Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Vaccination Uptake Receding With Omicron
The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Booster Shots Are Slowing As Omicron Surge Fades
Fewer people are getting vaccine booster shots in the U.S. as the Omicron Covid-19 surge fades and more Americans return to normal patterns of life, federal data show. The seven-day average for booster shots administered daily was about 149,000 on Feb. 19, down from a little more than a million in early December, when authorities expanded access and Omicron was first detected in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. The agency says about half of booster-eligible people have gotten one so far, compared with about 69% of the eligible population who have completed a regular vaccine series. (Kamp, 2/26)
KHN: From Alabama To Utah, Efforts To Vaccinate Medicaid Enrollees Against Covid Run Into Obstacles
Medicaid enrollees continue to get vaccinated against covid at far lower rates than the general population despite vigorous outreach efforts by government officials and private organizations to get low-income people inoculated, according to data from several states. That leaves many Medicaid enrollees — who tend to be sicker than those with private insurance — at higher risk for severe illness, hospitalization, or death from the virus. (Galewitz, 2/28)
CalMatters: COVID-19 Has Turned Deadlier For Black Californians, Who Have The State’s Lowest Vaccination Rate
COVID-19 has become deadlier for Black Californians since the widespread availability of vaccinations, and vaccine hesitancy could be among the reasons why. Other races, which have higher vaccination rates, have seen death rates rise, but not as dramatically. A CalMatters analysis shows since last summer, the rate of Black Californians dying from COVID-19 has increased tenfold — from one death per 100,000 people last July to 10.4 deaths this week. That surpasses Latinos and all races except Pacific Islanders, who are dying at the rate of 14.7 per 100,000, according to state data. (Hwang, 2/25)
Alaska Public Media: Alaska Kids’ COVID Vaccination Rates Remain Low. Pediatricians Say Misinformation Is The Challenge
Vaccination rates for Alaska children lag far behind the rates for older kids and adults, according to data from the state health department. In Alaska, only 25% of kids ages 5 to 11 had received at least one shot by mid-February. Nationally, 31% have. (Anastas, 2/27)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Nearly Half Of Georgia Has Not Been Fully Vaccinated
As of Tuesday, Georgia was tied with Tennessee for having the seventh lowest percentage of its population fully vaccinated at 53.5%, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics. The CDC records show that only Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Wyoming have lower rates than Georgia. Meanwhile, people keep dying from the virus in the Peach State. Georgia’s seven-day rolling average of newly confirmed and probable deaths from COVID reached 94 on Tuesday, compared to the Delta variant wave’s peak of 133. Total COVID deaths in the state stood at 28,560 on Feb. 12, meaning one in every 370 Georgians has died of the virus since the pandemic began. (Redmon, 2/26)
Also —
The Wall Street Journal: Community Workers Push To Get Covid-19 Tests To The Vulnerable
As the Biden administration distributes hundreds of millions of Covid-19 tests, some public-health workers are moving to deliver the kits a final mile to some of the people most vulnerable to the virus. Alejandra Flores-Miller, a community health worker at Johns Hopkins University, is referring people around Baltimore to a phone hotline and chatting with day laborers and others in the community about at-home Covid-19 tests. Some people say that they didn’t know tests were available or how to get them, Ms. Flores-Miller said, sometimes due to language barriers. (Abbott, 2/27)
AP: Arizona Health Agency Reduces Frequency Of Pandemic Updates
Arizona’s public health agency on Saturday provided its last planned daily update of the state’s coronavirus dashboard of pandemic data such as additional COVID-19 cases, new deaths and hospitalization levels. The state Department of Health Services announced Feb. 18 that it would switch to weekly dashboard updates starting next Wednesday because the outbreak is slowing and to be consistent with other infectious disease that are reported. (2/27)
The New York Times: Experts Warn That The End Of The Omicron Surge Is Not The End Of The Pandemic
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shifted its guidelines on Friday to say that fewer communities were in need of coronavirus restrictions such as masks and social distancing, a change that coincided with moves by several states to drop such protections. But the rush to return to normality in light of an improving national outlook for coronavirus cases has many public health experts concerned that the end of the Omicron surge is incorrectly being conflated with the end of the pandemic. (Holpuch, 2/27)
And in news on the origin of covid —
CNN: Studies Offer Further Evidence That Coronavirus Pandemic Began In Animals In Wuhan Market
Two preprint studies posted Saturday offer further evidence that the coronavirus originated in animals and spread to humans in late 2019 at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China. One of the studies -- neither of which has been peer-reviewed or published in a professional journal -- used spatial analysis to show that the earliest known Covid-19 cases, diagnosed in December 2019, were centered on the market. The researchers also report that environmental samples that tested positive for the virus, SARS-CoV-2, were strongly associated with live-animal vendors. The other study says the two major viral lineages were the result of at least two events in which the virus crossed species into humans. The first transmission most likely happened in late November or early December 2019, the researchers say, and the other lineage was probably introduced within weeks of the first event. (Dillinger, 2/27)
The New York Times: ‘An Extraordinarily Clear Picture’: New Research Points To A Wuhan Market As The Origin Of The Pandemic
Scientists released a pair of extensive studies that point to a market in Wuhan, China, as the origin of the coronavirus pandemic. Analyzing data from a variety of sources, they concluded that the coronavirus was very likely present in live mammals sold in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in late 2019 and suggested that the virus twice spilled over into people working or shopping there. They said they found no support for an alternate theory that the coronavirus escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan. (Zimmer and Mueller, 2/27)
