Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: How Important Are Rapid Tests In Fighting Covid?; Comparing Drunk Driving And Vaccine Resistance
Stat: Beyond 'Vaccinopia': Employ Rapid Tests To Fight Covid-19
America is suffering from a serious case of vaccinopia: an inability to look beyond shots in arms when considering how to manage the pandemic. This was made clear by President Biden’s new Covid-19 plan, which emphasizes vaccine mandates while providing insufficient support for rapid tests, which we believe to be the most promising — and most underused — tool in the armamentarium against the coronavirus. (Daniel P. Oran and Eric J. Topol, 9/16)
The Washington Post: Remaining Unvaccinated In Public Should Be Considered As Bad As Drunken Driving
One in four American adults have yet to receive even one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. To explain the risk they pose to themselves and others, we propose an analogy: The choice to remain unvaccinated is equivalent to driving while intoxicated. Some might balk at this comparison, but here are the similarities. Both causes of severe bodily harm are largely preventable — covid-19 through vaccination, and drunken driving by not driving after drinking alcohol. Both are individual decisions with societal consequences. (Leana S. Wen and Sam Wang, 9/15)
The Atlantic: Parents Of America, Unite!
Tens of millions of children are awaiting the approval of a vaccine to protect them from COVID-19. Their impatient parents should know that they don't just have to sit around and wait. Consider, for example, what happened during the AIDS epidemic, when the advocacy group ACT UP, but a scant year old at the time, figured out where the holdup in dealing with the AIDS crisis was: a featureless building in Maryland, home of the Food and Drug Administration. ACT UP’s realization was as relevant three decades ago as it is now. (Linda Hirshman, 9/14)
