Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Black, Hispanic People Less Likely To Get Paxlovid, Study Finds
CNN: People Of Color Less Likely To Receive Paxlovid And Other Covid-19 Treatments, According To CDC Study
People of color – especially Black and Hispanic people – were less likely to receive Paxlovid and other Covid-19 treatments, according to a study published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Throughout the pandemic, Black and Hispanic people have been about two times more likely than White people to be hospitalized or die from Covid-19.The new study showed Black Covid-19 patients were 36% less likely than White patients to be treated with Paxlovid, and Hispanic patients were 30% less likely than non-Hispanic patients to receive the antiviral pill. (McPhillips, 10/27)
San Francisco Chronicle: NIH Backs Study Of Paxlovid As A Long COVID Treatment
Duke University researchers will explore the effectiveness of the Pfizer antiviral drug Paxlovid against the complex medical condition known as long COVID. The details of the randomized trial, posted on clinicaltrials.gov, show a plan to test the treatment against a placebo control in 1,700 adult volunteers. (Vaziri, Buchmann and Ravani, 10/27)
More on the spread of covid —
CBS News: White House Still Expects New COVID Boosters Will Offer Better Protection, But Two New Studies Cast Doubt
The White House's top COVID-19 official says he still expects the protection against the Omicron BA.5 variant offered by the new COVID vaccine boosters will be better than their predecessors, despite two studies that appear to question that assumption. In an interview with CBS News, Dr. Ashish Jha also said he does not think another imminent change to the COVID boosters will be needed. (Tin, 10/27)
CIDRAP: Humans Transmit SARS-CoV-2 To Their Pets, Household Study Finds
Among a sample of 107 households with pets and at least one COVID-19–infected adult in Idaho and Washington state, 21% of dogs and 39% of cats had signs of infection, 40% of dogs and 43% of cats had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, and 5% and 8%, respectively, tested positive on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, finds a new study in Emerging Infectious Diseases. (10/27)
Bloomberg: The Healthy Buildings Movement Is Sick Of Crummy Ventilation
In October, the White House held its first-ever summit on indoor air quality, encouraging businesses, organizations and especially schools to improve their buildings’ ventilation and filtration systems. The summit, which came in response to the pandemic, underscored that buildings are a first line of defense against infectious diseases and a key to public health. (Poon, 10/27)
