Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Judge Says DC Kids Can't Get Vaxxed Without Parents' Knowledge
The Hill: Federal Judge Blocks DC Law Allowing Kids To Get Vaccinated Without Parental Consent
A federal judge temporarily blocked the District of Columbia from enforcing a law that would have allowed children to get vaccinated without the knowledge of their parents, ruling the law violated parents' religious liberties. The law in question, the Minor Consent for Vaccinations Amendment Act of 2020, allows children as young as 11 years old to be vaccinated so long as a provider deems them capable of informed consent. (Weixel, 3/21)
And more about the rollout of vaccines and covid treatments —
The New York Times: Vaccination Rates Have Stalled With Another Potential Uptick Coming
Since last summer, the U.S. inoculation campaign has sputtered, undermined by vaccine skepticism, partisan politics and misinformation. And warnings of another potential surge, fueled by the new Omicron subvariant, BA.2, may have little impact on vaccination rates. Rates for boosters are even further behind. Omicron’s emergence in late fall pushed federal regulators to expand booster eligibility, and some Americans rushed to get the additional dose. But the booster campaign has stalled, with about half of eligible U.S. adults still not boosted as of Monday, according to the C.D.C. People may be even less motivated now than before, as masks come off, restrictions are lifted, and the public shifts toward treating the coronavirus as a part of daily life. (Lukpat, Petri and Stolberg, 3/22)
Bloomberg: Can I Get A Second Covid Booster? FDA Advisers To Consider Extra Shot
U.S. government advisers will meet early next month to discuss the use of additional Covid-19 booster shots as states and companies lower prevention safeguards such as masking and work at home. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will meet April 6 to discuss the use of future booster doses to address current and potential future virus strains of concern, according to a statement Monday. The panel advises the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on immunizations. (Rutherford, 3/21)
KHN: Immunocompromised Patients Worry Vaccine Exemptions Put Them In Peril
Charlie O’Neill received part of her husband’s liver in a 2013 living donor transplant and has been taking drugs that suppress her immune system ever since to prevent her body from attacking the organ. “I frequently get infections,” she said. “Just being an immune-compromised person, you are faced with just every little cold and flu.” O’Neill lives in the small town of Pony in southwestern Montana’s Madison Valley. Despite living in an uncrowded rural setting, O’Neill said, the first year of the coronavirus pandemic was terrifying. She rarely left home, waiting for covid-19 vaccines to become available. (Bolton, 3/22)
AP: Doctors Finding Hurdles To Using Pills To Treat COVID-19
High-risk COVID-19 patients now have new treatments they can take at home to stay out of the hospital — if doctors get the pills to them fast enough. Health systems around the country are rushing out same-day prescription deliveries. Some clinics have started testing and treating patients in one visit, an initiative that President Joe Biden’s administration recently touted. (Murphy, 3/21)
Southern California News Group: Pills To Fight COVID-19 Coming To A Drugstore Near You
“The health care system is already set up to make things as difficult as possible,” said Dr. Aaron E. Carroll, distinguished professor at Indiana University, at the webinar. One-stop shops are more likely to be in wealthy communities than in poorer ones, where the drugs are more likely to be needed, he said. So sick people without pharmacy-based clinics nearby must find a testing site — getting more difficult as states scale down those efforts — and test results can take a day or two to come back. Then folks must find a doctor to write a prescription for the new drugs, and then find a pharmacy that has them in stock. And all this must happen very quickly — within about five days of infection, for some of the oral drugs to work their magic. (Sforza, 3/21)
In updates on covid mandates —
Los Angeles Times: L.A. Teachers Union Approves Deal To Lift Mask Mandate
Members of the Los Angeles teachers union have ratified an agreement to make masking optional in the nation’s second-largest school system, the union announced Monday night. Under the agreement, the indoor masking requirement for students and staff will be lifted Wednesday for staff and students ranging from early transitional kindergarten through 12th grade and also including adult school and work sites without students. Among those who cast ballots, 84% voted yes and 16% voted no. (Blume, 3/21)
AP: New Orleans Lifts Proof-Of-Vaccine Rule For Bars, Eateries
Bars, restaurants and other businesses in New Orleans are no longer required to make patrons show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative test for the disease, the city said Monday in a news release. The mandate, which dates back to August, was officially lifted at 6 a.m. (McGill, 3/21)
The Boston Globe: Ricardo Arroyo Says Vaccine Opponents Protested Outside His Mother’s Home Monday Morning
Nearly three months after demonstrators began gathering in the early mornings outside Mayor Michelle Wu’s Roslindale home to protest Boston’s vaccine mandates and coronavirus restrictions, City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo says his family is being targeted as well. But when a small group of demonstrators gathered outside a Hyde Park home Monday morning, Arroyo wasn’t there. The house belongs to his mother, a 70-year-old retired Boston Public Schools teacher, he said on Twitter. “She told them it wasn’t my home but they ignored her & kept on for hours,” he wrote. “City Hall is open and they can protest there. It’s clear the goal isn’t protest but targeted harassment and its wrong.” (Stoico, 3/21)
