Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Parsing Policy: Make Antibody Drugs Available Until Vaccine Arrives; Herd Immunity Idea Is Losing Luster
The Wall Street Journal: Antibodies As Covid Insurance
The U.S. can buy a Covid insurance policy for next year. The federal government should scale up production of antibody drugs to make as many doses as possible. The Food and Drug Administration has cleared two such drugs, from Regeneron and Eli Lilly, for emergency use. For newly diagnosed patients, they reduce the risk of severe disease. Making them is relatively straightforward, but supply is limited because the government didn’t find enough manufacturing space in the spring. Regeneron and Lilly took extraordinary steps to increase their own production. (Scott Gottlieb, 12/13)
Bloomberg: Covid Vaccines Bring Home The Failure Of Herd Immunity
It’s time for some good news. A few hours before I wrote this, my father (who is 83 and had a nasty case of pneumonia a few years ago) phoned to tell me that he will be having his first Covid-19 vaccination shot this week, with a second to follow in the first week of January. My 81-year-old mother will get her jabs at the same time. The British rollout continues apace, just as the introduction of the same vaccine is ready to start in the U.S. (John Authers, 12/14)
The New York Times: The Coronavirus Vaccine Won't Solve Everything
This should be a season of hope: We will shortly be getting a highly effective coronavirus vaccine, and the pandemic should wind down in the coming months. Yet this is the most wretched holiday season of my life. Consider: More Americans have died from Covid-19 in nine months than in combat over four years in World War II. The virus death toll exceeds 292,000, compared with 291,557 American World War II battle deaths. (Nicholas Kristof, 12/11)
CNN: Congress Stumbles On A Covid-19 Aid Package As Hopes For A Vaccine
A key panel charged with evaluating the first coronavirus vaccine candidate in the US raced against the clock on Thursday in the quest to save American lives -- a stark contrast with the dithering, excuses and appalling lack of action on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are struggling to strike a deal to send emergency pandemic relief to millions of Americans and may fail, once again, to avert a government shutdown at midnight. (Maeve Reston, 12/11)
Stat: Let Patients Speak For Themselves On The Biden Task Force
Ever since President-elect Biden named his Covid-19 task force, advice for improving its makeup has poured in from all quarters. A recent op-ed by two nurses chided Biden to add a nurse to the task force in part because nurses “give voice to patients.” As a cancer survivor and patient, I have my own voice. So do the millions of patients around the country, whose voices have often been co-opted in national debates and policy forums by nurses, doctors, and others speaking for us. (Shari Berman, 12/14)
The Hill: How The Pandemic Brought Us Opportunity For Health, Wealth And Happiness
It is often said that health is wealth, and at no time in our lives has this truism proven more correct than during the COVID-19 pandemic and the U.S. political upheaval. This has been a year unlike any other in my lifetime. Individuals have learned a lot about just how precious life is. At this point, nearly a year into the pandemic, each of us probably knows someone who has contracted COVID-19. While most have managed to defeat this insidious virus, going through days of unpleasantness but ultimately emerging a survivor, others have not been so fortunate. (Armstrong Williams, 12/10)
Los Angeles Times: Universal Mail Ballots Are A COVID Measure Worth Keeping
Though it may be hard to imagine now, sometime in the not distant future, the emergency measures adopted this year to control the spread of COVID-19 will no longer be necessary. But California would benefit by keeping at least one of them in place for good: mailing a ballot to every active registered voter in the state. When it became clear this spring that the pandemic was not likely to end before the Nov. 3 election, lawmakers acted to ensure that all active registered voters in California could participate without risking infection. Counties were directed to mail ballots to all voters, whether they requested one or not, and, with an onslaught of mail ballots expected, were allowed to start processing ballots extra early. The state also extended the grace period for mailed-in ballots to 17 days. (12/14)
The Hill: Time Awarding Biden, Harris 'Person Of The Year' Is An Insult To Health Care Workers
Time giving President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris its 2020 Person of the Year award is patently laughable in its partisanship. Why did Time do it? Because it was the politically correct thing to do, and it's what Time’s readers wanted from a comfort food perspective, all while largely ignoring the true heroes of 2020: health care workers on the front lines of COVID-19. (Joe Concha, 12/13)
Stat: Peer Recovery Programs Should Be A Key Part Of Addiction Treatment
I still remember the charge nurse looking at me when I walked into the hospital four years ago for my first assignment as a peer recovery specialist. “Hey,” she said. “Are you the overdose guy?” I nodded. She pointed me toward the far corner of the emergency department, where a man lay in a hospital bed. “He’s a real winner,” she said wryly. I glanced over at him, paused, and replied, “Once upon a time, I was that winner. The only difference between him and me was that I was also handcuffed to the bed.” (Eric McIntire, 12/14)
