Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With Two Vaccines Now Available, Inoculation Pace To Pick Up
Detroit Free Press: CVS To Start Vaccinations In Michigan Long-Term Care Facilities
CVS Health on Monday announced it launched its partnership with the federal government to vaccinate up to four million residents and staff at about 40,000 long-term care facilities across the nation. The company's Michigan effort starts Dec. 28 at 1,000 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities across the state, according to a company press release. Up to 135,000 patients and nursing home residents in Michigan could receiving vaccinations from CVS, one of the two national pharmacy chains chosen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to administer the program nationally. Walgreens announced its efforts started Friday. (MacDonald, 12/21)
The Washington Post: Nursing Homes Face Daunting Task Of Getting Consent Before They Give Coronavirus Vaccines
More than 3 million elderly and infirm residents of nursing homes and other long-term-care facilities may face delays in getting coronavirus vaccines as the facilities confront the difficult task of obtaining consent, which consumer advocates, operators and some health officials say should have been simplified and started earlier by the federal government. Obtaining consent presents one of the toughest hurdles as officials mobilize to inoculate residents of these facilities, many of whom have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. (Nirappil and Abutaleb, 12/20)
In related news about the distribution of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines —
NPR: Warp Speed Official: 7.9 Million Doses Of Vaccine Ready For Distribution Next Week
With a second COVID-19 vaccine now authorized for emergency use, the top military official with Operation Warp Speed says a combined 7.9 million doses of vaccine are ready to be distributed next week. U.S. Army General Gustave Perna, the chief operating officer of the federal vaccine effort, briefed reporters on Saturday, less than a day after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the vaccine developed by the biotech company Moderna. Perna said efforts to distribute the Moderna vaccine were already underway, with the first doses scheduled to arrive at sites across the U.S. on Monday. (Slotkin, 12/19)
The Washington Post: Tracking The Covid Vaccine: Doses, People Vaccinated By State
Tens of thousands of people have received the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, and the pace is expected to quicken in the coming weeks for the 2.9 million doses in the initial allocation. States are expecting doses for another 12 million people in the first distribution of the newly approved Moderna vaccine. The Post gathered figures for distribution to each state from the CDC for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and from states for the Moderna distribution. (12/20)
Stat: A Side-By-Side Comparison Of The Pfizer/BioNTech And Moderna Vaccines
In an ideal world, a pandemic vaccine could be delivered in a single shot, so supplies could be stretched to cover a lot of people. It would trigger no side effect more significant than a sore arm. And it would be easy to ship and store. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal world — not yet, anyway. (Branswell, 12/19)
Also —
KHN: With Few Takers For COVID Vaccine, DC Hospital CEO Takes ‘One For The Team’
Administrators at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., were thrilled to be among the city’s first hospitals to get a COVID-19 vaccine, but they knew it could be a tough sell to get staffers to take the shot. They were right. The hospital, located on the campus of one the nation’s oldest historically Black colleges, received 725 doses of the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech on Dec. 14 and expects 1,000 more vaccine doses this week to immunize its workers. (Galewitz, 12/21)
The Hill: Stella Parton, Singer And Sister Of Dolly, Lashes Out At Politicians In Viral Tweet Over COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Stella Parton, a country music singer and sister of Dolly Parton, went viral this week after criticizing politicians amid the government’s rollout of the coronavirus vaccine. In a tweet over the weekend, Stella Parton pointed to her older sister’s recent donation to help fund research for Moderna's coronavirus vaccine, writing: “If a little Hillbilly singer like my big sister Dolly can invest in the vaccine then why the hell can’t some of you old moldy politicians pitch in a few million yourselves?” (Folley, 12/20)
Bloomberg: Vaccines Don’t Mean We’ll See The Last Of Covid, Experts Warn
Today’s programs in the U.S. and the U.K. are precursors to immunization campaigns intended to reach the planet’s entire population — all 8 billion people in every corner of the globe. There is reason for optimism. Vaccines are the best, and perhaps only, way to eliminate infectious disease: Smallpox has been eradicated and polio is on the brink, with just two countries where transmission persists. But global vaccine campaigns take time — usually decades — suggesting that even with the latest technologies, money and might behind the unprecedented global drive to knock out Covid-19, the disease is unlikely to be eliminated any time soon. (Lauerman and Paton, 12/20)
