needed to go into effect immediately. (Deliso, 10/6)

The Boston Globe: Mass. Hospitals Prepare To Fire Hundreds Of Employees Who Refuse COVID Vaccine
Hospitals across Massachusetts are preparing to fire hundreds of employees who refuse to be vaccinated for COVID as the institutions seek to balance patient safety and ongoing workforce shortages. Hospital leaders are racing to vaccinate and avoid firing as many workers as possible. Already, hospitals are struggling to hire enough nurses and other critical workers to meet the high demand from patients — those sick with COVID, as well as the many people who deferred medical care earlier in the pandemic. Executives don’t expect the number of employees who lose their jobs over vaccination requirements to result in cutbacks to patient services, but they are intensifying efforts to recruit and retain workers just in case. (Dayal McCluskey, 10/6)

AP: Workers Sue Louisiana Health System To Block Vaccine Mandate
A small number of employees of Louisiana’s largest health system are suing to block a requirement that they get the COVID-19 vaccine in order to keep their jobs. The lawsuits filed Tuesday in Louisiana state district courts challenge Ochsner Health’s mandate that all employees get vaccinated by Oct. 29. (McConnaughey, 10/7)

AP: Idaho Governor Repeals Political Rival's Executive Order
The Idaho governor on Wednesday issued an executive order repealing his political rival’s executive order from the previous day involving COVID-19 vaccine passports and mandatory testing. Republican Gov. Brad Little issued the order while still in Texas, a move that challenges the state’s longstanding practice of making the lieutenant governor acting governor when the governor is out of state. (Ridler, 10/6)

The Washington Post: A Texas Man Said He Hired A Person With Covid To Lick Groceries. He Got 15 Months In Prison
A federal jury has sentenced a Texas man to 15 months in federal prison after finding him guilty of staging a covid-19-related hoax on social media, prosecutors said. Christopher Charles Perez, 40, was arrested in April 2020 after posting two “threatening messages” on Facebook claiming he had paid someone infected with the virus “to lick items at grocery stores in the San Antonio area to scare people away,” the U.S. attorney’s office in the Western District of Texas said in a news release Monday. (Villegas, 10/6)

The New York Times: Tourists Who Fought With Carmine's Hostess Plead Not Guilty 
Three women who were involved in an altercation with a hostess at a popular Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side were arraigned this week on assault and harassment charges. The women, Kaeita Nkeenge Rankin, 44, and Tyonnie Keshay Rankin, 21, of Humble, Texas, and Sally Rechelle Lewis, 49, of Houston, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Manhattan Criminal Court. They were charged with one count each of third-degree assault, attempted assault and harassment, said Javier Solano, a lawyer for the women. (Fondren, 10/6)

Reuters: Amazon Sued By Warehouse Workers Over COVID-19 Screening Pay
Amazon.com Inc has been accused of violating Colorado state law by failing to pay warehouse workers for time spent undergoing COVID-19 screenings before clocking in at work. Jennifer Vincenzetti, who worked at two Amazon warehouses in Colorado Springs, filed a proposed class action in Colorado federal court on Tuesday claiming the company made workers wait in long lines to answer questions and have their temperatures checked. (Wiessner, 10/6)

The Washington Post: Montgomery County Parents Want More School Quarantine Changes 
The Montgomery County school system — the state’s largest — has placed more than 5,000 students into quarantine in about five weeks of classes. ... Montgomery school officials made efforts last month to reduce quarantines by shifting practices and doing rapid tests on-site of potentially symptomatic students. But some parents say students who have lost a lot during 18 months of pandemic learning are still losing too much in-person school. (St. George, 10/6)

Modern Healthcare: AHA Asks Congress To Stop Looming Medicare Cuts
The American Hospital Association is urging Congress to stop cuts to Medicare before they take effect next year, citing the uncertain trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic and possible variants. "Now is not the time for reductions in Medicare payments to providers," Stacey Hughes, executive vice president of AHA wrote in a letter to Congressional leadership. Without Congressional action, Medicare will face a 4% cut triggered by the COVID-19 relief bill that passed earlier this year. (Hellmann, 10/6)f

Modern Healthcare: 'Mega-Mergers' Dominated In 2021, Analysis Finds
Fewer hospital mergers and acquisitions so far in 2021 is offset by a high percentage of "mega-merger" transactions, according to a new analysis. Seven transactions involving 20 hospitals took place during the third quarter of 2021, with transacted revenue totaling $5.2 billion, according to a quarterly report released Wednesday by consulting firm, Kaufman Hall. This year's transactions have involved large health systems that have merged or were acquired by other large systems. The average revenue of selling organizations was $659 million in 2021, more than double the average of $329 million between 2015 and 2020. (Ross Johnson, 10/6)

Modern Healthcare: Upcoding Continues To Inflate Reimbursement, Industry Overseers Say
Massachusetts hospitals continue to bill insurers for more complex care even though data indicate that patients aren't sicker, mirroring a nationwide trend, according to a new report. Hospitals coded about 2 in 5 patients at the highest severity levels—severity levels three and four—in 2020, up from about 1 in 4 patients in 2013, according to the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission's Market Oversight and Transparency Committee report issued Wednesday, which excluded COVID-19 hospitalizations. But there hasn't been a corresponding increase in the prevalence of chronic disease, age or life expectancy that would explain that increase, data from the Center for Health Information and Analysis show. (Kacik, 10/6)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Spending $24B More Per Year On Clinical Labor
Nationwide, hospitals and health systems are spending $24 billion more per year on qualified clinical labor than they did prior to the pandemic, according to an analysis by Premier. From higher turnover rates and employees working overtime, to soaring costs for travel nurses, healthcare facilities have significantly higher expenses for hiring and retaining workers than in previous years. While the first COVID-19 surge led health systems to focus on obtaining supplies for patients and caregivers, the second surge has been all about labor, said Mike Alkire, president and CEO of Premier. (Devereaux, 10/6)

Modern Healthcare: ADA's Newest Exec Comes From Medical Debt Collection Operation
The former head of a questionable medical debt collection operation has apparently moved on to a position at the American Dental Association. Until at least July, Tim Steffl was president of the Center for Consumer Recovery, a not-for-profit group that convinces hospitals to donate medical debt it then collects on using a for-profit vendor, a practice that concerned several industry experts. The ADA announced on Tuesday it had hired Steffl as president and CEO of its Business Innovation Group, or ADABIG. He will be responsible for ensuring the group is profitable and meets strategic and financial goals. He'll also create a strategy for scaling ADA practice transitions, a service within ADABIG that matches dentists with practice owners seeking associates or buyers. (Bannow, 10/6)

CNBC: Former Safeway CEO Says Theranos Delays Raised Red Flags
Former Safeway CEO Steve Burd on Wednesday testified in the Elizabeth Holmes criminal fraud trial, saying repeated delays with Theranos’ blood-testing machine raised red flags about his company’s failed multi-million dollar partnership with the healthcare startup. “Deadlines were continuing to be missed and we often weren’t given an explanation for that,” Burd told the jury. “I kept asking ‘Give me some details here.’ So that was the frustrating part. We always tried to help them any way we could.” (Khorram, 10/6)

CBS News: Health Officials Advise Michigan Town To Use Bottled Water Amid What Local Activists Call A "Persistent" Lead Crisis
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHSS) on Wednesday recommended residents of Benton Harbor rely on bottled water instead of tap water as a precautionary measure while various agencies work to decrease the risk of lead exposure. Activist groups say lead in the city's drinking water has been a "persistent, widespread, and severe public health crisis" for at least the past three years. (Powell, 10/6)

ABC News: Newark Residents Still Aren't Convinced Their Water Is Safe To Drink After Lead Water Crisis 
Five years after high levels of lead were detected in the water of 30 public schools in Newark, New Jersey, the city faces a new challenge of convincing residents affected by the crisis that the water is now safe to drink. Newark resident Marcellis Counts said he grew up feeling neglected by the city and that's caused public distrust to run deeply. "The water is just a clear example of how things are able to be neglected," Counts said. "Many people already knew that a lot of our water was bad anyway. So I always grew up not even drinking from water fountains when I went to school and stuff like that. So it was like that distrust." (Abramoff, Schlosberg and Yamada, 10/6)

AP: Louisiana Opioid Settlement Money To Go To Local Governments
Louisiana intends to divvy up the $325 million it expects to receive from a national settlement of opioid epidemic lawsuits to parish sheriffs and local governments to provide addiction treatment, response and recovery services, Attorney General Jeff Landry said Wednesday. The Republican attorney general announced he had reached an agreement in principal with organizations representing Louisiana’s sheriffs, police juries and municipalities that will govern how the money will be divided and spent. (Deslatte, 10/6)

ScienceDaily: Cancer Costs US More Than $156 Billion Annually, With Drugs A Leading Expense
Care for the 15 most prevalent types of cancer in the U.S. cost approximately $156.2 billion in 2018, according to a team researchers. The team also found that medication was the biggest expense and that medication expense for breast, lung, lymphoma and colorectal cancers incurred the most costs. (Penn State, 10/6)

The New York Times: Exercise May Alleviate ‘Chemo Brain’ In Breast Cancer Patients 
Regular exercise may help lessen “chemo brain” among women being treated for breast cancer, according to a large-scale new study of the associations between physical activity, chemotherapy and cognition. The study, which involved more than 500 women with breast cancer, finds that those who were the most active before, during or after their treatment were the least likely to develop the memory decline and foggy thinking that characterize chemo brain. The study does not pinpoint precisely how exercise may protect the brain during chemotherapy, but does suggest even small amounts of activity, such as a half-hour walk when possible, could make a difference in cancer patients’ ability to think and remember as they move toward recovery. (Reynolds, 10/6)

The Washington Post: Nobel Prize In Chemistry Awarded To Duo Who Helped Construct Molecules In A Cheap, Environmentally Friendly Way
The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded Wednesday to two scientists who built a tool for constructing molecules in a cheap, environmentally friendly way, allowing researchers to more easily make products including pharmaceuticals. David W.C. MacMillan of Princeton University and Benjamin List of the Max Planck Institute in Germany were awarded the Nobel for their development of a precise new tool for molecular construction known as organocatalysis. (Sellers, 10/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Moderna To Build Vaccine-Manufacturing Plant In Africa 
Moderna Inc. plans to spend up to $500 million to build a new manufacturing plant in Africa to supply doses of its Covid-19 vaccine and potential additional vaccines to a continent that has grappled with a shortage. The Cambridge, Mass., drug company said Thursday it will build a state-of-the-art facility that could produce up to 500 million doses annually of vaccines, using its gene-based technology, known as messenger RNA. (Loftus, 10/7)

Bloomberg: Sweden Halts Moderna’s Covid Vaccine For People Aged 30 Or Under
Sweden and Denmark decided to halt vaccinations with Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 shot for younger people because of potential side effects. The Swedish health authority Wednesday cited new data on the increased risk of heart inflammation as a reason for the pause for those aged 30 and under. Denmark will stop giving the shot to those younger than 18. (Daly and Rolander, 10/6)

AP: WHO Working To Get COVID-19 Medical Supplies To North Korea
The World Health Organization is working to ship COVID-19 medical supplies into North Korea, a possible sign that the North is easing one of the world’s strictest pandemic border closures to receive outside help. WHO said in a weekly monitoring report that it has started the shipment of essential COVID-19 medical supplies through the Chinese port of Dalian for “strategic stockpiling and further dispatch” to North Korea. WHO officials on Thursday didn’t immediately respond to requests for more details, including what those supplies were and whether they had yet reached North Korea. (Tong-Hyung, 10/7)