Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Shanghai's 'Zero-Covid' Policy Is A Failure; WHO's Shock Rejection Of India's Covid Shot
Chicago Tribune: China’s Surge Shows Folly Of Trying To Achieve ‘Zero-COVID-19′
From the outset, mystery has shrouded the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The origin of the virus remains unknown, important Chinese journalists and key scientists have been muted, and case and death totals reported by China’s government have been unbelievably low — the United States and most of Western Europe have reported 500 to 1,000 times as many per capita deaths as China. (Cory Franklin and Robert A. Weinstein, 4/14)
Stat: India's Drug Regulator Has Ignored Red Alerts On Covaxin
In a shocking turn of events, the World Health Organization warned United Nations agencies against procuring Covaxin, India’s indigenously developed and manufactured Covid-19 vaccine, just five months after granting approval to the made-in-India vaccine. The warning came after a WHO inspection of a manufacturing facility owned by Bharat Biotech International Ltd. revealed “deficiencies in good manufacturing practices.” The WHO has not revealed the extent or nature of the deficiencies at Bharat Biotech’s facility; but given its recent instructions to U.N. agencies, the deficiency must have been significant from a public health perspective. (Dinesh Thakur, 4/15)
The Star Tribune: A Prudent Call On Air Travel Masking
A resigned sigh is the adult response to this week's announcement that air travelers must continue donning face masks amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. What's not welcome: entitled bellyaching. Continued masking is a minor inconvenience as leisure and business travelers return, especially for the shorter flights domestic travel involves. Just deal with it like a grown-up. Any complaints should be stuffed into the overhead bin next to carry-on luggage instead of being hurled at flight crews. (4/14)
Also —
The Baltimore Sun: Teen Mental Health Crisis Needs Broad Response
Children and adolescents in our country are in crisis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a comprehensive survey that chronicled a startling decline in adolescent mental health from 2009 to 2019. According to that report, more than 1 out of every 3 high school students had experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2019 — a 40% increase since 2009. This is not an occasional bad day. (Harsh K. Trivedi, 4/15)
CNN: New York Subway Shooting Draws New Attention To The Nation's Mental Health Crisis
Investigators are continuing to pore through the extensive library of YouTube videos created by Frank James, the 62-year-old man accused of shooting 10 people on a New York City subway train, searching for clues about his motive. But those videos and his case have also refocused America's attention on the acute mental health crisis that is gripping this country, from the vast number of untreated people in need of psychological help to the difficulty that Congress will face if they actually try to fix what has long been a broken system. (Maeve Reston, 4/15)
