Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Most Unvaxxed Americans Aren't Asking For The Free At-Home Tests
Newsweek: Most Unvaccinated Americans Have Not Requested At-Home COVID Test: Poll
Despite at-home COVID-19 testing being available through the U.S. government, many unvaccinated Americans have not filed requests for them. According to a new poll from YouGov, around 70 percent of Americans who have no plans to get a COVID-19 vaccine have not attempted to request at-home testing kits. The poll comes as a new strain of the Omicron variant entitled Stealth has been detected in 30 states, prompting an increase in the need for testing. The Stealth strain has currently been found in over 200 cases across the United States. (Brady, 2/1)
CIDRAP: It's Easy To Misinterpret At-Home COVID Test Results, Data Show
A randomized controlled trial yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that adult consumers struggle to interpret and act on negative at-home COVID-19 tests. ... Steven Woloshin, MD, of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, led the April 2021 trial, which involved asking 338 US adults how they would interpret the results of their self-test using instructions authorized by the FDA, instructions developed using decision science principles, or no instructions. The FDA-authorized test instructions were provided by the individual test makers. (Van Beusekom, 2/1)
Indianapolis Star: Indiana Winter Storm Will Close COVID-19 Testing, Vaccination Clinics
With a projected snow and ice storm bearing down on Central Indiana, the Indiana Department of Health on Tuesday announced that many of its mobile COVID-19 testing and vaccination clinics will be closed Thursday. All of the state's mobile clinics will close at 5 p.m. Wednesday and many will remain closed on Thursday, including the largest clinic at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Rudavsky, 2/1)
Roll Call: Testing Shortages Reach Nursing Homes, Home Health Agencies
Nursing homes and other elder care providers are grappling with the current shortage of rapid COVID-19 tests, with reports emerging of low supplies as the administration mounts a massive effort to boost the country’s manufacturing capacity. The testing shortage is compounded by a worsening staffing crisis. The industry lost hundreds of thousands of workers since the beginning of the pandemic, and the surge in cases from the omicron variant is forcing more staffers to call out of work. (Clason, 2/2)
KHN: At Nursing Homes, Long Waits For Results Render Covid Tests ‘Useless’
More nursing homes are waiting longer for covid-19 test results for residents and staffers, according to federal data, making the fight against record numbers of omicron cases even harder. The double whammy of slower turnaround times for lab-based PCR tests and a shortage of rapid antigen tests has strained facilities where quickly identifying infections is crucial for keeping a highly vulnerable population safe. (Pradhan, 2/2)
