Latest KFF Health News Stories
The government made the deal with AstraZeneca as part of its “Operation Warp Speed” vaccine push. The drugmaker will begin late-stage clinical trials this summer with roughly 30,000 people for the potential vaccine developed at a Oxford University lab. The deal is the latest in a funding race that’s quickly heating up as countries try to secure vaccines that haven’t even been developed yet.
Experts Worry About Dangerous Trend Of Trump Politicizing Scientific Results In Midst Of Pandemic
President Donald Trump has criticized scientists and research results in recent days, dismissing their findings by claiming they’re political enemies. “If the president is politicizing science, if he’s discounting health experts, then the public is going to be fearful and confused,” said Larry Gostin, a Georgetown University law professor. In other news on Trump and his administration: scientists ask for a federal review as to why a coronavirus grant was canceled; Trump’s claims of success against the virus could haunt him; Trump to lower flags in honor of virus victims; and more.
Trump Continued To Criticize Mail-In-Voting, But Many States See It As Inevitable
Surrounding his trip to Michigan, and election battleground, President Donald Trump was vocal about his opposition to mail-in-voting. But many states, even Republican-leaning ones, are mobilizing to make voting easier as experts predict a second virus wave in the fall. “Every once in a while you get the president of the United States popping up and screaming against vote-by-mail, but states and both political parties are organizing their people for it,” said Michael Waldman, the president of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. “It’s a bizarre cognitive dissonance.”
Trump Wears Mask–Just Not In Front Of Media–While Touring Ford Plant In Battleground Michigan
Whether President Donald Trump would follow Ford’s strict mask policy was the focus of attention as the president traveled to the battleground state to tour a factory that makes ventilators. Trump said he wore a mask in some parts of the factory but not in front of cameras because “I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it.” Meanwhile, the president won’t support closing the country again if the predicted second wave comes.
U.S. Death Toll Steadily Climbing Toward 100,000 While Experts Worry About Undercounting
In the United States there have been nearly 1.58 million confirmed infections so far, though experts say that the real number is likely much higher.
Opinion writers weigh in on these pandemic topics and others.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these pandemic issues and others.
Research Roundup: COVID-19; Suicide and Firearms; And Flu Shot Outreach Efforts
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
California Reports Nearly 124,000 People Have Signed Up For Covered California Plans During Crisis
Although people could already sign up for coverage if they had an unexpected life event, California specifically created a special enrollment period to make it easier. In other health industry and insurer news: MLR rebates, accountable care organizations, and Medicare payments.
Stat reports on new studies underway on how COVID upsets the body’s immune system. “It’s something I have never seen in my 20 years of” studying viruses, said virologist Benjamin tenOever. Science-backed news is on risk from low white blood cell counts, underlying illnesses, and microscopic images, as well.
Media outlets report on news from Georgia, California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Hawaii, California, Illinois, Maine and Nevada.
“You cannot defeat a plague or a pandemic outside of prisons if you let it run free inside the prisons, which is basically what’s happening,” said Van Jones, head of a criminal justice advocacy group. News on prisons is from Maine, Nevada, Maryland, California, and New York, as well.
How States Are Counting Their Tests Is Providing Misleading Picture Of COVID’s Path
Virginia, Texas, Georgia, and Vermont have said they’ve been adding viral test results and antibody test results to their totals. The combination could overstate a state’s ability to test and track active infections.
Studies That Show Monkeys Develop Immunity To Virus Raise Hopes For An Effective Vaccine
The question of whether patients can get sick again after fighting off the virus–or get sick in the first place after receiving a vaccine–has been one of the mysteries scientists have been trying to solve since the beginning. Two different studies in monkeys offer some hope that humans can develop immunity to this particular virus. But questions–like how long that immunity lasts–remain.
A Reality TV Star Finds A Very Stark Reality While Searching For Millions Of Medical Masks
Despite encountering fraud in many corners, Bethenny Frankel’s BStrong charity and its partner organization, Global Empowerment Mission, donated more than two million masks and isolation gowns to hospitals and other groups in all 50 states. Other news related to personal protective equipment is on increasing U.S. manufacturing, a poll of health care workers on the shortages and complaints about New Yorkers not wearing masks.
Over 5 Million Coronavirus Cases Across The World Reported And New Single-Day Record Set
Developments in the global pandemic are reported out of China, Brazil, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany, Colombia, Russia and other nations.
Powerful Propaganda Machine Intended To Sow Division Likely Responsible For Half Of Virus Tweets
Scientists can’t confirm if Russia or China are responsible for the bots on Twitter, but they say the strategy follows closely to the countries’ known playbooks on sowing division in America. Researchers identified more than 100 false narratives about COVID-19 that are proliferating on Twitter by accounts controlled by bots. In other public health news, car fatalities, “artifacts” of the coronavirus era, PTSD in health workers, air travel and more.
Millions of Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week — making it the ninth week in a row the U.S. economy shed millions of jobs due to coronavirus shut downs. While businesses begin to reopen in many parts of the country, financial analysts worry that the massive number of layoffs and furloughs have taken a longer-term hold of the labor market.
Vulnerable Republicans Express Frustration Over Leadership’s Wait-And-See Mentality
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is adamant that the upper chamber won’t rush to pass another coronavirus relief package, despite the House’s ambitious legislation. But not everyone in the party is on board with that plan. Meanwhile, McConnell vows to end the beefed up $600 unemployment benefits policy.
