Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Ways To Make Vaccination The Norm; Covid Far From Over In Africa
Stat: Proven Ways To Boost Covid-19 Vaccination: Mandates Plus Nudges
The United States is approaching a plateau in vaccination rates at a perilous moment as the highly transmissible Delta variant has become the dominant strain. People are throwing away their masks and going to restaurants, movies, and traveling as they did in the time before the coronavirus pandemic emerged. New Covid-19 cases have doubled during the last three weeks, with the vast preponderance of hospitalizations and deaths among people who have not been vaccinated. Slightly more than 48% of the population is fully vaccinated, and nearly half of unvaccinated Americans say they won’t get the jab. (Lawrence O. Gostin and Scott C. Ratzan, 7/22)
CNN: My Uncle Died Of Covid-19 Before He Could Get A Vaccine In Kenya, And I Got Mine In A US Drugstore. This Is What Vaccine Inequality Looks Like
Every time I see a call from home, my heart sinks. I always fear that they're ringing to say that my grandmother has died. She has been on a ventilator for four weeks and my anxiety is near breaking point. The dreaded call could come at any time: Covid-19. Again. (Larry Madowo, 7/21)
Tampa Bay Times: Florida's COVID Trajectory
The pandemic has entered a troubling new stage, as lagging vaccination rates in states like Florida give rise to a surge of infections. Florida needs to be more proactive about engaging vaccine holdouts, and hesitant Floridians need to reach out to whomever they trust — their doctor, family or friends. While the risks largely fall to the unvaccinated, that still is a huge population, and winnowing that number is essential to getting the pandemic under control. (7/21)
CNN: Analysis: A Day Of Reckoning Shows America's Covid Pandemic Battle Is Sliding Backward
It's not over. Nowhere near it. If Joe Biden's July Fourth fireworks marked a moment to declare the darkest days of the pandemic over, Monday was the day when reality dawned that the nation's fight against Covid-19 is quickly sliding back in the wrong direction. A hybrid version of American life that will pass for normality for the foreseeable future is coming into view, in which most of the vaccinated live and many of those who refuse their shots get sick or die. (Stephen Collinson, 7/20)
