First Edition: June 29, 2021

KHN: Without Enough Boots On The Ground, California’s Vaccination Efforts Falter 
Gov. Gavin Newsom routinely boasts that California has “one of the highest vaccination rates in the United States of America.” But Newsom, facing a recall election this fall, rarely mentions that the state’s covid vaccine uptake has largely stagnated in Black and Latino neighborhoods hardest hit by the coronavirus, and in rural outposts where opposition to vaccines runs rampant. In these communities, deep distrust of government and the U.S. health care system has collided with the state’s high-stakes effort to finish vaccinating its 34 million vaccine-eligible residents. (Hart, 6/29)

KHN: Analysis: Why We’ll Likely Never Know Whether A Covid Lab Leak Happened In China 
Early in this century, post-SARS, and in a period when China started allowing more students and scientists to study abroad, collaboration and exchange between American and Chinese scientists blossomed. Many of China’s top scientists today were educated in the West. These include George Gao, the head of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, who trained and taught at Oxford and Harvard, and Shi Zhengli, who directs the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and received her Ph.D. in France. (Rosenthal, 6/29)

The Washington Post: Juul Agrees To Pay North Carolina $40 Million To Settle Vaping Accusations 
The consent order also imposes several marketing restrictions, including barring the company from engaging in most social media advertising, having outdoor advertising near schools, and sponsoring sporting events and concerts. Juul has been voluntarily adhering to many of those restrictions, but the consent order gives them the force of law in North Carolina. (McGinley, 6/28)

AP: Juul To Pay $40M In N. Carolina Teen Vaping Suit Settlement
Teen use of e-cigarettes skyrocketed more than 70% after Juul’s launch in 2015, leading the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to declare an “epidemic” of underage vaping among teenagers. Health experts said the unprecedented increase risked hooking a generation of young people on nicotine, an addictive chemical that is harmful to the developing brain. “Juul sparked and spread a disease — the disease of nicotine addiction. They did it to teenagers across North Carolina and this country simply to make money,” Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, said after a brief court hearing. “Today’s court order will go a long way towards ensuring that their e-cigarettes product is not in kids’ hands, its chemical vapor is out of their lungs, and that the nicotine does not poison or addict their brains.” (Robertson, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: House Passes Bipartisan Bill To Boost Scientific Competitiveness, Following Senate 
The House on Monday approved its version of a legislative package aimed at boosting U.S. scientific competitiveness to keep pace with China, setting the stage for final negotiations with the Senate, which passed its own $250 billion bill earlier this month. The House approved the main piece of its package by a vote of 345-67. That bill, known as the National Science Foundation for the Future Act, provides major increases for federally-funded science and technology research, and establishes a new division within the NSF for advanced technologies and other cutting-edge research. (McKinnon, 6/29)

The Hill: House Passes Bills To Boost Science Competitiveness With China
"We must significantly boost funding for science. For years, we have allowed millions of dollars of excellent research go unfunded," said House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas). "We are at a critical juncture in our nation's history and we need to be more focused on the role of science in our society." The first bill, called the National Science Foundation for the Future Act, passed 345-67, while the second measure, titled the Department of Energy Science for the Future Act, passed 351-68. (Marcos, 6/28)

Modern Healthcare: Supreme Court Won't Review HHS' Site-Neutral Pay Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal challenging HHS' site-neutral pay policy, allowing the regulation to move forward. A trial court initially struck down the controversial policy in 2019, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed that decision in 2020. The appellate panel said the cuts to off-site outpatient departments were legal because the changes were volume-control measures that don't have to be budget-neutral. The American Hospital Association and Association of American Medical Colleges claimed the D.C. Circuit gave HHS too much authority to interpret the law. The groups estimated the 2019 rule would cost providers about $380 million in 2019 and $760 million from a separate 2020 site-neutral rule. (6/28)

Modern Healthcare: Biden Wants To Tweak Obamacare Marketplaces To Expand Coverage
The Biden administration is proposing several changes aimed at boosting access to high-quality, affordable health insurance through Affordable Care Act marketplaces, according to a proposed rule released Monday. CMS wants to give people an additional 30 days to enroll in marketplace plans by expanding the annual enrollment period. It currently starts on November 1 and ends December 15, but the new plan would give people until January 15 to enroll in coverage beginning in 2022. The agency also plans to establish a monthly special enrollment period to allow people with low incomes more opportunities to enroll in a premium-free silver plan. (Brady, 6/28)

The New York Times: Obamacare’s Survival Is Now Assured, But It Still Has One Big Problem
Some Democrats are eager to build on their Affordable Care Act victories in the Supreme Court by filling a gaping hole created along the way: the lack of Medicaid coverage for millions of low-income Americans in 12 states. But so far, Republican leaders in those states are refusing to use the health law to expand Medicaid, despite considerable financial incentives offered under the law and sweetened under the Biden administration. Some are trying to defy the will of their own voters, who passed ballot initiatives calling for expansion. And in Washington, Democrats who want to act are divided about when and how. (Kliff, 6/28)

AP: EXPLAINER: Infrastructure Deal Targets Lead Pipes
Included in the bipartisan infrastructure deal reached with President Joe Biden last week is a plan to eliminate the country’s remaining lead pipes and service lines, which for decades have posed a risk for contaminated water in millions of homes and schools. Lead can enter drinking water when water utility pipes or the service lines that connect to homes corrode. It is considered harmful at any level, and children are particularly vulnerable because it can slow growth, cause anemia and result in learning and behavior problems. (Naishadham, 6/28)

Politico: Biden Op-Ed: Infrastructure Deal Is One ‘American People Can Be Proud Of’ 
President Joe Biden on Monday pitched the bipartisan infrastructure deal as one “American people can be proud of,” while cautioning that there was a lot of work ahead to finish the final product. “This deal is the largest long-term investment in our infrastructure in nearly a century,” Biden wrote in an op-ed on Yahoo News. “Economists of all stripes agree that it would create good jobs and dramatically strengthen our economy in the long run.” (Ward, 6/28)

CNN: Biden Will Travel To Michigan Over July 4th Weekend To Celebrate Progress In Covid-19 Fight 
President Joe Biden will travel to Traverse City, Michigan, on Saturday as the White House looks to use the July Fourth holiday weekend to mark progress in the fight against Covid-19 after more than a year of the pandemic, according to a White House official. The White House's theme for the holiday weekend is "America's Back Together," according to the official, and the administration is looking to promote the idea that the country is returning to a pre-pandemic normal. First lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and members of Biden's Cabinet will also travel across the country over the holiday weekend. (Sullivan, 6/28)

CIDRAP: White House Begins Final COVID-19 Vaccine Push 
The White House launched a week-long blitz to encourage vaccination against COVID-19 this weekend, 1 week before the Fourth of July holiday, which the president has said will mark the country's independence from the pandemic. The administration had hoped 70% of Americans over age 18 would have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine by Jul 4, but last week officials said they miss that mark. (Soucheray, 6/28)

Houston Chronicle: First Lady Jill Biden Joins Astros In Vaccines-For-Tickets Giveaway Tomorrow
President Joe Biden has scored a compromise on a major infrastructure package, has taken his first major foreign trip and has dispatched Vice President Kamala Harris to the Texas border. But through it all his administration is making it clear with first lady Jill Biden’s trip to Texas on Tuesday that it’s not easing up on its No. 1 campaign promise to quell COVID-19. Jill Biden will make stops in Dallas and Houston on Tuesday to encourage more people to get vaccinated at splashy events with big sports themes. In Houston, the first lady and Doug Emhoff, vice president Kamala Harris’s husband, will attend a Houston Astros event to give free vaccinations to all who show up, along with tickets to the game or a future game. (Wallace, 6/28)

Axios: Axios-Ipsos Poll: Vaccine Makes Americans Ready To Celebrate July 4 Again 
Just four in 10 Americans say attending a Fourth of July celebration this year feels risky — about half as many as a year ago, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index. Our weekly national survey finds broad awareness and concern around the emerging Delta variant. But people's behaviors really aren't changing in the face of that threat. (Talev, 6/29)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Delta Variant Found In Nevada COVID Cases Has Tripled
The variant, first identified in India, made up about 46 percent of the analyzed cases in the latest data. Last week, it made up only about 16 percent. “Its frequency among positive cases in Nevada has tripled,” said Mark Pandori, director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine. “The viruses that unvaccinated people are facing right now are the Olympic champions of infecting people.” The latest report shows the Delta variant is now the most widespread variant in Nevada. Previously it was the Alpha variant out of the U.K., which made up about 31 percent of cases analyzed in the past two weeks. (Scott Davidson, 6/28)

CNN: Delta Variant Is Forcing Officials To Rethink Covid-19 Measures, Even For The Vaccinated 
The more dangerous and more transmissible Delta variant has spread to nearly every state in the US, feeding health experts' concern over potential Covid-19 spikes in the fall. The variant was first identified in India and is now considered a variant of concern by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meaning scientists believe it can spread more easily or cause more severe disease. (Holcombe, 6/29)

The Atlantic: Why A Variant’s Deadliness Is So Hard To Define
The coronavirus is on a serious self-improvement kick. Since infiltrating the human population, SARS-CoV-2 has splintered into hundreds of lineages, with some seeding new, fast-spreading variants. A more infectious version first overtook the OG coronavirus last spring, before giving way to the ultra-transmissible Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant. Now Delta (B.1.617.2), potentially the most contagious contender to date, is poised to usurp the global throne. (Wu, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Contact Tracers Race Against Delta Variant In The U.S. 
As the pandemic slows in the U.S., public-health departments say they are finally able to reach for the traditional goal of contact tracing: stopping new outbreaks.“We want to contain it completely,” said Michael Mendoza, commissioner of the Monroe County Health Department in Rochester, N.Y. During surges over the past year, rapid transmission of the virus in much of the U.S. made it nearly impossible to identify or contact every patient. Public-health workers struggled to do their part to slow the spread. (McKay, 6/29)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 95% Of Those Who've Died From COVID-19 In Wisconsin Since March Weren't Vaccinated Or Fully Vaccinated, Officials Say
Nearly all Wisconsinites who recently have died of COVID-19 were unvaccinated — or not fully vaccinated — state health officials said Monday. And just 1% of all confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases since Jan. 1 have been among those who were fully vaccinated, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health Services said. The stark news came as Wisconsin finally reached a significant milestone Monday, with 50.1% of the state's population having received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. (Spicuzza, 6/28)

Houston Chronicle: New Chart Reveals Sobering Look At COVID-19's Impact On Texas Deaths
More than 51,000 Texans have died of COVID-19, according to the state’s latest tally. That is larger than the capacity of Minute Maid Park, though it represents less than two-thousandths of Texas’ 29 million residents. So, was the virus, which killed less than 2 percent of the Texans with documented cases, responsible for anything more than a blip in historical death trends? An examination of Texas the past 50 years reveals the answer: Unequivocally yes. Deaths in Texas historically are cyclical, explained Mark Hayward, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies mortality trends. They peak in winter with the annual flu season and ebb in summer, and steadily increase overall as the state’s population grows. (Despart, 6/28)

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: State Covid Hospitalizations Top 300 For First Time Since March
Arkansas' count of coronavirus cases rose by 966 from Saturday through Monday, with the number of people hospitalized in the state with the virus rising above 300 for the first time since March, according to information released by the state Department of Health on Monday. Each increase was significantly larger than the one a week earlier. Altogether, the increase over three days was larger by almost 500. After rising by 21, to 312, as of Saturday, then to 325 as of Sunday, the number of covid-19 patients in Arkansas hospitals fell to 314 as of Monday, according to the Health Department. (Davis, 6/28)

CIDRAP: COVID Hospital Cases Rose After States Reopened In 2020, Data Show
An estimated 5,319 more US COVID-19 patients were hospitalized each day after states began allowing nonessential businesses to reopen in spring 2020, but a rise in the death rate lagged by more than a month, a study late last week in JAMA Health Forum finds. (Van Beusekom, 6/28)

Fox News: CDC Reports 4,115 Breakthrough COVID-19 Cases Involving Hospitalizations Or Deaths
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has received reports of 4,115 patients with COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases who were hospitalized or died. Of those cases, 26% of hospitalizations were reported as asymptomatic or not related to COVID-19, and 19% of the 750 fatalities were reported as asymptomatic or not related to COVID-19. The data, which includes information through June 21, is amid a backdrop of 150 million people who are fully vaccinated in the U.S. Nearly half of the breakthrough cases, or 49%, involve females, and 3,124, or 76%, occurred in patients ages 65 years and older. (Hein, 6/28)

Bay Area News Group: Contra Costa County Publishing COVID Rates By Vaccination Status
Contra Costa’s public health department is now reporting COVID-19 case rates separately for the vaccinated and unvaccinated people who live in the county. The data shows that case rates for unvaccinated residents are about 10 times higher than the rate for vaccinated residents. The 7-day average daily case rate per 100,000 fully vaccinated residents has remained below 1 since early May, while the rate for everyone else has fluctuated from a low of 5.8 to a high of 8.1 in the same period of time. (Blair Rowan, 6/28)

The Boston Globe: Hospitals Are Still Restricting Visitors For Patients, Especially Those Sick With COVID
More than a year into the coronavirus pandemic, hospitals are still limiting visitors for patients, especially those sick with COVID-19, even as more than 4.1 million people in Massachusetts are fully vaccinated and society shifts toward normalcy. Very often, visitors are capped at one or two at a time per patient, a reminder that infection prevention is still a great concern for hospitals that were swarmed with COVID patients for much of the past 15 months and contended with outbreaks among their staff. Patients who are hospitalized for COVID often cannot have any visitors — unless the patient is dying, so that family members can say goodbye. Nearly 100 people in Massachusetts remain hospitalized for COVID, about one quarter of them in intensive care. (Dayal McCluskey, 6/28)

NPR: Key To Ending Pandemic Could Be Protecting The Immuno-Compromised
There's mounting research to suggest that protecting people who are immuno-compromised from getting COVID is important not just for their sake – it could be critical in the effort to end the pandemic for everyone. The evidence comes from two separate strands of studies. Dr. Laura McCoy has been doing the first type. She's an infectious disease researcher at University College London. "The group of people that I'm particularly interested in are those living with HIV," she says. She's been studying how well their immune systems respond to vaccines against COVID-19 — specifically the Pfizer vaccine. So far, it's worked quite well for HIV-positive people. (Aizenman, 6/28)

The New York Times: Three Studies, One Result: Coronavirus Vaccines Point The Way Out Of The Pandemic 
Three scientific studies released on Monday offered fresh evidence that widely used vaccines will continue to protect people against the coronavirus for long periods, possibly for years, and can be adapted to fortify the immune system still further if needed. Most people immunized with the mRNA vaccines may not need boosters, one study found, so long as the virus and its variants do not evolve much beyond their current forms — which is not guaranteed. Mix-and-match vaccination shows promise, a second study found, and booster shots of one widely used vaccine, if they are required, greatly enhance immunity, according to a third report. (Mandavilli, Zimmer and Robbins, 6/28)

Reuters: Mix-And-Match Approach Boosts Immune Response Of AstraZeneca Shot, Study Finds 
A mixed schedule of vaccines where a shot of Pfizer's (PFE.N) COVID-19 vaccine is given four weeks after an AstraZeneca (AZN.L) shot will produce better immune responses than giving another dose of AstraZeneca, an Oxford study said on Monday. The study, called Com-COV, compared mixed two-dose schedules of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, and found that in any combination, they produced high concentrations of antibodies against the coronavirus spike protein. (Smout, 6/28)

Modern Healthcare: U.K. Study Reports Mixing AstraZeneca, Pfizer Vaccines Produces Better Immunity
A vaccine study in the United Kingdom reports that getting a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine four weeks after a dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca produced a much stronger immune response than two doses of AstraZeneca. The results are similar to those reported earlier this year from small studies in Germany and Spain and will reinforce the decision to mix and match vaccines in much of Canada. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization in Canada said June 1 there was enough evidence about the safety of mixing two vaccines to tell that provinces could begin to offer Pfizer or the other mRNA vaccine from Moderna as a second dose to people who got AstraZeneca first. (6/28)

AP: Maricopa County Investigates 53 Deaths During Heat Wave
Officials in Arizona’s largest county are investigating 53 suspected heat deaths during a weeklong hot spell earlier this month. Recently released Maricopa County data shows 53 deaths occurred during the week of June 12-19, which coincided with the heat wave that pushed temperatures up to 118 (48 Celsius). Those 53 deaths have been added to another 20 suspected heat deaths from earlier this year for a total of 73 under investigation so far for 2021. (Snow, 6/29)

NPR: The Pacific Northwest Has Limited A/C, Making The Heat Wave More Dangerous
As record highs are being broken throughout the Pacific Northwest, the lack of air conditioning in many homes in such cities as Portland and Seattle could make an already brutal heat wave even more dangerous. The temperature in Portland spiked on Sunday to 112 degrees Fahrenheit, easily smashing the previous record of 108 from just the day before. The high in the city this time of year averages in the 70s. In Seattle, it was so hot that the city closed a community pool due to "unsafe, dangerous pool deck temperatures," The Associated Press reports. (Neuman, 6/28)

San Francisco Chronicle: The Heat Wave Shattered Records In California, Too: 121 In Coachella, 90 In Tahoe
The heat wave baking the Pacific Northwest — pushing Portland and Seattle into record-setting triple digit weather on consecutive days last week, also made its way into the northernmost parts of California — according to the National Weather Service. Northern California counties including Lake, Shasta, Butte, Modo and Lassen experienced triple-digit heat. On top of an excessive heat warning, Oregon-bordering Siskiyou County was also issued a red flag warning — which refers to critical fire weather conditions including strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures. South Lake Tahoe hit 90 degrees Sunday, breaking the previous heat record by three degrees, set in 1981. (Shaikh Rashad, 6/28)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Health Officials Announce ‘Code Red’ Heat Advisory For Tuesday And Wednesday 
With the heat index forecast to reach the triple digits in Baltimore this week, city officials announced the first “Code Red” heat advisory of the season for Tuesday and Wednesday. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid 90s through Wednesday, but it’ll likely feel more like 100 degrees at times, according to the National Weather Service. (Eberhart, 6/28)

Modern Healthcare: Most Americans Unaware Of CMS Price Transparency Rule
More than 90% of Americans are unaware of a CMS rule allowing patients to view and compare treatment costs on hospital websites so they can shop for lower priced care, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey. While only 9% of seniors have researched treatment prices online, they are more likely to know about the rule change than any other age group. Households with incomes over $90,000 are also more likely to know about hospitals' requirement to disclose pricing data. But these wealthier households spent less time researching prices than those with incomes under $40,000. (Gellman, 6/28)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Eyes Expanding Home Health Value-Based Pilot Nationwide
CMS on Monday proposed expanding its home health value-based purchasing program nationwide. The CMS Innovation Center first tested the model in January 2016. The program shifts paying for Medicare home health services based on volume to a system that pays for value and quality. Currently, all Medicare-certified home health agencies in Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and Washington participate in the program. (Christ, 6/28)

Modern Healthcare: Nearly 70% Of U.S. Physicians Now Employed By Hospitals Or Corporations, Report Finds
Almost seven in 10 U.S. physicians are now employed by hospitals or corporations like private equity firms and health insurers as the COVID-19 pandemic drove doctors away from independent practice, a new report finds. Between Jan. 1 2019 and Jan. 1, 2021, 48,000 physicians quit private practice to take jobs at hospitals or other companies, Avalere Health researchers concluded in the study. These employers now own almost half of the country's medical practices. (Bannow, 6/29)

Axios: The WHO Lays Out Ethical Principles For The Use Of AI In Health Care 
A broad new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) lays out ethical principles for the use of artificial intelligence in medicine. Health is one of the most promising areas of expansion for AI, and the pandemic only accelerated the adoption of machine learning tools. But adding algorithms to health care will require that AI can follow the most basic rule of human medicine: "Do no harm" — and that won't be simple. (Walsh, 6/29)

Modern Healthcare: Escape Rooms Show Value In Training Health Workers Infection Control Safety
Researchers say the same team-building and problem-solving skills individuals foster while playing escape room simulation games can be used to help healthcare staff improve their adherence to infection control measures. Central Texas Veterans Health Care System staff nurses Gracia Boseman and Kristy Causey in 2017 created a zombie-themed high consequence infectious disease escape room as a way of boosting attendance to voluntary infection prevention and control education programs. The escape room led to a sharp rise in attendance to training. Participation went from an average of 20 clinical staff members per session to 189 clinical and non-clinical workers, training a total of more than 1,100 employees over three years. But the scenario Boseman and Causey created also led to increased adherence to infection control practices. (Ross Johnson, 6/28)

The Boston Globe: Sanofi Dives Into Messenger RNA Technology
After the spectacular success of two COVID-19 vaccines that rely on messenger RNA technology, the French drug giant Sanofi said Tuesday it will invest more than $475 million a year to develop vaccines that use the same approach against other infectious diseases, and much of the work will be done in Cambridge. Sanofi plans to create a vaccines mRNA Center of Excellence that will employ 400 people in Cambridge and Lyon, France. The French pharmaceutical firm, which has about 4,200 employees in Massachusetts, declined to say how many will work in Cambridge at the center. But Sanofi hopes to have at least six potential vaccines to test in clinical trials by 2025 against a range of diseases. The effort is getting underway this summer. (Saltzman, 6/29)

Axios: Misinformation On Adverse Effects A Factor In HPV Vaccine Refusal
More than 25% of parents in 2019 who refused the human papillomavirus vaccine for their child cited concerns of safety or adverse effects, a study in JAMA Pediatrics shows. This type of refusal greatly increased from 5% in 2008, showing "disinformation campaigns aimed at hampering vaccine trust are thriving," the authors write. (Fernandez, 6/29)

CIDRAP: New 6-Case Salmonella Outbreak Tied To Tainted Shrimp
Late last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a new Salmonella Weltevreden outbreak linked to frozen cooked shrimp that has sickened six people in two states. In interviews with five of the patients, all reported eating shrimp before getting sick. Two patients have been hospitalized for their illnesses, but no patient has died. Nevada has recorded four cases and Arizona two, with symptom onsets ranging from Feb 26 to Apr 25. (6/28)

The Washington Post: America’s Workers Are Exhausted And Burned Out — And Some Employers Are Taking Notice
Employers across the country, from Fortune 500 companies such as PepsiCo and Verizon to boutique advertising firms and nonprofit organizations, are continuing pandemic benefits such as increased paid time off and child- or elder-care benefits as well as embracing flexible work schedules and remote work in recognition that a returning workforce is at high risk of burnout. (Youn, 6/28)

AP: Needle Exchange Law In West Virginia Halted Amid Lawsuit
A judge in West Virginia has granted a group’s request to stop a law tightening requirements on needle exchange programs from being implemented next month. The American Civil Liberties Union’s West Virginia chapter filed a federal lawsuit last week. A judge issued a temporary restraining order Monday and scheduled a July 8 hearing on the issue. The law was set to take effect July 9. (Raby, 6/28)

Los Angeles Times: California Bans Government Travel To States With Laws Deemed Discriminatory To LGBTQ People
California is expanding to 17 the number of states to which it is restricting government-financed travel because of laws deemed to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity, the state attorney general said Monday. The states added to the sanctions list are Florida, Montana, West Virginia, Arkansas and North Dakota, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said. Bonta said new laws in those states are part of a recent wave of bills harmful to LGBTQ people, including a Florida law that he criticized for preventing transgender women and girls from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity. (McGreevy, 6/28)

AP: GOP's Cox: California Should Force Homeless Into Treatment
John Cox, a Republican candidate for California governor, said Monday that he would force homeless people into mental health or addiction treatment before providing them with housing as part of his effort to cut homelessness in half in five years. In his second bid for governor, Cox also said he would step up enforcement against people living on the streets and work to speed housing construction. If elected, he would likely face resistance to many of his proposals in the Democratic-controlled state Legislature. (Ronayne, 6/28)

Capital & Main: Street Medics Battle Bureaucracy To Bring Health Care To The Homeless 
Circling the streets of East Los Angeles in their red family minivan, physician assistants Brett and Corinne Feldman find their patient where they thought he would be: crumpled on a bus stop bench in Monterey Park. The Feldmans, who lead the street medicine team at the University of Southern California, kneel in front of Johnny in “servant’s pose,” placing him in control of the interaction as they examine a burn that seared his cheeks and knuckles the color of summer strawberries. Johnny’s gout medicine makes his skin light sensitive, and he lives outside, with little respite from the Los Angeles sun. “The new skin coming in, it’s like baby skin,” Corinne Feldman says. “It’s going to burn really easily. That’s why we wrap it.” (Ross, 6/28)

Burlington Free Press: Vermont Removes 'Tampon Tax,' Making Menstruation Products Tax-Exempt
Menstruation products will become tax-exempt in the state of Vermont starting July 1. The House and Senate approved the change as part of a tax bill, H.436, on May 21, and Gov. Phil Scott signed it into law on June 8.Tampons, panty liners, menstrual cups, sanitary napkins and other menstrual products are included in the tax exemption, according to the bill. Vermont's Legislative Joint Fiscal Office estimates that the sales tax exemption on these products will result in a $685,000 reduction in tax revenues in the Education Fund. (Ruehsen, 6/28)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa. Seniors Long Have Faced Higher Risks Of Dying In Falls. The Pandemic May Have Made It Worse.
COVID-19 may have been the leading concern for older adults’ health in 2020, but a long-time silent killer lurked in its shadow: falls. According to provisional data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this month, the rate of fall-related deaths among Pennsylvanians over age 65 reached near-highs in 2020: an estimated 76.3 fatalities per 100,000 people between July and September, a 9% jump from the previous year. (Nathan, 6/28)

Yahoo Sports: Olympics 2021: Breastfeeding Athletes Likely Can't Bring Babies, Organizers Say
Aliphine Tuliamuk, the U.S. Olympic marathoner who doubles as a new mom, has said that she "cannot imagine" going to the 2021 Games without her breastfeeding daughter, Zoe. Olympic organizers, however, say she'll probably have to. An International Olympic Committee spokesperson told Yahoo Sports on Monday that it is "highly unlikely" that "unaccredited people from overseas" — which would include infants and caregivers — will be granted entry into Japan for the Games. (Bushnell, 6/28)

CNN: US Ships First Pfizer Vaccine Doses Abroad, Donating 2 Million To Peru 
The United States on Monday will begin shipping its first doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine abroad as part of the Biden administration's pledge to donate millions of vaccine doses to other countries, a White House official told CNN. The first of 2 million Pfizer vaccine doses will be shipped to Peru on Monday, the official said, as part of President Joe Biden's initial commitment to share 80 million doses of the US' vaccine supply with the world. Biden has since reached a deal with Pfizer to purchase and share with the world an additional 500 million doses over the next two years. (Diamond, 6/28)

Reuters: Britain's 'Freedom Day' Will Come On July 19, Says Government
Britain will lift most of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions on July 19 in what has been dubbed "Freedom Day", the government said on Monday despite fears that an increase in coronavirus cases could lead to more deaths. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose government is again under fire after the resignation of his health minister Matt Hancock for breaking the restrictions by kissing his aide, had hoped to unlock Britain's economy last week. (Piper and Holden, 6/28)

AP: Australia Offers All Adults AstraZeneca To Speed Up Rollout
Australia is offering AstraZeneca to all adults in a bid to rapidly ramp up sluggish vaccination rates as more of the country on Tuesday locked down against the spread of COVID-19. The government late Monday agreed to indemnify doctors who administer the AstraZeneca vaccine that has been blamed for at least two fatalities from a rare blood clot complication in Australia since April. (McGuirk, 6/29)

Reuters: Indonesia's COVID-19 Situation Nears 'Catastrophe' - Red Cross
Indonesia's COVID-19 surge is on the edge of a "catastrophe" as the more infectious Delta variant dominates transmission and chokes hospitals in Southeast Asia's worst epidemic, the Red Cross said on Tuesday. Indonesia has reported record daily COVID-19 infections of more than 20,000 in recent days, in a new wave of infections fueled by the emergence of highly transmissible virus variants and increased mobility after the Muslim fasting month. (6/29)

Bloomberg: Abu Dhabi Covid Rules To Restrict Public Spaces To Vaccinated People
The oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates plans to restrict entry to public spaces and schools to people who have been vaccinated. Access to universities, schools, nurseries, gyms and shopping centers in Abu Dhabi will be restricted from August 20, the Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee said late on Monday. The decision won’t apply to people who are exempt from taking a vaccine and to children aged 15 and under. (Nair, 6/29)

Reuters: India's Vaccine Shortage Eases As Inoculations Outpace New Registrations 
India has administered more COVID-19 vaccine doses in the last two weeks than the number of people who signed up for shots during the period, government data showed on Tuesday, signaling improving supplies after widespread shortages. Indians struggled to book scarce inoculation slots after Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened up vaccinations to all of the country's 930-940 million adults last month without a corresponding rise in output. Many immunisation centres ran out of vaccine shots and closed temporarily. (Das, 6/29)

Bloomberg: Mexico’s Supreme Court Removes Ban Against Smoking Marijuana
Mexico’s Supreme Court has removed the nation’s prohibition against consuming marijuana, allowing anyone who wants a permit for recreational use of cannabis to be able to receive one. The decision eliminates all legal obstacles for the Health Ministry to authorize planting, harvesting, possession and transportation of pot for personal use by adults, the court said in a statement. The ruling doesn’t decriminalize the sale of cannabis, or its use without a permit. (Averbuch, 6/29)