Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Plows Forward With COVID Planning Despite Transition Delays
The Hill: Biden Says Trump's Transition Delay Will Put New Government Behind With Vaccine
President-elect Joe Biden criticized the Trump administration's delay of the transition, saying it was preventing his team from getting information about how coronavirus vaccines will be distributed. Biden suggested during a roundtable with health care workers on Wednesday that the delays could put his administration behind by weeks or months in putting together a distribution initiative. (Manchester and Easley, 11/18)
USA Today: In Meeting With Biden, Emergency Workers Plead For Equipment, Testing To Combat 'Skyrocketing' Coronavirus Cases
As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office in two months, he heard Wednesday from a firefighter, nurses and a caregiver who described chronic shortages of protective equipment, tests and contact tracing to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The virus, combined with rebuilding the economy, is the biggest challenge facing Biden. The online roundtable came as the number of cases nationwide grows rapidly, with more than 11 million cases nationwide and nearly 250,000 deaths so far. (Jansen, 11/18)
Modern Healthcare: 'Trifecta Of Shortages' Hampering Response To COVID-19 Surge
A "trifecta of shortages" is hampering the U.S. healthcare system's ability to treat current and future COVID-19 patients, a member of President-elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 Advisory Board said Wednesday. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said during a webinar hosted by the National Institute for Health Care Management that care for hospitalized coronavirus patients could be compromised due to a lack of staffing rather than a lack of beds. Providers will again run out of personal protective equipment in light of the current surge in cases, especially since Europe is experiencing similar increases, he said. Finally, critical drugs used to treat COVID patients are in increasingly short supply, a problem also exacerbated by Europe's surge. (Bannow, 11/18)
USA Today: Biden's COVID-19 Plan To Face Hurdles As Coronavirus Pandemic Rages
President-elect Joe Biden will arrive at the White House Jan. 20 at a critical juncture in America's battle against COVID-19. In the weeks before he takes office, the winter season is expected to further the virus' unrelenting spread as the U.S. holds out hope a vaccine will soon eradicate a pandemic that has taken hundreds of thousands of lives and decimated the economy. (Subramanian, 11/19)
Politico: The Biden Adviser Focused On The Pandemic’s Stark Racial Disparities
When Marcella Nunez-Smith started treating some of the first hospitalized Covid-19 patients in Connecticut this March, she huddled with fellow doctors to try to understand this deadly new disease. But she wasn’t surprised that it was hitting minorities so brutally hard. Health crises often hit minorities hard. ... Eight months later, President-elect Joe Biden tapped Nunez-Smith, an expert on health care inequality, to help lead the transition’s coronavirus advisory board. That puts the fight against the virus in devastated Black, Latino and Native American communities smack in the center of his pandemic response. (Kenen, 11/19)
Stat: Biden Adviser Says Scientists Should Lead Communications On Covid-19
A member of President-elect Joe Biden’s Covid-19 task force is advocating for federal scientists — rather than high-ranking political appointees — to take on the daily work of informing the public about the pandemic beginning in January. Celine Gounder, a task force member and veteran infectious diseases specialist, specifically highlighted two veteran Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists who appeared at public briefings early in the pandemic but largely disappeared from public view in the spring. (Facher, 11/19)
In related news about Drs. Fauci and Birx —
USA Today: Anthony Fauci On Why He Thinks He Hasn't Heard From Joe Biden's Team
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday he wants to begin talks with President-elect Joe Biden to ensure a smooth transition for the new administration but believes the Biden team is wary of putting him in a "compromised position" as President Donald Trump refuses to concede the election. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, hasn't spoken to Biden as the U.S. battles a significant spike in the coronavirus pandemic and the president-elect looks to start working on his plan to combat the virus. (Garrison, 11/18)
Politico: ‘It’s Complicated’: Biden Team Weighs Whether To Retain Deborah Birx
President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team is weighing whether to give Trump administration coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx a role in its Covid-19 response, even as it prepares a broader purge of officials closely tied to the president’s handling of the pandemic. The debate over Birx’s future has vexed transition officials, with advocates for the longtime public health official arguing that her experience on the front lines of the pandemic could aid a Biden administration that will be thrust into the middle of a deepening crisis. (Cancryn, 11/18)
