Survey: Most Americans Accept Benefits Of Wearing Masks

CNN: Face Mask Survey Finds Americans Have Converted To Mask Culture
Most Americans now accept the benefits of wearing masks and wearing them around others, a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey published Friday finds. As Covid-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths surge nationwide, most Americans say they can keep up social distancing until the pandemic has eased or until there's a vaccine -- and most think they'll need to. The KFF survey also finds that just over half of those polled think the worst of the pandemic is yet to come. (Kallingal and Fox, 12/18)

KHN: More Americans — Of All Political Persuasions — Are Donning Masks 
As apprehension about the pandemic intensifies, more Americans — nearly three-quarters — say they wear masks every time they leave the house, according to a poll released Friday. The poll from KFF also found that 68% of American adults were worried someone in their family will get sick from the coronavirus, the highest level since the nonprofit began tracking the question in February. The public was least worried in April, when 53% were concerned the infection might strike their family. Since April, fewer than half of Republicans have consistently expressed fear that a family member will be sickened by COVID-19. (KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF.) (Rau, 12/18)

Bloomberg: Can I Be Required To Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19?
As U.S. officials began distributing the first doses of authorized Covid-19 vaccines, some health experts worried that too few people would take them for the immunization campaign to stop the spread of the disease. That prospect has provoked discussion of vaccine mandates by government authorities and employers. Under the law, both have the power to issue such orders. Whether mandates are effective in expanding the uptake of a vaccine is a matter of debate, however. (Wilkens-Iafolla, 12/18)

The Hill: Scammers Offering Fake, Early COVID-19 Vaccine Access: Public Health Officials 
Scammers are attempting to exploit the news of the coronavirus vaccine by offering fake vaccine access for individuals who give their Social Security number to callers, public health officials have cautioned. States throughout the U.S. began vaccinations for health care workers and the vulnerable this week, and officials are warning about scammers targeting unsuspecting individuals seeking a vaccine, NBC News reports. (Deese, 12/17)

The New York Times: No, There Are No Microchips In Coronavirus Vaccines
There are 10 ingredients in Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccines. Contrary to several conspiracy theories circulating online, a tracking microchip planted by the government to surveil the movements of Americans is not among them. For months, widely shared videos and viral posts on social media have baselessly claimed that such technologies could find their way into syringes delivering shots. None of the rumors are true. (Wu, 12/17)

CNN: A Beloved Teacher In Navajo Nation Wore An Oxygen Mask For Virtual Classes Before She Lost Her Battle With Covid-19 
Even when she was hospitalized for Covid-19 and pneumonia for three days, Philamena Belone wanted to get home so she could resume doing what she loved most -- teaching. Belone led Zoom classes for behaviorally challenged students during the day and worked with those who had no internet at night via phone, her brother Phillip Belone told CNN. After the hospitalization, the third-grade teacher taught while wearing an oxygen mask from her home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Zdanowicz, 12/17)

IndianZ: Lakota Leader Tom Poor Bear Dies After Battle With COVID-19
The former vice president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and a longtime Native rights activist died Sunday from complications due to the coronavirus. Tom Poor Bear, 66, died at the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, Colorado. “I still can’t believe Tom has left us,” said Bryan Brewer, who served as president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe with Poor Bear as his vice president. “It’s a bad day for the tribe and his family.” Poor Bear joined the American Indian Movement not long after they came to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1972. He ran away from boarding school to jump in a car and ride to Washington, D.C., where AIM took over a Bureau of Indian Affairs building to protest the federal agency’s failure to fulfill its trust responsibilities to Native people. (Abourezk, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Maryland Football Cancels Michigan State Game After 15 Players Test Positive For Coronavirus
The Maryland football team’s regular season finale against Michigan State was canceled because of coronavirus cases in the Terrapins’ program, the school announced Thursday afternoon. In the past seven days, 15 players and six staff members tested positive for the virus, and Maryland paused all team activities. This is the third game Maryland canceled because of the virus. The Terps also didn’t play Michigan because of cases in the Wolverines’ program. The four cancellations are the most of any Big Ten team. (Giambalvo, 12/17)

Reuters: Zoom's Christmas Gift: No Cap On Call Lengths Over The Holidays
Friends and families kept apart by COVID this Christmas and New Year will not find their virtual gatherings over Zoom cut short by the usual 40-minute limit for free subscribers. Zoom Video Communications Inc, whose technology has become a feature of household get togethers in 2020’s socially distanced world, said it was removing the time limit for its free accounts on all meetings globally for the holiday season. (12/18)

KHN: KHN On The Air This Week
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber discussed how the COVID-19 backlash undermines public health on Newsy on Thursday. ... California Healthline editor Arthur Allen discussed COVID vaccines with KIQI 1010AM’s “Hecho en California” on Thursday. (12/18)

In other public health news —

Houston Chronicle: Satanists Say 'Abortions Save Lives!' On Billboard Outside Houston
The group said the campaign is intended to educate local satanists about their right to be exempted from mandatory waiting periods, counseling or other “unscientific regulations” that violate their beliefs in “bodily autonomy and scientifically-reasoned personal choice.” Similar billboards were erected in Dallas and Miami after a legal dispute with the group that owns the signs and objected to hosting the temple’s message. One reads: “Pregnancy complications are the sixth most common cause of death among women ages 20 to 34. Abortions save lives!” (Downen, 12/17)

CIDRAP: CDC Says Waterborne Diseases Cause 6,600 Deaths A Year In US
Infections caused by 17 waterborne pathogens cause approximately 7.15 million illnesses and 6,630 deaths (0.9% case mortality) across the United States each year, report CDC researchers in Emerging Infectious Diseases yesterday. The most common diseases were otitis externa (65.3% of cases), norovirus infections (18.6%), giardiasis (5.8%), and cryptosporidiosis (4.5%). The researchers excluded diseases caused by water-adjacent pathogens like malaria, algal toxins, and chemical exposures. Other waterborne diseases with insufficient data, such as sapovirus and rotavirus, were also not included. (12/17)

The Washington Post: Jeremy Bulloch, Boba Fett In First Star Wars Trilogy, Dies At 75 
Jeremy Bulloch, the English actor who first donned a helmet, cape and jet pack to play Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy, died Dec. 17 at a hospital in London. He was 75. The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease, his agents at Brown, Simcocks & Andrews said in a statement. (Dalton, 12/17)