Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: We Need To Change Our Covid Thought Process; How To Find Masks And Tests Amid Shortages
The New York Times: To Fight Covid, We Need To Think Less Like Doctors
Caring for an individual and protecting a population require different priorities, practices and ways of thinking. While it may sound counterintuitive, to heal the country and put our Covid-19 response on the right track, we need to think less like doctors. (Aaron E. Carroll, 1/14)
Bay Area News Group: Frustrating Hunt For COVID Tests And Protective Masks
“Sold out.” “Sold out.” “Sold out.” With the COVID-19 omicron variant continuing its rampage across the state, residents are racing — scavenger hunt-style — to find at-home antigen tests to assess their exposures, and extra-protective masks to guard against catching the virus. But with cases rising and supplies limited, many shoppers have only found empty shelves and “Sold out” signs. (Zack Savitsky, 1/13)
The Star Tribune: Lessons Learned From Vaccine Mandates
It should be painfully clear by now that the COVID-19 pandemic isn't a sprint but a marathon, potentially an ultramarathon. Learning to live with it involves calibrating measures to deliver normality while preventing as much harm as possible from a dangerous virus. The temporary vaccination requirements announced Wednesday for Minneapolis and St. Paul bar and restaurant patrons are the latest attempt to strike that balance. While far from ideal and overdue, the requirements are a sensible middle ground between a shutdown or doing nothing in the midst of omicron's alarming surge. (1/13)
The Washington Post: Are We All Going To Get Omicron? Dr. Leana Wen Answered Reader Questions.
Washington Post contributing columnist Dr. Leana S. Wen [answered] reader questions on covid-19, the omicron variant, vaccines, testing and more. (Leana S. Wen, 1/13)
The New York Times: Waiting For Omicron
You’re not supposed to want to get Omicron just to get it over with. In article after article, experts warn against trying to catch the virus in the hope of putting it behind you. You could end up contributing to the untenable strain on the health care system, they say, or give Covid to someone more vulnerable than you. Treatments will be more widely available in a few months. So even though my impulse, when faced with something both grim and seemingly inevitable, is to get through it as fast as possible, I’ve dutifully taken all the precautions I’ve been told to take, plus a few more. (Michelle Goldberg, 1/14)
