Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Major Milestone': First Home Test For Covid And Flu Authorized By FDA
NPR: FDA Authorizes The First At-Home Test For COVID And The Flu
The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization on Friday for the first at-home test that can simultaneously detect both COVID-19 and the flu. With a shallow nasal swab, the single-use kit can provide results within 30 minutes indicating whether a person is positive or negative for COVID, as well as influenza A and influenza B, which are two common strains of the flu. (Kim, 2/25)
Stat: The FDA Has Cleared The First Home Flu And Covid Test — But Its Maker Just Declared Bankruptcy
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for the first at-home test that can detect flu and Covid-19 — but for the test’s maker, Lucira, the long-anticipated authorization may have taken too long. The company filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 22, directly blaming the “protracted” FDA authorization process for the over-the-counter combination test for its financial troubles. (Trang, 2/26)
On vaccines and covid treatments —
Fox News: CDC Advisory Group Finds Insufficient Evidence To Recommend More Than One COVID-19 Booster A Year
A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory group said Friday it isn’t recommending more than one annual coronavirus vaccine booster. The working committee, which is part of the CDC’s Advisory Committee For Immunization Practices, found insufficient evidence that more than one shot a year would benefit older or immunocompromised people. (Stimson, 2/24)
NBC News: Nasal Covid Vaccine Shows Promise In Early Clinical Trial
The vaccine, developed by a startup called Blue Lake Biotechnology Inc., was found to reduce the risk of symptomatic Covid infections by 86% for three months in people who received it as a booster dose. Existing booster shots in the United States reduce symptomatic infections by 43% in people 18 to 49 over one to two months, according to a study published in November by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Chow, 2/24)
Reuters: Pfizer/BioNTech Apply For Full FDA Approval Of Updated COVID Vaccine
Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE said on Friday they filed an application to the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a full approval of their Omicron-adapted COVID-19 vaccine. The companies are seeking approval of the updated vaccine both as a primary course and a booster dose for individuals 12 years of age and above. (2/24)
The Washington Post: Doctors Who Touted Ivermectin As Covid Fix Now Pushing It For Flu, RSV
First, the group of doctors championed ivermectin as a covid panacea. It failed to live up to the hype. Now, they’re promoting the anti-parasitic to prevent and treat the flu and RSV. The Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance, formed in 2020 to “prevent and treat covid,” is touting ivermectin for common respiratory infections amid a dramatic drop in prescriptions for the drug as clinical trials undermined claims of its efficacy against covid. (Weber, 2/26)
Bloomberg: Merck’s Covid-19 Pill Gets Negative Recommendation In EU
Merck & Co.’s Covid-19 pill received a negative recommendation from a European Union regulatory committee, a blow to efforts to gain clearance for marketing the medicine in the bloc. (Lauerman and Muller, 2/24)
More on the spread of covid —
San Francisco Chronicle: XBB.1.5 Now Makes Up 85% Of U.S. Cases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant made up about 85% of U.S. COVID-19 cases in the week through Feb. 25, up from 74.7% of cases sequenced in the week ending Feb. 11. The BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 omicron subvariants together accounted for 12% of new cases, down from 20.4% two weeks ago. (Vaziri, 2/24)
San Francisco Chronicle: Nearly 80% Of U.S. Counties Have Low Virus Levels
About 77.58% of all U.S. counties have low COVID-19 community levels, according to updated figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is the largest proportion of people in that tier in nearly nine months. Another 20.34% have medium levels, and 2.08% have high levels. (Vaziri, 2/24)
The Baltimore Sun: ‘It’s Not Over’: The State May Be Closing Its Baltimore Mass Testing And Vaccination Site, But COVID Fight Continues
They’ve been in the trenches together for the past several years and soon would move on. The war might not be over, but this phase was. “It’s bittersweet,” Dr. Mindy Kantsiper said Friday as she surveyed the state’s largely empty COVID testing, treatment and vaccination site in Baltimore. She and Dr. Charles “Chuck” Callahan, who together led the site, visited and reminisced with staff in advance of its closing Saturday. There were hugs and reflections of a time when supplies were limited and long lines of people circled the temporary facility on a parking lot at the State Center complex in Midtown Baltimore. (Marbella and Roberts, 2/26)
San Francisco Chronicle: GOP Senator Who Opposed Pandemic Aid Retired Due To Long COVID
Oklahoma lawmaker Jim Inhofe earlier this month told his local newspaper, Tulsa World, that he has retired from the Senate because he is suffering from long COVID, which severely limits his daily activities. The former Republican congressman who voted against multiple coronavirus aid packages at the height of the pandemic, including the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in March 2020 and the American Rescue Plan in March 2021, spent nearly 40 years in the federal government, most frequently as a foil to Democrat Barbara Boxer. (Vaziri, 2/24)
