Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With Covid Cases Rising, Public Health Experts Plead For Vaccinations
The Hill: Surgeon General: 'I Am Worried About What Is To Come'
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Sunday said he is “worried about what is to come” in the COVID-19 pandemic as cases increase throughout the U.S., primarily among those who are not vaccinated. “I am worried about what is to come because we are seeing increasing cases among the unvaccinated in particular. And while if you are vaccinated you are very well protected against hospitalization and death, unfortunately that is not true if you are not vaccinated,” Murthy told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.” (Schnell, 7/18)
The New York Times: C.D.C. Director Warns Of A ‘Pandemic Of The Unvaccinated’
As the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus fuels outbreaks in the United States, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Friday that “this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Cases, hospitalizations and deaths remain far below last winter’s peak, and vaccines are effective against Delta, but the C.D.C. director, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, urged people to get fully vaccinated to receive robust protection, pleading: “Do it for yourself, your family and for your community. And please do it to protect your young children who right now can’t get vaccinated themselves.” (Anthes and Petri, 7/16)
CNN: People Unvaccinated Against Covid-19 Risk The Most Serious Virus Of Their Lives, Expert Says
With vaccination rates still not at the threshold needed to stop the spread of Covid-19, most Americans who are unprotected will likely contract the rapidly spreading Delta variant, one expert said. "And for most people who get this Delta variant, it's going to be the most serious virus that they get in their lifetime in terms of the risk of putting them in the hospital," Dr. Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration during the Trump administration, told CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. (Holcombe, 7/19)
Politico: Poll: Unvaccinated Americans Least Concerned About Delta Variant
Unvaccinated and partially vaccinated Americans, the groups most vulnerable to Covid, are the least concerned about the more contagious Delta variant, according to a CBS News poll. While 48 percent of "not fully/not vaccinated" respondents in the poll released Sunday said they were concerned about the Delta variant, 72 percent of fully vaccinated Americans are worried. (Ward, 7/18)
The New York Times: In Undervaccinated Arkansas, Covid Upends Life All Over Again
While much of the nation tiptoes toward normalcy, the coronavirus is again swamping hospitals in places like Mountain Home, a city of fewer than 13,000 people not far from the Missouri border. ... The [delta] variant has highlighted a new divide in America, between communities with high vaccination rates, where it causes hardly a ripple, and those like Mountain Home that are undervaccinated, where it threatens to upend life all over again. Part of the country is breathing a sigh of relief; part is holding its breath. (LaFraniere, 7/17)
