First Edition: Feb. 18, 2021

KHN: ‘I Wanted To Go In There And Help’: Nursing Schools See Enrollment Bump Amid Pandemic 
Last December, Mirande Gross graduated from Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, with a bachelor’s degree in communications. But Gross has changed her mind and is heading back to school in May for a one-year accelerated nursing degree program. The pandemic that has sickened more than 27 million people in the United States and killed nearly 500,000 helped convince her she wanted to become a nurse. “I was excited about working during the pandemic,” Gross, 22, said. “It didn’t scare me away.” (Andrews, 2/18)

KHN: California Aims To Address The ‘Urgent’ Needs Of Older Residents. But Will Its Plan Work?
Even as the pandemic derailed some of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s biggest health care proposals, such as lowering prescription drug costs, it crystallized another: the pressing need to address California’s rapidly aging population. Already nine months into their work when Newsom issued the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order last March, members of a state task force on aging watched as the coronavirus disproportionately sickened and killed older people, and left many isolated in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and their own homes. (Young, 2/18)

KHN: Montana’s Health Policy MVP Takes Her Playbook On The Road 
Marilyn Bartlett might be the closest thing health policy has to a folk hero. A certified public accountant who barely tops 5 feet, Bartlett bears zero resemblance to Paul Bunyan. But she did take an ax to Montana’s hospital prices in 2016, stopping the state’s employee health plan from bleeding money. “Marilyn is not a physically imposing person,” said Montana Board of Investments Executive Director Dan Villa, who worked closely with Bartlett in state government. “She is a blend of your favorite aunt, an accounting savant and a little bit of July Fourth fireworks.” (Gorenstein and Walker, 2/18)

KHN: In Search Of The Shot
Too little covid vaccine and too great a demand: That’s what KHN readers from around the country detail in their often exasperating quest to snag a shot, although they are often clearly eligible under their local guidelines and priority system. Public health officials say the supply is growing and will meet demand in several months, but, for now, readers’ experiences show how access is limited. Some savvy readers report no problem getting in line for the vaccine, but others say that balky application processes and lack of information have stymied their efforts. Their unedited reports are a good snapshot of the mixed situation around the country. (2/17)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Life Expectancy Fell In First Half Of 2020 As Covid-19 Deaths Surged 
U.S. life expectancy declined by a year during the first half of 2020, according to federal figures released Thursday that show the deadly impact of the coronavirus pandemic’s early months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics said life expectancy at birth was 77.8 years as of the end of June based on provisional estimates. The one-year decline from the previous year was the largest drop since World War II, when life expectancy fell 2.9 years between 1942 and 1943. It put life expectancy at its lowest level in the U.S. since 2006. (Adamy, 2/18)

NPR: American Life Expectancy Dropped By A Full Year In The First Half Of 2020
Life expectancy at birth for the total U.S. population was 77.8 years – a decline of 1 year from 78.8 in 2019. For males, the life expectancy at birth was 75.1 – a decline of 1.2 years from 2019. For females, life expectancy declined to 80.5 years, a 0.9 year decrease from 2019. Deaths from COVID-19 are the main factor in the overall drop in U.S. life expectancy between January and June 2020, the CDC says. But it's not the only one: a surge in drug overdose deaths are a part of the decline, too. (Wamsley, 2/18)

USA Today: Life Expectancy Is At Its Lowest In 15 Years, CDC Says. Black And Latino Communities See Biggest Declines.
Life expectancy for Black populations declined the most from 2019 – by 2.7 years, to 72 years – its lowest level since 2001. Latinos experienced the second-biggest decline, falling 1.9 years since 2019 to a life expectancy of 79.9 years, lower than when it was first recorded in 2006. (Rodriguez, 2/18)

AP: US Life Expectancy Drops A Year In Pandemic, Most Since WWII
“This is a huge decline,” said Robert Anderson, who oversees the numbers for the CDC. “You have to go back to World War II, the 1940s, to find a decline like this.” Other health experts say it shows the profound impact of COVID-19, not just on deaths directly due to infection but also from heart disease, cancer and other conditions. (Marchione, 2/18)

Houston Chronicle: FEMA Sending Generators, Water And Blankets To Texas
The federal government is sending generators, water and blankets to Texas and is preparing to ship in diesel, as well, to help with backup power amid the massive outages that accompanied the recent cold snap, the White House announced on Wednesday. A Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesperson said the agency has sent 60 “very large” generators to the state to help keep hospitals and other crucial infrastructure online. The spokesperson could not say where the generators had been sent. The agency has also sent “millions of liters of water” and “tens of thousands” of blankets, she said. (Wermund, 2/17)

AP: Crippling Weather Hampers Vaccine Deliveries, Distribution
One public health expert said the delays were unacceptable. “Having vaccine centers take snow days is just going to back things up more than they already are,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “The virus doesn’t take snow days.” Adalja said people in charge of vaccination efforts must find ways to be more resilient to weather, “just like mailmen can deliver the mail through sleet or snow.” He suggested clinics use better contingency plans. The goal, he said, must be “a continuous assembly line of vaccines going into people’s arms.” (Naishadham and Noveck, 2/17)

Fox News: Winter Storm Delays 200,000 Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Doses To Florida
Severe winter weather across the country has delayed the arrival of 200,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Florida, according to a local report. The doses, which were initially expected on Tuesday, should now arrive Thursday, said Samantha Bequer, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, to the Naples Daily News. But even if the shipment does arrive Thursday, vaccine distribution will still likely be delayed, she warned. "The state has been working closely with providers and has advised they begin to plan for delays in their vaccine delivery," she told the paper. (Farber, 2/17)

ABC News: How A Texas Synagogue Got Hundreds Vaccinated After Power Outages Threatened Doses 
After an unprecedented winter storm cut off power to the freezers storing vaccines in Harris County, Texas, thousands of doses were at risk of expiring within hours. Alan Hoffman, an internist at Houston Methodist Hospital, received a phone call Monday morning from Methodist executive Roberta Schwartz asking how quickly could they get shots in arms? It was a race against the clock. (Silberman, 2/17)

Fox News: Winter Conditions Force Blood Drive Closures Across 30 States, Red Cross Says
The American Red Cross on Wednesday urged those in the few areas spared by serious wintry conditions to donate blood amid sweeping cancellations. "Record-breaking cold and severe winter weather across most of the U.S. has forced the cancellation of American Red Cross blood drives in approximately 30 states — impacting approximately 16,000 blood, platelet and convalescent plasma donations this month," Jessa Merrill, spokesperson for the American Red Cross, said in an emailed statement. "The Red Cross is urging healthy individuals in unaffected areas, especially those with type O blood, to give now." (Rivas, 2/17)

Houston Chronicle: 'How Does That Happen?': Water Crisis Unfolding In Houston Amid Power Outages, Frozen Pipes
Millions of Houstonians awoke Wednesday to a notice from the city that their water was unsafe to drink unless boiled, an impossible task for many residents who continued to suffer power outages from the winter storm. A large chunk of Houston households had already lost water pressure altogether or had seen their pipes freeze, preventing access to the city’s water system. The crisis extended to key facilities, depriving hospitals and the Harris County Jail of running water. Houston Methodist canceled most non-urgent surgeries and procedures due to the water shortage and may do so again Thursday, a spokeswoman said. (Scherer, 2/17)

Stat: In Lab Experiment, Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Less Potent Against Coronavirus Variant 
The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine loses some potency against the coronavirus variant that first appeared in South Africa, researchers reported Wednesday, based on lab experiments. What the findings mean for how well the vaccine will protect real people from the variant, called B.1.351, is hard to tell. But clinical data from three other vaccines — those from AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Johnson & Johnson — have already shown the shots are not as powerful at blocking symptomatic Covid-19 cases caused by B.1.351 as by other forms of the virus. (Joseph, 2/17)

The Washington Post: Pfizer, Moderna Vaccines Show Reduced Antibody Response To South Africa Variant
Two of the most promising coronavirus vaccines recently showed reduced effectiveness against the more virulent virus strain first seen in South Africa, according to reports in the New England Journal of Medicine, but also appeared to mobilize enough of an antibody response to neutralize the pathogen. Experts warned that it was still unclear what level of neutralization is required for protection against the variant, known as B.1.351, that is now the dominant strain in South Africa, and these studies were carried out in a lab setting rather than real life. (Cunningham, 2/18)

CNN: Pfizer, Moderna Vaccines Can Protect Against Coronavirus Variant, Lab Studies Suggest 
A new report published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday suggests that Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine can protect people against concerning new coronavirus variants, including one first seen in South Africa called B.1.351. (Sealy and Bonifield, 2/17)

The Hill: Biden Officials Announce Funds To Track Virus Variants 
The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is investing roughly $200 million in an effort to triple the country's genomic sequencing, the process crucial to tracking the spread of new, more contagious variants of the virus. The move is one of three actions officials announced Wednesday aimed at boosting testing. (Sullivan, 2/17)

The New York Times: Covid-19: U.S. Officials Pledge Almost $200 Million To Track Variants As Lawmakers Push For More 
As lawmakers push for billions of dollars to fund the nation’s efforts to track coronavirus variants, the Biden administration announced on Wednesday a new effort to ramp up this work, pledging nearly $200 million to better identify the emerging threats. Calling it a “down payment,” the White House said that the investment would result in a significant increase in the number of positive virus samples that labs could sequence. Public health laboratories, universities and programs run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sequenced more than 9,000 genomes last week, according to the database GISAID. The agency hopes to increase its own contribution to 25,000 genomes a week. (2/17)

Politico: Biden Admin Will Spend $1.6B To Expand Covid-19 Testing And Sequencing 
The White House announced Wednesday a multipronged effort to bolster the United States’ ability to test for Covid-19 in schools and homeless shelters, increase domestic manufacturing of testing supplies such as pipette tips, and boost genomic sequencing efforts needed to understand the spread of virus variants. Biden testing coordinator Carole Johnson described the $1.6 billion for testing as a “pilot” that will serve as a bridge until Congress passes its massive $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill. (Lim, 2/17)

NPR: White House Announces Expanded COVID-19 Testing, Manufacturing And Virus Sequencing
The administration says it will spend $650 million to expand testing for K-8 schools and settings where people congregate such as homeless shelters, via new "hubs" created by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense. Regional coordinating centers will work to increase testing capacity, partnering with labs and universities to collect specimens, perform tests and report results to public health agencies. The plan could mean an additional 25 million tests per month, and it's intended to aid President Biden's effort to open schools for in-person learning. (Wamsley, 2/17)

The New York Times: Scientists Call On CDC To Set Air Standards For Workplaces, Now 
Nearly a year after scientists showed that the coronavirus can be inhaled in tiny droplets called aerosols that linger indoors in stagnant air, more than a dozen experts are calling on the Biden administration to take immediate action to limit airborne transmission of the virus in high-risk settings like meatpacking plants and prisons. The 13 experts — including several who advised President Biden during the transition — urged the administration to mandate a combination of masks and environmental measures, like better ventilation, to blunt the risks in various workplaces. (Mandavilli, 2/17)

The Hill: White House Says Teacher Vaccinations Not Required For Schools To Reopen 
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that vaccinating teachers is not a requirement for reopening schools for in-person learning. “Neither the president nor the vice president believe that it is a requirement,” Psaki said at a briefing when asked whether teachers need to be vaccinated before they return to school. (Chalfant, 2/17)

The Hill: Fauci: 'Non-Workable' To Get Every Teacher Vaccinated To Reopen Schools 
Anthony Fauci, a medical adviser to President Biden and the government’s leading infectious diseases expert, poured cold water on the prospect of every teacher getting vaccinated for the coronavirus before schools reopen. Fauci in an interview on CBS Wednesday expressed support for teachers getting bumped up on the priority list for a shot but said their vaccinations should not be a blanket prerequisite for school reopenings. (Axelrod, 2/17)

Politico: Fauci: 'Non-Workable' To Vaccinate Teachers Before Schools Open 
Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that vaccinating all teachers against Covid-19 before reopening schools is "non-workable," wading into an issue that has taken center stage for the Biden administration amid the ongoing pandemic. "If you are going to say that every single teacher needs to be vaccinated before you get back to school, I believe quite frankly that’s a non-workable situation," Fauci told "CBS This Morning." (Leonard, 2/17)

Politico: Biden Gets Fauci’d 
In its opening days, the Biden administration set a new rule to allow Dr. Anthony Fauci to make more mainstream media appearances, after being effectively muzzled during the waning months of the Trump administration. “It's great to see Dr. Fauci on @Maddow — and anywhere else where he wants to speak his mind,” White House chief of staff Ron Klain tweeted on Jan. 22.The Biden administration is finding out the hard way, however, that the doctor does not really do White House talking points. On Wednesday, Fauci went decidedly off-message on the question of vaccines for school teachers, leading to a muddle of messaging. (Thompson, Meyer and Cancryn, 2/17)

The Washington Post: Biden Struggles To Specify When Normalcy Will Return 
Asked about the guidance Wednesday on NBC’s “Today” show, Vice President [Kamala] Harris declined to explicitly endorse it. “Teachers should be a priority,” she said several times. When pressed about teacher vaccinations in particular, she hedged, saying the CDC recommendations “are exactly that: recommendations.” Later, she added: “We’re all really clear. Teachers should be a priority. Teachers should be a priority. Teachers are critical to our children’s development, they should be able to teach at a safe place and be able to expand the minds of our children.” (Wootson Jr. and Meckler, 2/17)

AP: Muddled Promises On Schools Pose Political Problem For Biden
President Joe Biden is in a political firestorm over how and when to get more schools open amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Republicans seizing on confusion surrounding Biden’s goal to reopen a majority of schools within his first 100 days to paint the president as beholden to teachers’ unions at the expense of American families. His administration in recent weeks has sent muddled and at times contradictory messages about Biden’s goal. On Tuesday night, the president said his 100-day goal was to have most elementary schools open five days a week, seeming to conflict with his own press secretary, who had said last week that schools would be considered “open” if they held in-person classes even one day a week. (Jaffe, 2/18)

Politico: Biden Picks Brooks-LaSure To Run Medicare, Medicaid Agency 
President Joe Biden will nominate seasoned Democratic health policy broker Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to helm the trillion-dollar Medicare and Medicaid agency, according to four sources familiar with the selection. Brooks-LaSure, an Obama administration veteran who oversaw implementation of Obamacare, if confirmed will play a leading role in crafting Biden's plans to expand on the health care law – and unwind much of the Trump administration's efforts to minimize it. (Cancryn, Luthi and Roubein, 2/17)

Stat: Biden To Nominate Brooks-LaSure To Oversee CMS 
Brooks-LaSure would inherit those lawsuits, most notably a Supreme Court case set to be argued in March challenging the agency’s new policy of denying health coverage to unemployed Medicaid beneficiaries. The Supreme Court is still scheduled to hear the case on March 29, although the Biden administration took action last week to begin reversing the policy, which could moot the lawsuit before it’s argued. That’s far from the agency’s only lawsuit: CMS is currently facing two other challenges from hospitals alone, and is also fending off lawsuits from drug makers and seniors’ groups. (Florko and Facher, 2/17)

AP: Biden's Medicare Pick Would Be 1st Black Woman To Hold Post
If confirmed by the Senate, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure would be the first Black woman to head CMS, which has under its umbrella Medicare, Medicaid, children’s health insurance and the Affordable Care Act, better known as “Obamacare.” The programs cover more than 130 million people, from newborns to nursing home residents. Brooks-LaSure has a long track record in government, having held health policy jobs at the White House, in Congress, and at CMS during the Obama administration. Most recently she led the Biden transition’s “landing team” for the Department of Health and Human Services, laying the groundwork for the new administration. Before her return to government service, Brooks-LaSure was a managing director at the Manatt Health consultancy. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2/18)

The Washington Post: Mostly United Over Covid Relief, Democrats Face Divisions Over Biden’s Massive Second Economic Plan
Even as President Biden and congressional Democrats work to pass their $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, they’re bracing for the next big legislative scramble, over another massive spending bill that’s already drawing intense lobbying and threatening Democratic unity. Biden’s next package could be far pricier than the coronavirus bill. Although plans remain fluid, it’s expected to center on a major infrastructure investment, while also tackling other priorities such as clean energy, domestic manufacturing, and child and elder care. However, as the next must-pass bill in a divided Congress, where legislative opportunities will be scarce, it has unleashed a torrent of other demands, as advocates for issues from climate change to immigration push to get included. (Werner, Stein and Grandoni, 2/17)

The Hill: Senate Democrats Unveil Health Care Proposal With Public Option 
Two Democratic senators released their version of a public option health care plan Wednesday, setting the stage for this year’s debate over how best to expand coverage to the millions of people who are uninsured. The proposal from Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.) and Tim Kaine (Va.) would create a government-run health care plan on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges to compete with plans offered by private insurers with the hope of driving down costs. (Hellmann, 2/17)

Modern Healthcare: Democrats' Plan To Expand Health Insurance Will Cost $54 Billion, Increase Coverage By 2 Million
On Feb. 11, the House Ways and Means Committee approved a plan to subsidize coverage in 2021 and 2022 for higher-income people who don't qualify for ACA subsidies currently, boost contributions to lower-income people who already qualify for financial help and max out allowances for anyone collecting unemployment benefits in 2021. The committee also aims to block the Internal Revenue Service from clawing back money from people who underestimated their 2020 income and received too much in ACA subsidies, and subsidize premium costs for COBRA coverage for some workers. The Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation estimate these moves will reduce the number of people without insurance by 800,000 in 2021, 1.3 million in 2022 and 400,000 in 2023. But they will come at a cost of more than $54 billion over the next decade. (Tepper, 2/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Newly Reported Cases In U.S. Stay Below 80,000
Newly reported coronavirus cases in the U.S. remained under 80,000 for the fourth day in a row, while hospitalizations fell to their lowest level since Nov. 10. The U.S. reported more than 68,000 new cases for Wednesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University that was published early Thursday. The data may update later. Wednesday’s total was slightly higher than the 62,398 new cases reported the previous day but sharply lower than the daily tally of more than 94,000 a week earlier. (Hall, 2/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: California's Positivity Rate Drops Sharply, A Promising Indicator For Reopening
California’s coronavirus numbers continue to show signs of improvement. The percentage of coronavirus tests that came back positive over the past seven days — a closely watched indicator for reopening the economy — has dropped to 3.5%. That’s down from over 11% a month ago. Hospitalizations for coronavirus patients have dropped 38% over 14 days, and the rate of infection in the state has fallen to 0.65 — meaning each infected person infects fewer than one other person. “That’s the lowest I’ve seen it,” California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Tomás Aragón said at a meeting of a state vaccine advisory committee on Wednesday. “That’s really good news.” (Vaziri, 2/17)

The Hill: First Two FEMA Mass Vaccination Sites Open In California 
The first two mass vaccination sites run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) opened Tuesday in California, part of the Biden administration's effort to ramp up the federal government's role getting vaccines in arms. (Sullivan, 2/17)

Capital & Main: California's Vaccine Push Excludes Its Community Clinics
If there is a path that leads to an equitable distribution of potential life-saving doses of COVID-19 vaccines in California, it almost inevitably will end at the doorstep of the state’s battered community clinic system. Plagued by financial woes, fighting at times to keep the doors open, these clinics remain the primary point of contact for millions of low income and uninsured patients across the state. But the early returns on California’s vaccination rollout present a vivid study in contrast: The state’s better off residents are commanding a disproportionate share of the doses. And as a recent letter from the clinics’ statewide organization to Gov. Gavin Newsom makes clear, that won’t change until the clinics themselves are fully incorporated in the vaccination effort. (Kreidler, 2/17)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa. Faces A Vaccine Shortage That Could Delay Shots For 100,000
More than 100,000 Pennsylvanians could be forced to wait days or weeks longer for their coronavirus shots after mistakes made by vaccine providers and possible miscommunication from the state led to a massive shortage of doses, officials said Wednesday. State health officials said they discovered only last weekend that some providers had been improperly using doses of the two-part Moderna vaccine, giving out their supply of second shots as first doses instead. They said the misuse of second shots had been going on for weeks, though they could not explain exactly why or how it happened, or why it went undetected. (McDaniel and McCarthy, 2/17)

Bloomberg: Microsoft Vaccine Scheduling Software Deal Ended By Iowa
Iowa is backing out of a plan to use Microsoft Corp. software for registering patients and scheduling Covid-19 vaccinations, the latest challenge to the software giant’s efforts to make money helping states overwhelmed with residents looking for shots. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced the change of heart at a news conference Wednesday, saying state officials concluded it would be too hard to combine existing scheduling systems and were trying to avoid disruptions. The state will instead focus on bolstering its current systems. Just last week, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and members of his administration complained about significant glitches in that state’s Microsoft-built vaccination scheduling system. (Bass and Joyce, 2/18)

The Hill: DeSantis Threatens To Divert Vaccines From Communities Criticizing Distribution 
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday threatened to divert coronavirus vaccines from communities that criticize his distribution efforts. DeSantis made the remarks at a news conference amid criticism that he arranged for seniors in two wealthy neighborhoods to be given priority vaccine access, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. (Gstalter, 2/17)

CNN: DeSantis Defends Controversial Vaccine Deal With Developer -- And Threatens To Pull Vaccines If Officials Don't Like It
Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has threatened to move a pop-up vaccination clinic that his state has set up in an affluent community in Manatee County after he was confronted with allegations of political favoritism and preference for the wealthy at a news conference Wednesday. (Toropin, 2/17)

NPR: Vaccinating Homeless Patients Against COVID-19: 'All Bets Are Off'
People experiencing homelessness are especially vulnerable to disease and often live in close quarters. Reaching them for COVID-19 vaccination is crucial, public health officials say, yet also presents some unique challenges. Addresses and phone numbers change constantly. Few of the people affected have reliable Internet access. Also, the pandemic put a halt to many mobile clinics and other outreach efforts to homeless encampments; in the meantime, patients scattered or avoided the clinic for fear of infection. (Noguchi, 2/17)

The Hill: Three-Quarters Of Americans Confident COVID-19 Vaccines Will Be Available By Summer's End: Poll 
Almost three-quarters of Americans said they are confident the COVID-19 vaccine will be widely available in their state by the end of the summer, according to a poll released Wednesday. (Coleman, 2/17)

Politico: One-Third Of Troops Turning Down Covid Vaccine, Pentagon Officials Say 
Approximately one-third of troops have declined to take the coronavirus vaccine so far, Pentagon officials told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday. Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro, the vice director of operations for the Joint Staff, said the military has a two-thirds acceptance rate for the vaccine, meaning as much as a third isn't taking it. The vaccine is not yet mandatory for service members. (O'Brien, 2/17)

The Washington Post: 90-Year-Old Seattle Woman Walks Three Miles In A Snow Storm To Get Coronavirus Vaccine 
Fran Goldman had spent weeks glued to her tablet and on the phone with her local health department before she was finally able to schedule a coronavirus vaccine appointment last weekend. So when the 90-year-old woke up on Sunday to find 10 inches of snow covering the unplowed Seattle roads, she realized she only had two options: Rescheduling her shot or trekking by foot for three miles. She chose the latter. (Salcedo, 2/17)

The New York Times: N.Y. Restaurant Fires Waitress Who Wouldn’t Get Covid-19 Vaccine 
A waitress [was] fired on Monday after, she said, she resisted getting vaccinated out of concern that doing so could hurt her chances of becoming pregnant. Over the weekend, the restaurant, the Red Hook Tavern, required that its employees get vaccinated and then terminated the waitress, Bonnie Jacobson, when she asked for time to study the vaccine’s possible effects on fertility. (Haag, 2/17)

The New York Times: To Get Their Lives Back, Teens Volunteer for Vaccine Trials
To get out of ninth-grade science period one recent Friday, the King twins had an excuse that is so very 2021.Alexandra and Isabelle, 14, had to miss class — including a test — because they were participating in an actual science experiment: a clinical trial of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine to evaluate whether the shot is effective and safe in children ages 12 through 17. (Hoffman, 2/16)

Boston Globe: Childbirth During A Pandemic: Parents Decry Separations
Today, hospitals in Massachusetts and elsewhere explicitly allow a pregnant person to have one partner accompany her when she is admitted for labor and delivery. But a few hospitals, including the Brigham, Tufts Medical Center, and Baystate Health, deem it unsafe for visitors to come into the triage area, where women go to assess their labor. The practice has prompted a petition, started by two childbirth and lactation specialists, which has been signed by more than 1,000 people. It calls on Governor Charlie Baker to order hospitals to “stop the separation of birthing families.” (Freyer, 2/17)

CIDRAP: Pregnancy Tied To Estimated 70% Higher COVID-19 Rate 
Pregnant women in Washington state were infected with COVID-19 at a 70% higher rate than others of similar ages, with nonwhite women shouldering a disproportionate burden, according to a study published yesterday in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Noting that population-based estimates of coronavirus infections in pregnancy are unreliable due to incomplete recording of pregnancy status or inclusion of only hospitalized patients, a team led by researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle analyzed data from 240 pregnant COVID-19 patients at 35 healthcare systems, capturing 61% of the state's annual births, from Mar 1 to Jun 30, 2020. (Van Beusekom, 2/17)

ProPublica: Dying On The Waitlist 
In early December, Miguel Fernandez lay unconscious in the intensive care unit at a Los Angeles area hospital. A mechanical ventilator pumped oxygen into his lungs, which had been ravaged by COVID-19. The 53-year-old was dying. The best, and likely only, chance of Miguel surviving was a therapy called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, better known as ECMO. It would allow his lungs to rest while a machine infused his blood with the oxygen he needed. But PIH Health Whittier Hospital, where he had been admitted, didn’t have any ECMO machines or the highly trained staff needed to run them. Only a handful of hospitals in southern California did, and they were overrun with COVID-19 cases. (Armstrong and Allen, 2/18)

Fox News: Millions Of Fake N95 Masks Shipped To Multiple States, Feds Say
The fake masks closely resemble N95 masks produced by Minnesota-based company 3M. The counterfeit products have been sold to states "from coast to coast" with officials expected to seize more phony N95s in the "coming weeks," Alejandro Mayorkas, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, said during a briefing Wednesday. ... The phony masks are not tested to see whether they meet strict N95 standards and could put frontline medical workers at risk if they are used while treating patients with COVID-19.  (Farber, 2/17)

AP: US Govt Seizes Over 10M Phony N95 Masks In COVID-19 Probe
Federal agents have seized more than 10 million fake 3M brand N95 masks in recent weeks, the result of an ongoing investigation into counterfeits sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities and government agencies. The most recent seizures occurred Wednesday when Homeland Security agents intercepted hundreds of thousands of counterfeit 3M masks in an East Coast warehouse that were set to be distributed, officials said. (Long, 2/17)

The Hill: Federal Agents Seize More Than 11 Million Fake N95 Masks 
Federal agents have seized more than 11 million fake N95 masks designed to mimic those made by 3M, officials announced Wednesday. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a news conference that the department has seized the counterfeit masks over the course of several weeks. (Williams, 2/17)

CIDRAP: Experts Highlight Best Imaging For COVID-Related Musculoskeletal Issues
Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound scans should be used to help diagnose and treat COVID-19 symptoms, according to a review published today in Skeletal Radiology. While COVID-19 infection is most known for its respiratory ailments, musculoskeletal symptoms such as muscle pain and inflammation, peripheral neuropathy, joint pain, and clotting issues can cause short- or long-term issues, the researchers write. (2/17)

Capital & Main: Podcast: Health Care Workers Battle In COVID's Dangerous Trenches 
What happens when pandemic fighters are at risk themselves with preexisting medical conditions? (Kreidler, 2/12)

Modern Healthcare: AMA Removes Founder's Monument Over Past Discriminatory Actions
The American Medical Association has removed a public display of its founder and taken his name off of one of its most prestigious annual awards as the organization seeks to reconcile its past discriminatory practices as part of its efforts to address systemic racism as a public health threat. In an opinion editorial posted to its website on Wednesday, American Medical Association CEO Dr. James Madara called the moving of a bust and display of Dr. Nathan Davis from public view at its Chicago headquarters to its archives a necessary step toward reconciling the AMA's past actions of discrimination. Women and Black doctors were barred from joining its ranks until the 1960s. (Ross Johnson, 2/17)

Modern Healthcare: Humacyte To Go Public In Merger That Would Create $1.1 Billion Company
Regenerative medicine company Humacyte agreed to go public via a merger with special purpose acquisition firm Alpha Healthcare Acquisition Corp. that would create an entity valued around $1.1 billion, the organizations announced Wednesday. Humacyte develops bioengineered human tissue to treat illnesses like end-stage renal disease, vascular disease, heart disease, diabetes and lung disease as well as repair or replace damaged arteries. After implanting a Humacyte product, patients can regrow their own tissues, which are regenerative and self-healing, Humacyte CEO Dr. Laura Niklason said during an investor presentation. (Kacik, 2/17)

Modern Healthcare: Coordinated Payment Policies Could Speed Transition To Value, Experts Say
HHS needs to overhaul its approach to value-based payment to ensure widespread practice transformation and rein in Medicare spending, according to a report by the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania released Wednesday. Experts said the agency needs a new strategy because providers and payers have been too slow to adopt value-based payment, especially arrangements that require providers to take on significant financial risk. In addition, most existing initiatives don't systematically lower healthcare spending or improve quality. According to the report, CMS must develop a clear vision for the future of value-based payment, simplify and align its models across payers and mandate participation in advanced payment models whenever possible. The agency should also make it easier for providers to take part in voluntary models, commit to longer-term contracts and make fee-for-service reimbursement less attractive for providers when mandatory participation isn't possible. (Brady, 2/17)

The Washington Post: Kroger To Close More Stores After Seattle Passed Hazard Pay For Essential Workers 
Grocery giant Kroger plans to close two stores in Seattle after the city passed a $4-an-hour hazard pay mandate for grocery workers, drawing sharp rebukes from local officials and worker advocates who point to the company’s booming sales as the pandemic continues to claim more than 2,000 lives a day. Kroger, which recorded one of its more profitable years due to strong demand during the pandemic, blamed the closures on the city’s new mandate, saying it would raise costs at the two Quality Food Centers (QFC), which were already underperforming. (Rosenberg, 2/17)