Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Doctors Not Being Held Accountable For Covid Misinformation; Sewers Can Alert Us Of Covid Surges
NBC News: Covid Vaccine And Treatment Misinformation Is Medical Malpractice. It Should Be Punished.
The doctor-patient relationship starts at birth and extends across one's life. When patients are honest with their doctors, better decisions can be made about their health. They expect the same honesty in return and, indeed, the Hippocratic Oath demands as much of physicians. Underscoring this important responsibility, throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, national polls have found that most Americans trust medical professionals to give them accurate information about the virus. (Brian Castrucci and Nick Sawyer, 1/8)
Bloomberg: Covid Omicron: Sewers Are Our Early Warning System For Future Virus Outbreaks
Israeli scientists monitoring samplings of sewage water in 2013 made a startling discovery: an outbreak of paralyzing polio was imminent. A national vaccination campaign was quickly mobilized and no cases appeared. That same year, Swedish scientists provided public officials with an early warning for outbreaks of hepatitis A and norovirus using the same methods. If we are to regain, and retain, normal living, we’ll need the same kind of early warning system for future variants and pandemics. Fortunately, we’re getting closer to having that. (Therese Raphael, 1/8)
The Star Tribune: Even 'Mild' COVID Can Hit Hard
For Ken Jones, 63, a tech consulting manager from Delano, getting COVID was like having "a truck hit me," with fever and fatigue packing a punch. Writer Pam Bosch, 49, of Roseville, started off with an upset stomach and muscle aches but then had a "harrowing" episode with a racing heartbeat. Meg McEachran, a 27-year-old mom and grad student from St. Paul, grappled with muscle aches, fatigue and congestion for about a week. (1/8)
The Atlantic: Omicron Has Created Two New COVID Attitudes
To understand how ideologically scrambling the Omicron wave of has been, consider this: It's got some 2022 Democrats sounding like 2020 Republicans. In spring 2020, many Republicans, including President Donald Trump, insisted that COVID was hardly worse than the flu; that its fatality risk was comparable to an everyday activity, like driving in a car; and that an obsessive focus on cases wouldn’t give an accurate picture of what was going on in the pandemic. (Derek Thompson, 1/10)
The Boston Globe: Surveillance, Screening, And Self-Testing Can Help Us Manage COVID In The Long Term
Many of us thought the end of the pandemic was within sight when the first COVID-19 vaccinations started rolling out last year. However, it is clear that COVID will be with us for the long term. We need many tools to manage this virus — vaccination, proper masking, ventilation in indoor spaces, and testing are the primary ones, with widespread vaccination the most crucial. But waning immunity and evolving variants remind us that our work to limit the pandemic has not been a one-way march but, instead, a series of steps forward and back. (Joseph Hogan, Alyssa Bilinski, Elizabeth Stuart and Joshua Salomon, 1/10)
Chicago Tribune: Let Hospitals, Not Politicians, Triage Care During The Latest COVID-19 Surge
The omicron surge is pushing our nation’s health care system to the brink. As omicron infections surge, the number of people seeking care in emergency rooms and hospitals is skyrocketing. Though omicron may prove to be less virulent than delta and other variants, the volume of infections is placing unprecedented demand on hospitals and their resources. Some hospital systems are delaying elective surgeries to make room for COVID-19 patients. They are focusing on what is immediately urgent versus what is important and critical to avoid the need for emergency care. (Sheldon H. Jacobson, 1/10)
Dallas Morning News: Getting COVID Shots In All Kids Begins With Pediatricians Developing Trust With Patients
The new year begins with good news for anxious parents wanting COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters for their children. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine booster for children 12 to 15 years of age. This means everyone over the age of 12, including adults, can get booster shots. The FDA also allows a third primary series dose for certain immunocompromised children 5 through 11 years of age. (Suma Manjunath, 1/9)
