Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Why Is Covid More Fatal To Men?; No Evidence Found Of Covid Lab Leak
The New York Times: Covid-19 Deaths Are More Likely Among Men, But Why?
Azita Ghahramani worried she wouldn’t survive Covid-19 because of her health conditions, including high blood pressure. So she and her husband, Scott Downing, and their son became hypervigilant. They moved to a remote part of Maine and avoided most social interactions. Even so, all three got Covid-19 in March 2021, possibly from exposure during a family funeral. But it wasn’t Ms. Ghahramani who nearly died of the disease; it was her husband. (Ezekiel J. Emanuel, 11/2)
The Star Tribune: Still No Validation For The Lab-Leak Theory Of COVID's Origin
For months, adherents of the theory that COVID-19 originated in a Chinese government laboratory have hoped that an assessment President Joe Biden ordered from the nation's intelligence agencies would validate their suspicions. Their hopes are now dashed. The intelligence report was declassified and released on Oct. 29. It effectively demolishes the lab-leak theory. (Michael Hiltzik, 11/2)
The Washington Post: The Official Pandemic Death Toll Is 5 Million. But Millions More Perished Because Of It
Five million pandemic deaths around the world are sad and terrifying. It’s as though Chicago and Houston were almost wiped off the map. What’s even more disturbing is that the 5 million deaths — the total just recorded — is most certainly an underestimate. The true death toll is probably two or three times more. (11/2)
Bloomberg: Good Job On Vaccine Mandates, New York City. Don’t Back Down
New York City put 9,000 municipal workers on unpaid leave on Monday for refusing to comply with Covid-19 vaccine mandates. Well done. Public and private sector leaders will have to continue enforcing mandates amid counterfactual protests from holdouts who are conflating sensible public health policy and the common good with a threat to their liberty and identity. New York is making tough, rational choices around mandates and following through — an exemplary stance akin to United Airlines Holdings Inc.’s approach. This helps keep residents, employees and customers safer and healthier and makes it easier for other leaders to follow suit. (Timothy L. O'Brien, 11/2)
Stat: Molnupiravir For Covid-19: Another Opportunity To Recognize Inequity
The Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected communities of color and those with lower socioeconomic means, two groups that overlap to a significant extent in the U.S. Merck’s submission of molnupiravir, its oral antiviral drug, to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization will only heighten inequities wrought by the pandemic. (Anand Swaminathan, Utibe R. Essien and Esther Choo, 11/3)
