Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Pros, Cons Of FDA's Review Of Vaccines; Lessons On Strip Club Openings When Thousands Are Dying
Stat: Did The FDA Understaff Its Review Of The Pfizer/BioNTech Vaccine?
In what is arguably the most important decision the Food and Drug Administration has made this year — its emergency use authorization of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine — the agency apparently assigned only a single reviewer in each of two key scientific disciplines (clinical and statistics) to do the work in three weeks that usually takes months to do. (Peter Doshi and Matthew Herder, 12/17)
Los Angeles Times: ICUs Are Overflowing With COVID, But, Sure, Open Strip Clubs
In less than 24 hours, California hit two regrettable milestones, tallying the most COVID-19 deaths in a single day and a record number of new cases. The available space in intensive care units in Southern California dipped to 0% of capacity, forcing hospitals to scramble to find the additional beds and staff needed to care for the surge in seriously ill patients. Meanwhile, in an apparent bubble in San Diego, a Superior Court judge said it was A-OK for strip clubs to open for business, despite California’s stay-at-home order. He cleared the way for restaurants throughout the county to resume serving at least some diners as well. (12/17)
The New York Times: Can We Do Twice As Many Covid-19 Vaccinations?
It’s been a very good month for Covid-19 vaccines. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration provided an emergency authorization for a vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech. On Thursday, an advisory committee recommended authorizing a vaccine by Moderna, and the F.D.A. is expected to authorize it soon. These vaccines are a triumph. In large-scale trials with tens of thousands of participants, both demonstrated a stunning 95 percent efficacy in preventing Covid-19 — a number exceeding our best hopes. Both vaccines are supposed to be administered in two doses, a prime and a booster, 21 days apart for Pfizer and 28 days for Moderna. However, in data provided to the F.D.A., there are clues for a tantalizing possibility: that even a single dose may provide significant levels of protection against the disease. (Zeynep Tufekci and Michael Mina, 12/18)
Stat: To Get The Covid-19 Vaccine Right, Stop Pathologizing Communities Of Color
Broad skepticism about the safety and effectiveness of potential Covid-19 vaccines has created major challenges for policymakers and health officials as they develop vaccine programs. Much of this has been attributed to the anti-vaccine movement and the constant attacks on science by the outgoing presidential administration. (Julian L. Watkins, 12/18)
The Washington Post: The Work Isn’t Done On Covid-19. That’s Why I’m Participating In A Vaccine Trial.
With Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine being administered across the United States and Moderna’s vaccine under consideration for emergency authorization, there is a palpable sense that science has delivered. Yes, there have been remarkable breakthroughs, but the work is not done. Vaccine rollouts signal the eventual end of the coronavirus crisis, but many clinical trials are just getting started. These remaining trials are so important that I’ve decided to participate in one. (Leana S. Wen, 12/17)
The Wall Street Journal: The Monday When America Came Back
Who’s that battered old man making his way down shuttered streets, facemask hanging from an ear, IV pole dragging at his side. A poignant figure. Didn’t he used to be someone? But wait, look. He’s not walking, he’s marching. Like he’s got his old strut back. As if he just remembered who he is. That was the picture that came to mind on Monday. We were like America of old. And I’m not sure we’re fully seeing it. But on that day our Constitution did what it was built to do, prevail. And our scientific genius and spirit of invention asserted themselves as national features that still endure. So here’s to you, Dec. 14, 2020. You provided a very good ending to a very bad year. (Peggy Noonan, 12/17)
The Wall Street Journal: How To End Lockdowns Next Month
The approval of several Covid-19 vaccines is an impressive technological development that should rapidly end the lockdowns and allow normal life to resume. But authorities like Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates argue that lockdown restrictions may have to continue through the fall and even into 2022, notwithstanding the catastrophic harms the lockdowns have caused, especially to young people, the poor and the working classes. The imminent dissemination of vaccines can help end lockdowns by the end of January. The Great Barrington Declaration, which we wrote with Martin Kulldorff of Harvard Medical School, provides the key idea: focused protection of people who face a high risk of mortality should they become infected. (Jay Bhattacharya and Sunetra Gupta, 12/17)
Los Angeles Times: What Biden Can Do On Day One For Healthcare Workers Like Me
President Trump’s inauguration speech began in light rain. But the next day he insisted that sunshine held off the rain until he finished, then it poured on a crowd of “a million and a half people,” which his press secretary called “the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period.” That was a lie, and Trump and his crew have been lying ever since. But this year we have a chance for a redo. (Mark Morocco, 12/17)
The Wall Street Journal: School Choice: Better Than Prozac
Teachers unions have pushed to shut down schools during the pandemic no matter the clear harm to children, just as they oppose charters and vouchers. Now comes a timely study suggesting school choice improves student mental health. Several studies have found that school choice reduces arrests and that private-school students experience less bullying. One reason is that charter and private schools enforce stricter discipline than traditional public schools. Choice programs also allow parents to pull their kids out of public schools if they are struggling and send them to schools that are safer or a better cultural fit. The new study in the journal “School Effectiveness and School Improvement” is the first to examine the link between school choice and mental health. (12/17)
CNN: Stimulus: Congress Shows Signs Of Cooperation As Trump's Election Sideshow Drags On
For the first time in months there were small signs of a functioning government Wednesday as congressional leaders negotiated a Covid-19 relief package and millions of vaccine doses were shipped out under the watchful eye of officials with Operation Warp Speed while carrying out contingency planning for delays due to the winter storm. It was a glimmer of hope for progress after four years in which President Donald Trump has sowed dysfunction at every turn, a sign that perhaps America can eventually move beyond his politics of destruction. (Maeve Reston, 12/17)
The Wall Street Journal: Time For A Second Round Of PPP
At the onset of the pandemic, when many American small businesses faced mandatory closures and a drastic reduction in revenue, the Paycheck Protection Program offered a crucial financial lifeline. In a two-week period in March and April, more than 10 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims, and widespread, permanent small business closures and job losses seemed inevitable. Within a week of the passage of the Cares Act, the Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Treasury Department, launched PPP, injecting liquidity into businesses around the country. Very quickly, the number of Americans filing unemployment claims each week began to decline significantly. This wasn’t a coincidence. (Michael Faulkender and Stephen Miran, 12/17)
