Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Stop Ignoring Health Of Adolescents, Long-Haulers; Pros, Cons Of Vaccine Distributions
The Washington Post: Covid-19 Has Wreaked Havoc On Young People’s Lives. We Owe It To Them To See This Through.
While adults make up most covid-19 cases, over 2 million children and adolescents in the United States have been diagnosed with the disease. Serious illness is rare among young people, but the impact of the coronavirus on adolescents’ well-being should not go overlooked. It has wreaked havoc on their lives. Closed schools. Interrupted access to free lunch and essential technology. Canceled activities. Forced an inability to hang out with friends. In the United States’ desire to return to “normal” last year, we deprioritized young people. (Rebekah Fenton, 1/27)
Stat: Stop Ignoring Long-Haulers Who Were Never Tested For Covid-19
Long-haulers are truckers who are on the road for a long time. But in the end they reach a destination, deliver their shipment, and go home. For me, there’s no end. ”That’s how my husband, Michael, feels about his 10 months as a long-hauler — the term coined for people with long-lasting responses to infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. (Shayna Skarf, 1/28)
The Washington Post: The Covid-19 Pandemic Has Taught Us Some Brutal Lessons About Governance
The covid-19 tragedy teaches this: Government is more apt to achieve adequacy when it does not try to achieve purity. Commenting on the widely varying results of the states’ different approaches to getting vaccines into arms, a Wall Street Journal editorial notes two things. One is the benefits of federalism: Among 50 governors, at least a few are apt to be wiser and nimbler than the federal bureaucracy. The other is: “The most successful state rollouts have departed from overly prescriptive federal rules,” and “The states with the highest per capita vaccination rates are all rule-breakers.” Philip K. Howard is not surprised. (George F. Will, 1/27)
USA Today: COVID-19, Climate Change: Denialism Is Deadly. Joe Biden Knows This.
If there were any lingering doubts about the undermining of science as the COVID-19 crisis erupted last year, Dr. Anthony Fauci has horror stories to prove otherwise. In a series of recent interviews, most notably with The New York Times, the nation's leading infectious disease expert revealed how his informed advice for grappling with a growing pandemic was all but dismissed by a White House flirting with denialism. "We would say things like, 'This is an outbreak. Infectious diseases run their own course unless one does something to intervene,' " Fauci recalled. "(President Donald Trump) would get up and start talking about, 'It's going to go away, it's magical, it's going to disappear.' " (1/27)
NPR: COVID-19 Vaccines Are Not Being Distributed In A Just Way
I was elated when the first COVID-19 vaccine was shown to be effective late last year. Knowing how effective vaccines can be in ending epidemics, I was hopeful that the end of the pandemic was in sight. However, my joy was cut short when richer Western nations began buying up the vaccine doses. As a result, COVID-19 vaccines will not likely be widely available in Africa until 2022 or 2023.I am shocked that these wealthier nations think this is the best way to protect their people from a global pandemic that does not respect borders. The Igbo people of Nigeria — my ethnic group — are always practical. An Igbo proverb comes to mind, as popularized by the late author Chinua Achebe: Onye ji onye n'ani ji onwe ya. "He who will hold another down in the mud must stay in the mud to keep him down." (Ifeanyi Nsofor, 1/26)
Boston Globe: Baker Must Make Adjustments To The State’s Vaccination Plan
Governor Baker had a good vaccine distribution plan. Under his leadership, Massachusetts reasonably tiered its population by level of risk and prioritized groups accordingly. The first phase, for example, included health care workers and other COVID response teams, emergency staff, and, notably, prisoners — a decision that this editorial board commended. But drafting a plan and implementing it are two different steps, and Massachusetts has, unfortunately, failed in the latter so far. As of this week, the Commonwealth is lagging behind the rest of New England when it comes to vaccinating its residents, and it ranks among the slowest states in the country relative to its population. Even more alarming was Massachusetts’ effort to get the vaccine to long-term care facilities, home to some of the state’s most vulnerable people, which started a week later than in neighboring states. (1/27)
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Missouri's GOP Seems Unsure About Who Should Be Charge Of Pandemic Response
At the same time Gov. Mike Parson is doing his best to avoid meddling in local government responses to the pandemic, his fellow Republicans in the Legislature are proposing bills to strip local authorities of power to impose the public health restrictions required to prevent more disastrous spikes in cases. If Missourians are confused about which Republican line of thinking they’re supposed to follow, perhaps it’s because the state’s GOP leadership doesn’t seem to know what it wants. Since the coronavirus arrived here nearly a year ago, Parson has deliberately relinquished responsibility to local authorities and public health officials, essentially avoiding any of the politically controversial public-health decisions that restricted people’s activities and freedoms. (1/27)
Dallas Morning News: COVID Vaccine Skepticism Threatens To Handicap Texas’ Economic Recovery
With Texas’ economy still struggling under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic, Texans’ COVID-19 vaccine skepticism has the potential to handicap the state’s recovery before it can truly take hold. This is apparent in January polling conducted by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Texas Lyceum in the run-up to their public conference on the Texas Economy: “Wrecked, in Reckoning or Recovery Amidst COVID-19?” (Joshua Blank, 1/28)
The Hill: Combating Pandemic Scams
COVID-19 has touched nearly every person on the planet. In response to the virus, Americans transitioned to work from home, cities effectively shut down, and millions of people lost their jobs. Unfortunately, as this was all happening, criminals saw this as an opportunity to exploit those most vulnerable through new and innovative scams. (Rep. Earl L. "Buddy" Carter, 1/27)
