First Edition: Feb. 26, 2021

KHN: Why AstraZeneca And J&J’s Vaccines, In Use The World Over, Are Still On Hold In America
The World Health Organization greenlighted emergency use of AstraZeneca and Oxford’s covid-19 vaccine this month, following in the steps of the United Kingdom, the European Union and others, who are already injecting it as quickly as possible into the masses. But the United States is still waiting. As covid deaths mount daily, critics say the Food and Drug Administration is moving too slowly. Meanwhile, the novel coronavirus is evolving, with new variants stalking populations the world over. (Tribble, 2/26)

KHN: College Tuition Sparked A Mental Health Crisis. Then The Hefty Hospital Bill Arrived. 
Despite a lifelong struggle with panic attacks, Divya Singh made a brave move across the world last fall from her home in Mumbai, India. She enrolled at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, to study physics and explore an interest in standup comedy in Manhattan. Arriving in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic and isolated in her dorm room, Singh’s anxiety ballooned when her family had trouble coming up with the money for a $16,000 tuition installment. Hofstra warned her she would have to vacate the dorm after the term ended if she was not paid up. At one point, she ran into obstacles transferring money onto her campus meal card. (Rau, 2/26)

KHN: Learning To Live Again: A Lazarus Tale From The Covid Front Lines 
The twinkle in his eyes, the delight in his smile, the joyous way he moved his disease-withered frame. They all proclaimed a single, resounding message: Grateful to be alive! “As my care team and my family tell me, ‘You were born again. You have to learn to live again,’” said Vicente Perez Castro. “I went through a very difficult time.” Hell and back is more like it. (Wolfson, 2/26)

KHN: Biden’s Straight-Talking CDC Director Has Long Used Data To Save Lives
In early December, Dr. Katy Stephenson was watching TV with her family and scrolling through Twitter when she saw a tweet that made her shout. “I said ‘Oh, my God!'” she recalled. “Super loud. My kids jumped up. My husband looked over. He said, ‘What’s wrong, what’s wrong, is everything OK?’ I was like, ‘No, no, it’s the opposite. It’s amazing. This is amazing!'” Dr. Rochelle Walensky had just been tapped to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Goldberg, 2/26)

KHN: As Covid Surged, Vaccines Came Too Late For At Least 400 Medical Workers 
As health care workers in the U.S. began lining up for their first coronavirus vaccines on Dec. 14, Esmeralda Campos-Loredo was already fighting for oxygen. The 49-year-old nursing assistant and mother of two started having breathing problems just days earlier. By the time the first of her co-workers were getting shots, she was shivering in a tent in the parking lot of a Los Angeles hospital because no medical beds were available. When she gasped for air, she had to wait all day for relief due to a critical shortage of oxygen tanks. (McCormick, 2/26)

KHN: Journalists Weigh In On Biden’s HHS Pick
KHN senior correspondent Noam Levey discussed Xavier Becerra’s nomination to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with KQED’s “Forum” on Tuesday. ... KHN senior correspondent JoNel Aleccia discussed the story of an organ transplant patient who died after receiving lungs infected with covid-19 on KFI’s “The Daily Dive” podcast on Wednesday. (2/26)

KHN: New California Law Makes It Easier To Get Care For Mental Health And Substance Abuse 
Karen Bailey’s 20-year-old daughter has struggled with depression and anxiety for years. Since 2017, she’s been in three intensive group therapy programs and, each time, the family’s insurer cut her coverage short, says Bailey. “At a certain point, they would send us a form letter saying: We have determined that she is all better, it’s no longer necessary, so we are not covering it anymore,” says Bailey, 59, who lives in Los Angeles. “And believe me, she was not all better. In one case, she was worse.” (Wolfson, 2/26)

CNN: FDA Gives Permission For Pfizer Vaccine To Be Stored At Normal Freezer Temperatures
The US Food and Drug Administration handed Pfizer a victory on Thursday, agreeing to allow its Covid-19 vaccine to be transported and stored for up to two weeks at "conventional temperatures" typically found in pharmaceutical freezers. The FDA’s decision can relieve some of the constraints that have made the vaccine especially difficult to store and distribute. The FDA previously recommended that the vaccine be stored at ultra-cold temperatures between -80 and -60 degrees Celsius, but noted in its announcement that the change to temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers "reflects an alternative to the preferred storage of the undiluted vials." (Howard, 2/26)

The Hill: FDA Approves Storing Pfizer Vaccine At Standard Freezer Temperature 
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved storing Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at standard freezer temperatures, helping ease storage requirements that could make delivery of the vaccine easier. (Sullivan, 2/25)

Forbes: Pfizer’s Covid Vaccine Doesn’t Need Ultra-Cold Storage, FDA Says
It’s not uncommon for vaccines to need refrigeration, but Pfizer initially thought its drug needed especially frigid storage to stay potent, posing a challenge for distributors and local health officials. Ultra-cold freezers are pricey, making them out of reach for many rural hospitals and resource-strapped medical clinics, and the sudden demand for those specialized freezers sparked a worldwide rush to buy them. (Walsh, 2/25)

The Washington Examiner: FDA Greenlights Pfizer Vaccine To Be Stored At Normal Freezer Temperatures, Instead Of Ultra-Cold
"The alternative temperature for transportation and storage will help ease the burden of procuring ultra-low cold storage equipment for vaccination sites and should help to get vaccine to more sites," Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. (Soellner, 2/25)

CNN: Johnson & Johnson: FDA Advisers To Consider Third Covid-19 Vaccine Friday 
It's the next step in a process that could end with the new vaccine's rollout early next week. As with the two currently authorized vaccines, advisers and federal agencies are meeting over a weekend to try to get the vaccines to the US public as soon as possible. The FDA has already considered the advanced, Phase 3 clinical trial testing data presented by Janssen and says it shows the vaccine is safe and effective. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee or VRBPAC is made up of vaccine experts and other medical professionals, industry and consumer representatives who will consider presentations from FDA about its findings, as well as from Janssen. (Fox, 2/26)

Stat: Tracking An FDA Advisory Panel's Meeting On J&J's Covid-19 Vaccine
Now it’s Johnson & Johnson’s turn. A panel of outside experts is meeting Friday for a third time to consider whether the Food and Drug Administration ought to give an emergency use authorization for a Covid-19 vaccine, this one from J&J. (Branswell and Herper, 2/26)

AP: Bahrain Becomes 1st Nation To Grant J&J Shot Emergency Use
Bahrain became the first nation to authorize Johnson & Johnson’s new single-dose coronavirus vaccine for emergency use on Thursday, the government announced, just a day after U.S. regulators concluded the shot offers strong protection against severe COVID-19. The island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia said it would dole out J&J’s shot to the most vulnerable people, including older adults and those with chronic conditions, without specifying when. It was also unclear when doses would be delivered to the country, which already offers vaccines by state-backed Chinese firm Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNtech and Oxford-AstraZeneca, as well as Russia’s Sputnik V to its roughly 2 million residents. (2/25)

AP: Biden Marks 50M Vaccine Doses In First 5 Weeks In Office
Days after marking a solemn milestone in the pandemic, President Joe Biden is celebrating the pace of his efforts to end it. On Thursday, Biden marked the administration of the 50 millionth dose of COVID-19 vaccine since his swearing-in. The moment came days after the nation reached the devastating milestone of 500,000 coronavirus deaths and ahead of a meeting with the nation’s governors on plans to speed the distribution even further. (Miller and Superville, 2/25)

The Hill: Biden Marks 50 Million Coronavirus Vaccines But Warns Virus Fight Not Over 
“We are moving in the right direction, though, despite the mess with inherited from the previous administration, which left us with no real plan to vaccinate all Americans,” [President] Biden said, echoing other administration officials who have characterized the Trump administration’s vaccination plan as insufficient. (Chalfant, 2/25)

The Washington Post: Biden Defends Vaccine Rollout As He Marks 50 Millionth Shot
[Biden] repeated multiple times that he was not taking a “victory lap” on Thursday. That reflected the sober and somber tone toward the pandemic that Biden and his aides have taken since the start of his presidency, despite some recent good news that suggests the spread of the virus in the United States was slowing somewhat. (Kim, 2/25)

Politico: White House Planning To Forecast Vaccine Shipments Months In Advance 
The Biden administration is planning to provide states with estimates of their expected vaccine shipments likely months ahead of time rather than weeks, according to multiple sources with knowledge. The longer planning window, which is expected to start as soon as next week, could address concerns from governors who had complained that limited shipment forecasts affect their ability to plan vaccination clinics and figure out where to steer doses. And it represents the growing confidence among vaccine makers and the Biden administration in the production of shots, with substantial boosts in supply expected over the coming weeks. (Roubein, 2/25)

The Hill: Harris Visits DC Pharmacy To Promote Vaccine Program 
Vice President Harris, along with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), visited a pharmacy in Southeast Washington, D.C., on Thursday to promote the Biden administration’s coronavirus vaccine pharmacy program and try to address vaccine hesitancy. (Chalfant, 2/25)

The Hill: Fauci: Whatever COVID-19 Vaccine Is Available, 'Take It' 
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, is advising Americans to not wait for certain COVID-19 vaccines to become available before getting inoculated. “When a vaccine becomes available, take it,” Fauci told Savannah Guthrie during an interview on the "Today" show Thursday. (Williams, 2/25)

The Hill: Vaccine Distribution To Jump 40 Percent Next Week, UPS Executive Says 
FedEx and UPS said they plan to increase distribution of the coronavirus vaccine by 40 percent next week, with peak distribution likely to come in May. Wes Wheeler, the head of UPS’s health care unit, said the courier service is currently handling about 10 million weekly doses but that the figure is set to increase to 14 million next week. (Budryk, 2/25)

Stat: Pfizer Hopes Booster Of Its Covid Vaccine Might Work Against Variants
Could the solution to emerging variants of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, some of which seem to make current vaccines less effective, be more of the current vaccines? While Moderna and Pfizer, along with its partner BioNTech, have announced plans to test vaccines specifically targeted at variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, they are also planning to test the idea of simply giving people three doses instead of two of their vaccines that have already been authorized. (Herper, 2/25)

Fox News: 'No Evidence' NYC Coronavirus Variant Impacts Vaccines, Causes Severe Illness: Official
A New York City health official on Thursday said there is no evidence showing the newly reported coronavirus variant, B.1.526, is driving trajectory of infections, reduces vaccine efficacy or results in more severe illness. "We don’t have any evidence at this point [that] this New York variant, the B.1.526, is what is contributing to the trajectory of cases, which we should emphasize continue to decrease," Dr. Dave Chokshi, New York City health commissioner, said during a briefing Thursday. The comments come after researchers from Columbia University and the California Institute of Technology each posted early findings on the variant this week ahead of peer-review. Among other results, scientists found the variant included a E484K mutation. This specific mutation on other variants has been a cause for concern regarding impact on vaccine efficacy. (Rivas, 2/25)

Reuters: U.S. Senate Referee Says Democrats Cannot Include $15 Minimum Wage In COVID Bill 
In a blow to Democrats, the Senate parliamentarian ruled the chamber cannot include President Joe Biden’s proposed $15-an-hour minimum wage in a $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill the party aims to pass without Republican votes, lawmakers said on Thursday. Democrats and progressives had hoped to include the minimum wage increase in the legislation to help cushion the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic and better compensate low-wage workers who have spent months on the front lines of the health crisis as essential workers. (2/25)

The Washington Post: Minimum Wage Increase Imperiled In Covid Relief Bill By Senate Official’s Ruling 
President Biden’s proposed $15-an-hour minimum-wage increase cannot remain in his coronavirus relief bill as written, the Senate’s parliamentarian said Thursday, imperiling a major Biden campaign promise and top priority for the Democratic Party’s liberal wing. The ruling could be a major setback for liberals hoping to use Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief bill as the vehicle for their long-sought goal of raising the federal minimum wage from its current level of $7.25 an hour. And it could create divisions in the party as some push Democratic leaders for dramatic action to get around the parliamentarian’s ruling. (Werner, 2/25)

The New York Times: F.C.C. Approves A $50 Monthly High-Speed Internet Subsidy 
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved an emergency subsidy for low-income households to get high-speed internet, an effort to bridge the digital divide that has cut off many Americans from online communication during the pandemic. The four-member commission unanimously agreed to offer up to $50 a month to low-income households and up to $75 a month to households on Native American land for broadband service. The F.C.C. will also provide a one-time discount of up to $100 on a computer or tablet for eligible homes. (Kang, 2/25)

The Hill: Judge Rules CDC Eviction Moratorium Unconstitutional 
A federal judge in Texas ruled on Thursday that an order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) temporarily halting evictions amid the pandemic is unconstitutional. In a 21-page ruling, U.S. District Judge John Barker sided with a group of landlords and property managers who alleged in a lawsuit that the CDC's eviction moratorium exceeded the federal government's constitutional authority. (Kruzel, 2/25)

The New York Times: As Infections Dip, Governors Across U.S. Start Easing Restrictions 
With the coronavirus slowly receding, governors around the United States are beginning to relax pandemic restrictions. But the rules are being eased much in the same way as they were imposed: in a patchwork fashion that largely falls along party lines. Republicans are leaning toward rollbacks, and Democrats are staying the course or offering a more cautious approach. On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said he was considering lifting a statewide mask mandate that has been in place since July. (Tumin and Wright, 2/26)

CNN: Another Covid-19 Surge Hangs In The Balance. This Is How Experts Say We Keep It From Becoming Reality
Even with slowed infection rates and increased vaccinations, officials say another devastating Covid-19 spike could be on the horizon depending on what the United States does next. "The question that hangs in the balance right now is, will we have a fourth surge?" the former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Tom Frieden told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Thursday. "Every uncontrolled spread increases the risk that there will be dangerous variants that can be more infectious, more deadly, or can escape from immune protection." (Holcombe, 2/26)

The New York Times: The Coronavirus Is Plotting A Comeback. Here’s Our Chance To Stop It For Good 
Across the United States, and the world, the coronavirus seems to be loosening its stranglehold. The deadly curve of cases, hospitalizations and deaths has yo-yoed before, but never has it plunged so steeply and so fast. Is this it, then? Is this the beginning of the end? After a year of being pummeled by grim statistics and scolded for wanting human contact, many Americans feel a long-promised deliverance is at hand. Americans will win against the virus and regain many aspects of their pre-pandemic lives, most scientists now believe. Of the 21 interviewed for this article, all were optimistic that the worst of the pandemic is past. This summer, they said, life may begin to seem normal again. (Mandavilli, 2/25)

AP: 2 US Navy Warships In Mideast Affected By Coronavirus
Two U.S. Navy warships operating in the Mideast have been affected by the coronavirus, authorities said Friday, with one already at port in Bahrain and another heading to port now. A dozen troops aboard the USS San Diego, an amphibious transport dock, tested positive for COVID-19, said Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. The ship is at port in Bahrain. ... The second ship, the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, has “several persons under investigation” for possible coronavirus infections, Rebarich said. The ship is expected to pull into port for further testing at a location she declined to name, citing “operational security.” (Gambrell, 2/26)

CIDRAP: Low COVID-19 Transmission Occurred In Air Force Trainees
A 7-week Air Force camp for more than 10,000 trainees had 143 cases (1.3%) after a 2-week quarantine, reports a JAMA Network Open study published today. The researchers write that cohorts, systematic testing, restricted access to public spaces, universal masking, physical distancing, and rapid isolation of COVID-19 cases helped contribute to this low prevalence. Within 48 hours of arrival at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, trainees were tested for COVID-19, and all were quarantined for 2 weeks, after which they had another test. If a trainee developed any COVID-19 symptom during the camp, they received a diagnostic test at the clinician's discretion. Anyone with a positive test, regardless of symptoms, was quarantined for 10 days and had to be free of fever for 24 hours without the use of anti-fever medications before rejoining the camp. (2/25)

CIDRAP: Dental Hygienist Survey Suggests 3% Contracted COVID-19
A survey of US registered dental hygienists reported that 3.1% had been diagnosed as having COVID-19 as of October 2020, according to a Journal of Dental Hygiene study published yesterday. At the time, the study says an estimated 2.3% of the general US population had been infected. The researchers asked for survey responses from the American Dental Hygienists' Association database between Sep 29 and Oct 8, 2020. Of the 4,776 who answered, 35.4% had been tested for COVID-19 at least once, and 23 had been diagnosed by a physician, resulting in a 3.1% rate of infection. Only 55 of those who had COVID reported that contact tracing was performed, of which 14 (25.5%) said that workplace transmission was the most likely cause. (2/25)

The Hill: DC Vaccine Sign-Ups Plagued With Technical Problems 
COVID-19 vaccination sign-ups in Washington, D.C., on Thursday morning ran into technical problems, causing frustration for people trying to secure appointments on the first day of eligibility for people under 65 with underlying conditions. (Sullivan, 2/25)

The Washington Post: D.C. Coronavirus Vaccine Registrations Freeze Up; Vice President Kamala Harris Visits D.C. Pharmacy 
A glitch in the District’s coronavirus vaccine registration system caused it to freeze up Thursday amid a flood of submissions on the first day of eligibility for people in hard-hit areas who have underlying health conditions. On a day when Vice President Harris showed up to observe vaccinations inside a Southeast Washington pharmacy, an unknown number of qualified residents were locked out from registering for an appointment. City health officials blamed “a technical review failure,” which sparked more confusion in what has been a frustrating vaccination process in the Washington region. (Olivo, Fadulu and Brice-Saddler, 2/25)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Thousands Of Vaccine Appointments At UW Health Canceled Again
One of the state's largest health systems is canceling thousands of COVID-19 vaccine appointments this week after not receiving enough doses. UW Health is rescheduling more than 4,000 vaccine appointments in Wisconsin's capital city, including those for people who already had to delay their appointments once. "The supply of the vaccine we have received from the state so far is just a small fraction of what we need to reach the patients we care for in our community," the message sent Thursday to patients said. Virtually all of the appointments are for people over the age of 65, a spokeswoman said. (Beck, 2/25)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Most Kids And Teens Can’t Get The COVID-19 Vaccine. So Why Did Pa. Send Thousands Of Doses To Pediatricians?
Meanwhile, the department allocated more than 12,000 doses to pediatric offices statewide. The Food and Drug Administration has not authorized emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for anyone younger than 16, or the Moderna vaccine for anyone under 18. Older teens must have serious underlying health conditions to get the vaccine now. Pediatric offices have a lot of expertise doling out vaccines, and they do have older teen and even adult patients who might qualify. But what puzzles many doctors is why practices that cater to seniors — the most vulnerable to serious illness and death from COVID-19 — weren’t able to get doses. “I honestly don’t know what the distribution method is because it just seems so random,” said Tracey Conti, a physician with University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians. (Laughlin, 2/25)

The Washington Post: Second Vaccine Dose Delayed? How Long People Wait For Coronavirus Vaccine Is Varied 
Like other Americans who have received a coronavirus vaccination, 76-year-old Elizabeth Larson of Arizona struggled to book her first dose. When it came time to schedule her booster shot, Larson recounted initially facing technical glitches that prevented her from selecting an appointment. She felt hopeless. “I’ve been so frustrated,” Larson said. “It’s almost literally like tearing my hair out.” (Kornfield, 2/25)

The Washington Post: People Giving Covid Vaccines Are Surrounded By Joy And Hope 
The happiest place in medicine right now is a basketball arena in New Mexico. Or maybe it’s the parking lot of a baseball stadium in Los Angeles, or a Six Flags in Maryland, or a shopping mall in South Dakota. The happiest place in medicine is anywhere there is vaccine, and the happiest people in medicine are the ones plunging it into the arms of strangers. “It’s a joy to all of us,” says Akosua “Nana” Poku, a Kaiser Permanente nurse vaccinating people in Northern Virginia. (Judkis, 2/25)

Capital & Main: Missteps In L.A.'s Pandemic Response Left Disadvantaged Communities Behind 
As Los Angeles’ COVID-19 winter surge hit its deadly peak last December, the county government launched a new initiative meant to tap trusted community leaders to slow the virus’s spread through information campaigns and distribution of vaccines in hard-hit neighborhoods. Community organizers told Capital & Main that they’re grateful for the support. But many say the slow rollout of the government-community partnership, which started after the recent surge was waning, is illustrative of both the missteps that have led to lives lost and the change of course needed ahead. (Albaladejo, 2/25)

Crain's Detroit Business: Beaumont Nurse Anesthetists To Vote On Union In Wake Of Outsourcing
Nurse anesthetists at Southfield-based Beaumont Health's three northern hospitals are taking steps to form a union after being absorbed by Irving, Texas-based NorthStar Anesthesia on Jan. 1. About 180 certified registered nurse anesthetists, who were formerly employed at Beaumont's Royal Oak, Troy and Grosse Pointe hospitals, signed union petition cards on Jan. 4 indicating they support the idea of forming their own local union. It would be governed by them under the name Southeast Michigan CRNAs & Associates, or SEMCA. Two CRNAs told Crain's they are forming a union to gain a seat at the policy table at each of the three Beaumont hospitals to directly advocate for safe staffing ratios and greater patient safety measures. (Greene, 2/25)

Modern Healthcare: Telehealth Company Sues HHS For Allegedly Excluding Overseas Physicians
A telemedicine physician group sued HHS and CMS for allegedly refusing to cover care provided by its critical-care physicians residing overseas. Regulators issued a waiver mandating that Medicare pay for critical-care services offered virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic even if the providers and beneficiaries are in different locations. But HHS said that it cannot pay for services that are administered outside the U.S., according to a lawsuit filed by RemoteICU (RICU) Monday in a Washington D.C. federal court. (Kacik, 2/25)

The Washington Post: Disabled People Are Not Being Prioritized For The Coronavirus Vaccine, Advocates Say. This Dashboard Could Help 
In early January, while she was helping her grandfather register for a coronavirus vaccine, 21-year-old Sabrina Epstein realized that she was also eligible to be vaccinated in Texas, where her grandfather lived. But in Maryland, where she is a senior studying public health at Johns Hopkins University, she wasn’t eligible. As she started looking more closely at policies, Epstein realized that states across the country had prioritized people with chronic health conditions and disabilities, like hers, either in varied phases or not at all — and according to vastly different definitions and standards.On Twitter, she began connecting with other people with disabilities, and she discovered that many of them were similarly frustrated, confused or discouraged by their states’ vaccine rollouts. So, Epstein approached her mentor at Johns Hopkins’s Disability Health Research Center, Director Bonnielin Swenor, about creating a resource for people with disabilities to find their state guidelines. Disability activists could also reference it as they advocated for more equitable vaccine distribution, Epstein hoped. (Nowell, 2/25)

Stat: GSK's Covid-19 Drug Falls Short In Trial, But May Benefit Older Patients
An experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug being developed by GlaxoSmithKline failed to show a significant benefit in hospitalized patients with Covid-19, the drug maker said Thursday. However, patients older than 70 were more likely to be free of respiratory failure, a result that GSK plans to test in a new cohort of the study. (Herper, 2/25)

The Hill: Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Over Heavy Metals In Baby Food After Congressional Report 
A baby food company is facing a class-action lawsuit in New York after a congressional report uncovered internal documents from several companies revealing potentially dangerous levels of heavy metals in their products. (Bowden, 2/25)

Fox News: FDA Warns Against Feeding Infants Homemade Formula After Illnesses
The Food and Drug Administration is warning parents and caregivers against making or feeding infants homemade formula. The agency said it recently received reports of hospitalized infants who were suffering from low calcium after being fed formula that was homemade. "Infant formula can be the sole source of nutrition for infants and is strictly regulated by the FDA," the agency said in an alert posted Wednesday. "The agency has requirements for certain nutrients in infant formulas, and if the formula does not contain these nutrients at or above the minimum level or within the specified range, the infant formula is adulterated. Homemade infant formula recipes have not been evaluated by the FDA and may lack nutrients vital to an infant’s growth." (Hein, 2/25)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Health Alert Issued In Ohio And Kentucky For Whole Foods Meatballs
A health alert has been issued for a beef meatball product that was sold at Whole Foods Inc. locations in Ohio and Kentucky. The retailer sold an unknown amount of "Whole Foods Market Beef Meatballs with Marinara," which were misbranded and produced with an undeclared allergen, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. Officials said the product contains a dairy allergen that was not declared on its label. (Bentley, 2/25)

The Wall Street Journal: Beyond Meat Signs Supply Deals With McDonald’s, Yum 
Beyond Meat Inc. said it struck deals to supply plant-based meat imitations to McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut, a victory in the company’s effort to take meat alternatives into the American dining mainstream. ... “They are the biggest deals you could possibly put together in food,” said Ethan Brown, Beyond Meat’s chief executive and founder, of the new agreements with McDonald’s and Yum. (Bunge, 2/25)

The Washington Post: A Woman Gave Birth Alone In A Kentucky Jail. It’s A Harrowing Example Of A Bigger Problem, Experts Say.
When a female deputy at Kentucky’s Franklin County Regional Jail first encountered Kelsey Love in her cell early May 16, 2017, the incident report she wrote after was sparse. She noted that Love, who was eight months pregnant at the time, was suffering from back and leg pain. But Love was actually experiencing labor pains. Her attorney, Aaron J. Bentley, argues that was clear to the officer, who was wearing a body camera that recorded the entire conversation. (Branigin, 2/24)

The Washington Post: Danger Lurks In National Parks, But Not Necessarily Where You Expect It
Every national park has its own hazards that are most likely to cause serious injuries and deaths; and some of them might surprise you. The outdoor travel site Outforia recently ranked the parks by number of deaths after it obtained systemwide data spanning 2010 to the start of 2020 via a Freedom of Information Act request and categorized the fatalities. A heart attack would be classified as medical/natural death, while tripping and cracking your skull on a rock — or losing your balance on a ledge — counts as a fall. (Howard, 2/25)

Bloomberg: EU Told To Back Vaccine Passports Or Google May Do It Anyway
European Union leaders inched toward establishing bloc-wide vaccine certificates to enable countries to reopen to travel as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that unless they hurry Apple Inc. and Google will step into the vacuum. During a five-hour video call, the EU’s 27 leaders focused on how to haul their nations back to a form of normalcy after a pandemic that’s claimed more than 500,000 lives and shut down large parts of their economies. While there was broad support for certificates of some sort, leaders didn’t agree on the type of privileges they would grant. (Wishart, Dendrinou and Delfs, 2/25)

AP: China Approves Two More COVID-19 Vaccines For Wider Use
China approved two more COVID-19 vaccines for wider use Thursday, adding to its growing arsenal of shots. The National Medical Products Administration gave conditional approval to a vaccine from CanSino Biologics and a second one from state-owned Sinopharm. Both are already being used among select groups of people under an emergency use authorization. China now has four vaccines to immunize its population. (Wu, 2/25)

The New York Times: Germans Clamor For Covid Vaccines, But Shun AstraZeneca’s Offering 
At the start of the year, many Germans were complaining about a shortage of coronavirus vaccines that could free them from onerous lockdowns and limited social lives. Just weeks later, many are now upset that they’re not getting the vaccine they want. As people around the world clamor for inoculations, and many countries have seen severe shortages, a preference for a vaccine developed by the German company BioNTech with Pfizer, is causing a pileup in Germany of the shot developed by AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish company, according to state health officials. (Eddy, 2/25)

Reuters: Don't Be Selfish - Get A COVID Shot, Says UK's Queen Elizabeth 
Britain’s 94-year-old Queen Elizabeth, who last month had her first COVID-19 vaccination dose, has encouraged the public to follow suit, saying it did not hurt and those who were wary should think of others. The monarch and her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip, who is currently in hospital with a non-COVID infection, received their shots from a household doctor at the queen’s Windsor Castle residence, with their age putting them in the priority group for England’s coronavirus vaccine rollout. (2/26)

AP: Hold It! Belgian Govt Warns Against Using Its Own Free Masks
Ten months after promising free cloth facemasks to protect all Belgians from COVID-19, the country’s government is having second thoughts — warning they could be dangerous and shouldn’t be used. Belgian authorities said the masks contain miniscule traces of silver and a chemical compound that initial studies now show could affect the respiratory system when inhaled deeply. More studies are continuing. (2/25)