Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
France Locks Down, Hit By Covid Surge; Few Infected Britons Took Covid Tests
AP: Medics Despair As France’s ‘Third Way’ Virus Strategy Flails
As France battles a new virus surge that many believe was avoidable, intensive care nurse Stephanie Sannier manages her stress and sorrow by climbing into her car after a 12-hour shift, blasting music and singing as loud as she can. “It allows me to breathe,” she says, “and to cry.” People with COVID-19 occupy all the beds in her ICU ward in President Emmanuel Macron’s hometown hospital in the medieval northern city of Amiens. Three have died in the past three days. The vast medical complex is turning away critically ill patients from smaller towns nearby for lack of space. (Charlton, 4/1)
Axios: France To Close Schools For 3 Weeks, Impose Domestic Travel Ban As COVID Surges
France is requiring schools nationwide to close for three weeks and is imposing a domestic travel ban to help control the "accelerating" coronavirus pandemic, President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday. It's the third lockdown for the country since the pandemic began, and a departure from the recent regional approach. The move comes as Europe battles a third wave of the coronavirus, driven in part by more transmissible variants. (3/31)
The New York Times: Italy Pushes Back As Health Care Workers Shun Covid Vaccines
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mario Draghi tested the legal limits of his government’s ability to address the problem by issuing a decree requiring that workers in health care facilities be vaccinated. It also allowed hospital employers to suspend without pay any health care workers who refuse to do so. Some legal analysts have said that requiring Covid-19 inoculation for health workers could violate Italy’s privacy laws, and that firing or forcing any who decline it to take unpaid leave could be unconstitutional because of a specific article that protects people who refuse health treatments. (Horowitz, 3/31)
Reuters: Only 1 In 5 With COVID Symptoms In UK Seek Test: Study
Only one person in five in Britain with COVID-19 symptoms has sought or would seek a test, according to a study which found a link between people on low pay and poor adherence to the government’s rules. Eighteen percent of participants in the study published in the British Medical Journal said they got or would get a test after showing symptoms and 42.5% would fully adhere to isolation rules, according to the study. “This is such an important part of any government’s pandemic control measures,” one of the reports authors - Susan Michie, a University College London health psychology professor - told BBC Radio. (4/1)
The Wall Street Journal: Lessons From The Calculated Risk Behind U.K.’s Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout
The U.K.’s bold call to delay giving people a second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine has put it out in front in the race to inoculate the world against the disease. Behind that decision: a group of 16 scientists who advocated a controversial move to overrule some vaccine manufacturers’ guidelines in order to get more first doses to more people. The gamble appears to have paid off, with incoming data pointing to durable protection against falling ill after just one vaccine dose. But while some countries, such as Canada, have followed the U.K.’s lead, others including the U.S. are refusing, saying to do so could pose a risk to public health. (Colchester and Douglas, 4/1)
Reuters: Poles Scramble To Sign Up For COVID-19 Jabs After Surprise Policy Shift
Poles rushed to sign up for COVID-19 vaccinations on Thursday morning after the government unexpectedly opened registrations for people aged over 40 overnight, in a sudden shift that led to so many applications that an online system crashed. Over 2 million Poles have so far received both shots of a vaccine, but the prime minister’s top aide, who has been put in charge of the vaccination programme, said slower rates of registration among older Poles meant the government had decided to widen access. (4/1)
Reuters: India Opens Up Immunisation To More People, Vaccine Exports To Dwindle
India opened up its coronavirus inoculation programme to people above 45 on Thursday as infections surge, which will delay vaccine exports from the world’s biggest maker of the drug. The country, with the most number of reported COVID-19 cases after the United States and Brazil, has so far injected 64 million doses and exported nearly as many. This has raised criticism at home as India’s per-capita vaccination figure is much lower than many countries. The government has previously said that people over 45 can register for inoculation from April 1. (4/1)
