Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Where Covid Is Still Spreading In The US — Or Could Claw Back Again
AP: As COVID-19 Cases Wane, Vaccine-Lagging Areas Still See Risk
New COVID-19 cases are declining across most of the country, even in some states with vaccine-hesitant populations. But almost all states bucking that trend have lower-than-average vaccination rates, and experts warn that relief from the pandemic could be fleeting in regions where few people get inoculated. Case totals nationally have declined in a week from a seven-day average of nearly 21,000 on May 29 to 14,315 on Saturday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. For weeks, states and cities have been dropping virus restrictions and mask mandates, even indoors. (Lovan and Willingham, 6/13)
USA Today: COVID Infections Rise In Eight States; Most Have Low Vaccination Rates
New COVID-19 cases are declining across most of the nation, and seven of the eight states where cases are rising have below-average vaccination rates, new data reveals. Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Missouri, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Wyoming have seen their seven-day rolling averages for infection rates rise from two weeks earlier, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. All of them except Hawaii have recorded vaccination rates that are lower than the US average of 43% fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Aspegren and Bacon, 6/14)
The Boston Globe: COVID-19 Metrics Improving Overall, But Minority Communities Still ‘On Fire,’ Advocate Says
Although rates of coronavirus have been declining statewide, the Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition said Sunday that Black and Latino communities remain at critical risk. While attention and resources slowly turn away from combating the pandemic, “we’re left with a community on fire,” said Dianne Wilkerson, cofounder of the Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition. “Our fear — and I don’t use that lightly — we are scared to death that we are in the process we knew was coming when America and Boston moves on and the world opens up, and 65 and 70 percent of our respective population is unvaccinated with the delta variant from overseas on shore and coming for us,” said Wilkerson, a former state senator, in a phone interview Sunday. (Phillips, 6/13)
Health News Florida: What Florida's Switch To Weekly COVID Reports Means For Tracking Efforts
Throughout the pandemic, Florida’s Department of Health put out daily COVID-19 reports with data including new cases and positivity rates. Now, those reports are weekly. Reports on cases at long-term care facilities, correctional facilities and schools are also gone from the department's website. "This decision was made as Florida transitions into the next phase of the COVID-19 response," wrote Weesam Khoury, the Department of Health's communications director, in an email to WLRN. "As vaccinations increase and new case positivity rate decreases, the weekly report includes identified key data." (Zaragovia, 6/13)
The Washington Post: 600,000 Dead: With Normal Life In Reach, Covid’s Late-Stage Victims Lament What Could Have Been
They came so close. Philip Sardelis already had his vaccine appointment in hand. Cinnamon Jamila Key had just received her first shot. Charles Pryor tried but couldn’t get the coronavirus vaccine in time. Alexey Aguilar had been reluctant to commit to such a new medicine but was coming around to the idea. And then covid-19 took them. On top of the grief and sorrow, their families now also must deal with the unfairness, the eternal mystery of what might have been. (Fisher, Nirappil, Gowen and Rozsa, 6/11)
Also —
CBS News: Biden's Ex-COVID Adviser Faults Trump Administration For "Deadly Sins" At Start Of Pandemic
Andy Slavitt, who until last week was President Biden's senior adviser for the COVID-19 response, said Sunday that the Trump administration committed three "deadly sins" in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic that cost American lives. In an interview with "Face the Nation," Slavitt said the country would have grappled with the pandemic last year regardless of who was in the White House, but detailed the three errors made by the prior administration: Former President Donald Trump's downplaying of the virus and its existence; his quashing of dissent from public health experts; and his stoking of divisions across the country. (Quinn, 6/13)
CIDRAP: Most Severe COVID Patient Autopsies Showed Muscle Inflammation
In autopsies of 43 hospitalized COVID patients and 11 patients hospitalized for other health issues in Germany, those with COVID-19 were associated with more skeletal muscle inflammation, according to a study today in JAMA Neurology. The researchers looked at cryopreserved quadriceps, deltoids, lungs, and heart tissues in people who died from March 2020 to February 2021. (6/11)
