Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Fourth Year Of The Global Covid Pandemic Begins
AP: Pandemic 3 Years Later: Has The COVID-19 Virus Won?
Saturday marked three years since the World Health Organization first called the outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020, and the United Nation’s health organization says it’s not yet ready to say the emergency has ended. ... With information sources drying up, it has become harder to keep tabs on the pandemic. Johns Hopkins University on Friday shut down its trusted tracker, which it started soon after the virus emerged in China and spread worldwide. (Johnson, 3/10)
The Washington Post: America Shut Down In Response To Covid. Would We Ever Do It Again?
The shutdown was profoundly strange and has had lasting effects on our national psyche. But memories fade, circumstances change, opinions shift. Three years later, the decision by local, state and federal government officials to limit spread of the virus continues to spark rancorous battles in the pandemic-fueled arenas of the culture war. So what will the country do the next time a deadly virus comes knocking on the door? (Achenbach, 3/10)
The Washington Post: Covid Experts Today: Eating Out, Masking Less, Even Booking Cruises
Just like us, they disinfected groceries, left their mail outside for 24 hours, canceled family gatherings, stopped eating out. But today, for the medical experts at the forefront of dealing with the coronavirus that causes covid-19, everyday life has become more normal. All have been vaccinated and boosted, and many have had covid too, a combination that seems to provide more durable protection. While the pandemic isn’t gone, their risk calculations these days look different. ... The Washington Post has interviewed a group of medical experts several times over the past three years to see how the pandemic was affecting their personal lives. Here’s what they have to say today. (Cimons, 3/12)
NBC News: What People With ‘Super Immunity’ Can Teach Us About Covid And Other Viruses
Three years into the pandemic, a select group of people have achieved something some once thought impossible: They have never tested positive for Covid. Scientists around the world are searching for the genetic reasons these people have dodged Covid — despite repeated exposure to the virus. ere they born with a form of super immunity? What's behind their Houdini-like success at escaping infection? (Edwards, 3/11)
On the covid vaccine rollout —
San Francisco Chronicle: Why No One Is Telling You When To Get The Next COVID Booster Shot
People who received the bivalent COVID-19 booster when it first became available more than six months ago may wonder whether it’s time to roll up their sleeves again. The mantra of public health officials throughout the pandemic has been for individuals to maintain their immunity levels by staying up to date on vaccinations. But no one seems to know what happens next. (Vaziri, 3/12)
AP: US Agencies Debunk Florida Surgeon General's Vaccine Claims
U.S. health agencies have sent a letter to Florida’s surgeon general, warning him that his claims about COVID-19 vaccine risks are harmful to the public. The letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was sent Friday to Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. It was a response to a letter Ladapo had written the agencies last month, expressing concerns about what he described as adverse effects from mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. (3/11)
AP: Mississippi Man Gets 2 Years For Threats To CDC Officials
A Mississippi man allegedly upset about the COVID-19 vaccination program has been sentenced to two years in prison for threatening federal health officials, federal prosecutors said. Robert Wiser Bates, 39, of Ridgeland, placed phone calls to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta in July 2021 and left threatening voicemails for the agency’s director, Rochelle Walensky, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca. (3/10)
Reuters: Moderna Loses Bid To Shift Liability In COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Case
Despite the backing of the U.S. government, Moderna Inc on Friday failed to persuade a federal judge it should not have to face a patent lawsuit over its COVID-19 vaccine and that the United States should have been sued instead. U.S. District Judge Mitchell Goldberg ruled for the second time that Moderna had not yet shown that the government was the proper target of a lawsuit by Arbutus Biopharma Corp (ABUS.O) and Genevant Sciences GmbH. (Brittain, 3/10)
On long covid —
NBC News: What's Your Current Risk Of Getting Long Covid? Estimates Hover Around 5%-10%
It's a question few people know how to answer, even after three pandemic years and more than 100 million Covid cases in the U.S.: When someone gets infected today, what is their risk of developing long Covid? "Even the medical community is unclear on all of this. The data is just emerging so rapidly and the estimates are varied," said Dr. Rainu Kaushal, chair of the department of population health sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine. (Bendix, 3/10)
NBC News: For Some Long Covid Patients, Acupuncture And Other Eastern Remedies Bring Relief That Western Medicines Have Not
Frustrated by a lack of results from Western medicine, some long Covid patients have turned to Eastern alternatives. Many say acupuncture, in particular, has provided relief. Lauren Nichols, a Massachusetts resident who got Covid in March 2020, estimated that over two years she had tried around 30 different pharmaceuticals to ease her migraines, brain fog, fatigue, seizures, diarrhea and other lasting symptoms. Eventually her physical limitations — and a lack of answers — became so overwhelming that she developed suicidal thoughts. (Bendix, 3/11)
More on the spread of covid —
ABC News: The Winter COVID Wave That Wasn't: Why The US Didn't See A Surge
During the first winter wave, weekly cases peaked at 1,714,256 the week of Jan. 13, 2021, as did weekly deaths at 23,378, according to CDC data. Subsequently, during the second winter wave -- due to the omicron variant -- weekly infections reached their high point of 5,630,736 the week of Jan. 19, 2022, and weekly deaths saw a high of 17,373 the week of Feb. 2, 2022, the data shows. By comparison, according to the CDC, the highest number of weekly cases seen during the most recent winter wave was 472,601 the week of Dec. 7, 2023 -- the first time the peak has not surpassed 1 million. (Kekatos, 3/13)
CIDRAP: Kids' COVID Symptoms—Not Rates Of Severe Disease—Evolved With Variants
Fever and cough were more common among Canadian children infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron variants than the original, wild-type virus and the Alpha variant, but rates of hospitalization and intensive care unit (ICU) admission stayed the same over time, finds a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. ... Upper respiratory tract symptoms were most common with Delta. (Van Beusekom, 3/10)
