First Edition: April 13, 2021

KHN: Orange County Hospital Seeks Divorce From Large Catholic Health System
In early 2013, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Orange County, California, joined with St. Joseph Health, a local Catholic hospital chain, amid enthusiastic promises that their affiliation would broaden access to care and improve the health of residents across the community. Eight years later, Hoag says this vision of achieving “population health” is dead, and it wants out. It is embroiled in a legal battle for independence from Providence, a Catholic health system with 51 hospitals across seven states, which absorbed St. Joseph in 2016, bringing Hoag along with it. (Wolfson, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: U.K. Strain Doesn’t Result In More Severe Covid-19 Among Hospitalized Patients, Study Finds
People infected late last year with the variant, known as B.1.1.7, had more virus in their bodies than patients infected with older strains, a sign the newer variant is more infectious, according to the study published online Monday by the medical journal the Lancet Infectious Diseases. But the patients hospitalized with B.1.1.7 didn’t die at higher rates or have worse outcomes overall. The findings add to scientists’ understanding of B.1.1.7’s impact, which has become especially important now that the strain has come to dominate cases in the U.K., U.S. and some other countries. (Abbott, 4/12)

Reuters: British Variant Of COVID-19 Not As Severe As Feared
A highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first identified in Britain does not cause more severe disease in hospitalised patients, according to a new study published in the medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases on Monday. The strain, known as B.1.1.7, was identified in Britain late last year and has become the most common strain in the United States, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study analysed a group of 496 COVID-19 patients who were admitted to British hospitals in November and December last year, comparing outcomes in patients infected with B.1.1.7 or other variants. The researchers found no difference in risks of severe disease, death, or other clinical outcomes in patients with B.1.1.7 and other variants. (4/13)

The New York Times: Surging Virus Has Michigan's Whitmer At Loggerheads With Biden
The Biden administration and Michigan’s Democratic governor are locked in an increasingly tense standoff over the state’s worst-in-the-nation coronavirus outbreak, with a top federal health official on Monday urging the governor to lock down her state. As the governor, Gretchen Whitmer, publicly called again for a surge of vaccine supply, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at a White House news conference that securing extra doses was not the most immediate or practical solution to the outbreak. She said that Michigan — whose metro areas include 16 of the 17 worst outbreaks in the nation — needed to enact shutdown measures to stamp out the crush of infections. (Weiland and Smith, 4/12)

Reuters: More Therapeutics But No Surge In Vaccine For Michigan, Biden Administration Says
The White House said on Monday it was prepared to send additional therapeutic treatments to the state of Michigan, which is experiencing a worrying number of COVID-19 cases, but declined to promise more vaccine as the state has sought. White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt told reporters the U.S. government would work to ensure that states such as Michigan were ordering the full amount of vaccine that was available to them but said that shifting distribution was not in line with the administration’s public health strategy. (Mason and O'Donnell, 4/12)

CNN: Michigan Could See Its Worst Covid-19 Case Surge Yet, Official Warns. Some Say More Measures Are Needed
With an alarming rise in new Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations, officials say Michigan is now a hotspot for the virus in the US. And it's on track to potentially see a surge in cases "that's even greater than the one we saw in the fall," Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state's chief medical executive, said in a Friday news conference. Just how bad are things in the state? Covid-19 cases per million people are four times higher what they were in mid-February. The percent of positive tests are also four times higher than the numbers then. (Maxouris, 4/13)

CIDRAP: Study Finds 12% Of US children With COVID-19 Are Hospitalized
Among a cohort of 20,714 US children with COVID-19, more than 1 in 10 were hospitalized, of whom 31.1% (756) had severe COVID-19, defined as requiring admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), mechanical ventilation, or comparable treatment, according to a research letter late last week in JAMA Network Open. The study found that 2,430 (11.7%) of the 20,714 children who had an emergency department or inpatient encounter were hospitalized with COVID-19. (4/12)

CBS News: Hospitals Open Pediatric Long-Haul COVID Units As Children Grapple With Lingering Virus Effects
At least five hospitals in the U.S. have started pediatric long-haul clinics to help kids with lingering COVID-19 illness as the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mount a massive, nationwide study of long-haul COVID that includes children. While many children do not experience severe COVID-19 illness, the coronavirus can have a lasting and serious impact on their health. At the request of CBS News, one hospital in Omaha documented how it is trying to help a girl who is struggling with the lingering effects of the virus. (4/12)

The Washington Post: Biden’s FDA Takes New Steps Toward Limiting Toxic Heavy Metals In Commercial Baby Foods
The Food and Drug Administration, after congressional pressure, is now pursuing a plan to address high levels of heavy metals in baby foods. Although the agency has set maximum allowable levels of metals like lead in bottled water, it has not regulated levels of metals in baby and toddler foods, with the exception of arsenic in rice cereal. But spurred by a congressional report in February that found many of the products made by the country’s largest commercial baby food manufacturers contain significant levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, advocacy groups, members of Congress and outraged parents have urged the agency to act. (Reiley, 4/12)

Axios: Democrats, Led By Biden, Are Aiming Big On Health Care 
Democrats are exploring adding a huge array of health policies to upcoming spending legislation, ranging from further enhancing Affordable Care Act subsidies to allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. The next few months may give Democrats the opportunity to walk the walk after campaigning extensively on health care for years, and to plug some of the glaring holes in the system that were exposed by the pandemic. (Owens, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Infrastructure Plan Would Fund Shift Toward Home Healthcare For Seniors
President Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan would devote $400 billion to providing seniors more medical care at home, with the aim of shifting treatment away from institutions and hospitals as the U.S. faces a looming surge in its aging population. Democrats say the measure is needed because the healthcare system is unprepared for the unprecedented growth in the senior population and the bill would boost incomes for the many women and people in minority groups who provide the services. (Armour, 4/12)

The Washington Post: Biden Picks Anne Milgram, Former N.J. Attorney General, To Lead DEA
President Biden has selected Anne Milgram, a former state attorney general, prosecutor and longtime advocate for reform of the criminal justice system, to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, the White House announced on Monday. Milgram, who once declared, “there’s no system that is more old-school and broken and problematic than the criminal justice system,” currently works as a lawyer in private practice, and as a law professor and podcaster. Milgram did not respond to a request for comment. The Washington Post first reported Milgram’s selection. (Diamond and Barrett, 4/12)

Stat: Cavazzoni To Take Over Influential Spot Atop FDA Drug Center 
Patrizia Cavazzoni has been named the permanent leader of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the agency’s acting commissioner, Janet Woodcock, announced Monday morning. The position of CDER director is one of the most influential at the sprawling agency. Cavazzoni, who is in her late 50s, was handpicked by Woodcock to join the agency in 2018 and has been leading the drug center in an acting role since last spring. Cavazzoni is known as a problem-solver who has taken on some of the FDA’s most pressing problems, former top FDA officials told STAT last year. (Florko, 4/12)

Politico: FDA Lifts Curbs On Dispensing Abortion Pills During Pandemic
The Biden administration is lifting restrictions on dispensing abortion pills by mail during the Covid-19 pandemic, reversing a Trump administration policy that the Supreme Court backed in January. Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock informed the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in a letter Monday that her agency concluded that allowing patients to receive the pills via telemedicine and through the mail will not increase risks and will keep people safe from contracting the virus. (Miranda Ollstein and Tahir, 4/12)

Stat: Federal Agency Calls For Higher Medicaid Rebates If Trials Are Delayed
In a bid to lower prescription drug costs, a federal agency is recommending pharmaceutical companies pay higher Medicaid rebates if they have not completed required trials to confirm the effectiveness of medicines that received accelerated approval. Specifically, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, or MACPAC, on Friday voted 16-to-1 to boost two different types of rebates that drug makers would have to offer Medicaid if they fail to complete so-called confirmatory trials. Although Congress has to act on the recommendation, the agency hopes that drug makers will be moved to complete these trials rather than take a hit on revenue. (Silverman, 4/12)

CNBC: White House Using NASCAR, Country Music TV To Reach Vaccine-Hesitant Americans
The White House is using alternative methods to reach Americans who remain reluctant to get a Covid-19 vaccine: NASCAR, CMT, the country music television channel, and shows like “Deadliest Catch,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. “We’ve run PSAs on the ‘Deadliest Catch,’ we’re engaged with NASCAR and country music TV. We’re looking for a range of creative ways to get directly connected to white conservative communities,” Psaki said. (Nunley, 4/12)

The New York Times: The U.S. Is Nearing Universal Covid-19 Vaccine Eligibility For Adults
The state of Pennsylvania and the city of Los Angeles are accelerating plans for wider Covid-19 vaccine eligibility this week, as the United States approaches universal eligibility for adults. Most states and U.S. territories have already expanded access to include anyone over 16. Others, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington State, have plans in place for universal adult access to start in the next few days. All states are expected to get there by Monday, a deadline set by President Biden. Some states have local variations in eligibility, including Illinois, where Chicago did not join a statewide expansion that began Monday. (Baker, 4/12)

CNN: Here's What Can Help The US Soon See A Covid-19 Turnaround, Fauci Says
US officials are racing to vaccinate as many Americans as possible to beat another Covid-19 surge -- and doses are being administered at a record pace. But that's not all the US needs to be doing right now. "Don't declare victory prematurely," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said on CNN Monday night. "We see so many pulling back on some of the public health measures, the mask mandates, the restaurant opening, the bars, we can't be doing that. We've got to wait a bit longer until we get enough vaccine into people that we will clearly blunt any surge." (Maxouris, 4/13)

CNBC: Covid Vaccines Increasingly Mandatory At Colleges This Fall
The number of colleges and universities that will require students be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 is suddenly escalating. In just the last few days, Duke University, Brown, Northeastern University, the University of Notre Dame, Syracuse University and Ithaca College all announced that students returning to campus in the fall must be fully vaccinated before the first day of class. (Dickler, 4/12)

CNBC: Colleges Will Require The Covid Vaccine—These Are The Challenges Ahead
Every year, colleges across the country require students to get vaccinations for diseases such as Measles and Tetanus. Now, one year into the coronavirus pandemic, vaccines against the virus are becoming available for college-age students. On March 25, Rutgers University announced that the school would update its typical vaccine requirements to include the Covid-19 vaccine, becoming one of the first large public universities to mandate the immunization. Some expressed outrage on behalf of students, however, surveys suggest the majority of college students support vaccination. (Johnson Hess, 4/12)

Reuters: AstraZeneca Shot Is Good If Safety Issues Can Be Overcome, U.S. Official Fauci Says
U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine had good efficacy, but safety concerns needed to be straightened out and it might not be needed for Americans because of supplies of other shots. “I think that the AstraZeneca vaccine from a standpoint of efficacy is a good vaccine, and if the safety issue gets straightened out in the European Union ... the efficacy of that vaccine is really quite good,” he told BBC radio on Tuesday. (4/13)

CNN: Federal Official: CDC, FDA Taking Reports Of Blood Clots And Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 Vaccine 'Seriously' 
US health agencies are taking concerns about blood clots and the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine "seriously" and are working to assess whether the shot is associated with a very small increased risk of rare blood clots, a federal official told CNN. "The CDC and the FDA are taking these concerns about blood clots and the J&J vaccine seriously and are diligently assembling data," the official said. An expert outside the government who is familiar with the situation agreed that health officials are taking the matter seriously. (Cohen, 4/13)

ABC News: In Rare Instances, South Africa Variant May Evade Pfizer Vaccine, Researchers Say
The first real-world study pitting COVID-19 variants against the Pfizer vaccine showed that the variant first detected in South Africa may be able to evade some vaccine protection, new research conducted in Israel found. While "breakthrough" COVID-19 cases, meaning people who get infected or sick despite being vaccinated, are extremely rare, health experts have been monitoring a handful of virus variants to see if current vaccines offer robust protection against them. (Schumaker, 4/12)

The New York Times: Two Worrisome Variants Make Up Over 70 Percent Of Cases Analyzed In N.Y.C., City Officials Say
New York City health officials said on Monday that infections with the coronavirus variant that first emerged in Britain, B.1.1.7, have been increasing in every borough, but slightly more in southern Brooklyn, eastern Queens, and Staten Island. Genetic analysis shows that B.1.1.7 now accounts for about 30 percent of cases sequenced citywide. The data, which was included in new maps and a report released by the city, represents the first time officials have offered a ZIP-code level look at how worrisome variants have been spreading in New York, overtaking original versions of virus and clustering in some parts of the city more than others. (Otterman, 4/12)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Live Updates: More Contagious Virus Variant Not Linked To Worse Disease, New Study Says
A more transmissible coronavirus variant first detected in Britain does not cause more severe illness in hospitalized patients, according to a new study published by The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The study released late Monday contradicts earlier findings that linked the variant with increased covid-related disease and death. Known as B.1.1.7, the variant has ripped through populations in Europe and is now the dominant virus strain in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Lancet study confirmed that the variant is more contagious than the original strain, resulting in higher viral loads in infected patients but does not necessarily produce a more lethal illness. (Cunningham, 4/13)

The Washington Post: A Vaccine Study In College Students Will Help Determine When It’s Safe To Take Masks Off
A week before she would have become eligible for a coronavirus vaccine, Madden Brewster agreed to forgo a shot for months to help scientists answer one of the most pressing questions of the pandemic: When can we all stop wearing our masks? Brewster, a 24-year-old graduate student at the University of Colorado at Boulder, is as eager as anyone for the pandemic to end, but delaying her shot may be her most powerful way to contribute. She is one of the first volunteers in a massive study unfolding at 20 colleges. It aims to determine how well the Moderna vaccine prevents inoculated people from becoming unwitting carriers of the virus. (Johnson, 4/12)

CIDRAP: Analysis Reveals Lower COVID-19 Viral Load, Growth In Children
Children may transmit COVID-19 infections less than adults do, according to a study late last week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). The researchers looked at viral samples from 305 children and adults infected with COVID-19 in Manitoba and found that children's samples had lower viral growth in cultures and higher cycle threshold (Ct) values, indicating less viral load. Samples were collected March to December 2020 and represent 1.5% of positive COVID samples in Manitoba at the time and 7.2% of the province's positive samples in children. Children were more likely to be symptomatic (37.7% vs 6.9%). For symptomatic children, the researchers note, the duration between symptom onset and testing was not associated with viral culture results. (4/12)

AP: Unusual Treatment Shows Promise For Kids With Brain Tumors
For decades, a deadly type of childhood cancer has eluded science’s best tools. Now doctors have made progress with an unusual treatment: Dripping millions of copies of a virus directly into kids’ brains to infect their tumors and spur an immune system attack. A dozen children treated this way lived more than twice as long as similar patients have in the past, doctors reported Saturday at an American Association for Cancer Research conference and in the New England Journal of Medicine. Although most of them eventually died of their disease, a few are alive and well several years after treatment -- something virtually unheard of in this situation. (Marchione, 4/12)

Stat: Sage Drug Reduces Muscle Tremor But With Significant Side Effects
Sage Therapeutics said Monday that its experimental pill was more effective than a placebo in treating patients with essential tremors, a neurological condition that causes involuntary, rhythmic muscle shaking, in a mid-stage trial. But a high starting dose of the drug was not well tolerated. More than 60% of patients had to switch to lower doses of the treatment, called SAGE-324, because of side effects, including sleepiness and drowsiness. (Feuerstein, 4/12)

CIDRAP: Audit And Feedback, Prior Approval May Reduce Fluoroquinolone Use
A study of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals found that prospective audit and feedback (PAF) and prior-approval strategies focused on fluoroquinolone use were associated with lower fluoroquinolone prescribing rates, US researchers reported today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. Despite multiple safety warnings on fluoroquinolones from the Food and Drug Administration and concerns about antibiotic resistance and Clostridioides difficile infection, the antibiotics are frequently prescribed in US healthcare settings. In the two-part study, conducted at 15 VA acute-care medical centers, researchers surveyed antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) leaders about the local implementation and acceptability of different strategies to improve fluoroquinolone prescribing, along with analysis of data on antibiotic administration at each hospital in 2017 and 2018. The researchers then compared fluoroquinolone days of therapy (DOT) per 1,000 days present (DP) for sites with and without PAF and/or prior approval. (4/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Antios Therapeutics Takes Aim At Hepatitis B With $96 Million Financing
Biotechnology startup Antios Therapeutics Inc. has secured $96 million in venture capital to fund its quest to effectively cure people with chronic hepatitis B infections. Hepatitis B is liver inflammation caused by infection with the hepatitis B virus. Most healthy adults who are infected can clear the virus, according to the Hepatitis B Foundation. But in some people hepatitis B infections persist for the long term. Chronic hepatitis B infection can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer and death. (Gormley, 4/12)

Stat: Huntington’s Community Grieves Not Just One Therapeutic Setback, But Two
For the community of people affected by Huntington’s disease — a group that is no stranger to disappointment — the back-to-back announcements last month still hit like a double whammy. First, Roche announced it was cutting off the dosing of its experimental therapy tominersen, in a closely watched, much-hyped Phase 3 clinical trial. Then, a week later, Wave Life Sciences said it was abandoning two Huntington’s therapies in earlier stage trials. (Joseph, 4/13)

Boston Globe: Microsoft To Buy Nuance Communications For $19.7 Billion
Microsoft announced on Monday that it has agreed to acquire Burlington-based artificial intelligence and technology company Nuance Communications in an all-cash deal valued at $19.7 billion, including Nuance’s net debt. Microsoft said the deal represents its push into industry-specific cloud offerings, such as its software for health care providers, which it introduced last year. The deal is Microsoft’s second-largest acquisition, behind its purchase of LinkedIn, the professional networking platform it bought in 2016 in a deal worth more than $26 billion. (Gardizy, 4/12)

Stat: Amazon Doubles Down On Its Growing Presence In Diagnostics
Vin Gupta’s hiring in January 2020 could not have come at a better time for Amazon. The extent of the coronavirus crisis wasn’t yet clear, but the company’s cloud division had just nabbed a practicing pulmonologist and public health expert to guide its strategy during the worst respiratory pandemic in global history. The result is a growing enterprise within the company to help customers build diagnostic tools that may long outlast the pandemic, and help Amazon further expand its footprint in the $3.5 trillion health care industry. (Ross, 4/12)

Axios: Facebook To Push Vaccine Eligibility Notifications Outside Of The U.S. 
Facebook plans to begin delivering notifications to users in their News Feed about vaccine eligibility in 20 countries starting this week, the company said Monday. It's part of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's pledge to help bring 50 million people closer to getting COVID-19 vaccines. Facebook has been scrutinized for misinformation on its platform that may deter people from wanting to get vaccinated. (Fischer, 4/12)

Stat: PhRMA’s New Message To Washington: Don’t Take Us For Granted 
Pharmaceutical companies have a frank new message for Washington: Don’t take us for granted. The industry’s lobbying group, PhRMA, launched a new, seven-figure ad campaign Tuesday with that sentiment prominently laid out across the top, just above a clear reminder of the industry’s role in developing medicines and vaccines for Covid-19. (Florko, 4/13)

Georgia Health News: White Bagging: Insurer Shift On Drugs Raises Alarm 
A big change in drug treatment for cancer is arriving in Georgia. It’s not a new medication. What’s coming is something known as “white bagging,’’ an insurer tactic involving expensive infusion or injection drugs. And at Crisp Regional Health Services in Cordele, Jennifer Taylor, an oncology nurse practitioner, is concerned about the ultimate effect on patient care. (Miller, 4/12)

Politico: NCAA Hints Championships At Stake With Florida Considering Transgender Sports Ban
The NCAA is “closely” keeping tabs on states including Florida that are moving to ban transgender athletes from playing girls’ sports, warning in a statement Monday that locations that don’t treat all student-athletes with “dignity and respect” could lose out on hosting championship games. While not mentioning Florida by name, the statement from the NCAA Board of Governors comes just one day before the House is slated to take up its proposal clarifying that female sports teams are specifically for “biological” women and girls. State lawmakers were quick to criticize the NCAA’s take on the issue. (Atterbury, 4/12)

AP: Hawaii To Allow Some Nurses To Perform Abortions
Gov. David Ige on Monday signed legislation that would make Hawaii the latest state to allow some nurses to perform abortions. Hawaii law previously said only physicians could perform early, in-clinic abortions. But because of a doctor shortage, several smaller islands lack abortion providers which forces residents of those islands to fly to Honolulu if they need the procedure. “This act will enable people who desperately need reproductive health care services to receive health care from very high quality health care providers, including advanced practice registered nurses, where they need it, when they need it, and ... in their own communities,” Laura Reichardt, the director of the Hawaii State Center for Nursing, said a bill signing ceremony. (McAvoy, 4/13)

AP: California Re-Opens Enrollment For Health Insurance Coverage
California on Monday re-opened enrollment for its state health insurance exchange, hoping more people will buy coverage now that the federal government is offering new assistance that could lower monthly premiums by $1,000 or more in some cases. Normally, people can only buy health insurance through the state exchange — known as Covered California — once per year during an open enrollment period. But last month, President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. About $3 billion of that money is coming to California in the form of new subsidies to help some people pay their monthly health insurance premiums. In some cases, people can buy coverage for as little as $1 per month. (Beam, 4/12)

The Hill: New Mexico Governor Signs Marijuana Legalization Bill
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Monday signed legislation to legalize the use and sale of recreational marijuana in the state, as well as to expunge the records of people with prior, low-level cannabis convictions. Lujan Grisham has advocated for legalization since taking office, and she called the state Legislature into a special session last month to vote on the bills after lawmakers failed to do so before the regular legislative session expired. (Weixel, 4/12)

The Hill: HHS Expands Medicaid Postpartum Coverage For Illinois Mothers Up To A Year After Giving Birth
President Biden’s Health and Human Services Department (HHS) has approved expanded Medicaid postpartum coverage for mothers in Illinois, making it the first state to provide continuous coverage for up to a year after a birth. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced on Monday that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved eligibility for new mothers to be covered beyond 60 days after giving birth. The approval went into effect on Monday at the start of Black Maternal Health Week and will stay in place until Dec. 31, 2025. (Coleman, 4/12)

Reuters: Native Health Providers Drive Alaska's Vaccination Success Story
Despite its sprawling geography and often-inhospitable climate, Alaska ranks among the top U.S. states for getting COVID-19 vaccine into the arms of its residents, and its indigenous population has played a major role in that achievement. With a history and culture deeply shaped by deadly outbreaks of disease that have periodically ravaged remote corners of their subarctic homeland, Alaska Natives have aggressively led the way on inoculations against COVID-19 for the state as a whole. (Rosen, 4/13)

Politico: How New Mexico Became The Country’s Unlikely Vaccination Star
Shortly after the first Covid-19 vaccine was cleared for emergency use in December, leaders of New Mexico’s largest health care system suggested they should shut down the slick coronavirus vaccine appointment website they had opened weeks earlier. That way, they explained, they could avoid conflict with the statewide registry that New Mexico’s health department had already set up. That decision proved to be crucial, helping New Mexico streamline its vaccination campaign and become the unlikely U.S. leader, local and national experts say. That success came despite the sprawling state’s longstanding public health challenges, including a high poverty rate and routinely poor health care outcomes, and caught the attention of other states interested in replicating its model. (Goldberg, 4/12)

Health News Florida: Here’s How Veterans In North Florida Are Getting Vaccinated Through VA 
The SAVE LIVES Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in March, gives Veteran Affairs medical facilities across the country the legal authority to provide COVID-19 vaccines to all veterans. Prior to this act, only veterans enrolled in VA Health Care could get vaccinated. All veterans, regardless of their health care enrollment status, can now get vaccinated. (Shebovsky, 4/12)

AP: WHO Urges Pause In Market Sale Of Captured Live Wild Animals
The United Nations’ health agency on Tuesday urged countries to suspend the sale of live animals captured from the wild in food markets as an emergency measure, saying wild animals are a leading source of emerging infectious diseases like the coronavirus. The World Health Organization, backed by key partners, issued new guidance saying that animals — particularly wild animals — “are the source of more than 70 percent of all emerging infectious diseases in humans, many of which are caused by novel viruses.” (4/13)

AP: India Reels Amid Virus Surge, Affecting World Vaccine Supply
The Indian city of Pune is running out of ventilators as gasping coronavirus patients crowd its hospitals. Social media is full of people searching for beds, while relatives throng pharmacies looking for antiviral medicines that hospitals ran out of long ago. The surge, which can be seen across India, is particularly alarming because the country is a major vaccine producer and a critical supplier to the U.N.-backed COVAX initiative. That program aims to bring shots to some of the world’s poorest countries. Already the rise in cases has forced India to focus on satisfying its domestic demand — and delay deliveries to COVAX and elsewhere, including the United Kingdom and Canada. (Saaliq and Ghosal, 4/13)

Reuters: India, Overwhelmed By COVID Surge, Fast-Tracks Approval For Foreign Vaccines
India is to fast-track emergency approvals for COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorised by Western countries and Japan, paving the way for possible imports of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and Moderna shots. The move, which will drop the need for companies to do small, local safety trials for their vaccines before seeking emergency approval, came following the world’s biggest surge in cases in the country this month. (Pal and Das, 4/13)

Stat: Europe Tries To Lower Drug Prices With Small Doses Of Transparency
For countries in Europe, negotiating a deal with a pharma company over drug prices is the equivalent of a David and Goliath matchup. Payers have little leverage to push back against prices and terms set by pharma companies, causing many to accept demands for confidentiality in exchange for a discount. Increasingly, though, some European governments are calling for an end to the secrecy in a bid to rein in drug prices. (Davis Pluss, 4/13)

The New York Times: Britain Rejoices And Asks: Are Lockdowns Finally Finished?
In China it was fengcheng. In Spain it was el confinamiento. In France it was le confinement. In Britain it was known as lockdown, plain and simple — but it had the distinction of being one of the longest and most stringent in the world. On Monday, that finally began drawing to an end. After months of coronavirus restrictions that encroached on almost every aspect of daily life, the English celebrated a hopeful new chapter, many of them in what seemed the most fitting way possible: with a pint at a pub. (Santora, Specia and Nagourney, 4/12)

AP: The Latest: Britain Meets Target On Jabs For Over-50s
Britain says it has hit its target of giving at least one dose of vaccine to everyone over 50 and others in groups at highest risk from the coronavirus by mid-April. The government says everyone in those groups has been offered a jab, and about 95% of eligible people have received a shot. More than 32 million people, over 60% of adults, have had a first shot and almost 15% of people in the U.K. have had both doses. On Tuesday the vaccination drive was expanded to people aged 45-49, the start of the second phase of the inoculation campaign. (4/13)