First Edition: March 9, 2022

KHN: The CDC’s New Guidelines On Covid Risk And Masking Elicit Mixed Feelings 
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month unveiled updated covid-19 guidelines that relaxed masking recommendations, some people no doubt sighed in relief and thought it was about time. People have become increasingly comfortable being out shopping, attending live events, or meeting up with friends at restaurants. And many are ready to cast aside their masks. Still, a recent KFF poll pointed to an underlying tension. Just as a large swath of the American public, 62%, said that the worst of the pandemic was behind us, nearly half were worried about easing covid-related restrictions — like indoor masking — too soon. (DeGuzman, 3/9)

KHN: One California University Has Unified Town And Gown To Fight Covid. Why Haven’t Others?
Once a week, Lori Janich drives down the street from her office and partakes in an ongoing success story. Phone in hand to confirm her appointment, she strolls into the massive Activities and Recreation Center on the University of California-Davis campus, reaches a covid-19 testing station, swirls water in her mouth, spits into a tube, and leaves. Within a day, she receives her test result. Janich doesn’t live in Davis, but because her job as a licensed dental hygienist brings her there, everything about the covid testing process is free for her. The same goes for all UC-Davis students, faculty members, and staffers; Davis city residents; local workers; and visitors — almost anyone whose life brings them into town. Davis has a population of about 70,000, with an additional 15,000 people living on campus, yet through a joint city-university effort, it has administered more than 740,000 tests. (Kreidler, 3/9)

Houston Chronicle: In Fort Worth, Biden Promises Veterans Timely Care, Compensation For Burn-Pit Related Illnesses
President Joe Biden told hundreds of veterans here Tuesday that he’s determined to make sure 9/11-era soldiers exposed to toxic burn pits don’t suffer the indignities that Vietnam veterans had to go through to prove their illnesses were related to Agent Orange exposure. “I refuse to repeat the mistake when it comes to veterans of our Iraq and Afghan wars,” Biden told the veterans after touring the Fort Worth VA Clinic. (Wallace, 3/8)

AP: 'The Best Of Us': Biden Promises Improved Care For Veterans 
President Joe Biden on Tuesday said U.S. veterans were the “backbone, the spine, the sinew” of the nation, as he pushed for better help for members of the military who face health problems, including after exposure to burn pits. “You’re the best of us,” Biden said. For the president, the issue is very personal. In last week’s State of the Union address, Biden raised the prospect of whether being near the chemicals from pits where military waste was incinerated in Iraq led to the death of his son Beau. (Boak, 3/9)

AP: First Lady Touts Biden Cancer Initiative In Tucson Visit 
First lady Jill Biden touted her husband’s push to eradicate cancer and the Biden administration’s efforts to improve health care for Native Americans during a stop Tuesday at the Tohono O’odham Nation outside Tucson. Biden met with tribal health officials and leaders of the University of Arizona Cancer Center, who discussed their joint efforts to improve cancer screening and treatment for Native Americans. (3/9)

AP: Top Lawmakers Reach Deal On Ukraine Aid, $1.5T Spending 
Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan deal early Wednesday providing $13.6 billion to help Ukraine and European allies plus billions more to battle the pandemic as part of an overdue $1.5 trillion measure financing federal agencies for the rest of this year. Though a tiny fraction of the massive bill, the money countering a Russian blitzkrieg that’s devastated parts of Ukraine and prompted Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II ensured the measure would pass with robust bipartisan support. President Joe Biden requested $10 billion for military, humanitarian and economic aid last week, and Democratic and Republican backing was so staunch that the figure grew to $12 billion Monday and $13.6 billion just a day later. (Fram, 3/9)

Modern Healthcare: Congress To Temporarily Extend Medicare Telehealth Coverage
Congress will include a months-long extension of telehealth flexibilities in a package to fund the government, fulfilling a key ask made by providers and advocates. Under a draft of the provisions obtained by Modern Healthcare, Medicare will cover an array of telehealth services for at least 151 days after the end of the public health emergency, allowing beneficiaries to continue accessing care from their homes, at least temporarily. That will allow Congress more time to study the impacts of expanding telehealth access under Medicare and to decide whether lawmakers want to make those changes permanent. (Hellmann, 3/8)

Stat: Congress Eyes Giving FDA Authority Over Synthetic Nicotine Like Puff Bar
Lawmakers are within striking distance of closing the largest loophole in the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of e-cigarette companies — a move that would likely put the biggest driver of youth vaping out of business in the process. A draft of a government spending bill obtained by STAT includes new language that would give the FDA explicit authority to regulate so-called synthetic nicotine products, which are made in a lab rather than extracted from tobacco plants, and currently are not regulated by the FDA. (Florko, 3/8)

The New York Times: The Synthetic Nicotine Loophole Fueling A Return To Teenage Vaping 
The Food and Drug Administration’s crackdown on flavored e-cigarettes in 2020 was meant to be a comprehensive, aggressive strategy to curtail the epidemic of teenage vaping. But two years later, sales of disposable, flavored e-cigarettes have soared. Some companies have moved just beyond the reach of the F.D.A. by swapping out one key ingredient. They have circumvented federal oversight of tobacco plant-derived nicotine by using an unregulated synthetic version. (Jewett, 3/8)

Modern Healthcare: Nursing Home Lobby Requests Meeting With Feds On Biden's Enforcement Plans
The lead lobbying organization for nursing homes wants a sit-down with President Joe Biden and his top health officials to talk about the White House's plans to more tightly regulate skilled nursing facilities. Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living, wants to meet with Biden, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, he wrote in a letter to Becerra Tuesday. (Christ, 3/8)

Politico: Biden Administration Makes Case To Save Vaccination Mandate For Federal Employees 
The Biden administration urged a circuit court panel Tuesday to revive the Covid-19 vaccination mandate for federal employees put on hold by a lower court judge earlier this year. “This is not something that’s outside the mainstream,” Justice Department attorney Charles Scarborough told members of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. ... However, attorney Trent McCotter, arguing on behalf of the group of federal workers who brought the legal challenge, said that Biden’s actions lack precedent and are beyond his unilateral authority. (Niedzwiadek, 3/8)

AP: Vaccine Mandate For Federal Employees Awaits Court Ruling
A federal judge in Texas overstepped his authority when he blocked President Joe Biden’s requirement that all federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19, an attorney for the administration told a federal appeals court panel Tuesday. Department of Justice lawyer Charles Scarborough noted that district judges in a dozen jurisdictions had rejected a challenge to the vaccine requirement for federal workers. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, who was appointed to the District Court for the Southern District of Texas by President Donald Trump, issued a nationwide injunction against the requirement in January. (McGill, 3/8)

Louisville Courier Journal: Bill Would Ban Government, Colleges From Asking About COVID Vaccines
State and local governments and public colleges would be prohibited from requiring employees or students to disclose their COVID-19 vaccine status under a bill that cleared a [Kentucky] House committee Tuesday. Though House Bill 28 cleared the committee, it was amended from a previous version that would have extended such a ban to private employers, prohibiting businesses from inquiring about the vaccination status of their workers or customers. Filed by Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge, HB 28 would ban state government, local governments and state colleges from forcing employees or applicants to disclose whether or not they have received any COVID-19 vaccine shots, or "take adverse action" against those who do not disclose their vaccine status. (Sonka, 3/8)

AP: Hawaii To Lift Last US State Mask Mandate By March 26 
The last statewide mask mandate in the U.S. will be lifted by March 26, Hawaii Gov. David Ige announced Tuesday. No states will require masks indoors after 11:59 p.m. March 25. Hawaii is the last to drop the pandemic safety measure, with indoor mask mandates in Oregon and Washington state expiring at 11:59 p.m. Friday. (Kelleher, 2/9)

ABC News: Every State Has Now Moved To End Universal Indoor Masking Requirements 
Officials in every U.S. state and jurisdiction have now ended, or announced an end, to their indoor universal masking requirements. Over the last month, states from coast to coast have moved to end mask mandates as coronavirus cases have plummeted. By the end of March, there will be no more statewide or school mask mandates in effect. (Mitropoulos, 3/8)

The New York Times: Masking Did Help Protect Children From Covid Last Fall, According To A CDC Study 
More and more American school districts have dropped mask mandates in recent weeks as coronavirus cases plunged across the United States. But they remain a subject of debate among some students and their parents, and a study released on Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that those mandates had helped protect children and teachers from the coronavirus last fall. The study, examining public school districts in Arkansas from August to October as the Delta variant spread, found that districts with full mask requirements had 23 percent lower rates of the coronavirus among students and staff members than districts without the mandates. (Mueller, 3/8)

AP: Teachers Hit Picket Lines In Minneapolis As Parents Worry 
Minneapolis public school teachers hit the picket lines on Tuesday, calling for better wages and “safe and stable schools,” as parents found themselves facing an uncertainty that’s become all too familiar during the coronavirus pandemic. Union leaders and school officials made it clear the sides were far apart on issues that also include caps on class sizes and more mental health services for students. (Karnowski and Forliti, 3/9)

AP: Idaho Governor: COVID-19 Disaster Declaration Ends In April
Idaho Gov. Brad Little says he will lift the state’s public health emergency disaster declaration on April 15, just over two years since it was put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic. ... The rate of new coronavirus cases has dropped significantly in Idaho over the past two weeks, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Still, one out of every 219 residents tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week, making the state second in the country for new cases per capita. (Boone, 3/8)

Oklahoman: Oklahoma Health Department Ends Daily COVID Case Updates
The Oklahoma Health Department is doing away with daily COVID-19 updates on new cases as it begins to treat the virus as "endemic." Until now, the department published a daily update at 11 a.m. each weekday — and recently, on some Saturdays during the omicron surge — detailing how many new COVID-19 cases the state had added to its total. It also included updates on how many COVID-19 patients were in hospital beds across the state, averages of new case counts and an updated death toll from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. (Branham, 3/8)

NPR: COVID Treatments Like Paxlovid To Be Prescribed On The Spot In Some Pharmacies
Starting this week, high-risk patients with COVID symptoms will be able to walk into hundreds of pharmacy-based clinics for a free test – and walk out with a free course of COVID treatment pills. It's the start of a new initiative from the Biden administration, and it's a key feature of the President's national COVID preparedness plan. "I've ordered more pills than anyone in the world has," Biden said in his State of the Union address March 1, "And now, we're launching the 'Test to Treat' initiative so people can get tested at a pharmacy and, if they prove positive, receive the antiviral pills on the spot at no cost." The program aims to speed up the process of getting COVID drugs for high-risk patients who need to start the treatment quickly for it to work. But it is limited by the requirement to have a prescriber on-site — which most pharmacies don't have — and will initially only reach only hundreds among the tens of thousands of retail pharmacies nationwide. (Huang, 3/8)

The Washington Post: Patients With Long Covid Symptoms Face Tough Disability Benefit Fights 
Deepa Singh, 30, of Louisville, has been seriously ill for two years, racked with extreme fatigue, racing heartbeat and memory problems from long covid that she says prevent her from working. Adding to her distress, she says, has been a grueling — and so far unsuccessful — battle for disability payments. Singh, who worked as a project manager for a Fortune 100 company, is among a cohort of long covid patients who have been denied disability benefits, either by private insurance companies, which operate benefit plans offered by employers, or by the Social Security Administration, which manages government disability benefits. (Rowland, 3/8)

The Mercury News: Long COVID Mysteries Studied Using Lab-Grown Heart Cells
The attack of the COVID-19 virus on the human heart is completely hidden from view, revealed only by the damage that’s left behind. But San Francisco scientists have designed a way to witness the assault. In lab-grown globules of throbbing heart cells, they can watch signs of distress, then death. By creating disease in a dish, the Gladstone Institutes team hopes to better understand the mysteries of COVID – not just in the heart, but also in other tissues. They’re part of a growing international effort to study how the virus infects and damages cells. “Very rapidly, this is opening up avenues for us to look at many different organ systems,” said virologist Dr. Melanie Ott, director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and professor of medicine at UC San Francisco. (Krieger, 3/8)

The Atlantic: Why America Became Numb To COVID Deaths
The United States reported more deaths from COVID-19 last Friday than deaths from Hurricane Katrina, more on any two recent weekdays than deaths during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, more last month than deaths from flu in a bad season, and more in two years than deaths from HIV during the four decades of the AIDS epidemic. At least 953,000 Americans have died from COVID, and the true toll is likely even higher because many deaths went uncounted. COVID is now the third leading cause of death in the U.S., after only heart disease and cancer, which are both catchall terms for many distinct diseases. The sheer scale of the tragedy strains the moral imagination. On May 24, 2020, as the United States passed 100,000 recorded deaths, The New York Times filled its front page with the names of the dead, describing their loss as “incalculable.” Now the nation hurtles toward a milestone of 1 million. What is 10 times incalculable? (Yong, 3/8)

Bloomberg: Pfizer To Submit Data To FDA On Fourth Covid Shot Soon, CEO Says
Pfizer Inc. will soon submit data to U.S. regulators on a fourth dose of its Covid-19 vaccine, Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said. Bourla said he spent Tuesday morning reviewing new data from various Covid vaccine studies, including one looking at the effects of a fourth dose of the currently available vaccine, as well as a new formulation that will protect against multiple coronavirus variants. “They look encouraging,” Bourla said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power With David Westin,” noting that Pfizer still needs to collect more information. (Griffin, 3/8)

Modern Healthcare: OSHA To Crack Down On COVID-19 Safety Violations
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday will start a round of follow-up inspections of hospitals, nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities that previously received citations for COVID-19-related infractions. The facilities will have to prove that any past pandemic violations were corrected, and also provide a number of documents and other measures to prove they'll be prepared for another wave of COVID-19. "I think for the most part, we're going to see hospitals being ready for these because hospitals are constantly having to be prepared for quality types of inspections, whether it's from their state licensure agency, other regulators or CMS," said Kevin Troutman, a partner at Fisher Phillips, adding that skilled nursing facilities might have a harder time. "Nursing homes and smaller operations may face a bigger challenge just because they don't typically have as much in the way of resources and dedicated quality assurance types of staff." (Gillespie, 3/8)

NPR: Florida Senate Passes Controversial Bill Labeled 'Don't Say Gay' By Critics
Florida's Senate passed a bill on Tuesday with a measure aimed at limiting discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Parental Rights in Education is the official name of the bill, but critics have dubbed it the "Don't Say Gay" bill, arguing that it would make life at school harder for LGBTQ kids. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signaled his support for the bill, which also includes measures that would give parents better access to their kids' education and health records. (Davis, 3/8)

Newsweek: Disney Gave At Least $250K To Senators That Voted For 'Don't Say Gay' Bill
Disney donated at least $250,000 to Florida Republican senators who voted to pass the controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill on Tuesday. ... The donations included $5,500 to Senator Dennis Baxley, who introduced the bill, according to data from the nonprofit OpenSecrets, which tracks political donations. Senate President Wilton Simpson, who voted for the bill, received $21,500 in donations from Disney. Senators Manny Diaz Jr. and Debbie Mayfield also received more than $20,000 from Disney throughout their various political campaigns. The donations have prompted calls to boycott the company, as its CEO Bob Chapek has not publicly condemned the legislation. (Stanton, 3/8)

Miami Herald: ‘Attack On Educators’— Teachers React To ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill 
Dannielle Boyer has no plans to dismantle the safe space she’s created in her classroom for students. “I’ve always been an advocate and fought for students in the [LGBTQ+] community to feel comfortable and free,” the Miami Northwestern Senior High teacher told the Herald. While holding back tears, she said, “I don’t want my students to feel as though they have to live in fear and can’t be who they are.” Her comments came hours after the Florida Senate in a 22-17 vote passed the “Parental Rights in Education’ bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, earlier Tuesday. (Brugal, 3/8)

Bloomberg: Investors Warn Arizona Abortion Restrictions Could Curb Business
A group of investors led by a private-equity firm focused on reproductive health is warning U.S. state lawmakers that limiting access to abortion will hinder their ability to attract talent and curb economic growth. A letter spearheaded by Shelley Alpern, the director of shareholder advocacy at Rhia Ventures, will be sent to Arizona legislators Tuesday. The organizers, who say the signatories have more than $40 billion of assets under management, plan to send similar missives to lawmakers in other states that move to curtail abortion services. (Kinery, 3/8)

AP: Amid Abortion Rights Threat, OB-GYNs More Vocal With Support 
As the Supreme Court mulls whether to uphold Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists filed a brief against the state law, calling it “fundamentally at odds with the provision of safe and essential healthcare.” But the organization’s support for abortion hasn’t always been unequivocal. After the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteed the right to abortion, American OB-GYNs remained divided on the issue. Many declined to perform elective abortions either out of moral opposition or because they wanted to avoid the “butcher” stigma that still clung to abortion doctors from the pre-Roe days. (Loller, 3/8)

The Washington Post: Michigan GOP Candidate Robert Regan Said He’d Tell Daughters To ‘Lie Back And Enjoy It’ If Raped 
A Republican candidate favored to win a seat in the Michigan House said he tells his daughters to “just lie back and enjoy it” if raped, as he attempted to make an analogy about abandoning efforts to decertify the results of the 2020 election. Robert Regan, who is running to represent Michigan’s District 74 in the state legislature, made the comments during a Facebook live stream Sunday. (Alfaro, 3/8)

The New York Times: F.B.I. Sees ‘Massive Fraud’ In Groups’ Food Programs For Needy Children 
Last year, with the federal government making available huge new sums of money for programs to feed needy children during the pandemic, a nonprofit organization called Advance Youth Athletic Development set up what it described as an enormous child care operation in northeast Minneapolis that could prepare 5,000 dinners each weeknight. Based on the group’s claims, the State of Minnesota channeled $3.2 million of the federal food aid to the program. (Farenthold, 3/8)

USA Today: Genetically Modified Mosquitoes In Florida, California Get OK From EPA
Millions of genetically altered mosquitoes that are seeking to ward off their natural, disease-causing counterparts may soon be released in Florida and California after the Environmental Protection Agency approved a plan to further test these modified insects. Developed by the biotechnology company Oxitec, the altered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are genetically modified so that males, which do not bite, are released into the wild and mate with females, which do bite. Their resulting offspring are either male or females that never survive to reach maturity, the company says. (Miller, 3/8)

Bloomberg: Opioid Settlement: Insurers Refuse To Pick Up Bill For Billions In Claims
A multibillion-dollar bill is coming due for the U.S. opioid epidemic and insurers for some of the largest drug makers, distributors and pharmacies are refusing to help pay for it. A Delaware Supreme Court ruling in January has emboldened insurers eager to avoid massive policy claims from companies proposing to settle liability lawsuits over opioids. Half a dozen complaints have been filed in Delaware in the past two months, seeking court approval to block coverage of everything from cash damages to attorneys fees for companies including CVS Health Corp. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. (Feeley, 3/8)

The Boston Globe: Health Commissioner: Fentanyl, Cocaine Fuel ‘Concerning Trends’ In Epidemic
State public health officials observed “concerning trends” in the opioid epidemic last year, particularly driven by the rising prevalence of fentanyl and cocaine in overdose deaths. While the Department of Public Health does not expect to publish the latest estimate of fatal opioid overdoses until its next regular report in May, Commissioner Margret Cooke told lawmakers Monday that worrying signs remain amid significant efforts to blunt the damage. “We’ve seen concerning trends in 2021. We’ve seen an increase in fentanyl, an increase in cocaine in opioid overdose deaths, an 8 percent increase there,” Cooke said at a Ways and Means Committee hearing, later adding, “This crisis is not going away.” (Lisinski, 3/8)

Philadelphia Inquirer: The Animal Tranquilizer Xylazine Is Present In A Quarter Of Philadelphia's Fatal Overdoses
An animal tranquilizer with a strong sedative effect is increasingly turning up in Philadelphia’s fentanyl supply and in the toxicology reports of overdose victims, a new study has found. The study’s authors say more research is needed on the prevalence of the tranquilizer xylazine in Philadelphia and around the country, and what it is doing to people who inject drugs. Anecdotally, drug users and health-care workers have reported serious skin lesions appearing on people who have injected xylazine. Plus, it appears it may be harder to reverse overdoses when an opioid like fentanyl contains xylazine, the study authors wrote. (Whelan, 3/9)

AP: ‘They Make Sure You Don’t Die’: Inside NYC’s Drug Use Sites 
Jose Collado settled in at a clean white table in a sunlit room, sang a few bars and injected himself with heroin. After years of shooting up on streets and rooftops, he was in one of the first two facilities in the country where local officials are allowing illegal drug use in order to make it less deadly. (Peltz, 3/9)

The Boston Globe: The Tooth Fairy Is Calling: Boston Researchers Seeking Baby Teeth For Health Study
Could children’s teeth tell us something about who they will become and what mental health challenges they could encounter? Dr. Erin Dunn believes they can, envisioning a day when physicians routinely scrutinize children’s incisors or canines — after they fall out — for signs of early life trauma, experiences researchers believe may increase a person’s risk of later problems. Such a screening, Dunn hopes, could one day become as routine as the blood tests doctors use to check a patient’s cholesterol and glucose levels, measures that indicate whether a person faces an increased risk of heart disease or diabetes. (Lazar, 3/7)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Meningitis Vaccination Required For 12th Graders In Nevada
Nevada students entering the 12th grade will be required to be vaccinated against meningitis before the next school year begins. The new requirement for the meningococcal vaccine, approved by the State Board of Health as a state regulation, applies to all public, private and charter schools in Nevada. For most students, this means they’ll need a booster dose, as they likely received a first dose at age 11 to 12, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. (Hynes, 3/8)

Modern Healthcare: Five Blues Plans Add Amazon's Drug Discount Card To Benefits
Amazon Pharmacy partnered with five Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurers and their pharmacy benefit manager to integrate its drug discount card into their healthcare coverage, the company announced on Tuesday. Individuals who receive health insurance through Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, Florida Blue and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas will now be able to choose whether they would like to pay for medications through their drug formulary—with prices negotiated by their pharmacy benefit manager, Prime Therapeutics—or pay with Amazon's MedsYourWay drug discount card. MedsYourWay is administered by InsideRx and helps consumers access the cash price for a drug, which participating Blues plans say can be up to 80% cheaper than the price negotiated by their PBM. (Tepper, 3/8)

Axios: For-Profit Hospitals Skip Less Profitable Services, Study Finds
Nonprofit and government-owned hospitals are more likely to offer relatively unprofitable services than for-profit hospitals, according to a new study published in Health Affairs. Nonprofits' financials are often evaluated based on factors like how much charity care they offer and how they pursue patient debt. But the study argues that it's also important to look at which services hospitals offer — including when considering policy that would require nonprofits to offer more free care. (Owens, 3/8)

The Boston Globe: Boston Hospitals Recoup Millions In Debt From Kuwaiti Government
As the coronavirus pandemic pummeled hospital finances two years ago, some of the state’s most prominent health care institutions were facing another multimillion-dollar financial challenge: the country of Kuwait’s persistent failure to pay its hospital bills. The hospitals — including Mass General Brigham, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Boston Children’s Hospital — have longstanding relationships with the country, which offers universal health care and pays for its citizens to receive treatment abroad with technologies and expertise not offered at home. (Bartlett, 3/8)

The Washington Post: CDC Says Avoid Travel To New Zealand, Hong Kong And Thailand As Covid Cases Surge
Three destinations — including two that had kept the coronavirus at bay for most of the pandemic — moved into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s highest warning level for travel on Monday. Americans should avoid traveling to New Zealand, Hong Kong and Thailand because of very high levels of covid-19, the public health agency said in an update that placed the destinations into the “Level 4” category. All three had most recently been categorized as “Level 3,” with high levels of the virus. (Sampson, 3/8)

AP: WHO Says COVID Boosters Needed, Reversing Previous Call 
An expert group convened by the World Health Organization said Tuesday it “strongly supports urgent and broad access” to booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine amid the global spread of omicron, capping a reversal of the U.N. agency’s repeated insistence last year that boosters weren’t necessary for healthy people and contributed to vaccine inequity. In a statement, WHO said its expert group concluded that immunization with authorized COVID-19 vaccines provide high levels of protection against severe disease and death amid the continuing spread of the hugely contagious omicron variant. WHO eased back on its earlier position in January by saying boosters were recommended once countries had adequate supplies and after protecting their most vulnerable. (3/8)

Bloomberg: Iodine Tablet Prices Surge As Nuclear War Fears Plague Europe
Anxious consumers concerned over nuclear-safety risks arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are pushing up prices for iodine and potassium iodide pills. Costs for the tablets — which helps protect the thyroid from radioactive chemicals — have surged in recent weeks after President Vladimir Putin ordered the attack. Russian shelling caused a fire at a building on the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — Europe’s biggest such facility — and the country’s forces have destroyed an atomic-physics lab under international safeguards in Ukraine’s second-largest city. Nuclear-waste facilities in Kyiv were also damaged during the first week of the war. (Ballentine, 3/8)