Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
White House Said To Plan Extending Covid Health Emergency
Axios: COVID Public Health Emergency Appears To Be Headed For Extension
The Biden administration appears headed toward extending the COVID-19 public health emergency for another three months, allowing special powers and programs to continue past the midterm election. (Bettelheim, 8/16)
The Atlantic: Even The CDC Is Acting Like The Pandemic Is Functionally Over
All of this is happening as the Northern Hemisphere barrels toward fall—a time when students cluster in classrooms, families mingle indoors, and respiratory viruses go hog wild—the monkeypox outbreak balloons, and the health-care system remains strained. The main COVID guardrail left is a request for people to stay up to date on their vaccines, which most in the U.S. are not; most kids under 5 who have opted for the Pfizer vaccine won’t even have had enough time to finish their three-dose primary series by the time the school year starts. (Wu, 8/16)
On the rise of the BA.5 subvariant —
CIDRAP: Omicron Subvariant BA.5 Now Makes Up 89% Of US COVID-19 Infections
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Nowcast variant tracker estimates that BA.5 now accounts for 88.8% of new US COVID-19 cases, while BA.4 accounts for 5.3% and BA.4.6 accounts for 5.1% of new cases. Four weeks ago BA.5 made up 74.0% of COVID-19 cases, and 2 weeks ago it accounted for 84.5%. (8/16)
In other covid news —
The Hill: Most In New Poll Say They Didn’t Take COVID Precautions Before Vacations
Few Americans who reported taking a vacation in the past three months took extra steps to avoid a COVID-19 infection prior to their trip, according to a new Axios-Ipsos poll. The poll found that exactly half of the respondents reported taking a vacation or trip in the past three months. (Schonfeld, 8/16)
AP: California Appeals Court Rejects COVID-19 Fines For Church
A California church that defied safety regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic by holding large religious services won’t have to pay about $200,000 in fines, a state appeals court ruled. (8/17)
On developments in vaccines —
Bloomberg: What Is Bivalent Vaccine? New Moderna Omicron Covid Booster Explained
Moderna says the drug triggered a strong immune response against the original virus and BA.1 subvariant. It also generated a good immune response against omicron’s latest subvariants BA.4 and BA.5., according to the UK government. However, these are findings from laboratory studies that look at levels of disease-fighting antibodies, which is just a proxy for protection in the real world. There’s no solid data yet from human trials showing this booster demonstrates superior protection against omicron infections compared to the existing shots. (Millson and Lyu, 8/16)
The New York Times: Why A Century-Old Vaccine Offers New Hope Against Pathogens
The results were dramatic: only one — or slightly more than 1 percent — of the 96 people who had received the B.C.G. doses developed Covid, compared with six — or 12.5 percent — of the 48 participants who received dummy shots. Although the trial was relatively small, “the results are as dramatic as for the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines,” said Dr. Denise Faustman, the study’s lead author and director of immunobiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. (Caryn Rabin, 8/16)
