Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
FDA May Aim To Speed The Availability Of Updated Fall Covid Boosters
NPR: Boosters Targeting Omicron May Be Available Earlier Than Expected
The Biden administration may scrap plans to let more younger adults get second COVID-19 boosters this summer. Instead, officials are trying to speed up availability of the next generation of boosters in the fall, NPR has learned. The new strategy is aimed at trying to balance protecting people this summer with keeping people safe next winter, when the country will probably get hit by yet another surge. (Stein, 7/26)
Meanwhile, omicron continues to surge —
Reuters: Omicron BA.5 Makes Up 82% Of COVID Variants In U.S., CDC Says
The BA.5 subvariant of Omicron was estimated to make up 81.9% of the circulating coronavirus variants in the United States for the week ended July 23, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday. This was higher than the 75.9% prevalence estimated in the preceding week. (7/26)
In news on how Facebook may change its covid misinfo rules —
Bloomberg: Meta Asks Oversight Board To Review Covid Rules After Millions Of Posts Removed
Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. has asked its Oversight Board to review the company’s Covid-19 misinformation policies to see if they should remain in place. Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, wrote Tuesday that Meta’s policies were created during “extraordinary circumstances” and that the rules meant Meta removed Covid-related misinformation “on an unprecedented scale.” (Wagner, 7/26)
The source of covid is again in the news —
Los Angeles Times: New Studies Say Wuhan Market Is The Only 'Plausible' Source Of COVID-19 Pandemic
“In a city covering more than 3,000 square miles, the area with the highest probability of containing the home of someone who had one of the earliest COVID-19 cases in the world was an area of a few city blocks, with the Huanan market smack dab inside it,” Michael Worobey, a University of Arizona virologist who co-authored one of the new studies, said in a statement. (Purtill, 7/26)
Also —
Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Could Avoid Mask Mandate This Week As Coronavirus Cases Decline
Recent declines in cases and coronavirus-positive hospitalizations could pull Los Angeles County back from the brink of a new universal public indoor mask mandate. Although a decision on whether to impose the long-looming order won’t come until later this week, health officials noted Tuesday that improvements in some COVID-19 metrics might merit a delay. (Money and Lin II, 7/26)
