Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
More Flexibility Needed Or Vaccine Will Go To Waste, FDA Head Says
The Hill: FDA Chief Urges States To Allow COVID-19 Vaccinations Of Lower-Priority Groups
The leader of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday urged states to allow lower-priority groups to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if their doses would otherwise go to waste. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn told reporters he thinks the federal guidelines for vaccination, which recommend starting with health workers and nursing home staff and employees, make sense. (Weixel, 1/8)
New York changes rules to cut down on waste —
The New York Times: After Unused Vaccines Are Thrown In Trash, Cuomo Loosens Rules
Across New York State, medical providers in recent weeks had the same story: They had been forced to throw out precious vaccine doses because of difficulties finding patients who matched precisely with the state’s strict vaccination guidelines — and the steep penalties they would face had they made a mistake. On Saturday, state health officials responded to the outcry over discarded vaccines by again abruptly loosening guidelines as coronavirus cases continued to rise. (Rubinstein, 1/10)
The Hill: Under Pressure, Cuomo To Widen Vaccine Eligibility
Facing mounting criticism, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Friday said the state will expand COVID-19 vaccination eligibility to a wider range of the public, including those over the age of 75 and first responders. Cuomo has been under fire for rigidly adhering to prioritizing health workers and nursing homes, despite numerous instances of vaccine doses sitting unused in freezers or even being thrown out. (Weixel, 1/8)
And hospitals say their syringes are leading to waste —
Politico: Hospitals Say Syringes Supplied By Feds Waste Vaccine Doses
Hospitals are throwing out doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine because the federal government is giving some of the facilities syringes that can only extract five doses from vials that often contain more. Pharmacists discovered early in the U.S. vaccination push that the standard five-dose vials of the vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech often contained enough material for six or even seven shots. (Luthi and Roubein, 1/10)
The Sun: Fears Up To 150,000 Pfizer Covid Vaccine Doses Could Have Been Wasted
As many as 150,000 Covid vaccine doses may be have been wasted because doctors are "wrongly being told to throw away a potential sixth dose". Every vial of the Pfizer vaccine was expected to include five doses - enough for five people - but GPs have found it's possible to get six doses out of each. (Mullin, 1/8)
