First Edition: Feb. 10, 2022

KHN: Skirmish Between Biden And Red States Over Medicaid Leaves Enrollees In The Balance 
When Republican-led states balked at expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s administration tossed them a carrot — allowing several to charge monthly premiums to newly eligible enrollees. Republicans pushed for the fees to give Medicaid recipients “skin in the game” — the idea they would value their coverage more — and to make the government program resemble employer-based insurance. But with studies showing that the fees led to fewer low-income adults signing up for coverage and fewer reenrolling, the Biden administration is moving to eliminate them. (Galewitz and Miller, 2/10)

KHN: Montana Mice May Hold The Secret To Virus Spillover 
For the past 20 years, Amy Kuenzi has spent three days of every month traveling to a ranch near Gregson, Montana, and setting out traps that contain peanut butter and oats. Her quarry is deer mice. She takes blood samples, looks for scars and fleas, and attaches ear tags. “Mice are fairly trap happy and easy to catch,” she said. “But it can be kind of a miserable job in the winter.” Kuenzi’s goal is to better understand how a type of hantavirus called Sin Nombre spreads through these mouse populations. (Robbins, 2/10)

AP: Biden Puts Focus On Drug Prices As He Tries To Revive Agenda 
President Joe Biden is trying to jump-start progress on his stalled domestic agenda by refocusing attention on one of his most popular proposals, limiting the cost of prescription drugs. Biden is traveling to Culpeper, Virginia, on Thursday, where White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president will call attention to the “unacceptable” cost of medications. (Megerian, 2/10)

Fox Business: Biden Trip To Put Focus On Lowering Drug Prices As He Tries To Revive Agenda
President Biden will visit Culpeper, Virginia, Thursday and is expected to call attention to the "unacceptable" cost of medications in the U.S. as part of his effort to fulfill one of his key agenda proposals: limiting the cost of prescription drugs. The trip is seen as a chance to get his stalled domestic agenda back on track. Biden’s trip will also be an opportunity for him to start promoting his party’s candidates in November’s midterm elections. He’s expected to appear alongside Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., who is in danger of losing her seat representing a central Virginia district. Prescription drugs will be a focal point for Biden’s visit. (Martin, 2/10)

The Hill: White House Disputes Reports Of Federal Funds For Crack Pipes
The Biden administration on Wednesday pushed back on what it called "misinformation," saying a federal grant program meant to reduce harm to drug users does not include taxpayer funding for pipes that can be used to smoke crack or meth. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) put out a statement clarifying "no federal funding will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits." (Samuels, 2/9)

AP: No Money For Drug Pipes: Feds Douse Social Media Firestorm
Dousing a social media firestorm, the Biden administration said Wednesday that a grant program to counter harm from illicit drugs will not pay for safer pipes to smoke crack or meth. The White House was put on the defensive as outrage from the political right, some of it with racial overtones, was cresting online. “No federal funding will be used directly or through subsequent reimbursement of grantees to put pipes in safe smoking kits,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and White House drug policy adviser Rahul Gupta said in a joint statement. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Dupuy, 2/9)

Politico: Lander Held On To Vaccine Maker Stock Months Into Tenure 
Serving as Biden’s top science adviser, Eric Lander, the head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, publicly promoted Covid-19 vaccination efforts while having a significant financial investment in one of the vaccine makers, according to financial disclosures. Under the White House’s ethics agreement Lander signed, he had 90 days to divest his stocks after he was confirmed by the Senate on May 28. While Lander shed the bulk of that stock in June — including shares of BioNTech SE, the German biotechnology company and Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine partner — he waited until Aug. 5 to sell the remaining $500,000 to $1 million worth of stock he held in that company. When Lander ultimately sold the stock 69 days after his confirmation, it was the company’s second-highest stock price ever at $404.92 a share, having shot up more than $50 a share from two days prior. (Thompson, 2/9)

Stat: The Fall Of Eric Lander And The End Of Science’s 'Big Ego' Era
The resignation of Eric Lander as President Biden’s lead scientific adviser is not just a blow to one president’s plans for advancing research, but a signpost on the death march of a certain way of doing science. It’s not quite “big science,” which isn’t going anywhere. Call it “big ego.” In science, “big ego” isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. But in recent decades it grew with the emergence of researchers who could both handle the kind of gloves-off debate that can mark academic discourse and marshal vast resources to make certain types of scientific discoveries, like mapping genomes or understanding how molecular changes in a cell lead to cancer. (Herper, 2/9)

Stat: With Vague Commitments, Califf Earns Key Democrat’s Support For FDA Job
It took just three short paragraphs for Robert Califf to earn the public support of an undecided senator for his bid to become the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the powerful chair of the Senate Finance Committee, announced Thursday that he would support Califf’s nomination. It came just days after he implied he would need additional commitments about how the nominee would crack down on companies that thwart the rules of the FDA’s so-called accelerated approval pathway before voting to confirm him as the head of the agency. (Florko, 2/10)

The Hill: Wyden Announces Support For Biden FDA Nominee 
President Biden's nominee for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday picked up a key Democratic endorsement from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). The support of the chair of the Senate Finance Committee is crucial for Robert Califf's potential confirmation in the closely divided Senate. (2/10)

Reuters: U.S. Appeals Court Will Not Block Order Barring Biden Federal Staff Vaccine Mandate 
A U.S. appeals court panel on Wednesday declined to block a lower court ruling that President Joe Biden could not require federal employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. By a 2-1 vote, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay the lower-court injunction. Judge Stephen A. Higginson dissented noting a dozen district courts rejected requests to block the vaccine rule while a single district judge issued an injunction. (Shepardson, 2/9)

CNN: Appeals Court Refuses To Reinstate Federal Employee Vaccine Mandate While It Reviews Case 
A federal appeals court said Wednesday it would not reinstate President Joe Biden's Covid-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees while it reviews a lower court's order putting the requirement on hold -- potentially setting the stage for the case to go to the Supreme Court. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals did not explain its reasoning in the unsigned order that said the court was expediting its review of the case. The court said the Biden administration's request to put the lower court's ruling on hold was being "carried with the case," signaling that the appeals court would not rule on the request until it had conducted a fuller review of the case. (Sneed, 2/9)

Modern Healthcare: Revamped Challenge To Vaccine Policy Still Has No Legs, Experts Say
Several states' revamped challenge to the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers likely won't make a difference in the policy's fate, but it raises new questions that could catch a judge's eye, lawyers say. Louisiana is leading 15 other states in an amended complaint filed last week against the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers at Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities. The states argue in a motion to the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services improperly added state surveyors to the list of staff covered by the mandate, and say omicron's ability to spread despite vaccines makes the policy meaningless. (Goldman, 2/9)

The Atlantic: Vaccine Hesitancy Has Seeped Into Home Health Care
There was the home health attendant who sucked her thumb before touching household items. And the one who brought her unvaccinated 4-year-old into the apartment where Mary and her immunocompromised husband live, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And the one who came by after her day shift at a nursing home. Many of the aides who circulated through Mary’s household were vaccine-hesitant or outright anti-vax; many wore their mask improperly while in the apartment, she told me. A few came in with sneezes, sniffles, and coughs that—as Mary and her husband learned only after asking—were symptoms of an active COVID-19 infection. (Renault, 2/9)

The New York Times: F.D.A. Advisors Weigh Shots For The Very Young, With Key Data Outstanding 
Scientific advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will decide next week whether to endorse giving two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to children 6 months to 4 years of age, before clinical trials have shown whether a full course of three doses is effective. Such an authorization would be a first for the agency, many experts say. Interim results suggested that two doses of the vaccine did not produce a strong immune response in children aged 2 through 4. Results from trials of the third dose are expected in a few weeks. (Mandavilli, 2/10)

The Washington Post: CDC To Quickly Roll Out 10 Million Doses If Vaccine For Young Children Is Authorized
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has told coronavirus vaccine providers to be ready to receive shots for children younger than 5 by Feb. 21 — just a week after the Food and Drug Administration is expected to make its recommendation on emergency-use authorization. If the vaccine receives the green light, an initial 10 million doses are expected to be ready for shipment, with the first half of the batch available on Feb. 21 and the second on Feb. 25, according to an updated pediatric vaccination planning guide released this week. (Cheng and Timsit, 2/10)

NBC News: Covid Vaccines For Tots And Babies Could Help Biden With Burned-Out Parents
Elana Banin is counting down the seconds until she can get her baby and toddler vaccinated — a moment she is hoping will finally lift a weight that has continued to bear down on her and similar parents nearly two years into the pandemic. “There isn’t a day or a minute that goes by that we aren’t acutely aware that our kids are at risk and all of our decisions are calculated accordingly,” Banin, who lives in New York City, said. “Our lives revolve around the fact that they aren’t vaccinated, which in a way I hope desperately will change the second the vaccine is available for their age group. We will be first in line.” (Pettypiece and Seitz-Wald, 2/10)

Politico: CDC Weighs Updating Messaging Around Transmission And Masking 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering updating its guidelines on the metrics states should use when considering lifting public health measures such as mask mandates, according to four people familiar with the matter. Agency scientists and officials are debating whether to continue to publicly support using transmission data as a marker for whether to ease public health interventions such as masking, particularly in school settings, the people said. CDC staff are weighing whether the agency should use case rates as a metric or whether it should lean more heavily on hospitalization data, particularly information on hospital capacity. (Banco and Cancryn, 2/9)

The Hill: White House Faces New Pressure To Back Lifting Mask Rules 
The White House is facing pressure to revise its position on wearing masks, as declining COVID-19 cases and pandemic fatigue among voters leads an increasing number of Democratic states to lift requirements on public masking. Some governors and local health officials are calling for the White House and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to release guidance for an off-ramp for mask usage. (Weixel, Chalfant and Parnes, 2/9)

USA Today: New York, Illinois To Lift Mask Mandates, Against CDC's Advice
New York state will end a mandate requiring face coverings in most indoor public settings but will keep school masking rules in place, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday. Later in the day, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said his state will follow a similar path. They are the latest in a series of states to roll back mask mandates amid a decline in daily coronavirus infection and hospitalization numbers. Still, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that for now her agency continues to recommend masking in areas of substantial transmission – most of the nation. (Bacon, Ortiz and Tebor, 2/9)

The New York Times: A Guide To Mask Requirements In N.Y., N.J. And Connecticut 
Masks will still be required in New York City while riding public transportation, including when taking car services and taxis. They will still be required when inside a school, in a child care or a health care setting, and at group residential facilities such as nursing homes and homeless shelters. (Otterman and Goldstein, 2/9)

The Boston Globe: Mass. School Mask Mandate Lifted, But No Road Map For What Comes Next
Masks will no longer be required in Massachusetts schools as of Feb. 28, Governor Charlie Baker announced Wednesday, joining a growing list of governors, including several in the Northeast, who have recently made face coverings optional as COVID-19 cases wane across much of the country. “Given the extremely low risk to young people, and the widespread availability of, and proven effectiveness of, vaccines, and the distribution of accurate test protocols and tests, it’s time to give our kids a sense of normalcy and lift the mask mandate on a statewide basis for schools,” Baker said at a State House briefing that drew protesters who demanded an end to government vaccine mandates. (Lazar, Tziperman Lotan and Andersen, 2/9)

AP: Rhode Island Eases Mask Restrictions At Businesses, Schools 
Rhode Island will lift its mask or proof-of-vaccination requirement for indoor businesses Friday, and plans on ending the statewide school mask mandate early next month, Gov. Dan McKee said Wednesday. The decision made in consultation with public health officials comes as key metrics used to measure the spread of the coronavirus, including new cases, percent positive rates, and hospitalizations continue to drop since the peak of the omicron surge, the Democratic governor said at a news conference. (2/10)

AP: Mask Mandates Extended In Omaha, Lincoln Even As Cases Fall 
Mask mandates have been extended in Nebraska’s two largest cities because virus cases and hospitalizations remain higher than health officials want to see even though they are falling. Omaha officials announced their decision Wednesday to extend their mandate a week a day after Lancaster County officials said their mandate would continue through Feb. 25. (Funk, 2/9)

The Hill: Kemp Looks To Make Masking Optional In Georgia Schools 
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is looking to pass legislation that would make masking optional in the state's schools, but is facing criticism from his main primary challenger that he didn't move fast enough. Kemp on Wednesday said he is working with state lawmakers on legislation that would allow parents to opt their children out of school mask mandates. (Schnell, 2/9)

AP: 11 San Francisco Bay Area Counties To Lift Indoor Mask Order
Eleven San Francisco Bay Area counties will lift their mask requirements for vaccinated people in most indoor public settings beginning Feb. 16, when the state also ends its indoor masking requirement for those vaccinated against the coronavirus, officials announced Tuesday. Unvaccinated people over age 2 will continue to be required to wear masks in all indoor public settings. Everyone will still have to wear a mask in schools, public transportation, nursing homes and other congregate living facilities, officials in the Bay Area counties said. (2/10)

The Washington Post: Abrupt End To Mask Mandates Reflects A Shifting Political Landscape 
As the coronavirus pandemic enters its third year, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is acutely aware that his state’s residents are increasingly desperate for their old lives, worried about their children’s schooling and exasperated by masks and other restrictions. “There’s no question, whether it was last year’s election, whether it was getting a sense of the pulse of the state, people are frustrated. They are fatigued,” Murphy, a Democrat who nearly lost his reelection bid last November, said in an interview. “There’s learning loss in our kids, mental health and stress among kids and adults. Folks are yearning for some sense of normalcy — and count me, by the way, among them.” (Nirappil and Pager, 2/9)

AP: As State Mask Rules End, School Leaders Are In The Middle 
As some of the last statewide mask mandates in the U.S. near an end, decisions about whether students and teachers should continue to wear masks in school are shifting to local leaders, who are caught in the middle of one of the most combustible issues of the pandemic. “Unfortunately, this is an issue where you are not going to make everybody happy,” said Jeffrey Solan, school superintendent in Cheshire, Connecticut. “We can’t allow those individual passions to decide the debate.” (Thompson, 2/9)

Houston Chronicle: Texas COVID Death Toll Tops 80K, Though True Cost Of Omicron May Not Be Known For Months
The coronavirus death toll in Texas topped 80,000 Wednesday, two months after the arrival of the highly contagious omicron variant that has sickened high numbers of unvaccinated and vulnerable people across the state. The official count based on death certificates is 80,005, according to new fatality data the Texas Department of State Health Services released Wednesday afternoon. Federal health forecasts predict the state could log another 4,000 coronavirus deaths by the end of February. Because hospitalizations and deaths lag weeks behind COVID-19 infections, and because it can take several weeks for fatalities to appear in official death tallies, the true cost of omicron may not be known for months, officials said. (Mishanec, 2/9)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Pandemic, Staffing Shortages Widen Rural America's Care Deserts
Around half of 130 rural hospital executives said they had to suspend services or consider it due to nursing shortages, an October survey from the Chartis Center for Rural Health found. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of rural hospitals cut obstetrics and chemotherapy services to stay afloat. Nearly 200 rural hospitals stopped providing obstetrics care from 2011 to 2019, while close to 300 rural hospitals dropped chemotherapy treatment from 2014 to 2020, Chartis data show. That trend explains, in part, why Black and Latino Americans living in rural areas are more likely to die prematurely or experience poverty, particularly among children, according to the report. (Kacik, 2/9)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 In College Students Tied To Socioeconomic Status, Depression
A new study surveying more than 100,000 US college students who were enrolled in the fall of 2020 finds that 7% self-reported a COVID-19 infection, and that self-reporting varied substantially with race, socioeconomic status, parenting status, and student-athlete status. In addition, students who reported COVID-19 infections were 1.4 times more likely to report anxiety and depression and 1.7 times more likely to report food insecurity. The survey results were published yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). (2/9)

USA Today: Prior Infection Less Protective Against Omicron, Study Finds
Previous coronavirus infection provides substantially less protection from reinfection against omicron than other variants, but still helps avoid severe disease at a high level, according to a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research, based on an analysis of national databases in Qatar since the beginning of the pandemic, is consistent with early reports of reinfections and breakthrough cases when omicron was first detected in southern Africa in late November. Scientists have since confirmed that omicron is more adept at evading immunity, even when generated by vaccines. (Bacon, Ortiz and Tebor, 2/9)

Fox News: COVID-19 Seems To Increase Risk Of Serious Heart Ailments Year After Recovery: Report
Any infection with COVID-19—regardless of severity—seems to increase the risk of heart ailments for survivors, according to a new study that one researcher called "stunning." The study found an increased risk of 20 different heart and vessel issues for those who’ve had the virus a year earlier, Science magazine reported. "Governments and health systems around the world should be prepared to deal with the likely significant contribution of the COVID-19 pandemic to a rise in the burden of cardiovascular diseases," the paper read, according to the report. (DeMarche, 2/10)

Houston Chronicle: Over 6,000 Memorial Hermann Patients Could Be Affected By Security Incident
More than 6,000 Memorial Hermann patients could be affected by a security incident involving one of the health system’s vendors, Advent Health Partners, according to the health system. Advent Health Partners said in a statement it “detected suspicious activity on employee email accounts involving data provided to Advent Health Partners” in September 2021, and the company started an investigation into the issue. “While the investigation is ongoing, on December 2, 2021, Advent Health Partners determined that certain files containing information of individuals were potentially accessed by an unauthorized third party,” Advent Health Partners’ statement read. “Advent Health Partners started providing notice of this incident on January 6, 2022.” (Brennan, 2/9)

Roll Call: Proposed Insurance Rule Ignites Debate Over Transgender Health Care
Private insurance companies, patient advocacy groups and conservative organizations are at odds over a proposal to limit discrimination by health plans for medical care for transgender people and other LGBTQ consumers. The Biden administration, Democratic lawmakers and advocates say the proposal is essential for ensuring that LGBTQ people can access care, but some private insurers say the policy could drive up costs and the language describing what counts as discrimination is too vague. Meanwhile, conservative advocacy groups argue there is no clinical evidence for covering care that affirms the gender the consumer identifies with, such as hormone blockers or surgery. (Cohen, 2/9)

Press Association: Breast Cancer Treatment: Powerful Drug Combination 'Could Save Thousands'
A powerful drug combination for breast cancer could save thousands of lives, according to new results from a long-term study. The drug Keytruda (also known as pembrolizumab), if given at the right time and in combination with chemotherapy, can stop the disease coming back in women with a type of aggressive breast cancer, driving up the chance of being cured. Keytruda is an immunotherapy that works by helping the immune system to kill cancer cells. It is already a treatment for a number of cancers. (2/9)

Axios: Fertility Treatments, Preterm Births Connected, Study Finds 
Fertility treatments appear to be associated with an increased risk for preterm births, according to a study released Tuesday in JAMA Network Open. In the cohort study led by the Children's Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai, researchers looked at data from the National Vital Statistics System for more than 14.3 million live, single births by mothers in the U.S. The prevalence of preterm birth was 7.6% in natural conception, compared to 10.7% among those who used assisted reproductive technology (ART) and 9.3% among those that used non-ART treatment like oral medications or injections. (Reed, 2/9)

NBC News: Mississippi Had Lowest Life Expectancy In U.S. In 2019, While Hawaii's Was Highest
The majority of U.S. states with the lowest life expectancies in 2019 were in the South, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published Thursday. The report, from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, ranked all 50 states and Washington, D.C., in order of residents' life expectancies in the year before the pandemic took hold. The results showed that Mississippi had the country's lowest life expectancy, at 74.4 years, which was significantly below the national average of 78.8. Hawaii, meanwhile, had the highest: 80.9 years. (Fieldstadt, 2/10)

AP: Georgia Bill Banning Abortion Pills By Mail Advances 
Georgia Republicans advanced a bill Wednesday that would ban the delivery of abortion pills by mail and require women to be examined by a physician in person before the pills are dispensed. The state Senate’s health and human services committee voted 7-5 in favor of the legislation after an expedited hearing that drew abortion opponents and supporters. The bill would still need approval from the state Senate and House before it could become law. (Thanawala, 2/9)

AP: Bill Would Ban Hormone Treatment For Transgender Minors 
A legislative committee has advanced a proposal that would prohibit transgender minors from being treated with puberty-blockers, hormone treatment or surgery to affirm their gender identity. The Senate Health Committee advanced the bill, which would make it a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for a doctor to prescribe puberty-blockers or hormones or perform surgery to aid in the gender transition of people 18 years old or younger. The bill now moves to the full Alabama Senate. (Chandler, 2/10)

AP: SC Senate Approves Medical Marijuana Bill, House Up Next 
South Carolina senators Wednesday approved the use of medical marijuana in the state on a 28-15 vote that finished a Republican senator’s seven-year quest to pass the proposal, but the legislation still has some hurdles to pass to become law. The proposal had both bipartisan support and opposition in the Republican-dominated Senate. Seventeen Republicans voted for the bill and 10 opposed it. It faces one more routine vote before going to the House where it has never been taken up on the floor. (Collins, 2/10)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wausau Water Wells Test Above Wisconsin Standards For PFAS Levels
All of the municipal drinking water wells in Wausau have tested above recommended state standards for "forever chemicals," officials announced Wednesday. According to a news release from the Wausau Water Works, all six of the city's drinking water wells tested between 23 parts per trillion and 48 parts per trillion. The state's recommended standards are 20 parts per trillion. The Water Works serves 16,000 customers in the Wausau area, which is home to just under 40,000 residents. (Schulte, 2/9)

The Hill: One In Three Americans Exposed To Toxic Weedkiller: Study 
One in three Americans may have detectable levels of the cancer-linked herbicide 2,4-D — with young children incurring the most risk from exposure to these toxins, a new study from George Washington University has found. Among more than 14,000 participants surveyed, nearly 33 percent had detectable levels of the toxin in their blood, according to study, published on Wednesday in Environmental Health. (Udasin, 2/9)

Modern Healthcare: UCLA Settles Physician Sexual Abuse Lawsuits For $243.6M
The University of California, Los Angeles, has agreed to a $243.6 million settlement covering 50 cases involving alleged sexual abuse by a gynecologist the academic institution employed for decades. According accusations by 203 women who sued the university in state court, Dr. James Heaps committed numerous acts of sexual abuse and misconduct during his time at UCLA Health and the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center from the 1980s through 2018. UCLA announced the settlement Tuesday. (Devereaux, 2/9)

AP: Toxicologist Testifies That Drugs Did Not Kill George Floyd 
A toxicologist testified Wednesday at the federal trial of three former officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights that it wasn’t drug use, heart disease nor an agitated state known as “excited delirium” that caused Floyd’s death after officers pinned him to the pavement in May 2020.Dr. Vik Bebarta, an emergency physician and toxicologist and professor at the University of Colorado in suburban Denver, bolstered the prosecution’s contention that Floyd died because of how Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee down on the Black man’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes as he pleaded “I can’t breathe.” He also backed up other experts who have faulted officers for failing to roll Floyd on his side, as they had been trained, so that he could have breathed freely. (Karnowski, 2/9)

CIDRAP: Groups Urge McDonald's To Honor Antibiotics Commitment
A coalition of food safety, animal welfare, and environmental health groups is pushing the nation's largest fast-food chain to honor its commitment to reducing the amount of antibiotics used in its beef. Yesterday, the groups sent a petition with more than 25,000 signatures to McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski urging the company to fulfill its pledge to set meaningful reduction targets for the use of medically important antibiotics in its global beef and dairy supply chains. (Dall, 2/9)

USA Today: Eating More Legumes, Less Red Meat Can Increase Your Lifespan
Opting for legumes and vegetables instead of red meat and processed foods can add years to your life span, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Medicine. A woman in her 60s who focuses on a healthier diet can increase her lifespan by eight years while a man at the same age can add nine years to his life, the study showed. The study constructed a model of what would happen if participants replaced a "typical Western diet" that includes red meat and processed foods with a diet consisting of fruits and whole grains. (Miranda, 2/9)

Fox News: Bob Saget's Shocking Death Highlights Dangers Of Head Injury
The set of circumstances that reportedly killed popular comedian and TV actor Bob Saget last month are not uncommon, according to health officials. Approximately 166 Americans die from traumatic brain injury (TBI) related events each day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some individuals are at greater risk for suffering a TBI or having worse health outcomes after an injury, the CDC said on its website. Falls are responsible for nearly half of the TBI-related hospitalizations, according to the federal agency. (McGorry, 2/10)

AP: Tonga's Virus Outbreak Growing Rapidly; Omicron Confirmed 
Coronavirus cases continue to rise rapidly in Tonga, and tests have confirmed that the particularly contagious omicron variant is behind the isolated Pacific island nation’s first community outbreak since the start of the pandemic, officials said Thursday. Health Minister Saia Piukala told reporters that 31 more people had tested positive for the virus, nearly doubling Tonga’s active cases for the second day in a row to a total of 64, the online Matangi Tonga news portal and other media reported. (Rising, 2/10)

Reuters: COVAX Cuts N.Korea's COVID Vaccine Allotment After No Deliveries Accepted 
The COVAX global COVID-19 vaccine-sharing programme has scaled back the number of doses allocated for North Korea, international aid organisations said, as the country has so far failed to arrange for any shipments. A website dashboard maintained by the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, shows the number of doses earmarked for North Korea now stands at 1.54 million, down from as many as 8.11 million last year. (Smith, 2/10)

AP: South Korea To Roll Out Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine Next Week 
South Korea will begin offering Novavax Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine at hospitals, nursing homes and public health centers next week, officials said, adding another tool to fight a fast-developing omicron surge. The country reported a record 54,122 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, a 12-fold increase from daily levels seen in mid-January, when omicron first became the country’s dominant strain. (Tong-Hyung, 2/10)

The Washington Post: Mexico City Gave Ivermectin To Thousands Of Covid Patients. Officials Face An Ethics Backlash
As the coronavirus coursed through Mexico City early last year, ravaging neighborhoods and overwhelming hospitals, local officials made an unusual decision. They gave out tens of thousands of medical kits to covid-19 patients containing ivermectin, an anti-parasitic medication. ... Now city authorities are facing a backlash. A U.S.-based academic site that had posted their paper, SocArXiv, withdrew it last Friday, charging it was “promoting an unproved medical treatment in the midst of a global pandemic.” The site accused city officials of bad science and unethical behavior — in effect, of using citizens like rats in a giant laboratory experiment, without their consent. (Sheridan, 2/9)

AP: What Is Trimetazidine? A Look At The Drug Behind Russia's Olympic Skating Case
The medication trimetazidine is a metabolic agent that helps prevent angina attacks and treats the symptoms of vertigo, according to the European Union’s medicines agency. It can increase blood flow efficiency and improve endurance — both crucial to any high-end athletic performance. It is on the prohibited list managed by the World Anti-Doping Agency in the category of “hormone and metabolic modulators.” (Dunbar, 2/10)