Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Consent Laws Could Prevent Covid Vaccines For Some Kids
Politico: Foster And Migrant Kids Shut Out From Covid Vaccinations
Nearly a half-million foster children in the U.S. and unaccompanied migrant teens at the southern border could be prevented from receiving coronavirus vaccines because of federal and state consent laws that require a parent or guardian’s approval. Regulators authorized emergency use of one Covid-19 shot in kids as young as 12 this month, accelerating the Biden administration’s broad immunization plans and school reopening plans. But that created unintended consequences for at-risk children: Because the vaccine, from Pfizer, has not received full regulatory approval, it has a murky status compared to the battery of routine vaccinations recommended by federal agencies. That means kids in many states can only receive it with a parent or guardian’s consent — a hurdle that’s impossible to meet for many children separated from their biological parents. (Owermohle, 5/30)
NPR: No Masks Needed At Summer Camp For Vaccinated Campers And Staff, CDC Says
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has revised earlier guidelines regarding mask use and vaccinations at summer camps. The updated guidelines, released Friday, now say that at camps where everyone has been fully vaccinated, campers can sing, play sports and weave baskets mask-free – except where required by local law. "In a camp setting where everybody is fully vaccinated, there's no need for masking, there's no need for distancing. There's no need for screening, testing," said Cmdr. Erin Sauber-Schatz, lead of the CDC's Community Interventions and Critical Populations Task Force, which wrote the guidance. (Huang and Neel, 5/28)
In other updates on the vaccine rollout —
Axios: Tennessee Hat Store's "Not Vaccinated" Star Of David Patches Spark Protest
Manufacturer Stetson announced Saturday it's pulling its products from a store in Nashville, Tennessee, which advertised the sale of "not vaccinated" Star of David patches for $5. Protesters rallied outside Hatwrks Saturday, displaying signs with messages including "The Holocaust is not a marketing op." (Falconer, 5/30)
Bay Area News Group: Despite Vaccine Incentive Program, No Stampede To Get Shots
A steady trickle of traffic flowed into Bay Area vaccination sites on Friday, a day after the state’s announcement of financial incentives to get jabbed. But trying to find a person for whom the promise of $50 and a chance at more than a million dollars had pushed them over the edge to get a shot was on par with hunting for a unicorn. Most people at the sites — including the volunteers — hadn’t even heard of the $116.5 million program, which Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled to great fanfare Thursday as part of a growing trend of vaccine giveaways to nudge more hesitant Americans to get a COVID-19 shot. Named “Vax for the Win,” California’s program will provide $50 cash or grocery cards to the next two million Californians who get vaccinated and will enter all vaccinated residents into drawings for cash prizes of $50,000 and $1.5 million. (Selig, 5/28)
Axios: COVID Vaccine Incentives: The States Offering Rewards To Get Vaccinated
From $1 million cash prizes to a free dinner with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, states and cities are offering incentives as part of their efforts to boost vaccination rates. U.S. daily administered doses fell dramatically in late April and May, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. About 51.2% of adults in the U.S. have been fully vaccinated, while nearly 62.4% have received at least one dose of a vaccine. (Knutson, 5/30)
AP: Mobile Vaccination Units Hit Tiny US Towns To Boost Immunity
Pick-up truck drivers motor up to a white trailer in a parking lot on Fallon Paiute-Shoshone land in Nevada’s high desert and within a few moments they’re handed forms to sign, jabbed with coronavirus vaccine and sent on their way. The pop-up clinic 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of Reno is one of 28 locations in the state where the Federal Emergency Management Agency has dispatched mobile vaccination units to ensure people in far-flung rural areas and one stop-light towns can get inoculated. (Sonner and Metz, 5/31)
KHN: Mississippi’s Black Communities Turned Around Their Covid Rates. Next Up: Make Strides On Vaccines.
At its first pop-up vaccination event on April 10, the Northeast Mississippi Coalition Against Covid 19 gave shots to nearly 40 people in Shannon, a town where roughly 60% of some 1,800 residents are African American. Though a fraction of the doses typically given out at large mass vaccination sites, the event was a success, say organizers — a coalition of health care providers and elected officials. Held outdoors, it allowed for a physically distant, communal atmosphere that many have missed over the past year. (Gibson Morris, 5/30)
Crain's New York Business: Armed With Its New Covid Lab, Mount Sinai Vies For City Vaccination Contract
Having expanded its Covid-19 testing lab, Mount Sinai is gunning for a contract that would provide testing services to the city's schools, it announced Tuesday. Earlier this year the health system established the Mount Sinai Covid Lab with Hell's Kitchen–based Pershing Square Foundation, a not-for-profit organization tackling social issues, as part of a pilot program to provide saliva-based testing for charter schools. The foundation provided $500,000 to launch that program, said Dr. David Reich, president of Mount Sinai Hospital. (Sim, 5/31)
Houston Chronicle: Second-Generation COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trial Starts At Baylor College Of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine investigators are recruiting volunteers for a multicenter Phase 1 clinical trial to examine the safety, tolerability and immune response for different doses of a two-part, investigational COVID-19 vaccine regimen. “Gritstone Oncology’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been designed to broaden the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, with the goal of generating immune responses to provide protection against emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2,” said Dr. Jennifer Whitaker, assistant professor of medicine and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine and principal investigator of Baylor’s trial site. (5/29)
