Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Lessons On Getting People Of Color To Vaccine Centers; One State's Keep-It-Simple Strategy
Stat: Vaccine Equity: If We Build It, Will They Come?
In partnership with the federal government, California launched two massive Covid-19 vaccination sites this week. One is at Cal State LA in East Los Angeles, a community deeply affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. I hope these new sites will make it easier for Angelenos to get vaccinated. But I still wonder: If we build it, will those from historically underserved communities come? (Paul Adamson, 2/24)
Los Angeles Times: A Solution To Equitable Vaccine Distribution Is Hiding In Plain Sight
As of now, it appears that community clinics are not part of the distribution plan. Blue Shield, which has wide latitude to select the providers to receive the vaccines, has said it will create an algorithm to increase equity. But why try to solve a problem that already has a solution? Send the vaccines to the places where people who need them already come for care. Stat, the health and medicine news website, recently published a map showing the close correlation between the parts of L.A. County with high rates of COVID-19 and the locations of community clinics. The overlap is stark. (Robin Abcarian, 2/24)
The Wall Street Journal: Connecticut’s Covid Vaccine Lesson
"I’m going to focus on the old business motto, KISS: Keep it simple, stupid.” That’s how Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont put it Monday in announcing his decision to base Covid-19 vaccine eligibility strictly on age. The more states prioritize social “equity,” the more complicated and inequitable vaccine distribution becomes. After seniors older than age 65, Connecticut had planned to vaccinate “essential workers” and younger people with underlying health conditions like diabetes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recommended these groups be prioritized to “mitigate health inequities” and “promote justice.” Younger minorities are more likely to be “essential workers” and have comorbidities. But as Mr. Lamont explained, “A lot of complications result from states that tried to finely slice the salami and it got very complicated to administer. . ." (2/23)
CIDRAP: The CIDRAP Viewpoint: Reassessing COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment In Anticipation Of A US B.1.1.7 Surge: Stay The Course Or Pivot?
In this periodic series of reports, we will address timely issues with straight talk and clarity. And the steps we recommend will be based on our current reality and the best available data. Our goal is to help planners envision some of the situations that might present themselves later this year or next year so that they can take key steps now, while there’s still time. ... In the seventh Viewpoint report, published February 23, 2021,"Reassessing COVID-19 vaccine deployment in anticipation of a US B.1.1.7 surge: stay the course or pivot?" CIDRAP and other top US experts note that, with a likely surge of the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant in the US, there is a small window to maximize protection from COVID-19 vaccines by focusing first doses on people 65 years old and older and delaying second doses to other groups. (2/23)
The New York Times: Inside A Covid I.C.U., Through A Nurse's Eyes
The short film above allows you to experience the brutality of the pandemic from the perspective of nurses inside a Covid-19 intensive care unit.Opinion Video producer Alexander Stockton spent several days reporting at the Valleywise Medical Center in Phoenix. Two I.C.U. nurses wore cameras to show what it’s like to care for the sickest Covid patients a year into the pandemic. So many Americans have died in hospitals without family by their side, but they were not alone. Nurses brush patients’ teeth, change their catheters and hold their hands in their final moments. (Alexander Stockton and Lucy King, 2/24)
CNN: I Got Vaccinated. What Now?
The United States Covid-19 vaccination program is gaining steam. As of Tuesday, more than 40 million people have received the first dose, representing about 13% of the country. At the same time, national rates of new infection have decreased, presenting a real opportunity to control the pandemic. (Kent Sepkowitz, 2/23)
The New York Times: Why Do So Many Mothers Feel Like Failures Right Now?
Parents have suffered during this pandemic, moms especially. This we know — from social and traditional media, from polls, from studies that have survived the scrutiny of peer review. Levels of maternal depression and anxiety may vary (by socioeconomic status, marital status, the ages and needs of their kids), but the consistent theme seems to be: They are elevated. Why? Mothers have disproportionately lost their jobs and financial security during this pandemic, and those who do work find that the burdens of family life fall disproportionately on them. The state has failed them utterly. But here is my question, and I do not ask it idly, as the author of a book about parenthood and the mother of a teenager myself: Why is it that so many moms I know feel like failures at this moment? (Jennifer Senior, 2/24)
The Washington Post: The Death Of Angela Hill Shows We Need To Do More For D.C.’s Homeless Population
For at least the past 10 years, Angela Hill lived in Southeast Washington under a bridge that carries D.C. Route 295 over Pennsylvania Avenue. She had a family that loved her. People from the neighborhood looked out for her, and city social workers tried to help her. But she rebuffed many such efforts, and it was there, under that bridge, that she died in the freezing cold. She was 58, and her death is unnerving to a city that has made strides in addressing homelessness but still has far to go in solving what at times seems to be an intractable problem. Ms. Hill had become a neighborhood fixture. Commuters traveling near the John Philip Sousa Bridge routinely spotted her under the overpass. Residents of the Hillcrest community would stop by to give her food and toiletries. It was one of those residents who discovered her body last Wednesday. A cause of death has not yet been released, but officials believe that the cold was a factor. (2/23)
