First Edition: March 17, 2021

KHN: Can Vaccination And Infection Rates Add Up To Reach Covid Herd Immunity? 
It’s been a long, dark winter of covid concerns, stoked by high post-holiday case counts and the American death tally exceeding 530,000 lives lost. But with three vaccines — Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — now authorized for emergency use in the United States, there seems to be hope that the pandemic’s end may be in sight. A recent analysis by the Wall Street research firm Fundstrat Global Advisors fueled this idea, suggesting as many as nine states were already reaching the coveted “herd immunity” status as of March 7, signaling that a return to normal was close at hand. (Heredia Rodriguez, 3/17)

KHN: Doctors Debate Use Of Blood Thinners To Prevent Clots In Women After C-Sections
Nearly all women who deliver babies through cesarean section at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City receive injections of the blood thinner heparin for weeks after the procedure, to prevent potentially life-threatening blood clots. Obstetric leaders there say that’s good medical practice because the formation of those clots, called venous thromboembolism or VTE, though uncommon, is a leading cause of maternal death after delivery, particularly C-section delivery. Broad use of heparin has been shown to be effective and safe in the United Kingdom in reducing that risk and should be adopted in the U.S., they argue. (Meyer, 3/17)

KHN: Role Reversal: Covid Increases Ranks Of Child Caregivers 
On a recent Thursday afternoon, Rhianna Alvarado struggled to don her protective gloves, which were too big for her petite hands. With her mom coaching her every move, she edged close to her father and gently removed the plastic tube from his throat that allows him to breathe. She then cautiously inserted a new one. “What’s next?” asked her mom, Rocio Alvarado, 43. “I know, I know,” replied Rhianna, her eyes constantly searching for her mom’s approval. (de Marco, 3/17)

CNBC: Italy And France Ready To Restart AstraZeneca Shot After Review
France and Italy say they are ready to quickly restart inoculation programs with the AstraZeneca vaccine if regulators confirm it’s still safe to use. The preliminary statement from the European Medicines Agency on Tuesday was “encouraging,” the office of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Tuesday in a statement following a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron. It added that in the event of a positive conclusion by the EMA, France and Italy were ready “to promptly restart” inoculations with the vaccine. (Amaro, 3/17)

AP: EU Regulator 'Convinced' AstraZeneca Benefit Outweighs Risk
The European Union’s drug regulator insisted Tuesday that there is “no indication” the AstraZeneca vaccine causes blood clots as governments around the world faced the grimmest of dilemmas: push on with a vaccine known to save lives or suspend its use over reports of clotting in some recipients. The European Medicines Agency urged governments not to halt use of the vaccine at a time when the pandemic is still taking thousands of lives each day. And already there are concerns that even brief suspensions could have disastrous effects on confidence in inoculation campaigns the world over, many of which are already struggling to overcome logistical hurdles and widespread hesitancy about vaccines. (Casert and Jordans, 3/16)

CBS News: Trump Urges People To Get COVID Vaccine, Saying It's Safe And Works
Former President Trump again urged people to be vaccinated against COVID-19, saying he would recommend vaccination to "a lot of people that don't want to get it, and a lot of those people voted for me." In an interview Tuesday night on Fox News, Mr. Trump acknowledged that people were free to decide for themselves whether they would be vaccinated against the virus. "We have our freedoms and we have to live by that and I agree with that also. But it is a great vaccine. It is a safe vaccine and it is something that works," he said. (3/17)

The Hill: Trump Urges Supporters To Get Coronavirus Vaccine 
Democrats and Republicans alike have been clamoring for Trump to publicly urge his supporters to get a shot amid surveys showing many Republicans are hesitant to getting vaccinated. A PBS Newshour/NPR/Marist poll released last week found that 41 percent of Republicans said they would not get the shot, and a CBS News poll released late last month found that 34 percent of Republicans said they would not be vaccinated for COVID-19. (Axelrod, 3/16)

USA Today: 'It's A Great Vaccine:' Donald Trump Asks Backers To Get COVID Vaccine
Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would urge his supporters to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but acknowledged that some of them may refuse in the name of "freedom." "I would recommend it, and I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it," Trump told Fox News during a 20-minute telephone interview. Trump noted "a lot of those people" who don't want the vaccine "voted for me, frankly. But ... again, we have our freedoms, and we have to live by that, and I agree with that also." (Jackson, 3/16)

Politico: Trump Encourages Americans To Get The Covid Vaccine 
Trump’s direct appeal to Americans comes as some of his own supporters have exhibited skepticism about taking the coronavirus vaccine. Experts say his endorsement of vaccinations could help alleviate some of that skepticism. Since leaving office, Trump has issued a short statement taking credit for the vaccine’s fast-tracked development and, in passing, told people to take the shot during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month. (McGraw, 3/16)

The Washington Post: Some Long-Haul Covid-19 Patients Say Their Symptoms Are Subsiding After Getting Vaccines 
Arianna Eisenberg endured long-haul covid-19 for eight months, a recurring nightmare of soaking sweats, crushing fatigue, insomnia, brain fog and muscle pain. But Eisenberg’s tale has a happy ending that neither she nor current medical science can explain. Thirty-six hours after her second shot of coronavirus vaccine last month, her symptoms were gone, and they haven’t returned. “I really felt back to myself,” the 34-year-old Brooklyn therapist said, “to a way that I didn’t think was possible when I was really sick.” (Bernstein and Guarino, 3/16)

Axios: Experts Look Into Whether COVID Vaccines Could Help Long-Haulers 
Some people with "long COVID" say their symptoms have gotten better after they received a vaccine, the Washington Post reports. The evidence so far is largely anecdotal, but further research could help determine whether vaccines can offer some help to the millions of people worldwide who are suffering through long-term illness that science doesn't understand very well. (Fernandez, 3/17)

Becker's Hospital Review: Lingering Symptoms Go Away After Getting Vaccinated, Some COVID-19 Long-Haulers Say
Survivor Corps, an online group of people with long COVID-19 symptoms, conducted an informal member survey that showed 216 people felt no different after vaccination, while 171 said their conditions improved and 63 said they felt worse. Little research has been officially published on the subject, the Post reports. "The only thing that we can safely assume is that an unknown proportion of people who acquire SARS-CoV-2 have long-term symptoms," Steven Deeks, MD, an infectious disease specialist at UC San Francisco, told the Post. "We know the questions. We have no answers. Hard stop." (Carbajal, 3/16)

Fox News: Florida Mother Gives Birth To First-Known Baby With COVID Antibodies, Doctors Say
A Florida mother who received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine while pregnant has passed antibodies to her newborn, doctors say. Her child is believed to be the first baby known to be born with COVID-19 antibodies, according to reports. "To our knowledge, this was the first in the world that was reported of a baby being born with antibodies after a vaccination," pediatrician Paul Gilbert told Tequesta's WPBF. (Aaro, 3/17)

Fox News: Mothers, Newborns With Coronavirus, Suspected Illness Should Not Be Separated, WHO Says
New research has pointed to the importance of keeping mothers and newborns together — even when a coronavirus infection is suspected or confirmed, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO, citing two new studies recently published in Lancet EclinicalMedicine and BMJ Global Health, respectively, said that the pandemic is "severely affecting the quality of care given to small and sick newborns, resulting in unnecessary suffering and deaths." (Farber, 3/16)

The Washington Post: After Weeks Of Declining Cases, Coronavirus Hot Spots Emerge In Upper Midwest, New York City Area 
After weeks of declining coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations, new hot spots of infection have emerged, and disease experts warn that the spread of a more dangerous variant and a too-rapid rush to return to normal life could prolong the historic health emergency. Caseloads are down nationally and tens of millions of people are fully loaded with antibodies to the virus, with more than 2 million people getting doses of vaccine every day. But the virus continues to pose a real and present threat, with about 55,000 new infections daily. (Achenbach, Cha and Dupree, 3/16)

CNN: The Race Between Variants And Vaccines In US Will Be A Close Call, Expert Warns, And Eased Restrictions Aren't Helping
Experts say there's a tough race between Covid-19 vaccinations and a contagious variant that's rapidly spreading across the US, threatening another dangerous surge -- and the eased restrictions only further complicate things. "It's going to be a close call," Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health told CNN on Tuesday. "We are vaccinating really well, that's the good news. These variants are spreading pretty quickly across the country, that's the bad news." (Maxouris, 3/17)

CIDRAP: AstraZeneca Vaccine Doesn't Prevent B1351 COVID In Early Trial 
Two doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine were ineffective against mild-to-moderate infections with the B1351 variant first identified in South Africa, according to a phase 1b-2 clinical trial published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The double-blind multicenter study, led by scientists at the South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, studied the safety and the efficacy of the AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine in HIV-negative adults aged 18 to 64 who received either two standard doses of the vaccine or a placebo in a 1:1 ratio 21 to 35 days apart from Jun 24 to Nov 9, 2020. Median follow-up after the second dose was 121 days. (Van Beusekom, 3/16)

CNBC: White House Covid Task Force Member Slavitt Is Optimistic 89% Of U.S. Seniors Will Take Covid Vaccine
Andy Slavitt, White House senior advisor for Covid response, predicted that a growing number of Americans will continue to take the Covid vaccine due to messaging and evidence from trusted sources. “In Israel where they’re a little bit ahead of us, 89% of seniors have chosen to take the vaccine,” Slavitt said. “We think we can get up to those kinds of numbers, if we just continue to reliably answer people’s questions, because these are very good, safe, effective vaccines.” (DeCiccio, 3/16)

The Washington Post: House Democrats Bring Back Medicare-For-All, Seeking To Push Biden Left
House Democrats on Wednesday will renew their effort to enact Medicare-for-all, arguing the year-long pandemic was a “wake-up call” to replace the nation’s fragmented health insurance system — and betting they can pressure President Biden to embrace a government-run program that he famously rejected. “Everybody is seeing the chaos and the destruction that the pandemic has caused,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and one of the bill’s lead authors. “And it’s really making people look and [ask], could we have had something different had we had a Medicare-for-all system in place?” (Diamond, 3/16)

PBS NewsHour: Support For Medicaid Expansion Grows In South Dakota, One Of The Last Red State Holdouts
“We believe people need access to care, and we also know that Medicaid expansion has been successful across the country,” said Deb Fischer-Clemens, the president of the South Dakota Nurses Association, one of the groups backing the expansion effort. South Dakota is one of just 12 states that have not yet expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, in the decade since the legislation was signed into law by former President Barack Obama in 2010.Most of the remaining holdouts are conservative Southern states such as South Carolina and Texas, where opposition to the law known as Obamacare still runs deep among Republican elected officials. But voters in six Republican-leaning states have approved ballot initiatives to expand Medicaid, including in Missouri and Oklahoma in 2020. (Bush, 3/16)

Axios: Scoop: Congress Gets More COVID-19 Vaccine For Staff 
Congress will receive an additional 8,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday to be equally divided for staffers in the House and Senate, Axios has learned from sources who are familiar. Members of Congress were eligible for coronavirus inoculations as early as January, but just a small portion of their staff qualified to receive them at the time. Now, the circle is expanding, a move to restoring legislative operations to pre-pandemic norms. (Goba, 3/16)

Roll Call: House Reshapes Approach To Mental Health And Addiction 
House lawmakers are restructuring their bipartisan task forces dedicated to combating the drug epidemic and expect the chamber to consider behavioral health legislation this year, members told CQ Roll Call. The push is spearheaded by four lawmakers in an effort to broaden the scope of legislative efforts beyond opioids to include all forms of addiction and mental health. (Raman, 3/16)

Axios: Virtual Mental Health Visits Skyrocket During Pandemic 
Virtual behavioral health visits in the first half of 2020 were hundreds of times higher than the year before, according to a new analysis by Well Being Trust and Milliman. The number of total behavioral health visits — both in person and virtual — were generally within 20% of 2019 levels from January to August, even though in-person visits plunged. (Owens, 3/16)

Axios: FDA Moves To Streamline At-Home COVID-19 Test Approval 
The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it will allow some companies developing COVID-19 tests to market their products for regular at-home use without first seeing how they perform on asymptomatic people, Politico reports. The agency hopes the move will streamline emergency-use authorizations for such tests, making it easier to conduct widespread testing of people who may soon be returning to schools and office spaces, the FDA noted in a statement. (Saric, 3/16)

CIDRAP: Study: US COVID Infections May Have Been Twice The Number Reported
Roughly 15.9 million asymptomatic US COVID-19 cases may have gone undetected as of Sep 30, 2020, which would double the cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during that time, according to a research letter detailing a 6.6% nationwide SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence rate. The letter, written by Clinical Reference Laboratory scientists in Kansas and published today in JAMA Network Open, describes a national convenience sample of 61,910 generally healthy adult life insurance applicants evaluated for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in September. (3/16)

Modern Healthcare: Two-Thirds Of Largest Hospitals Aren't Complying With Price Transparency Rule
Around two-thirds of the country's largest hospitals are not complying with the new price transparency regulations, a new study found. CMS compelled hospitals Jan. 1 to publish "a machine-readable file" of rates they negotiated with payers, which the agency hoped would exert downward pressure on higher-than-average prices. But 65 of 100 of the largest U.S. hospitals did not meet the criteria as of early February, according to research published Tuesday in Health Affairs. (Kacik, 3/16)

The New York Times: Three Feet Or Six? Distancing Guideline For Schools Stirs Debate
When the virus first emerged, many experts believed that it was transmitted primarily through large respiratory droplets, which are relatively heavy. Old scientific studies, some dating back more than a century, suggested that these droplets tend not to travel more than three to six feet. This observation, as well as an abundance of caution, may have spurred the C.D.C. to make its six-foot suggestion, Dr. Marr said. But that recommendation was not universal. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends three to six feet of social distancing in schools, but the World Health Organization recommends just one meter, or 3.3 feet. (Anthes, 3/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Opioid Victims Could Get Up To $48,000 In Purdue’s Bankruptcy
Individuals who filed claims over opioid addiction or overdose deaths against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP are projected to receive as much as $48,000 under the company’s bankruptcy plan. Estimated payouts under Purdue’s chapter 11 proposal, filed Monday, depend on the severity of an individual’s injury or addiction, with the least severe cases getting an estimated $3,500. Administrators would determine individuals’ eligibility for compensation and rate the severity of their opioid injuries through a point system, according to court papers filed Monday. Specific eligibility and qualification requirements will be made public later. (Randles, 3/16)

Stat: Driven By The Pandemic, Applicants Flood Public Health Schools 
The Covid-19 pandemic has tested the public health and medical workforces like never before. And yet people in those fields say they see emerging signs that the crisis will inspire the next generation of doctors, nurses, and public health professionals to join the ranks. Public health schools, for example, saw a 23% jump in applicants for master’s and doctoral programs from fall 2019 to fall 2020, and are reporting an even bigger increase so far in this application cycle, according to the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. (Joseph, 3/17)

AP: St. Patrick's Day To Be Largely Virtual In NYC For 2nd Year
A largely virtual St. Patrick’s Day is planned for New York City on Wednesday, one year after the annual parade celebrating Irish heritage became one of the city’s first coronavirus casualties. Although the city’s usual huge parade with floats and marching bands has been canceled, a few dozen people are expected to march at 6 a.m. to keep the tradition alive, a spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio said. (3/17)

The Washington Post: FDA-Approved Gaming Is Already Here, Pointing To Its Therapeutic Potential
In a pretty significant indicator that gaming is making inroads into everyday life, the Food and Drug Administration last year gave its first approval to a video game to improve attention function in children. The game, “EndeavorRX” by Akili Interactive, may point to a potentially growing field of prescription-strength gaming, according to the 2021 Tech Trends Report by the Future Today Institute. Amy Webb, futurist and founder of the organization, made her annual presentation at SXSW on Tuesday, detailing her firm’s insights into the near- and long-term future of various media and technology industries, including news, health and the sciences. (Park, 3/16)

AP: How Arenas Work To Keep Fans Safe Attending Indoor Sports
The reduced risk of contracting the coronavirus has to do with how much space surrounds each person when venue attendance is capped at 25%, as it is for the tournament, and how often fresh air from outside is refreshed into a venue. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers sets standards for how many cubic feet per meter of air space is required for everything from homes to restaurants to office buildings. Limiting capacity gives everyone more air. (Whyno, 3/16)

AP: 6 Officials Out Of NCAA Tournament After 1 Tests Positive 
Parts of the NCAA's finely honed plan for playing March Madness amid the pandemic came into question Tuesday just as teams began gearing up for practices to tune up for the games later this week. One referee tested positive for COVID-19, forcing him and five others who went out to dinner with him, out of the tournament. (Pells and Megargee, 3/16)

Stat: 4 Health Care Startups Racing To Shake Up Diabetes Treatment
If you’re a digital health startup looking to make an impact, it makes sense to tackle diabetes. More than 34 million American adults — over a tenth of the population — live with the metabolic disorder, which costs the nation roughly $400 billion every year. The earliest crop of digital diabetes management startups — including Onduo, Omada Health, Virta Health, and Livongo — made their mark by combining remote monitoring with virtual diabetes coaching. (Palmer, 3/17)

Stat: Hearing Aid Makers Tackle The Technology's ‘Number One Problem’ With AI
For many people with hearing loss, a normal conversation at a busy restaurant is the holy grail.“ [Background noise] is the number one problem that needs to be solved,” said Abram Bailey, a former practicing audiologist who now runs Hearing Tracker, a popular online resource. “…We’ve been trying to solve it in this industry for years and years and years. But we have only made these really tiny, incremental steps.” (Aguilar, 3/17)

Boston Globe: As Other States Start Vaccinating The General Public, Massachusetts Will Announce Its Schedule For Everyone
Alaska threw open its doors last week. Mississippi followed suit on Tuesday. And several other jurisdictions, including Connecticut, have announced that they will allow all adults to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments as soon as early April — weeks ahead of President Biden’s directive that states make appointments universally available by May 1. Now, more than 3 million Massachusetts residents still awaiting their turn are set to learn when this state will join the trend. Governor Charlie Baker on Tuesday evening said his administration would make the announcement on Wednesday. (Vaccaro, 3/16)

Los Angeles Times: California’s Huge COVID-19 Vaccine Expansion Relies On Trust. Will Cheaters Stay Away?
California on Monday began a new phase of its COVID-19 vaccine rollout, making nearly half of all residents eligible for a shot — and relying more than ever on public trust and honesty to make sure the doses get to those who need them most. The changes add to the eligibility list more than 4 million people, most notably those 16 and older who have disabilities and underlying health conditions. Previous eligibility tiers focused on certain jobs and age groups — factors that are easily verifiable to determine whether those seeking the vaccine are entitled to it under state guidelines. (Shalby and Smith, 3/16)

CBS News: FEMA Chief Says COVID-19 Positivity Rate Among Migrants Is Less Than 6%, Lower Than Texas Average
The acting head of the Federal Emergency Agency (FEMA) told lawmakers on Tuesday that less than 6% of COVID-19 tests for migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border have come back positive, a lower percentage than the overall positivity rate in the state of Texas. "There's testing happening," Acting Administrator Robert Fenton told lawmakers at a hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. "What we're seeing is less than 6% positive right now, coming across the border." Fenton's comments come as Texas Governor Greg Abbott and GOP lawmakers have expressed concerns that migrants are spreading the virus to the general public. (Sganga, 3/16)

ABC News: Map Shows Which States Offer COVID-19 Vaccines To Everyone 
The U.S. is hurtling forward with its COVID-19 vaccine rollout, and some states, including Alaska and Mississippi, have tossed out eligibility requirements and will allow anyone 16 years old and older to get a shot. At least three states -- Connecticut, Michigan and Ohio -- have announced they'll open vaccine eligibility to anyone 16 and up in the coming weeks. Currently, 21 states and Washington, D.C. allow anyone 16 and older with high-risk medical conditions to receive a vaccine. (Lenthang and Mitropoulos, 3/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Coming ‘Vaccine Passports’ Aim For Simplicity 
The first digital “vaccine passports” for post-pandemic travel have been designed as easy-to-use applications that will one day merge into other travel platforms, like airline apps, their developers say. Though popularly known as vaccine passports, the apps also include information like Covid-19 test status, and are in trial runs in several places around the world. (Deighton, 3/16)

Politico: EU’s COVID Travel Pass Will Let Countries Choose Russia, China Vaccines 
The EU's plan to get vaccinated people traveling again — the “digital green certificate” — will leave key decisions up to member countries, including whether to accept the Russian and Chinese vaccines. According to a draft of the plan obtained by POLITICO, the European Commission will propose that any EU country allowing vaccinated people to skip pandemic-related travel restrictions — such as testing or self-isolation — must accept other countries’ vaccination certificates “under the same conditions.” (Eccles and Cokelaere, 3/16)

CNBC: German Covid Cases Rising 'Exponentially' Amid Risky Vaccine Pause
It’s no secret that Germany has been seeing a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in recent weeks but one leading health expert in the country is now warning of “exponential growth” in the number of infections. This comes at a time when the country has suspended the use of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford coronavirus vaccine. (Ellyatt, 3/17)

CNBC: China Relaxes Border Restrictions For Those Who Received China-Made Vaccines
China is making it easier for foreigners who have been inoculated with Chinese-made coronavirus vaccines to enter the country, after shutting its borders for international travel more than a year ago due to Covid-19. Multiple Chinese embassies around the world — including those in the United States, United Kingdom, India, Israel and the Philippines — issued notices on Monday outlining how foreigners can go about applying for visas to enter China. (Ng, 3/17)