Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Soon As The Shots Arrived, Health Workers Rolled Up Their Sleeves
AP: 'Healing Is Coming': US Health Workers Start Getting Vaccine
With a countdown of “3-2-1,” workers at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center gave initial injections to applause. And in Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis personally opened a delivery door to the FedEx driver and signed for a package holding 975 precious frozen doses of vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech. The shots kicked off what will become the largest vaccination effort in U.S. history, one that could finally conquer the outbreak. Dr. Valerie Briones-Pryor, who has worked in a COVID-19 unit at University of Louisville Hospital since March and recently lost her 27th patient to the virus, was among the first recipients. “I want to get back to seeing my family,” she said. “I want families to be able to get back to seeing their loved ones.” (Neergaard, 12/15)
Politico: Covid Vaccinations Begin In The United States As Deaths Surpass 300,000
“First Vaccine Administered. Congratulations USA! Congratulations WORLD!” President Donald Trump tweeted. ... Several of the Trump administration’s top public health officials were out in front Monday trumpeting the development in an effort to assure the public of the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness. “It’s a great day, frankly, for science,” Moncef Slaoui, who led the administration's effort to accelerate vaccine development, said on Fox Business. “It’s a great day for humanity. It’s a great day for the ecosystem of biotech and pharmaceutical industry. And it’s a great day for America.” (Niedzwiadek, 12/14)
Reuters: 'Race Against Time': First Americans Vaccinated As U.S. Death Toll Passes 300,000
Similar scenes played out at select hospitals in other cities, including Los Angeles, where California Governor Gavin Newsom applauded as a Kaiser Permanente emergency room nurse rolled up her sleeve for a needle jab on live television. “It’s been an incredible morning. It’s historic,” said Dr. Leonardo Seoane after he received a shot at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, where he has led some of the clinical trials that found the vaccine 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 illness. (Allen and Borter, 12/14)
The New York Times: ‘A Shot Of Hope’: What The Vaccine Is Like For Frontline Doctors And Nurses
As Dr. Rishi Seth rolled up his left sleeve on Monday to receive one of the United States’ first Covid-19 vaccines, he thought of his patients back in the Special Care Unit. There was the Uber driver who had walked out of the hospital after being on a ventilator. The dying father who said goodbye to his two college-age daughters on a video chat. The four coronavirus patients Dr. Seth had treated just on Monday morning, checking their oxygen levels and reviewing treatment plans before he stripped off his protective gear and joined a first wave of health care workers to get vaccinated in hospitals across the country. “That’s why today is so emotional,” said Dr. Seth, an internal-medicine physician with Sanford Health in North Dakota, a state that has been ravaged by the virus. “You’re still fighting a battle, but you’re starting to see the horizon.” (Healy, Tompkins and Burch, 12/14)
Lexington Herald Leader: These Health Workers Got The First COVID-19 Vaccines In KY
Five University of Louisville frontline health care workers made history Monday morning by becoming the first people in Kentucky to receive a vaccine to protect against the novel coronavirus. (Acquisto, 12/14)
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The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Vaccine’s Initial Scarcity Leads To Tough Choices For Hospitals
Emergency room doctor Stephanie Gonzalez spent this month eagerly waiting to hear if she would be one of the first to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Throughout the pandemic, she said, she has feared bringing the virus home to an adult daughter with autism who needs her mother’s help to dress, shower and eat. Michelle Mitcheson, a nurse, felt apprehension about getting a vaccine that had been authorized for emergency use but not fully approved by federal regulators, but said she would get one. “I am willing to take some degree of risk in order to do the most good for the majority of the population,” she said. (Evans, 12/14)
CNN: US Coronavirus: Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Was A Moment Of Hope In Pandemic's 'Darkest Days,' Expert Says. But The Dark Days Aren't Yet Over
For many Americans, Monday felt like a sigh of relief. After 10 nightmarish months, the first Covid-19 vaccinations began, a historic milestone in a brutal battle. "I never would have imagined that within a year of identifying ... a new virus, we would have a vaccine that is being administered to people, that is safe, and is effective and it gives us hope," said Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "On one of the darkest days in this pandemic, we finally have a ray of hope." (Maxouris, 12/15)
