Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Restores Limits On US Military's Use Of Land Mines
The New York Times: Biden Bans Most Antipersonnel Land Mine Use, Reversing Trump-Era Policy
The United States on Tuesday limited its military’s use of land mines worldwide, except for on the Korean Peninsula, meeting President Biden’s campaign pledge to undo a Trump-era policy that he had called “reckless.” The move effectively returns to a 2014 policy established by the Obama administration that forbade the use of antipersonnel land mines except in defense of South Korea. The Trump administration loosened those restrictions in 2020, citing a new focus on strategic competition with major powers with large armies. (Crowley and Ismay, 6/21)
In monkeypox updates —
AP: UK To Offer Vaccines To Some Gay, Bisexual Men For Monkeypox
British health officials will start offering vaccines to some men who have sex with men and are at the highest risk of catching monkeypox, in an effort to curb the biggest outbreak of the disease beyond Africa. Doctors can consider vaccination for some men at the highest risk of exposure, Britain’s Health Security agency said in a statement Tuesday. The agency identified those at highest risk as men who have sex with men and who have multiple partners, participate in group sex or attend venues where sex occurs on the premises. (6/21)
The Atlantic: Squirrels Could Make Monkeypox A Forever Problem
In the summer of 2003, just weeks after an outbreak of monkeypox sickened about 70 people across the Midwest, Mark Slifka visited “the super-spreader,” he told me, “who infected half of Wisconsin’s cases.” Chewy, a prairie dog, had by that point succumbed to the disease, which he’d almost certainly caught in an exotic-animal facility that he’d shared with infected pouched rats from Ghana. But his owners’ other prairie dog, Monkey—named for the way he clambered about his cage—had contracted the pathogen and survived. “I was a little worried,” said Slifka, an immunologist at Oregon Health & Science University. All the traits that made Monkey a charismatic pet also made him an infectious threat. He cuddled and nibbled his owners; when they left the house, he’d swaddle himself in their clothing until they returned. “It was sweet,” Slifka told me. “But I was like, ‘Can Monkey be in his cage when we come over?’” (Wu, 6/21)
In global covid vaccine developments —
Reuters: COVID-19 Vaccine Scheme For World's Poorest Pushes For Delivery Slowdown
Leaders of the global scheme aiming to get COVID-19 vaccines to the world's poorest are pushing manufacturers including Pfizer (PFE.N) and Moderna (MRNA.O) to cut or slow deliveries of about half a billion shots so doses are not wasted. COVAX, the World Health Organization-led scheme, wants between 400 and 600 million fewer vaccines doses than initially contracted from six pharmaceutical companies, according to internal documents seen by Reuters. (Rigby and Guarascio, 6/22)
Bloomberg: Moderna To Build MRNA Manufacturing And Research Center In UK
Moderna Inc. plans to build a research and manufacturing center in the UK in a partnership with the government aimed at providing the country with messenger RNA vaccines against future health threats. The agreement will ensure National Health Service patients gain access to mRNA vaccines targeting a range of diseases, including potential shots that can protect against multiple Covid variants, the government said in a statement. The UK, which expects the first mRNA vaccine to be produced in 2025, declined to disclose the size of the investment or the location of the center. (Hernanz Lizarraga, 6/21)
