The New York Times: FDA Set To Authorize Pfizer Vaccine For Adolescents By Early Next Week
The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to authorize use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in adolescents 12 to 15 years old by early next week, according to federal officials familiar with the agency’s plans, opening up the U.S. vaccination campaign to millions more people. ... The clearance, in the form of an amendment to the existing emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine, could come as early as late this week. If it is granted, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel is likely to meet the following day to review the clinical trial data and make recommendations for the vaccine’s use in adolescents. (Weiland, Mandavilli and LaFraniere, 5/3)

AP: FDA Expected To OK Pfizer Vaccine For Teens Within Week
The FDA action will be followed by a meeting of a federal vaccine advisory committee to discuss whether to recommend the shot for 12- to 15-year-olds. Shots could begin after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopts the committee’s recommendation. Those steps could be completed in a matter of days. The New York Times first reported on the expected timing for the authorization. (Miller and Lemire, 5/3)

CNBC: Pfizer Plans To File For Full FDA Approval Of Covid Vaccine At The End Of This Month
Pfizer said Tuesday it plans to file for full U.S. approval of its Covid-19 vaccine with German drugmaker BioNTech at the end of this month. If the FDA signs off, the company will be able to market the shot directly to consumers. In releasing its first-quarter financial results, the company also reported $3.5 billion in first-quarter sales of its Covid-19 vaccine and reported earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street’s expectations. (Lovelace Jr., 5/4)

In related news about children and covid —

NBC Boston: Here’s What To Know About The Pfizer Vaccine And Teens
An infectious disease expert at Boston Medical Center says the data from Pfizer on its coronavirus vaccine is promising when it comes to children ages 12 to 15. "For all of us to get back to a new normal, we’re going to need to vaccinate as much of the population (as possible) and we know that children make up about 20% of the U.S. population," Dr. Sabrina Assoumou said. "So vaccinating children is going to be an important piece of our strategy." (5/4)

NPR: Children Now Account For 22% Of New U.S. COVID Cases. Why Is That?
The number of children contracting COVID-19 in the U.S. is much lower than the record highs set at the start of the new year, but children now account for more than a fifth of new coronavirus cases in states that release data by age, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. It's a statistic that may surprise many: Just one year ago, child COVID-19 cases made up only around 3% of the U.S. total. On Monday, the AAP said children represented 22.4% of new cases reported in the past week, accounting for 71,649 out of 319,601 cases. The latest report, drawn from data collected through April 29, illustrates how children's share of coronavirus infections has grown in recent weeks. (Chappell, 5/3)

KHN: Covid ‘Doesn’t Discriminate By Age’: Serious Cases On The Rise In Younger Adults
After spending much of the past year tending to elderly patients, doctors are seeing a clear demographic shift: young and middle-aged adults make up a growing share of the patients in covid-19 hospital wards. It’s both a sign of the country’s success in protecting the elderly through vaccination and an urgent reminder that younger generations will pay a heavy price if the outbreak is allowed to simmer in communities across the country. (Stone, 5/4)

The Washington Post: New York Gov. Cuomo Stuns Broadway And Cultural World With Lifting Of Pandemic Capacity Restrictions On May 19
In a sweeping acceleration of efforts to reopen New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) announced Monday the lifting of all of the state's capacity restrictions on May 19 in restaurants, concert halls, bars, museums and theaters — including Broadway. The swiftness of the governor’s timetable stunned the arts community, much of which had been operating under the assumption that controls would remain in effect for several more months. (Marks, 5/3)

Fox News: Cuomo Says 'Major Reopening' Of New York To Begin May 19
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced that the state is preparing for a "major reopening" on May 19, with most coronavirus-induced capacity restrictions to be lifted at that time. "Beginning Wednesday, May 19 most capacity restrictions will end across the tri-state area," Cuomo said. "That includes retail stores, food service, gyms, fitness centers, amusement parks, and family entertainment centers, hair salons, barbershops, offices, museums, theaters, etc. No capacity restrictions on all of those activities." (Farber, 5/3)

Axios: NYC To Resume 24-Hour Subway Service, Businesses To Fully Reopen 
New York City will resume its 24-hour subway service on May 17, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday, along with fast-tracking the city's plans to fully reopen businesses. The return is a key part of the tri-state area's efforts to increase economic activity and bring back crowds. (Fernandez, 5/3)

In updates from New Jersey —

Philadelphia Inquirer: New Jersey Moves To Drop Many COVID-19 Restrictions And Reopen Much Of The State By Summer
New Jersey will lift many coronavirus restrictions later this month, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday, removing limits on outdoor gatherings and allowing stores, restaurants, theaters, and other businesses to operate at full capacity as long as they keep patrons six feet apart. That requirement will continue to limit occupancy inside many restaurants, as well as places like salons and gyms. And masks are still required when distancing is not possible. (Steele and Rosenberg, 5/4)

Health News Florida: DeSantis Orders End Of Local COVID Mandates, Signs Bill That Includes Vaccine 'Passport' Ban 
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed an executive order to immediately suspend COVID-19 restrictions imposed by communities across the state. He also signed legislation giving his office sweeping powers to invalidate local emergency measures put in place during the pandemic, including limitations on business operations and the shuttering of schools. The law, which goes into effect July 1, codifies much of the actions DeSantis had already taken, including a ban on vaccine "passports." (Davis and Mayer, 5/3)

WUSF 89.7: No Masks In Schools? USF Pediatrics Chair Says It May Be Too Soon 
In mid-April, Florida's education commissioner urged schools to abandon mandatory mask policies in the fall, saying district face-covering policies do not impact the spread of the coronavirus. Dr. Patricia Emmanuel, chair of pediatrics at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, said an edict like that for the entire state may be premature. She spoke about the issue with WUSF's Kerry Sheridan. (Sheridan, 5/3)

Health News Florida: Florida Capitol To Reopen To Public; No COVID Testing Or Vaccine Proof Needed 
After nearly 14 months of being closed to the public, the Florida Capitol will reopen this week ahead of a special legislative session on gambling. Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, made the announcement Monday, but it’s not clear if other parts of state government will follow a public health advisory by Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees to open back up as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Simpson’s office sent out a memo that said the Capitol will be open to the public Friday, one week after lawmakers finished the regular 60-day legislative session. (Sexton, 5/3)

In updates from California. Nevada and Washington state —

San Francisco Chronicle: It's Official: Face Masks Are No Longer Required Outdoors In California For Fully Vaccinated
California updated its guidance on face coverings for fully vaccinated people Monday, matching recommendations made by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week. California’s Department of Public Health says face coverings are no longer required outdoors for fully vaccinated people except in crowded settings such as performances, festivals and sports events. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their last shot. Those who are not fully vaccinated should continue wearing face coverings outdoors when they can’t maintain distancing of at least six feet, the state says. (Vaziri, 5/3)

Bay Area News Group: How California's New Mask Guidelines Differ From The CDC's
Let’s say you’re walking down a busy street, or hiking on a popular trail, and see people coming the other way. The path you’re sharing is narrow and you’ll have to pass less than six feet from the other group. Do you need to put on a mask? According to the state of California, if you aren’t fully vaccinated, you do. That differs from new guidelines that the Centers for Disease Control released last week — and what epidemiologists who study how coronavirus spreads advise. Even if you aren’t vaccinated, the CDC suggested, the risk of transmitting the virus through that kind of fleeting contact in an outdoor setting is pretty much nonexistent. (Savidge, 5/3)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Mask Mandate Eased In Nevada
Nevadans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 may now move about outdoors mask-free following the state’s move to align local restrictions with the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gov. Steve Sisolak signed the latest emergency directive Monday. The CDC’s new guidance was issued April 27. The governor’s directive includes language that will see Nevada track all future changes in guidance from the CDC. Fully vaccinated individuals are classified as those two weeks out from either their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. (Dentzer, 5/3)

AP: All Nevada Counties Now Have Local COVID-19 Control
Local authority over COVID-19 restrictions has now been granted to all of Nevada’s 17 counties after Washoe County commissioners approved a revised plan for the Reno-Sparks area Monday and successfully submitted the necessary endorsements to the state’s mitigation task force. Masks remain mandatory, but control over most all other COVID-19 mitigation measures began May 1 under local plans in Las Vegas and all other Nevada counties, where capacity limits and social-distancing limits vary through the end of the month. (Sonner and Ritter, 5/4)

AP: WA Events Can Increase Capacity With Vaccinated Sections
More people will be allowed at indoor and outdoor spectator events and indoor religious services if there are designated COVID-19 vaccination sections, under new guidance issued by Gov. Jay Inslee Monday. The change — which takes effect immediately — affects capacity at sporting events, graduations and other events for counties in the second and third phases of the state’s economic reopening plan. A vaccination card or other documentation that proves vaccination status will be needed for access to vaccination sections. (5/3)

Fox News: Novel Coronavirus Really Is Seasonal, Study Suggests
Warm temperatures and tropical climates may really help reduce the spread of COVID-19, a new study suggests. The study found that places with warm temperatures and long hours of sunlight — such as countries close to the equator and those experiencing summer — had a lower rate of COVID-19 cases, compared with countries farther away from the equator and those experiencing colder weather. The findings held even after the researchers took into account other factors that could affect both the spread of COVID-19 and the number of reported cases, such as a country's level of urbanization and the intensity of COVID-19 testing. (Rettner, 5/3)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

Los Angeles Times: California Coronavirus Cases Fall As Oregon, Washington Surge
Even as Oregon and Washington face new COVID-19 surges, there is growing optimism that California remains in recovery mode as coronavirus cases continued to fall dramatically along with related deaths. California has continued to do better than any state, with the lowest per capita coronavirus case rate in the nation over the last week. Texas has double California’s rate; New York, quadruple; and Florida has nearly five times California’s case rate. Michigan still has the nation’s highest rate, 252 cases per 100,000 residents — nearly eight times California’s rate of 33 cases per 100,000 residents (the national figure i8s 102 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week). (Lin II and Money, 5/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: In One County On California's North Coast, COVID Is Surging
California’s coronavirus case rates are approaching an all-time low, but in one county on the North Coast, the numbers are moving in the wrong direction. Humboldt County, whose biggest city, Eureka, is 230 miles north of San Francisco, recorded 137 new cases last week. That was the most since early February. Over the weekend, the county health department reported 33 additional infections, bringing the total number of residents who have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began to 3,885. (Vaziri, 5/3)

New York Daily News: More COVID Cases In Past 2 Weeks Than 1st 6 Months Of Pandemic
As Americans continue to take steps toward normal life, India and several other countries are dealing with an explosion of new coronavirus infections that is likely to delay the world’s recovery from the deadly crisis, health authorities warned Monday. The number of COVID-19 cases reported around the world in the last two weeks was higher than the total of confirmed infections in the first six months of the pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. India and Brazil, which are going through their worst days since the pandemic began, account for more than half of last week’s cases, the agency said. (Oliveira, 5/3)

Also —

CIDRAP: Two B1351 COVID-19 Variant Clusters In Maryland Detailed
In January and February, the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) reported a 17-person outbreak in which all four sequenced viruses were related strains of B1351, the variant first identified in South Africa. The cases mark the state's first instance of non-travel–associated B1351, according to the Mortality & Morbidity Weekly Report late last week. (5/3)

AP: Insider Q&A: Ex-Biodefense Chief On Stopping The Next COVID
When COVID-19 hit the U.S. early last year, public health scientist Rick Bright had an up-close view of what worked and what didn’t. As head of the federal government’s biodefense agency Bright was responsible for securing tests, protective gear, drugs and vaccines. But he was demoted from that post last April after repeatedly clashing with political appointees over the response effort. Bright alleged in a still-pending whistleblower lawsuit that he was sidelined for objecting to the use of the unproven malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients. The drug was later deemed ineffective and too risky by health regulators. (Perrone, 5/3)

Fox News: ‘Herd Immunity’ Looking Unlikely In US, Report Says
There is a growing belief among scientists that the U.S. will not achieve ‘herd immunity’ when it comes to the coronavirus and there will be new flare-ups for the foreseeable future, but becoming less of a threat to the public. The New York Times reported that the reason is that the virus is mutating at a faster rate than vaccine jabs are being given. Rustom Antia, an evolutionary biologist at Emory University, told the paper that the virus is "unlikely to go away." (DeMarche, 5/4)

The New York Times' Original Story: Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely In The U.S., Experts Now Believe

Voice Of America: COVID Herd Immunity Point Still Unclear, Biden Says
U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday will update the country on how it is faring in the battle against COVID-19 and the effort to get more Americans vaccinated against the coronavirus. The president, following remarks on Monday afternoon at a community college in Virginia, was asked by a reporter when the country will reach herd immunity — meaning, when will a sufficient percentage of the population be immune to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 because of previous exposure or inoculation. "There’s a debate about what constitutes herd immunity," he said. "Is it 70 percent, 68 percent, 81 percent?” (Herman, 5/3)

And experts weigh in —

CNN: Not Reaching Herd Immunity By Fall Could Have Dire Consequences, Expert Says 
Millions of Americans are receiving Covid-19 vaccine doses every day, but one medical expert thinks the nation may not reach herd immunity this year if more people can't be persuaded to get a shot. "What I really worry about is that those people who are already on the fence don't get vaccinated (and) we don't reach herd immunity come the fall," CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen told CNN. "And then with the winter ... we have a big resurgence, maybe we have variants coming in from other countries, and we could start this whole process all over again and have another huge pandemic come the winter." (Ellis and Maxouris, 5/4)

USA Today: Vaccinations Could Contain COVID, Lower US Cases Without Herd Immunity
It may not take true "herd immunity" to see a dramatic drop in COVID-19 cases. Some researchers say another 30 to 40 million first shots could be enough for the United States to reach a vaccine tipping point and containment of the disease caused by the coronavirus. "It's just another 10% to 15% more people," said Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. (Weise, 5/4)

Boston.com: ‘This Is Not Tragic’: Dr. Ashish Jha Says Not To Panic Over The U.S. Potentially Not Reaching Herd Immunity
If you’re alarmed after reading that public experts are saying the United States isn’t likely to reach herd immunity with COVID-19, Dr. Ashish Jha has a message for you. “This is not tragic,” the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health wrote on Twitter Monday. The doctor said many are misunderstanding the recent New York Times article that examines the predictions from experts on the herd immunity threshold in the United States — the point when enough Americans would be protected from the virus to make person-to-person spread of the disease unlikely. (Dwyer, 5/3)

CNN: Life May Feel More Normal Even Before Herd Immunity Is Reached 
As with any disease, how many people need to be immune to provide community protection depends on how infectious it is. For Covid-19, experts think the magic number could be anywhere between 70 to 90% of a population immune to the virus. The world is nowhere near that level. (Christensen, 5/3)

The Boston Globe: The Lack Of COVID Herd Immunity Could Lock In The Red State-Blue State Divide For A Long Time 
A year after the United States came under the grip of the coronavirus it should be clear that, no, the universal sacrifice from a pandemic did not bring the nation together as some suggested it might. It only made the nation more polarized politically and culturally. And now something else should be evident: An emerging but striking divide in vaccination rates among red and blue states could mean the coronavirus and the political division that comes with it are going to stick around for a while. (Pindell, 5/4)

The New York Times: $100 As A Vaccine Incentive? Experiment Suggests It Can Pay Off. 
What’s the best way to persuade the millions of Americans who are still unvaccinated against Covid-19 to get their shots? Reassuring public service announcements about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness have proliferated. But increasingly, people are realizing that it will take more than just information to sway the hesitant. In recent randomized survey experiments by the U.C.L.A. Covid-19 Health and Politics Project, two seemingly strong incentives have emerged. (Vavreck, 5/4)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Gov. Hogan Offers $100 To State Employees Who Get COVID Vaccine 
Maryland’s state government employees are getting an extra inducement to get vaccinated against the coronavirus: $100 payments. “With this incentive program, we are further encouraging state employees to get vaccinated to help keep themselves, their families, and their communities healthy and safe,” Gov. Larry Hogan said Monday in a statement announcing the incentive plan. (Wood, 5/3)

NBC News: New Jersey 'Shot And A Beer' Program Offers Free Beer To Those Who Get Covid-19 Vaccine
The state of New Jersey introduced a new program on Monday offering a free beer to those who get a Covid-19 vaccine in May. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Twitter that the state was teaming up with over a dozen breweries for the “Shot and a Beer” project. (Atkins, 5/3)

Ohio Valley ReSource: Kentucky Considers Incentives As Vaccination Numbers Continue To Fall
The numbers of new COVID-19 cases remain relatively low in Kentucky, but as vaccination rates slow Gov. Andy Beshear said he is considering incentives to encourage people to get a COVID-19 vaccine. (Boyer, 5/3)

The Washington Post: Why Some Coronavirus Vaccine Skeptics Changed Their Minds 
Kim Simmons, a 61-year-old small-business owner in Illinois, vividly remembers the moment she went from vaccine skeptic to vaccine-ready: watching a Johns Hopkins University doctor on C-SPAN make the case for why the shots are safe. For Lauren Bergner, a 39-year-old homemaker in New Jersey, it was when she realized it would make it easier for her family to attend New York Yankees games, after the team announced fans would need to show proof of a negative coronavirus test or that they had been vaccinated. (Diamond, 5/3)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

The Boston Globe: New England Leads The Nation In Vaccination Rates, CDC Data Show
While concern is rising that fewer people may be stepping forward to get their coronavirus vaccinations, Massachusetts and other New England states lead the nation in the rate of people who have gotten at least their first shot of one of the vaccines. New Hampshire led the states with 60.7 percent of residents having gotten at least a first dose or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New Hampshire was followed by Massachusetts (57.3 percent), Vermont (56.6), Connecticut (55.6), and Maine (55.2). Decidedly non-New England Hawaii (53.7) was next on the list, but Rhode Island (53.3) followed quickly behind. (Finucane, 5/3)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Hits COVID-19 Vaccine Milestone: 50% Have At Least One Shot
Michigan hit a new milestone Monday in the race to end the COVID-19 pandemic: 50% of residents age 16 and older — about 4 million people — have gotten at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Health leaders have said it will take at least 70% of the population to be fully vaccinated to stop widespread outbreaks and protect the most vulnerable, though with more contagious variants of the virus circulating now in Michigan and nationally, that number may be higher. (Jordan Shamus, 5/3)

CBS News: More Than 20 States Not Ordering All Available Doses As COVID-19 Vaccinations Slow 
As the pace of vaccinations continues to slow across the country, more than 20 states are not ordering all the available COVID-19 vaccine doses allocated to them by the federal government, according to a CBS News tally.  ... CBS News reached out to health departments in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, and among the 38 states that responded, 22 said they weren't ordering all the doses available to them for the week of May 3. (Bayer and Tin, 5/3)

CNBC: Some Still Prefer J&J Covid-19 Vaccine After U.S. Pause, Survey Shows
Fewer Americans say they prefer the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine after the U.S. temporarily paused its use in April, but 17% of Americans in a new survey still say it’s their top choice. That’s down from 29% in March, before the pause, according to consecutive surveys of more than 1,500 Americans done for CNBC by global data and survey firm Dynata. (Tirrell and Wells, 5/4)

AP: West Virginia State Parks To Host Vaccine Clinics
West Virginia will have free vaccination clinics at state parks and forests through Memorial Day. Currently, clinics are open at 10 sites, and that will expand to all parks and forests on Memorial Day weekend. Vaccines are available to guests, employees and families of employees. (5/4)

Axios: CVS Health Expands To Employer-Based COVID-19 Clinics In Bid To Reach 'Moveable Middle'
The U.S. vaccination effort is preparing to lean on employers, houses of worship, community organizations and even home-based delivery in order to reach the people who haven't yet gotten vaccinated. Shots will need to become much more easily accessible and trusted organizations will have to help overcome vaccine hesitancy in order to keep America's vaccination progress going as demand begins to wane. (Reed, 5/4)

Also —

Fox News: Don't Laminate COVID-19 Vaccination Card, Experts Warn
Several businesses offered to laminate people’s COVID-19 vaccination cards for free in a bid to keep them safe from damage, but several public health officials have advised against doing so for several reasons, one of which is the potential need to record booster doses. Another reason, a Florida health official warned, is that the heat from the laminating process could ruin the information on the card or make it difficult to read. (Hein, 5/3)

CBS News: Sports Stadiums Asking Fans For Their "Vaccine Passports"
Top officials at the NBA and MLB hope the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is behind them as teams start to welcome fans back into stadiums. But to watch the game live, a growing number of venues are asking visitors to prove they've gotten their shots by displaying what's called a "vaccine passport." Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, are among a longer list of sports spaces that now require digital vaccine verifications. Those teams and others have been using an app called Health Pass from technology company Clear for COVID-19 screening. In some cases, showing your status on Health Pass could be the difference between watching a game in person or at home. (Brooks, 5/3)

The New York Times: How The Centner Academy Became A Beacon For Anti-Vaxxers 
A fifth-grade math and science teacher peddled a bogus conspiracy theory on Wednesday to students at Centner Academy, a private school in Miami, warning them that they should not hug parents who had been vaccinated against the coronavirus for more than five seconds because they might be exposed to harmful vaccine shedding.“Hola Mami,” one student wrote in an email to her parents from school, saying that the teacher was “telling us to stay away from you guys.” Nearly a week before, the school had threatened teachers’ employment if they got a coronavirus vaccine before the end of the school year. (Mazzei, 5/2)

Politico: White House Struggle To Define Its Vaccine Diplomacy Leaves Ukraine Hanging 
The Biden administration’s recent decision to send coronavirus vaccines to India has created tensions with another key ally: Ukraine, which has ramped up its requests for vaccine aid ahead of a visit this week from Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration has been pressing Washington for help obtaining vaccines since December, before Donald Trump left office, according to multiple U.S. and Ukrainian officials. The conversations have continued in recent weeks at the diplomatic level, and officials said the pandemic — and Ukraine’s hope for U.S. assistance — was a backdrop for a 50-minute phone call between Zelensky and Biden on April 2. (Banco and Herszenhorn, 5/3)

Bloomberg: White House Backs Pfizer’s Move To Begin Vaccine Exports
The Biden administration is supporting Pfizer Inc.’s move to begin exporting U.S.-made doses of its coronavirus vaccine, as the White House starts to unleash production for shot-starved nations abroad. “We are glad to see that they are working with other countries to help them meet their supply needs,” Jeff Zients, President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 response coordinator, told Bloomberg News in a statement. He said the company is ahead of schedule in its commitments to supply the U.S. (Wingrove, 5/3)

The New York Times: Pressure Mounts to Lift Patent Protections on Coronavirus Vaccines
President Biden, faced with surging Covid-19 crises in India and South America, is under intensifying pressure from the international community and his party’s left flank to commit to increasing the vaccine supply by loosening patent and intellectual property protections on coronavirus vaccines. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies, also feeling pressure, sought on Monday to head off such a move, which could cut into future profits and jeopardize their business model. Pfizer and Moderna, two major vaccine makers, each announced steps to increase the supply of vaccine around the world. (Stolberg, Kaplan and Robbins, 5/3)

AP: AP FACT CHECK: Biden Overstates How Many Americans Immunized
President Joe Biden on Monday vastly overstated the number of Americans who’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19. And when addressing the racial gap in vaccinations, he claimed progress that is not apparent in the statistics. (Woodward, 5/3)

In other news from the Biden administration —

Stat: Biden’s Medicaid Pressure Tactics Could Put His Team At Odds With Hospitals
The Biden administration is pressuring states to expand Medicaid — and it’s setting up a tussle with the hospital industry, too. The Biden team is running out of options to ensure coverage for low-income people in states that have chosen not to expand coverage under the Affordable Care Act. An early overture in Texas reveals one of its strategies: There, the administration is forcing state officials to renegotiate an agreement that gives hospitals money for uninsured patients, and hospitals are nervous that their funding could be cut in the process. (Cohrs, 5/4)

KHN: Democrats Disagree About How To Spend Potential Prescription Drug Windfall 
One of the few surprises in President Joe Biden’s social safety-net proposal, the American Families Plan, was something that didn’t make it into the final version: any mention of reining in the price of prescription drugs. The American Families Plan, the second part of Biden’s expansive “infrastructure” agenda, includes sweeping programs aimed at boosting access to child care, higher education and paid family leave. But despite White House signals in March that health also would be a major part of the package, the only health proposal was one that would make permanent the temporary subsidy increases, passed as part of the covid relief bill earlier this spring, on insurance purchased through the Affordable Care Act’s health exchanges. (Rovner, 5/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Landmark Opioid Trial Opens In West Virginia 
In a highly anticipated trial, lawyers for a West Virginia county and city told a judge Monday that the nation’s three largest drug distributors should be held liable for helping spur a public-health crisis by ignoring mounting evidence for years that prescription drugs were being diverted for illegal use. “We intend to prove the simple truth that the distributor defendants sold a mountain of opioid pills into our community, fueling a modern opioid epidemic,” said Paul Farrell, an attorney for Cabell County, in a 90-minute opening statement in federal court in the state capital. (Maher and Randazzo, 5/3)

AP: Trial Against Opioid Distributors Begins In WVa
A trial began Monday in a lawsuit filed in West Virginia accusing three drug distributors of fueling a local opioid epidemic with excessively large shipments of painkillers over several years. The city of Huntington and Cabell County filed the lawsuit against drug distributors AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. The trial is in federal court in Charleston. A judge last month rejected the companies’ attempt to dismiss the case. Hundreds of similar lawsuits have been filed across the country. (5/4)

Reuters: Big Three Drug Distributors Blame Doctors, Regulators In Trial Over Opioid Epidemic
The three largest U.S. drug distributors, facing their first trial over claims that they fueled the opioid crisis, said responsibility for ballooning painkiller sales lies with doctors, drugmakers and regulators. AmerisourceBergen Corp (ABC.N), McKesson Corp (MCK.N) and Cardinal Health Inc (CAH.N) are defending themselves against a lawsuit brought by the city of Huntington and Cabell County in West Virginia. (Pierson, 5/3)

Also —

NPR: Sackler Family Bid For Opioid Immunity Is Fought By 24 States And D.C.
For months, members of the Sackler family that owns Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin, have portrayed their bid for immunity from future opioid lawsuits as a kind of fait accompli, a take-it-or-leave-it fix to a legal morass. In exchange for what amounts to a legal firewall for the Sacklers and their remaining empire, members of the family have offered to forfeit control of their bankrupt drug company and pay $4.2 billion from their private fortunes. Judge Robert Drain, who is presiding over the case in White Plains, N.Y., has suggested that such a deal may be desirable and achievable along these broad lines. (Mann, 5/3)

CBS News: How The COVID-19 Pandemic Created A "Perfect Storm" For Opioid Addiction 
Recently-released data is painting a grim picture of the opioid epidemic that has gripped the United States — as the country is still grappling with the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than half a million Americans. "Some people are calling them twin pandemics that have collided," Harvard researcher Michael Barnett, Ph.D., said on CBSN Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 90,237 people in the U.S. died of opioid overdoses between October 2019 and September 2020. The figure is the highest ever recorded since the opioid crisis began in the late 1990s. (Elkind, 5/3)

WRGT: Miami Valley Battles Opioid Surge During Pandemic 
Nationally, more than 87,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in the year before September of 2020 according to the CDC. In Ohio deaths spiked by 24 percent last year. Local leaders on the front lines of the opioid crisis say the pandemic was a second blow to a problem they tried so desperately to get under control. (Wheaton, 5/3)

AP: Former Oklahoma Doctor Guilty Of Murder In Opioid Death
A former Oklahoma doctor has been convicted of second-degree murder in the opioid overdose death of a patient, according to state Attorney General Mike Hunter. Former Midwest City Dr. Regan Nichols was convicted Friday on one of five counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of five patients between 2010 and 2013. (5/1)

The New York Times: A Psychedelic Drug Passes a Big Test for PTSD Treatment
In an important step toward medical approval, MDMA, the illegal drug popularly known as Ecstasy or Molly, was shown to bring relief to those suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder when paired with talk therapy. Of the 90 people who took part in the new study, which is expected to be published later this month in Nature Medicine, those who received MDMA during therapy experienced a significantly greater reduction in the severity of their symptoms compared with those who received therapy and an inactive placebo. Two months after treatment, 67 percent of participants in the MDMA group no longer qualified for a diagnosis of PTSD, compared with 32 percent in the placebo group. (Nuwer, 5/3)

Stat: Sarepta’s More Potent Duchenne Treatment Shows Promise, Greater Toxicity
Sarepta Therapeutics said Monday that a second-generation medicine for patients with a certain type of Duchenne muscular dystrophy showed improved performance in laboratory tests over the biotech’s marketed treatment. In a small clinical trial, a monthly infusion of the new Sarepta drug, called SRP-5051, produced eight times more of the muscle protein dystrophin compared to weekly infusions of Exondys 51, the company’s existing product. (Feuerstein, 5/3)

In pharmaceutical news from around the globe —

Stat: Gilead Sues Russia Over A Compulsory License Issued For Remdesivir
Amid worldwide clamoring for Covid-19 vaccines and other therapies, Gilead Sciences (GILD) last month filed a lawsuit against the Russian government for allowing a domestic company to manufacture and market its remdesivir treatment, which is also known as Veklury. The move came after the government late last year issued a compulsory license to a company called Pharmasyntez, which unsuccessfully approached Gilead about obtaining a license to produce a version of the medicine. At the time, the health minister pursued the step “in the interest of national security,” and the company indicated plans to sell its version about half the cost. (Silverman, 5/4)

Stat: Merck KGaA Unit Fined For Providing Misleading Info Prior To A Merger
The European Commission fined a unit of Merck KGaA $9 million for providing incorrect or misleading information during an investigation of a deal in which the drug maker spent $17 billion to acquire Sigma-Aldrich, which was a U.S. supplier of laboratory testing materials. The EC, which is the executive arm of the European Union, had approved the deal in June 2015, but only on the condition that the companies agreed to sell certain portions of their lab chemicals business. At the time, there were concerns the merger would reduce competition, because Merck (MKKGY) and Sigma-Aldrich were the two leading suppliers of solvents and inorganics. (Silverman, 5/3)

The New York Times: Bill And Melinda Gates Are Divorcing 
Bill and Melinda Gates, two of the richest people in the world, who reshaped philanthropy and public health with the fortune Mr. Gates made as a co-founder of Microsoft, said on Monday that they were divorcing. For decades, Mr. and Ms. Gates have been powerful forces on the world stage, their vast charitable contributions affording them access to the highest levels of government, business and the nonprofit sector. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with an endowment of some $50 billion, has had immense influence in fields like global health and early-childhood education, and has made great strides in reducing deaths caused by malaria and other infectious diseases. Over the past year, the couple have been especially visible, regularly commenting on the worldwide fight against Covid-19 as their foundation spent more than $1 billion to combat the pandemic. (Gelles, Sorkin and Kulish, 5/3)

NBC News: Bill And Melinda Gates Are Getting Divorced, Future Of Foundation In Question
The couple in 2000 founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a private philanthropic organization which funds research and advocacy work across the globe, including in some of the world's most impoverished nations. The foundation has given billions to support issues like global health, development and education, as well as combating climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic. ... The announcement sent shockwaves through the philanthropic industry, where the foundation holds enormous sway. (Stelloh, Byers and Popken, 5/3)

Reuters: Bill And Melinda Gates To Divorce, But Charitable Foundation To Remain Intact 
The Gates have backed widely praised programs in malaria and polio eradication, child nutrition and vaccines. The foundation last year committed some $1.75 billion to COVID-19 relief. In a joint petition for dissolution of marriage, the couple asserted their legal union was "irretrievably broken," but said they had reached agreement on how to divide their marital assets. No details of that accord were disclosed in the filing in King County Superior Court in Seattle. (Johnson and Ulmer, 5/3)

Reuters: Factbox: Wealth And Philanthropy Of Bill And Melinda Gates
The couple established the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000. It is one of the world's largest charitable organizations, with a focus on public health, education and climate change. Its grants included some $1.75 billion to vaccine initiatives, diagnostics and research during the coronavirus pandemic. (Johnson, 5/3)

NBC News: FAA Warns Of Spike In Unruly, Dangerous Passenger Behavior
The Federal Aviation Administration is warning air travelers about what it describes as a dramatic increase in unruly or dangerous behavior aboard passenger airplanes. ... The behavior in question includes passengers refusing to wear masks, drinking excessively and engaging in alleged physical or verbal assault, including what the agency describes as political intimidation and harassment of lawmakers. In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for example, a fistfight broke out amid a dispute over mask-wearing. In Washington, D.C., a passenger was escorted off a flight after arguing with flight attendants over the mask rule. (Costello, 5/3)

AP: US Sets Pandemic-Era High For Air Travel, Over 1.6 Million 
The United States set another record for the number of air travelers since the pandemic set in, although passenger numbers remain far below 2019 levels. More than 1.6 million people were screened at U.S. airport checkpoints on Sunday, according to the Transportation Security Administration. That was the highest number screened since March 12 of last year when air travel began to plummet. (5/3)

In other public health news —

CIDRAP: Teen Exercise Drops During COVID-19 Stay-At-Home Orders 
Adolescents' use of tobacco, cannabis, and alcohol did not change with stay-at-home orders in northern rural California, but their physical activity dropped, according to a study today in JAMA Pediatrics. The researchers included two cohorts of 9th and 10th graders in their 1,006-person study: 521 who were enrolled in spring 2019 and 485 who were enrolled in fall 2019. Originally, the survey was designed to assess just physical activity and substance abuse in general, with an initial survey and a 6-month follow-up. The researchers had chosen this region because youth tobacco use is historically higher in small communities. (McLernon, 5/3)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Vaccination Rates For Children Dropped During The Pandemic. Here’s How Philly-Area Pediatricians Worked To Increase Wellness Visits
When early pandemic lockdowns closed many doctors’ offices, the numbers of routine childhood vaccine doses administered decreased dramatically, concerning pediatricians around the country. A study by Kaiser Permanente published in Pediatrics this April found the decrease was most serious and persistent in older children. The trend was consistent with what pediatricians at Philadelphia-area hospitals experienced during the early stages of the pandemic. At Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, pediatricians saw a 43% decrease in immunizations given for vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, whooping cough, and the chicken pox. (Ao, 4/30)

NBC News: Schools Are Sending Kids To Virtual Classes As Punishment. Advocates Say That Could Violate Their Rights.
Student advocates in six states told NBC News that they’re working with numerous students who’ve either been excluded from in-person classes or have been threatened with exclusion if their behavior doesn’t improve. School leaders may be acting in the interest of safety, but advocates say that removing students from in-person classes because of their behavior may violate those students’ rights, especially if they have disabilities. (Einhorn, 5/4)

CNN: One Of The World's Best Restaurants Is Going Vegan 
One of Eleven Madison Park's most iconic dishes has been whole roasted duck with daikon and plum -- it's a classic of the restaurant, and one its most long-standing offerings. But when the restaurant reopens next month after more than a year, that dish, and many others it has become known for, will no longer be available. The three-Michelin-starred New York restaurant will be going completely plant-based when it reopens next month, it announced Monday -- becoming one of the most high-profile restaurants to do so. (Asmelash, 5/3)

Bloomberg: Impossible Foods Wins Ruling To Continue Use Of Key Additive
The federal appeals court in San Francisco on Monday upheld a decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the use of soy leghemoglobin as a color additive in Impossible’s imitation beef patties. The 2019 decision removed a hurdle for Impossible in extending its burger sales from restaurants to grocery stores. Soy leghemoglobin, or “heme,” is a red, genetically modified ingredient that Impossible has long touted as the key to the Impossible Burger’s flavor. But its use has brought regulatory problems in the U.S. and barred the products from major foreign markets, including China and the European Union. Beyond Meat Inc., Impossible’s main competitor, often points to its GMO-free ingredient list in its marketing. (Van Voris and Shanker, 5/3)

USA Today: Apple Watch May Track Blood Sugar Levels, Other Health Features
Your Apple Watch is apparently going to get a lot smarter in the months ahead. Future models may be able to measure blood sugar levels, blood pressure and blood alcohol, suggest revelations from one of Apple's suppliers. It's unknown whether all those features will be available in the Apple Watch 7, likely to be revealed this fall. U.K. company Rockley Photonics, which makes sensors for wearables, doesn't expect to deliver the silicon photonics chipsets needed for those health monitoring features until the first half of 2022, it said in documents filed in its process of becoming a publicly traded company. (Snider, 5/3)

WJCT 89.9 Jacksonville: Routine Cancer Screenings Still Not Back Up To Pre-Pandemic Numbers 
One of the casualties of COVID-19 is routine screening for potential health problems, but a late diagnosis can mean more serious progressive of cancers like lung, breast and prostate. At the peak of the pandemic a year ago, screening across the country dropped to about 10% of what it had been and still hasn't recovered. If you don't look, you won't find, said Dr. Stephen Edge, vice president for system quality and outcomes at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Cancer and a breast cancer surgeon. (Hetherly, 5/3)

The Baltimore Sun: Towson Woman Turns Family Cancer Experience Into Company Sending Care Packages For Those Dealing Disease 
Samantha Apel, of Armagh Village, recognizes the importance of self-care when life gets complicated. She recently started Help Them Thrive, a small company that sends soothing care packages to comfort and support people who’ve been thrust into the cancer world — newly diagnosed, post-surgery, mid-chemo, or beyond. (McGee, 5/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Blue Health Insurers Drop Revenue Rule That Limited Competition 
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said it dropped a rule that limited competition among its member insurers, moving to implement a key aspect of an antitrust settlement the companies reached last year with customers. The settlement hasn’t won final approval from the federal judge presiding over the litigation, so it isn’t being fully implemented. But last Tuesday the group of insurers formally lifted a cap on the share of the members’ revenue that could come from business not under a Blue Cross Blue Shield brand, one of the moves it had promised under the settlement. (Mathews, 5/3)

Modern Healthcare: Democrats Want Health Insurers To Waive COVID-19 Treatment Fees
Democratic lawmakers are pressing three major insurers on their decisions to reinstate cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatments, arguing they are putting "profits before the wellbeing of the people of this country." In letters addressed to the CEOs of Anthem, UnitedHealth and Aetna, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and nine other lawmakers urged the insurers to waive cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatment, arguing the companies have weathered the pandemic better than "many other" small and large companies. (Hellmann, 5/3)

KHN: Covered California Says Health Insurance Just Got Too Cheap To Ignore 
If you are uninsured because health coverage seemed too expensive the last time you looked, it’s time to look again. A new federal law could make it a whole lot cheaper to buy your own insurance if you don’t get coverage through an employer or a government insurance program such as Medicare or Medicaid. (Wolfson, 5/4)

Modern Healthcare: How Insurers Are Working To Bridge Racial Gaps In Maternal Care
Year after year, it's the same story: The maternal mortality rate rises and the number of deaths among pregnant women of color are disproportionately high. In the U.S., Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. Even in low-risk pregnancies, Black women are more likely to receive a C-section. Such procedures have been associated with increased rates of infection, bleeding and hospital readmissions. And infants born to Black women are more than twice as likely to die before reaching their first birthday compared to white babies. (Tepper, 5/4)

In other health care industry news —

New Orleans Times-Picayune: NAMI Reopening After COVID, Director Sees Increased Need
As the National Alliance for Mental Illness-St. Tammany jumps into Mental Health Awareness month, organization Executive Director Nick Richard is betting that the 2021 campaign has the attention of more people than ever. The impact of the pandemic has taken a troubling toll on mental health with issues including isolation, financial stress and anxiety. The full scope of these effects will likely remain unknown for several years, Richard said. But because such a cross-section of society experienced mental-health issues for the first time during 2020, Richard sees a unique opportunity for NAMI to offer widespread understanding and education through its annual awareness campaign. (Keiger, 5/3)

Philadelphia Inquirer: During The Pandemic, Telehealth Helped Faraway Family Members Attend Seniors’ Medical Visits. Doctors Want That To Stay
As COVID-19 cases drop, it’s time to consider which pandemic changes are worth keeping. Walke, who is chief of geriatric medicine at University of Pennsylvania, thinks incorporating distant family members into geriatric care through telemedicine is one of them. “I’ve had some families who now prefer video,” she said. Caregivers can add important information about, say, falls that patients may try to downplay. Walke thinks it’s important to see patients in person at least once a year. “There’s no substitute for my being able to listen to your heart or being able to look into your ears and eyes,” she said. But, some families may find that a combination of in-person and telehealth visits works best for them. Patients could also go to the doctor’s office and family members could join virtually. (Burling, 5/4)

Modern Healthcare: Questions Remain On Post-COVID Outpatient Care Outlook
While just about everyone expects that healthcare will continue to push into outpatient settings, whether the pandemic is strengthening that trend depends on whom you talk to. “Yes, the outpatient growth was already booming prior to the pandemic. To assuage consumer concerns, there is a need for an increased number of ambulatory settings today,” Earl Swensson Associates, an architectural firm based in Nashville, said in its response to Modern Healthcare’s 2021 Construction & Design Survey. (Butcher, 5/4)

The Boston Globe: In Longwood Medical Area, Jobs Were Being Added About Twice As Fast As In The State Overall
Longwood Medical Area has come a long way from the days when Boston Children’s Hospital set up shop on Huntington Avenue with 60 beds and a herd of cows to provide kids with tuberculosis-free milk. That was back in 1882. Today, these 213 acres where Brookline, Mission Hill, and the Fenway converge are home to 22 institutions that collectively employ 68,000 workers. That number, which includes contract workers such as researchers, grew by about 15,000 from 2008 through 2019, according to a report by the UMass Donahue Institute. That’s a growth rate of nearly 30 percent, or roughly twice the pace of the state’s overall employment growth. (Chesto, 5/3)

Also —

Stat: Critics Say Colonoscopy Study Exploited Black Patients 
At a time when medical researchers are under pressure to increase diversity in clinical trials, a Johns Hopkins study is sparking outrage among some physicians because of its large number of Black patients. The controversy has stoked concerns that the institution infamous for its role in the Henrietta Lacks story may have once again exploited marginalized people for medical research. The university denies any wrongdoing and instead said it was simply providing a service to its local community, which has a mostly Black population. (St. Fleur, 5/4)

Modern Healthcare: Kaiser Sees Success With Data-Driven Program To Reduce Homelessness
It’s been a little more than two years since Kaiser Permanente announced plans to address the problem of chronic homelessness through the use of data analytics. In an effort to better understand the dynamics of homelessness and offer more timely interventions for at-risk patients, Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser announced in 2019 it was investing $3 million over three years to use data analytics to provide real-time counts of homeless individuals within a community month-over-month. (Ross Johnson, 5/4)

Modern Healthcare: SNF Patients Could Be Discharged Earlier Without Compromising Quality, Study Says
A May 3 Health Affairs study finds patients of skilled nursing facilities can be safely transitioned to home care earlier in the recovery period, indicating the facilities are not used efficiently. While the study was limited in its ability to tell providers how much to reduce SNF use by and whether earlier discharge affected patients' "functional recovery," it highlights that reducing the length of stays has not caused worse health outcomes for patients receiving post-acute care. (Gellman, 5/3)

The Advocate: Should Louisiana Doctors Have Non-Competes? Supporters Lose First Round Of Legislative Battle
Ochsner Health System lost the first round of a legislative battle with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, physicians groups and other hospitals over the use of non-compete provisions in doctors’ contracts Monday, with a Louisiana House panel advancing two proposals aimed at restricting the practice. The House Commerce Committee advanced House Bill 483, by Covington Republican Rep. Mark Wright, to restrict the use of non-compete agreements for physicians. The bill is backed by the Louisiana State Medical Society and the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady, which oversees Our Lady of the Lake, among others. (Karlin, 5/3)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Piedmont Healthcare To Buy Four Hospitals From HCA
In the state’s latest hospital consolidation move, Piedmont Healthcare has signed an agreement to buy four Georgia hospitals from HCA Healthcare for $950 million. If the sale is approved by regulators, Piedmont would acquire Coliseum Medical Centers and Coliseum Northside; Eastside Medical Center; and Cartersville Medical Center. That would leave the Piedmont system with 15 hospitals, more than any other healthcare system in Georgia. Plus, the new locations would extend Piedmont’s geographic reach by making it a major player in Macon, and adding Snellville and Cartersville to its system. (Teegardin, 5/3)

AP: Medical Equipment Venture To Invest $150M, Hiring 1,200
A company that makes personal protective equipment will open two factories near Lafayette, hiring more than 1,200 people. SafeSource Direct made the announcement Monday, saying it would invest $150 million in the venture. The company is a joint venture of Jefferson-based Ochsner Health, Louisiana’s largest hospital system, and Trax Development. SafeSource Direct will make and sell equipment to health care and other industries in Louisiana and nationwide. (5/3)

Stat: Roivant Sciences To Go Public Through $7.3 Billion SPAC Deal 
Roivant Sciences, the biotech company once pitched as a Berkshire Hathaway for the pharmaceutical industry, is going public, merging with a blank-check company at a $7.3 billion valuation. In a deal disclosed Monday, Roivant will combine with a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, called Montes Archimedes Acquisition Corp., founded by private equity investor Jim Momtazee. Roivant gets the $411 million Montes raised in its initial public offering last year, plus another $200 million in new financing from a group of investors that includes Fidelity, Viking Global, SoftBank, and Palantir Technologies. (Garde, 5/3)

Axios: CVS Launches $100 Million Venture Capital Fund 
CVS Health launched a new $100 million venture fund called CVS Health Ventures with plans to invest in digital health startups. With nearly 10,000 retail locations around the U.S. and its Aetna subsidiary serving more than 22 million members, any investment by CVS Health has some serious potential for scale. (Reed, 5/3)

The Wall Street Journal: SmileDirectClub Shares Fall After Company Reports Cybersecurity Incident 
SmileDirectClub Inc. said a cyberattack last month disrupted the company’s operations and will hurt its sales this quarter. The disclosure sent shares lower in after-hours trading. The company, which sells teeth-straightening retainers, said in a securities filing that it was able to isolate the hack by shutting down affected systems and related manufacturing operations. (Nakrosis, 5/3)

Health News Florida: More Money Targeted To Tampa's Moffitt Cancer Center
A tax package approved Friday by Florida lawmakers is expected to lead to the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center receiving millions of additional dollars each year. The bill (HB 7061), includes changing a formula for distributing cigarette tax revenues. The Senate in March approved a stand-alone bill (SB 866) on the issue, with the change then included in a broad tax package negotiated by House and Senate leaders. (5/3)

Modern Healthcare: Medline Invests $1.5 Billion In Domestic Healthcare Supply Chain
Medline invested $1.5 billion to bolster the domestic supply chain, the Northfield, Ill.-based supplier announced Monday. Medline added new distribution centers, U.S.-based manufacturing plants and upgraded its technology over the past three years, which created 8,500 jobs, eight new distribution centers, nearly 150 manufacturing expansion projects and a new digital ordering platform, the organization said. The company plans to spend an additional $500 million this year as part of the initiative. (Kacik, 5/3)

360Dx: Clinical Labs Report Sharp Declines In Coronavirus Molecular Testing
Over the last year, SARS-CoV-2 molecular testing has proved a boon for clinical labs, boosting their bottom lines even as routine testing volumes dropped during the pandemic. Recent financial reports from large national labs, however, show sharp declines in SARS-CoV-2 testing since the start of the year, indicating that this business is on the wane. During Labcorp's Q1 2021 earnings call this week, the company said that while it had averaged 112,000 molecular COVID-19 tests per day throughout the quarter, by the end of the quarter it was averaging around 80,000 tests per day. (Bonislawski, 5/3)

Also —

Stat: Here Are 5 Virtual Physical Therapy Startups To Watch
Virtual physical therapy could almost be considered an oxymoron. Physical therapy, key to recovering from surgery or maintaining the strength and flexibility needed to deal with chronic pain, has traditionally put a premium on in-person instruction and can include hands-on massage and manipulation of the musculoskeletal system. And yet virtual physical therapy and rehabilitation clinics are multiplying and pulling in hefty investments. (Palmer, 5/4)

Stat: How A Startup Beat Health Care Heavyweights To Win Medicare’s AI Contest
A $1 million government contest to predict health problems with artificial intelligence attracted the heavyweights of industry and beyond — from Mayo Clinic, to IBM, to the data and consulting powerhouse Deloitte. But the winner of Medicare’s AI health outcomes challenge is a lesser-known startup from Austin, Texas, called ClosedLoop.ai. The company, whose victory was announced late Friday, bested 300 rivals with a system capable of forecasting adverse health events by crunching an array of data on patients. (Ross, 5/3)

AP: Arkansas Governor OKs Limits On Agencies' Race, Sex Training
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Monday effectively approved a law that places new limits on how race and sex are addressed in state employee training. The Republican governor allowed legislation to become law without his signature to prohibit state agencies from teaching employees, contractors or others to believe “divisive concepts.” The concepts include anything that says the U.S. is fundamentally racist or sexist. The measure, which takes effect next year, does not apply to public schools, colleges and universities, law enforcement training or local governments. (5/4)

USA Today: Tennessee Republicans Take On Critical Race Theory Lessons
In the final days of the legislative session, Republicans in the Tennessee House reopened an education committee to rein in what public schools will be allowed to teach on the topics of racism and inequality. Members of the House education administration committee — which had previously closed for the year — returned Monday morning and advanced legislation intended to prohibit schools from teaching lessons about systemic racism, among other topics touching on race and sex. (Allison, 5/3)

In related news about transgender issues —

NPR: Idaho's Transgender Sports Ban Faces A Major Legal Hurdle
Do transgender women and girls have a constitutional right to play on women's sports teams? That question was argued before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday. The landmark case stems from an Idaho law passed last year — the nation's first transgender sports ban. For plaintiff Lindsay Hecox, a student at Boise State University, the answer to that question is clear. She is transgender, and Idaho's law, if upheld, would prohibit her from competing on women's teams. (Block, 5/3)

Politico: Jenner Hits California Nerve By Siding With GOP On Transgender Athletes
Caitlyn Jenner improved her national GOP bona fides with weekend comments embracing the party's prevailing view on transgender athletes — but now finds herself firmly at odds with a key California policy as she runs for governor. Jenner, a former Olympic gold medalist who is transgender, told TMZ that banning participation of transgender student athletes in girls' competitive sports is "a question of fairness," the same position Republican leaders in red states have taken. (Marinucci and White, 5/3)

Axios: Doctors Fear Next Steps If States Ban Care For Trans Youth 
Medical experts and pediatricians are worried about a new rash of mental health crises among transgender kids, due to the dozens of bills states have introduced to criminalize gender-affirming health care. Tens of thousands of trans youth are at risk of losing health care from the proposed bills, the Williams Institute estimates. (Fernandez and Rummier, 5/4)

In other news from the states —

Axios: Texas City Votes To Ban Abortion: Planned Parenthood Vows To Stay Open 
Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas said Monday its doors would remain open in Lubbock, despite voters approving an abortion ban declaring it a "sanctuary city for the unborn." 62% of voters in the West Texas city voted in favor of the move on Saturday, according to a Lubbock County tally. (Falconer, 5/3)

North Carolina Health News: Similar Bills To Help First Responders With Health Issues Are In Front Of Legislators. They’re Likely To Have Different Outcomes. 
In a year when the important role of first responders has become increasingly visible to members of the public, several bills to provide enhanced benefits to public employees such as police, firefighters and EMTs who sustain illness or injury related to their jobs have been introduced at the legislature. One bill, House Bill 535, addresses an issue that’s been advocated for by firefighters’ organizations for several years, namely, a higher incidence of some forms of cancer experienced by firefighters. (Hoban, 5/4)

AP: Oregon Lawmakers Vote To Expedite Emergency Shelter Process
A lack of adequate shelter beds has long plagued Oregon. It was recently estimated that 10,000 people in the state sleep outside on any given night — a number that has likely increased during the pandemic. But on Monday, Oregon lawmakers passed a bill that will make it easier and quicker for communities to create emergency shelters and temporary housing. House Bill 2006, which the Senate passed 26-1, will remove barriers to siting shelters by temporarily adjusting land use laws and waiving some design, planning and zoning regulations. (Cline, 5/4)

KHN: In Appalachia And The Mississippi Delta, Millions Face Long Drives To Stroke Care 
Debbie Cook was in her pajamas on a summer morning in 2019 when she got a call from her son: “Something bad is wrong with Granny.” The fear in his voice told Cook it was serious. She dialed 911 immediately, knowing it could take time for an ambulance to navigate the country roads in Fentress County, Tennessee. (Pattani, Recht and Grey, 5/4)

AP: 'Horrible' Weeks Ahead As India's Virus Catastrophe Worsens
COVID-19 infections and deaths are mounting with alarming speed in India with no end in sight to the crisis and a top expert warning that the coming weeks in the country of nearly 1.4 billion people will be “horrible.” India’s official count of coronavirus cases surpassed 20 million Tuesday, nearly doubling in the past three months, while deaths officially have passed 220,000. Staggering as those numbers are, the true figures are believed to be far higher, the undercount an apparent reflection of the troubles in the health care system. (Ghosal, 5/4)

Bloomberg: Modi Fights Pressure To Lock Down India As Virus Deaths Rise
Two weeks ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on states to only consider lockdowns “as the last option.” Now everyone from his political allies to top business leaders and U.S. President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser see them as the only way to stem the world’s worst virus outbreak. The debate has been complicated by Modi’s move last year to impose a nationwide lockdown without warning, spurring a humanitarian crisis as migrant workers fled on foot to rural areas. While Modi is keen to avoid that criticism again, particularly after his Bharatiya Janata Party failed to win an election in West Bengal when votes were counted Sunday, even states run by his party are ignoring his advice. (Trivedi and Fay Cortez, 5/3)

Business Insider: India Postponed Medical Exams So Students Can Help Fight The Country's Devastating COVID-19 Surge
India postponed its medical exams so that doctors and nurses in training can help with the country's devastating COVID-19 surge. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday approved the pausing of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for postgraduate medics (NEET-PG) for at least four months, The Economic Times reported. (Jankowicz, 5/4)

USA Today: COVID: US Travel To India Restricted
The U.S. will restrict travel from India starting Tuesday following a deadly coronavirus surge that has smashed records and left the country in despair. India has become the first in the world to report more than 400,000 daily cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, as the surge threatens global efforts to tamp down the pandemic and return to pre-COVID life. The country's official count of coronavirus cases surpassed 20 million Tuesday, nearly doubling in the past three months, while deaths officially have passed 220,000. (Aspegren, 5/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Some Countries Threaten Citizens With Jail If They Return From India 
The wave of Covid-19 sweeping India is leading some nations that have largely contained the virus to threaten their own citizens with jail time or heavy fines if they try to get home from the South Asian country. Australia has banned travel from India because it fears positive cases would overwhelm its quarantine system, which has largely kept the country free of coronavirus until now. New Zealand last month temporarily prohibited all travelers from India before modifying the policy to allow its citizens to return. (Cherney, 5/3)

In related news —

Bloomberg: It’s Not Just India. New Virus Waves Hit Developing Nations
It’s not just India. Fierce new Covid-19 waves are enveloping other developing countries across the world, placing severe strain on their health-care systems and prompting appeals for help. Nations ranging from Laos to Thailand in Southeast Asia, and those bordering India such as Bhutan and Nepal, have been reporting significant surges in infections in the past few weeks. The increase is mainly because of more contagious virus variants, though complacency and lack of resources to contain the spread have also been cited as reasons. (Hong, Thanthong-Knight and Scott, 5/3)

Axios: WHO: More COVID-19 Cases Reported In Last 2 Weeks Than In First 6 Months Of Pandemic 
The number of global coronavirus cases reported in the last two weeks eclipses the first six months of the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday. It underscores the severity of the current wave of infections in India, which surpassed 400,000 cases for the first time over the weekend, as well as a record-high number of deaths, per data from Johns Hopkins University. (Chen, 5/3)

Axios: Pandemic's Global Toll Rises Even As Rich World Starts To Move On 
We seem to have arrived at a fork in the pandemic: Pockets of the rich world are beginning to move past COVID-19, while some less-fortunate countries are facing greater danger than ever. The World Health Organization said today that more cases had been recorded globally over the last two weeks than in the first six months of the pandemic, driven largely by an unprecedented surge in India and the ongoing onslaught in Brazil. (Lawler, 5/3)

Fox News: Moderna Providing 500M Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine To COVAX Following WHO Approval
Moderna will provide up to 500 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to COVAX, the U.N.-backed program that provides shots to people in low-and middle-income countries by the end of 2022. The announcement comes days after the World Health Organization (WHO) added the two-dose jab to the list for emergency use, marking the fifth vaccine to receive such authorization. (Hein, 5/3)

AP: Sri Lanka Receives 1st Batch Of Sputnik V Shots
Sri Lanka has received its first batch of the Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine. The 15,000 doses were flown in early hours of Tuesday to the Indian ocean island nation which is struggling to obtain COVID-19 vaccines because of the delay in getting them from the neighboring India. (5/4)

Axios: Where In The World Vaccine Hesitancy Is Most Acute 
More than 1 billion adults around the world said in 2020 that they wouldn't agree to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, per new Gallup polling released Monday. Only slightly more than two-thirds — 68% — of adults worldwide said they would agree to be vaccinated if a shot was available to them at no cost. (Owens, 5/3)

NPR: EU Moves Closer To Welcoming Vaccinated Tourists This Summer
The head of the European Commission said Monday that she is recommending that nonresident travelers vaccinated against COVID-19 and those from "countries with a good health situation" be allowed to travel to the European Union this summer. However, von der Leyen cautioned in a tweet Monday that if variants of the coronavirus emerge, "we have to act fast: we propose an EU emergency brake mechanism." Current EU restrictions allow only travelers from seven countries to enter the 27-member bloc, regardless of whether they've been vaccinated. (Neuman, 5/3)

The New York Times: What Would It Take To Vaccinate The Whole World? Let’s Take A Look.
More than 600 million people worldwide have been at least partially vaccinated against Covid-19 — meaning that more than seven billion still have not. It is a striking achievement in the shadow of a staggering challenge. ... But much of it comes down to sheer logistics. Immunizing most of humanity in short order is a monumental task, one never attempted before, and one that experts say the world wasn’t ready to confront. (Pérez-Peña, 5/4)

In other global developments —

CIDRAP: DRC Declares End To Its Latest Ebola Outbreak
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) health ministry today declared the end of the country's 12th Ebola outbreak, given that 42 days have passed with no new cases since the last patient was released from treatment. The outbreak began on Feb 7 in North Kivu province in the same area where a large outbreak took place from 2018 to 2020. Genetic sequencing suggests that the outbreak was linked to the previous event, but the source of the infection hasn't yet been determined. Eleven cases were confirmed, plus one probable infection across four of North Kivu's health zones. Six people died from their infections. (5/3)

NPR: U.S.-Mexico Efforts Targeting Drug Cartels Have Unraveled, DEA Says
A senior Drug Enforcement Administration official told NPR efforts to target drug cartels operating inside Mexico have unraveled because of a breakdown in cooperation between law enforcement agencies and militaries in the two countries. "We're willing to share [intelligence] with our counterparts in Mexico, but they themselves are too afraid to even engage with us because of repercussions from their own government if they get caught working with DEA," said Matthew Donahue, the DEA's deputy chief of operations. (Mann, 5/3)

The Atlantic: Millions Are Saying No to the Vaccines. What Are They Thinking?  
Several days ago, the mega-popular podcast host Joe Rogan advised his young listeners to skip the COVID-19 vaccine. “I think you should get vaccinated if you’re vulnerable,” Rogan said. “But if you’re 21 years old, and you say to me, ‘Should I get vaccinated?’ I’ll go, ‘No.’ ”Rogan’s comments drew widespread condemnation. But his view is surprisingly common. One in four Americans says they don’t plan to take the COVID-19 vaccine, and about half of Republicans under 50 say they won’t get a vaccine. This partisan vaccine gap is already playing out in the real world. The average number of daily shots has declined 20 percent in the past two weeks, largely because states with larger Trump vote shares are falling off the pace. (Derek Thompson, 5/3)

Bloomberg: Covid-19 At-Home Treatment: Britain Moves On To Next Big Problem 
Britain’s Vaccine Task Force was the country’s biggest triumph since the 2012 Olympics — and it was a lot more consequential. It gave the U.K., which has one of the world’s highest pandemic death tolls, early access to a suite of effective vaccines and a jumpstart on immunizing the population. It saved countless lives. Can the government replicate that success to find a drug that can treat Covid-19 at home? (Therese Raphael, 5/3)

USA Today: COVID-19 Front Lines Need Community Health Workers. They Need Support.
As a community health worker and executive director of the National Association of Community Health Workers, I’ve spent the past year gathering insights about the mental and emotional challenges for the people on the front lines of pandemic response in neighborhoods across America. I know well the anxiety and guilt they feel trying to comfort and support families who’ve struggled through loss after loss in isolation and uncertainty. Yet, on top of pandemic-induced pressures, recent events form a grim reminder of other, enduring American crises that our community responders face: a string of mass shootings and the catastrophic consequences of racism. (Denise Octavia Smith, 5/4)

Los Angeles Times: We Need A More Powerful WHO To Prevent Next COVID-19
Only a handful of places — including Taiwan, Vietnam and New Zealand — acted in time to contain the coronavirus last year, causing the world to spend trillions of dollars fighting an infection that has led to the deaths of more than 3 million people so far. The World Health Organization shoulders some of the blame. At the least, it should have declared COVID-19 a pandemic weeks sooner than March 11, 2020, which would have underlined the urgency of a global response. The organization’s failures point up the need to strengthen it. The WHO’s potential was demonstrated by the successes it did have as the world tried to corral the coronavirus. It helped coordinate an incredibly rapid global-learning process around the nature of the virus, testing, treatments and developing vaccines. And it would have accomplished more if it had had greater power to investigate outbreaks, greater resources that a more robust budget could pay for, and a greater ability to support outbreak response and vaccine development. (Charles Kenny, 5/2)

Chicago Tribune: Pandemic-Related Trauma Is Real. Resources Are Needed. 
An 11-year-old patient of mine changed abruptly from an outgoing, confident boy to an anxious, fearful one after his father developed COVID-19. He now wakes in the middle of the night crying and follows his mother around the house all day. A Catholic priest, who contracted COVID-19 during the first weeks of the pandemic, is a “long-hauler” who wakes each morning with the simple hope he’ll be able to smell a lemon slice in his tea. (Mark Reineke, 5/3)

USA Today: I Was Wrong About COVID Vaccines. Here’s What I Learned.
In this opinion section a year ago, I predicted few people would be vaccinated for coronavirus disease in 2021. I’m glad I was wrong. I’ve been vaccinated and I hope you are, or will be soon. Skeptics like me underestimated three things: mRNA technology, the speed of the Food and Drug Administration and the willingness of the U.S. government to invest billions in vaccines that might not work. These lessons have implications for the race to cure other diseases and for future pandemics. Let’s look more closely at the three misconceptions before turning to the three lessons. (David Ridley, 5/4)

Modern Healthcare: Let's Build A 'Neurodiverse-Friendly' Healthcare System
Ben is a nonverbal man in his early 20s who spent six grueling weeks in a psychiatric ward sedated with medication because a doctor misinterpreted his movements, which were due to pain from an undiagnosed hernia. He needed surgery, not chemical restraints. Ben is not alone. According to researchers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 16 million Americans with disabilities such as Down Syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy and intellectual disability (low IQ). That is almost equal to the number of new cancer cases each year. (Dr. Mai Pham, Julia Bascom and Dr. Richard Antonelli, 5/3)

The Washington Post: Banning Menthol Cigarettes Could Put Black Smokers In A New Kind Of Danger 
Smoking is bad for you, and any measure that helps people quit is theoretically good. But the federal government’s proposed ban on menthol cigarettes leaves a sour taste in my mouth — and not a nicotine-flavored one. Making it illegal to make or sell Newports, Kools and other such brands will have a massively disparate impact on African American smokers, nearly 85 percent of whom smoke menthols. By contrast, only around 30 percent of White smokers and 35 percent of Hispanic smokers choose menthol-flavored varieties. Black smokers have every right to feel targeted by the planned prohibition. (Eugene Robinson, 5/3)

Stat: Unlocking Federal Funding For Fentanyl Test Strips Will Save Lives 
It has been said that the opposite of addiction is connection. Covid-19, however, has frayed societal connections. For Americans with substance use disorder, connections that were already fragile are at a serious breaking point. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in an increased risk of using drugs alone, changes to the drug supply, and initiation or increased use of substances by individuals. Right now, the U.S. is facing unprecedented levels of overdose deaths, with an estimated more than 90,000 overdose deaths from October 2019 through September 2020. Driving this is the increasing availability and use — both knowingly and unknowingly — of highly potent, illicitly manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogues. (Regina LaBelle, Tom Coderre and Rochelle Walensky, 5/4)

The Baltimore Sun: Employers Have A Role To Play In Combating The Opioid Crisis 
At a New York hospital, a custodial worker passed out in a bathroom stall. In Ohio, police found a municipal employee slumped over his steering wheel in an IHOP parking lot. These individuals overdosed on the job — demonstrating how the opioid crisis has reared its head in America’s workplaces. According to federal government statistics, the opioid crisis costs the U.S. economy approximately $500 billion annually. And, contrary to public perceptions, most drug abusers are gainfully employed. Lifesaving interventions in the opioid crisis could happen, therefore, not in courts, hospitals or family living rooms, but instead in office cubicles. This past year I’ve worked with a digital health care start-up that provides technical support to improve medication adherence for a variety of diseases, including substance use disorder. In the course of my work, I’ve gained detailed knowledge about the convoluted landscape of private health insurance. In the United States, with no single payer, employers have an outsize role in the health and well-being of their employees. (Leah Smith, 5/3)