Politico: Why Biden’s Next 100 Days Are Pivotal For The Covid Fight 
President Joe Biden’s first 100 days saw real gains against the pandemic, but the next 100 days — and the 100 days after that — will determine how well Covid-19 is contained. And containment, not eradication, is the most realistic goal: Public health experts say the coronavirus is here for the long haul. Now, the challenge for Biden, his response team and state health officials will be managing the rolling series of outbreaks possibly driven by more dangerous virus variants, while avoiding the wishful thinking of the Trump administration, which downplayed the disease's lethality. (Kenen and Goldberg, 4/30)

AP: Biden's Agenda: What Can Pass And What Faces Steep Odds
President Joe Biden laid out a long list of policy priorities in his speech to Congress — and some are more politically plausible than others. The two parties are working together in some areas, including on changes to policing and confronting the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans. But Republicans are likely to block other Democratic initiatives on immigration and voting rights. On some of Biden’s top priorities, Democrats may choose to find ways to cut out Republicans entirely. The president told lawmakers that “doing nothing is not an option” when it comes to his two massive infrastructure proposals, which would cost $4.1 trillion. (Jalonick, 4/30)

The Washington Post: At The 100-Day Mark, Has Biden Kept His Campaign Promises? 
During the 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden’s advisers often tracked the promises made in his speeches as a way to formulate their early agenda. As he entered office, they viewed the coronavirus as the issue on which his presidency would be most judged, which has guided many of their early decisions and promises — around vaccinations, school reopenings and mask mandates. But President Biden also has a long list of other promises, including climate change, gun control, tax policy and ending foreign wars. Critics say that some of his early estimates appear to have been set low, so he can over-deliver on key issues early in his presidency. Here’s a look at which promises Biden has met, which he has started to address and which he has altered or abandoned. (Santamarina, Viser and Still, 4/27)

Roll Call: Top 3 Health Care Takeaways From Biden’s Address 
President Joe Biden delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. With a sparse, distanced audience in the House chamber, the COVID-19 pandemic was evident to anyone watching. While Biden pitched his proposed economic and families package to lawmakers and the public, he also made a few health care pushes during his address. (McKinless and McIntire, 4/29)

In more news about President Biden's health agenda —

Seattle Times: U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra Touts Biden’s Families Plan At White Center Health Clinic 
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited a White Center community health center Thursday, touting the billions of dollars in funding increases the Biden administration is delivering to such clinics and promoting the president’s plan to spend billions more on family and medical leave, pre-K and community college. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that congressional Democrats passed last month will give more than $6 billion in funding to federally qualified health centers, like the Sea Mar White Center Medical Clinic, which Becerra toured Thursday. (Gutman, 4/29)

The Washington Post: Biden Has Delivered Vaccines. Now Comes The Hard Part. 
President Biden offered voters a singular promise when he campaigned for the White House: He would do a better job on the coronavirus pandemic than Donald Trump. Accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in August, he pledged that “the first step I will take will be to get control of the virus that’s ruined so many lives.” Declaring victory three months later, he said, “I will spare no effort — or commitment — to turn this pandemic around.” Now, 100 days into his presidency, Biden can point to a host of figures showing that he has kept his promise, from plunging death rates to soaring vaccination numbers. (Linskey, 4/27)

The Washington Post: How Have Biden’s Policies Helped American Women? 
On Wednesday night, for the first time ever, two women sat behind the president of the United States as he addressed Congress. President Biden was joined by Vice President Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. To many, the image was symbolic of vision the president outlined in his “agenda for women,” in which he pledged to bring American women closer to equality. At the outset of Biden’s term, The Lily asked leading advocates and experts on child care, equal pay, health equity, LGBTQ rights and gender violence to weigh in on what we could expect from the Biden administration. (Branigin, 4/29)

The Washington Post: Paid Leave Is Central To Biden’s American Families Plan 
Every two years, like clockwork, federal lawmakers have tried to pass legislation mandating paid family leave. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced their family leave bill in 2013 — and again in 2015, 2017 and 2019.In 2021, the United States remains the only industrialized country in the world where parents are not guaranteed paid leave. (Kitchener, 4/28)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: 100 Days Of Health Policy
It’s been a busy 100 days for the Biden administration on health policy. The promise Joe Biden made as president-elect to get 100 million covid vaccinations in arms was doubled, healthcare.gov reopened to those without insurance, and steps were taken to undo a raft of health policies implemented by President Donald Trump. The covid relief bill passed by Congress in March also boosted subsidies for those who buy their own coverage and provided incentives for the 12 states that have yet to expand their Medicaid programs under the ACA. (4/29)

Also —

The Washington Post: Biden’s Stance On Abortion Rights Triggers U.S. Catholic Bishops Spring Debate On Communion Rights
Having a U.S. president who attends Mass week after week and talks about his faith is powerful to millions of American Catholics. But to millions of others, a Catholic U.S. president enacting one policy after another in favor of abortion access is a source of shame. This conflict is now headed directly at the U.S. church’s leadership group, which plans a vote about it at its spring conference. Catholic leaders, like their massive flock, are deeply divided about Biden, only the second U.S. president to come from the country’s largest faith group. Since his election, the increasingly loud right wing of the church has made clear that Biden cannot continue to expand abortion rights and call himself Catholic and go unchallenged. (Boorstein, 4/29)

Stat: FDA Says It Will Ban All Menthol Cigarettes And Flavored Cigars 
The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it will ban all menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. The agency has maintained for nearly a decade that menthol cigarettes, which produce a milder smoke than traditional cigarettes, have played an outsized role in hooking young people on smoking. The FDA first explicitly promised a menthol ban in 2018, but backed off amid intense pushback from the tobacco industry and its allies. (Florko, 4/29)

Bloomberg: FDA Plans To Ban Menthol Cigarettes, Citing Minority Impact
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has moved to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes, citing their disproportionate effect on the health of African Americans. The decision infuriated tobacco companies but delighted anti-tobacco activists and public-health advocates. In its announcement Thursday, the FDA said it’s “working toward issuing proposed product standards within the next year to ban menthol” as a flavor in cigarettes. It also plans to ban all flavors, including menthol, in cigars. The agency will allow an opportunity for public comment, and a ban would likely take years to take effect. (Kary, 4/29)

The New York Times: FDA Announces Plan To Ban Menthol Cigarettes And Flavored Cigars
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced its long-awaited plan to ban the last flavor still allowed in cigarettes — menthol — and also said it would ban all flavors of mass-produced cigars, which are popular among youths. The ban would apply only to sales, manufacturing and imports — not personal possession. “Together, these actions represent powerful, science-based approaches that will have an extraordinary public health impact,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, the F.D.A.’s acting commissioner, said in a statement on the agency’s website. “We believe these actions will launch us on a trajectory toward ending tobacco-related disease and death in the U.S.” (Kaplan, 4/29)

CNN: US Investigating Possible Mysterious Directed Energy Attack Near White House 
Federal agencies are investigating at least two possible incidents on US soil, including one near the White House in November of last year, that appear similar to mysterious, invisible attacks that have led to debilitating symptoms for dozens of US personnel abroad. Multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN that while the Pentagon and other agencies probing the matter have reached no clear conclusions on what happened, the fact that such an attack might have taken place so close to the White House is particularly alarming. (Williams and Herb, 4/29)

Politico: U.S. Probing Suspected Directed-Energy Attack On Government Personnel In Miami 
In Miami, several people reported symptoms similar to those exhibited by American spies and diplomats in Cuba starting in 2016 that became known as “Havana syndrome,” three people said. It was unclear which agency the people in the Miami incident belonged to. Officials are also investigating two similar incidents — one last year involving a senior National Security Council official walking to his car from the south lawn of the White House known as the Ellipse, and another in 2019 involving a separate NSC official walking a dog in Alexandria, Va., the people said. (Seligman, Desiderio and Banco, 4/29)

Politico: Pentagon Investigated Suspected Russian Directed-Energy Attacks On U.S. Troops 
The Pentagon has briefed top lawmakers on intelligence surrounding suspected directed-energy attacks against U.S. troops, and officials identified Russia as a likely culprit, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The Defense Department had been investigating the incidents, including those targeting its personnel around the world, since last year, according to four former national security officials directly involved in the probe. (Swan, Desiderio, Seligman and Banco, 4/22)

In other news from the White House —

NPR: White House Seeks To Give Back California's Smog-Busting Powers
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Monday it is preparing to restore California's right to set its own vehicle emissions standards, in a widely anticipated reversal of Trump-era policies. The decision, which will take several months to be finalized, reaffirms the Golden State's powerful position as an environmental regulator after the Trump administration in 2019 had sought to remove California's powers to set its own emissions standards. (4/26)

Stat: Top Senate Democrat Heads Back To Drawing Board On Drug Pricing
A powerful Democratic committee chair is starting to work on a new drug pricing package, rather than advancing an existing bill — an onerous effort, but one that may be Democrats’ best hope for substantive action this Congress. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a longtime advocate of drug pricing reform, said he will take on the unenviable task of working to build a drug pricing package that can get unanimous support among his Democratic colleagues, rather than pushing ahead with a more aggressive House proposal or a more modest, bipartisan package he painstakingly crafted over years. (Cohrs, 4/30)

Stat: AbbVie CEO To Testify Before Congress About Drug Pricing Tactics
As part of its probe into pharmaceutical industry pricing tactics, a Congressional committee next month plans to hold a hearing and grill AbbVie (ABBV) chief executive officer Richard Gonzalez, whose company at one point faced a subpoena for refusing to cooperate with the investigation. The move comes after the House Committee on Oversight and Reform last fall released a series of reports detailing how different drug makers engaged in “anticompetitive conduct” to maintain high prices and market share for expensive medicines. The effort reflects concern over rising prescription drug prices and Congressional interest in any illegal strategies companies use to thwart competition. (Silverman, 4/29)

In related news about the high cost of drugs and health care —

Stat: Global Drug Spending Could Hit $1.6 Trillion By 2025 
Global spending on medicines is forecast to grow between 3% and 6% annually and reach roughly $1.6 trillion in sales by 2025 — and this does not include another $157 billion that is expected to be spent on Covid-19 vaccines largely over the next couple of years, according to a new report. Almost all countries are expected to see a slowdown in their rate of annual spending through 2025 compared with the previous five-year period. Spending by upper-middle or high-income countries is expected to rise 2% to 5% through 2025, which is similar to what was seen over the past five years. Spending by China, however, is forecast to increase by 6.2%. (Silverman, 4/29)

Modern Healthcare: Survey: Businesses Want Government To Lower Healthcare Costs
More than four in five top executives at large employers said the government must take a greater role in providing health insurance and controlling costs during the next decade, according to a survey on Thursday from the Purchaser Business Group on Health and the Kaiser Family Foundation with support from the West Health Institute. A similar number said it would be better for their business and employees. It's the latest sign that employers are growing increasingly desperate to rein in rising healthcare costs and spending. According to PBGH, annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance increased 55% from 2010 to 2020, reaching $21,342 in 2020. The average single employee deductible increased from $917 to $1,644 among workers with a deductible that period. (Brady, 4/29)

Fortune: GoodRx Helps People Afford Drugs. But Is It Improving Health Care Or Profiting Off A Broken System? 
Brad White has taken esomeprazole, the generic version of Nexium, to treat his acid reflux, for years. A retired school administrator living in Southlake, Texas, White has insurance, and so when he drove through his local CVS to pick up the prescription earlier this year, he was shocked when the clerk told him he owed $490 for a three-month supply. He wasn’t quite sure what he had paid before—he’d been receiving the prescription by mail and had set up automated payments—and he knew the pills would cost him more until he met his $3,000 deductible. But paying nearly $500 for a few months of a generic drug just struck him as outrageous. He drove off without his prescription, to “regroup.” (Fry, 4/29)

The Washington Post: Congressional Democrats Push Medicare Expansion, Defying White House 
Congressional Democrats are planning to pursue a massive expansion of Medicare as part of President Biden’s new $1.8 trillion economic relief package, defying the White House after it opted against including a major health overhaul as part of its plan. The early pledges from some party lawmakers, led by prominent members of its liberal wing, threaten to create even more political tension around a package that is already facing no shortage of it. The expansion push comes as Biden on Wednesday stressed in his first address to Congress that he is still committed to making health care more affordable. (Romm and Min Kim, 4/29)

The Hill: Democrats Push To Add Drug Pricing, Medicare Measures To Biden Plan 
Leading congressional Democrats are pushing to add drug pricing measures and even an expansion of Medicare eligibility to President Biden's American Families Plan after the White House left the proposals out of the $1.8 trillion package. Biden made a rhetorical call to pass drug pricing legislation in his address to Congress on Wednesday, but the administration’s decision not to include the measure in the president’s human-focused infrastructure proposal, despite pressure from Democratic lawmakers, is raising questions about his commitment. (Sullivan, 4/30)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

Stat: Biden Science Pick Lander Fends Off Controversy At Confirmation Hearing
Eric Lander, President Biden’s nominee to lead the White House’s science policy office, easily weathered a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday that started with an examination of his past controversies but ended in a more philosophical discussion of the future of American research. The renowned genetics researcher pledged that if confirmed, he would leverage U.S. science to drive a new wave of disease cures. The Biden administration, he said, would also work to address climate change, increase access to STEM careers for women and people of color, and address an array of other issues ranging from cybersecurity to broadband access. (Facher, 4/29)

Stat: Congress: Stop Dialysis Providers From Gaming Reimbursement 
The Covid-19 relief bill that President Joe Biden signed into law in March temporarily expanded the subsidies available to people who buy their health insurance through marketplaces established under the Affordable Care Act, and the administration has proposed to make those subsidies permanent as part of the American Families Plan. To help pay for that effort, Congress should end a game that big dialysis companies play with insurance to pad their profits at federal expense. (Erin E. Trish, Eugene Lin and Matthew Fiedler, 4/29)

The Wall Street Journal: 30% Of Americans Fully Vaccinated 
Newly reported coronavirus cases in the U.S. rose slightly, while vaccination efforts made further gains, with 30% of the country’s population now fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The U.S. reported more than 57,000 new cases for Thursday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University that was published early Friday. The data may update later. Thursday’s figure was up from Wednesday’s total of 55,125, but marked the sixth consecutive day of new cases below the 60,000 mark. Not all states report data on new cases daily. (Hall, 4/30)

The Washington Post: People Seeking Coronavirus Vaccine Appear Eager To Receive Johnson & Johnson 
A blue card sat on the windshield of Josh Woolvin's black Hyundai Tucson on Tuesday, a spot of color in the sunshine at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It signaled to nurses at this drive-by immunization clinic that Woolvin and his mother, Debbie Shipp, wanted Johnson & Johnson's single-dose coronavirus vaccine, not their other choice, Pfizer-BioNTech's two-shot regimen. Both selected Johnson & Johnson for its one-and-done convenience, a preference that outweighed their concerns about the extremely rare blood clots that prompted a 10-day pause in use of the vaccine.“I’d rather deal with the side effects than die” of covid-19, Woolvin said. (Molloy, Bernstein, Sellers and Anderson, 4/29)

Houston Chronicle: Half Of Texas Adults Have Now Had At Least One Shot Of The COVID Vaccine
Half of Texans 18 and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, inching the state closer to herd immunity against the coronavirus. A Houston Chronicle analysis of federal data shows 10.9 million people in Texas who are 18 and older have been injected with at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The 50 percent milestone comes four months after the Texas Department of State Health Services opened vaccine eligibility to the phase 1B group, or those 65 and older or with chronic health conditions. (Wu and Rubio, 4/29)

KHN: The Vulnerable Homebound Are Left Behind On Vaccination
It was April, more than three months into the vaccination campaign against covid-19, and Jim Freeman, 83, still had not gotten his first dose. Freeman had been eligible for months as part of the 75-and-older target group deemed most vulnerable to death and serious illness in the pandemic. But he could not leave his home to make the journey to one of the mass-vaccination sites in San Mateo County. Freeman, who has Parkinson’s disease, has extremely limited mobility and no longer can walk. (Gold, 4/30)

The Boston Globe: Now That 16- And 17-Year-Olds Are Eligible For COVID Vaccine, Some Families Are Divided Over Whether It Makes Sense
Less than two weeks after 16- and 17-year-olds became widely eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, the debate over the wisdom of getting the shot is growing complicated in households across Massachusetts. Take, for example, Natasha Megie-Maddrey, a Lynn lawyer who is used to crafting an argument. She is, however, on the losing end of a heated one in her own home about whether her teenaged children will get the vaccine. Megie-Maddrey just got her second shot, but her husband has not been vaccinated and is “dead set” against it, she said, citing a mistrust of the medical system rooted in the infamous Tuskegee study that withheld treatment for decades to Black men with syphilis. (Lazar, 4/28)

Axios: COVID-19 Vaccine: Fauci Shoots Down Joe Rogan's "Incorrect" Comments 
White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci during an interview with NBC's "Today" on Wednesday shot down podcast host Joe Rogan's suggestion that young people do not need to get the coronavirus vaccine. "That’s incorrect," Fauci said. "You're talking about yourself in a vacuum. You're worried about yourself getting infected and the likelihood that you're not going to get any symptoms. But you can get infected, and will get infected, if you put yourself at risk." (Gonzalez, 4/28)

CNN: Full FDA Approval Of Covid-19 Vaccines Could Help Fight Vaccine Hesitancy, Officials Say
As a condition of the emergency use authorizations issued for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines, those companies are expected to work toward asking the US Food and Drug Administration for full approval -- and some health officials are hoping it will happen soon. These vaccines have been in use since mid-December under emergency use authorizations, known as EUAs. During the pandemic, real-world data have shown the vaccines are effective against the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. (Howard, 4/29)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

WJCT 89.9 FM: Clinical Trial For COVID Vaccine For Kids Beginning In Jacksonville 
A clinical trial of the Novovax coronavirus vaccine gets underway next week in Jacksonville for children 12 to 17 years-old. Dr. Michael Koren is with the Jacksonville Center for Clinical Research,  which is leading the study, which is seeking participants. Parents can enroll their children in the study at jaxresearch.com. Koren said Thursday on "First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross" that Novovax differs from other vaccines currently in use. (Hoskinson, 4/29)

Fox News: Swollen Lymph Nodes Following COVID-19 Vaccination Could Mean You Already Had Virus, Study Suggests
Since the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, public health officials have warned of the possible side effects following vaccination, such as pain at the injection site, fever, or muscle aches, among others. But a new study suggests that some recipients may experience swollen lymph nodes after receiving the jab, a side effect that the researchers found was more common among those who already had a coronavirus infection. Researchers in a study recently published to the preprint server medRxiv analyzed some 947 health care workers in the United Kingdom who received their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. About 265 of those health care workers had already been infected with the novel virus prior to vaccination, the study authors said. (Farber, 4/28)

KHN: Despite All The Talk, Covid Vaccination Does Not Infect People With Shingles 
Posts are showing up all over social media tying covid-19 vaccinations to shingles and other painful skin disorders. The source of one such post was Alex Berenson, an author and vaccine critic whose posts are sometimes cited for misinformation. Berenson posted — first on Twitter, which then found its way to Facebook — a photo of a man covered in a severe rash. The man, according to the post, blamed the skin outbreak on a covid vaccination he had weeks earlier. The post also included unsubstantiated information purported to be from the man’s doctors, indicating a likely diagnosis of a type of rash usually triggered by medications or infections, such as herpes simplex. It led Berenson to draw the conclusion that “for #Covid vaccines, shingles and even more dangerous and painful skin conditions may be the new thrombocytopenia.” That is a reference to a low blood platelet condition reported among some people who experienced blood clots after getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. (Appleby, 4/30)

Anchorage Daily News: Here’s What Epidemiologists Know So Far About Alaska’s COVID-19 ‘Vaccine Breakthrough’ Cases
A relatively small group of Alaskans who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 have since tested positive for the coronavirus. They are referred to as “vaccine breakthrough” cases — and are rare compared to the total number of people fully vaccinated, health officials say. By late last week, 310 breakthrough cases had been detected in Alaska, out of the more than 250,000 Alaskans who are considered fully vaccinated. A new report released this week by the state health department analyzed the first 152 breakthrough COVID-19 cases identified in Alaska between February and March. (Berman, 4/29)

KQED: In California, Known Infections After Vaccination Are Very Low So Far
California and Bay Area health officials are tracking cases of people who have contracted COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated. As of April 21, nearly 1,400 Californians have been identified since Jan. 1 as falling into this category, the state Department of Public Health says. That equates to just 0.01% of fully vaccinated people in California. Health officials say breakthrough cases are fully expected because the vaccines don’t protect people 100%. While the state Department of Public Health is not sharing details on how mild or serious these cases were, some Bay Area counties are. (Klivans, 4/29)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Effort To Bring Vaccine To New Orleans' Homeless Shows Challenge That Lies Ahead
Two plastic tables were set up underneath the Pontchartrain Expressway on Thursday morning, sandwiched between lines of tents in the middle of a homeless encampment that spans about 10 blocks on the border of the Warehouse District and Central City. On top of the tables, masks, sanitizer and clipboards were lined up neatly. Thirty-three shots of Moderna vaccine were loaded up, with another 167 on standby. The goal was to inoculate as many people who frequent the 100-tent encampment as possible. (Woodruff, 4/30)

Axios: Top Cuomo Aide In Charge Of Vaccines Resigns 
Larry Schwartz, a close adviser to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) charged with overseeing the state's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, resigned Wednesday, the New York Times reports. Although Schwartz said he originally expected to leave the role in mid-May, his early departure coincides with a state legislature rule change that would have required financial disclosures and a two-year lobbying ban, the Times notes. (Rummier, 4/29)

Great Falls Tribune: ‘Anti-Vaxx’ Bill Would Mean No Visitors, All Masks To Healthcare Facilities In Montana
The Montana medical community has some sobering messages for residents of the Treasure State: If you thought mask mandates were hard, wait until House Bill 702 becomes law. Expecting fathers: Don’t expect to be there at the birth of your child. For those wanting to see a close family member injured in a car accident: Better wait outside. If you want to see grandpa or grandma in an assisted living facility: Try again in a couple years. (Ehrlick, 4/27)

In other news about vaccine requirements —

CNN: 100 US Colleges And Universities Are Now Requiring Students To Get Covid-19 Vaccinations 
College students hesitant to receive a Covid-19 vaccination may need to rethink their decision. As most colleges in the US inch toward the end of the spring semester, a new procedure is taking shape for their return. More than 100 US colleges and universities have said they will require all their students to get vaccinated against Covid-19 before they return to campus for the fall semester, according to a CNN tally. (Elamroussi, 4/29)

AP: Washington State University To Require COVID-19 Vaccine
Washington State University will require proof of COVID-19 vaccinations this fall for students and employees. University President Kirk Schulz made the announcement Wednesday, The Spokesman-Review reported. (4/29)

CNBC: Unvaccinated People Could Feel Resentment Over Vacation Freedom, Poll
As coronavirus vaccination programs progress, attention is turning to summer vacations and what kind of freedoms we might experience this year — and whether this depends on our vaccination status. A new U.K. study has highlighted the potential for tension between those that are vaccinated and the unvaccinated, especially if there are travel restrictions on those that have not yet received a Covid shot. (Ellyatt, 4/29)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Proof Of Immunity? Pa. And N.J. Aren’t Making Plans For Vaccine ‘Passports,’ But The Topic Is Hot
Weeks after the idea of vaccine “passports,” or credentials showing proof of immunity, captured the public imagination, the answer likely will depend on where you’re going. Pennsylvania and New Jersey aren’t planning to implement statewide systems, and the federal government has indicated it will be up to the private sector. So it remains to be seen whether requests for credentials or the use of an app, whether at sports venues, theaters, universities, theme parks, restaurants, or other locations, could become widespread. (McDaniel, 4/30)

Axios: COVID Vaccine Passports: The Good Is Better Than The Perfect
Whether it's vaccine passports or public health protocols, or even passive investment strategies, perfection is rarely achievable or even desirable. Allowing a bit of fuzziness and error is at the heart of broad-based success. Silicon Valley has known for decades that the essence of disruption is to do something which is not as perfect as the incumbent, but that is a lot cheaper and easier — and more effective. (Salmon, 4/29)

The Wall Street Journal: AstraZeneca Struggles With Data Needed For Covid-19 Vaccine’s Approval 
AstraZeneca executives have struggled to pull together the full data necessary to apply for U.S. approval of its Covid-19 shot, according to people familiar with the matter, further delaying its efforts to secure the Food and Drug Administration’s go-ahead. The company said last month that it would apply for what is known as emergency use authorization for its vaccine by mid-April. It has recently told U.S. officials it might need until mid-May to finish its application for an FDA review, according to one of these people. (Strasburg and Burton, 4/29)

Bloomberg: Astra to Seek U.S. Vaccine Clearance After Missing Target
AstraZeneca Plc confirmed it plans to apply for U.S. emergency authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine in the first half of 2021 after it missed an original target this month that raised questions over whether the company would pursue the clearance at all. The drugmaker, which has pledged not to profit from its Covid shot during the pandemic, said the product it developed with the University of Oxford recorded sales of $275 million in the first quarter, a fraction of its $7.3 billion in revenue. Astra’s results exceeded analyst estimates as the company benefited from strong growth in its cancer drugs portfolio. (Ring, 4/30)

The New York Times: AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 Vaccine Has Generated $275 Million In Sales So Far This Year. 
The Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford brought in $275 million in sales from about 68 million doses delivered in the first three months of this year, AstraZeneca reported on Friday. AstraZeneca disclosed the figure, most of which came from sales in Europe, as it reported its first-quarter financial results. It offers the clearest view to date of how much money is being brought in by one of the leading Covid vaccines. (Robbins, 4/30)

The Guardian: AstraZeneca CEO Hits Back At Covid Vaccine Supply Criticism
AstraZeneca’s chief executive, Pascal Soriot, has mounted a robust defence of the drugmaker’s Covid-19 vaccine efforts, and said the business should be proud of what it has done for the world and is doing its “very best” to produce more, as the company faces legal action from the EU over delivery shortfalls, and shipments to poorer countries have also been delayed. The company generated $275m in revenues from the Covid vaccine it developed with Oxford University in the first three months of the year and shipped 48m doses to 120 countries through the global vaccine-sharing initiative Covax, 80% of which went to low and middle-income countries. In total, it has supplied more than 300m vaccine doses to more than 165 countries so far this year. (Kollewe, 4/30)

And in updates on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine —

The New York Times: Shake-Up At Covid Vaccine Manufacturer That Tossed Millions Of Doses 
Executives of Emergent BioSolutions, the Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer that was forced to discard up to 15 million doses because of possible contamination, reported a shake-up in leadership on Thursday and offered the most fulsome defense yet of the company’s performance. While announcing the high-level personnel changes and taking responsibility for the ruined doses, executives nonetheless forecast record revenues this year of nearly $2 billion. (Stolberg and Hamby, 4/29)

The Baltimore Sun: COVID Vaccine Maker Emergent Says It Has A Plan To Fix Baltimore Plant After Mistake 
Emergent BioSolutions executives said Thursday that they expect to submit a plan in coming days to federal regulators outlining how they will clean up the Baltimore plant that had to dump 15 million doses of contaminated COVID vaccine. It will “meet or exceed” the requirements from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which outlined multiple failures in an inspection report released April 21, Emergent President and CEO Robert G. Kramer Sr. said. (Cohn, 4/29)

The Baltimore Sun: Vice President Kamala Harris Visits Baltimore COVID Vaccine Site, Thanks Those Getting Shots
Declaring “Today is a good day, Baltimore,” Vice President Kamala Harris marked the 100th day of the Biden administration by visiting a bustling vaccination site and saying the nation is beginning to emerge from the coronavirus crisis, even as significant economic and health challenges remain. The Democratic vice president, joined Thursday by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and Democratic Mayor Brandon Scott, toured the mass COVID-19 vaccination site at M&T Bank Stadium, where she celebrated the patients and vaccinators as “heroes.” (Barker, 4/29)

Axios: De Blasio Says New York City Plans To "Fully Reopen" On July 1 
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on MSNBC Thursday that New York City plans to "fully reopen" on July 1, with no restrictions on restaurants, retail, or any other business. It will be a major milestone for America's most populous city, which was once the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. (4/29)

AP: Disneyland Opening Highlights California's COVID Turnaround
Four months ago, America’s most populous state was struggling to combat a surge in coronavirus hospitalizations that packed patients into outdoor tents and killed hundreds of people each day. On Friday, Disneyland, California’s world-famous theme park, will reopen to visitors after an unprecedented 13-month closure in what tourism officials hope is a sign of the state’s rebound from the pandemic. For now, the park is allowing only in-state visitors and operating at limited capacity. (Taxin, 4/30)

AP: Michigan Governor Ties Eased Restrictions To Vaccine Rate
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday announced a plan to tie the lifting of coronavirus restrictions to Michigan’s vaccination rate, setting specific benchmarks that must be reached to return to normal. As more people get shots, she said, the state will allow office work, relax and ultimately end indoor capacity limits, and lift a health order designed to curb COVID-19. About half of residents ages 16 and older have received at least one dose. (Eggert, 4/30)

In other news about reopenings —

CNN: As America Starts To Reopen, Experts Warn More People Need To Get Vaccinated 
As May arrives, the US is taking a major step toward resuming normal life, with cities, businesses and entertainment venues announcing plans to begin reopening after the deadly winter surge of Covid-19 infections. The travel industry is gearing up for a big summer season. This week, Delta will resume filling the middle seat on flights while Disneyland in California is opening its park gates for the first time in more than a year at around 25% attendance capacity. (Caldwell, 4/30)

The New York Times: With New C.D.C Mask Rules, Uncertainty On How To Proceed 
After the trauma of the last year, the quarantined are emerging into sunlight, and beginning to navigate travel, classrooms and restaurants. And they are discovering that when it comes to returning to the old ways, many feel out of sorts. Do they shake hands? Hug? With or without a mask? (Richtel, 4/29)

The Washington Post: Maryland Masking Mandate: Counties Focus On New Rules 
A day after Gov. Larry Hogan (R) repealed Maryland’s universal outdoor masking order, some of the state’s biggest jurisdictions were grappling Thursday with what to do. The repeal means many large gatherings may happen without face coverings: outdoor weddings, big neighborhood cookouts, festivals and parades — events at which federal health officials suggest everyone should still be masked. (Cox and Tan, 4/29)

Also —

CIDRAP: CDC: 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally a COVID-19 super-spreader event
The August 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota spread COVID-19 across the country, resulting in at least 649 infections—including transmission to household and workplace contacts—over the next 6 weeks, according to a study today in Clinical Infectious Diseases. In the study, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed data and phone interview results from 39 state, county, and city health departments involving COVID-19 patients who had either traveled to Meade County in August 2020 or attended the rally from Aug 7 to 16. (4/29)

Bloomberg: WHO Should Look Beyond Animals On Covid Origin, Scientists Say
The World Health Organization should convene another investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic that looks beyond animal sources, a group of scientists said in an open letter. The signatories proposed specific steps on what any new probe should take into account. Suggestions include ensuring that a team can undertake studies without the “unnecessary presence” of government officials of the host country, removing any veto powers in the member-selection process and a mandate for broad access to data, records and samples. (Gretler, 4/30)

CIDRAP: Obesity Studies Highlight Severe COVID Outcomes, Even In Young Adults
Two new, large studies from England and Mexico provide new details on obesity as a risk factor for poor COVID-19–related outcomes, including death, with the UK study noting the highest hospitalization rate in young adults. ... It is the largest study to date assessing body weight and COVID outcomes. (Van Beusekom, 4/29)

CIDRAP: Severe Diabetes Linked To Worse COVID-19 Outcomes
A study that included 17,687 people with diabetes and confirmed COVID-19 identified key diabetic risk factors that are linked to severe COVID-19 outcomes, including high blood glucose (blood sugar) levels and treatment with insulin. The study was published yesterday in Diabetologia. The meta-analysis is based on 22 studies and was conducted by researchers at the German Diabetes Center (Deutsches Diabetes-Zentrum, or DDZ). As in the general population, increasing age and being male was associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes: Men with diabetes were 28% more likely to die from COVID-19 than diabetic women were, and people with diabetes aged over 65 with diabetes were more than three times more likely to die than younger patients were. (4/29)

In updates on the covid surge —

CBS News: Pacific Northwest Faces COVID-19 Surge As Other States Reopen 
Millions in the Pacific Northwest are facing new shutdowns, including an indoor dining ban, as COVID-19 cases rise at an alarming rate. Washington state, the first to be hit when the pandemic began, is seeing another surge in coronavirus cases, with hospitalizations up 15%. In neighboring Oregon, hospitalizations rose 18%. Governor Kate Brown extended the state of emergency for another 60 days, saying "lives are at stake."  (Battiste, 4/3)

Bloomberg: Covid Surge In Oregon Shows U.S. Fight Against Pandemic Not Over
A Covid-19 surge in Oregon is sweeping through a partially vaccinated population, with steep rises in case rates among the young -- an indication that the U.S. may struggle with distinct outbreaks for months to come. The state reported 888 confirmed and presumed cases on Tuesday and a 6.5% test positivity rate, bringing the seven-day average to 832, according to the Oregon Health Authority. (Querolo and Kharif, 4/29)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada’s New COVID Cases Remain Far Above Average As Deaths Rebound
Nevada on Thursday reported 458 new coronavirus cases and 11 additional deaths over the preceding day. Updated figures posted by the Department of Health and Human Services on the state’s coronavirus website brought totals in the state to 314,928 COVID-19 cases and 5,459 deaths. New cases were well above the moving 14-day average of daily recorded cases, which stood at 258. Deaths were nearly four times the two-week average of three fatalities per day and represented an increase from Wednesday, when the state reported four deaths. (Dylan, 4/29)

WWMT: Michigan Schools Experience Post-Spring Break Surge Of COVID-19 Outbreaks 
Schools in Michigan saw a surge in new COVID-19 cases and outbreaks following the resumption of classes after spring break. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported April 26, 2021, an additional 42 outbreaks over the last week, which led to at least 193 cases among students and staff at the schools. (Feather, 4/26)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: No Spring Break COVID Surge Seen In Cobb, Douglas Counties
COVID-19 cases in Cobb and Douglas counties did not spike in the wake of Spring Break, said Janet Memark, district health director for the two-county public health department. As of Monday, there were 212 cases per 100,000 people in Cobb County and 242 cases per 100,000 people in Douglas County over a two-week period. These are the lowest COVID-19 rates observed in the two counties in a while, Memark said. (Wilkins, 4/28)

Modern Healthcare: One-Third Of Participating Hospitals Score An 'A' In Leapfrog's New Hospital Safety Scores
St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls, Idaho, hasn't always had the best Leapfrog Group safety grades. The 213-bed acute care hospital up until 2016 pulled in B's, and in one particularly bad year, D's. Hospital leadership took a hard look at each measure, and they went to work. Five years in a row, they've received an "A." "You get ranked by Leapfrog, Healthgrades, IBM Watson, CMS, all these external organizations, and you need to understand why you score the way you do," said Dr. Bart Hill, vice president and chief quality officer of St. Luke's Health System. (Gillespie, 4/29)

Georgia Health News: Piedmont Gets High Grades On Patient Safety, May Look To Expand 
Eight of Piedmont Healthcare’s 11 hospitals earned an “A’’ grade in the latest patient safety evaluation by the Leapfrog Group, released Thursday. Those top-rated Piedmont hospitals represent one-third of Georgia’s 24 hospital “A” grades. It’s the largest group earning top marks that Piedmont has ever recorded in the twice-a-year ratings. (Miller, 4/29)

In nursing news —

Bangor Daily News: Maine Medical Center Nurses Vote To Unionize
After a months-long campaign, nurses at Maine’s largest hospital voted to unionize. In a mail ballot election counted by the National Labor Relations Board, registered nurses voted 1,001 to 750 to join the Maine State Nurses Association, an affiliate of the National Nursing Organizing Committee/National Nurses United. The decision affects roughly 2,000 nurses at Maine Medical Center, the Scarborough Surgery Center and the Maine Med campus in Portland. “It’s a new day for nurses and patients across Maine,” MSNA and NNOC president Cokie Giles said. (Schroeder, 4/29)

Fox News: Study Identifies Coronavirus Mental Health Impact On New York City Nurses During Pandemic’s First Wave
A new study from New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing found that city nurses caring for COVID-19 patients during the first wave of the pandemic experienced anxiety, depression and illness. But the study, published in Nursing Outlook earlier this month, also identified steps the nurses’ hospitals took to protect them during the first wave, what the study authors say can serve as an example of what hospitals can do during public health crises to support their nursing staff and protect their mental health. (Farber, 4/29)

The Baltimore Sun: After Taxing Pandemic Experience, A ‘Trembling’ Baltimore Nurse Has Memorable, Private Encounter With VP Harris 
As she stood to introduce the vice president of the United States, a year’s worth of pandemic-related emotions — trauma, stress and, finally, relief — seemed to overtake registered nurse Melissa Wesby of Baltimore. “I work with pulmonary and cardiac patients at Johns Hopkins Bayview,” Wesby said Thursday from a lectern at M&T Bank Stadium’s mass vaccination site, where Vice President Kamala Harris was about to address a group of elected officials and other VIPs. (Barker, 4/30)

In other health care industry news —

Axios: Health Systems Starting To Turn Financial Corner 
Hospitals' finances are climbing back toward pre-pandemic levels as patients come back — at least in outpatient settings. Volumes are still down compared to 2019, but the upticks in business since the start of the pandemic could be an indicator that consumer confidence is returning, said Erik Swanson, senior vice president of data and analytics at Kaufman Hall. (Reed, 4/30)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Extends Joint Replacement Model For Three Years
CMS' Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation on Thursday signed off on a three-year extension of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement model. It will now last through the end of 2024. The final rule changes the definition of an episode to include outpatient hip and knee replacements, modifies how the agency calculates target prices and reduces the number of reconciliation periods from two to one. It also makes changes to beneficiary notice requirements, gainsharing caps and the appeals process. Regulators expect the extension to save the Medicare program about $217 million over three years. (Brady, 4/29)

Modern Healthcare: Aetna Ducks California Doctor Group's Unfair Competition Suit
Aetna's threatening to fire doctors who referred patients to out-of-network facilities does not violate California's unfair competition law, as the industry group advocating on its physicians' behalf was not directly harmed by the insurer's policy, an appellate court ruled on Wednesday. The 2nd Appellate District's ruling comes after a nine-year court battle between state physicians and the Hartford, Conn.-based insurer. (Tepper, 4/29)

KHN: Two Unmatched-Doctor Advocacy Groups Are Tied To Anti-Immigrant Organizations 
In their last year of medical school, fourth-year students get matched to a hospital where they will serve their residency. The annual rite of passage is called the National Resident Matching Program. To the students, it’s simply the Match. Except not every medical student is successful. While tens of thousands do land a residency slot every year, thousands others don’t. Those “unmatched” students are usually left scrambling to figure out their next steps, since newly graduated doctors who don’t complete a residency program cannot receive their license to practice medicine. (Knight, 4/30)

Stat: 5 Startups Racing To Shake Up The Electronic Health Record Industry
The road to shake up the health record industry is littered with failures. But a new group of startups are giving it another go — and there are reasons to believe companies may find success where others fell short. Chief among them is the recent introduction of a federal rule that bars data blocking and, for the first time, lets patients access their health information using apps. (Brodwin, 4/29)

KHN: Addiction Treatment Providers In Pa. Face Little State Scrutiny Despite Harm To Clients 
When Ian Kalinowski was at work, his mom usually texted him. So when he saw her number show up as an incoming call around lunchtime one Tuesday, he figured it had to be important. Now, more than seven years later, he remembers her screams, the shock and the questions she asked over and over again. “Why are they saying this to me? Why are they lying to me?” Ian recalled his mom asking. “They’re telling me Adam’s dead. Why would they do this to me?” (Pattani and Mahon, 4/30)

Stat: An HIV Crisis Raises The Question: Should Health Officials Be Activists?
Most local health officials don’t accept their jobs expecting to be roped into political activism. Amid Covid-19, though, politics became a central element of health experts’ job descriptions. In Washington, government researcher Anthony Fauci publicly feuded with former President Trump. In many cities and states, local health departments were forced to square off against governors who resisted coronavirus mitigation strategies like business closures or mask mandates. (Facher, 4/30)

Bloomberg: Covid Surge Slashes Drug Sales For Cancer, Arthritis, Diabetes 
Fewer routine doctor visits, procedures and screenings for cancer and other diseases during the pandemic hit pharmaceutical companies hard in the first quarter, slowing sales of everything from vaccines to diabetes therapies and oncology drugs. Merck & Co. reported fewer new patients starting treatment with its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda and getting vaccinated for HPV and pneumococcal disease. Sales of Amgen Inc.’s top arthritis drug Enbrel declined as fewer patients were diagnosed and started treatment. And Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. saw revenue drop for a key cancer drug and other products administered in health-care settings. The shares of all three declined on Thursday. (Court, 4/29)

NPR: Encouraging Results For Alzheimer's Drug Repurposed For Fragile X Syndrome
An experimental drug intended for Alzheimer's patients seems to improve both language and learning in adults with Fragile X syndrome. The drug, called BPN14770, increased cognitive scores by about 10% in 30 adult males after 12 weeks, a team reports in the journal Nature Medicine. That is enough to change the lives of many people with Fragile X, says Mark Gurney, CEO of Tetra Therapeutics, developer of the medicine." People with Fragile X with an IQ of 40 are typically living with their parents or in an institutional setting," Gurney says. "With an IQ of 50, in some cases they're able to ride the bus, they're able to hold a job with some assistance and they're able to function better in their community." (Hamilton, 4/30)

Fox News: Dental Opioid Prescriptions Ups Overdose Risk For Patients, Families: Study
A large-scale study analyzing national claims data linked dental opioid prescriptions with an increased risk for an overdose among patients and their family members. Researchers affiliated with the University of Michigan published findings in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine on Thursday, drawing from data on over 8.5 million dental procedures from 2011-2018 among privately and publicly insured patients aged 13 to 64. The most common procedures addressed acute dental pain, tooth extraction and root canals. (Rivas, 4/29)

FiercePharma: Johnson & Johnson Scores In Talc Appeals As NJ Court Knocks Down $117M Verdict
Johnson & Johnson has been hit with billions in talc verdicts, but it's had mixed success in appeals. With a new decision Wednesday, the company chalked up its latest appeals win. A court in J&J's home state of New Jersey struck down a $117 million verdict against the drugmaker originally handed down there in 2018, Bloomberg reports. The court ruled that the trial judge shouldn’t have allowed certain expert testimony, so J&J and its talc partner Imerys—which has since declared bankruptcy—deserve another trial.  (Sagonowsky, 4/28)

FiercePharma: Can Regeneron Make 'Monoclonal Antibodies' A Catchphrase? New COVID-19 Ad Campaign Gives It A Go 
What's the hottest new catchphrase on TV? Monoclonal antibodies. Well, maybe not yet, but the phrase is the star of Regeneron's new TV ad campaign. In one of four new TV ads, people wearing face masks go about their day casually chatting to one another or listening to the radio, repeating the phrase “monoclonal antibodies.” Then a doctor on a telehealth call tells an older male patient that he has COVID-19 and adds “let’s talk about monoclonal antibodies.” (Bulik, 4/28)

USA Today: Night Modes For Smartphones Don't Help You Sleep Better, Says Study
Nighttime modes added to smartphones that use warmer colors to make displays easier to view don't appear to help us fall asleep faster, new research suggests. According to a study from Brigham Young University published in the journal Sleep Health, researchers found no difference between users with nighttime features turned on and those who didn't use it at all. The study is focused on the iOS feature Night Shift, introduced to iPhones in 2016. When turned on, it replaces bluer lights from your smartphone display with warmer colors at night, and then returns to normal during the day. The goal is to make the display easier on your eyes and decrease the use of blue light, which experts say can impact sleep. (Molina, 4/29)

In other public health news —

The New York Times: Diet And Exercise During Pregnancy Impacts Child’s Health, Study Says
The lifestyles of soon-to-be mothers and fathers could shape the health of their unborn offspring in lasting ways, according to a surprising new animal study of exercise, diet, genetics and parenthood. The study found that rodent parents-to-be that fatten on a greasy diet before mating produce offspring with sky-high later risks for metabolic problems. But if the mothers stay active during their pregnancies, those risks disappear. (Reynolds, 4/28)

The Boston Globe: Thousands Of Homes In Massachusetts Still Have Lead Water Pipes, And Many Residents Don’t Know
For much of the past three years, they lived in fear of their water. After buying a home in Chelsea, Nathan Seavey and his wife learned their water pipes were lined with lead, and replacing them would cost thousands of dollars. Even though they had a newborn, they resigned themselves to live with it, filtering whatever they drank and relying on the city’s assurances that their water was safe. “My wife was terrified, and there were a lot of tears,” said Seavey, 39, whose wife recently gave birth to another son. “We had no idea when we bought, and it was really disappointing and frustrating to learn that there are still so many lead pipes.” (Abel, 4/29)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Of The 13 U.S. Oil Refineries Emitting High Levels Of This Carcinogen, 5 Are In Louisiana
A new effort to measure the levels of benzene, a cancer-causing air pollutant, along the perimeters of U.S. refineries found that five of the 13 facilities with the highest levels are in Louisiana. What's more, the refinery with the worst emissions was Delek USA's Krotz Springs refinery, located 45 minutes west of Baton Rouge along the Atchafalaya River, according to the report by the Environmental Integrity Project, a national environmental nonprofit. (Parker, 4/30)

NPR: CVS Offers Mental Health Counseling In Stores
So far, CVS' pilot program, which launched in January, operates in a dozen stores in Houston, Philadelphia and Tampa, Fla., with plans to expand to 34 this year. It's targeting diverse communities where mental health care isn't readily available, such as Jenkintown, Pa., just north of Philadelphia where Miller's barber shop is located. The program is an extension of CVS' HealthHUBs, which exist in 650 of its nearly 10,000 stores, offering urgent care and wellness products, such as sleep apnea machines. The idea is to create a place where consumers can get eye exams, diabetes screenings and vaccinations as well as mental health treatment, where they already buy their prescriptions. (Noguchi, 4/29)

Fox News: Remote Learning During Coronavirus Caused Stress, Anxiety In Students, Survey Finds
A new survey highlights the adverse effects that remote learning had on many children in the past year that has been the coronavirus pandemic. A survey of more than 32,000 caregivers of youth in Chicago Public Schools found that nearly a quarter of children were described by their caregivers as "stressed, anxious, angry or agitated" when the deadly disease shuttered in-person learning and Zoom became the country’s collective new classroom. (Farber, 4/29)

Modern Healthcare: CEO Stress Can Reduce Lifespan, Increase Aging, Study Shows
CEOs experiencing high stress from work and industry challenges may live 1.5 years less than their peers, according to a study. Beyond the lifespan effects, the National Bureau of Economic Research Database found that CEOs who likely bore the brunt of stress from the Great Recession added an estimated year to their apparent age. The study used experimental machine-learning to analyze more than 3,000 photos of CEOs at different points in their tenure. (Gellman, 4/29)

Health News Florida: Autism And Food Insecurity: The Pandemic Made It Worse
In the U.S., households of people with autism are experiencing food insecurity at double the rate of households that do not include people with autism, according to a report from Autism Speaks released in March. Nonprofit OCA provides programs for individuals with special needs in Orlando. Executive director Silvia Haas spoke with WMFE’s Talia Blake about how food insecurity is affecting people with autism. She began by explaining how the pandemic has made the problem worse. (Blake, 4/29)

Health News Florida: Hospitals Fight New State Rules On Transplants, Pediatric Cardiac Services
Some of Florida’s largest health care systems and children’s hospitals are challenging two proposed state rules, alleging that facilities could get shut out of the market and quality of care could be harmed. Six challenges have been filed in the state Division of Administrative Hearings during the past two weeks. They challenge a proposed rule meant to regulate organ transplant programs and a proposed rule about pediatric cardiac services. (Sexton, 4/29)

Health News Florida: Medical Marijuana Legislation Stalls As Public Employees Are Fired For Legal Use 
The first time Allison Enright, a Brevard County teacher, fell at work, doctors prescribed her opioids to deal with the pain. During the year that followed her fall, she saw her body start to deteriorate. When the prescription medicines and physical therapy didn’t work, a workers' compensation doctor recommended she use medical marijuana to avoid using a wheelchair. She describes the drug as her miracle. (Feliciano and Rubin, 4/29)

Health News Florida: 'Polar Opposites' Work Together On Health Advisory Panel 
Rep. Bobby DuBose, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat, never imagined he’d work on legislation with Sen. Dennis Baxley, an Ocala Republican. DuBose is the co-leader of the House Democrats and a member of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus. Conversely, Baxley, has spent 18 years in the Legislature carving out a reputation as a staunch conservative who has sponsored measures such as the “stand your ground” law that sparked massive controversy after the shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012. “We’re polar opposites,” DuBose said. (Sexton, 4/29)

In news from Montana, Texas, Maryland and North Carolina —

Billings Gazette: Legislature Approves Changes To Bill Limiting Local Health Boards
Changes to legislation limiting the ability of local health boards to restrict businesses or the ability of customers to access goods and services were overwhelmingly approved by the Legislature on Thursday, the last day of the session. The changes were the result of an amendatory veto issued by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte earlier in the day. The bill previously passed on largely party lines earlier in the week. Rep. Jedediah Hinkle, a Belgrade Republican who sponsored the legislation, said the governor’s proposed amendments “still retain the strength of the language for protecting businesses, but still all health departments to do their [jobs] things like inspecting restaurants for sanitary conditions and potentially having to shut down a business until the problem is resolved.” (Wilson, 4/29)

Daily Trib: Chaplains To Ride Along With Marble Falls First Responders In Mental Health Program 
A chaplain program for first responders in Marble Falls will launch soon, providing additional support for on and off-duty officers. Spearheaded by the Marble Falls Police Department, the program focuses on the mental well-being of the force’s employees. Over the past two years, the department has made a conscious effort to address mental health issues caused by work-related traumas, previously a taboo topic in the field, Assistant Police Chief Glenn Hanson said. (Cooley, 4/29)

The Baltimore Sun: Can Baltimore End The War On Drugs? As Marilyn Mosby Takes Lead On Decriminalization, Few Public Health Alternatives Are In Place 
In Portugal, where drugs were decriminalized two decades ago, anyone found with drugs goes before a panel made up of legal, health and social work professionals who refer them to treatment. As Oregon decriminalized drugs earlier this year following a referendum, tax revenue from marijuana sales was allotted for increased public health support. But in Baltimore, where State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby last month cut the cord on possession arrests that have been falling for many years, the city is only inching toward establishing a wider public health response. (Fenton, 4/30)

North Carolina Health News: Laws May Shield Long-Term Care Past Pandemic 
When COVID-19 first appeared in early 2020, legislators in North Carolina and other states wanted to make sure providers weren’t unfairly penalized for treating the unknown new disease. Lawmakers addressed this by passing the Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act as part of a COVID omnibus bill in May. Now the state’s pandemic-driven emergency act is under attack from plaintiffs’ attorneys and others in North Carolina and nationally. They contend that the law may be shielding residential care interests from liability for harm to residents — even those who didn’t contract COVID-19. (Goldsmith, 4/30)

Reuters: Exclusive: Pfizer Begins Exporting U.S.-Made COVID-19 Vaccine To Mexico
Pfizer Inc’s shipment of COVID-19 vaccine to Mexico this week includes doses made in its U.S. plant, the first of what are expected to be ongoing exports of its shots from the United States, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The vaccine shipment, produced at Pfizer's Kalamazoo, Michigan plant, marks the first time the drugmaker has delivered abroad from U.S facilities after a Trump-era restriction on dose exports expired at the end of March, the source said. (O'donnell, 4/30)

AP: Delivery Delays Force Mexico To Put Off Sinovac Second Doses
Mexican authorities said Thursday that delays in the delivery of 1.5 million doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine will mean that almost 1.3 million Mexicans won’t get their second doses on time. The Health Department said delaying the second shot beyond the recommended 35-day interval between the two doses will not affect the effectiveness of the vaccine. Almost 1 million people will need their second dose by the first week of May; almost 300,000 more will need it in the weeks after. (4/30)

In other global developments —

Bloomberg: Ontario Virus Cases Cresting At ‘Very High Level’ Amid Lockdown
Ontario’s latest Covid-19 wave appears to be peaking, albeit at a very high level, as sweeping restrictions introduced earlier this month start to have an impact, along with efforts to vaccinate more people in virus hot spots. Officials cautioned, however, that because of an earlier swell in infections, intensive care units are still seeing fresh records in the number of virus patients. That’s putting the hospital system under incredible pressure, according to data from the Ontario Covid-19 Science Advisory Table. (Bochove, 4/29)

Reuters: Russia Produces First Batch Of COVID-19 Vaccine For Animals -Regulator
Russia has produced the world's first batch - 17,000 doses - of COVID-19 vaccines for animals, its agricultural regulator said on Friday. Russia registered Carnivac-Cov in March after tests showed it generated antibodies against COVID-19 in dogs, cats, foxes and mink. (4/30)

Stat: Virologist Angela Rasmussen On Russia's Controversial Sputnik V Vaccine
By all accounts, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, called Sputnik V, has looked really good. In a study published in The Lancet in February, the vaccine’s efficacy was 91.6%, putting it among the most effective vaccines for this pandemic in the world. The technology used for Sputnik V is similar to the approach from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. It uses adenoviruses, essentially cold viruses, as vectors to ferry genetic instructions for the coronavirus-like protein to the body’s cells, causing the immune system to makes antibodies to this protein and thereby conferring protection. (Garde and Tirrell, 4/30)

Also —

CNN: Cancer Rates Much Higher In Medieval Britain Than Previously Realized, Study Suggests 
The earliest description of cancer is from an ancient Egyptian papyrus, and going back further, even dinosaurs suffered a form of the disease. But cancer long has been thought to have become a common disease only in the last two centuries or so. This is, in part, down to longer life expectancies, habits like smoking, and exposure to tumor-inducing chemicals post-industrial revolution. However, new research published in the journal Cancer on medieval skeletons has suggested that cancer was more widespread than previously realized -- although still less common than today. (Hunt, 4/29)

CIDRAP: UN Meeting Calls For More Action, Less Talk, On Antimicrobial Resistance 
Global health officials, scientists, members of nongovernmental organizations, and leaders from United Nations (UN) member states met today to reaffirm their commitment to tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The High-Level Interactive Dialogue on AMR, originally scheduled for April 2020 but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, comes 5 years after the UN General Assembly held a high-level meeting to address AMR. That meeting concluded with commitments from UN member states to develop and implement national AMR action plans, as called for by the World Health Organization (WHO). (Dall, 4/29)

Axios: India's COVID-19 Crisis Is Only Getting Worse 
India's runaway coronavirus surge is only getting worse, and doctors are growing increasingly concerned about the risks of a new variant. "The current wave of COVID has a different clinical behavior," Sujay Shad, a surgeon at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, told The New York Times. "It's affecting young adults. It's affecting families. It's a new thing altogether. Two-month-old babies are getting infected." (Reed, 4/29)

Reuters: Indian States Run Out Of COVID-19 Vaccines, Nationwide Inoculation Delayed 
Several Indian states have run out of COVID-19 vaccines a day before a planned widening of a nationwide inoculation drive, authorities said on Friday, as new infections in the crisis-hit country surged to another daily record. India reported 386,452 news cases in the past 24 hours, while deaths from COVID-19 jumped by 3,498 over the last 24 hours, according to health ministry data. However, medical experts believe actual COVID-19 numbers may be five to 10 times greater than the official tally. (Mehta and Monnappa, 4/30)

CNBC: Covid Vaccine: BioNTech CEO Confident Shot Works Against India Strain
BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told CNBC on Thursday he is “confident” the company’s Covid-19 vaccine with U.S. partner Pfizer is effective against a coronavirus variant first identified in India. The strain, known as B.1.617, contains two key mutations that have been found separately in other coronavirus variants. The variant, also referred to as the “double mutant,” was first spotted in India, where it’s thought by some to be behind a recent surge in new Covid-19 cases there. (Lovelace Jr., 4/29)

Reuters: Explainer: What We Know About The Indian Variant As Coronavirus Sweeps South Asia 
The B.1.617 variant contains two key mutations to the outer "spike" portion of the virus that attaches to human cells, said senior Indian virologist Shahid Jameel. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the predominant lineage of B.1.617 was first identified in India last December, although an earlier version was spotted in October 2020. (4/29)

And in updates on the covid surge in South America —

NPR: Brazil COVID-19 Deaths Top 400,000 Amid Fears Of Worsening Crisis
Brazil surpassed 400,000 coronavirus deaths on Thursday, at the tail-end of the country's deadliest month of the pandemic. At last count, 401,186 people had died in Brazil, based on data tracked by Johns Hopkins University, a toll only the U.S. has topped. More Brazilians have died from the virus in the first four months of this year than in all of 2020, with the death toll having jumped from 300,000 to 400,000 in the past five weeks alone. The daily average of deaths has dipped recently, from over 3,000 two weeks ago to an average of less than 2,400 deaths, according to Brazil's health ministry. (Bowman and Reeves, 4/29)

Fox News: Brazil Bans Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine Due To Carrying Live Cold Virus: Report
Health regulators in Brazil announced the country’s intention to ban Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine after they said they found traces of the live common cold-causing virus in the drug, reports said. Angela Rasmussen, the country’s top virologist, told the AFP that the discovery raises concerns about the "integrity of the manufacturing process." Her agency said in a statement that analysis indicated that the adenovirus on which the vaccine is based has the capacity to replicate, which could cause sickness or death, particularly among those with low immunity or respiratory problems. (DeMarche, 4/29)

The New York Times: After A Year Of Loss, South America Suffers Worst Covid-19 Death Tolls Yet 
In the capital of Colombia, Bogotá, the mayor is warning residents to brace for “the worst two weeks of our lives.” Uruguay, once lauded as a model for keeping the coronavirus under control, now has one of the highest death rates in the world, while the grim daily tallies of the dead have hit records in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru in recent days. (Turkewitz and Tag, 4/29)

NBC News: 'Treated Like Sacrifices': Families Breathe Toxic Fumes From California's Warehouse Hub
On a recent weekend, when Ana Gonzalez was driving through Rialto, California, where she has lived for 23 years, she saw a disturbing and increasingly familiar sight. Dozens of 18-wheel diesel trucks idled outside an Amazon warehouse, spewing fumes not far from a high school and homes. It made Gonzalez so angry that she took out her phone to broadcast the scene to her Facebook page. Gonzalez's frustration with the high concentration of warehouses and the truck traffic they bring was spurred two years ago when she took one of her two kids, Jose, then 12, to the doctor because he was constantly coughing and getting sick. She said the doctor told her that Jose's bronchitis and developing asthma were direct results of local pollution. (Solon and Glaser, 4/27)

ProPublica: Texas Enabled The Worst Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Catastrophe In Recent U.S. History
When Shalemu Bekele awoke on the morning of Feb. 15, the town house he shared with his wife and two children was so cold, his fingers felt numb.After bundling up in extra layers, Bekele looked out a frosted window: A winter storm had swept across Texas, knocking out power to millions of homes, including his own, and blanketing Houston in a thin layer of icy snow. ... Bekele’s wife, Etenesh Mersha, 46, meanwhile, made a fateful decision, one repeated by scores of Texas residents who lost electricity that week. Desperate to warm up, she went into their attached garage and turned the key to start her car. As the engine hummed, it provided power to run the car’s heater and charge her phone while she talked to a friend in Colorado — at the same time, filling her garage and home with a poisonous gas. (Trevizo, Larson, Churchill, Hixenbaugh and Khimm, 4/29)

ProPublica: How To Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning In Your Home 
Carbon monoxide poisoning is almost entirely preventable. And yet, every year, more than 400 people in the U.S. die and tens of thousands more are sickened. Often, the culprit is a common household appliance that malfunctions or is used improperly. But carbon monoxide poisoning can be especially dangerous during power outages, when people use alternative sources of fuel or electricity such as generators. (Khimm and Trevizo, 4/29)

Miami Herald and ProPublica: Parents Want Justice For Birth Injuries. Hospitals Want To Strip Them Of The Right To Make That Decision. 
Ashley Lamendola was still a teen when medical staff at St. Petersburg General Hospital delivered the awful news that would change her life forever: Her newborn son, Hunter, had suffered profound brain damage and would do little more than breathe without help. “It was like an atomic bomb went off in my life,” she said. Lamendola believed the hospital was partly responsible for Hunter’s birth injuries. But Florida is one of two states that shield doctors and hospitals from most legal actions arising from births that go catastrophically wrong. Lamendola filed a lawsuit against St. Petersburg General anyway, and when it appeared she was gaining traction, the hospital advanced an extraordinary argument. (Miller and Chang, 4/26)

The New York Times: They Call It A ‘Women’s Disease.’ She Wants To Redefine It. 
Most labs devoted to women’s diseases are accompanied by obvious symbols of womanhood: a rose, a tulip, an hourglass silhouette. Not Linda Griffith’s. Tucked away in the building for biological engineering, the M.I.T. Center for Gynepathology Research is marked only by the letters CGR in red and black, the G formed from a curved arrow representing the hand of the engineer. “We needed something that wasn’t all pink and flowers,” said Dr. Griffith, the lab’s director. “We really thought it should be, like, ‘This is science.’” (Gross, 4/27)

Undark: An Unorthodox Allergy Clinic Seeks To Disrupt Medicine
Carrie Martin had a two-part system to protect her food-allergic daughter from accidental exposures to peanuts or sesame. Martin scoured ingredient lists at the grocery store. Her husband re-checked them at home before cooking meals. “We thought our system was so foolproof,” said Martin, a teacher in Ormond Beach, Florida. But once, in 2012, Martin unwittingly grabbed the wrong pizza crust at the grocery store. After her daughter coughed, threw up, turned red, and got treated in the emergency room, they pulled the wrapper out of the trash and realized why — the pizza had contained sesame. Years later, in 2018, the family experienced another scare. Some restaurant-baked bread sent their daughter into anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction that required two epinephrine injections and a trip to the hospital. “It’s like you’re back to ground zero again,” Martin said. A single reaction can plunge even the most vigilant food allergy families back into what-ifs and panic. (Landhuis, 4/28)

The New York Times: Imagine, Surgery Without A Scar
Cleft palates that close without scars. Burn wounds that recover without a trace of injury. Years-old disfiguring scars that disappear, leaving skin smooth and flawless. It sounds like science fiction, but healing without scarring may become a tantalizing possibility. In a study published Thursday in Science, two researchers at Stanford University report that they have figured out the molecular signals that make scars form and found a simple way to block them — at least in mice. (Kolata, 4/22)

The New York Times: Ice For Sore Muscles? Think Again. 
After a particularly vigorous workout or sports injury, many of us rely on ice packs to reduce soreness and swelling in our twanging muscles. But a cautionary new animal study finds that icing alters the molecular environment inside injured muscles in detrimental ways, slowing healing. The study involved mice, not people, but adds to mounting evidence that icing muscles after strenuous exercise is not just ineffective; it could be counterproductive. Check inside the freezers or coolers at most gyms, locker rooms or athletes’ kitchens and you will find ice packs. Nearly as common as water bottles, they are routinely strapped onto aching limbs after grueling exercise or possible injuries. The rationale for the chilling is obvious. Ice numbs the affected area, dulling pain, and keeps swelling and inflammation at bay, which many athletes believe helps their aching muscles heal more rapidly. (Reynolds, 4/21)

In covid news —

Scientific American: Flu Has Disappeared Worldwide During The COVID Pandemic 
Since the novel coronavirus began its global spread, influenza cases reported to the World Health Organization have dropped to minuscule levels. The reason, epidemiologists think, is that the public health measures taken to keep the coronavirus from spreading also stop the flu. Influenza viruses are transmitted in much the same way as SARS-CoV-2, but they are less effective at jumping from host to host. As Scientific American reported last fall, the drop-off in flu numbers was both swift and universal. Since then, cases have stayed remarkably low. “There’s just no flu circulating,” says Greg Poland, who has studied the disease at the Mayo Clinic for decades. The U.S. saw about 600 deaths from influenza during the 2020-2021 flu season. In comparison, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated there were roughly 22,000 deaths in the prior season and 34,000 two seasons ago. (Peek, 4/29)

Scientific American: Religion Both Helped And Hurt During The Pandemic 
People turn to religion for comfort and hope in times of crisis and uncertainty, and March 2020 was one of those times. Americans experienced a spike in distress during this tumultuous period, but is it possible that religion could have spared some Americans from that distress? To measure the impact of religion during the early days of the COVID pandemic in the United States, I analyzed data from about 12,000 Americans surveyed March 19–24, shortly after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global health pandemic. (Schnabel, 4/29)

The Atlantic: India’s COVID-19 Crisis Is The World's Crisis 
India considered itself to be “in the endgame” of the pandemic just a few weeks ago. Now it is the global epicenter. The country recently surpassed the devastating milestone of more than 345,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day, the biggest total recorded globally since the pandemic began. What is taking place in India isn’t so much a wave as it is a wall: Charts showing the country’s infection rate and death toll, which has also reached record numbers in the country, depict curves that have shot up into vertical lines. Public-health experts aren’t optimistic that they will slope down anytime soon. (Serhan, 4/26)

The Wall Street Journal: When The EU’s Covid-19 Vaccine Drive Stumbled, It Turned To Mr. Fixit 
Thierry Breton knew the European Union’s vaccine campaign needed help when his boss called him in January.Covid-19 cases were surging and EU deaths linked to the coronavirus had topped 400,000. The bloc lagged weeks behind the U.S. and U.K. in approving vaccines and even further behind in inoculating people. Then Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca PLC stunned EU officials by saying deliveries would arrive late. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen summoned Mr. Breton to join an emergency videoconference with top pharmaceutical executives and then other calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. (Kostov and Michaels, 4/28)

The Atlantic: Even Without Herd Immunity, The U.S. Is Still Winning 
With 200 million doses administered, America’s vaccine-distribution program has been remarkably successful, but now it is hitting a wall. The rate of COVID-19 vaccinations is dropping; the percentage of people not returning for their second shot has risen. Fortunately, the number of Americans who are resolutely anti-vaccine remains small, a stubborn 13 percent, so finding ways to win over the rest remains an urgent task. (Juliette Kayyem, 4/29)

CNN: India's Covid-19 Crisis Is A Problem For The Whole World 
There is a split scenario unfolding as the world battles the pandemic. In countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, jubilant, newly-vaccinated people hug their loved ones after a long period of separation. In India, distraught families count their dead. Sick people are being turned away from hospitals that have run out of beds and oxygen, as the number of new cases rises to record levels each day, creating a national crisis with global repercussions. (Aditi Sangal, 4/29)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Should We Mostly Ditch Outdoor Masking At This Stage In The COVID-19 Pandemic? 
On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed outdoor masking guidelines. They declared that fully vaccinated people can go maskless outdoors unless they are in a big crowd of strangers, and the unvaccinated can also forego masks when walking, biking, or running only with members of their COVID-19 “pod” or congregating with small groups of vaccinated people. Not everyone is adopting the new guidelines. While the Pennsylvania Department of Health adopted the new recommendations, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said his state is keeping their more restrictive ones. (4/29)

Scientific American: Religion Both Helped And Hurt During The Pandemic 
People turn to religion for comfort and hope in times of crisis and uncertainty, and March 2020 was one of those times. Americans experienced a spike in distress during this tumultuous period, but is it possible that religion could have spared some Americans from that distress? To measure the impact of religion during the early days of the COVID pandemic in the United States, I analyzed data from about 12,000 Americans surveyed March 19–24, shortly after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global health pandemic. (Landen Schnabel, 4/29)

The Boston Globe: It’s Time For Employers To Impose Vaccine Mandates 
Despite the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines to health care workers in the United States, there still appears to be a stubborn resistance to getting them among nursing home staff. And unfortunately, that resistance has proved to be fatal: According to a recent study by the CDC, a nursing home in Kentucky experienced a COVID outbreak when an unvaccinated worker triggered a string of infections among residents and staff. And though most residents had been inoculated, the virus still managed to spread its way through the home — disproportionately infecting unvaccinated people — and three residents wound up dead. (4/29)

NBC News: Joe Rogan's Covid Vaccine Misinfo Matters
It has been a year of terrible takes on Covid-19. Despite the presumed universal goal of getting through this pandemic sooner rather than later, a surprising number of Americans have lent their voices and platforms to conspiratorial thinking, rumors and medical myths. Enter comedian and self-styled thought leader Joe Rogan, who, honestly, nobody asked but has nonetheless weighed in with harmful and misinformed opinions about whether young people should be vaccinated against Covid-19. Rogan may play for laughs on his podcast, but none of this is funny. (Dr. Anand Swaminathan, 4/29)

The Baltimore Sun: Want To End The Pandemic? Pay People To Get Vaccinated
When I received my first dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine last December, nobody paid me to roll up my sleeve. Yet, as vaccination efforts approach an expected tipping point, at which the amount of available vaccine exceeds the number of willing recipients, with the rate of vaccination far below the threshold required for herd immunity, paying people to take their shots likely offers our society’s best chance at stemming the pandemic. Private employers — including American Airlines, Marriott and Dollar General, have already taken the lead in this regard — but payouts are generally low: an extra day off or a few hours pay. The sooner the government starts offering larger cash incentives to the public the safer all of us will be; former Maryland Congressman John Delaney has proposed $1,500. (Jacob M. Appel, 4/30)

USA Today: Shun The Unvaccinated: Require COVID-19 Vaccine To Resume Normal Life
Has-been rock star Ted Nugent told the world last week that he has COVID-19.  Nugent’s announcement was an oddity because he previously called the viral pandemic a “leftist scam to destroy” former president Donald Trump. As I watched Nugent’s Facebook Live post, in which he repeatedly hocked up wads of phlegm and spit them to the ground, I got emotional when he described being so sick he thought he “was dying.” But when he trashed the COVID-19 vaccine and warned people against taking it, I realized that the emotion I was feeling was not empathy, it was anger. For the better part of a year, as the coronavirus racked up hundreds of thousands of American deaths, the flickering light at the end of the tunnel was herd immunity — the antibody force-shield that comes when enough people have survived the illness or have been vaccinated against it. "Go get vaccinated, America," President Biden said in his speech to Congress this week, referring to the shot as "a dose of hope.” (Michael J. Stern, 4/30)

The New York Times: Telemedicine Is A Tool. Not A Replacement For Your Doctor’s Touch. 
Earlier in the pandemic it was vital to see doctors over platforms like Zoom or FaceTime when in-person appointments posed risks of coronavirus exposure. Insurers were forced — often for the first time — to reimburse for all sorts of virtual medical visits and generally at the same price as in-person consultations. By April 2020, one national study found, telemedicine visits already accounted for 13 percent of all medical claims compared with 0.15 percent a year earlier. And Covid hadn’t seriously hit much of the country yet. By May, for example, Johns Hopkins’s neurology department was conducting 95 percent of patient visits virtually. There had been just 10 such visits weekly the year before. (Elisabeth Rosenthal, 4/29)

Houston Chronicle: Families Of Children With Profound Autism Lean On One Another
As the parents of a 5-year-old son, Asa, who is diagnosed with “level 3” or “profound” autism, there are many challenges that this form of autism presents in our daily lives. Profound autism is often linked to genetic disorders, as is the case with Asa, who has Phelan-McDermid Syndrome (PMS). April is Autism Awareness Month. And with approximately 1 in 54 children in the U.S. diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder each year, we need to not only to encourage acceptance, but also to raise awareness of the variety of challenges faced by individuals on the spectrum and the types of support that they need. (Arturo and Talya Silva, 4/30)

Stat: ALS Groups 'Won't Be Played Again' By The FDA, Drug Sponsors 
Working to improve the fight for therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) has been like a cruel version of 1950s game show “Beat the Clock,” in which grassroots advocates like me and many others manage to do everything that today’s version of Bud Collyer asks, even those last-minute wrinkles that seem impossible. We jump through hoops and figure out solutions and do it all according to the rules as the clock ticks down. We’ve heard applause from the audience. But we’ve never been given the prize. (Mary Catherine Collet, 4/30)

Dallas Morning News: Health Care For Seniors In Rural Texas Is In Jeopardy
Due to demographic shifts, equitable health care access in rural areas of Texas is in jeopardy. Recent census counts show the population is getting older while seniors are experiencing higher rates of depression (up 71%) and obesity (up 34%), according to the United Health Foundation. These trends are amplified in rural populations (especially along the U.S.-Mexico border and in the Panhandle), which are older and experience worse health outcomes than their urban counterparts. Many rural hospitals have closed, and people in rural areas may be distant from health care providers. Rural populations are also, on average, older than the general population and have lower household incomes, less education and lower insurance coverage. (Sallie Sherman, 4/30)

Stat: Federated Learning Can Help Improve Data Diversity For Health Care 
Many companies are developing innovative artificial intelligence solutions for health care. Too often, though, these applications fail to deliver their promised improvement in health outcomes when used in real-world settings because they were developed using data from a small number of patients in one locale over a limited period of time. Federated learning offers a way forward. (Fiona Gilbert, Mona Flores and Ittai Dayan, 4/30)