Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Emails Indicate Trump's Covid Response Took 'Backseat' To Campaign
The Washington Post: Trump’s Election Challenges Distracted From Covid Response, White House Adviser Told Colleagues
White House officials prioritized President Donald Trump’s attempt to challenge the election over the pandemic response last winter, according to emails obtained by the House select subcommittee probing the government’s coronavirus response and shared with The Washington Post. Steven Hatfill, a virologist who advised White House trade director Peter Navarro and said he was intimately involved in the pandemic response, repeatedly described in the emails how “election stuff” took precedence over coronavirus, even as the outbreak surged to more than 250,000 new coronavirus cases per day in January. (Diamond, 9/23)
Pew Research Center: Americans Who Got Most COVID-19 News From Trump Less Likely To Be Vaccinated
Americans who relied most on former President Donald Trump and the White House coronavirus task force for COVID-19 news in the early days of the pandemic are now among those least likely to have been vaccinated against the virus, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. In late April 2020, as part of the Center’s American News Pathways Project, respondents were asked to name the source they relied on most for pandemic news. At that point, it had been more than a month since the World Health Organization had declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic, businesses and schools in the United States were closing their doors, and the nation was approaching the 1 million mark in number of confirmed cases as the sweeping impact of the pandemic was becoming clearer. (Jurkowitz and Mitchell, 9/23)
Salon.Com: COVID Is Changing Trump Country: Alabama's Population Shrinks For The First Time In History
Alabama's population is dwindling for the first time in state's history as a result of COVID-19's deadly spread throughout its residents. "Our state literally shrunk in 2020, based on the numbers that we have managed to put together, and actually by quite a bit," State Health Officer Scott Harris said in a Friday press conference, according to The Guardian. "2020 is going to be the first year that we know of in the history of our state where we actually had more deaths than births." (Skolnik, 9/23)
In other Biden and Trump administration news —
The New York Times: Dr. Fauci, Movie Star
Dr. Anthony Fauci — arguably the nation’s most famous, and suddenly most polarizing doctor — is a movie star, in a manner of speaking. A new documentary titled, simply, “Fauci,” had a limited run this month in 11 cities (in theaters that required proof of vaccinations and masks) and will begin streaming in early October on Disney+. (Stolberg, 9/22)
Stat: Scott Gottlieb On Covid, A Better CDC, And How He Does It All
Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb can now add published author to his long list of titles, which also includes board member of Pfizer and Illumina, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and CNBC contributor. His book about the pandemic, “Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic,” was released Tuesday. He spoke with STAT to discuss his book, his thoughts on the pandemic, and much more. (Feuerstein, Garde and Tirrell, 9/24)
And a CIA official comes under scrutiny for his handling of 'Havana Syndrome' —
The Washington Post: CIA Station Chief In Vienna Recalled Amid Criticism Of Management And Handling Of Mysterious ‘Havana Syndrome’ Cases
The CIA has removed its top officer in Vienna following criticism of his management, including what some considered an insufficient response to a growing number of mysterious health incidents at the U.S. Embassy there, according to current and former U.S. officials. The sidelining of the station chief in one of the largest and most prestigious CIA posts is expected to send a message that top agency leaders must take seriously any reports of “Havana Syndrome,” the phenomenon named after the Cuban capital where U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers had first reported unusual and varied symptoms, from headaches to vision problems and dizziness to brain injuries, that started in 2016. (Hudson and Harris, 9/23)
