Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Lessons On Lower Life Expectancy, Especially Among People Of Color; Thanks For Vaccines, Heroes
Bloomberg: Covid Is Killing People In More Ways Than One
As if the 300,000 dead in the U.S. from Covid-19 weren’t horrific enough, consider how many more have died from the pandemic’s indirect effects. Evidence from the Centers for Disease Control suggests mortality is higher in 2020 than expected for reasons beyond coronavirus infections. Most of the excess deaths are health-related, but they extend as far as motor vehicle crashes. A recent analysis based on the CDC data shows that 40,000 more Americans than expected died this year from diabetes, Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure and pneumonia. Some of these deaths may have been caused by the virus and just recorded improperly. But a large share may reflect the effect of people getting less health care. (Peter R. Orszag, 12/14)
Stat: Racial Disparities In Covid-19 Are Bad. They're Worse In Cancer
Many people are aware of the dire — and disproportionate — consequences that Covid-19 has had on the Latinx and Black American communities. New research shows that newly diagnosed Black cancer patients are at a higher risk of severe Covid-19 than white patients. But cancer statistics on their own have consistently painted a grim picture of the wide gaps in cancer care that exist for people of color. (Warren A. Whyte, 12/15)
Los Angeles Times: Thanks To Everyone Who Made A COVID Vaccine Possible In 2020
That we have reached this point just a year after SARS-CoV-2 was first identified is a remarkable feat of science, political will and government mobilization. And for this we are profoundly grateful to the many people whose hard work, vision and personal sacrifice made it possible. Thank you to the scientists who started working on the vaccine in February, even before it was clear how widespread the pandemic would become. Thank you to the thousands of clinical trial volunteers who risked their health to take an experimental vaccine for the benefit of others. Thank you to the government officials who worked to limit the bureaucratic red tape that typically makes vaccine development a years-long process, and for doing it without compromising safety controls. And thanks, too, to President Trump. (12/14)
Dallas Morning News: Texas’ Fallen Pandemic Warriors Sacrificed For Us
The coronavirus pandemic this year delivered a deadly unseen adversary to our shores, and health care workers — doctors, nurses, EMTs and countless others — surged to meet this danger, often without adequate protective equipment, and for unimaginable stressful hours surrounded by death and misery. And as they sought to heal others, some of these heroes also fell victim alongside those they had worked so hard to save. For their selfless impact in the service of others, Texas’ fallen healthcare warriors are finalists for 2020 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year. Thanks to the good work of “Lost on the Frontline,” an impressive data collaboration between Kaiser Health News and The Guardian, family obituaries and media accounts, we have stories that illustrate the spirit with which some of Texas’ healthcare heroes lived and sacrificed for their fellow Texans. (12/15)
Bloomberg: Covid-19 Is Only The First On Biden's Long Crisis List
Just as the universe is turtles all the way down, Joe Biden’s presidency could be crises all the way down. It was born of crisis and faces several emergencies at the start. Even his transition is in crisis, thanks to a predecessor who doesn’t want to leave. The most obvious disasters, the pandemic and its associated recession, at least have immediate fixes. Vaccines are on the way. Those will help the economy. But other emergencies will be far thornier to solve. (Mark Gongloff, 12/14)
CNN: Why The Astonishing Vaccine Rollout Broke The Speed Record
On Friday evening, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized the first Covid-19 vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, for emergency use. On Sunday, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention accepted the FDA recommendation for the emergency use of the vaccine for those 16 years and older. After many months of growing death tolls, overwhelmed hospitals, lockdown fatigue and economic strife, this is a momentous moment. (Barry R. Bloom, 12/14)
The Washington Post: As Covid-19 Vaccines Roll Out, What Should Americans Expect Next?
Critical-care nurses and other front-line health-care workers began receiving the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine Monday, marking a major turning point in the pandemic battle just as the United States passes the horrific milestone of 300,000 coronavirus deaths. Although rollout of a first vaccine means the end of the pandemic is coming into sight, it’s imperative that people do not misunderstand the news to mean that they can now let down their guard. Here are six things to expect in the days and weeks ahead. More good news. It’s a remarkable triumph of science that a safe and effective vaccine has been developed for a virus that wasn’t even identified one year ago. The Food and Drug Administration is likely this week to authorize emergency use of a second vaccine. (Leana S. Wen, 12/14)
The Wall Street Journal: Trump Isn’t The One Politicizing Science
Politics has infected many issues over the past four years and has now reached the supposedly objective halls of official medicine. In an editorial for the Journal of the American Medical Association, “Misguided Use of Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19: The Infusion of Politics Into Science,” Dr. Michael Saag claims that “the politicization of the treatment” was more important than the science in promoting the use of the antimalaria drug to treat Covid-19. This evidence-free claim is contradicted by information in the same editorial and the scientific literature. Dr. Saag doesn’t cite a single source to support his claim that President Trump’s April 4 promotion of the drug influenced physicians’ prescribing decisions. (Joel Zinberg, 12/14)
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Another Court Calls Out Missouri's Stifling Of Abortion-Rights Efforts
Once again, a court has seen through Missouri Republicans’ campaign to prevent the public from challenging the state’s draconian new abortion restrictions. A circuit judge ruled earlier this month that the set of laws Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft used to stymie a referendum effort are in fact unconstitutional. The ruling comes too late to save the referendum, but it exposes the depths to which the GOP has sunk in its quest to ensure its radical anti-choice agenda isn’t subjected to public review. The law that Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed last year bans abortions at eight weeks into pregnancy, a point at which some women don’t even know they’re pregnant. It makes exceptions for medical emergencies but not for victims of rape or incest. It’s one of the most restrictive abortion laws in America. (12/13)
