The New York Times: CureVac’s Covid-19 Vaccine Disappoints In Clinical Trial
The German company CureVac delivered disappointing preliminary results on Wednesday from a clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine, dimming hopes that it could help fill the world’s great need. The trial, which included 40,000 volunteers in Latin America and Europe, estimated that CureVac’s mRNA vaccine had an efficacy of just 47 percent, among the lowest reported so far from any Covid-19 vaccine maker. The trial will continue as researchers monitor volunteers for new cases of Covid-19, with a final analysis expected in two to three weeks. (Zimmer, 6/16)

USA Today: CureVac Releases Disappointing Vaccine Trial Results, Citing Variants
A vaccine developed by German company CureVac is just 47% efficacious against COVID-19, according to clinical trial data released Wednesday. In a study of about 40,000 people in Latin America and Europe, there were 134 cases, according to the release. Of 124 cases sequenced, just one was attributable to the original COVID-19 strain, and more than half were caused by "variants of concern," according to CureVac. (Bacon, Aspegren and Hauck, 6/16)

AP: Interim Trial Data Shows Low Effectiveness For CureVac Shot
German vaccine maker CureVac said Wednesday that interim data from late-stage testing of its coronavirus shot show a comparatively low effectiveness in protecting people against COVID-19. The results appear to be a significant setback for CureVac’s efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine, and the company’s stock value tumbled in after-hours trading. (Jordans, 6/16)

The Wall Street Journal: CureVac Shares Plunge Premarket On Disappointing Covid-19 Vaccine Trial
Shares in Germany’s CureVac NV fell by almost half in premarket trading, pointing to hefty losses for investors when the market reopens, after the pharmaceutical company reported disappointing results from a study of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine. (Loftus, 6/17)

Axios: U.S. Buys 200 Million Additional Doses Of Moderna’s COVID Vaccine 
The Biden administration has purchased an additional 200 million doses of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, the biotech company announced Wednesday. Moderna and the Biden administration say the additional doses could be used to vaccinate children or — if necessary — as a booster shot. (Knutson, 6/16)

Fox News: CDC Panel To Discuss COVID-19 Vaccination, Rare Heart Issues
Reports of heart inflammation among a small fraction of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine recipients, predominantly males under 30, are under review as an advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to meet Friday to further discuss the issue. Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, deputy director of the Immunization Safety Office at the CDC, noted 275 reports of myocarditis and pericarditis among vaccinated males aged 16-24 as of May 31 against a backdrop of over 12 million administered doses. While younger groups aged 12-24 accounted for nearly 9% of all administered doses, the group comprised over half (52.5%) of 528 reports relating to heart issues across all age groups. (Rivas, 6/16)

In other news —

Politico: Trump Rails Against Covid Vaccines For ‘Very Young People’ 
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday railed against Covid-19 vaccines for school-aged children, falsely making his point by saying that young people — though he didn’t specify which ages — were “not affected or affected badly” by the coronavirus. Trump’s claims in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday night come as older Americans have been vaccinated against Covid at high rates in the U.S. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration said Pfizer’s Covid shot could be given to children 12-15 years old — making it the first vaccine available for Americans under 16. Vaccine manufacturers and regulators are now turning their attention to making sure shots are safe and effective for younger children. (Ward, 6/16)

KHN: Not All Experts Are Ready To Vaccinate Kids Against Covid 
Lucien Wiggins, 12, arrived at Tufts Children’s Hospital by ambulance June 7 with chest pains, dizziness and high levels of a protein in his blood that indicated inflammation of his heart. The symptoms had begun a day earlier, the morning after his second vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA shot. For Dr. Sara Ross, chief of pediatric critical care at the Boston hospital, the event confirmed a doubt she’d been nursing: Was the country pushing its luck by vaccinating children against covid at a time when the disease was relatively mild in the young — and skepticism of vaccines was frighteningly high? (Allen, 6/17)

And other vaccine development news —

Stat: AMA Delegates Vote To Support Controversial Covid-19 IP Waiver
The American Medical Association delegates voted at their annual meeting to support a controversial proposal to temporarily waive intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines, the latest bid to widen distribution to low and middle-income countries. The show of support comes amid growing anxiety that a large swath of the world’s population will remain vulnerable to the coronavirus and its variants. At the outset of the pandemic, wealthy nations raced to sign deals with vaccine makers and now account for nearly half of the 12.2 billion doses locked up in purchase agreements, according to the Duke Global Health Innovation Center. (Silverman, 6/16)

CNBC: Novartis CEO Outlines How Best To Prepare For The Next Pandemic
The chief executive of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis on Wednesday outlined how policymakers and the health industry can learn from the coronavirus crisis to improve pandemic preparedness. “Pandemics have been with us for centuries. If you go back into the recorded history, probably on the order of 15 pandemics in the last 200 to 300 years. And, so pandemics periodically happen, and they are probably bound to happen again in the future,” Novartis CEO Dr. Vas Narasimhan told Julianna Tatelbaum at the virtual CNBC Evolve Global Summit. (Meredith, 6/16)

CBS News: Nearly 900 New Yorkers Who Got COVID-19 Vaccine In Times Square Received Expired Doses 
Almost 900 people were injected with expired Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses at a vaccination site in New York's Times Square last week, CBS New York reports. The New York State Health Department is recommending that they schedule another Pfizer shot. Eight-hundred-ninety-nine people got the injections at the former NFL Experience building between June 5 and 10. (Howard, 6/16)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

The Oregonian: Oregon’s $100 Gift Cards Motivated People To Get COVID-19 Shots, State Says, And Several Hundred Remain Available 
More than 400 people can still score $100 gift cards beginning Wednesday if they decide to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at the Oregon Convention Center. The state rolled out the incentive program last week to entice more people to get vaccinated, and it appears to have worked in part. Some people lined up at the convention center two hours before doors opened June 12, Gov. Kate Brown’s office said, the first day shots came with a $100 gift card to Fred Meyer or Safeway. (Zarkhin, 6/16)

The Mercury News: New California Vaccine Prize: Six Flags Ticket With Shot
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new giveaway to encourage more Californians to get vaccinated — 50,000 free tickets to the state’s four Six Flags amusement parks for those who get shots at nearby community clinics. Newsom said in a visit to the Texas-based amusement park chain’s California flagship — Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia — that although California has among the country’s highest vaccination rates, “we recognize that a lot of people haven’t gotten vaccinated, and we need to do more to encourage them.” “Get a single dose of the vaccine,” Newsom said, “you will get a free ticket.” (Woolfolk, 6/16)

Axios: Graphic: Which States Have Vaccinated At Least 70% Of Adults 
In 15 states, at least 70% of adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the latest CDC data shows. On the flip side, fewer than 50% of adults have gotten at least one shot in four states including Wyoming, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The majority of states (29) have reached 60% or more of adults with at least one dose of the vaccine. (Reed, 6/16)

USA Today: Low Vaccine Rates In Face Of Delta, Gamma COVID Variants Worry Experts
The nation will have to remain vigilant against variants this summer and fall. First, there is the alpha variant, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated made up 66% of U.S. cases in April. The variant, first documented in the UK, is considered more transmissible and perhaps deadlier than the original strain. Then, there's the delta variant, which tore through India last month and delayed the United Kingdom's reopening plan. Now it accounts for about 6-10% of coronavirus infections in the U.S., according to the CDC. But the variant that keeps Washington state epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist "up at night?" The gamma variant, which now accounts for 16% of cases in the state and is the fastest-rising, according to the Seattle Times. (Aspegren, 6/17)

AP: Vaccine Effort Turns Into Slog As Infectious Variant Spreads
As cases tumble and states reopen, the potential final stage in the U.S. campaign to vanquish COVID-19 is turning into a slog, with a worrisome variant gaining a bigger foothold and lotteries and other prizes failing to persuade some Americans to get vaccinated. “The last half, the last mile, the last quarter-mile always requires more effort,” Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday. (Smith, 6/16)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Coronavirus Hot Spots Spread Across Missouri, Driven By Variant 
Hot spots of COVID-19 cases continue to spread across northern and southwest Missouri, sparking concerns that the virus — especially a more dangerous variant — will reach more vulnerable populations in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas. Average daily cases across the state have increased to almost 600 from around 400 a day at the beginning of June, driven mainly by big upticks in outstate Missouri. With that growth, Missouri ranks third among all states for the most cases per 100,000 residents in the last seven days, according to The New York Times nationwide tracker. (Munz, 6/16)

CNN: These Communities Remain At High Risk For Dangerous Covid-19 Variants Rapidly Increasing In US, Expert Warns 
The country continued this week on a path to reopening from the Covid-19 pandemic, with major population centers such as New York and California pulling back on restrictions following increased vaccinations and lowered infections. Yet with overall vaccination rates in the US slowing this month when compared to highs in April, health officials are raising awareness about the uneven distribution of vaccines in different parts of the country. (Caldwell, 6/17)

Health News Florida: DeSantis Downplays Delta Variant Of Coronavirus 
As the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday labeled the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus a “variant of concern,” Gov. Ron DeSantis downplayed the potential impact it could have on the state. DeSantis avoided directly answering a reporter’s question about whether the state needs to do more to prepare for the Delta variant. “There’s been a lot of talk about variants leading up to this,” DeSantis said after a state Cabinet meeting. “I think it gets put out there in ways designed to frighten people.” (6/16)

Reuters: Delta Variant Fueled 50% Rise In English COVID Prevalence -Study
The rapid spread of the Delta coronavirus variant has driven a 50% rise in infections in England since May, a large prevalence study led by Imperial College London found on Thursday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson delayed the end of restrictions. The government said the data supported Johnson’s decision to push back the end of COVID restrictions in England to July 19, citing the threat of the Delta variant first identified in India, and the need to vaccinate more people. (6/16)

CNN: Delta Variant: How Worried Should You Be? 
The Covid news is contradictory. The country is more open every day and getting back to normal. People who want a vaccine should already have it. Sports stadiums are packed. Airlines are full. Restaurants are booked. But as the US passes 600,000 confirmed Covid deaths, there are also warnings about the rise of a new Covid strain, the Delta variant, taking over in the US. It's hard to understand how worried to be. (Wolf, 6/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: Uber Requires Masks On Rides, Even For Those Who Are Vaccinated
The ride-sharing company detailed its “no mask, no ride” policy to app users on Wednesday, saying it will continue to require all customers to wear masks in its vehicles. “To help keep each other safe, all riders and drivers are required to wear a mask when using Uber,” it said in an email, adding “if you have received the COVID-19 vaccine, you are still required to wear a mask when using Uber.” The app will require customers to complete a safety checklist before using its service. (Vaziri, Beamish and Fracassa, 6/16)

Health News Florida: DeSantis Pushes Through Pardons For All COVID-19 Violators 
With Gov. Ron DeSantis saying lockdown restrictions and mask mandates meant to stop the spread of COVID-19 did more harm than good, the state clemency board on Wednesday pardoned all Floridians who were arrested or fined for violating local government requirements about wearing masks or social distancing. “This action is necessary so that we can recover, have a good transition to normal operations, and also just a recognition that a lot of this stuff was way, way overboard,” DeSantis said. (Sexton, 6/16)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore City To Lift Mask Mandate July 1 Following End Of Maryland’s COVID-19 State Of Emergency 
Starting July 1, Baltimore will lift its citywide mask mandate and state of emergency, a decision that came just one day after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced the same measures for the state. Mayor Brandon Scott and health commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, speaking at a news conference Wednesday outside the Baltimore City Health Department, said the move validates the “incredible progress” the city has made in mitigating the infections, deaths and hospitalizations caused by the virus. (Miller, 6/16)

Albuquerque Journal: NM Reopening Target In Doubt As Vaccinations Short Of 60%
After an earlier slowdown, New Mexicans are completing their COVID-19 vaccinations at a faster pace since the Department of Health started offering $100 in cash to get the shot, top health officials said Wednesday. But it isn’t clear whether New Mexico will reach its goal of vaccinating 60% of adult residents by the end of Thursday – the target Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration said would allow the state to fully reopen July 1. (McKay and Boyd, 6/16)

AP: California To Loosen Worksite Pandemic Rules Amid Reopening
California regulators on Thursday are set to approve revised worksite pandemic rules that allow fully vaccinated employees the same freedoms as when they are off the job. The revised regulations would conform with general state guidelines that took effect Tuesday by ending most mask rules for people who are vaccinated against the coronavirus. (Thompson, 6/17)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Mom Sues Ankeny School District, Claiming Retaliation Over Masks
Kimberly Reicks says in the lawsuit that she sent a doctor's note in December informing the district that her kindergarten-age daughter should be excused from wearing a mask. The note said the face mask had caused a staph infection on the child's face. Reicks alleges in the suit that her daughter was removed from a desk she shared with other children and required to sit alone. Reicks also claims that after she publicly complained and attended a protest outside of the School Board's March 22 meeting,  the district retaliated by adding a plexiglass enclosure to the desk. (Mercado, 6/16)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Fired Pa. Contractor Seeks To Secure Contact Tracing Data After Learning Personal Info Still Online
The company responsible for administering Pennsylvania’s contact tracing program has called on current and former employees to help it locate and secure documents online that might still contain the personal information of those who were contacted. In an email sent Friday to current and former employees, a copy of which was obtained by Spotlight PA, a lawyer for Insight Global asked them to contact the company’s information security team if they had any paper or electronic records, internet links and files, or Google Drive documents related to the program. (Martines, 6/17)

ABC News: Texas Man Who Declined COVID-19 Vaccine Speaks Out After Undergoing Double Lung Transplant
Joshua Garza had a chance to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in January but he passed it up, thinking he didn't really need it. Now, the 43-year-old Texan is hoping to inspire others to get the shot after he became so ill following his COVID-19 diagnosis that he needed a rare double lung transplant to survive. (Deliso, 6/16)

CNN: Families Mourn The Loss Of Loved Ones Who Hesitated On The Covid-19 Vaccine 
Mike Lewis Jr. was on a call with the doctor last month when he heard the sudden and frantic beeping of machines.His father, also named Mike Lewis, was being treated for Covid-19 at a hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. The doctor called to say Lewis' heart had stopped earlier in the day, but they revived him and put him on a ventilator. During that call, however, his heart stopped again. Lewis Jr. described hearing a chaotic scene in the background before the doctor quickly hung up. (Killough and Lavandera, 4/16)

KHN: Unvaccinated, Homebound And Now Hospitalized With Covid In New York City 
Dr. Leora Horwitz treats fewer and fewer covid patients at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. Still, she thinks there are too many. And they almost all have something in common. “I’ve only had one patient who was vaccinated, and he was being treated for cancer with chemotherapy,” she said, reflecting recent research on the vaccines’ limited effectiveness for cancer patients. “Everyone else hasn’t been vaccinated.” (Mogul, 6/16)

In other covid updates —

Reuters: Pfizer's Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug Shows Benefit In COVID-19 Pneumonia 
Pfizer Inc. said on Wednesday its oral rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz reduced death or respiratory failure in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with pneumonia in Brazil, meeting the study's main goal. Results of the study, which tested the drug in 289 hospitalized adult patients with the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. (6/16)

Modern Healthcare: AMA Policy Will Support Long-Haul COVID Research
The policy, adopted during a special meeting of the AMA's House of Delegates, calls for federal funding to research prevention, control, and treatment of long haul COVID—also known as post-acute sequelae infection, or PASC. Various studies have shown that between 10% and 30% of patients suffer from long-term symptoms. A JAMA Network study published in February found that 30% of patients who were followed for up to nine months post infection reported persistent symptoms, including fatigue, loss of sense of smell or taste, and brain fog. And a study by FAIR Health showed 19% of individuals who recovered from an asymptomatic COVID-19 inflection developed symptoms of PASC. (Gellman, 6/16)

The Washington Post: As Coronavirus Recedes, Colds And Common Viruses Are Back — Especially Among Children 
The comeback of ordinary viruses is widely regarded as a dark underside of a season in which the coronavirus has been receding in much of the nation as vaccinations provide protection. As a result, people are shedding masks and abandoning social distancing — and resuming spreading viral droplets. (Goldstein and Nirappil, 6/16)

Reuters: China Disease Expert Says COVID-19 Origins Probe Should Shift To U.S.
A senior Chinese epidemiologist said the United States should be the priority in the next phase of investigations into the origin of COVID-19 after a study showed the disease could have been circulating there as early as December 2019, state media said on Thursday. The study, published this week by the U.S. National Institutes for Health (NIH), showed that at least seven people in five U.S. states were infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, weeks before the United States reported its first official cases. (6/17)

Fox News: Biden Denies He's 'Old Friends' With China's Xi, Says World Questioning Beijing On COVID-19 Origin Probe
President Biden pushed back on the assertion that he and Chinese Xi Jinping were "old friends" at a press conference on Wednesday, arguing that the international community was questioning Beijing’s commitment to a transparent investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy pressed Biden on whether he'd pressure China following the president’s summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Geneva. Biden has made frequent references to his long-standing relationship with Xi dating back to the Obama administration. (Barrabi, 6/16)

Fox News: Trump On COVID Origins: 'I Believe It Was A Terrible Accident, But I Believe It Came From The Lab' 
Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he believes the coronavirus pandemic is the result of a "terrible accident" during an exclusive interview on "Hannity." Addressing the latest developments in the Wuhan lab-leak theory, Trump told host Sean Hannity that while the pandemic was a "horrible" experience that claimed more than three million lives across the globe, he is fairly certain that it was accidental on China's part."I believe it was a terrible accident, but I believe it came from the lab," Trump said. (Halon, 6/17)

NBC News: Wuhan Lab Leak Theory: Behind The Science And Origin Of Covid
Alina Chan isn't saying the coronavirus definitely leaked from a lab in China. What she is saying is what more scientists have grown comfortable discussing publicly: There's no clear evidence either way. "I know a lot of people want to have a smoking gun," said Chan, a postdoctoral associate at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University who specializes in genetic engineering and has been vocal about the need to investigate the possibility of a lab leak. "It's more like breadcrumbs everywhere, and they're not always leading in one direction. It's like the whole floor is covered in breadcrumbs." (Chow, 6/16)

ABC News: Nature-Based Or Lab Leak? Unraveling The Debate Over The Origins Of COVID-19 
An accidental lab leak, or the dark side of mother nature? That fundamental question -- about the origins of a COVID-19 pandemic that has taken nearly 4 million lives -- has sparked a political firestorm in the U.S. and threatened the already fraught ties between Washington and Beijing. (Folmer, Salzman, Pezenik, Abdelmalek and Bruggeman, 6/14)

In related news —

Modern Healthcare: Sequencing Study Uncovers MERS-Related COVID In Swiss Bats
Researchers have identified dozens of DNA and RNA viruses in stationary and migratory bat species in Switzerland, including a coronavirus related to the MERS-CoV behind Middle East respiratory syndrome. For a paper published in PLOS One on Wednesday, a team from the University of Zurich and the Bat Foundation Switzerland did DNA sequencing and RNA sequencing on fecal, stool, or organ tissue samples from some 7,000 bats spanning 18 species found at sites in Switzerland over several years. By comparing sequences in these samples to those from available databases, they tracked down representatives from more than three dozen viral families — a set that contained viruses in 16 viral families linked to infections in other vertebrate species. (6/16)

The Washington Post: Title IX Protects Transgender Students, Says Education Department 
The U.S. Education Department said Wednesday that the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education extends to gay and transgender students, the latest move in a broad effort by the Biden administration to roll back Trump-era restrictions on transgender students’ rights. The department said Wednesday that its new position comes out of its interpretation of a landmark Supreme Court decision a year ago in Bostock v. Clayton County, which extended protections in the Civil Rights Act against discrimination in the workplace to gay and transgender Americans. (Strauss, 6/16)

In other news on LGBTQ issues —

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Lawmakers Continue To Mull Restrictions For Transgender Youth
As they consider legislation affecting transgender youth, Utah lawmakers on Wednesday heard on one hand from a University of Utah doctor who runs a clinic serving hundreds of teens who are exploring or undergoing a transition. On the other side of the issue was a selection of non-physicians, who offered up research from a group that links being gay with pedophilia and compares adolescent transgender health care to “child abuse.” But in the end, some Utah legislators said they remained torn about who they should listen to as they think about limiting youth access to medication that suppresses puberty and other gender-affirming health care. (Rodgers, 6/17)

KHN: It’s About To Get Tougher For Transgender People In Montana To Amend Birth Certificates 
Kyndra Nevin recalls with dread having to ask a Montana judge to sign an order documenting that she’d had gender-confirmation surgery so she could change the gender on her birth certificate to female. Nevin, a Bozeman resident and now 55, said the process she went through about a decade ago was humiliating and she continually worried the judge would deny her request. “I had to out myself just to get that court order, to basically every court staff member that I came in contact with,” she said. “Until it was all said and done, I was never sure if it was going to be OK.” (Halland, 6/17)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Sands Cares Donation To Aid The Center Expand Health Clinic
Sands Cares will contribute $163,000 to The LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada, according to a news release. The donation will close out the $400,000 initial phase of the capital campaign to expand the Arlene Cooper Community Health Center at 401 S. Maryland Parkway in downtown Las Vegas. The Center plans to provide full onsite health and wellness care for LGBTQIA+ Las Vegans and low-income downtown residents. The capital campaign funds also will support the organization’s long-term goal of generating recurring revenue through the clinic to sustain its LGBTQIA+ programming in Southern Nevada, according to the release. (Ross, 6/16)

In other news about the Biden administration —

Politico: Hamburgers, Fauci And Election Fraud: How Biden World Combats Disinformation 
As Joe Biden walked out of a recent briefing, a reporter called out one last, unrelated question.“Mr. President, do you still have confidence in Dr. Fauci?” Biden popped his head back into the room, “Yes, I'm very confident in Dr. Fauci,” Biden said. No one would have expected the president to answer the question any differently. Anthony Fauci is his chief adviser on the Covid-19 pandemic, a celebrated infectious disease expert, and, for much of his lengthy career, one of the most trusted voices in all of government. For the White House, however, the fact that the question was even asked set off alarm bells. (Korecki, 6/16)

CIDRAP: VA Must Modernize Supply Chain Amid COVID-19, GAO Says
In the Government Accountability Office's (GAO's) latest report yesterday, the agency recommends that the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) develop a supply chain management strategy, including an explanation of how all its supply chain initiatives relate to each other. Currently, the VA's main supply chain initiatives are around implementing the Department of Defense's (DOD's) Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS) inventory system, creating four regional readiness centers for critical medical supplies, and participating in the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Warstopper Program, which would increase its access to critical medical supplies during emergencies. However, as GAO notes throughout the report, these efforts are either in their early stages or have already been delayed. (McLernon, 6/16)

Fox News: Biogen's Debated Alzheimer's Drug Given To First Patient
A Rhode Island man became the first patient worldwide to receive Biogen’s hotly debated Alzheimer’s drug outside of a clinical trial on Wednesday, a hospital spokesperson confirmed to Fox News. Marc Archambault, 70 of Wakefield, received the infusion shortly before noon at Butler Hospital in Providence, according to spokesperson Raina Smith of Care New England. The patient met the criteria for people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease, Smith said. (Rivas, 6/16)

Modern Healthcare: U.S. Drug Spending Projected To Spike With New Alzheimer's Drug
U.S. prescription drug spending will jump at least 8% by the mid-2020s as a controversial new Alzheimer's disease drug hits the market, a new analysis finds. The intravenous drug aducanumab, marketed under the name Aduhelm, will comprise more than 1% of all national health spending by the mid-2020s, according to the report released Wednesday by the not-for-profit research group Altarum. It will grow non-retail drug spending—those administered in hospitals or clinics—by at least 25%. (Bannow, 6/16)

In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —

Stat: Lawmakers Revive Bills To Accelerate The Development Of New Antibiotics
After months of anticipation, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is reintroducing bills in the Senate and the House that supporters hope will jump-start the development of novel antibiotics to combat drug-resistant bacteria. The legislation, called the PASTEUR Act, would provide upfront payments anywhere from $750 million to $3 billion to a drug developer in exchange for unlimited access to its antibiotic. The “subscription model” would enable drug companies to recover their investments in research and development and make an appropriate profit without having to sell large amounts of antibiotics to survive financially. (Silverman, 6/16)

Modern Healthcare: Federal Judge Keeps 340B Suit Against HHS Alive
A federal judge on Wednesday refused HHS' request to dismiss AstraZeneca's challenge to a December advisory opinion from Health and Human Resources Administration blocking drugmakers from charging a covered entity more than the ceiling price for 340B drugs. U.S. District Judge Leonard Stark in Delaware didn't rule on the wisdom of the policy but said that the government's position on drugmakers' obligations under the 340B program had shifted over time. Congress didn't clearly address the issue of contract pharmacies when it created the drug discount program more than two decades ago, he said. (Brady, 6/16)

Axios: Anthem Joins Insurer-Backed Generic Drugs Effort 
A new initiative aiming to create cheaper generic drugs for retail pharmacies signed on Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield — one the largest insurers in the U.S. — as well as drug manufacturer Catalent as partners, officials announced this morning. The newly-named CivicaScript, a subsidiary of the hospital-owned non-profit drug maker Civica Rx, is the latest effort by the health care industry to get control of generic drug prices. (Reed, 6/16)

Stat: Sage Antidepressant Achieves Goals Of Study, But Questions Linger
Sage Therapeutics said Tuesday that an experimental pill designed to alleviate depression with a two-week course of therapy was successful in a large clinical trial involving patients with major depressive disorder. The Sage drug, called zuranolone, demonstrated a statistically significant, anti-depressive benefit compared to a placebo. The positive results are a comeback win for Sage and its efforts to develop zuranolone for several different depressive disorders. The drug failed a similar study in December 2019. (Feuerstein, 6/15)

KHN: Device Makers Have Funneled Billions To Orthopedic Surgeons Who Use Their Products
Dr. Kingsley R. Chin was little more than a decade out of Harvard Medical School when sales of his spine surgical implants took off. Chin has patented more than 40 pieces of such hardware, including doughnut-shaped plastic cages, titanium screws and other products used to repair spines — generating $100 million for his company SpineFrontier, according to government officials. (Schulte and Lucas, 6/17)

NBC News: Dentists See Rise In Cosmetic Dentistry Requests As Pandemic Restrictions Ease
Cosmetic dentist Kourosh Maddahi noticed a trend among his patients in Beverly Hills, California, beginning around March: Demand for treatments, everything from teeth whitening to full smile-makeovers, was higher than pre-pandemic levels. Even international virtual consultations restarted as people again consider traveling to the United States for cosmetic dentistry work. Why now? Maddahi said the main reason his patients have been giving is: “I’m not scared anymore.” (Silva, 6/16)

AP: UT Health Center: $1.5M Sexual Assault Nurse Training Grant
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Nursing has secured a $1.5 million federal grant to expand training and certification for nurses caring for sexual assault victims. On Wednesday, the center in Memphis announced that the three-year grant from the Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration will expand the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program in West Tennessee. (6/17)

Detroit Free Press: Spectrum Health Now Allows 2 Visitors A Day For COVID-Positive Patients
In a reversal of long-standing pandemic restrictions, Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health announced Wednesday that COVID-19 patients getting treatment at its 14 hospitals now will be able to have two visitors per day — even if those patients are infectious. "We've really been looking forward to the day when we can make sure that we can get loved ones (in to visit) some of these very long-term, very sick patients," said Chad Tuttle, senior vice president of hospital operations for the health system. (Jordan Shamus, 6/17)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Pennsylvania Hospital Doctor Sues Penn Medicine After Patient Repeatedly Stabbed Her
A doctor who was repeatedly stabbed by a patient at Pennsylvania Hospital this year sued the facility and its parent organization Wednesday, accusing both of failing to take steps that could have prevented the attack and adopting an “abject disregard” for the safety of employees. The complaint, which was filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court and names the hospital and Penn Medicine among its defendants, offers a harrowing account of the Feb. 23 assault by a psychiatric patient, who repeatedly stabbed his victim in the head and face using a knife taken from a lunch tray. (Roebuck, 6/16)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Steward Health Care To Pay $1.1 Billion For Five Tenet Hospitals
Steward Health Care will pay Tenet Healthcare Corp. $1.1 billion for five of its Florida hospitals, the Dallas-based for-profit health systems announced late Wednesday. Steward will acquire Coral Gables Hospital, Florida Medical Center, Hialeah Hospital, North Shore Medical Center and Palmetto General Hospital. As part of the agreement, Steward will still use Tenet's Conifer Health Solutions subsidiary for the hospitals' revenue cycle management and Tenet's United Surgical Partners International will continue to operate the associated ambulatory facilities. (Kacik, 6/16)

Axios: State Health Plans Are Reluctant To Tackle High Hospital Costs 
If anyone's incentivized to drive down hospital costs, it's state employee health plans. But that's often not where they're focused, per a new study by Georgetown's Center on Health Insurance Reforms. Hospital prices are cited most frequently by state plans as their top cost driver, but they're more likely to target other forms of health care spending when it comes to curbing costs. (Owens, 6/17)

Health News Florida: All Children's, UF Shands Get High Marks Among Southeast Pediatric Hospitals 
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg and UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville shared top honors among the state's pediatric facilities and were among the best pediatric hospitals in the Southeast in U.S. News & World Report’s 2021-22 Best Children’s Hospital Rankings. No Florida children’s hospitals were included in the top 10 nationally. It’s the first year that U.S. News & World Report produced state-specific and regional rankings. (6/16)

Stat: Planned Changes At Open Society Has Medicine Advocacy Groups On Edge
The Open Society Foundations, one of the world’s largest backers of public health initiatives, is undergoing a “significant” reorganization that will affect grant decision-making, a shift that has created anxiety among advocacy groups that work on access to medicines. The changes at the OSF, which was founded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros, are still being finalized, although grants will be handled by different OSF offices, according to a foundation spokesperson. She insisted “it is too early to tell” how advocacy groups will be affected, but maintained the contemplated changes may result in “significantly bigger” discretionary funds for public health programming. (Silverman, 6/17)

Bloomberg: Mobile Health Apps Plagued By Privacy Issues, Study Finds
Health and fitness apps, which help mobile-phone users track everything from calorie intake to menstruation dates, can access and share personal data in a way that’s concerning, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. The analysis of more than 20,000 apps found that inadequate privacy disclosures for many of them prevented users from making informed choices about their data. One third could collect user email addresses and many more transmitted data to third parties such as advertisers. (Gemmell, 6/16)

CBS News: With Moratorium Ending, More Than 8 Million Households Face Foreclosure Or Eviction 
Even as the nation rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic, more than 2 million homeowners are behind on their mortgages and risk being forced out of their homes in a matter of weeks, a new Harvard University housing report warns. Most of the homeowners at risk of foreclosure are either low-income or families of color, said researchers who published the 2021 State of the Nation's Housing report. Congress has dedicated $10 billion to help homeowners get caught up on payments, but it's unclear if that funding will make it to families before mortgage companies begin sending out foreclosure notices, researchers say. (Brooks, 6/16)

The New York Times: 8,000 Homeless People To Be Moved From Hotels To Shelters, New York Says 
New York City plans to move about 8,000 homeless people out of hotel rooms and back to barrackslike dorm shelters by the end of July so that the hotels can reopen to the general public, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday. When the pandemic lockdown began last spring, New York City moved the people out of the shelters, where in some cases as many as 60 adults stayed in a single room, to safeguard them from the coronavirus. Now, with social distancing restrictions lifted and an economic recovery on the line, the city is raring to fill those hotel rooms with tourists. (Newman, 6/16)

Los Angeles Times: City Of L.A. Asks Court To Toss Out Lawsuit Seeking Skid Row Clearance
The city of Los Angeles filed a motion on Wednesday seeking dismissal of what it called a “misguided” lawsuit that attempts to compel local government to provide shelter to thousands of homeless people living on downtown sidewalks and next to freeways. Lawyers for the city argue that while homelessness is “among the greatest challenges facing our region,” efforts to address it through the lawsuit filed in federal court last year against the city and county are misplaced. (6/16)

In sports and recreation news —

The Wall Street Journal: Royal Caribbean Postpones July Cruise After Crew Members Test Positive For Covid-19 
Royal Caribbean Group is postponing a voyage in July after eight crew members tested positive for Covid-19, demonstrating the challenges that arise with restarting cruises during the pandemic. The cruise line detected the cases as part of a routine testing for crew members of the Odyssey of the Seas ship, Royal Caribbean International Chief Executive Michael Bayley said in a Facebook post. The company is moving the Odyssey’s sailing out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to July 31 from July 3 “out of an abundance of caution,” Mr. Bayley said. (Sebastian, 6/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: NFL, Players Union Strike Deal On COVID Protocols, Lift Restrictions For Fully Vaccinated
The NFL and its Players Association agreed to updated COVID-19 protocols Wednesday for training camp and the coming preseason, and the guidelines clearly incentivize players to get vaccinated. Among the requirements for players who are not fully vaccinated: daily coronavirus testing, masks at team facilities and during travel, physical distancing, quarantine after high-risk exposure to COVID, a 15-player limit in the weight room and not leaving the team hotel to eat in restaurants. (Kroichick, 6/16)

AP: US Open Tennis Tournament To Allow 100% Fan Capacity In 2021
The U.S. Open tennis tournament will allow 100% spectator capacity throughout its entire two weeks in 2021, a year after spectators were banned from the event because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Fendrich, 6/17)

In other public health news —

CBS News: Hackers Can Spy On Peloton Bike And Treadmill Users 
Peloton says it has fixed a security flaw in the fitness equipment maker's stationary bike and treadmill products that potentially allowed hackers to spy on users and even control their exercise machines. Security software company McAfee identified the vulnerability, warning that someone with physical access to Peloton's Bike+ and Tread+ products could gain control of the devices through a USB port on the interactive tablet mounted on the machines that are used to stream live workouts. (Cerullo, 6/16)

ABC News: Court Voids Ruling That Sperm Donor Must Pay Child Support
When it comes to deciding whether a sperm donor should pay child support, a judge should follow the paternity laws of the state where the child is conceived, a North Carolina appeals court ruled this week. The case involved Anthony Garrelts, a North Carolina man who agreed by a “verbal contract” to provide artificial insemination for Ericka Glenn, who wanted to raise a child with her partner. Glenn and Garrelts met in Virginia, and the insemination and pregnancy occurred there before the child was born in late 2011. Glenn — the only parent mentioned on the birth certificate — moved with the child in 2014 to California, where she received public benefits. (Robertson, 6/16)

AP: Dead 'Murder Hornet' Found Near Seattle Is First In U.S. This Year
Scientists have found a dead Asian giant hornet north of Seattle, the first so-called murder hornet discovered in the country this year, federal and state investigators said Wednesday. Entomologists from the state and U.S. Agriculture departments said it's the first confirmed report from Snohomish County, north of Seattle, and appears to be unrelated to the 2019 and 2020 findings of the hornets in Canada and Whatcom County, along the Canadian border, that gained widespread attention. (6/17)

In updates on the opioid epidemic —

Charleston Gazette-Mail: Early Intervention, Programs Needed For Children And Families To Overcome Effects Of Opioid Crisis
Early intervention and long-term programs are needed for families affected by opioid use disorder to be successful, a witness said Wednesday at the trial in which Huntington and Cabell County are seeking money from drug distributors accused of fueling the opioid epidemic. But those distributors on trial said the programs needed are already in place, funded by other sources, such as the federal and state governments, and are not the responsibility of the municipalities, thus the county and city cannot sue for money on their behalf. (Hessler, 6/16)

North Carolina Health News: 75% Of NC Overdose Deaths Involve Multiple Drugs
In recent years, the street drug market has become increasingly polluted by additives. Number one among those is fentanyl, which is commonly added to heroin and now being added into other substances. Fentanyl and its close relative, carfentanil, are synthetic opioids considered to be 100 to 10,000 times stronger than morphine. They are being found in many other drugs, a trend that accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic, according to harm reduction workers across the state. (Knopf, 6/17)

The Washington Post: North Carolina's 20-Week Abortion Ban Is Unconstitutional 
North Carolina’s decades-old ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy is unconstitutional and poses a credible threat of prosecution to abortion providers, a federal appeals court unanimously affirmed Wednesday. The ruling comes one month after the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will review a case challenging Mississippi’s restrictive ban and consider whether “all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions” are unconstitutional. (Marimow, 6/16)

Dallas Morning News: Abbott Signs Into Law Bill Prohibiting Abortions If Supreme Court Overturns Roe V. Wade
Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed into law a bill that would outlaw abortions in Texas if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. The measure, House Bill 1280, would make it a second-degree felony to perform or try to perform an abortion, and would take effect 30 days after an applicable court ruling. Under the bill, if the fetus dies, the penalty would be upgraded to a first-degree felony with the potential for a life sentence. Abortion providers who violate the ban also could lose their license and face fines of at least $100,000. (Smith, 6/16)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Fight Over Birth Control Looms As Missouri Lawmakers Prepare For Special Session 
State lawmakers on Wednesday were preparing for an extraordinary legislative session next week that could determine whether low-income Missouri women continue to have access to certain birth control methods through Medicaid. At issue is the renewal of the Federal Reimbursement Allowance, a tax on hospitals and other medical providers seen as critical to the state’s Medicaid program. Conservatives blocked renewal of the tax during the Legislature’s regular session, holding out for restrictions on contraceptives and bans on money flowing to abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood. (Suntrup, 6/16)

In news from California —

Los Angeles Times: Court Orders California To Treat Mentally Ill Defendants
A state appeals court has ordered California to move disabled inmates found mentally incompetent to stand trial out of jails and into treatment. A three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal in San Francisco set a deadline of 28 days for the state to move mentally ill and intellectually disabled defendants into hospitals or treatment programs after a court has found them too impaired to stand trial. Those defendants now often spend months in jail, where lawyers say they have died of suicide or suffered abuse while awaiting medical attention. (Dolan, 6/16)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Moves To Ban Selling Flavored Tobacco, But Exempts Some Hookah Sales
Tobacco products that come in sweet, fruity and minty flavors could soon be banned from store shelves in Los Angeles, under a proposal backed Wednesday by the City Council. Council members voted to ask city attorneys to start drafting the ban on selling flavored tobacco products, which has been sought by a coalition of youth and public health advocates. Backers of the ban argue that such products — including liquid pods for electronic cigarettes, menthols and flavored cigars — have been a gateway to hooking teens on nicotine. (Alpert Reyes, 6/16)

In other news —

Modern Healthcare: Colorado Healthcare, Prescription Drug Bills Are Now Laws
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday signed into law legislation requiring insurers to offer a standard state-supervised health plan to people and small business. The law also provides for sanctions for hospitals and other healthcare providers that don't participate in lowering costs. What was once envisioned as a so-called "public option" to be offered by the state became a plan passed during the just-concluded legislative session that requires premium reductions by 2025 of 15% from plans now offered. (6/16)

Axios: Montana Governor Gives First-Quarter Salary To Drug Treatment Facility 
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) announced Wednesday that he'll donate the first quarter of his salary to One Health Bighorn, a facility that treats people for substance abuse. The multimillionaire has pledged to give his entire salary, about $120,000, to nonprofits. "We face a drug epidemic in our state, and while there's no silver bullet to end it, we can combat it by promoting treatment and recovery for Montanans struggling with addiction," Gianforte said in a statement, per AP. (Falconer, 6/16)

Fox News: Connecticut Confirms 2 Powassan Virus Infections: What To Know About Tick-Borne Illness
Health officials in Connecticut announced the state’s first two cases of Powassan virus detected in 2021. The cases, which stem from an infected tick bite, involved patients between 50-79 years of age who fell ill during the third week of April and required hospitalization. The patients, one from Fairfield County and one from New Haven County, were treated for central nervous system disease and have since been discharged and are recovering. The state reported just two cases last year, and 10 cases total spanning 2016-2020, two of which were fatal. (Hein, 6/16)

The Boston Globe: The State’s Second-Biggest Health Insurer Has A Buzzy New Name
The company formed by the merger of two big Massachusetts health insurers has a buzzy new name: Point32Health. Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care merged in January but did not name the new company they created, until Wednesday. The new moniker refers to the 32 points on a compass and was chosen to highlight the company’s stated goal of helping people navigate health care. “We wanted something unique and distinct that would stand out in the marketplace,” said Richard O’Connor, chief marketing officer of Point32Health. “We wanted to do something different.” (Dayal McCluskey, 6/16)

AP: Japan Announces Easing Of Virus Emergency Ahead Of Olympics
Japan on Thursday announced the easing of a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and six other areas from next week, with new daily cases falling just as the country begins final preparations for the Olympics starting in just over a month. Japan has been struggling since late March to slow a wave of infections propelled by more contagious variants, with new daily cases soaring above 7,000 at one point and seriously ill patients straining hospitals in Tokyo, Osaka and other metropolitan areas. (Yamaguchi, 6/17)

AP: Why Are Olympics Going On Despite Public, Medical Warnings?
Public sentiment in Japan has been generally opposed to holding the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, partly based on fears the coronavirus will spike as almost 100,000 people — athletes and others — enter for both events. The Japanese medical community is largely against it. The government’s main medical adviser Dr. Shigeru Omi has said it’s “abnormal” to hold the Olympics during a pandemic. So far, only 5% of Japanese are fully vaccinated. (Wade, 6/16)

In other global developments —

AP: EU Members Agree To Lift Travel Restrictions On US Tourists
The European Union is recommending that its 27 member countries start lifting restrictions on tourists from the United States.EU members agreed Wednesday to add the U.S. to the list of countries for which they should gradually remove restrictions on non-essential travel. The move was adopted during a meeting in Brussels of permanent representatives to the bloc. The recommendation is non-binding, and national governments have authority to require test results or vaccination records and to set other entry conditions. (6/16)

Bloomberg: Coronavirus Is Spreading Rapidly In England, Study Finds
The prevalence of Covid-19 in England is increasing exponentially, driven by younger age groups that haven’t been vaccinated, according to the latest round of results from the React-1 study. The research, led by Imperial College London, shows the national prevalence of the virus has increased by 50% in its latest round of analysis recorded between May 20 and June 7, compared with its last round from April 15 to May 3. A doubling time of around every 11 days was now estimated, with the R number at 1.44, the report said. It also found a re-convergence between prevalence and the pattern of hospitalizations and deaths since late April for those under 65. (Gemmell, 6/17)

AP: UK To Require COVID-19 Shots For Nursing Home Workers
Britain will require COVID-19 vaccinations for nursing home workers in England, arguing that the need to protect vulnerable residents outweighed employees’ right to choose whether to get the jab. Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the new rules Wednesday together with plans for a public consultation on extending the vaccine requirement to National Health Service workers. He described the vaccination mandate as a sensible step to save lives. (Kirka, 6/16)

CIDRAP: Global COVID Cases Continue Decline, Though Many Countries Still Struggle 
Weekly COVID-19 cases dropped to their lowest level since February, though many countries are still struggling with sparse vaccine supply, the spread of variants, and overburdened health systems, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in its weekly snapshot of the pandemic. In other developments, the WHO said it is tracking one more variant of concern, first seen in Peru and called Lambda, which has genetic markers suggesting that it is more transmissible. (Schnirring, 6/16)

AP: France Eases Mask Rules; Will End Nightly Virus Curfew
France on Wednesday eased several COVID-19 restrictions, with authorities saying it’s no longer always mandatory to wear masks outdoors and halting an 8-month nightly coronavirus curfew this weekend. The surprise announcement by French Prime Minister Jean Castex comes as France is registering about 3,900 new virus infections a day, down from 35,000 in the March-April peak. (Corbet, 6/16)

Bloomberg: France Donates Covid-19 Vaccine Doses To Uganda As Cases Jump
Uganda received 175,200 AstraZenaca doses donated by France, shoring up depleting stocks as a spike in infections increases demand for inoculations. The vaccines manufactured in Italy were donated under the Covax initiative, according to Ministry of Health spokesman Emmanuel Ainebyoona. The delivery is the third since Uganda received 864,000 doses early March manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and a donation of 100,000 doses by the south Asian country. (Ojambo, 6/17)

Also —

CIDRAP: Five Polio Vaccinators Killed In Afghanistan
In the middle of a 4-day polio vaccination campaign targeting 9.9 million Afghan children, gunmen shot and killed at least five vaccinators and injured several others today in separate attacks in eastern Nangarhar province.  The Voice of America (VOA) reported that the vaccination campaign has been halted due to the violence. Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan are the only two countries in the world where polio is endemic, but vaccinators have faced increasing violence in recent years. In March, the VOA said, three female anti-polio workers were gunned down in Jalalabad; the Islamic State eventually claimed responsibility for that attack. (6/15)

Scientific American: Pupil Size Is A Marker Of Intelligence 
It has been said that “the eyes are the window to the soul,” but new research suggests that they may be a window to the brain as well. Our pupils respond to more than just the light. They indicate arousal, interest or mental exhaustion. Pupil dilation is even used by the FBI to detect deception. Now work conducted in our laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology suggests that baseline pupil size is closely related to individual differences in intelligence. The larger the pupils, the higher the intelligence, as measured by tests of reasoning, attention and memory. In fact, across three studies, we found that the difference in baseline pupil size between people who scored the highest on the cognitive tests and those who scored the lowest was large enough to be detected by the unaided eye. (Tsukahara et al, 6/2)

ScienceDaily/Brain Stimulation: New Tool Activates Deep Brain Neurons By Combining Ultrasound, Genetics
Neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy have had some treatment success with deep brain stimulation, but those require surgical device implantation. A multidisciplinary team at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new brain stimulation technique using focused ultrasound that is able to turn specific types of neurons in the brain on and off and precisely control motor activity without surgical device implantation. The team, led by Hong Chen, assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering and of radiation oncology at the School of Medicine, is the first to provide direct evidence showing noninvasive, cell-type-specific activation of neurons in the brain of mammal by combining ultrasound-induced heating effect and genetics, which they have named sonothermogenetics. It is also the first work to show that the ultrasound- genetics combination can robustly control behavior by stimulating a specific target deep in the brain. (5/28)

ABC News: Why Honeybees May Be Key To Understanding Alcohol Addiction 
The behavior of honeybees may hold the key to future studies of alcohol addiction, according to new research. Worker honeybees that were fed alcohol-spiked food, a sucrose solution with about 1% ethanol added, for a long period of time experienced withdrawal symptoms when cut off from the solution, according to a study published Tuesday in the scientific journal Biology Letters. (Jacobo, 6/15)

American Academy Of Pediatrics: Socioeconomic Disadvantage And The Pace Of Biological Aging In Children
Children growing up under conditions of socioeconomic disadvantage exhibit a faster pace of biological aging. DNA methylation pace of aging might be useful as a surrogate end point in evaluation of programs and policies to address the childhood social determinants of lifelong health disparities. (Raffington et al, 6/1)

American Academy Of Pediatrics: Extremely Low Birth Weight And Accelerated Biological Aging 
The results of this study suggest that prenatal exposures may play an important role in aging, and that men born preterm may experience accelerated aging relative to their peers. We further highlight the need to monitor and promote the health of preterm survivors, with a particular focus on healthy aging across the life span. (Lieshout et al, 6/1)

In covid research —

CIDRAP: Parents, Women Medical Faculty More Likely To Suffer During Pandemic
Parenting and gender are each associated with a higher likelihood to leave, reduce hours, or pass on leadership opportunities, according to a survey of academic medical faculty yesterday in JAMA Network Open conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. From Sep 1 to 25, 2020, 1,186 medical, graduate, and health professional school faculty at the University of Southwest Texas in Dallas responded to the survey about their thoughts before and after the COVID-19 pandemic started. Most respondents were women (54.7%) or White (57.5%). Parents of those 18 or younger made up 55.0% of the cohort, of which 55.7% had to help with distance learning during the pandemic on their own or with a partner. The researchers note that not all respondents answered every question. (6/16)

CIDRAP: Study: Nursing Homes With Predominant Minority Populations Bore Bigger COVID Impacts
An analysis of data from 211 Connecticut nursing homes found that facilities that cared for mainly racial and ethnic minority residents had higher levels of COVID-19 illnesses and deaths. A team based at the University of Rochester in New York reported their findings today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. The 10-week time span they focused on was Apr 12, 2020, to Jun 19, 2020. Authors noted that Connecticut is one of the few states that kept weekly counts of COVID cases and deaths back to April 2020. In addition to state department data on nursing home cases and deaths, they also used Brown University data on nursing home characteristics to categorize the nursing homes as having low, medium, medium-high, and high proportions of ethnic and racial minorities. (6/16)

CIDRAP: Anticoagulation Tied To Fewer Deaths In Hospital COVID Patients 
Anticoagulation therapy given to prevent or treat venous thromboembolism (VTE) was linked to lower death rates in hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients, but the association remained at 60 days only for the prophylactic (preventive) strategy, according to a multicenter study today in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 6/11)

Bloomberg: Russia Covid Cases: Russians Don't Want Their Sputnik Vaccine 
Before thousands descended on St. Petersburg for Russia’s annual economic forum this month, the local governor boasted to radio listeners that no one had held a similar-scale event since the pandemic struck. A few days later, President Vladimir Putin told the audience that his country was in a better virus position than most and would quickly open to vaccine tourists. The triumphalism proved premature. Russia has seen a spike in Covid-19 cases over the past two weeks, with numbers at the highest in months and the added threat of troublesome new variants. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin declared an extended holiday to curb what he called an “explosive” growth in infections, and on Wednesday went further, ordering the city’s service-sector and municipal employees to get vaccinated. The Kremlin has said for months that there are no plans for compulsory jabs. (Clara Ferreira Marques, 6/17)

The Washington Post: The Delta Variant Is A Rising Threat In The U.S. We Have To Redouble Vaccination Efforts. 
As we head into summer, the covid-19 pandemic in the United States looks increasingly different depending on where you are. But for those not fully vaccinated, it is becoming increasingly dangerous almost everywhere. So far, 17 states and the District have reached President Biden’s goal of vaccinating 70 percent of adults with at least one shot, which is building in those states an effective firewall against large outbreaks in the fall and winter. Vermont recently reported that 80 percent of its population has at least one shot, making it the first state in the union to possibly achieve herd immunity. (Ashish K. Jha, 6/16)

Newsweek: COVID-19 Is Spiking In Haiti. Can We Trust The Numbers? 
Haiti has all the factors for a COVID-19 perfect storm: high population density, poor or non-existent health services and scant public participation in social distancing or wearing masks. Worse, the country has yet to administer a single dose of any COVID-19 vaccine currently available. As Haiti grapples with a new infection spike that is proportionally large for its pandemic numbers to date, the need for reliable figures takes on a new urgency for Haiti's COVID-19 preparedness. (William Fleeson, 6/16)

The CT Mirror: Why Are We Frightened To Take Off Our Masks?
One day in May the CDC had decided that it was safe for fully vaccinated individuals to remove their masks in public. For many this was a joyous occasion. For some, however, this historic moment appears to come with much confusion, hesitation and fear. In my practice, many of my fully vaccinated patients still exhibit social hesitancy and find it difficult to take off their masks. The latest research, from the American Psychological Association, suggests my patients are not alone.  According to the APA, nearly half of all Americans still feel uneasy about in-person interactions, and  expect to exhibit social cautiousness even after the pandemic is declared over. (Martin Klein, 6/17)

Los Angeles Times: It's OK To Keep Your Mask On Even When You Don't Have To 
Californians who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are no longer required to wear a face covering in most settings now that the state has lifted pandemic restrictions. Those who have yet to get a jab are not so lucky, though scofflaws probably won’t be tracked down and punished. But that doesn’t mean that all vaccinated people will choose to expose their faces immediately for a variety of valid reasons. Some people may not be ready to go maskless because of the risk to others. The risk of infection is very low for vaccinated people, but it’s not zero and they can pass it on to others who are not yet fully inoculated. Others do so for their own safety. Vaccines may not work as well for people whose immune systems are compromised. (6/17)

The Charlotte Observer: Christian McCaffrey, Sam Darnold Dodged Vaccine Questions 
Carolina Panthers Christian McCaffrey and Sam Darnold both declined to say whether they have gotten the COVID-19 vaccine yet Wednesday, and they also wouldn’t say if they ever planned to get it. I’m not mad at them for dodging those questions. I’m just disappointed. (Scott Fowler, 6/16)

Dallas Morning News: It’s Time For The COVID-19 Color-Coded Alert System To Fade Away
You may have heard the news this week that Dallas County lowered its COVID-19 threat level to “yellow,” just one step away from the “green” zone that would indicate a “new normal.” The yellow zone, signaling that unvaccinated people may “proceed carefully,” is the lowest threat level the county has reached since it introduced the four-level color-coded alert system a year ago. If you saw the headlines, your reaction was probably the same as ours: meh. (6/17)

USA Today: Why Medical Marijuana May Be A Godsend For NFL Players
ncertainty is a word often associated with NFL athletes who put football behind them and look to start a career and a new way of life. While we all face challenges in moving forward, my belief in the medical and economic benefits of cannabis, and my passion to be involved in its breakthroughs, guided my recent transition from the gridiron to the boardroom. My business partners and I want to broker change in how cannabis is perceived, how it's prescribed, how it's researched, how it's accessed, and how it can bring about lasting change for Americans from all walks of life. (Jordan Reed, 6/17)

The Boston Globe: Bonuses For Dishwashers And Ice Cream Scoopers — So Why Not For The Disability Workforce? 
To deal with a post-pandemic labor shortage, employers are offering bonuses and raising wages to hire workers to wash dishes, scoop ice cream, and serve hamburgers. When it comes to taking care of people with disabilities, the pay is low to start and, so far, unchanged by the same post-pandemic labor shortage. So far, the authority ultimately responsible for setting wages — the state of Massachusetts — hasn’t budged on increasing the current pay scale range of $15.53 to $16.50 an hour, which is about $32,000 a year. That, in turn, is causing a workforce crisis that affects thousands of people in Massachusetts. “I’m getting calls on a daily basis, asking, ‘Why can’t you take back my loved one?’ ” said Anne-Marie Bajwa, CEO of Charles River Center, which runs a day program for people with disabilities in Needham. “People are getting more desperate, saying ‘I need a break here.’ ” (Joan Vennochi, 6/16)

Scientific American: A Better Way To Pay For Health Care 
Living standards during the past generation have improved massively across the broad spectrum of our lives thanks to technological innovation and productivity. A new pair of shoes, a gallon of milk, a flight to visit our parents, a coast-to-coast call or a new television require only a fraction of hours worked compared to our parents. Health care has been a stunning exception. Spending in the U.S. is the highest among any developed nation in the world. Outlays have nearly tripled from 6 percent of GDP in 1970 to 18 percent in 2019, though bang for buck compared to other nations is mediocre. For most Americans, real wages have barely budged for decades, so health care costs have vastly outpaced our ability to pay them. (James Breiding, 6/15)

Stat: The Pandemic Has Helped Engage People With Their Health 
About a month ago, one of our patients, a man in his mid-40s, came to the clinic for an in-person visit for the first time in more than 12 months. For the past few years, he’s struggled with sky-high blood pressure and always seemed to be teetering on the edge of a major stroke. But this time his blood pressure was perfect. (Shantanu Nundy and Felicia Hsu, 6/17)

Modern Healthcare: How To Expand Screening For Social Determinants Of Health
Multiple studies have demonstrated that health outcomes are caused or exacerbated by social, behavioral and economic risk factors. While health disparities are unfortunately not new, the pandemic has highlighted the prevalence of food and housing insecurity, exposure to discrimination or violence, and limited access to transportation and other services. Hospitals and health systems are beginning to address these issues, but much remains to be done. The problem is complex. Providing equitable care starts with screening for social determinants of health. Yet there are limited screening resources specific to tertiary settings with no agreed-upon industry standard for measuring validity or success. (Alison Bradywood, 6/16)