Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Millions Of Johnson & Johnson Covid Shots Unused, Still In Storage
Politico: Vaccine Mystery: Why J&J’s Shots Aren’t Reaching More Arms
Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot Covid vaccine was supposed to be the catalyst for the country’s return to normal. Instead, it’s sparking confusion and finger-pointing between the states and the Biden administration over why millions of doses are sitting unused. Almost three weeks after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the shots, no one appears to be able to explain why immunizations are lagging. Some states are thought to be intentionally holding back shots, while others say it takes time to inoculate populations like the homebound. (Banco and Roubein, 3/22)
AP: A Rapid COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Backfired In Some US States
Despite the clamor to speed up the U.S. vaccination drive against COVID-19 and get the country back to normal, the first three months of the rollout suggest faster is not necessarily better. A surprising new analysis found that states such as South Carolina and Florida that raced ahead of others to offer the vaccine to ever-larger groups of people have vaccinated smaller shares of their population than those that moved more slowly and methodically, such as Hawaii and Connecticut. (Johnson and Forster, 3/22)
Axios: Biden's Next Challenge: Vaccine Diplomacy
The U.S. accounts for 27% of the world’s coronavirus vaccine production, but 0% of the global supply beyond its own borders. Critics and allies alike say it’s time for that to change. China has gotten a head start on vaccine diplomacy, sending millions of doses all over the globe, including to Latin America. Experts say it’s in America’s interests to compete in the race to vaccinate the world, and the calls to start doing so are getting louder. (Lawler, 3/22)
Stat: How Pharma Companies Stacked Up In The Covid-19 Vaccine Race
In the early stages of the race to develop Covid-19 vaccines, it wasn’t clear how many would work, which manufacturers would score successes, or which projects would fall by the wayside. Now, just a few days past the first anniversary of the start of Moderna’s Phase 1 trial — the first to begin in the United States — we have a much clearer picture of the Covid vaccine landscape. (Branswell, Herper and Garde, 3/22)
Also —
Axios: The Countries Producing The Most COVID-19 Vaccines
The Biden administration on Thursday took a modest first step toward sharing coronavirus vaccines with the world, announcing that it intends to send 1.5 million AstraZeneca doses to Canada and 2.5 million to Mexico. The vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University hasn't been approved in the U.S., and the White House has faced growing criticism for sitting on doses that could be used elsewhere. (Lawler, 3/19)
Bloomberg: Are MRNA Covid Vaccines Risky? What The Experts Say
When it became clear in early 2020 that the Sars-CoV-2 virus posed a pandemic threat, researchers who’d been exploring an innovative way to make vaccines saw an opportunity. Experimental messenger RNA vaccines had been recognized for years for their potential speed and flexibility in a fast-moving epidemic, and were some of the first Covid inoculations to move into human trials. The effort paid off when, late last year, vaccines from Moderna Inc. and the Pfizer Inc./BioNTech SE partnership were the first to prove effective. Because the technology is so new, however, these vaccines are particularly vulnerable to disinformation campaigns aimed at dissuading people from taking the shots. (Langreth, 3/22)
