Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Virus Research Needs Global Safety Congruity; Public Health Distrust Leads To Low Vaccine Rates
The New York Times: Recent Virus Research Should Raise Alarm
In a study published in the scientific journal Cell, a group of researchers reported the discovery of a coronavirus in bats that has the potential to spread to humans. (W. Ian Lipkin and Ralph Baric, 3/3)
Chicago Tribune: Health Researchers: Flu Cases Are Unnecessarily On the Rise. Policy Failures Are To Blame.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 33 million to 56 million cases of the flu between Oct. 1, 2024, and Feb. 15, 2025, rates that we have not seen since 2009. This coincides with historically low vaccination rates, with only 45% of people in the U.S. receiving the flu vaccine so far this year, down 6% from pre-pandemic levels, along with a growing distrust of public health institutions. (Julia Lippert, Maureen R. Benjamins, Joanna Buscemi and Abigail Silva, 3/3)
Stat: The Truth About That Viral ‘Post-Vaccination Syndrome’ Study
Recently, the notorious conspiracy theory peddler Alex Jones shared an “Infowars” video on X lambasting the “horrific side effects” of Covid vaccines: “Yale scientists link COVID vaccines to alarming new syndrome causing distinct biological changes to the body,” his post read. News of the new study spread like wildfire throughout right-wing anti-vaccine circles, amplified by the likes of Alex Berenson, Elon Musk, and Joe Rogan, who touted the study as yet more proof the public had been lied to about all things Covid. (Adam W. Gaffney, 3/3)
Bloomberg: Republican Plan To Cut Medicaid Is Hiding In Plain Sight
Democrats say that House Republicans voted last week to enact huge cuts to Medicaid. Republicans say they did no such thing. As a matter of procedure, Republicans are telling the truth. As a question of substance, Democrats are right. (Matthew Yglesias, 3/2)
Stat: Medicaid Cuts Could Mean The End Of Living At Home For Me
In early January, I received a letter in the mail from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The letter informed me that I had been approved for Medicaid-funded Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), a form of long-term care. It had been five months since I’d applied to the program, after being discharged from the hospital in August 2024 as a new full-time wheelchair user. (Rachel Litchman, 3/3)
Stat: Estimating The Overwhelming Impact Of Abrupt PEPFAR Cuts
In May 2023, about a year before the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief was up for congressional renewal, a Heritage Foundation report alleged that PEPFAR funding was being secretly used for abortions by recipients as a part of a systematic, covert agenda endorsed by U.S. counterparts. Separately, concerns about insufficient commitment to the efficient use of U.S. taxpayer dollars in foreign aid were growing, despite efforts within organizations administering foreign aid to evaluate, strengthen, and streamline services. (Anne Neilan and Linda-Gail Bekker, 3/1)
The Boston Globe: As A Mass General Primary Care Doctor, I Need A Union
In the Boston area, many physicians are unionizing for the first time. Joining a growing wave across the United States, doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Cambridge Health Alliance, and Salem Hospital, part of Mass General Brigham, all took steps to unionize in the past year. I and nearly 300 other beleaguered primary care physicians at Mass General Brigham also filed to unionize last November. That’s most of the primary care doctors employed by Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. (Peter Grinspoon, 3/3)
