Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: MRNA Cancer Vaccine Looks Promising; What We Should Know About Variant XBB.1.5
East Bay Times: Drug Companies' Cancer Vaccine Hunt Is Making Progress, Finally
The long-awaited cancer vaccine revolution is getting a little closer to reality. New data from Moderna Inc. and Merck & Co. suggest that after decades of failures, researchers are finally figuring out the right way to design a vaccine that can teach immune cells how to recognize and combat tumors. (Lisa Jarvis, 1/5)
Bloomberg: Are Vaccines Fueling New Covid Variants Like XBB.1.5? No
A new Covid variant called XBB.1.5 is driving a new wave of infections. But susceptibility to it is not, as some contend, being fueled by vaccines. (Faye Flam, 1/5)
Bloomberg: China’s Covid Surge Will Test The US And Its Allies
China’s abrupt reversal of its zero-Covid strategy has triggered an unprecedented surge in cases. According to one estimate, as many as 37 million people were infected in a single day; experts think China could see as many as 25,000 daily deaths over the next month. (1/5)
The New York Times: It Shouldn’t Be This Hard To Get Mentally Ill People The Help They Need
A few weeks before Mayor Eric Adams announced that New York would begin a big push to involuntarily hospitalize severely mentally ill homeless people even if they posed no risk of harm to others, my sister was involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric unit in a city hospital. My sister is not homeless; she had been living in a studio apartment in Queens. But she has a serious mental illness and in November a neighbor called 911 after seeing her on the street carrying a chef’s knife. (Hilary de Vries, 1/6)
The CT Mirror: Solving The College Mental Health Crisis
College is supposed to be the best four years of your life. Yet during my freshman year I had to attend the funeral of one of my best friends. Understandably, this put a dark cloud over my first year of college. (Morgan Rogers, 1/5)
Modesto Bee: Accessibility Laws For Disabled Are Just Feel-Good Gestures
My life dramatically declined the last week of September 2021 when I felt excruciating pain throughout my neck and back. Days later, I was paralyzed by a spinal cord infection that had gone undetected. I quickly went from being fully functional to quadriplegic. Fortunately, my paralysis is incomplete — meaning that walking again might be possible. So, I exercise daily and attend weekly physical therapy, though I still use a wheelchair. (Jim Sahlman, 1/4)
