First Edition: June 11, 2021

KHN: Doctor On Call? Lawmakers Debate How Much To Pay For Phone Appointments 
It took covid-19 to give millions of Americans the option of telling their doctor about their aches and pains by phone. But now that more doctors and patients are returning to in-person appointments, policymakers across the country are divided over how much taxpayer money to keep spending on phone appointments. Although they were a lifeline for Medicaid and Medicare patients who don’t have the technology for video visits, critics say they don’t provide the same level of patient care and aren’t worth the same price. (Bluth, 6/11)

KHN: Colorado Bill Aims To Give Farmworkers Easier Access To Medical Care
A woman with pregnancy complications needed permission from her boss to visit a doctor. Community health volunteers were turned away from delivering food and covid information to worker housing. A farmworker had a serious allergic reaction but was afraid to seek treatment. To Nicole Civita, policy director with Colorado advocacy group Project Protect Food Systems Workers, such stories encapsulate an entrenched power dynamic that covid-19 has brought into focus: Farmworkers are “essential but treated as expendable,” including when it comes to accessing health care. (Honig and Bichell, 6/11)

KHN and Politifact: Biden Kept His Promise To Increase Covid-Testing Capacity, Even As Demand For Testing Drops 
Before vaccinations were widely available, covid-19 tests were considered one of the few tools to help control the spread of the coronavirus. That’s why then-candidate Joe Biden promised during the 2020 presidential campaign to boost the United States’ testing capacity as one way he would “beat covid-19.” Specifically, Biden’s campaign website promised that, if elected, he would “double the number of drive-through testing sites” and “invest in next-generation testing, including at-home tests and instant tests, so we can scale up our testing capacity by orders of magnitude.” (Knight, 6/11)

KHN: Labor Department Issues Emergency Rules To Protect Health Care Workers From Covid 
Labor Department officials on Thursday announced a temporary emergency standard to protect health care workers, saying they face “grave danger” in the workplace from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The new standard would require employers to remove workers who have covid-19 from the workplace, notify workers of covid exposure at work and strengthen requirements for employers to report worker deaths or hospitalizations to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (Jewett, 6/10)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Our 200th Episode!
The Food and Drug Administration found itself in the hot seat this week when it approved a controversial new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease with scant evidence of its effectiveness. Meanwhile, as health policy watchers wait for the Supreme Court to rule in a case threatening the Affordable Care Act, the Biden administration is reporting that a record 31 million Americans have health insurance as a direct result of the health law. And President Joe Biden seeks to gain goodwill overseas as he announces the U.S. will provide 500 million doses of covid vaccine to aid international health efforts. (6/10)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Deaths This Year Have Already Eclipsed 2020’s Toll
More people have died from Covid-19 already this year than in all of 2020, according to official counts, highlighting how the global pandemic is far from over even as vaccines beat back the virus in wealthy nations. It took less than six months for the globe to record more than 1.88 million Covid-19 deaths this year, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data collected by Johns Hopkins University. The university’s count for 2021 edged just ahead of the 2020 death toll on Thursday. (Kamp, Douglas and Forero, 6/10)

Politico: Biden Touts ‘Monumental Commitment’ To Send 500M Covid Vaccine Doses Abroad 
President Joe Biden on Thursday formally announced U.S. plans to procure and donate 500 million Covid-19 vaccine doses while making his first overseas trip, as part of a speech steeped in the imagery of World War II and other eras defined by their need for urgent collective action. “This is a monumental commitment by the American people,” Biden said in St. Ives, England. “We’re a nation full of people who step up in times of need to help our fellow human beings, both at home and abroad. We’re not perfect, but we step up.” (Niedzwiadek, 6/10)

Bloomberg: Biden Says Donated Pfizer Covid Vaccines To Ship Globally In August
President Joe Biden announced the U.S. would begin shipping a half-billion donated doses of Pfizer Inc. coronavirus vaccines to countries in “dire need” in August, making good on a promise to lead the global campaign against the pandemic. Biden said Thursday the U.S. purchase and donation of Pfizer’s shots would be the largest of any single country so far, and that the vaccines would come “with no strings attached” -- a veiled criticism of Russia and China, which he’s accused of using vaccines as leverage in their foreign policy. (Wingrove and Jacobs, 6/10)

AP: Celebrations (And Questions) Greet US Vaccine Donation Plan
U.S. plans to donate 500 million more COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries were met Thursday with both celebration and hesitation amid questions over whether the effort will be enough to help poor regions desperate for doses. Some health officials and experts expressed hope that the pledge would encourage more donations to ease the inequities in vaccine supplies that have become pronounced in recent months. Other observers stressed that the doses needed to roll out quickly. (Imray and Tong-Hyung, 6/10)

CNBC: G7 Leaders To Pledge 1 Billion Doses Of Covid Vaccines To Poorer Nations
The leaders of the G-7 are expected to pledge a donation of 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses to poorer nations this weekend as they try to ease concerns over vaccine nationalism. The “most-advanced” economies of the world — as the G-7 defines itself — have been criticized for not sharing more vaccines with countries that have more limited resources. The United States, for example, legislated that it should only send vaccines abroad after it reached a satisfactory level of vaccination within its own borders. The U.K. and the EU have also received similar criticism. (Amaro, 6/11)

Bloomberg: Johnson & Johnson Vaccine’s Shelf Life Is Extended By FDA
Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine can be kept in a refrigerator for four and a half months, extending the shot’s shelf life by 50% as doses languish amid a slowing immunization campaign. The company said in a statement that the Food and Drug Administration adopted the extension based on study data showing the vaccine is stable when refrigerated at 36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2 to 7.8 degrees Celsius) for four and a half months. The FDA confirmed the adoption in an email. (Griffin, 6/10)

AP: US Extends Expiration Dates For J&J COVID Vaccine By 6 Weeks
Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that U.S. regulators extended the expiration date on millions of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine by six weeks. The company said a Food and Drug Administration review concluded the shots remain safe and effective for at least 4 1/2 months. In February, the FDA originally authorized J&J’s vaccine for up to three months when stored at normal refrigeration levels. (Perrone, 6/10)

Politico: Kid Covid-19 Vaccines: 3 Takeaways From The FDA's Big Meeting 
With Covid-19 vaccines authorized for adults and teens, shotmakers and regulators are turning their attention to ensuring that the vaccines are safe and effective for younger children. The FDA’s independent vaccine advisory committee grappled Thursday with how to ensure the safety of Covid shots in children as disease caseloads continue to dwindle in the U.S. (Gardner and Foley, 6/10)

Fox News: US Halts Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Shipments: Report
Federal officials suspended new shipments of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses in a bid to relieve states’ pileup of expiring doses, according to a report. The Wall Street Journal reported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ceased availability to states, though deliveries are expected to resume. The Journal cited health officials from several states, like Oklahoma and Illinois, who reportedly said they could not order new J&J doses in the last weeks. Some said they have enough supply. (Rivas, 6/10)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Suspends J&J Covid-19 Vaccine Shipments As States Face A Surplus Of Expiring Doses 
The U.S. government has halted new shipments of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, according to state and federal health officials, one of several steps federal agencies are taking that could help clear a backlog of unused doses before they expire. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped making available the one-dose shot to states, the state and federal health officials said. The stoppage is believed to be temporary, some of these officials said. (Hopkins and McKay, 6/10)

NBC News: Evidence Grows Stronger For Covid Vaccine Link To Heart Issue, CDC Says
A higher-than-usual number of cases of a type of heart inflammation has been reported following Covid-19 vaccination, especially among young men following their second dose of an mRNA vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. Overall, 226 cases of myocarditis or pericarditis after vaccination in people younger than age 30 have been confirmed, Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, deputy director of the CDC's Immunization Safety Office, said during a presentation to a Food and Drug Administration advisory group. Further investigation is needed, however, to confirm whether the vaccination was the cause of the heart problem. (Edwards, 6/10)

CNN: CDC Warns About Spike In RSV Cases Across South 
A common cold virus called respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is spreading across the South, causing an unusual wave of late spring disease, the US Centers for Disease Control and prevention said Thursday. The CDC issued a Health Advisory Network warning to doctors and other health care providers to be on alert for the virus, which can cause pneumonia, especially in very small children and babies. (Fox, 6/10)

The New York Times: The C.D.C.’s New Leader Follows The Science. Is That Enough?
On her first day as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January, Dr. Rochelle Walensky ordered a review of all Covid-related guidance on the agency’s website. Some of its advice had been twisted by the Trump administration, and her message was clear: The C.D.C. would no longer bend to political meddling. Four months later, Dr. Walensky announced that vaccinated people could stop wearing masks in most settings. The recommendation startled not just the White House but also state and local leaders, prompting criticism that she had failed to prepare Americans for the agency’s latest about-face during the pandemic. (Mandavilli, 6/10)

The New York Times: E.P.A. To Review Rules On Soot Linked To Deaths, Which Trump Declined To Tighten 
The Biden administration will reconsider federal limits on fine industrial soot, one of the most common and deadliest forms of air pollution, with an eye toward imposing tough new rules on emissions from power plants, factories and other industrial facilities. The announcement, made Thursday by Michael S. Regan, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, comes after the Trump administration declined last year to tighten pollution limits, despite warnings from federal scientists and others that doing so could save more than 10,000 lives a year, particularly in urban areas. (Davenport, 6/10)

CBS News: Hospitals Across U.S. Are Requiring Workers To Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19
Tens of thousands of medical workers across the U.S. are being told they must get vaccinated against COVID-19 to stay employed. The scenario is well underway in Texas, where nearly 200 hospital workers have been suspended without pay by Houston Methodist, the first hospital system in the nation to require the shots. Houston Methodist — a major medical center and six community hospitals — said nearly 25,000 of its workers were fully immunized against the coronavirus by Monday's deadline. While Houston Methodist was first to make the move, a slew of other medical institutions are following suit. Health care workers in Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania face looming deadlines to get fully immunized against a virus that's killed nearly 600,000 Americans. (Gibson, 6/10)

Indianapolis Star: Community Health Network To Require COVID-19 Vaccinations For Staff
Community Health Network is the latest hospital system to announce that it will require all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. On Thursday, the health system said that all employees will be required to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 15. The requirement applies to vendors, contractors and volunteers who work at Community locations, hospital officials said. “The evidence is clearer every day that those who are vaccinated very rarely pass the virus to others,” said Dr. Ram Yeleti, chief physician executive for Community Health Network, in an emailed news release. “We have an obligation to the patients who put their health in our hands to create the safest environment possible.” (Rudavsky, 6/10)

CIDRAP: High COVID Vaccine Uptake May Protect The Unvaccinated
Higher levels of COVID-19 vaccination in a population are tied to lower rates of infection in unvaccinated youth younger than 16 years, who were ineligible for the vaccine at the time of the trial, according to an observational, real-world, Israeli study today in Nature Medicine. Researchers from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa led the study, which involved mining vaccination records and COVID-19 test results gathered during a rapid vaccine rollout in 177 communities. (Van Beusekom, 6/10)

AP: Winner Of First $250K In State Vaccine Lottery Claims Prize
The first winner in Washington state’s COVID-19 vaccine lottery has claimed his $250,000 prize. The man identified by Washington State Lottery officials Thursday as Lance R. did not want to be further identified, KING-TV reported. But in a statement he said he “got lucky,” and encouraged others to get vaccinated not only to have a chance at winning money, but to protect the community. (6/11)

The Hill: Two Passengers Test Positive For COVID-19 On First Celebrity Millennium Cruise Since 2020 
Two passengers tested positive for the coronavirus at the end of the first cruise in North America since 2020.“Today two guests sharing a stateroom onboard Celebrity Millennium tested positive for COVID-19 while conducting the required end of cruise testing,” Celebrity Millennium cruise line said in a statement on Thursday. (Lonas, 6/10)

ABC News: 2 Passengers Test Positive For COVID-19 On 1st North American Cruise Since 2020 
Two passengers sharing the same stateroom on board the first North American cruise since 2020 tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. All crew and adult passengers on board the Celebrity Millennium had to show proof that they were fully vaccinated as well as provide a negative COVID-19 test prior to or at the time of boarding. The passengers found out they were positive while undergoing testing before disembarking the ship in St. Maarten. (Kaji and Benitez, 6/10)

NBC News: Some Bitcoin Conference Attendees Report Testing Positive For Covid After Miami Event
Some of the 12,000 people who flew into Miami last weekend to attend the biggest Bitcoin event in history have since tested positive for Covid-19.It is not clear how many attendees were infected. The event, Bitcoin 2021, drew cryptocurrency enthusiasts from around the world to the Mana Wynwood convention center in Miami's arts and entertainment district. (Sigalos, 6/10)

Stat: FDA Accuses Firm Of Distributing An Unapproved Covid-19 Test 
The Food and Drug Administration announced a recall Thursday of a coronavirus rapid antigen test, accusing the company that makes the tests of distributing them without regulatory approval and using falsified data that inflates their performance. The agency announced a “Class 1 recall” — its most serious type, indicating that use of the tests may cause serious injuries or death — and fired off a warning letter to Innova Medical Group of Pasadena, Calif., saying an FDA investigation revealed serious problems in the company’s data, but also in its making unapproved rapid tests available to consumers in the United States. (McLaughlin, 6/10)

CNBC: Third Member Of Prestigious FDA Panel Resigns Over Approval Of Biogen's Alzheimer's Drug
A third member of a key Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has resigned over the agency’s controversial decision to approve Biogen’s new Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm, CNBC has learned. Dr. Aaron Kesselheim, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said the agency’s decision on Biogen “was probably the worst drug approval decision in recent U.S. history,” according to his resignation letter obtained by CNBC. (Lovelace Jr., 6/10)

Axios: Biogen Says FDA Didn't Push For Trial Before Alzheimer's Approval 
Two Biogen executives said in an interview the company's newly approved Alzheimer's drug is priced fairly, and that it didn't conduct another clinical trial before approval because the FDA didn't push them to do so. The scientific consensus is the drug, Aduhelm, has not been proven to work. But Biogen and the FDA are content with "hopefully" validating the $56,000 drug's efficacy at some unknown point in the future. (Herman, 6/11)

Stat: Advocates Blast The FDA For Not Moving As Fast On ALS As On Alzheimer’s 
The Food and Drug Administration fast-tracked Biogen’s divisive Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, but it’s not going to do the same for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis anytime soon — and ALS advocates are outraged. The FDA approved Aduhelm on Monday under “accelerated approval,” a special pathway that lets the agency greenlight drugs based on so-called surrogate endpoints. That means drug makers can prove that tumors shrank or plaques in the brain disappeared, rather than demonstrating that the drug helps cure or treat a disease itself. The pathway had until now been used almost exclusively for cancer drugs, but FDA’s drug center chief Patrizia Cavazzoni told reporters Monday that she hopes it will be used more frequently for neurodegenerative diseases. (Florko, 6/11)

Boston Globe: What’s Next For The New Alzheimer’s Drug? Lots Of Thorny Issues Ahead
Despite all the excitement surrounding the FDA’s approval on Monday of a controversial treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, the drug won’t be flowing into a lot of patients’ arms anytime soon. Aduhelm, made by Cambridge-based Biogen, poses an array of thorny issues that have yet to be untangled, including how to provide the monthly hour-long infusions and whether insurers will pay for the drug despite the $56,000 annual price tag. And some consumers may face hefty out-of-pocket charges, which could make them think twice about taking a drug with known risks and uncertain benefits. (Freyer, 6/10)

ABC News: Medicare Copays For New Alzheimer's Drug Could Reach $11,500
A new $56,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug would raise Medicare premiums broadly, and some patients who are prescribed the medication could face copayments of about $11,500 annually, according to a research report published Wednesday. The drug, called Aduhelm, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration only this week. It's the first Alzheimer's medication in nearly 20 years, though it doesn't cure the life-sapping neurological condition. Some experts question whether Aduhelm provides any benefit to patients, but the FDA determined it can reduce harmful clumps of plaque in the brain, potentially slowing dementia. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/10)

The Washington Examiner: Scientists Discover Potentially Dangerous Metals In Brains Of Alzheimer's Patients 
Scientists have discovered particles of copper and iron in the brains of deceased Alzheimer’s patients, a discovery that could lead to new treatments for the disease. In an article in the journal Science Advances, researchers from Keele University and the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom found traces of the elemental forms of copper and iron in amyloid plaque, proteins that form in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. (Hogberg, 6/10)

USA Today: UnitedHealthcare Delays ER Claims Policy Following Backlash
Facing mounting criticism from hospitals and doctors groups, health insurance giant UnitedHealthcare said it will delay a policy that would scrutinize payments for non-urgent emergency room visits. The policy to review and potentially clamp down on some hospital payments drew outcries from the American Hospital Association and the American College of Emergency Physicians about potential harm of patients' health and finances. In a Thursday statement, the Minnesota-based insurer said the policy will be halted until the end of the pandemic. (Alltucker and Freeman, 6/10)

Axios: UnitedHealthcare Delays Controversial ER Policy 
UnitedHealthcare is delaying a new policy, at least until the "end of the national public health emergency period," that would have declined or limited coverage of an emergency room visit if the visit was found to be non-emergent after the fact. Patients, doctors and hospitals slammed the policy, arguing it violated federal law that requires all emergency care to be covered as long as a "prudent layperson" believes it was an emergency. (Herman, 6/10)

The Boston Globe: Dartmouth Medical School Drops All Cheating Sanctions Against Students
The medical school at Dartmouth College has dropped sanctions against all students it had found guilty of cheating on exams, a stunning reversal that came after students vigorously maintained their innocence. Duane Compton, dean of the Geisel School of Medicine, announced the development Wednesday in an e-mail to the medical school community, writing the decision came “upon further review and based on new information received from our learning management system provider.” He apologized for the stress the accusations put on students and vowed to restore trust. “We will learn from this and we will do better,” Compton wrote. (Krantz, 6/10)

The Wall Street Journal: The Ruthless Hackers Behind Ransomware Attacks On U.S. Hospitals: ‘They Do Not Care’
A ransomware attack on a national hospital chain nearly brought Las Vegas hospitals to their knees. Another attack in Oregon abruptly shut down alerts tied to patient monitors tracking vital signs. In New York, one county’s only trauma center briefly closed to ambulances, with the nearest alternative 90 miles away. Multiple attacks were carried out in recent months against U.S. hospitals, suspending some surgeries, delaying medical care and costing hospitals millions of dollars. The Wall Street Journal tracked the most disruptive attacks to one group: a notorious gang of Eastern European cybercriminals once called the “Business Club,” with ties to Russian government security services, according to threat analysts and former law-enforcement officials who closely follow Eastern European cybercrime operations. (Poulsen and Evans, 6/10)

Modern Healthcare: Poor EHR Design Leads To Nurse Burnout, Higher Surgical Patient Mortality, Study Finds
Poorly designed electronic health record systems may accelerate clinician burnout and increase risks safety risks for patients having surgery, according to a new study published in Medical Care, the journal of the medical care section of the American Public Health Association. The study, which included 12,004 nurses, 1.3 million surgical patients and 343 hospitals in four states, found that surgical patients receiving care in hospitals with poor EHR usability were 21% more likely to die in the hospital after their procedures and 6% more likely to be readmitted within 30 days than those being treated in hospitals with better EHR usability. (Christ, 6/10)

USA Today: Amazon, Safety Council Join Forces To Combat Common Workplace Injuries
The National Safety Council and Amazon announced a partnership Thursday aimed at cutting musculoskeletal injuries, common workplace injuries including sprains and tears, hernias, carpal tunnel syndrome and back pain. The goal of the campaign is to better understand how musculoskeletal disorders develop and find ways to prevent them. Amazon will contribute $12 million to NSC, the largest corporate donation made to the consumer and workplace safety nonprofit in its 108-year existence, said Lorraine Martin, the president and CEO of the National Safety Council. (Avery, 6/10)

Modern Healthcare: Mental Health Startup IPOs Boom As Insurers Add Benefits
Shares for mental health company LifeStance Health soared during its public debut Thursday, with the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based startup reaching a nearly $8 billion valuation after raising $720 million in its initial public offering. LifeStance, which is owned by private equity firm TPG, claims to be one of the largest mental health platforms in the nation, employing more than 3,300 licensed mental health professionals across 27 states and 370 centers. The company offers a mix of in-person and virtual care for its 357,000 patients, who can suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and more. In 2020, the startup conducted 2.3 million patient visits on the platform, according to its S-1 filed in May with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Tepper, 6/10)

Modern Healthcare: Providers Focus On Staff Mental Health 5 Years After Pulse Shooting
After receiving an early morning call about a mass casualty incident on June 12, 2016, Dr. Joseph Ibrahim, trauma medical director for Orlando Regional Medical Center, made his way to the hospital. At first, everything was relatively quiet and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But he was one of many clinicians aiding the victims of a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, that killed 49 and injured 53. "Once I opened the doors into the trauma bay, it was obvious that this was something on a larger scale than what I anticipated and what we had seen before," Ibrahim said. (Devereaux, 6/10)

Bloomberg: Superbugs Fight Hinges On Struggling Small Biotechs: Report
The world has become dependent on small drugmakers to develop antibiotics that can prevent bacteria pandemics, even as these companies face funding shortfalls and bankruptcy risk, a new report said. About 75% of all late-stage antibiotics in the research and development pipeline came from small and medium-sized businesses, according to the Access to Medicine Foundation, an Amsterdam-based non-profit group. That’s after many larger pharmaceutical companies all but abandoned antibacterial research. This puts promising drugs at risk of being left stranded and impedes the fight against drug-resistant bacteria, the foundation said in a statement. (Gemmell, 6/10)

Stat: CRISPR Treatment For Blood Diseases Shows Promise In Small Study
Twenty-two patients with inherited blood disorders were free of severe pain and the need for transfusions months after receiving an experimental genome-editing medicine, more evidence the CRISPR-based treatment could be a functional cure. The therapy, jointly developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, is designed to treat sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia by boosting the body’s production of hemoglobin. According to data from two clinical trials presented at the European Hematology Association annual meeting Friday, all patients in both studies have been free from symptoms of the diseases since their treatment and have not needed blood transfusions. (Garde, 6/11)

Stat: In Potential Big Step, Bristol Says CAR-T Outperformed Stem Cell Transplant
The treatment known as CAR-T, in which white blood cells are genetically modified to attack blood cancer, is one of the most exciting and expensive in medicine. But it has not been directly compared to standard treatments in a randomized trial — until now. (Herper, 6/10)

Philadelphia Inquirer: NFL Players Union Urging Its Members To Get Vaccinated, But Many Players Are Balking
DeMaurice Smith pleaded ignorance Thursday when the NFL players union boss was asked on a conference call for the vaccination rate of his rank and file. “We don’t have all the information yet,” Smith claimed. “We’ll take a look and see if we have that data. We’ll get you the numbers when we have them.” It’s becoming increasingly apparent that, despite the urging of the NFLPA to its members to get vaccinated, many players aren’t doing so. There have been reports that less than 50% of the league’s 2,880 players have been vaccinated. The NFL is said to be considering relaxing COVID-19 restrictions on teams that hit an 85% vaccination threshold, but many clubs aren’t anywhere close to that figure. (Domowitch, 6/10)

The Washington Post: Dartmouth College Researchers Report Students Are Feeling More Anxious And Depressed Than Ever 
College students are feeling more anxious and depressed as they sleep less and spend more time on their phones, researchers said after spending four years monitoring the behaviors of young people. Dartmouth College researchers began tracking 217 students when they entered the school as freshmen in 2017 in the hopes of understanding how they behave. They’ve seen students’ stress levels rise and fall, usually in tandem with midterm and final exams. But since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, rates of depression and anxiety have soared — and have showed no signs of coming down, said Andrew Campbell, a researcher and computer science professor. (Lumpkin, 6/10)

The Washington Post: Drop In Childhood Vaccinations During Pandemic May Raise Risk Of Other Outbreaks When Schools Reopen, CDC Says 
Routine childhood vaccinations dropped dramatically during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, and although they began rebounding last summer as families rescheduled doctors’ visits, many children and adolescents are behind on their shots, according to a federal health report released Thursday. The lag might pose “a serious public health threat” of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses, such as measles and whooping cough, that have the potential to derail school-reopenings, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Sun, 6/10)

AP: N. Carolina Ban On Down Syndrome Abortions Goes To Governor
North Carolina senators approved a bill on Thursday to bar women from getting abortions on the basis of race, sex or a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. With the Senate’s party-line vote, the prohibition Republicans are seeking now heads to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is likely to veto it, having rejected previous anti-abortion restrictions. (Anderson, 6/10)

USA Today: Ohio Governor Opposes Anti-Vaccination Bill After Conspiracy Theorists Claim Vaccines 'Magnetized' People
Gov. Mike DeWine came out against a controversial bill that would weaken Ohio's vaccination laws and grant more individual freedom, after false claims at a hearing on the bill that coronavirus vaccines "magnetized" people drew mockery and anger across the internet. On Thursday, DeWine said he opposes House Bill 248 and asked Ohioans to think of the impact vaccines have had on society. "Before modern medicine, diseases such as mumps, polio, whooping cough were common and caused great, great, great suffering and death to thousands of people every single year," said DeWine during a news conference on the latest Vax-a-Million winners. (Bischoff, 6/10)

AP: $15M Awarded Over Eggs, Embryos Ruined At Fertility Clinic
A jury on Thursday awarded nearly $15 million to five people who lost eggs or embryos when a cryogenic storage tank failed at a fertility clinic. A federal jury made the award in a lawsuit filed over the 2018 tank failure at the Pacific Fertility Center in San Francisco that destroyed about 3,500 frozen eggs and embryos. (6/11)

AP: California Debates Public Health Spending As Virus Recedes
California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to spend the state’s extraordinary budget surplus on correcting the most widespread financial impacts of the pandemic, pledging to give $600 payments to most taxpaying adults while committing to pay off all of their outstanding rent and utility bills. But left out of the governor’s $267.8 billion budget proposal last month: Money to rebuild local public health departments, whose staffing shortages and fragmented funding were exposed by the coronavirus, impeding a more coordinated response to the crisis. (Beam, 6/11)

AP: California Businesses Baffled By Various Reopening Rules
Businesses in California remain baffled by the shifting rules over who needs to wear masks and where as the nation’s largest state fully reopens from the pandemic on Tuesday. While Gov. Gavin Newsom’s health agency has said vaccinated people won’t need to wear face coverings in many public places, state regulators — following several lengthy and hotly contested debates — are still drafting rules for workers. (6/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: States Like California With Strict COVID Rules Fared Better In Pandemic, UCLA Economists Say
Large states such as California that implemented stricter pandemic restrictions had better economic and health outcomes on average than those with less stringent measures, according to UCLA economists. The states’ economies, measured in gross domestic product, declined everywhere in 2020, according to the June 2021 UCLA Anderson Forecast, the widely followed quarterly economic outlook on California and the nation put out by the university’s Anderson School of Management. Large states with stricter government responses like mask mandates and business restrictions, like California and Washington, had smaller declines than those with less strict interventions such as Florida and Texas, the UCLA researchers said. (Echeverria, 6/10)

Houston Chronicle: After Abbott Lifted Texas' Mask Mandate, COVID Has Waned - But The Flu Hasn't
Houston has seen a “rapid” increase in respiratory illnesses since Gov. Greg Abbott ended Texas’ mask mandate nearly three months ago, according to new research from Houston Methodist Hospital epidemiologists. In a study published last week, Methodist researchers documented “a marked increase” in cases of rhinovirus/enterovirus, an upper respiratory infection, in the weeks after mask mandates were lifted in Texas. The report found similar upticks of influenza cases over the same period. Influenza, the paper’s authors said, typically peaks during winter months before dropping to low levels in the summer. (Downen, 6/10)

ABC News: Germany Starts Rolling Out A Digital EU Vaccination Pass 
Germany on Thursday started rolling out a digital vaccination pass that can be used across Europe as the continent gets ready for the key summer travel season.The country's health minister said starting this week vaccination centers, doctors practices and pharmacies will gradually start giving out digital passes to fully vaccinated people. The CovPass will let users download proof of their coronavirus vaccination status onto a smartphone app, allowing them easy access to restaurants, museums or other venues that require proof of immunization. (Grieshaber, 6/10)

Fox News: Indian States Told To Improve Second Dose COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Among Essential Workers
India’s Health Ministry has recommended that states improve second dose coverage of COVID-19 vaccinations among health care personnel and frontline workers. In a meeting on Thursday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan emphasized lagging coverage among the group, allegedly calling it a "cause of serious concern," per multiple news reports. One outlet reported an 82% national average in first dose administration among health care workers, while second dose administration fell to 56%. At least a half dozen states fell below the national average. (Rivas, 6/10)

NPR: Japan Aims To Convince A Wary Public The Olympics Will Be Safe
Olympic organizers and Japan's government are ramping up vaccinations, inside and outside the Olympic Village. It remains to be seen whether the push will be the antidote to widespread opposition in Japan to holding the games amid the pandemic and pervasive fear that the event will threaten public health. The International Olympic Committee said Wednesday that about 75% of prospective Olympic and Paralympic athletes have either had their shots, or are scheduled to do so. It predicts more than 80% will be inoculated by the time the games start in just over six weeks. (Kuhn, 6/10)