Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vaccinations Pick Up Pace, But Real Doses Are Found On The Dark Web
CBS News: COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Have Been Sold On The Dark Web. Are They Real?
Sellers on 15 different "dark web" marketplaces have dispersed hundreds of doses of what they allege are COVID-19 vaccines, according to a new study by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky. What's more, Kaspersky's researchers believe a significant portion of those sales, as much as 30%, could be of actual vaccines. "There is evidence that suggests some of these sellers are providing real doses," said Dmitry Galov, a researcher at Kaspersky who led the study of illicit online vaccines sales. "There are pictures of packaging and medical certificates. It looks like some of these people do have inside access to medical institutions." (Gandel, 3/5)
The Washington Post: Fake Coronavirus Vaccines Seized In Several Countries Are ‘Tip Of The Iceberg,’ Interpol Says
First came the fake medical-grade masks and coronavirus tests. Now, a new threat has emerged, global police organization Interpol warns: fake doses of the coronavirus vaccine. Interpol said Wednesday that police in China and South Africa have seized thousands of doses of fake vaccines — a cache it said was just the “tip of the iceberg.” (Berger, 3/4)
In other vaccine news —
The New York Times: U.S. Vaccination Pace Increases To 2 Million Doses A Day
The average number of vaccine doses being administered across the United States per day topped two million for the first time on Wednesday, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A month ago, the average was about 1.3 million. President Biden set a goal for the country shortly after taking office to administer more than 1.5 million doses a day, which the nation has now comfortably exceeded. (3/5)
Axios: U.S. Is Ahead Of Pace On COVID Vaccines
The U.S. is now vaccinating an average of 2 million people a day, up from 1.3 million in early February. That puts us on track to hit President Biden's goal of 100 million doses a month ahead of schedule. (3/4)
NPR: Accidentally Trashed, Thawed Or Expired: Reports Of COVID Vaccine 'Spoilage' Grow
As the speed of COVID vaccinations picks up, so do the reports of doses going to waste. And it's more than just a handful at the end of the day because of a few appointment cancellations. Health officials are trying to address the problems that lead to waste, but without slowing down the roll out of the lifesaving vaccinations. The incidents include the 335 discarded doses in Lee County, North Carolina that were damaged in shipping, and recent problems in Tennessee, where nearly 5,000 doses went to waste in the month of February, prompting additional federal oversight. (Farmer, 3/4)
KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Good And Not-So-Good News On Covid
There’s good news and bad news on covid-19 this week. On the one hand, several million doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine authorized by the FDA for emergency use are already going into the arms of people around the nation. And the Biden administration has brokered a deal with rival manufacturer Merck to produce even more doses of the J&J vaccine, which can be transported and administered more easily than the covid vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. (3/4)
In updates on side effects of the Moderna vaccine —
CIDRAP: Large, Local, Delayed Skin Reactions Noted After Moderna COVID Vaccine
A small number of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine recipients experienced delayed, large, localized skin irritations at the point of injection, according to a letter published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. While the symptoms cleared up in a median of 8 days, the researchers want to make sure clinicians are aware of this side effect and can navigate appropriate treatment and vaccine guidance. The letter details these delayed skin reactions in 12 people, 4 of whom didn't have any allergy history. (3/4)
