First Edition: Jan. 29, 2021

KHN: If This Self-Sufficient Hospital Cannot Stand Alone, Can Any Public Hospital Survive?
In America’s health care system, dominated by hospital chain leviathans, New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, North Carolina, is an anomaly. It is a publicly owned hospital that boasts good care at lower prices than most and still flourishes financially. Nonetheless, New Hanover County is selling the hospital to one of the state’s biggest health care systems. The sale has stoked concerns locally that the change in ownership will raise fees, which would not only leave patients with bigger bills but also eventually filter down into higher health insurance premiums for Wilmington workers. (Rau, 1/29)

KHN: Pandemic Sends A Couple Into Indefinite Long Distance Though Just Miles Apart 
Every Sunday afternoon, Suzan Mubarak keeps an eye on her phone. That is when her boyfriend will call to let her know he’s outside her house for their weekly wave. Mubarak, 31, and Mitch Domier, 43, live a few miles apart in Bozeman, Montana, but those drive-by visits are the closest the couple has been for nearly 10 months. The pandemic largely locked down the homes for adults with developmental disabilities where they each live, limiting them to video chats and the occasional drive-by. (Houghton, 1/29)

KHN: Vaccination Chaos Fuels Push To Recall Newsom
Joyce Hanson was thrilled when she heard Gov. Gavin Newsom announce Jan. 13 that Californians age 65 and older would be eligible to get vaccinated against covid-19.Infections and hospitalizations had been surging in California, and Hanson knew a simple trip to the grocery store put her at greater risk of getting sick and dying. Plus, she hadn’t seen her daughter in more than a year, so she immediately began making plans to visit her in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Hart, 1/29)

KHN, Side Effects Public Media and NPR: Kids Already Coping With Mental Disorders Spiral As Pandemic Topples Vital Support Systems
A bag of Doritos, that’s all Princess wanted. Her mom calls her Princess, but her real name is Lindsey. She’s 17 and lives with her mom, Sandra, a nurse, outside Atlanta. On May 17, 2020, a Sunday, Lindsey decided she didn’t want breakfast; she wanted Doritos. So she left home and walked to Family Dollar, taking her pants off on the way, while her mom followed on foot, talking to the police on her phone as they went. (Herman, Turner and Chatterjee, 1/29)

KHN: As Vaccine Rollout Expands, Black Americans Still Left Behind 
Black Americans are still receiving covid vaccinations at dramatically lower rates than white Americans even as the chaotic rollout reaches more people, according to a new KHN analysis. Almost seven weeks into the vaccine rollout, states have expanded eligibility beyond front-line health care workers to more of the public — in some states to more older adults, in others to essential workers such as teachers. But new data shows that vaccination rates for Black Americans have not caught up to those of white Americans. (Recht and Weber, 1/29)

KHN: States Move Ahead With Canada Drug Importation While Awaiting Signal From Biden 
Florida, Colorado and several New England states are moving ahead with efforts to import prescription drugs from Canada, a politically popular strategy greenlighted last year by President Donald Trump. But it’s unclear whether the Biden administration will proceed with Trump’s plan for states and the federal government to help Americans obtain lower-priced medications from Canada. (Galewitz, 1/29)

KHN: Journalists Stay On Top Of Rocky Vaccine Rollout 
California Healthline senior correspondent Anna Maria Barry-Jester discussed California’s rocky covid-19 vaccine rollout with KALW’s “Your Call” on Wednesday. (1/29)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: The Long Road To Unwinding Trump Health Policies 
Thursday was “health day” in President Joe Biden’s sprint to launch his presidency, and he signed two executive orders addressing health coverage and women’s reproductive rights. The orders will reopen enrollment under the Affordable Care Act from February to May and reverse the so-called Mexico City policy that limits funding to international health groups that perform or support the right to abortion. (1/28)

Modern Healthcare: Biden To Reopen ACA Marketplace, Revisit Work Requirements
The executive order told federal regulators to look into policies that could undermine protections for people with preexisting conditions, undercut the individual marketplace or reduce coverage affordability or financial assistance. CMS will revisit Medicaid and ACA demonstrations and waivers that decrease coverage or "undermine the programs." ... Former CMS Administrator Seema Verma made Medicaid work requirements central to her effort to modify the program. Proponents argued the waivers would encourage people to work and ensure people didn't receive benefits if they didn't qualify for them. Of the 13 states CMS approved for a work requirement, Arkansas was the only state to completely implement its experiment. (Brady and Tepper, 1/28)

The Washington Post: Biden Reopens ACA Enrollment For Three Months In Opening Bid To Extend Health Coverage
President Biden ordered Thursday the reopening of the Affordable Care Act’s federal insurance marketplaces for three months to give millions of Americans who need coverage during the coronavirus pandemic an extended chance to buy health plans. The directive, part of a series of executive actions the president is taking during his first days in office, is a down payment on his pledge to make health care more accessible and affordable and a sign of his determination to rehabilitate the landmark law after four years of Republican battering. Those goals have taken on more urgency as 25 million people have been infected with the coronavirus and millions of others have lost jobs. (Goldstein, 1/28)

Politico: Biden Takes First Step Toward Bolstering Obamacare 
The actions are the first in a series of moves Biden is planning to shore up a law he campaigned on expanding. Though former President Donald Trump failed to repeal Obamacare, his administration weakened the law through executive action and advanced policies that would shrink enrollment in its expansion of Medicaid to poor adults. But Biden’s more ambitious plans for bolstering the Affordable Care Act will require help from Congress. Democrats in full control of Washington, D.C., for the first time since the ACA's passage face the challenge of maintaining Americans’ newfound affection for the law while addressing growing voter angst over soaring health care costs. (Luthi, 1/28)

The New York Times: Biden Moves To Expand Health Coverage In Pandemic Economy 
Mr. Biden used Thursday’s appearance at the White House to begin shoring up health care programs and policies that have been critical to a Democratic resurgence. Perhaps no policy is as important to him as the Affordable Care Act, which he helped secure as President Barack Obama’s vice president. President Donald J. Trump tried and failed to overturn the law, then weakened it with executive actions and rules, including making it easier for people to buy cheap, short-term plans that are not required to cover pre-existing medical conditions. “The best way to describe them: to undo the damage Trump has done,” Mr. Biden said of his actions during a brief signing ceremony in the Oval Office. “There’s nothing new that we’re doing here, other than restoring the Affordable Care Act and restoring the Medicaid to the way it was.” (Stolberg and Goodnough, 1/28)

The Hill: Biden Signs Health Care Executive Actions To 'Undo The Damage' Caused By Trump 
President Biden on Thursday signed two executive actions focused on health care, describing the directives as a necessary effort to “undo the damage” done by former President Trump. Biden signed an order directing federal agencies to open a special enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges from Feb. 15 to May 15 in response to the coronavirus pandemic and to review existing policies put in place under the Trump administration that limited access to health care. (Chalfant, 1/28)

Politico: Biden Starts Rolling Back Trump Anti-Abortion Rules 
Biden's order also withdraws the U.S. from the anti-abortion “Geneva Consensus Declaration” the Trump administration signed last year with dozens of other countries, which asserted that “there is no international right to abortion, nor any international obligation on the part of States to finance or facilitate abortion.” Domestically, Biden additionally signed a memorandum directing the Department of Health and Human Services to review and consider scrapping the Trump administration’s rule that overhauled the Title X federal family planning program, stripping tens of millions of dollars in grants from Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. Hundreds of providers have left the Title X program over the past couple of years, leaving big gaps in care. (Ollstein, 1/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Targets Abortion Restrictions As Fight Looms In Congress 
President Biden ended a policy that prohibits federal funds from going to foreign-aid groups that perform abortions or provide related services, one of several moves likely to spark renewed debate over abortion access. Mr. Biden can make some of his intended changes quickly, but others will likely run into hurdles in Congress, where Democrats hold narrow majorities. Echoing many Democrats and abortion-rights advocates, he has said he backs ending a provision in spending bills known as the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funds from being used for abortions except in limited cases. (Lucey and Peterson, 1/28)

The Washington Post: FAQ: Biden Drops Trump’s Anti-Abortion ‘Global Gag Rule.’ Here’s What That Means For Abortion Access Worldwide.
Soon after he took office as president, Donald Trump reinstated and expanded a policy known by its critics as the “global gag rule,” which bars U.S. funding for organizations abroad that perform abortions or offer information about them. On Thursday, a week into his term, President Biden signed a memorandum rescinding the policy. He also directed the Department of Health and Human Services to review a rule instated by Trump that cut off federal funding for domestic family planning programs involved with abortions, such as Planned Parenthood, and ordered the restoration of funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which Trump had cut in a dispute over abortion provisions. (Berger, 1/28)

AP: Democrats To 'Act Big' On $1.9T Aid; GOP Wants Plan Split
Democrats in Congress and the White House have rejected a Republican pitch to split President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue plan into smaller chunks, with lawmakers appearing primed to muscle the sweeping economic and virus aid forward without GOP help. Despite Biden’s calls for unity, Democrats said the stubbornly high unemployment numbers and battered U.S. economy leave them unwilling to waste time courting Republican support that might not materialize. They also don’t want to curb the size and scope of a package that they say will provide desperately needed money to distribute the vaccine, reopen schools and send cash to American households and businesses. (Mascaro and Boak, 1/29)

Politico: ‘Betrayed’: Republicans Urge Biden To Change Course On Stimulus 
When a bipartisan Senate coalition helped clinch a coronavirus relief bill last year after months of gridlock, it was supposed to be a model for governing in the Biden era. But now Democrats’ surprise takeover of the Senate threatens to leave the group behind. Democrats are vowing to move forward on a new stimulus package as soon as next week, with or without Republicans. Though Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi have not officially said they plan to pursue a party-line approach through budget reconciliation, many Democrats now believe that’s the only way forward. (Everett, Levine and Barron-Lopez, 1/28)

The Hill: Democrats Introduce Measure To Boost Privacy, Security Of Health Data During Pandemic 
A group of Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate on Thursday introduced legislation intended to increase the privacy and security of personal health data collected in connection to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Public Health Emergency Privacy Act would ensure that health data collected during the pandemic could not be used for anything other than public health efforts, along with addressing a slew of potentially discriminatory practices. (Miller, 1/28)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Democratic Lawmakers Push For Race Data In Vaccinations
Democratic lawmakers are urging federal health officials to address racial disparity in vaccine access nationwide, as data from some states show hard-hit nonwhite Americans who are eligible to receive it are not getting COVID-19 vaccinations in proportion to their share of the population. In a letter Thursday to acting Health and Human Services Secretary Norris Cochran IV, the lawmakers said the agency must work with states, municipalities and private labs to collect and publish demographic data of vaccine recipients. Without that information, policymakers and health workers cannot efficiently identify vaccine disparities in the hardest-hit communities, said the letter, signed by Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, all from Massachusetts. (Morrison, 1/28)

The Hill: White House Releases 'Previously Hidden' State COVID-19 Data 
The White House COVID-19 team on Wednesday released state coronavirus profile statistics that were "previously hidden," according to White House COVID-19 Data Director Cyrus Shahpar. In a tweet, Shahpar shared the state profile reports (SPR), which give week-by-week analyses of coronavirus changes per state. (Polus, 1/28)

The Washington Post: Biden’s Sign Language Interpreter Has Translated Far-Right Misinformation
A gesture meant to bolster President Biden’s call for unity and inclusion instead inspired divisiveness, after news emerged that a White House American Sign Language interpreter was a Trump supporter who previously interpreted videos rife with misinformation. Heather Mewshaw, who appeared in the White House coronavirus briefing on Monday beside press secretary Jen Psaki, was identified by deaf and hard-of-hearing advocates and Time Magazine, fueling questions about the White House’s vetting process and what could have happened if Mewshaw misinterpreted Biden officials or inserted her own bias. No one has publicly disputed her interpretation, but many questioned why the White House would legitimize her by giving Mewshaw the national platform. (Kornfield, 1/28)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Face Retroactive Medicare Pay Cuts For Outpatient Exception Denials
CMS may claw back millions of dollars in payments after the agency denied reimbursement rate cut exemptions for hospitals' off-campus outpatient facilities. CMS rejected more than 60% of the mid-build exceptions, which would preserve hospitals' higher reimbursement rates if they had the documentation to prove their off-campus outpatient departments were being constructed when the Bipartisan Budget Act was passed in 2015. (Kacik, 1/28)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Allows More Healthcare Providers To Administer COVID-19 Vaccines
HHS on Thursday made moves to rapidly grow the vaccination workforce and increase the public's access to COVID-19 vaccinations. Under the amendment to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act), all licensed and certified healthcare professionals are now authorized to prescribe, dispense and administer COVID-19 vaccines in any state or U.S. territory after completing the CDC's COVID-19 vaccine training, regardless of where they are licensed or certified. (Christ, 1/28)

The Hill: FEMA Asks Pentagon For Help Administering COVID-19 Vaccines 
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has asked the Pentagon to assist with President Biden's goal to vaccinate 100 million people against the coronavirus in his first 100 days in office, the Department of Defense's (DOD) top spokesman said Thursday. (Mitchell, 1/28)

Bloomberg: $44 Million Vaccine System From CDC Gets Few Users Among States
A $44 million software system supplied for free to states by the U.S. government to help track Covid-19 vaccinations is only being used by nine states, with Virginia transitioning out and Connecticut exploring alternatives. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contracted with Deloitte & Touche LLP for the system last spring. Called VAMS, short for Vaccine Administration Management System, it was billed by the CDC as an “easy-to-use, secure, online tool to manage vaccine administration from the time the vaccine arrives at a clinic to when it is administered to a recipient.” (LaVito, 1/28)

The Hill: CDC Reports 16 States Have Used Less Than Half Of Their Distributed Vaccine Doses 
Sixteen states have used less than half of their distributed coronavirus vaccines even as the country at large faces a crunch in the number of shots going into arms, according to data released Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the CDC’s vaccine tracker, Alabama, Wisconsin, Kansas, Hawaii, Arizona, Pennsylvania, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nebraska and Ohio have all administered less than 50 percent of the vaccine doses they’ve received. (Axelrod, 1/28)

AP: Health Workers Stuck In Snow Give Other Drivers Vaccine
Oregon health workers who got stuck in a snowstorm on their way back from a COVID-19 vaccination event went car to car injecting stranded drivers before several of the doses expired. Josephine County Public Health said on Facebook that the “impromptu vaccine clinic” took place after about 20 employees were stopped in traffic on a highway after a vaccination clinic. Six of the vaccines were getting close to expiring so the workers decided to offer them to other stranded drivers. (1/28)

Houston Chronicle: 'Nobody Is Getting Enough': Why Texas Ranks Near The Bottom For COVID-19 Vaccines Per Capita
As Texans scramble for appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine, federal data helps explain why: Relative to its population, the Lone Star State ranks near the bottom in the country in number of doses received. Texas has received the second-highest number of doses in the country. Per capita, however, Texas comes in closer to the bottom at 49th out of all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, according to an analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Federal officials say there is a good reason for that: Vaccine distribution is based on the adult population of each state. And roughly a quarter of Texans are under the age of 18. Still, even when adjusted for adults only, Texas ranks 48th. (Rubio and Serrano, 1/28)

AP: State Health Officer On Vaccine: 'Not Enough To Go Around'
Alabama will soon announce a time frame for expanding who can get COVID-19 vaccinations, the state health officer told lawmakers Thursday. But he said the supply of vaccine coming into the state remains far short of what is needed. “You’ll hear very soon about expanded eligibility as other states have done,” State Health Officer Scott Harris told lawmakers during budget hearings. Harris told reporters he expects to be able to discuss a time frame Friday. Currently, only health care workers, people 75 and older, first responders and nursing home residents are eligible for vaccinations. (Chandler, 1/28)

AP: Maine Unveils New COVID-19 Vaccine Information Website
Maine public health authorities have unveiled a new website to help the public keep track of the state’s coronavirus vaccination effort. The website includes a “vaccination dashboard” that reports the number of coronavirus vaccines delivered in the state. It stated on Thursday that 128,704 total doses had been administered, including 97,033 first doses. (1/29)

Boston Globe: Mass. Will Offer More Help For People Struggling To Get Vaccination Appointments
Governor Charlie Baker said Thursday that Massachusetts will soon unveil a telephone hot line to help people struggling to book COVID-19 vaccination appointments, responding to widespread complaints that the online system has proved maddening for eligible residents, seniors especially. The move is a tacit acknowledgement that the current patchwork system made it difficult for many to even find available slots, forcing them to navigate a constellation of online registration systems run by individual vaccine providers. (Rosen and Bray, 1/28)

AP: EXPLAINER: Why It's Hard To Make Vaccines And Boost Supplies
Production depends on enough raw materials. Pfizer and Moderna insist they have reliable suppliers. Even so, a U.S. government spokesman said logistics experts are working directly with vaccine makers to anticipate and solve any bottlenecks that arise. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel acknowledges that challenges remain. With shifts running 24/7, if on any given day “there’s one raw material missing, we cannot start making products and that capacity will be lost forever because we cannot make it up,” he recently told investors. (Neergaard, 1/28)

The New York Times: Novavax’s Vaccine Works Well — Except On Variant First Found In South Africa 
Novavax, which makes one of six vaccine candidates supported by Operation Warp Speed last summer, has been running trials in Britain, South Africa, the United States and Mexico. It said Thursday that an early analysis of its 15,000-person trial in Britain revealed that the two-dose vaccine had an efficacy rate of nearly 90 percent there. But in a small trial in South Africa, the efficacy rate dropped to just under 50 percent. Almost all the cases that scientists have analyzed there so far were caused by the variant, known as B.1.351. The data also showed that many trial participants were infected with the variant even after they had already had Covid. (Thomas, Zimmer and LaFraniere, 1/28)

The Hill: Novavax Vaccine Almost 90 Percent Effective In Trial, But Not Against South Africa Variant 
Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine has been found to be almost 90 percent effective in a clinical trial in the United Kingdom, the company said Thursday, but was far less effective in a separate trial in South Africa given the variant prevalent there. (Sullivan, 1/28)

Politico: Novavax Says Its Covid-19 Vaccine Is 89 Percent Effective, But Less So Against South African Variant 
Novavax, which is based in Maryland, has never brought a vaccine to market. The Trump administration awarded the company $1.6 billion to develop and test the vaccine, begin large-scale manufacturing and reserve 100 million doses. Trial details: Novavax tested its vaccine in the U.K. during a period when a different variant of the virus — first detected in Britain and more transmissible than earlier versions — began circulating. The company's analysis of the 15,000-person Phase III trial found that the vaccine was 95.6 percent effective against the original Covid-19 strain and 85.6 percent effective against the U.K. variant, B.1.1.7. (Lim, 1/28)

NPR: South Carolina Reports 1st Known U.S. Cases Of Variant From South Africa
Health officials have identified the first U.S. cases of the coronavirus variant that was initially detected in South Africa. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the variant, known as B 1.351, has been found in South Carolina. "CDC is early in its efforts to understand this variant and will continue to provide updates as we learn more," the agency said. "At this time, we have no evidence that infections by this variant cause more severe disease. Like the U.K. and Brazilian variants, preliminary data suggests this variant may spread more easily and quickly than other variants." (Chappell, 1/28)

Politico: First Known Cases Of Covid Variant From South Africa Identified In The U.S. 
The first two U.S. cases of the emerging Covid-19 variant first identified in South Africa were detected in South Carolina, state public health officials said Thursday. Although no evidence suggests it causes more severe disease, the variant first identified in South Africa is known to be more resistant to current vaccines and may spread more easily and quickly than other variants. (Din, 1/28)

The Wall Street Journal: South Africa Coronavirus Variant Detected In U.S. 
Health authorities in South Carolina said Thursday they have identified two people who were infected with a coronavirus variant that was first detected in South Africa and could evade some treatments. The two adults haven’t traveled to South Africa and aren’t connected to one another, authorities said, suggesting that the variant, known as B.1.351, is potentially circulating in the community. (McKay and Hernandez, 1/28)

USA Today: COVID-19: Tylenol, Advil 'Perfectly Fine' – After Getting Vaccine
In a study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Virology, researchers found nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen can reduce the production of antibodies and impact other aspects of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Researchers said the study's results raised the possibility that pain relievers such as ibuprofen could alter the immune response to the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Colleen Kelley, an associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine who was not affiliated with the study, speculates this could be caused by reducing inflammation triggered by the immune system. (Rodriguez, 1/29)

The Washington Post: Time To Double Mask Or Upgrade Masks As Coronavirus Variants Emerge, Experts Say 
Wear your mask is becoming wear your masks. The discovery of highly transmissible coronavirus variants in the United States has public health experts urging Americans to upgrade the simple cloth masks that have become a staple shield during the pandemic. The change can be as simple as slapping a second mask over the one you already wear, or better yet, donning a fabric mask on top of a surgical mask. Some experts say it is time to buy the highest-quality KN95 or N95 masks that officials hoping to reserve supplies for health-care workers have long discouraged Americans from purchasing. (Nirappil, 1/28)

Los Angeles Times: To Prevent COVID, Wear 2 Masks Or Upgrading Face Protection 
Another option is the KN95 mask, which is medical grade but manufactured to a Chinese specification. They are probably more effective than cloth face coverings, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. One advantage of KN95 masks is that they may be easier to use for the public than the gold-standard respiratory mask used by medical professionals in the U.S., the N95 mask. (Money and Lin II, 1/28)

FierceHealthcare: Businessman Charged With Hoarding PPE, Price Gouging Health Providers
A Mississippi man was charged with allegedly attempting a $1.8 million scheme to hoard personal protective equipment and price gouging healthcare providers, including several U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials said Kenneth Bryan Ritchey, 57, of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was charged in the Southern District of Mississippi with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to commit hoarding of designated scarce materials and hoarding of designated scarce materials. (Reed, 1/28)

The New York Times: Pregnant Women Get Conflicting Advice On Covid-19 Vaccines 
Pregnant women looking for guidance on Covid-19 vaccines are facing the kind of confusion that has dogged the pandemic from the start: The world’s leading public health organizations — the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization — are offering contradictory advice. Neither organization explicitly forbids or encourages immunizing pregnant women. But weighing the same limited studies, they provide different recommendations. (Mandavilli and Rabin, 1/28)

Fox News: Severe COVID-19 Among Pregnant Women Raises Risk Of Preterm Birth, Death: Study
A new study suggests pregnant women who contract severe COVID-19 disease face a heightened risk of death and preterm delivery compared to those with asymptomatic cases of the illness. However, the lead study author said adverse outcomes were not associated with mild-to-moderate coronavirus infections. "Our research shows that serious pregnancy complications appear to occur in women who have severe or critical cases of COVID and not those who have mild or moderate cases," Dr. Torri D. Metz, a maternal-fetal medicine subspecialist and associate professor at the University of Utah Health, said in a related news release. (Rivas, 1/28)

CIDRAP: Lingering Lung, Physical, Mental Symptoms 4 Months After COVID-19 
Four months after their release from the hospital, more than half of 238 adult COVID-19 patients in northern Italy still had impaired lung function or mobility issues, and about one-fifth had symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a prospective cohort study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open found. The findings add to growing evidence and discussion of so-called COVID-19 "long-haulers," or patients with function-impairing symptoms persisting for months after their initial recovery. (Van Beusekom, 1/28)

The New York Times: Health Care Unions Find A Voice As The Pandemic Rages
The unions representing the nation’s health care workers have emerged as increasingly powerful voices during the still-raging pandemic. With more than 100,000 Americans hospitalized and many among their ranks infected, nurses and other health workers remain in a precarious frontline against the coronavirus and have turned again and again to unions for help. (Philbrick and Abelson, 1/28)

AP: Out Of Sight, Cleaners Perform Critical Work In COVID ICUs
Clad head to toe in protective gear, doctors and nurses cluster around the patient, fighting to keep the coronavirus-stricken man alive. Just behind them, unnoticed and unheard, a worker in the same protective gear goes about an entirely different task: disinfecting surfaces, collecting waste in biohazard bags, unobtrusively inching past beds and life-support machinery to mop the floor. (Becatoros, 1/28)

The Wall Street Journal: New York Nursing-Home Covid-19 Death Toll Climbs By 40% 
Nearly 4,000 residents at New York nursing homes died from Covid-19 after being transferred to hospitals, state health officials said Thursday, a figure that increases the death toll attributed to long-term-care facilities by more than 40%. The disclosure by New York State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker followed the release of a report by state Attorney General Letitia James that investigated allegations of patient neglect at homes. (De Avil and Vielkind, 1/28)

Politico: New York Undercounted Nursing Home Deaths By As Much 50 Percent, Report Finds
The New York attorney general on Thursday accused the state of drastically undercounting Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes, saying in a stinging new rebuke of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration that the official tally of about 8,500 may be off by as much as 50 percent. A 76-page report, released Thursday morning by Attorney General Tish James, adds a new layer to the criticism the Democratic governor has faced over the state’s handling of Covid-19 in long-term care facilities — an issue that came to a head in recent days as state lawmakers pressed for the findings of a long-awaited inquiry into the deaths of nursing home residents. (Young, 1/28)

The Washington Post: Kansas Lawmakers Put Abortion Measure On 2022 Ballot 
Kansas voters will decide next year whether the state’s constitution protects abortion rights under a ballot measure approved by the state Senate on Thursday. If approved by voters, the measure — known by its supporters as “Value Them Both” — would amend the state’s constitution to say there is no right to abortion and leave the power to regulate the procedure to the legislature, currently a Republican-leaning body that in recent years has tightened restrictions on abortions. (Gowen, 1/28)

Politico: Newsom: California Schools Won't Reopen 'If We Wait For The Perfect'
A frustrated Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday said school administrators and teachers unions should agree as soon as possible to reopen schools for younger students — or else be clear with families that they will not return to classrooms at all this academic year. Newsom was responding to growing demands that all teachers receive vaccines first, but also a long list of conditions that go beyond what the governor has proposed as safe to reopen schools that have been shut for nearly a year. The vast majority of California's 6 million public schoolchildren haven't been on campuses since March. (Mays, 1/28)

Los Angeles Times: California Lawmakers OK COVID-19 Eviction Protections Through June 
Californians facing financial hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic will be protected from eviction through June as long as they pay part of their rent under an emergency bill approved Thursday by the Legislature, just three days before an existing moratorium was set to expire. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said he will sign the legislation on Friday morning, providing eviction protection for tenants who pay at least 25% of their rent through June. The bill also provides $2.6 billion in federal funds for rent subsidies that will help pay most past-due rent by low-income tenants dating back to last April. (McGreevy, 1/28)

AP: In-Person Classes Planned For Fall At Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State University officials on Thursday announced plans to return fully to in-person classes beginning with the fall semester in August. “We will listen and follow guidelines from the experts including wearing masks and social distancing if it means keeping people safe,” said Vice Provost Jessica Mendez. “We will adjust protocols as needed when the semester draws closer, but I am pleased to report our faculty are preparing for in-person instruction this fall.” (1/28)

The Hill: Guantanamo Bay Prisoners To Be Offered Coronavirus Vaccines 
The Defense Department will offer the coronavirus vaccine to detainees at the Guantanamo Bay facility, a prosecutor involved in the government’s case against five of the prisoners said in a letter to defense lawyers. “[A]n official in the Pentagon has just signed a memo approving the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine to the detainee population in Guantánamo,” prosecutor Clayton G. Trivett Jr. wrote Thursday, according to The New York Times. (Budryk, 1/28)

The New York Times: Mexico’s Death Toll Becomes The World’s Third Highest, Surpassing India’s
Mexico’s confirmed coronavirus death toll surpassed India’s on Thursday to become the world’s third-highest, after months in which President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had downplayed the coronavirus as his government scrambled to control it. As of Friday morning, Mexico had recorded 155,145 coronavirus deaths during the pandemic, 1,135 more than India, according to a New York Times database. It recorded 1,506 deaths on Thursday alone, about 300 short of a daily record from earlier this month. (Ives, Abi-Habiv and Lopez, 1/29)

The Washington Post: U.S. Handling Of American Evacuees From Wuhan Increased Coronavirus Risks, Watchdog Finds 
As the first American evacuees from Wuhan, China, touched down at a California military base a year ago, fleeing the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, they were met by U.S. health officials with no virus prevention plan or infection-control training — and who had not even been told to wear masks, according to a federal investigation. Later, those officials were told to remove protective gear when meeting with the evacuees to avoid “bad optics,” and days after those initial encounters, departed California aboard commercial airline flights to other destinations. (Diamond, 1/28)

The Washington Post: A Scathing New Documentary From HBO Alleges A Chinese Coverup On The Coronavirus
When evidence began mounting of a deadly new coronavirus in China a year ago, authorities could have reacted with swift warnings about public safety. They didn’t. Instead, they banned social-media posts about the virus, stopped symptomatic people from entering hospitals, punished doctors who spoke of the risks and unleashed a stream of state-TV propaganda downplaying its severity. That’s the narrative constructed by “In The Same Breath,” a scathing new documentary by the Oscar-shortlisted filmmaker Nanfu Wang. (Zeitchik, 1/28)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Germany Expects Limited EU Approval For AstraZeneca Vaccine
Germany’s health minister says he expects the European Union's drug regulator to authorize a further coronavirus vaccine made by AstraZeneca on Friday, but that currently available data may mean it is not recommended for older adults. Jens Spahn said authorities are waiting to see what advice the European Medicines Agency issues with regard to vaccinations for people over 65, and Germany would then adjust its own guidance for doctors in the country. “We don't expect an unrestricted approval,” Spahn told reporters in Berlin. (Jordans and Cheng, 1/29)

The New York Times: Governments Sign Secret Vaccine Deals. Here’s What They Hide. 
When members of the European Parliament sat down this month to read the first publicly available contract for purchasing coronavirus vaccines, they noticed something missing. Actually, a lot missing. The price per dose? Redacted. The rollout schedule? Redacted. The amount of money being paid up front? Redacted. (Apuzzo and Gebrekidan, 1/28)