Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Campaigns Ramp Up To Persuade More People To 'Get The Shot'
CBS News: Biden Urges All Americans To "Go Get The Shot" As CDC Relaxes Mask Guidance
President Biden urged all Americans to "go get the shot" on Tuesday, citing new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that said individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can resume some outdoor activities without wearing masks. All U.S. residents 16 and older are now eligible for the vaccine, and the president has set July 4 as a target date for resuming some version of life as normal. (Watson and Quinn, 4/27)
Bloomberg: Biden Talks Up Benefits of Vaccines After New Mask Guidance
President Joe Biden urged Americans hesitant to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to reconsider, pointing to new U.S. guidance that inoculated people can socialize outdoors without masks. “Beginning today, gathering with a group of friends in a park, going for a picnic, as long as you are vaccinated and outdoors, you can do it without a mask,” Biden said Tuesday at the White House. “If you’re vaccinated, you can do more things, more safely, both outdoors as well as indoors.” (Rutherford, Chen and Fabian, 4/27)
Politico: HHS Secretary: ‘A Lot Of Folks Would Listen’ If Trump Made Vaccine PSA
President Joe Biden’s top health official on Tuesday encouraged former President Donald Trump to make a public service announcement promoting coronavirus vaccines to his supporters — many of whom remain skeptical of the shots at a critical moment in the U.S. vaccination effort. “Any time someone who you trust tells you something will work, you pay more attention. And so we would love all those who have the respect of the constituencies out there in America to get out there and help us,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told MSNBC. (Forgey, 4/27)
In other vaccine news from the Biden administration —
CBS News: Prince Harry, Meghan And The Bidens To Appear At Vaccine Benefit Concert
Prince Harry and Meghan will serve as the campaign chairs of Global Citizen's effort to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to medical workers in the world's poorest countries. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will appear at "Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World," to be taped Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and air on ABC, CBS, FOX, YouTube and iHeartMedia broadcast radio stations on May 8, Global Citizen, the anti-poverty nonprofit, announced Tuesday. (4/28)
Politico: Biden’s Covid Team Split Over Decision To Send Vaccine Doses Abroad
The White House’s decision to send millions of doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine overseas has split top Biden administration officials — with many arguing that the government cannot reduce its stockpile of doses on hand given recent disruptions in U.S. vaccine production. The announcement Monday followed a call between President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose nation has been overwhelmed by a second wave of cases. The news sent several top administration officials scrambling to figure out who had determined that the U.S. would not need the AstraZeneca shots over the next several months, according to three senior officials with knowledge of the situation. (Banco and Cancryn, 4/27)
