First Edition: Feb. 12, 2021

KHN: Lack Of Covid Data On People With Intellectual Disabilities ‘Comes With A Body Count’
Peter Prater’s family wasn’t thinking about covid-19 when the call came that he had been taken to the hospital with a fever. It was April, and the Tallahassee Developmental Center, where Prater lives, hadn’t yet had any covid diagnoses. Prater, 55, who has Down syndrome and diabetes, became the Florida center’s first known case, his family said. Within two weeks, more than half of the roughly 60 residents and a third of the staff had tested positive for the virus, according to local news reports. (Houghton, 2/12)

KHN: Counterfeit N95 Scam Widens As Senator Demands FTC Investigation
A key U.S. senator is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate N95 mask fraud and federal agents announced the seizure of 1.7 million more counterfeit 3M masks in the New York borough of Queens as the breadth of a major scam concerning front-line health workers continues to grow. Early Thursday, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), on her first day as chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said she would ask the Federal Trade Commission to look into 1.9 million counterfeits shipped to hospitals in Washington state. The state hospital association announced earlier in the week that law enforcement had notified them that they’d been sold fake N95s branded as 3M products. (Jewett and Hancock, 2/12)

KHN: As Drug Prices Keep Rising, State Lawmakers Propose Tough New Bills To Curb Them
Fed up with a lack of federal action to lower prescription drug costs, state legislators around the country are pushing bills to penalize drugmakers for unjustified price hikes and to cap payment at much-lower Canadian levels. These bills, sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats in a half-dozen states, are a response to consumers’ intensified demand for action on drug prices as prospects for solutions from Congress remain highly uncertain. (Meyer, 2/12)

KHN: Vaccine Equity Is ‘North Star,’ Feds Say, And Clinics Are Key To Fair Distribution 
Mary Barnett is one of about a dozen seniors who got a covid-19 vaccine on a recent morning at Neighborhood Health, a clinic tucked in a sprawling public housing development on the south side of downtown Nashville, Tennessee. “Is my time up, baby?” Barnett, 74, asked a nurse, after she’d waited 15 minutes to make sure she didn’t have an allergic reaction. Barnett, who uses a wheelchair, wasn’t in any particular rush. But her nephew was waiting outside, and he needed to get to work. “Uber, I’m ready,” she joked, calling him on the phone. “Come on.” (Farmer, 2/11)

KHN: Health Policy Valentines To Warm The Heart
Nothing warms our hearts like a few good Health Policy Valentines ― especially those that are sweet on KHN. Tweeters lit up our timeline in recent days with valentine messages about topics ranging from covid-19 vaccines and mask-wearing to the price of health care. Here are some of our favorites. (2/12)

KHN: Journalists Broach Topics From Vaccines And Super Bowl To True Love
KHN senior correspondent Julie Appleby discussed Hillsdale Hospital and the complications of covid-19 vaccine distribution with Michigan Radio’s “Stateside” on Feb. 4. ... KHN senior correspondent Phil Galewitz discussed covid preparations for Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Florida, with Newsy on Feb. 5. ... KHN Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony shared the story of Arthur and Maggie Kelley of St. Louis who died 30 days apart with KMOX NewsRadio 1120 on Feb. 10. (2/12)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: All About Budget Reconciliation
President Joe Biden has said he still wants a bipartisan bill to provide the next round of covid relief. But in case that doesn’t happen, House committees this week got down to work on a budget reconciliation bill that could pass the Senate with a simple majority. Proposals cover not just covid-related issues, but also some significant changes to the Medicaid program and the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new guidance for mask-wearing. But the guidelines are confusing for many, highlighting the rapidly changing science around the virus that leaves many laypeople uncertain about how best to proceed. (2/11)

The New York Times: Trump Was Sicker Than Acknowledged With Covid-19
President Donald J. Trump was sicker with Covid-19 in October than publicly acknowledged at the time, with extremely depressed blood oxygen levels at one point and a lung problem associated with pneumonia caused by the coronavirus, according to four people familiar with his condition. His prognosis became so worrisome before he was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that officials believed he would need to be put on a ventilator, two of the people familiar with his condition said. (Weiland, Haberman, Mazzetti and Karni, 2/11)

CNN: Trump's Covid-19 Condition So Concerning That Doctors Considered Putting Him On A Ventilator, Source Confirms 
CNN reported in October that when Trump was flown to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, he not only had trouble breathing, but had received supplemental oxygen. Trump "definitely has had oxygen," the source with knowledge told CNN. The former President's physician, Dr. Sean Conley, waffled on the issue at the time, saying Trump "is not on oxygen right now." When he was asked if Trump had received it at all, Conley would not directly answer, saying, "He has not needed any this morning, today at all." Asked if he had ever been on supplemental oxygen as part of his Covid-19 treatment, Conley said, "Right now he is not," adding, "Yesterday and today, he was not on oxygen." (Collins and Acosta, 2/11)

Business Insider: Trump Reportedly Developed Inflamed Lungs And Low Blood Oxygen Levels During Bout Of COVID-19, Indicating He Was Far Sicker Than The White House Revealed
Trump developed lung infiltrates, which can include bacteria or fluid in the lungs. His blood oxygen level also dropped into the 80s, while the CDC says normal oxygen saturation is between 95 and 100%.The White House, however, never revealed that Trump exhibited these symptoms, which indicate that he suffered from a much more severe case of COVID-19 than was previously known. Two sources told the Times that officials believed Trump would have to be put on a ventilator before he was hospitalized on October 2. (Relman, 2/11)

AP: Biden Says US Is Securing 600 Million Vaccine Doses By July
President Joe Biden said Thursday that the U.S. will have enough supply of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the summer to inoculate 300 million Americans. Biden made the announcement at the sprawling National Institutes of Health complex just outside Washington as he visited some of the nation’s leading scientists on the frontlines of the fight against the disease. He toured the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory that created the COVID-19 vaccine now manufactured by Moderna and being rolled out in the U.S. and other countries. (Miller and Lemire, 2/11)

The New York Times: Biden Announces A Big Vaccine Deal, But Warns Of Hurdles 
The Biden administration says it has now secured enough vaccine to inoculate every American adult, but President Biden warned that logistical hurdles would most likely mean that many Americans will still not have been vaccinated by the end of the summer. Officials said Thursday that they had arranged to get 200 million more doses of vaccine by the end of summer, which amounts to a 50 percent increase. That should be enough vaccine to cover 300 million people. (2/12)

The Hill: Biden Says US Will Have Enough Doses To Vaccinate Every American By July 
The U.S. has secured an additional 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccine, President Biden announced Thursday, finalizing a commitment that was promised last month. Speaking at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Biden said the purchases will increase supply by 50 percent, to 600 million doses. (Weixel, 2/11)

The Hill: Fauci: April Should Be 'Open Season' For Vaccinations 
Anthony Fauci said he thinks that by April it will be "open season" for vaccinations in the country, and anyone who wants a shot will be able to get one. Speaking on NBC's "Today," Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases doctor and science adviser to President Biden, predicted the rate of vaccinations will pick up in the spring as more doses become available and more locations start administering shots. (Weixel, 2/11)

Los Angeles Times: April May See 'Open Season' On COVID-19 Vaccines, Fauci Says
The United States could see “open season” for COVID-19 vaccine doses by April, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday, an optimistic forecast that comes as states continue to clamor for additional supplies to ramp up their rollouts. Though the nation will still be far from administering doses to all those who need it by then, Fauci said he believes conditions will improve to the point that health officials can begin inoculating the wider population. “I would imagine, by the time we get to April, that will be what I would call, for better wording, ‘open season’ — namely, virtually everybody and anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated,” the U.S. government’s top infectious diseases expert said during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show. (Money and Lin II, 2/11)

New York Post: South Africa Eyes Selling Or Swapping AstraZeneca Vaccines
South Africa wants to sell or swap its first batch of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine just days after getting it — because a new study suggested it might not protect against its dominant mutation. The nation received its first one million doses of the jab last week, with another 500,000 on order and due in the coming weeks. But as the jabs arrived, a study showed that it offers as little as 10% protection against mild to moderate cases of the 501Y.V2 variant that accounts for the vast majority of the country’s new infections. (Brown, 2/11)

The Hill: AstraZeneca Says Vaccines Against New Variants May Take Six Months To Produce
AstraZeneca said in a a company document published Thursday that producing vaccines focused on combating new COVID-19 variants could take at least six months. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker, which has worked with Oxford University to produce its vaccine, said in a 2020 review that it “hopes to reduce the time needed to reach production at scale to between six to nine months, by utilising existing clinical data and optimising its established supply chain.” (Coleman, 2/11)

The Hill: DC Health Says UK, South African COVID-19 Strains Detected 
Two separate variants of the coronavirus, first detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, have been detected in three Washington, D.C., residents, the city health department said Thursday. Director of D.C. Health LaQuandra Nesbitt noted that not every positive test has been sequenced, only a sample, so there are likely more cases of the variants present. (Weixel, 2/11)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Variant From L.A. Has Spread Around The World
The coronavirus variant first seen in Los Angeles in July now accounts for about 44% of new infections in Southern California and more than a third of new infections throughout the state, researchers reported Thursday. In addition, the variant has spread across the United States and to six countries around the globe, according to the study in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. It “remains uncertain” whether the genetic changes that characterize the fast-moving variant have improved its ability to transmit from person to person, or to make people infected with it sicker, a team from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles acknowledged in the JAMA report. But the virus’ rapid propagation in California is a cause for some concern, they wrote. (Healy, 2/11)

The Hill: CDC To Share School Reopening Guidelines On Friday 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to unveil guidelines on Friday for reopening schools amid the coronavirus pandemic as White House officials have offered shifting answers on their goals for returning children to in-person learning. "There is no debate over whether to open schools here. There’s a debate over how. And if it were as simple as open all the schools, they would be open now," Andy Slavitt, a senior adviser to the White House on the pandemic response, said on MSNBC early Thursday. (Samuels, 2/11)

AP: White House Says It Will Defer To CDC On Reopening Schools
Facing criticism that President Joe Biden has not acted aggressively enough on reopening schools, the White House on Thursday said it’s aiming for a full reopening but will defer to science experts on how to achieve it in the middle of a pandemic. The White House drew criticism this week when it said schools would be considered opened if they teach in-person at least one day a week. Asked about it Thursday, press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden hopes to get students in the classroom five days a week as soon as it’s safe. (Binkley, 2/11)

Politico: CDC Guidance On Schools Is Coming. That Might Not Settle A Heated Debate. 
Government school reopening guidance expected this week might not be enough to quell hostile debates about in-person classes. Fresh advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will drop as the White House continues to push for in-person learning for most K-8 students. But after a year of an erratic pandemic response under the Trump administration, the CDC’s word isn’t likely to settle a debate between parents, state and local officials, and educators backed by powerful unions. (Perez Jr., 2/11)

The Washington Post: Biden Administration To Move Friday To Rescind Medicaid Work Requirements 
The Biden administration is planning Friday to wipe out one of the core health policies of the Trump era, taking actions that will immediately rescind permission for states to compel poor residents to work in exchange for receiving Medicaid benefits. Federal health officials will withdraw their predecessors’ invitation to states to apply for approval to impose such work requirements and will notify 10 states granted permission that it is about to be retracted, according to a draft plan obtained by The Washington Post and confirmed by two individuals familiar with the decision, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. (Diamond and Goldstein, 2/11)

Politico: Biden Moving To Withdraw Trump-Approved Medicaid Work Rules 
The Biden administration on Friday will notify states it plans to revoke Medicaid work requirements, starting the process of dismantling one of the Trump administration's signature health policies. The move is one of several steps that Biden’s health department is expected to take this week to unravel the contentious work rules long criticized by Democrats, according to internal documents obtained by POLITICO. (Cancryn, 2/11)

The Washington Post: Biden’s Delay On Naming FDA Chief Perturbs Some Experts 
President Biden announced his choice for secretary of health and human services on Dec. 7. He named the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the same day. But he has said nothing about who will lead another critical health agency on the front lines of battling the coronavirus pandemic: the Food and Drug Administration. The silence is causing some consternation among FDA veterans, as well as public health and pharmaceutical experts, who say the agency needs a permanent head as it grapples with life-or-death decisions about coronavirus vaccines and treatments, while doing its day job of regulating products that account for 20 cents of every consumer dollar. That job includes approving cancer drugs, warning consumers about contaminated ice cream, and overseeing treatments for rare diseases in animals and humans. (McGinley, 2/11)

New York Post: Cuomo Aide Admits They Hid Nursing Home Data From Feds
Governor Cuomo’s top aide privately apologized to Democratic lawmakers for withholding the state’s nursing-home death toll from COVID-19 — telling them “we froze” out of fear the true numbers would “be used against us” by federal prosecutors, The Post has learned. The stunning admission of a cover-up was made by Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa during a video conference call with state Democratic leaders in which she said the Cuomo administration had rebuffed a legislative request for the tally in August because “right around the same time, [then-President Donald Trump] turns this into a giant political football,” according to an audio recording of the two-hour-plus meeting. (Hogan, Campanile and Golding, 2/11)

AP: Over 9,000 Virus Patients Sent Into NY Nursing Homes
More than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients in New York state were released from hospitals into nursing homes early in the pandemic under a controversial directive that was scrapped amid criticism it accelerated outbreaks, according to new records obtained by The Associated Press. The new number of 9,056 recovering patients sent to hundreds of nursing homes is more than 40% higher than what the state health department previously released. And it raises new questions as to whether a March 25 directive from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration helped spread sickness and death among residents, a charge the state disputes. (Condon and Peltz, 2/12)

The Hill: More Than 9,000 COVID-19 Patients Were Released To NY Nursing Homes: Report 
More than 9,000 recovering COVID-19 patients in New York were released from hospitals into nursing homes during the early days of the pandemic, The Associated Press reported Thursday. According to documents obtained by the AP, 9,056 patients were released to nursing homes under a directive from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's (D) office that was later done away with due to criticism that it accelerated outbreaks of the virus. (Choi, 2/11)

Politico: Top Republicans Call For Cuomo's Ouster Following Nursing Home Revelation
New York Republicans assailed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration on Thursday night in response to new revelations about his stonewalling the release of information about nursing home deaths, with several calling for him to resign or be impeached. The New York Post reported that top gubernatorial staffer Melissa DeRosa told Democratic state legislators in a meeting on Wednesday that the administration “froze” when asked to release data about the number of nursing home residents who had died of Covid-19. A March directive from Cuomo calling on nursing homes to admit patients who tested positive for the coronavirus has been blamed for contributing to high death rates. (Mahoney, 2/11)

Stat: Arthritis Drug Cuts Deaths In Hospitalized Covid Patients, Major Study Finds
Tocilizumab, a drug usually used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, reduced the rate for death in Covid-19 patients, according to a major clinical trial. The result, from a U.K.-based study called RECOVERY, upends the thinking about the drug, which is made by Roche and which had produced inconclusive results in earlier studies. (Herper, 2/11)

CIDRAP: Tocilizumab Cuts Death Rate In Severe COVID-19, Study Finds
Hospitalized COVID-19 patients given the anti-inflammatory monoclonal antibody tocilizumab were less likely to die or require invasive mechanical ventilation, according to preliminary results of the UK RECOVERY trial posted today on the medRxiv preprint server. Led by University of Oxford researchers, the ongoing Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) trial involved assigning 4,116 severely ill coronavirus patients to receive either intravenous tocilizumab, a rheumatoid arthritis drug, or usual care. Most (82%) of the participants also received a systemic corticosteroid such as dexamethasone. (Van Beusekom, 2/11)

CIDRAP: Pre-, Asymptomatic COVID Cases Lead To Half Of Transmissions, Study Finds
Presymptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases contributed at least 50% of transmissions during New York City's first COVID surge, according to a study published yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ... The researchers also found that when the city implemented its lockdown, COVID transmission rate dropped 76.0% to 87.6%. (2/11)

Stat: Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Brings Exhaustion For Pharmacists, But Some Relief
The nationwide frenzy to get Covid-19 vaccines has been complicated, frustrating, and downright exhausting for millions of Americans. But take a moment to consider the plight of your local pharmacist. (Sohn, 2/12)

Modern Healthcare: 800 Nurses At Tenet Hospital Vote To Authorize Strike
Citing hundreds of official reports of incidents that affect patient safety, 800 nurses at a Tenet Healthcare hospital in Worcester, Mass. have voted to authorize a strike. The nurses, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association say they are fed up with poor staffing levels during and prior to the COVID-19 crisis. (2/11)

AP: Hard-Hit Restaurants Feed COVID Doctors, Nurses To Survive
It was the week after Christmas and coronavirus case numbers and hospitalizations were soaring in Portland, Oregon. At Oregon Health & Science University, the state’s largest hospital, morale was low. Doctors and nurses caring for the most critically ill were burning out just when they were needed the most. Then, the food started coming: hot and delicious individually wrapped meals from some of the city’s trendiest restaurants, a buffet of cuisines from Chinese to Italian to Lebanese to Southern comfort food. For staffers who only took off their N95 masks once to eat during a 12-hour shift, the meals were more than just food — they were emotional sustenance. (Flaccus, 2/11)

Bloomberg: Amazon Hires Founders Of Covid-19 Testing Startup To Curb Spread
Amazon.com Inc. has hired several employees of a Covid-19 testing startup as part of efforts to curb outbreaks among its workers. Caspr Biotech’s cofounders, Chief Executive Officer Franco Goytia and Chief Strategy Officer Carla Gimenez, joined Amazon in December, according to a person familiar with the situation. The pair, along with several other startup employees, are working on a project codenamed Artemis. It’s unclear whether Amazon acquired Caspr Biotech. In a shareholder letter in April, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said the company had begun building a lab to test employees for Covid-19. (Anand, 2/11)

Modern Healthcare: 5 Ways Hospital Execs See To Improve COVID-19 Vaccination Process
Health systems, pharmacies and health departments across the country are scrambling to vaccinate enough people to slow the spread of COVID-19 and hopefully reach herd immunity. But that progress is being hindered by vaccine supply unpredictability and a lack of a cohesive national plan to distribute the vaccine, hospital executives say. Mike Slubowski, president and CEO of Trinity Health, a faith-based health system based in Michigan, called the COVID-19 vaccination initiative the "greatest public health feat of our lifetime," during a webinar Tuesday hosted by the American Hospital Association. During the webinar, Slubowski and other hospital executives shared tips on how to improve the vaccination process. (Christ, 2/11)

Modern Healthcare: Molina Reports $100 Million Year-Over-Year Drop In Profits In 2020
Molina reported a $100 million year-over-year drop in profits in 2020, with a rise in COVID-19 costs, acquisition expenses and the extension of the risk-sharing corridors during the public health crisis cutting into the Long Beach, Calif.-based insurer's bottom line. During the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, Molina reported $34 million in profits, down nearly 80% from the $168 million generated in 2019. The payer's profits dipped to $673 million at the end of the year, down 8% from the $737 million reported for 2019. (Tepper, 2/11)

Stat: Amicus Drug For Pompe Disease Falls Short In Key Clinical Trial
Amicus Therapeutics said Thursday that its drug for patients with Pompe disease, a rare genetic condition, failed to demonstrate superiority over the current standard treatment in a large clinical trial. The company, however, believes it was close enough to achieving a positive outcome that its results, combined with other data showing patients with Pompe benefit, could still lead to regulatory approvals. (Feuerstein, 2/11)

Stat: A Closer Look At SoftBank's Investment In Pacific Biosciences
SoftBank, the Japanese tech conglomerate famous for paying questionable sums to invest in startups, has paid a hefty sum to invest in the genome sequencing company Pacific Biosciences. It’s a $900 million investment in the form of convertible debt, meaning SoftBank can exchange the money for stock at a price of $43.50 per share. (Garde, 2/11)

Stat: Zocdoc, Staking Its Future On The Promise Of Hybrid Care, Raises $150 Million
Less than a year since Zocdoc reinvented itself as a telehealth platform in the face of the pandemic, the company is again profitable, and on Thursday announced $150 million in fresh financing to fuel its ambitions. The company is staking its future on the buzzy promise of hybrid care. (Aguilar, 2/11)

Houston Chronicle: SmartPod Facility To Expand Healthcare Access In Pasadena
SmartPods, which can be folded up in minutes to transport where needed, include an isolation clinic, a regular clinic space, pharmacy and biosafety laboratories. Precinct 2 is spending $2.9 million in county funding on the SmartPod units in Pasadena and Aldine. The money covers costs for design, construction, transport, medical equipment and medical services. The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) is expected to reimburse the money. The idea to bring the the NASA-engineered SmartPod to Harris County originated long before the coronavirus, Garcia said, as a tool to close the gaps in access to quality health care service. (Orozco, 2/11)

Stat: Drug Maker Agrees To Plead Guilty To Destroying Files Before FDA Inspection
A unit of Fresenius Kabi, a major supplier of infused and intravenously administered drugs, has agreed to plead guilty to hiding and destroying records before a 2013 plant inspection by the Food and Drug Administration, and will also pay $50 million in fines and forfeiture. (Silverman, 2/11)

The Washington Post: How To Relieve Double Mask Ear Pain 
Although experts have encouraged upgrading masks, doubling up is not the only way to improve fit and protection. Paul Sax, clinical director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, emphasized that people should first focus on mask quality rather than how many they’re wearing. “There are a lot of people who are wearing a mask, but it’s a thin cloth mask or something that’s chosen for style and appearance rather than for the filtering capabilities,” Sax said. “I think Step One would be to make sure that everyone has a high-quality mask.” (Chiu, 2/10)

AP: Study: Smaller Cars May Be Why Crashes Injure Women More
The smaller, lighter vehicles that women more often drive, and the types of crashes they get into, may explain why they are much more likely to suffer a serious injury in a collision than men, a new study published Thursday found. Researchers from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research group supported by auto insurers, looked into whether there was some sort of gender bias in the research into vehicle crashes or whether body type had anything to do with the injuries. (Sweet, 2/11)

The Washington Post: Airports Have Taken Steps To Reduce Coronavirus Transmission But Risks Still Remain, Study Says 
Airports have taken significant steps to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, but challenges remain, including upgrading and enhancing ventilation systems and adjusting operations to accommodate more people safely once demand for air travel returns, Harvard University researchers said. The report Thursday by a team at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health focused on the curb-to-curb portion of the journey, assessing the risks travelers might face from the time they arrive at the airport until they land at their destination and claim their bags. (Aratani, 2/11)

AP: San Francisco Sues Schools, Cites High Of Suicidal Students
The number of suicidal children in San Francisco has hit a record high and health experts say it is clear that keeping public schools closed “is catalyzing a mental health crisis among school-aged children,” according to a lawsuit the city filed Thursday to push its school district to reopen classrooms. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced last week he was taking the dramatic step of suing the city’s own school district, which has kept its classrooms closed nearly a year. In the motion filed Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court, Herrera included alarming testimony from hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area, doctors and parents on the emotional and mental harms of extended distance learning. (Gecker, 2/12)

Politico: Defiant DeSantis Blasts Biden Administration Amid Report Of Travel Limits
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday lashed out at the Biden administration, promising that the state would strongly and swiftly oppose any attempts to block Americans from traveling to the Sunshine State. DeSantis’ comments were in response to a Wednesday story by McClatchy that quoted an unnamed White House official saying the administration was considering imposing domestic travel restrictions, including on Florida, to stem the transmission of a new Covid-19 variant that is rapidly spreading in the state. (Fineout, 2/11)

AP: Ohio Health Dept. To Restructure After 4K Unreported Deaths
Ohio’s Health Department is restructuring its infectious disease division following the discovery of as many as 4,000 unreported COVID-19 deaths and will investigate how the error happened, the state health director said Thursday. The Health Department said that “process issues affecting the reconciliation and reporting of these deaths” began in October, with most occurring in November and December. The department identified the problem during a routine employee training. (Welsh-Huggins and Amiri, 2/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why Bay Area Experts Are Praising CDC Guideline Halting COVID Quarantines For Vaccinated People
The CDC's new guideline that fully vaccinated people do not have to quarantine after direct exposure to the coronavirus was met with praise Thursday by Bay Area health experts. The new guideline will replace the former 10-day quarantine guidance for people who were exposed to the coronavirus, and it applies for three months after inoculation. State and local jurisdictions issue their own health restrictions, and California’s rules do not yet reflect an exception for vaccinated people. (Vainshtein, 2/11)

AP: Abortion-Rights Bill Wins Decisive Vote In New Mexico Senate
A bill to shore up abortion rights in New Mexico by repealing a dormant ban on most abortion procedures won Senate approval on Thursday, clearing a crucial hurdle in a 25-17 vote. Female senators took the lead in presenting the Democratic-sponsored bill that would repeal a 1969 statute. Left in place, the state abortion ban might go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion ruling. “I am supporting this bill because we need to leave individual health care decisions to a woman and her doctor,” said Democratic Sen. Carrie Hamblen of Las Cruces. (Lee, 2/11)

Stat: With A Legislative Veto, Maryland's Drug Affordability Board Moves Ahead
Following a vote by the Maryland House of Delegates, the state now has all the pieces in place to proceed with plans for a so-called ‘Prescription Drug Affordability Board,’ a controversial tactic for controlling the rising cost of medicines. (Silverman, 2/11)

Houston Chronicle: As Texas Uninsured Rate Soars, Republican Rep. Lyle Larson Pushes For Medicaid Expansion
Rep. Lyle Larson filed legislation this week to expand Medicaid, becoming the first Texas Republican in years to actively push the Obama-era measure that would bring billions of dollars in federal aid to combat the state’s booming uninsured rate. “I think we should have a discussion,” the San Antonio lawmaker said. “We should have a discussion, and everybody should bring their ideas.” Texas is one of only a dozen states that have declined to expand the public safety net program under the Affordable Care Act. House Republicans last tried in 2013 and faced a blockade by then-Gov. Rick Perry, who argued there were too many problems in the state’s existing Medicaid program to add even more people to it. (Blackman and Bureau, 2/11)

AP: Milwaukee County Provides Shelter For Homeless With COVID-19
Melvin Anthony had been homeless for more than 15 years when someone shot him during an attempted robbery last fall. With a wound in his thigh and COVID-19 running rampant, Anthony was afraid to stay on the streets. “I saw nothing but death for me because things were really that bad, you know, pretty much drinking water out my hand and eating out of garbage cans, that type of bad,” Anthony said. (Antlfinger, 2/11)

AP: 1981 Suit Over Patients' Rights Dismissed In West Virginia
A 1981 lawsuit addressing mental health patients’ rights to humane conditions and therapeutic treatment has been dismissed in West Virginia. A Kanawha County circuit judge dismissed the case after 40 years of litigation and negotiations, the state Department of Health and Human Resources said Thursday. Under the dismissal order, the DHHR will continue funding community-based mental health services and independent patient advocates at two hospitals. (2/12)

The Washington Post: First Pfizer Vaccines Arrive In Japan As Government Set To Approve Shots
Japan’s first shipment of Pfizer vaccine doses arrived Friday as a government panel was expected to formally recommend the shots for use inside the country. Local news agencies reported that 400,000 doses of the two-shot vaccine were received at the Narita International Airport near Tokyo. Japan has yet to begin its vaccine rollout due to bureaucratic hurdles and a general suspicion of foreign-made pharmaceuticals. On Friday, a health ministry committee will meet to decide whether to greenlight the vaccine, with formal approval from the government likely to take place Sunday, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. (Cunningham, 2/12)

AP: What The WHO Coronavirus Experts Learned In Wuhan
A World Health Organization team has left China after gaining some new insights into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 2.3 million people — but with the major questions still unanswered. The visit was politically sensitive for China — which is concerned about any allegations it didn’t handle the initial outbreak properly — and has been closely watched around the world. Team member Peter Daszak sounded upbeat on arriving at the airport Wednesday at the end of the four-week trip to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the first COVID-19 cases were detected in December 2019. (Fujiyama and Moritsugu, 2/11)