ABC News: Majority Of US Workers To Fall Under Vaccine Mandate On Jan. 4
Nearly 100 million U.S. workers will be required to get the COVID vaccine by Jan. 4, with some workers allowed to test weekly instead, under sweeping federal rules released Thursday by the Biden administration that identifies COVID-19 as an occupational hazard. The regulations are aimed at health care workers and businesses with 100 or more employees, covering two-thirds of the nation’s workforce. Businesses that don’t comply could be fined $14,000 per infraction, and hospitals could lose access to Medicare and Medicaid dollars. (Flaherty, 11/4)

CNBC: The Latest Federal Vaccine Mandate Covers 84 Million Workers—Here’s What To Know
Under the OSHA rule, employers must establish a policy to collect and maintain Covid-19 vaccination status records of their employees; ensure unvaccinated workers are tested for Covid-19 at least weekly if they’re onsite at least once a week, or within seven days before returning to work if they’re gone longer; and require unvaccinated workers wear a face covering when indoors in the workplace. (Liu, 11/4)

USA Today: OSHA Rules On COVID Tests: Who Pays For Vaccine Alternative?
Who pays and how much? Those are among the lingering questions about President Joe Biden's new rules requiring that many employers test their workers for COVID-19 weekly if they decline his vaccination mandate. This much we know: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules announced on Thursday – which cover an estimated 84 million people – don't require employers to pay for the tests. The upshot is that Americans who refuse to be vaccinated could be forced to pay the tab for their weekly screenings. (Bomey, 11/4)

Also —

Modern Healthcare: CMS Requires COVID Vaccines For Healthcare Staff By Jan. 4 
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will require COVID-19 vaccines for all employees at Medicare and Medicaid-participating healthcare facilities by Jan. 4, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will require all employees at businesses with 100 or more workers to be vaccinated by the same date or get tested for the virus weekly, the agencies announced Thursday. (Goldman, 11/4)

Modern Healthcare: Industry Has Questions, Concerns About CMS Vaccine Mandate
Industry stakeholders lauded the intent of COVID-19 vaccine rules released Thursday morning by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, but many still have lingering concerns, particularly about whether the requirements will lead to more healthcare workers leaving an already tight labor market. Meanwhile, Republican state officials immediately indicated they're planning to sue the federal government over the OSHA rule, a move that's been expected since the Biden administration announced it would require the two agencies to put out COVID-19 vaccine policies in September. The legal battle could begin as soon as Friday. (Goldman, 11/4)

AP: Thousands Of Intel Officers Refusing Vaccine Risk Dismissal
Thousands of intelligence officers could soon face dismissal for failing to comply with the U.S. government’s vaccine mandate, leading some Republican lawmakers to raise concerns about removing employees from agencies critical to national security. Several intelligence agencies had at least 20% of their workforce unvaccinated as of late October, said U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, a Utah Republican who is a member of the House Intelligence Committee. Some agencies in the 18-member intelligence community had as much as 40% of their workforce unvaccinated, Stewart said, citing information the administration has provided to the committee but not released publicly. He declined to identify the agencies because full information on vaccination rates was classified. (Merchant, 11/5)

CNBC: Several Big Business Groups Aren’t Happy With Biden’s Covid Vaccine Mandate
Several business groups expressed concern about President Joe Biden’s Covid vaccine mandate on Thursday, arguing that the requirements will burden businesses during the busy holiday season as they rush to meet an implementation deadline that comes shortly after New Year’s day. The mandate, which applies to businesses with 100 or more workers, requires U.S. companies to ensure their employees have gotten vaccinated, or face regular testing, by Jan. 4. However, all unvaccinated workers must start wearing masks indoors a month earlier on Dec. 5, according to the new rules issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, under the Labor Department. (Breuninger and Josephs, 11/4)

The Hill: Business Groups Split Over Biden Vaccine-Or-Test Mandate 
The HR Policy Association, which represents hundreds of large employers, said Thursday that it is “encouraged by the compliance flexibility given to employers” in the final rule, which will cover around 84 million workers. Other groups, particularly retailers, are less positive, stating that the requirements will impede the upcoming holiday shopping season that is already being ravaged by supply chain issues and workforce shortages. The Retail Industry Leaders Association, which is backed by retail giants such as Target and CVS Health, lamented Thursday that the rule will go into effect in 60 days rather than the 90 days it had requested. (Evers-Hillstrom, 11/4)  

CNN: Some Companies And States Are Fighting The Federal Rules. But Local Efforts Show Mandates Can Work 
With the Biden administration's new timeline for mandating vaccinations or weekly testing for those working at private businesses with 100 or more employees, critics in the public and private sectors are quickly positioning themselves against the measure. The rules, long-anticipated in an effort to get further ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic that has now killed more than 750,000 Americans since early 2020, will take effect January 4. Multiple states have declared they will take the issue to court. (Caldwell, 11/5)

Bloomberg: Biden’s COVID-19 Mandate For Business Could Make Hiring Even Harder
President Joe Biden’s call for companies to enact Covid-19 vaccine or testing requirements is likely to exacerbate the labor shortage at some U.S. firms. The Labor Department said Thursday that companies with 100 or more employees will need to have all staff vaccinated or regularly tested for Covid-19. It set a Jan. 4 deadline. Failure to comply could trigger fines of as much as $136,000. The government is seeking to make workplaces safer as it tries to stop the spread of the virus, which slowed the economy last quarter. It said the measure will increase protections for 84 million workers.

AP: What Vaccine Mandate Means For Firms And Workers
The Biden administration’s sweeping new COVID-19 mandate will apply to 84 million workers at mid-size and large companies. President Joe Biden described the rules issued Thursday as urgently needed to get more Americans inoculated. Though confirmed viral cases and deaths have fallen sharply since the start of the year, they remain dangerously high, especially in some areas and industries. Average case numbers have leveled off at about 70,000 new infections a day and confirmed viral deaths at more than 1,200 a day. (Krisher and Wiseman, 11/5)

Axios: The Jobs Impact Of Biden's Vax And Testing Mandate
This should significantly increase the number of vaccinated American adults, thus reducing death and virus transmission. It also could create a relatively small group of workers who are voluntarily unemployed. (Primack, 11/5)

Dallas Morning News: American Airlines Pushes Back Vaccine Mandate Until After Holidays On New White House Deadline
American Airlines pushed back its deadline for employees to get COVID-19 vaccinations by more than a month after the White House released updated rules Thursday that aligns the mandated start for both federal contractors and businesses with more than 100 employees. American Airlines’ 100,000 workers will now have until Jan. 4 to turn in proof of vaccination or get an exemption. The carrier also will extend the window for employees who do get vaccinated to receive an extra day of vacation next year and a $50 voucher, according to a memo from CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom. (Arnold, 11/4)

AP: States Sue To Block Vaccine Mandate For Federal Contractors
Kentucky’s attorney general pushed back Thursday against President Joe Biden’s coronavirus vaccination mandate for private employers, filing a lawsuit claiming the requirement amounts to government overreach. The suit, filed in federal court in Kentucky, takes aim at the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors, Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron said. Ohio and Tennessee joined in filing the suit, which claims the vaccination requirement is unlawful and unconstitutional. (11/4)

AP: GOP State Officials Push Back On Employer Vaccine Mandate
Republican state officials reacted with swift rebukes Thursday to President Joe Biden’s newly detailed mandate for private employers to require workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, threatening a wave of lawsuits and other actions to thwart a requirement they see as a stark example of government overreach. At least two conservative groups moved quickly to file lawsuits against the workplace safety mandate, and a growing roster of GOP governors and attorneys general said more lawsuits were on the way as soon as Friday. Some Republican-led states had already passed laws or executive orders intended to protect employers that may not want to comply. (DeMillo and Mulvihill, 11/5)

Politico: 'We Have Had Enough': DeSantis Will Sue Biden Over Workplace Vaccine Mandates
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday vowed to deliver a legal attack against new workplace vaccine mandates from the Biden administration that are scheduled to kick in right after the end of the holiday season. The GOP governor said Florida will join Alabama, Georgia and private employers on Friday in a preemptive legal challenge against a new vaccination-or-test requirement for businesses with more than 100 workers. The state will also quickly file a separate legal challenge against a vaccine mandate for health care workers at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid. (Fineout, 11/4)

AP: Gov McMaster Calls Federal Vaccine Mandate Illegal Overreach
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday issued an executive order keeping his cabinet agencies from enforcing a federal mandate requiring companies with more than 100 employees to either have their workers vaccinated or tested for COVID-19 weekly. Under the new order, all state agencies will be required to report to McMaster if the federal government asks whether their employees are vaccinated, the Republican governor said at a Thursday news conference. (11/4)

AP: Democratic Kansas Governor Questions Biden Vaccine Mandates
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly argued Thursday that mandates like those from the federal government for vaccinating workers against COVID-19 “tend not to work,” as the Democrat’s made her first public statements on the rules heading into a difficult reelection campaign in her Republican-leaning state. Kelly is top target among governors next year for Republicans nationally because Donald Trump twice carried Kansas by wide margins and President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates have roused conservative voters. (Hollingsworth and Hanna, 11/4)

ABC News: Senate Republicans Target Biden Vaccine Mandate Fauci Supports
With the nation's top public health officials as their audience, Senate Republicans on Thursday aired complaints about a new wide-reaching vaccine mandate for large businesses being implemented by the Biden administration. "I'm just telling you it's a hard sell to tell people who have had COVID that they're now under a mandate -- a mandate by the federal government -- to be vaccinated. I think you've got an extremely tough sell," Sen. Richard Burr, the top Republican on the Senate Health Committee, told the heads of the Biden White House COVID response team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky and chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a hearing. (Haslett, 11/4)

Also —

AP: Alabama Lawmakers Approve Job Protections For Unvaccinated
In an effort to fight COVID-19 vaccination requirements on workers, Alabama lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation to prevent companies from firing workers who claim a religious or medical exemption. Republicans said they were responding to an outcry from unvaccinated constituents afraid of losing their jobs because of the Biden administration’s vaccination mandate on federal contractors. Democrats argued the bill would put both federal contractors and public health in jeopardy for the sake of scoring political points. (Chandler, 11/5)

CNBC: Pfizer Says Its Covid Pill With HIV Drug Cuts The Risk Of Hospitalization Or Death By 89%
Pfizer said Friday that its easy-to-administer Covid-19 pill, used in combination with a widely used HIV drug, cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% in high-risk adults who’ve been exposed to the virus. It’s now the second antiviral pill behind Merck’s to demonstrate strong effectiveness for treating Covid at the first sign of illness. If cleared by regulators, it would likely be a game changer in the ongoing global pandemic fight. (Lovelace Jr., 11/5)

USA Today: Pfizer Antiviral Drug Could Nearly End Deaths From COVID-19, Company Study Suggests
By the end of the year, the company plans to complete two other studies of the pill, which is given twice a day for five days. Pfizer plans to submit the study data as part of its ongoing rolling submission to the Food and Drug Administration as soon as possible. It's not yet clear how much the treatment would cost or how many doses could be rapidly made available, assuming it receives clearance from regulatory agencies. (Weintraub, 11/5)

AP: Pfizer Says COVID-19 Pill Cut Hospital, Death Risk By 90%
Once Pfizer applies, the FDA could make a decision within weeks or months. If authorized the company would sell the drug under the brand name Paxlovid. Researchers worldwide have been racing to find a pill against COVID-19 that can be taken at home to ease symptoms, speed recovery and reduce the crushing burden on hospitals and doctors. (Perrone, 11/5)

Stat: Experimental Pfizer Pill Prevents Covid Hospitalizations And Deaths
Nahid Bhadelia, the founding director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy & Research at Boston University, called oral antiviral pills “incredibly important” because existing treatments such as monoclonal antibodies must be given intravenously or as shots. “With an oral antiviral, patients have more time and greater access to a treatment that will keep them out of the hospital,” Bhadelia said. “But the promise of oral antivirals will only be recognized if they’re available at your local pharmacy, and you can afford it, and you can get the test that tells you that you’re positive for Covid, so you can actually take advantage of this drug. So, the promise is there, but the rest of the pieces need to come together.” (Herper, 11/5)

Bloomberg: Scientists Find Gene That Doubles Risk Of Dying From Covid-19 
Scientists identified a specific gene that doubles the risk of respiratory failure from Covid-19 and may go some way to explaining why some ethnic groups are more susceptible to severe disease than others. Researchers from the University of Oxford found that a higher-risk version of the gene most likely prevents the cells lining airways and the lungs from responding to the virus properly. About 60% of people with South Asian ancestry carry this version of the gene, compared with 15% of people with European heritage, according to the study published Thursday. (Ring, 11/4)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

USA Today: Infections Edge Higher In 24 States As Weather Turns Colder
Cases rose week-over-week in 24 states in the seven-day period that ended Wednesday, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data indicates. The rolling average of seven-day cases nationwide has more or less leveled off around 500,000 over the last 10 days after weeks of broad, steady decline. Infection numbers are rising primarily in colder states that hadn't been as hard-hit in the worst of the delta variant wave. The list includes Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin. (Stucka, 11/4)

The Boston Globe: Mass. Reports 1,879 New Coronavirus Cases Among Public School Students And 339 Among Staff Over Two-Week Period
State education leaders on Thursday reported 1,879 new cases among public school students and 339 among staff members for the two-week period that ended Wednesday. Due to the power outages across the state last week, the COVID-19 cases reports from Oct. 21 and Oct. 27 were delayed. The 2,218 total cases were 64 fewer than those reported from Oct. 14-20, continuing a steady decline seen in recent weeks. (Gans and Vega, 11/4)

AP: Connecticut Changes COVID Policy On Quarantining Students
Gov. Ned Lamont announced a new policy Thursday allowing many unvaccinated students to stay in school — even if they had close contact with someone who has COVID-19. Under the Screen and Stay policy, students and staff who may have been exposed to the virus under certain circumstances, but show no symptoms of having caught it and were wearing a mask at the time of the potential exposure, will be allowed to remain in the classroom without a test for the virus. The state already allows vaccinated students who were in close contact with someone with COVID-19 to stay in school. (Eaton-Robb and Haigh, 11/4)

Also —

CIDRAP: Study: Bamlanivimab Protects Against COVID-19 Hospitalization In Seniors
A new case-control study shows the monoclonal antibody bamlanivimab offered good protection against hospitalization in 1,257 adult US outpatients who were either 65 or older or obese. The study was published yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Disease. The patients in the study sought treatment in the Mass General Brigham (MGB) health system, where a lottery system had been put in place for the monoclonal antibody therapy beginning in December 2020. This study was based on patients who entered the lottery from Dec 9, 2020 and Feb 25, 2021, and were 65 years and older and had a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher. (11/4)

NPR: Ivermectin Has Now Become A Political Issue For Some Republicans
When state senators in South Carolina held two hearings in September about COVID treatments, they got an earful on the benefits of ivermectin — which many of the lawmakers lauded along the way, sharing experiences of their own loved ones. The demands for access to the drug were loud and insistent, despite the fact that federal regulators had just issued a strong warning against using the drug to treat COVID-19. One member of the public, Pressley Stutts III, reminded the panel that his father, a prominent GOP leader in the state, had died from COVID just a month before. He believed ivermectin could have helped. But doctors at the hospital wouldn't even discuss it, he said. (Farmer, 11/4)

The Baltimore Sun: Emergent BioSolutions, Operator Of Troubled Baltimore Facility, Ends Contract With Federal Government To Produce COVID Vaccines, Respond To Pandemic 
The specialty pharmaceutical manufacturer that operates the troubled Baltimore facility where millions of Johnson & Johnson vaccines went to waste this year announced the end of its involvement Thursday in a federal program that prepares for and responds to infectious diseases and other threats to public health. Gaithersburg-based Emergent BioSolutions discussed its withdrawal from the federal government’s Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing program Thursday afternoon during a virtual earnings call with investors. (Miller, 11/4)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

Axios: Moderna Falls Behind On COVID-19 Vaccine Deliveries 
Moderna lowered the expected number of its COVID-19 vaccine doses that will be delivered this year, from a previous high of 1 billion doses down to 800 million. Exporting vaccines outside of the U.S. to more countries took longer than expected, and is the primary reason behind the reduced shipments, CEO Stéphane Bancel said on an earnings call Thursday. (Herman, 11/4)

CNN: These States And Cities Are Offering To Pay Kids If They Get Vaccinated 
Millions of children in America became eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine this week. And some officials are sweetening the deal by including them in various incentive programs. In New York City, children can claim $100 if they get their first dose of Pfizer's vaccine at city-operated vaccine site. Alternatively, they can get tickets to city attractions such as the Statue of Liberty or the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team. The incentive program was already available to other New Yorkers who got vaccinated. (Elamroussi, 11/5)

The Boston Globe: Here’s What Parenting Expert Emily Oster Says About Vaccinating Your Kids Against COVID-19
Brown University economics professor Emily Oster, who has been both lauded and vilified for suggesting it was safe for schools to reopen amid the pandemic, is now weighing in on vaccines for school children. On the Rhode Island Report podcast, Oster said the evidence indicates that children ages 5 to 11 should get vaccinated now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending it and Rhode Island is expanding COVID-19 vaccination eligibility to that age group. (Fitzpatrick, 11/4)

Los Angeles Times: Study Shows Dramatic Decline In COVID Vaccine Effectiveness
As the Delta variant became the dominant strain of coronavirus across the United States, all three COVID-19 vaccines available to Americans lost some of their protective power, with vaccine efficacy among a large group of veterans dropping between 35% and 85%, according to a new study. Researchers who scoured the records of nearly 800,000 U.S. veterans found that in early March, just as the Delta variant was gaining a toehold across American communities, the three vaccines were roughly equal in their ability to prevent infections. But over the next six months, that changed dramatically. (Healy, 11/4)

The Washington Post: New York City Cuts Vaccine Mandate Deal With Unions 
New York City said Thursday that it had reached an agreement with at least four unions representing some 75,000 city employees to establish rules about how workers can apply for medical or religious exemptions to the city’s coronavirus vaccine mandate. The development eases tensions between some city workers and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s (D) administration over requirements to get vaccinated against the coronavirus or go on unpaid leave. Though about 92 percent of city employees were compliant with vaccine mandates as of Wednesday, there are small pockets of resistance to the mandate, particularly among some police officers and firefighters. (Jeong and Suliman, 11/5)

AP: Former Washington State Coach Appeals Firing Over Vaccine
Attorneys for former Washington State coach Nick Rolovich sent a letter to the university appealing his firing for refusing to get the coronavirus vaccine, contending school officials did not conduct a fair process to determine whether he should receive a religious exemption to a state mandate that all state employees must be vaccinated. Attorneys Brian Fahling and Eric Kniffen’s letter to athletic director Pat Chun lays out their appeal of Rolovich’s firing for just cause. (Geranios, 11/4)

PBS NewsHour: What Young Americans Think About Vaccines And Mandates
Young people in the United States broadly support COVID-19 vaccine mandates to support in-person learning and work, and a majority believe that getting vaccinated is — at least in part — an obligation we owe to each other, according to a new poll among 13- to 29-year-olds from the PBS NewsHour and Generation Lab. And even though their lives have been upended, most Gen Zers and millennials say they do not feel more stressed now than they were before the pandemic, suggesting that hardships have perhaps reinforced resiliency for Americans under 30. (Santhanam, 11/4)

In mask updates —

AP: Arizona Won't Stop Using COVID Money For Anti-Mask Grants
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is defying a demand that he stop using federal coronavirus relief money to fund an education grant program that can only go to schools without mask mandates. The Republican governor also is continuing a program that gives private school vouchers to parents upset that their children’s schools require masks or quarantines after being exposed to COVID-19. (Christie, 11/5)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas Schools Keeping Mask Mandate As COVID-19 Vaccinations Become Available For Youngsters
Dallas schools’ mask mandate will remain in place as young children begin rolling up their sleeves for the COVID-19 vaccine. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa announced the decision at Thursday’s board briefing. He also informed trustees that he will reconsider the district’s safety protocols in December, after analyzing how many elementary students are fully vaccinated and whether the Thanksgiving holiday leads to a spike in cases. “We know that it takes six-to-eight weeks for the vaccines to take full effect,” Hinojosa said. “We also know that we have two holiday periods that are coming up for us right now. So we are not going to lift the mask protocol at this time.” (Richman, 11/4)

AP: Kansas City Leaders Rescind Mask Mandate Outside Of Schools
The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council has rescinded its order requiring masks in public places to stop the spread of the coronavirus, but masks will still be required for both kids and adults in schools, and private businesses still can choose to require them. The City Council voted 11-2 on Thursday to continue to require masks in school buildings and on school buses through Dec. 2, The Kansas City Star reported. A mask order for everyone 5 years and older expired Thursday afternoon. (11/4)

The Hill: Fauci Blasts Paul For Saying He Is Responsible For COVID Pandemic 
America's top infectious disease doctor Anthony Fauci on Thursday blasted Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for suggesting he is somehow responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic."You have said I am unwilling to take any responsibility for the current pandemic. I have no responsibility for the current pandemic," Fauci said. Paul accused Fauci of misleading the public about the role the National Institutes of Health played in funding potentially dangerous "gain of function research" in Wuhan, China, and suggested that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was the result of such research, and then was released into the world because of a lab leak. (Weixel, 11/4)

Medill News Service: Rand Paul Calls For Fauci To Resign In Latest Clash On COVID Origins
COVID-19’s origin has been a subject of global debate since the start of the outbreak. Yet scientists around the world have not reached a clear conclusion on how the pandemic started. Paul and Fauci sparred over whether the National Institutes of Health funded "gain-of-function" research, the process of altering a pathogen’s transmissibility to help predict emerging diseases, at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The COVID-19 pandemic began in Wuhan, China, and some have speculated about whether the institute there was involved in the spread of the virus. (Gans, 11/4)

In other news from the Biden administration —

Bloomberg: Biden Aide Tests Positive For Virus After Summit In Scotland
A White House aide who accompanied Joe Biden to international summits in Europe last week tested positive for coronavirus infection before the president returned to the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter. The aide and some of Biden’s other traveling staff remained in Scotland after the president attended the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow because of concern about transmission, the people said. The exact number of staff involved is unclear. (Jacobs, 11/4)

USA Today: Fact Check: Biden Comment On COVID-19 Vaccines And Hurricanes Misconstrued
With one month remaining in the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, some social media users are resurrecting a misleading clip of President Joe Biden talking about COVID-19 vaccines and preparing for natural disasters. A video circulating online of Biden delivering remarks has been shared alongside claims that he encouraged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect themselves against hurricanes. (Sadeghi, 11/3)

Axios: The New COVID Vaccine Rivals 
Rival vaccine makers are trying to elbow into the massive COVID-19 market, arguing for federal funding and claiming advantages over the current choices in the U.S. There's huge remaining demand around the world, and researchers say there should be more support — including money — from the Biden administration to fill it. (Reed, 11/5)

AP: Biden's Big Bill On Brink Of House Votes, But Fights Remain
Democrats in the House appear on the verge of advancing President Joe Biden’s $1.85 trillion-and-growing domestic policy package alongside a companion $1 trillion infrastructure bill in what would be a dramatic political accomplishment — if they can push it to passage. The House scrapped votes late Thursday but will be back at it early Friday, and White House officials worked the phones to lock in support for the president’s signature proposal. After months of negotiations, House passage of the big bill would be a crucial step, sending to the Senate Biden’s ambitious effort to expand health care, child care and other social services for countless Americans and deliver the nation’s biggest investment yet to fight climate change. (Mascaro and Fram, 11/5)

The Hill: House Sets Up Friday Votes For Biden Agenda
The House will convene at 8 a.m. Friday to begin work on passing President Biden's $1.75 trillion social spending and climate package, which has been stuck in a battle within the party between liberals and centrists fighting over its size and shape. The internal battles, which have also gridlocked a bipartisan infrastructure bill already approved by the Senate, have been blamed for pulling down Biden's approval ratings, and for a dismal showing by the party in Tuesday's off-year elections, when Democrats lost the governor's race in Virginia — where Biden won by 10 points just a year ago. (11/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Nancy Pelosi’s Push For Quick Votes On Bills Hits Snags 
The timetable for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring up Democrats’ healthcare, education and climate package slipped to Friday after lawmakers hit snags on immigration and the state and local tax deduction. The California Democrat initially told House Democrats in a closed-door meeting on Thursday that she hoped the House would vote on the bill later that day, and then vote on the Senate-passed infrastructure bill on Friday, according to people familiar with her remarks. Progressives have been blocking the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill until they were satisfied with the language in the social-spending and climate-change bill. (Duehren, Wise and Hughes, 11/4)

The latest on drug pricing and Medicare measures —

The Hill: House Leaders Make Last-Minute Change On Drug Pricing After Dispute 
House Democratic leaders are making a last-minute change to their deal to lower prescription drug prices to resolve a dispute that arose over the wording of the measure, according to a source familiar with the process. The compromise follows a meeting Thursday night between Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and other lawmakers to resolve the issue as House leaders race to line up the votes for President Biden's social spending package. (Sullivan, 11/4)

Axios: Medicare Prescription Drug Negotiations May Not Be As Limited As We Thought 
Here's one wonky but meaningful clarification, at least for us: Democrats' drug pricing bill would allow Medicare to negotiate the prices of up to 20 new drugs a year, but the prices negotiated in previous years would remain in effect until a competitor enters the market. Which drugs can be negotiated is still much more limited than Democrats' original plan. But this means that, eventually, Medicare will likely be able to negotiate the prices of a lot more than just 20 drugs. (Owens and Herman, 11/5)

KHN: Despite Restraints, Democrats’ Drug Pricing Plan Could Still Aid Consumers
The Medicare prescription drug pricing plan Democrats unveiled this week is not nearly as ambitious as many lawmakers sought, but they and drug policy experts say the provisions crack open the door to reforms that could have dramatic effects. Tamping down drug expenses has been a longtime rallying cry for consumers beset by rapidly rising prices. Although people in private plans had some protections, those on Medicare often did not. They had no out-of-pocket caps and frequently complained that federal law kept them from using drugmakers’ coupons or other cost-cutting strategies. (McAuliff, 11/5)

KHN: Democrats Plan To Expand Medicare Hearing Benefits. What Can Consumers Expect? 
President Joe Biden’s mammoth domestic spending bill would add hearing benefits to the traditional Medicare program — one of three major new benefits Democrats had sought. The Biden administration appears to have fallen short of its ambition to expand dental and vision along with hearing benefits. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and other progressives have long pushed for more generous benefits for seniors. Citing the cost, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) opposed such expansion. (Pradhan, 11/5)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Compromise Is Coming — Maybe 
Democrats on Capitol Hill hope they are nearing the finish line in their months-long quest to enact President Joe Biden’s social spending agenda. After briefly dropping from the massive bill provisions aimed at lowering prescription drug costs, lawmakers in the House and Senate reached a compromise on that issue over the weekend. Also back in the bill — at least in the House — are provisions for paid family leave. But the bill cannot get to Biden without the signoff of every Democrat in the Senate, which has not happened yet. (11/4)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

Roll Call: House Democrats, Republicans Clash Over Texas Abortion Law
Questions about the role of government in abortion policy arose during a House hearing Thursday, days after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments challenging a Texas abortion law. The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday over challenges to a Texas law that bans almost all abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The law also incentivizes private citizens to sue any individual who aids in an abortion after that point, offering a minimum of $10,000 in a successful suit. (Raman, 11/4)

Roll Call: Republicans Stall SBA Nominee, Citing Planned Parenthood Loans, Muslim Group
Senate Republicans on Thursday again boycotted a committee vote to advance Dilawar Syed to be deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration, stalling action on a nominee who would be the highest-ranking Muslim in the Biden administration amid accusations of bigotry from some groups. (Reilly, 11/4)

USA Today: HPV Vaccine Reduced Women Cervical Cancer Rate By 87%, Study Finds
Vaccinating girls against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, has dramatically reduced the rates of cervical cancer in women, a study from the United Kingdom found. Cervical cancer rates were 87% lower in women who were vaccinated against HPV when they were between ages 12 and 13 compared to previous generations, the study published Wednesday reported. The rate of cervical cancer in women who were vaccinated between ages 14 and 16 was 62% lower. And in those vaccinated between 16 and 18, it was 34% lower. (Miller, 11/4)

In other news about cancer —

Bloomberg: Does Deodorant Cause Cancer? Leukemia-Causing Benzene Found In Some Sprays
Antiperspirant and deodorant body sprays have been found to contain elevated levels of the carcinogen benzene and should be recalled, an independent testing lab said in a petition filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration late Wednesday. The sprays are the latest in a string of aerosol products found to contain the cancer-causing chemical, including sunscreens and antifungals. Earlier this year, Johnson & Johnson recalled certain aerosol sunscreen sprays under the brands Neutrogena and Aveeno. Beiersdorf AG recalled some Coppertone sunscreen sprays in September. The next month, Bayer AG pulled certain Lotrimin and Tinactin sprays used for athlete’s foot and jock itch after tests showed some samples contained benzene. (Edney, 11/4)

Also —

Bloomberg: Bat Bite Causes First Human Rabies Death Since 1978 In Idaho
A bat bite caused the first human rabies death since 1978 in Idaho, the state Department of Health and Welfare announced Thursday. The bat became caught in the male victim’s clothing in August. “He did not believe he had been bitten or scratched,” a press release said. He was hospitalized in October. It was not until after he took ill that officials determined he encountered the bat in Boise County. In 2020, 11% of 159 bats tested were positive for rabies in Idaho. So far in 2021, a total of 14 bats tested positive. (Del Giudice, 11/4)

AP: Body Donated For Science Dissected At 'Oddities' Expo
The body of a Louisiana man who wanted it donated for science was dissected before paying viewers at an “Oddities and Curiosities Expo” in Oregon, news agencies report. His wife is aghast. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s horrible, unethical, and I just don’t have the words to describe it,” Elsie Saunders of Baker, a Baton Rouge suburb, told The Advocate. ... Saunders’ husband, World War II and Korean War veteran David Saunders, died of COVID-19 at age 98. She said she learned his dissection had been watched by people paying up to $500 a seat when she was called Tuesday by Seattle station KING-TV. (11/4)

The Hill: Heart Inflammation Linked To COVID-19 Infection In Cats And Dogs
An increased number and cats and dogs were diagnosed with myocarditis, or heart inflammation in the U.K., due to a coronavirus infection, according to a veterinary report. The condition, which has been reported in humans following the onset of a coronavirus infection, was seen in cats and dogs in the U.K., according to a report from veterinarian cardiologist Luca Ferasin in the journal Veterinary Record. (Breslin, 11/5)

KHN: ‘Covid Hit Us Over The Head With A Two-By-Four’: Addressing Ageism With Urgency
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization announced a global campaign to combat ageism — discrimination against older adults that is pervasive and harmful but often unrecognized. “We must change the narrative around age and ageing” and “adopt strategies to counter” ageist attitudes and behaviors, WHO concluded in a major report accompanying the campaign. Several strategies WHO endorsed — educating people about ageism, fostering intergenerational contacts, and changing policies and laws to promote age equity — are being tried in the United States. But a greater sense of urgency is needed in light of the coronavirus pandemic’s shocking death toll, including more than 500,000 older Americans, experts suggest. (Graham, 11/5)

Modern Healthcare: Nearly 32,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers Plan Strike On Nov. 15
Nearly 32,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in California, Oregon and Washington plan to strike Nov. 15, the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals announced Thursday. The union represents 21,000 employees of the Oakland, California-based not-for-profit integrated health system. Thousands more workers who belong to the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals and a United Steelworkers local also notified the company they intend to strike Nov. 15. The unions' contracts with Kaiser Permanente expired Oct. 1 and union members voted to authorize a labor action weeks later. Nearly 2,000 Kaiser Permanente employees with the National Union of Healthcare Workers also OK'd a strike last month but have not called one. (Christ, 11/4)

AP: Maintenance, Service Workers Strike At West Virginia Hospital
Maintenance and service union workers at a West Virginia hospital went on strike Wednesday after their contract expired. About 1,000 members of the Service Employees International Union District 1999 walked off the job at noon at Cabell Huntington Hospital, one of the largest employers in Huntington, West Virginia. In a statement, union district secretary-treasurer Joyce Gibson said hospital officials "have repeatedly made it clear that they value profits over workers and patients." (11/4)

Kansas City Star: Kansas State Hospitals At Crisis Level For Staffing, Capacity
The brutal attack came when staff weren’t looking. Dalton Bledsoe was a patient at one of Kansas’s three state-run mental health hospitals when, on Oct. 22, 2018, another patient began beating him. Word had gotten around that Bledsoe had been charged with crimes against children. He suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him unable to speak, according to a lawsuit his guardians later filed against the state. At the time, one out of every five mental health technician positions at Larned State Hospital were unfilled, the lawsuit said. Those who were there sometimes worked 16-hour shifts. (Bernard and Shorman, 11/5)

Also —

Houston Chronicle: Exposed: COVID-19 Highlighted The Failure To Learn Lessons From Prior Pandemics
In the fall of 2018, Dr. John Hellerstedt described a nightmarish scenario for fellow members of a panel tasked with preparing Texas for a pandemic. Before taking over as director of the Texas Department of State Health Services, Hellerstedt was a pediatrician at a children’s hospital in Austin. He said that as H1N1 swept through Texas in 2009, hospital administrators scrambled to erect tents outside to treat patients, fearing they’d be overwhelmed. Luckily, the virus proved mild. But what if a new and far more dangerous bug arrived? One that jumped easily from person to person? “That’s the thing that we all fear,” he said. (Dexheimer, Tedesco, Deam, and Root)

Modern Healthcare: Beyond The Byline: COVID-19 Pandemic Reinforces Rural Hospitals Integral Role
Modern Healthcare Insurance Reporter Nona Tepper and Senior Hospital Operations Reporter Alex Kacik talk about rural healthcare in Alabama. (Tepper and Kacik, 11/4)

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: MetroHealth CEO Bashes ADAMHS Board Over Behavioral Health Services, Seeks $10 Million To Develop New Solutions 
Ahead of opening his own behavioral health and substance abuse facility in Cleveland Heights, MetroHealth President and CEO Akram Boutros criticized the county’s current efforts to combat the opioid crisis and asked Cuyahoga County Council for $20 million over the next two years to do better. Boutros specifically took aim at the Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board and expressed his “grave concerns about the delivery, coordination, and oversight” of the current treatment and services being provided. (Durbin, 11/4)

Salt Lake Tribune: Man Accused Of Posing As Doctor, ‘Endangering The Lives Of Multiple Patients,’ Utah A.G. Says
A Payson man faces multiple charges after authorities say he posed as a doctor for years, performing hundreds of medical procedures out of his basement and “endangering the lives of multiple patients,” according to the Utah Attorney General’s Office. Authorities say the man had been providing supposed medical services and selling medications without a license from his home on the 1000 block of 580 West, near Payson Junior High School. He saw people only on a referral basis, and only under the condition that they were in the U.S. illegally, according to a probable cause statement. (Peterson, 11/3)

Modern Healthcare: Home Health Sector Glad CMS Didn't Finalize Pay Adjustment Method
Home health providers are counting CMS' decision not to finalize methods for keeping the payment system for home health agencies budget neutral as a win, though they're still disappointed that CMS decided to move forward with a 4.36% cut for the third year in its final 2022 payment rule. CMS began the Patient-Driven Groupings Model for home health agencies last year, aiming to cut down on unnecessary therapies and instead emphasize patient characteristics. PDGM also changed the case-mix system and switched to reimbursing agencies based on 30-day periods. (Goldman, 11/4)

In other health industry news —

Axios: Health Insurers Still Aren't That Worried About The Coronavirus 
COVID-19 has affected each health insurance company differently, but the industry remains mostly insulated from the virus' growing toll. Most of the big insurers have sidestepped massive coronavirus-related costs so far this year, due in large part to people putting off other care. And the companies that have had to pay more medical claims are raising premiums on employers and consumers, exactly as they said they would. (Herman, 11/5)

Modern Healthcare: Top 8 Healthcare Fraud Cases Related To COVID
Dozens of healthcare workers, executives and medical business owners have faced charges or other consequences for their involvement in fraud schemes related to COVID-19 and abuse of programs designed to facilitate access to medical care during the pandemic. The most recent charges allege a laboratory operator submitted $88 million in fraudulent claims. He and other individuals gained funds they then used to purchase items like exotic automobiles and luxury real estate, according to the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday. (Devereaux, 11/5)

Modern Healthcare: Digital Health Startup Medallion Raises Another $30M
Digital infrastructure startup Medallion raised $30 million from investors including UnitedHealth Group's venture arm and key figures from Cityblock, Oscar Health and Roivant Sciences, the company announced Wednesday. Medallion, which offers services that automate clinician licensing and insurance network compliance tasks for digital health firms, adds that new Series B money to the $20 million it previously raised sinced its founding in 2019. The San Francisco-based company is valued at $200 million, CEO Derek Lo said. (Tepper, 11/4)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Sultan: Child Denied Treatment By UnitedHealth Gets Outside Help — And A Pig
A 10-year-old girl in Arnold will finally get her dream fulfilled of receiving medical treatment for a severe pain disorder. Lyla McCarty has complex regional pain syndrome. Her parents have been battling their insurance company, UnitedHealth Group, for months to get her into an inpatient pain treatment program in Cincinnati. (Sultan, 11/4)

KHN: Few Acute Care Hospitals Escaped Readmissions Penalties
Preventable rehospitalization of the nation’s older adults has proved a persistent health and financial challenge for the U.S., costing Medicare hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Various analyses have found many readmissions within a month of discharge might have been avoided through better care and more attention paid to the patients after they left the hospital. The federal government’s campaign to reduce the frequency of so-called boomerang patients by applying financial disincentives has entered its 10th year with Medicare’s decision to lower payments to 2,499 hospitals throughout the current fiscal year, which began last month and runs through September 2022. (Rau, 11/4)

Bloomberg: J&J Takes Second Shot at Halting Baby Powder Suits in Bankruptcy
Johnson & Johnson is seeking to revive its strategy for resolving tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its baby powder caused ovarian cancer and other health problems in women. A federal judge opened a two-day trial in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday to decide whether to temporarily halt 38,000 lawsuits aimed at J&J and about 250 retailers and insurance companies.  Stopping the suits is a key part of J&J’s strategy to pay at least $2 billion to end all current and future claims related to baby powder and other talc-based products. To do so, J&J executed a legal strategy known as the Texas Two Step, creating a unit in Texas to hold all of the lawsuits, then transferring that unit to North Carolina and placing it in bankruptcy. (Church, 11/4)

In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —

The New York Times: Elizabeth Holmes Trial Exposes Investors' Lack Of Due Diligence 
In 2014, Dan Mosley, a lawyer and power broker among wealthy families, asked the entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes for audited financial statements of Theranos, her blood testing start-up. Theranos never produced any, but Mr. Mosley invested $6 million in the company anyway — and wrote Ms. Holmes a gushing thank-you email for the opportunity. Bryan Tolbert, an investor at Hall Group, said his firm invested $5 million in Theranos in 2013, even though it did not have a detailed grasp of the start-up’s technologies or its work with pharmaceutical companies and the military. (Griffith, 11/4)

Modern Healthcare: Anthem Invests In Kidney-Care Startup Somatus
Anthem is making a "strategic investment" in kidney care startup Somatus and embarking on a multi-year value-based care partnership with the company, the health insurance giant announced Wednesday. Somatus will provide clinical services to Anthem's Medicare Advantage enrollees with chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney disease beginning this month. The startup also develops technology that analyzes data and flags patients at risk for developing kidney disease and identifies possible next steps for care teams. (Kim Cohen, 11/4)

Axios: Abbott Kickstarts Solutions For More Inclusive Clinical Trials 
Abbott on Wednesday said it will spend $5 million over the next five years for about 300 scholarships for medical schools at historically black colleges and universities and minority nursing associations to better support future generations of diverse clinical investigators. A historic lack of inclusion in clinical trials and dismal numbers of diverse people running them has contributed to the huge trust problem Latinos often have with medicine manufacturers and institutions. (Fernandez, 11/4)

AP: Lawsuit Briefly Blocking California Assisted Death Law Ends
An appeals court has formally ended a lawsuit that in 2018 temporarily suspended a California law that allows adults to obtain prescriptions for life-ending drugs, a gap that advocates blamed Thursday for a significant drop in its use that year. California lawmakers made the lawsuit moot last month when they reauthorized and extended the law until 2031 while reducing the time until terminal patients projected to have six months or less to live can choose to be given fatal drugs. (Thompson, 11/5)

In mental health news from Kentucky, Florida and Colorado —

AP: Federal Grant To Aid Mental Health Efforts In Rural Kentucky
A federal grant awarded to Kentucky will support initiatives dealing with stress, mental health and suicide prevention in rural communities, state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said. The $500,000 grant, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will allow Kentucky’s agriculture department to work with several partners to expand its efforts on those issues. (11/5)

WFSU: Florida Faces A Shortage Of Mental Health Counselors. Joining A Licensing Compact Could Help 
Florida is facing a shortage of mental health counselors. To help, state Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, R-Doral, is pushing a bill she says would make it easier for counselors to move to Florida or remotely work with clients in the state. Under her measure, Florida would join the Professional Counselors Licensure Compact. The agreement would allow counselors in participating states to apply to have their qualifications extended to another participating state. (11/4)

AP: Denver Police Hope Therapy Dog Will Break Down Barriers
The Denver Police Department’s first therapy dog was originally trained to be a guide dog, but she turned out to be too friendly to focus on helping one person. Now the department is counting on the Black English Labrador Retriever’s outgoing nature to help it break down barriers and start conversations with people in high-crime areas and those wary of the police. (Slevin, 11/4)

In news from Texas, Delaware and Michigan —

Houston Chronicle: Texas Extends SNAP Food Stamp Program In November As Food Prices Rise
Texas has boosted funding for a key food assistance program, the latest effort to combat soaring food prices caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and related, global supply chain issues. On Thursday, the state announced an additional $310 million in funding for the emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for November. The move maxes out the allowable amount of benefits for recipients based on family size and, according to officials, will give recipient families a minimum $95 extra by the end of the month. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission said it expects the funding will help more than 1.5 million households in the state. (Downen, 11/4)

AP: State Says Disabled Not Entitled To Reasonable Accommodation
A Delaware judge is weighing whether a medical facility violated the state’s equal accommodation law by refusing to complete a sports physical for a boy with Down syndrome who wanted to compete in Special Olympics. The judge heard arguments Thursday in an appeal filed by the boy’s parents after the State Human Relations Commission determined that businesses do not have to provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities under Delaware’s Equal Accommodations Law. (Chase, 11/4)

AP: Michigan City On Edge As Lead Water Crisis Persists
Shortly after sunrise on a recent Saturday in Benton Harbor, Michigan, residents began lining up for free bottled water so they could drink and cook without fear of the high levels of lead in the city’s tap water. Free water distribution sites are a fixture of life in the majority Black city in the southwestern corner of Michigan, where almost half of the nearly 10,000 residents live below the poverty line. For three years, tests of its public water system revealed elevated levels of lead. (Phillis, 11/4)

The Atlantic: The CDC Has No Guidance On Post-Booster Behavior
For the immunocompromised, for instance, whose bodies have a tougher time responding to vaccines, additional doses are meant to generate protection that might have been mostly absent before; the CDC doesn’t even call these jabs “boosters” at all. The booster-made gains in protection can also be big for the oldest among us. This group started out at higher risk of getting severe COVID-19, and for them, post-vaccination protection against infection of all flavors seems to be on a bit of a decline. More shots can shore up those defenses—that’s what I’m hoping a booster will do for my mother, whose age and health conditions put her at high risk. (Wu, 11/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: How The Next Generation Of COVID Vaccines Could Lead To 'Sterilizing Immunity'
Around the world and in a few laboratories at Stanford and other major Bay Area research centers, scientists are working on what could be the next generation of COVID vaccines, many of them designed to be inhaled through the nose and from there to mount a frontline immune barrier. The ultimate goal is what’s known as sterilizing immunity: protection so fast and so strong that it blocks the virus before it can cause infection. That level of immunity, or something close to it, would prevent almost all post-vaccination breakthrough cases, and make it virtually impossible for vaccinated people to spread the virus to others. Widely deployed, it would end the pandemic. (Allday, 10/31)

The Wall Street Journal: When Wearing A Mask Covers Up A Social-Anxiety Problem 
Wearing a mask in situations with high Covid-19 risk makes medical sense. But what about covering up your face just because you’re embarrassed to show it? With the transition to a post-pandemic world, some mental-health specialists worry about people who may have grown dependent on masks to shield themselves from human connection. If it gets serious enough, the dependency amounts to a form of social-anxiety disorder, they say. (Inada, 10/31)

Also —

The New York Times: Why Aren’t More People Comparison Shopping For Health Plans? 
One morning last month, Eunice Korsah, a retired nurse in Burke, Va., spent about half an hour on the phone being guided through the complexities of various plans for Medicare Part D, which covers prescription drugs. Her current drug plan was being discontinued and the insurer wanted to move her into one with sharply higher premiums. “I decided, ‘No way,’” she said. But what to replace it with? She looked at the Medicare website for Part D plans available in Fairfax County and found 23, with monthly premiums ranging from $7.10 to $97.30. “There are so many choices, so I wanted someone to clarify them for me,” she said. (Span, 10/30)

The Washington Post: London Cabbies’ Brains Might Hold Clues For Alzheimer’s Research 
London cabbies who drive the city’s iconic black taxis have been required since 1865 to pass a difficult test known as “the Knowledge” to prove that they can find 100,000 businesses and landmarks in a labyrinth of tens of thousands of streets. The series of exams — which take three to four years to complete — have been hailed as possibly the most difficult memorization test in the world. To be fully licensed with a “green badge” to drive anywhere in London, a cabbie needs to know how to plot routes without a GPS on about 26,000 streets spanning a six-mile radius from London’s center point, Charing Cross. But London cabbies’ skills are now being tested for a different reason: to determine whether their brains hold clues that might be applied to Alzheimer’s disease research. (Free, 11/1)

The New York Times: Chronic Kidney Disease May Be Over-Diagnosed In Older Adults 
If the public has learned anything about medicine during the Covid-19 pandemic, it is that science is constantly evolving. New findings can change how experts define a given illness, as well as how they diagnose, prevent and treat it. Such is the case, a new study suggests, with chronic kidney disease. A growing cadre of physicians are combating what they call an over-diagnosis of this condition in the elderly. According to these doctors, many older adults who’ve been told their kidneys are on the road to failure may not have anything more than a normal age-related decline in kidney function. For many, their kidney disease is unlikely to become a medical problem during their remaining years of life. (Brody, 11/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Toxic Positivity Is Very Real, And Very Annoying 
Sometimes the worst thing you can say to a person who’s feeling bad is: “Cheer up!” Chip Hooley learned this the hard way. At the beginning of the pandemic, his daughter, Hilary, called him in a panic. She and her husband had recently purchased an apartment in Brooklyn. Now, she was worried that real-estate prices in New York were falling and her friends were leaving the city. (Bernstein, 11/2)

And don't forget to change your clocks back one hour this weekend —

The Wall Street Journal: Daylight-Saving Time Ends Sunday. Four Ways To Win The Transition
Daylight-saving time ends Sunday, and the bonus hour when the clock turns back can bring more than extra sleep. For those still chasing the goal of becoming a morning person, the annual change can be a good time for a reset. The transition from daylight-saving time can help us recommit to better habits around sleeping and wellness, says Beth Malow, professor of neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. “You can use it to your advantage,” says Dr. Malow. Here’s how to win the transition. (Dizik, 11/1)

USA Today: Fall Back Daylight Saving Time: It's Dangerous And Bad For Your Sleep
To the relief of many Americans, the period of daylight saving time is finally coming to a close. Sunday, people living in states that follow this practice will set their clocks back, gaining the hour of sleep they lost in the spring. For most of the U.S., daylight saving time starts at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday of March and ends on the same time on the first Sunday of November. The Department of Transportation, which is in charge of daylight saving time (DST), says the practice saves energy, prevents traffic accidents and reduces crime. Sleep experts say the health consequences of losing sleep from daylight saving outweigh its value. (Rodriguez, 11/1)

Bloomberg: U.K. Approves Merck Covid Drug Molnupiravir To Fill In Where Vaccines Can’t
The U.K. was the first country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine; it has now become the first to approve an at-home treatment for Covid. On Thursday, the medicines regulator, MHRA, green-lit the antiviral drug molnupiravir, produced by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck & Co. and shown in trials to halve the risk of hospitalization or death in those with mild to moderate disease. (Therese Raphael, 11/4)

Stat: Is The Debate Over The Origin Of Covid-19 Still Worth Having? 
The American public is understandably interested in how a pandemic that has killed nearly 750,000 people in this country and almost 5 million worldwide — with few signs of slowing down — emerged. But the U.S. intelligence community has now concluded that the precise sequence of events by which SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, entered the human population may never be known. Is there any point to continuing an increasingly fractious debate on the origin of Covid-19, or should we now focus on applying the lessons already learned, and think about the future? (John P. Moore, 11/5)

The New York Times: Covid Deaths Are On The Rise Again In Nursing Homes 
For many of the most vulnerable people in our society, the pandemic has not let up. More than 186,000 residents and staff members of nursing homes and long-term-care facilities have already died of Covid-19. In March, the Covid Tracking Project estimated that nearly 1 in 10 people who lived in nursing homes in the United States had died of the virus. And a report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation in early October showed that during July and August of 2021, the number of Covid deaths inside nursing homes had started to rise again, reaching its highest level since February. (Jay Caspian Kang, 11/4)

The Baltimore Sun: Emergent BioSolutions CEO: Here’s Why We’re Ending Our Pandemic Manufacturing Partnership With The U.S. Government 
This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agreed to Emergent BioSolution’s request to end our 9-year pandemic manufacturing partnership that began after the 2009 H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic. We did not come to this decision easily. Emergent was founded to help respond to and prepare for public health threats. And even though we’re ending this manufacturing partnership with the government, our Bayview facility will continue producing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments for our private sector partners, and we will continue to supply the U.S. government with other needed medical countermeasures. (Robert Kramer, 11/4)

Stat: Has Covid Burnout Permanently Changed Part Of Me As A Doctor?
It took me four months to write this sentence. I wanted to capture my feelings as a doctor in training who has been bludgeoned by the Covid-19 pandemic the last year and a half. But I’ve been too burned out to write about burnout. (Sudhakar Nuti, 11/5)

The Washington Post: Three Ways To Overcome Vaccine Hesitancy In Parents 
Now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended the coronavirus vaccine for 5-to-11-year-olds, public health officials will soon face the challenge of overcoming vaccine hesitancy in parents. (Leana S. Wen, 11/4)

Los Angeles Times: Young Kids Should Get The COVID-19 Vaccine Now 
It’s great news that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week cleared the way for children ages 5 to 11 to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19, after the FDA authorized it last week. It’s also good news that neither the state of California nor Los Angeles schools will require them to get it — yet. (11/4)

The Washington Post: Want To End The Pandemic? We’ll Need To Fix The Global Syringe Shortage First
The World Health Organization and UNICEF issued warnings last week that a lack of syringes would “paralyze progress” on vaccinations in low- and middle-income countries, putting the gap at 2.2 billion syringes. That’s a conservative estimate. It’s likely the need for syringes will exceed projected supply by at least double those projections. And, as with vaccine doses, the shortage will hit poor countries in Africa and beyond the worst. If we want any hope of ending the pandemic, world leaders must address this shortfall — and fast. (Francis Kateh, Edward Kelley and Jimmy Kolker, 11/4)

Dallas Morning News: Texans Have Poor Access To Mental Health Professionals, But There Is A Path Forward
The exacerbation of mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic has put even more strain on already overburdened health systems and laid bare the inadequacies of a more structurally flawed system. Rates of depression and anxiety continue at more than three times their pre-pandemic levels, and research suggests that these problems will only get worse as more people feel the effects of continued isolation and disruption of social support. (Andy Keller and Bill Smith, 11/5)

The CT Mirror: Connecticut's Mental Health Care Is Good -- But Could Be Better
Mental Health America’s annual report, “2022 The State of Mental Health in America” is a collection of data across all 50 states and the District of Columbia and seeks to answer questions on the status of individuals living with mental health issues and access to insurance and health care. The report is designed to provide a snapshot of the mental health status in our country so that policy makers and mental health professionals can track changes in the prevalence of mental health issues and access to care and understand how the data can impact legislation and polices moving forward. (Luis Perez, 11/4)

USA Today: Vaccines For Kids: From Polio To COVID, Children Have Been Brave
Nearly seven decades ago, polio was the most feared disease in our country because of its high infection rate among children. Just in 1952, nearly 60,000 children were infected. Images of children in iron lungs keeping them alive terrorized parents, as did reports of the thousands who were paralyzed. More than 3,000 children died that year. (Connie Schultz, 11/5)

The Atlantic: America Needs A New Scientific Revolution 
Two stories in science are worth cheering right now: the amazing amount of knowledge humanity is gathering about COVID-19 and the quietly revolutionary ways we’re accelerating the pace of discovery. First, the knowledge: Last week, a large clinical trial concluded that the cheap antidepressant drug fluvoxamine dramatically lowers the chance that people with COVID-19 will get hospitalized or die. (Derek Thompson, 11/5)

The Atlantic: 'Roe' Was An Originalist Reading Of The Constitution 
For decades, conservative originalists have denounced Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey—two Supreme Court cases that held that the right to abortion is a fundamental liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment—as egregious rulings unmoored from anything in the Constitution. As Justice Antonin Scalia argued in 1989, the protection of unwritten fundamental rights fell outside the judicial function. “The tools of this job,” he wrote, “are not to be found in the lawyer’s—and hence not the judge’s—workbox.” (David H. Gans, 11/4)

The Boston Globe: State Needs To Protect Community Hospitals And The Patients They Serve
The strain on hospitals fighting on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic has been on full display. But small community hospitals — such as Lawrence General Hospital and Holyoke Medical Center — have long endured impossible financial pressures, and the pandemic could prove to be their breaking point. Community hospitals have a small footprint but an outsize impact on health outcomes in the localities they serve, particularly among the most vulnerable patient populations. They offer high-quality routine care at rates that are much more affordable than the larger teaching hospitals. (Ronald J. Mariano, 11/5)

Chicago Tribune: Political War On Drug Firms Is Hazardous To The World's Health 
Drugmaker Merck just shared stunning data on molnupiravir, an oral antiviral it developed to combat COVID-19. In molnupiravir's phase three clinical trial, it cut COVID-19 patients' risk of being hospitalized or dying by 50%. The company is now seeking emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. (Craig Garthwaite, 11/4)