CNBC: FDA Pushes Back On Trump Tweet Suggesting Moderna's Covid Vaccine Won Emergency-Use Approval
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday pushed back on a tweet from President Donald Trump that suggested Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine had won emergency clearance from the agency. Trump said Friday morning that Moderna’s vaccine had been “overwhelmingly approved” and it would be immediately distributed. (Lovelace Jr., 12/18)

The Washington Post: FDA Vows To Move 'Rapidly’ To Authorize Second Coronavirus Vaccine 
The FDA intends to authorize the vaccine Friday, according to knowledgeable individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the schedule. “I just want to make the point of what a remarkable scientific achievement this is, and pay thanks to all the scientists, present and past, who contributed to this,” James E.K. Hildreth, president of Meharry Medical College and a member of the advisory panel, said at the close of the committee meeting on Thursday. “To go from having a [genetic] sequence of a virus in January, to having two vaccines available in December, is a remarkable achievement.” (McGinley and Johnson, 12/17)

USA Today: Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Gets OK From Committee For FDA Authorization
The independent Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 20-0 with one abstention to support mRNA-1273, a vaccine made in collaboration with the U.S. government by Moderna, a decade-old Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company. "There's no doubt in my mind – it looks like the benefits outweigh the risks from what I've seen," said Dr. Steven Pergam, a committee member and infectious disease and vaccine expert at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, expressing the group's consensus. (Weintraub, 12/17)

The New York Times: F.D.A. Panel Endorses Moderna's Coronavirus Vaccine 
The Moderna vaccine can be distributed more widely because it can be stored at normal freezer temperatures and, unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, does not require ultracold storage. It also comes in much smaller batches, making it easier for hospitals in less populated areas to use quickly. (Grady, Goodnough, Zimmer and Wu, 12/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine Gets Backing From FDA Advisory Panel 
There isn’t enough evidence regarding the use of the vaccine in a pediatric population younger than 18 or in pregnant or breast-feeding women, Rachel Zhang, an FDA medical officer, told the panel. Dr. Zhang said that there were three cases of serious side effects among Moderna vaccine recipients that appeared to be related to the vaccine. One was severe nausea and vomiting, and two involved facial swelling. Both cases of serious facial swelling happened in people who had prior dermal fillers for cosmetic purposes, and were successfully treated with medications. There was an additional case of lip swelling in another person who had prior dermal filler. (Burton and Loftus, 12/17)

NPR: FDA Expert Panel Endorses Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine For Emergency Use
Some side effects were common in the main clinical trial of the Moderna vaccine, which included more than 30,000 people, half of whom received two shots of vaccine and half of whom received two shots of placebo a month apart. Most everyone experienced pain at the injection site — 92%. Other common reactions included fatigue (69%), headache (63%) and muscle pain (60%). (Hensley, 12/17)

NPR: Moderna's Production Of Coronavirus Vaccine Leans Heavily On Outsourcing
Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is expected to become the second to get the Food and Drug Administration's green light. A decision could come within days. But compared with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which was granted emergency use authorization last week, upstart Moderna doesn't have a track record when it comes to mass production. Pfizer makes hundreds of medicines and vaccines and operates at least 40 manufacturing facilities registered with the FDA around the world. Despite being founded a decade ago, Moderna has never had a product win FDA approval. And it only has one factory registered with the FDA — and the registration occurred just this week. (Lupkin, 12/17)

Politico: Upstart Moderna Takes On Outsized Role In U.S. Vaccine Effort 
The nation’s second coronavirus vaccine, produced by Moderna, could be on its way to thousands of sites nationwide by this weekend — a major accomplishment for a company that has never before brought a product to market. ... While the maker of the first authorized shot, Pfizer, is a global pharmaceutical giant that has pumped out dozens of blockbusters including Viagra and even ChapStick, Moderna had never had a vaccine reach late-stage trials before it became the first of dozens of coronavirus vaccine hopefuls to hit that milestone this summer. The success of the country’s immunization campaign could depend on Moderna’s ability to deliver those shots without delay — a potentially tricky task for a firm without extensive manufacturing facilities of its own, with a vaccine based on cutting-edge technology. (Owermohle, 12/17)

ABC News: The 35-Year-Old Scientist Who Led Moderna's Efforts To Create A COVID-19 Vaccine
Less than a year ago, little was known about the mysterious virus that was sickening dozens in China and spreading rapidly unbeknownst to people across the globe. At the time, 35-year-old Hamilton Bennett, the senior director of vaccine access and partnerships at Moderna, a small, then-relatively unknown biotech company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, did not anticipate that her team's years of work would soon be thrust into the global spotlight when Moderna became the first American company to jump into the race to a coronavirus vaccine. (Mitropoulos, 12/14)

In related news —

The Wall Street Journal: Live Question & Answer Event - Ask WSJ: What To Know About The Covid-19 Vaccines 
Hear from a WSJ reporter and editor covering Moderna Inc., Pfizer Inc. and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on what to know about the Covid-19 vaccines, from how well they safely work to what their distribution would look like. Join them for a live Q&A as they answer your questions and discuss the latest recommendations from health experts advising the FDA. (Rockoff and Loftus, 12/18)

The Motley Fool: Here's How Much Each Coronavirus Vaccine Will Cost
Now that COVID-19 vaccines are finally rolling out, Americans can turn to the next most pressing question: How much will they cost? While President-Elect Joe Biden has proposed making coronavirus vaccines free for Americans, the actual cost to the federal government will vary pretty dramatically between vaccine candidates. Let's take a closer look at the cost variances of the four late-stage or EUA-approved players. (Williams, 12/16)

The Washington Post: States Report Confusion As Government Reduces Vaccine Shipments, While Pfizer Says It Has ‘Millions’ Of Unclaimed Doses
Officials in multiple states said they were alerted late Wednesday that their second shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine had been drastically cut for next week, sparking widespread confusion and conflicting statements from Pfizer and federal officials about who was at fault. The reduction prompted concern in health departments across the country about whether Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccine accelerator program, could distribute doses quickly enough to meet the target of delivering first shots to 20 million people by year’s end. (Stanley-Becker, Abutaleb, Sun and Dawsey, 12/17)

AP: Some States Say Pfizer Vaccine Allotments Cut For Next Week
Little explanation was offered, leaving many state officials perplexed. “This is disruptive and frustrating,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter Thursday after learning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the state’s allocation would be cut by 40%. “We need accurate, predictable numbers to plan and ensure on-the-ground success.” California, where an explosion in cases is straining intensive care units to the breaking point, will receive 160,000 fewer vaccine doses than state officials had anticipated next week — a roughly 40% reduction. (Salter and Alonso-Saldivar, 12/18)

The New York Times: States Complain Of Smaller Covid Vaccine Shipments Than Expected 
Officials with Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort to distribute a Covid-19 vaccine to the public, also said Wednesday that they had allocated only 2 million doses for next week’s shipment, less than the 2.9 million that were delivered this week. The officials said they expect to ship 5.9 million doses next week of a vaccine developed by Moderna, which is expected to be authorized by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday. The move sent some states scrambling to adjust their plans and raised questions about whether federal officials will be able to meet their goal of administering an initial shot of the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to 20 million people by January 1, just two weeks away. (Thomas and LaFraniere, 12/17)

The Hill: Pfizer Says No COVID-19 Vaccine Production Problems Or Shipment Delays 
Pfizer on Thursday said none of its coronavirus vaccine shipments are delayed or on hold, and there are no problems with its production. In a statement, the drugmaker said that this week it "successfully shipped all 2.9 million doses that we were asked to ship by the U.S. Government to the locations specified by them." (Weixel, 12/17)

Bloomberg: Pfizer, U.S. Wrangle Over Vaccine Pace While Working Toward Pact
Pfizer Inc. pushed back on claims it is experiencing problems producing its Covid-19 vaccine, as the company and the federal government continued to try to reach a deal that would eventually double the number of doses available for the U.S.’s vast immunization effort. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, said in an interview on Thursday that the U.S. is close to a deal for another 100 million doses of the vaccine Pfizer developed in partnership with BioNTech SE. Through the agreement, Pfizer would deliver the additional supply in the second quarter of 2021, Slaoui said. (Griffin and Wingrove, 12/17)

NBC News: Pence Receives Covid Vaccine In Televised Appearance
Vice President Mike Pence received the Covid-19 vaccine in a televised appearance Friday morning in an effort to promote its safety and boost public confidence in its effectiveness. The Pfizer vaccine was also given to his wife, Karen Pence, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the the White House by a medical team from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. "I didn't feel a thing. Well done," Pence said in remarks after receiving the shot in his left arm. (Shabad, 12/18)

CBS News: Vice President Mike Pence Gets Vaccinated On Live Television 
"Make no mistake about it: it's a medical miracle," Pence said about the vaccine, which began distribution this week. "I also believe that history will record that this week was the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic." Pence also encouraged Americans to continue to practice social distancing, regular hand washing, and wearing a mask. "The way through this challenging time is vigilance and a vaccine," Pence said. Pence, head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, has taken on much of the day-to-day work on COVID-19, even as the president continues to focus publicly on the election. It's not year clear when Mr. Trump, who has already had COVID-19, will receive the vaccine. (12/18)

The Washington Post: Pence Receives Coronavirus Vaccine On Live Television
Several screens were set up in the room where the vaccinations took place. They showed messages including: “SAFE and EFFECTIVE” and “PROMISES MADE — OPERATION WARP SPEED — PROMISES KEPT.” Trump, meanwhile, has no public appearances scheduled on Friday. He touted vaccine distribution in several tweets. (Wagner and Shepherd, 12/18)

In related news —

AP: Coronavirus Vaccine Provided To US Supreme Court
The justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are being provided with doses of the coronavirus vaccine. That is according to a letter by Capitol Physician Brian Monahan, which says the court, along with Congress and executive branch agencies are being given a limited supply of doses “for continuity of government operations.” The doses are being provided under a directive by President Donald Trump that established continuity of government as a reason for vaccine prioritization. The Supreme Court and the other branches of government are supposed to be treated “in parallel.” (12/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell Plan To Get Covid-19 Vaccine In Coming Days 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said they would get the Covid-19 vaccine within days to ensure the continuity of government during the pandemic. In addition to the two leaders, all members of Congress will be able to receive the coronavirus vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech SE in the coming days, according to a letter sent to lawmakers Thursday from congressional physician Brian Monahan. He said he was notified by the National Security Council that vaccines were available to members of Congress, the executive branch and the Supreme Court. (Andrews, 12/17)

The Hill: Hospitals Boost Security, Seek To Stop Vaccine 'Line-Jumping' 
Hospitals and health care systems are taking unprecedented steps to safeguard the limited supplies of coronavirus vaccines amid concerns over security and the potential for black markets to emerge across the globe. Operation Warp Speed, the government drive to develop and distribute the vaccines, requires medical facilities to develop a security plan. Every dose of vaccine shipped from manufacturing centers in Michigan and Belgium is tracked from the warehouse to hospitals where they are injected in staffers, medical officials said. (Wilson, 12/17)

NPR: Native Americans Receiving Coronavirus Vaccine After Struggle With Pandemic
Health officials are administering the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine in Indigenous communities across the U.S., one of the populations most vulnerable in the pandemic. About 68,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses will initially be distributed among the population, the Indian Health Service said last week. Doses began to arrive this week and will first be given to the elderly and health care workers. (Oxner, 12/17)

Bangor Daily News: Maine’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan For Nursing Homes Plagued With Doubts
Maine’s nursing homes are preparing to vaccinate staff and vulnerable residents by next week, but the rollout is plagued with questions as homes report start times into January amid concerns about vaccine volume and the pharmacy giants leading the effort. The first rounds of vaccinations for Maine’s nearly 6,000 nursing home residents and at least a portion of approximately 20,000 people who care for them identified in the state’s vaccination plan will begin Monday after a first round of Moderna vaccines is likely to be approved after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel recommended it for emergency use on Thursday. (Andrews, 12/18)

AP: As US Rushes To Give Shots, Tennessee Builds Vaccine Reserve
As states rush to inoculate health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, only Tennessee has prioritized building its own emergency reserve of the coveted vaccine. An Associated Press review of each state’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plans shows that Tennessee alone has specified it will hold back a small portion in “case of spoilage of vaccine shipped to facilities.” The state’s initial shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that arrived Monday was not distributed for inoculation, so health care workers had to wait until the second shipment arrived days later. The move has baffled health care leaders, who say medical workers should take priority, especially as the state hits record case numbers. (Kruesi, 12/17)

Capital & Main: Chasing The Vaccine: A Special Pandemic Nation Podcast Series 
The anxiously awaited rollout of coronavirus vaccines is now in motion, albeit in limited amounts at this early stage. Mark Kreidler speaks to a cross section of experts, health care executives and frontline workers to find out how California plans to equitably distribute the vaccine without leaving behind any communities. (12/17)

In news about allergic reactions —

Anchorage Daily News: Alaska Vaccinations Continue As Planned As Health Care Worker Released From Hospital After Serious Allergic Reaction
The only known severe allergic reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States occurred in Juneau this week, and public-health officials are hoping Alaskans take the rareness of the event into consideration as they think about getting vaccinated. The hospital worker was released Thursday, after a two-night stay at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau. She and another worker at the hospital both experienced adverse reactions after receiving the vaccine this week. The second worker was briefly treated for a mild reaction at the hospital Wednesday afternoon and released after about an hour. “We’re definitely hearing some reports of vaccine hesitancy because of it,” Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer, said about the events in Juneau. (Krakow, 12/17)

CNBC: Covid Vaccine: You Can't Sue Pfizer Or Moderna Over Side Effects
If you experience severe side effects after getting a Covid vaccine, lawyers tell CNBC there is basically no one to blame in a U.S. court of law. The federal government has granted companies like Pfizer and Moderna immunity from liability if something unintentionally goes wrong with their vaccines. “It is very rare for a blanket immunity law to be passed,” said Rogge Dunn, a Dallas labor and employment attorney. “Pharmaceutical companies typically aren’t offered much liability protection under the law." (Sigalos, 12/17)

Reuters: Early Data Show Two Doses Of Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccine Provoked Good Immune Response
Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate has a better immune response when a two full-dose regime is used rather than a full-dose followed by a half-dose booster, the university said on Thursday, citing data from early trials. The developers of the vaccine candidate, which has been licensed to pharmaceuticals company AstraZeneca, have already published later stage trial results showing higher efficacy when a half dose is followed by a full dose, compared to a two full-dose regime. However, more work needs to be done to affirm that result. (12/17)

Fox News: Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine's 2-Dose Regimen Elicits ‘Broad’ Immune Response
"The booster doses of the vaccine are both shown to induce stronger antibody responses than a single dose, with the standard dose / standard dose inducing the best response," reads the university release. Results published in The Lancet last week suggested the shot was safe and approximately 70% effective, though an earlier mix-up led some participants to get a half-dose followed by a full dose, instead of two full doses as intended. As a result of the mistake, preliminary findings showed with a half dose/full-dose regimen had 90% efficacy and two full doses showed 62% efficacy. (Rivas, 12/17)

The New York Times: How The Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine Works 
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is based on the virus’s genetic instructions for building the spike protein. But unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which store the instructions in single-stranded RNA, the Oxford vaccine uses double-stranded DNA. (Corum and Zimmer, 12/17)

In case you missed it —

The Guardian: Oxford Covid Vaccine To Be Combined With Sputnik Jab For Trial 
UK and Russian scientists are to test whether combining shots of the Oxford/AstraZeneca and Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines could result in better protection than two doses of the same one. Trials will start by the end of the year, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which funded the development of the Sputnik V vaccine by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, said on Friday. AstraZeneca confirmed that it was considering how it could assess combinations of different vaccines, and would soon begin exploring with the Gamaleya Institute whether their two vaccines could be successfully combined. (Geddes, 12/11)

The Washington Post: Vaccine Makers AstraZeneca And Russia's Sputnik V Lab Join Forces To Seek Advances 
The research is aimed at testing new vaccine formulas using ­cold viruses, said a statement by the Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca, which could work in tandem with Russia’s Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, whose Sputnik V uses two injections based on vectors of the common-cold virus, or adenovirus. The AstraZeneca vaccine, created with the University of Oxford, uses a cold virus that typically infects chimpanzees. That teaches the human immune system to block the novel coronavirus. (Dixon and Noack, 12/11)

And in news from Johnson & Johnson —

Reuters: J&J Enrolls About 45,000 Participants For Late-Stage COVID-19 Vaccine Trial 
Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it has enrolled about 45,000 participants for the first late-stage trial of its COVID-19 single-dose vaccine candidate and that it expects interim data by late-January. ... J&J also said it plans to submit an emergency use authorization application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February if the data from the study is safe and effective. (12/17)

CNN: Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine trial is now fully enrolled
Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that its late stage Covid-19 vaccine trial is fully enrolled. The vaccine, made by J&J subsidiary Janssen, comes in a single dose. The trial now has about 45,000 participants. The company said with the high rate of disease transmission among the general population in the United States, this number of volunteers should be enough to quickly get the data the company needs to determine if the vaccine works and to determine if it is safe. (Christensen, 12/17)

AZFamily.com: Video: Phoenix Man Describes Being In Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Trial 
A Phoenix man provided insight into a COVID-19 vaccine trial involving Johnson & Johnson where only one dose is required. (12/17)

Center for Public Integrity: 'Darkest Red' For The Coronavirus Surge: Task Force Pleads With States To Do More
The White House Coronavirus Task Force this week added a new color to its maps — “darkest red” — as it tried to convey the severity of the surge in coronavirus cases and deaths in weekly reports to governors. But the White House has stopped sending the reports to states unless officials specifically request them, further restricting access to recommendations intended to save lives.  “The fall surge is merging with the post-Thanksgiving surge to create a winter surge with the most rapid increase in cases; the widest spread, with more than 2,000 counties in COVID red zones; and the longest duration, now entering the 9th week, we have experienced,” the task force wrote. “Many Americans continue to gather indoors, creating private spreading events.” (Essley Whyte, 12/17)

The Hill: US Hits Grim New Daily Record With 3,656 Coronavirus Deaths 
The U.S. hit a grim new daily record with 3,656 COVID-19 deaths and 276,403 new cases on Wednesday, according to real-time data from Johns Hopkins University. Wednesday marked the fourth day since the pandemic began that the U.S. surpassed 3,000 COVID-19 deaths in a day. It also was the 44th consecutive day that the U.S. confirmed more than 100,000 new cases in a day. (Coleman, 12/17)

The Atlantic: COVID-19 Is Hitting Spring And Summer Hot Spots Again
Back in the spring, before the first surge of the coronavirus had fully diminished, public-health experts were already warning of a second surge. Shutdowns were ending and public spaces reopening, but as the months turned cold, they said, cases could spike again—more dramatically, even, than in the first wave. The reprieve after the first wave, though, was short: By June, case numbers were climbing again. As northerners were headed outside, southerners were headed inside, where the virus spreads most easily, and the country’s summer surge began. (Moser, 12/17)

Courier-Journal: Kentucky Suffers Worst Day For COVID-19 Deaths Thursday With 54 Losses
The coronavirus pandemic that already has killed more than 2,300 Kentuckians exacted its deadliest toll yet Thursday — with 54 people dying in a single day from the virus. The death toll obliterated the previous daily record, when 37 people died of COVID-19 on Dec. 2. The news comes the same day the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Gov. Andy Beshear, refusing to step in after he halted in-person classes at K-12 schools — public and private — through the end of the year in an attempt to stem the virus's unrelenting spread across Kentucky. (Ladd, 12/17)

KHN: No More ICU Beds At The Main Public Hospital In The Nation’s Largest County As COVID Surges 
She lay behind a glass barrier, heavily sedated, kept alive by a machine that blew oxygen into her lungs through a tube taped to her mouth and lodged at the back of her throat. She had deteriorated rapidly since arriving a short time earlier. “Her respiratory system is failing, and her cardiovascular system is failing,” said Dr. Luis Huerta, a critical care expert in the intensive care unit. The odds of survival for the patient, who could not be identified for privacy reasons, were poor, Huerta said. (Wolfson and de Marco, 12/18)

Also —

The Hill: 8 Nuns Die Of COVID-19 At Milwaukee Retirement Home In One Week 
Eight residents of a Milwaukee retirement home for nuns have died of COVID-19, School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province announced. Provincial leader Debra Maria Sciano said the first died last week, with four dying just this Monday, according to The Associated Press. (Budryk, 12/17)

Bloomberg: Pandemic Is Starting To Hit North American Meat Plants Again
Meat packers across North America are bracing for a resurgence of coronavirus cases, trying to avoid the shutdowns that left supermarket shelves empty earlier in the pandemic. Cargill Inc. has temporarily idled one of its beef plants in Canada after some employees tested positive. JBS, the world’s top meat producer, sent thousands of vulnerable U.S. workers home on paid leave, while Sanderson Farms Inc. said it’s now facing higher absenteeism at its plants than earlier in the pandemic. (Almeida and Hirtzer, 12/18)

KHN: Ski Resorts Work To Stay Open As COVID Cases Snowball
The day after Thanksgiving, Dr. Jana Eller and Dr. Shiraz Naqvi were seated beside an outdoor fire pit at the base of Telluride Ski Resort, taking a short break from skiing. The two physicians from Houston had driven more than 18 hours to get here for the holiday weekend, and they were staying (and preparing meals) in a rented home. They traveled with another couple and their kids, colleagues they’ve been “bubbling” with in Houston. (Aschwanden, 12/18)

The Washington Post: California Is Epicenter. Coronavirus Cases, Hospitalizations And Deaths Surging. The Worst Is Yet To Come
California — the country’s most populous and richest state — is the new epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus crisis, with unprecedented surges of seriously infected patients threatening to overwhelm hospitals and overflow morgues. The state is reporting unnerving numbers: California has set nationwide records for new cases again and again in the past week — most recently on Thursday, when it posted more than 50,000 infections, over 100,000 in 48 hours. If California were a country, it would be among the world leaders in new coronavirus cases, ahead of India, Germany and Britain. And the state’s test positivity rate continues to climb, meaning the virus is spreading faster. The rate is now 11.5 percent, more than twice what experts consider high-risk. (Thebault, 12/17)

The New York Times: In California, Counting The Dead By The Hour 
Just two weeks ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned Californians that the state’s intensive care beds might be full before Christmas. Now, it appears that dire projection is being borne out. How bad is the coronavirus surge in California? In Los Angeles County, officials say, an average of two people are dying every hour. And one in every 80 people there is thought to be infected. (Tumin and Cowan, 12/18)

NPR: California Activates 'Mass Fatality' Program As State Sets New Virus Records
Confirmed coronavirus infections and virus-related deaths are soaring in California, the nation's most populous state, setting new records as hospitals struggle to keep up with the onslaught of cases. It has prompted the state to activate its "mass fatality" program, which coordinates mutual aid across several governmental agencies. On Thursday, California reported 52,281 new daily confirmed coronavirus cases and 379 new virus-related deaths, according to state data. This brings the state's total number of cases to more than 1.7 million, with 21,860 deaths since the pandemic began. (Booker, 12/17)

AP: Hot Spot: California Hospitals Buckle As Virus Cases Surge
“I’ve seen more deaths in the last nine months in my ICU than I have in my entire 20-year career,” said Amy Arlund, a nurse at Kaiser Permanente Fresno Medical Center. While the surging virus has pushed hospitals elsewhere around the country to the breaking point in recent weeks, the crisis is deepening with alarming speed in California, even as the nationwide rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations this week and the impending release of a second vaccine have boosted hopes of eventually defeating the scourge. (Durkin Richer and Atnczak, 12/17)

Los Angeles Times: Southern California ICU Beds At 0% Amid COVID-19 Surge
The availability of intensive care unit beds throughout Southern California hit 0% Thursday, and officials warned that conditions in hospitals are expected to erode further if the coronavirus continues to spread unchecked. With ICUs filled, hospitals will step up measures to ensure the sickest patients still get the highest levels of care possible. That often means moving some patients who would typically be in the intensive care unit to other areas of the hospital, such as a recovery area, or keeping them in the emergency room for longer than normal. (Money, Lin II and Karlamangla, 12/17)

The New York Times: One Of Biden’s Closest Advisers, Cedric Richmond, Tests Positive For The Virus. 
Representative Cedric L. Richmond, Democrat of Louisiana and one of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s closest advisers, has tested positive for the coronavirus and has started a 14-day quarantine, a spokeswoman for the transition said Thursday evening. Mr. Richmond, who has been a lawmaker since 2011, is the first announced member of Mr. Biden’s White House staff to test positive. He is slated to join Mr. Biden’s administration as a senior adviser and director of the Office of Public Engagement. A rapid test for the virus on Wednesday was positive, the transition said, and a more precise test on Thursday was also positive. (Shear, 12/17)

Politico: HHS Secretary Tells Staff: My Wife Is Sick With Covid 
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Thursday night informed staff that his wife, Jennifer, tested positive for Covid-19, according to an email shared by HHS. "Today, my family learned that my wife Jennifer has tested positive for Covid-19," Azar wrote in an email. He added that his wife "scrupulously followed public health guidelines" and immediately self-isolated after her initial symptoms and even after she received a negative diagnosis from an initial instant test. A subsequent molecular test, which is more reliable, revealed that she was positive, Azar added. (Diamond, 12/17)

CNN: Alabama GOP Congressman Becomes 4th House Member In A Week To Disclose Covid-19 Diagnosis 
Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama wrote on Twitter Thursday that he tested positive for Covid-19 and was experiencing mild symptoms, the fourth member of Congress in the past week to announce a positive test for the coronavirus. "This morning I tested positive for COVID-19," Rogers wrote in the tweet. "I immediately consulted with the Office of the Attending Physician and am currently self-isolating. I am experiencing mild symptoms but otherwise I am in good spirits and looking forward to getting back to work soon." (Fortinsky, 12/17)

The Hill: Federal Inmate Set To Be Executed Next Month Tests Positive For COVID-19 
A federal death row inmate — the last person scheduled to be executed by the Trump administration before President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20 — has contracted the coronavirus, The Associated Press reports. An attorney for Dustin John Higgs said he was notified of his client's diagnosis on Thursday. Higgs was convicted of kidnapping and murdering three women in 2000. (Polus, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Supreme Court Won't Exempt Religious Schools From Kentucky's Covid-Closure Order 
The Supreme Court on Thursday denied a Kentucky Christian academy’s plea that it should be exempt from the governor’s order requiring all K-12 institutions to temporarily cease in-person classes because of rising coronavirus cases. Danville Christian Academy, joined by Kentucky’s attorney general, said it should not be compared to other schools, but to businesses that have been allowed to remain open with reduced capacities, and doing otherwise was a violation of religious rights. (Barnes, 12/17)

The Hill: Supreme Court Rejects Christian School's Push For COVID-19 Carve-Out 
In an unsigned order denying the Danville Christian Academy’s religious-based exemption request, the court noted that Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s (D) school-closure directive would be expiring in roughly a week, and that “there is no indication that it will be renewed.” ... In their Thursday order, the justices suggested the school may have been on stronger legal footing if it had argued that Kentucky’s health order deprived parents of their right “to direct the education of their children,” which the court recognized in a 1990 case. (Kruzel, 12/17)

The New York Times: Supreme Court Rejects Religious School’s Challenge To Kentucky Virus Order
Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch each filed a dissent that was joined by the other. Justice Alito said the Supreme Court should have acted sooner to address the challengers’ application and said the courts could still address it. (Liptak, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Trump Wanted $2,000 Stimulus Checks But Aides Talked Him Out Of Last-Minute Demand 
White House aides intervened Thursday to prevent President Trump from issuing a statement calling for substantially larger stimulus payments for millions of Americans, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of the private exchange. On a phone call Thursday afternoon, Trump told allies that he believes stimulus payments in the next relief package should be “at least” $1,200 per person and possibly as big as $2,000 per person, the officials said. Congressional leadership is preparing a stimulus package that would provide checks of $600 per person. (Stein, 12/17)

The New York Times: Congress Drops State Aid To Secure Stimulus, A Challenge For Biden
As lawmakers race to put the final touches on a $900 billion bipartisan stimulus package, one thing is becoming clear: Congress has left a significant challenge for the incoming president, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and his efforts to revive the faltering economy. To seal the deal after months of struggle, lawmakers agreed to exclude a direct stream of money for state and local governments, which Republicans objected to as a blue state “bailout” but Democrats said was needed to prevent job cuts and economic pain. (Tankersley and Cochrane, 12/17)

The Hill: Congress Set To Blow Past Shutdown Deadline Amid Coronavirus Talks 
Congress is barreling toward a rare weekend session as lawmakers race to wrap up a sweeping agreement to fund the government and provide badly needed coronavirus relief. Leadership is homing in on a deal that would attach roughly $900 billion in coronavirus relief to a $1.4 trillion bill to fund the government until Oct. 1, 2021, in what is the last major piece of legislation Congress needs to pass before it wraps up its work for the year. (Carney, 12/17)

AP: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: All I Want For Christmas Is A COVID Relief Bill 
Congress appears to be inching ever closer to agreement on a long-delayed COVID-19 relief bill, which would extend unemployment insurance and other emergency programs set to expire in the next several days. That bill, however, apparently will not include the top-priority items for both political parties: business liability protections supported by Republicans and aid to states and localities sought by Democrats. The bill is likely to be part of a giant spending bill to keep the federal government funded for the rest of the fiscal year. And it might include a last-minute surprise: legislation to put an end to “surprise” medical bills sent to patients who inadvertently obtain care outside their insurance network. (12/17)

Also —

The Washington Post: The Biggest American Companies Have Turned Profits, Laid Off Workers During The Pandemic 
As the coronavirus pandemic devastated small businesses and plunged millions of Americans into poverty this summer and fall, executives at some of the country’s largest corporations sounded surprisingly upbeat. “I don’t think we’ve ever been more excited or energized about our prospects,” PayPal finance chief John Rainey said on a November conference call. “These are times when the strong can get stronger,” Nike chief John Donahoe told analysts in September. ... Despite their success, at least 27 of the 50 largest firms held layoffs this year, collectively cutting more than 100,000 workers, The Post found. (MacMilan, Whoriskey and O'Connell, 12/16)

KHN: Pandemic-Related Paid Sick Days And Leave To Expire Dec. 31 — With No Extension In Sight 
Like tens of millions of other parents nationwide, Jonathan and Sara Sadowski struggle to assist their four children, ages 5 to 11, with their online schooling at home. In addition, their eldest child, who has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair, needs special care. So to help the kids and keep them safe — especially their oldest child — Jonathan opted to take 12 weeks of paid leave from his teaching job under a program authorized by an emergency federal law enacted in March. (Findlay, 12/18)

In other legislative news —

The Hill: Clyburn: We May Need A 9/11-Like Commission On COVID-19 Response 
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Thursday that the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic may require a commission similar to the one that investigated the leadup to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Clyburn discussed the idea with MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, following the disclosure of emails in which White House pushed a strategy of “herd immunity” in response to the virus. (Budryk, 12/17)

Modern Healthcare: Lawmakers Left Hospital, Insurer Contract Guardrails Out Of Year-End Proposal
Congress' end-of-year spending legislation is still in flux, but eight lawmakers that lead key committees didn't ask to curb gag clauses or various types of clauses that would make it difficult for plans to steer consumers to lower-cost or higher-quality providers. The practices targeted in a prior bipartisan healthcare reform package titled the Lower Health Care Costs Act are widespread, but have gained renewed attention since California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was chosen as President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for HHS secretary. Becerra sued Sutter Health for anticompetitive practices similar to those the legislation was designed to stop. (Cohrs, 12/17)

Politico: 'Cautiously Optimistic' On Obamacare Lawsuit, Becerra To Focus On Health Disparities At HHS 
President-elect Joe Biden's designated health secretary Xavier Becerra said Thursday that he's "cautiously" optimistic the Supreme Court justices will preserve Obamacare when they decide the high-stakes lawsuit challenging the law that's backed by President Donald Trump. “My sense is, if you keep your fingers crossed, the incoming Secretary of Health and Human Services will have a good law to work with to continue to expand health care to all Americans,” said Becerra, who as California's attorney general played a key role in that suit. (Luthi, 12/17)

In related news about President-elect Joe Biden's transition —

Politico: Democrats Ask Of Biden’s Health Team: Who’s In Charge? 
President-elect Joe Biden vowed to assemble a world-class team capable of ending the pandemic and securing sweeping health care gains. But in the days since he rolled out his health leadership, Democrats have been occupied by a simpler challenge: figuring out who among Biden’s health team is actually in charge. (Cancryn, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Biden Will Arrive In Office Amid A Pandemic. It Will Be His Biggest Challenge — But Also An Opportunity. 
As President-elect Joe Biden and his team devise a governing strategy to defeat the coronavirus pandemic — the incoming administration’s most urgent priority — they have become centrally focused on instilling broad, bipartisan faith in vaccines. ... Health policy experts say Biden’s capacity to mold bipartisan receptivity to being vaccinated has implications for his broader agenda to expand health coverage and access to affordable care. “If you can’t do this one, you are not going to be able to get buy-in on universal coverage,” said Robert J. Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis at Harvard University who studies public opinion about health care. (Goldstein, 12/15)

The New York Times: This Is The Health System That Biden Inherits From Trump 
President-elect Joe Biden will inherit a health system that is trying to care for a population made sicker by both coronavirus and skipped preventive care, all while trying to make up for money lost in 2020.But he’ll face another immediate challenge: Hospitals that tend to care for the poor and the vulnerable are facing major financial pressure, while wealthier hospital systems expect to emerge slightly bruised but not broken. (Kliff, 12/16)

Also —

CNN: Trump Fights For A Job That He's Not Doing As Coronavirus Rages 
When the history of the pandemic is written, one of the great mysteries will be what President Donald Trump was doing in the waning days of his presidency as the number of Covid-19 deaths in the US soared past 3,000 each day, the virus spread unchecked and Congress dithered over the details of an emergency relief package that could be the difference between people being able to eat and being forced to sleep on the streets this holiday season. (Reston, 12/18)

Stat: In Rare Appearance, Two In Sackler Family Deny Responsibility For Opioid Crisis
In a first-of-its-kind appearance on Capitol Hill, two members of the Sackler family that controls Purdue Pharma apologized for the suffering caused by the opioid crisis but otherwise denied wrongdoing and failed to accept personal responsibility for their company’s role in it. Mostly, the session before the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform gave lawmakers the chance to angrily chastise Kathe Sackler and David Sackler, who were threatened with subpoenas after they first declined to testify. (Silverman, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Sacklers Behind OxContin Maker Purdue Pharma Face Congressional Hearing
Testifying in public for the first time in decades, members of the family who led OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma apologized Thursday to victims of the national opioid epidemic but did not go as far as accepting personal responsibility for the health crisis. David Sackler, who served on Purdue’s board from 2012 to 2018, and Kathe Sackler, a board member from 1990 to 2018 and a former vice president, faced heated questioning from the House Oversight Committee about how much they knew about the addictive nature of opioids when they encouraged sales of the company’s blockbuster drug OxyContin and what their financial gains were. Purdue chief executive Craig Landau also testified. (Kornfield, 12/17)

The Hill: Sackler Family Points Fingers At Purdue Pharma During House Hearing On Opioids 
Members of Purdue Pharma’s Sackler family testified before the House Oversight Committee Thursday, marking one of the first times in years the family had been publicly questioned under oath on the company's role in the deadly opioid epidemic. The hearing comes as members of the Sackler family, who deny any personal wrongdoing in the opioid crisis, attempt to settle thousands of civil claims filed against them and Purdue Pharma by states and cities claiming they fueled and epidemic killing more than 400,000 people. (Hellmann, 12/17)

AP: Family Behind OxyContin Attests To Its Role In Opioid Crisis
Kathe Sackler, David Sackler’s cousin, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee that she knows “the loss of any family member or loved one is terribly painful and nothing is more tragic than the loss of a child.” “As a mother,” she said, “my heart breaks for the parents who have lost their children. I am so terribly sorry for your pain.” Asked about her role, she said she had done soul-searching. “I have tried to figure out if there’s anything I could have done differently knowing what I knew then, not what I know now,” she said. “There is nothing I can find that I would have done differently.” (Mulvihill, 12/17)

The New York Times: Sacklers Deny Personal Responsibility For Opioid Epidemic In House Hearing 
The singularity of the Sacklers’ appearance on Thursday was underscored by the likelihood that they may never testify in open court, because the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and nationwide litigation may resolve in settlements rather than trials. ... During the tense, nearly four-hour hearing, David Sackler, 40, and his cousin, Dr. Kathe Sackler, 72, who both served on the company’s board for years, testified remotely and largely sidestepped would-be booby traps and deflected blame to “management” and independent, nonfamily board members. (Hoffman, 12/17)

The Hill: Democrat Rips Sackler Family, Purdue Doctors During House Questioning 
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) sharply criticized members of the Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma, during a virtual hearing of the House Oversight Committee on Thursday that examined the company's involvement in the opioid addiction crisis. Pointing to expensive properties purchased by a trust connected to David Sackler amid the worst of the opioid crisis in America, Krishnamoorthi accused the Sacklers of being "addicted to money." (Bowden, 12/17)

In related news about the drug crisis in America —

Stat: Opioid Prescribing Has Dropped Dramatically Since 2011, Analysis Finds
Although the opioid crisis in the U.S. continues to make headlines, a new analysis finds that prescription opioid use has dropped by 60% since 2011 — when prescribing was highest— and by the end of this year, usage is expected to drop to levels not seen in nearly two decades. (Silverman, 12/17)

CNN: CDC Warns Of A 'Substantial Increase' In Fatal Drug Overdoses Coinciding With The Covid-19 Pandemic 
The US has seen a substantial increase in fatal drug overdoses and set a record for deaths from overdoses in the year that ended in May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. The worst of the deaths coincide with closures and other measures taken to control the pandemic, the CDC said in a health alert. (Kallingal and Fox, 12/18)

Stat: Biogen To Pay $22 Million For Illegally Using Charities To Pay Kickbacks To Medicare Patients 
Biogen (BIIB) has agreed to pay $22 million to resolve allegations that donations it paid to charities were actually kickbacks to Medicare patients used to cover out-of-pockets costs for its multiple sclerosis medicines. This is only the latest instance in which federal authorities have cracked down on such arrangements between drug makers and patient assistance charities. (Silverman, 12/17)

Stat: AbbVie Wins 21 Months Of Wrinkle-Free Competition For Botox Thanks To An ITC Ruling 
In a victory for AbbVie (ABBV), the U.S. International Trade Commission decided that imports of a rival to its Botox wrinkle treatment must be halted for 21 months. The ruling came in response to a complaint filed last year by Allergan, which AbbVie has since acquired, alleging that a pair of rival companies — Evolus (ELOS) and Daewoong Pharmaceuticals — stole trade secrets that were used to develop a new wrinkle-smoothing product called Jeuveau. (Silverman, 12/17)

AP: Medical Specimen Kit Company To Hire 350, Investing $5M
A company that makes and assembles medical specimen kits will more than double its number of employees in Columbus, adding 350 workers as it invests $5 million. Path-Tec announced its plans Thursday. The expansion will bring its employment to 565 in Columbus, where the company began operations in 2005. (12/17)

Stat: This Tiny Biotech Is The Loudest Critic Of Trump’s New Drug Pricing Policy
A tiny biosimilar company called Coherus Biosciences is emerging as one of the loudest critics of President Trump’s plan to tie what the U.S. pays for pricey injectable drugs to what other countries pay. In the three weeks since the Trump administration unveiled the controversial policy, the company has had roughly a dozen conversations with Trump administration officials, inserted itself into the ongoing lawsuit against the policy filed by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, and already filed sharply worded comments on the regulation — six weeks ahead of the official deadline. (Florko, 12/16)

AP: COVID-19 Cases Top 200 At Hospital As Layoffs Announced
As coronavirus cases top 200 at Washington state’s largest psychiatric hospital, officials are implementing new procedures to try to get it under control. Making matters worse, the economic downturn that resulted from the pandemic, and the loss of revenues needed to run state government, is forcing the Department of Social and Health Services to make budget cuts, including layoffs at Western State Hospital. (Bellisle, 12/17)

In other health care industry news —

The Washington Post: Atlanta Nurses Uniform Company Becomes An Essential Business As Covid Cases Surge 
For months, Damion Childs stood behind the counter of his medical uniform store, dressed in a hazmat suit with a Bible on the counter, watching nervously as the nurses finished their shifts at the Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center South across the street and came in for a change of work clothes. “The people coming in here … they’re walking in fresh from work,” Childs said of the nurses from the hospital, which treats covid-19 patients. “I might’ve sweated about 10 pounds off during those two months. … It was scary.” (Beachum, 12/17)

Modern Healthcare: Highmark Health Inks Six-Year Cloud, Tech Deal With Google
Highmark Health, which owns health insurer Highmark and health system Allegheny Health Network, on Thursday formally unveiled its "Living Health" model, a project that the company has said is designed to provide patients with better coordinated and more personalized care and clinicians with technology that cuts down on time spent on administrative tasks. As part of the project, Highmark Health will work with Google Cloud to build a cloud-based platform that includes centralized scheduling, care management and analytics and artificial intelligence tools. Highmark Health and Google Cloud will also co-develop analytics tools that help create care plans from patients' health data and flag possible health issues for early intervention. (Kim Cohen, 12/17)

Modern Healthcare: AHA Creates Senior Management Role To Oversee Health Equity Strategies
The American Hospital Association is adding a new position within its senior leadership that will be focused on promoting the organization's workforce diversity, equity and inclusion strategies. The AHA announced Thursday that current AHA Vice President of Strategic Policy Planning Joy Lewis has been promoted to the newly created role of senior vice president of health equity strategies. Lewis, who has been with AHA since 2018, will oversee the association's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to reduce health and healthcare disparities and build healthy communities. (Ross Johnson, 12/17)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid MCOs Covering Dual-Eligibles To Join Direct Contracting
CMS' Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation will allow Medicaid managed care organizations serving beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare to take part in its new direct contracting model, the agency said Thursday. It's the first payment model to enable Medicaid MCOs to coordinate and manage care for beneficiaries enrolled in both Medicaid managed care and Medicare fee-for-service coverage, according to CMMI. The agency wants to encourage Medicaid MCOs to coordinate care to lower Medicare fee-for-service costs by allowing them to take part in direct contracting's global and professional options. (Brady, 12/17)

Stat: Pediatrician Network Puts Spotlight On Climate Change’s Effects On Children
As the effects of climate change play out worldwide, pediatricians see the evidence in their offices. There are the children with asthma who experience more frequent attacks as a result of excess heat and longer allergy seasons. And then there are kids who have missed vaccinations or other routine care because more frequent hurricanes or other natural disasters have displaced their families. (Chakradhar, 12/18)

NPR: Pulse Oximeters Can Give False Readings In COVID-19 Patients With Dark Skin
The common fingertip devices that measures oxygen in the blood can sometimes give misleading readings in people with dark skin, according to a report Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. These devices, called pulse oximeters, are increasingly finding their way into people's homes, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, this is not just a concern for medical personnel using professional-grade devices. (Harris, 12/16)

The Hill: Study: Blood Oxygen Detection Device Gives Black People Inaccurate Readings More Often 
A medical device that measures oxygen blood levels is more likely to give misleading or inaccurate results to Black patients, according to research published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers analyzed data from thousands of adult patients who received supplemental oxygen at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, comparing the data to that of 37,000 patients at about 200 other hospitals’ intensive care units. (Budryk, 12/17)

In other science and research news —

The Wall Street Journal: DEA Widens Path For Medical Marijuana Research
The U.S. government is expanding the number of businesses that can grow marijuana for federally approved study after years of delay under the Trump administration. A Drug Enforcement Administration rule made public Thursday means researchers will be able to study marijuana from more than just one federally sanctioned grower, a farm at the University of Mississippi, which the government has for decades considered the only legal source of marijuana for federal research. (Gurman, 12/17)

CIDRAP: CDC Updates Treatment Guidelines For Uncomplicated Gonorrhea
Citing rising resistance to azithromycin and the importance of antibiotic stewardship, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is removing azithromycin from its recommended treatment regimen for uncomplicated gonorrhea. Under new guidelines published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the CDC is now recommending a single 500-milligram (mg) intramuscular shot of ceftriaxone for uncomplicated urogenital, anorectal, and pharyngeal gonorrhea. The previous guidelines recommended an intramuscular shot of 250 mg of ceftriaxone and an oral dose of azithromycin for uncomplicated infections caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae. (12/17)

Stat: Scientists See A Possible Way To Prevent A Devastating Disease 
The tiny mouse embryos were off to a promising start, many of them progressing from a one-cell fertilized egg to two-, four-, and even eight-cell blobs resembling raspberries-to-be. As the eager scientists carefully tracked their development (in lab dishes), many of the embryos formed characteristic structures called pronuclei that housed the DNA of egg and sperm, following the normal developmental script. (Begley, 12/16)

CNN: Face Mask Survey Finds Americans Have Converted To Mask Culture
Most Americans now accept the benefits of wearing masks and wearing them around others, a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey published Friday finds. As Covid-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths surge nationwide, most Americans say they can keep up social distancing until the pandemic has eased or until there's a vaccine -- and most think they'll need to. The KFF survey also finds that just over half of those polled think the worst of the pandemic is yet to come. (Kallingal and Fox, 12/18)

KHN: More Americans — Of All Political Persuasions — Are Donning Masks 
As apprehension about the pandemic intensifies, more Americans — nearly three-quarters — say they wear masks every time they leave the house, according to a poll released Friday. The poll from KFF also found that 68% of American adults were worried someone in their family will get sick from the coronavirus, the highest level since the nonprofit began tracking the question in February. The public was least worried in April, when 53% were concerned the infection might strike their family. Since April, fewer than half of Republicans have consistently expressed fear that a family member will be sickened by COVID-19. (KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF.) (Rau, 12/18)

Bloomberg: Can I Be Required To Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19?
As U.S. officials began distributing the first doses of authorized Covid-19 vaccines, some health experts worried that too few people would take them for the immunization campaign to stop the spread of the disease. That prospect has provoked discussion of vaccine mandates by government authorities and employers. Under the law, both have the power to issue such orders. Whether mandates are effective in expanding the uptake of a vaccine is a matter of debate, however. (Wilkens-Iafolla, 12/18)

The Hill: Scammers Offering Fake, Early COVID-19 Vaccine Access: Public Health Officials 
Scammers are attempting to exploit the news of the coronavirus vaccine by offering fake vaccine access for individuals who give their Social Security number to callers, public health officials have cautioned. States throughout the U.S. began vaccinations for health care workers and the vulnerable this week, and officials are warning about scammers targeting unsuspecting individuals seeking a vaccine, NBC News reports. (Deese, 12/17)

The New York Times: No, There Are No Microchips In Coronavirus Vaccines
There are 10 ingredients in Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccines. Contrary to several conspiracy theories circulating online, a tracking microchip planted by the government to surveil the movements of Americans is not among them. For months, widely shared videos and viral posts on social media have baselessly claimed that such technologies could find their way into syringes delivering shots. None of the rumors are true. (Wu, 12/17)

CNN: A Beloved Teacher In Navajo Nation Wore An Oxygen Mask For Virtual Classes Before She Lost Her Battle With Covid-19 
Even when she was hospitalized for Covid-19 and pneumonia for three days, Philamena Belone wanted to get home so she could resume doing what she loved most -- teaching. Belone led Zoom classes for behaviorally challenged students during the day and worked with those who had no internet at night via phone, her brother Phillip Belone told CNN. After the hospitalization, the third-grade teacher taught while wearing an oxygen mask from her home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Zdanowicz, 12/17)

IndianZ: Lakota Leader Tom Poor Bear Dies After Battle With COVID-19
The former vice president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and a longtime Native rights activist died Sunday from complications due to the coronavirus. Tom Poor Bear, 66, died at the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, Colorado. “I still can’t believe Tom has left us,” said Bryan Brewer, who served as president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe with Poor Bear as his vice president. “It’s a bad day for the tribe and his family.” Poor Bear joined the American Indian Movement not long after they came to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1972. He ran away from boarding school to jump in a car and ride to Washington, D.C., where AIM took over a Bureau of Indian Affairs building to protest the federal agency’s failure to fulfill its trust responsibilities to Native people. (Abourezk, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Maryland Football Cancels Michigan State Game After 15 Players Test Positive For Coronavirus
The Maryland football team’s regular season finale against Michigan State was canceled because of coronavirus cases in the Terrapins’ program, the school announced Thursday afternoon. In the past seven days, 15 players and six staff members tested positive for the virus, and Maryland paused all team activities. This is the third game Maryland canceled because of the virus. The Terps also didn’t play Michigan because of cases in the Wolverines’ program. The four cancellations are the most of any Big Ten team. (Giambalvo, 12/17)

Reuters: Zoom's Christmas Gift: No Cap On Call Lengths Over The Holidays
Friends and families kept apart by COVID this Christmas and New Year will not find their virtual gatherings over Zoom cut short by the usual 40-minute limit for free subscribers. Zoom Video Communications Inc, whose technology has become a feature of household get togethers in 2020’s socially distanced world, said it was removing the time limit for its free accounts on all meetings globally for the holiday season. (12/18)

KHN: KHN On The Air This Week
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber discussed how the COVID-19 backlash undermines public health on Newsy on Thursday. ... California Healthline editor Arthur Allen discussed COVID vaccines with KIQI 1010AM’s “Hecho en California” on Thursday. (12/18)

In other public health news —

Houston Chronicle: Satanists Say 'Abortions Save Lives!' On Billboard Outside Houston
The group said the campaign is intended to educate local satanists about their right to be exempted from mandatory waiting periods, counseling or other “unscientific regulations” that violate their beliefs in “bodily autonomy and scientifically-reasoned personal choice.” Similar billboards were erected in Dallas and Miami after a legal dispute with the group that owns the signs and objected to hosting the temple’s message. One reads: “Pregnancy complications are the sixth most common cause of death among women ages 20 to 34. Abortions save lives!” (Downen, 12/17)

CIDRAP: CDC Says Waterborne Diseases Cause 6,600 Deaths A Year In US
Infections caused by 17 waterborne pathogens cause approximately 7.15 million illnesses and 6,630 deaths (0.9% case mortality) across the United States each year, report CDC researchers in Emerging Infectious Diseases yesterday. The most common diseases were otitis externa (65.3% of cases), norovirus infections (18.6%), giardiasis (5.8%), and cryptosporidiosis (4.5%). The researchers excluded diseases caused by water-adjacent pathogens like malaria, algal toxins, and chemical exposures. Other waterborne diseases with insufficient data, such as sapovirus and rotavirus, were also not included. (12/17)

The Washington Post: Jeremy Bulloch, Boba Fett In First Star Wars Trilogy, Dies At 75 
Jeremy Bulloch, the English actor who first donned a helmet, cape and jet pack to play Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy, died Dec. 17 at a hospital in London. He was 75. The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease, his agents at Brown, Simcocks & Andrews said in a statement. (Dalton, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Issues Order Requiring Coronavirus Test After Out-Of-State Travel 
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan issued an emergency order Thursday requiring anyone who travels outside the state to get tested for the coronavirus and to self-quarantine for 10 days when they return. Hogan said out-of-state travel should happen only if necessary as virus levels continue to hover at elevated rates across the region. The new protocols do not apply to people visiting the District or the bordering states of Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia. (Schneider, Wiggins and Zauzmer, 12/17)

The Washington Post: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Eases Covid Restrictions On Churches 
Facing a federal lawsuit from the Archdiocese of Washington over rules prohibiting large gatherings — including Christmas services — during the coronavirus pandemic, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser issued a late-night order Wednesday modifying the city’s rules on worship services and other activities. Bowser (D) revoked the cap of 50 people that she had previously imposed on worship services and instead ordered that religious facilities fill no more than 25 percent of their pews, up to a maximum of 250 people at one event, no matter how large the venue. (Zauzmer and Boorstein, 12/17)

The Washington Post: D.C., Teachers? Union Reach Deal On How To Reopen School Buildings In Pandemic 
The District’s public school system and the Washington Teachers’ Union reached a deal late Thursday on how to reopen schools, capping months of contentious negotiations in a city that has so far been unable to bring teachers and students back together in classrooms. The deal settles a major dispute that has held up previous agreements: Teachers who do not have medical exemptions may be required to go back to classrooms, even if they do not want to. (Stein, 12/17)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Philadelphia Urgent Care Centers Are Still Coping With Shortages Of COVID-19 Tests
In recent months, the cracks that still exist in the country’s COVID-19 testing system have been exposed as case numbers have surged. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, many Philadelphians waited for hours to get tested. Some didn’t receive their test results for weeks. Pennsylvania is ranked 51st among U.S. states and territories in the number of tests conducted per 100,000 people as of Dec. 16, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine. (Ao, 12/18)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Philly’s Overworked 911 Dispatchers Are On The ‘Brink Of A Collapse.’ City Council Promises Fixes
Insufficient staffing. Mandatory overtime. Unsafe working conditions. More responsibilities. Less respect. During a virtual City Council hearing Thursday, frustrated Philadelphia police dispatchers said they have been pushed to the breaking point this year as the city has grappled with the coronavirus pandemic, civil unrest, and a surge in gun violence. Morale has plummeted among dispatchers, a mostly female unit of 220 civilians that fields emergency calls 24 hours a day. (Bender, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Long Beach Police Department Holds Indoor Superspreader Event With Hundreds Of Maskless Officers
Nearly 300 Long Beach, Calif., police officers, uniformed and masked, gathered close together for a group picture on Nov. 5 at the city’s convention center to commemorate the end of a weeks-long tactical training. But an informal image from that same day captured a different story — the officers are seen standing side-by-side and barefaced, the Long Beach Post first reported earlier this month. (Peiser, 12/17)

The Hill: Michigan Reinstates Pandemic-Related Moratorium On Water Shutoffs 
Michigan's state House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday to reinstitute the state's moratorium on water service shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Associated Press. The bill, which passed with near-unanimous support in the state legislature, puts in place restrictions barring water shutdowns for late payments through March. (Bowden, 12/17)

The New York Times: Benny Napoleon, Wayne County Sheriff, Dies At 65 
Benny Napoleon, the sheriff of Wayne County in Michigan and a former Detroit police chief who ran unsuccessfully for the city’s mayor, died on Thursday. He was 65. The current mayor of Detroit, Mike Duggan, confirmed the death on Twitter. Sheriff Napoleon had been hospitalized in Detroit for weeks with Covid-19 complications. (Gray and Ives, 12/18)

AP: Spain's Parliament Votes To Legalize Euthanasia
Spain’s parliament voted Thursday to approve a bill that will allow physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia for long-suffering patients of incurable diseases or unbearable permanent conditions. The bill, which was backed by Spain’s left-wing coalition government and several other parties, passed in a 198-138 vote. The conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox party voted “No.” The bill will now continue its legislative journey, facing a vote in the Senate where it is also expected to pass. According to the draft of the law approved by the lower house, it won’t go into effect until three months after being published in the government gazette. (12/17)

Also —

The Washington Post: How To Convince Coronavirus Vaccine Skeptics? U.K. Considers Influencers And Cash Incentives. 
In the first week in the first mass coronavirus vaccine campaign in the West, Britain's National Health Service gave the Pfizer-BioNTech shot to 137,897 people. British officials say they want everyone to have the jab. So that means 66 million more to go. How do you persuade a nation to take a vaccine — especially brand-new vaccines, granted emergency authorization — at a time of soaring distrust in leaders and institutions, when a third of the people tell survey takers they will either decline the vaccine or wait and see? Public health experts don’t have a surefire answer. And that worries them. (Adam and Booth, 12/16)

Reuters: 'I Feel Fine' - Beatles Legend McCartney Gives COVID Vaccine A Shot In The Arm 
Beatles legend Paul McCartney, 78, gave Britain’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout a big shot in the arm by vowing to be among the first global superstars to be inoculated, The Sun newspaper reported on Friday. (12/18)

AP: EU Clears Google's $2.1B Takeover Of Fitbit, With Conditions
The European Union on Thursday approved Google’s plan to buy fitness gadget maker Fitbit for $2.1 billion after it promised to restrict user data and ensure Android phones work with other wearable devices for at least 10 years. Human rights and consumer groups, which had called on authorities to block the deal over privacy and antitrust concerns, were unhappy with the decision. The deal also attracted scrutiny in Australia, where competition regulators are mulling a similar offer from Google. (Chan, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Across Much Of Africa, Coronavirus Vaccines Are Still Months Away 
In the pandemic's early days, scientists across Africa were certain: They did not want to rely on vaccines from abroad. Richer countries could hoard supplies, they feared, leaving nations with tighter research budgets behind. ... Distribution campaigns across Africa are not likely to begin until April, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated. Even then, far fewer doses will be sent to African countries than are being shipped to the United States and Europe. “It will be extremely terrible to see,” said John Nkengasong, the Africa CDC director. (Paquette and Bearak, 12/17)

AP: Lockdown Looms Over Christmas In Bethlehem
The mayor of Bethlehem on Thursday said Christmas celebrations in the birthplace of Jesus will be limited to just a handful of people this year as Palestinian officials announced a strict new lockdown across the West Bank due to a soaring coronavirus outbreak. In an interview, Mayor Anton Salman said his town would hold its traditional welcoming ceremony for the Latin Patriarch, who is usually greeted by children’s marching bands as he arrives from nearby Jerusalem. But he said the scout bands would be limited only to local residents because of the new lockdown restrictions. (12/17)

The Atlantic: How Science Beat the Virus
In fall of 2019, exactly zero scientists were studying COVID‑19, because no one knew the disease existed. The coronavirus that causes it, SARS‑CoV‑2, had only recently jumped into humans and had been neither identified nor named. But by the end of March 2020, it had spread to more than 170 countries, sickened more than 750,000 people, and triggered the biggest pivot in the history of modern science. Thousands of researchers dropped whatever intellectual puzzles had previously consumed their curiosity and began working on the pandemic instead. In mere months, science became thoroughly COVID-ized. (Yong, 12/14)

AP: Scientists Focus On Bats For Clues To Prevent Next Pandemic
Night began to fall in Rio de Janeiro’s Pedra Branca state park as four Brazilian scientists switched on their flashlights to traipse along a narrow trail of mud through dense rainforest. The researchers were on a mission: capture bats and help prevent the next global pandemic. A few meters ahead, nearly invisible in the darkness, a bat made high-pitched squeaks as it strained its wings against the thin nylon net that had ensnared it. One of the researchers removed the bat, which used its pointed teeth to bite her gloved fingers. The November nighttime outing was part of a project at Brazil’s state-run Fiocruz Institute to collect and study viruses present in wild animals — including bats, which many scientists believe were linked to the outbreak of COVID-19. (Larson, Ghosal and Silva de Sousa, 12/14)

The Washington Post: A Pandemic Side Effect: Used Masks Polluting California Coastal Waters 
Since the pandemic began early this year, masks have become a go-to item of the national wardrobe, especially here along the California coast where mask-wearing rates are high. But many are careless with the new accessory and, in windy places like many along this state’s 840-mile coast, the masks and other products are ending up on sidewalks, skittering into storm drains, blowing onto beaches and ending up in the Pacific Ocean and its bays. (Wilson, 12/11)

The New York Times: Alzheimer's Researchers Study A Rare Brain 
Aliria Rosa Piedrahita de Villegas carried a rare genetic mutation that had all but guaranteed she would develop Alzheimer’s disease in her 40s. But only at age 72 did she experience the first symptoms of it. Her dementia was not terribly advanced when she died from cancer on Nov. 10, a month shy of her 78th birthday, in her daughter’s home on a hillside that overlooks the city. Neurology investigators at the University of Antioquia in Medellín, led by Dr. Francisco Lopera, have followed members of Ms. Piedrahita de Villegas’s vast extended family for more than 30 years, hoping to unlock the secrets of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. In that time they encountered several outliers, people whose disease developed later than expected, in their 50s or even 60s. But none were as medically remarkable as the woman they all knew as doña Aliria. (Smith, 12/11)

Stat: Picturing The 'Patience, Love, And Devotion' Of Alzheimer's Care 
Alzheimer’s disease runs in photographer Jalal Shamsazaran’s family: his aunt, grandfather, and father, Majid, all have been diagnosed. So as he documented the final years of his father’s life, Shamsazaran recognized his own potential future. (Ambrose, 12/15)

The New York Times: Hearing Aids Could Use Some Help 
By now, we were supposed to be swiftly approaching the day when we could walk into a CVS or Walgreens, a Best Buy or Walmart, and walk out with a pair of quality, affordable hearing aids approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Hearing aids, a widely needed but dauntingly expensive investment, cost on average $4,700 a pair. (Most people need two.) So in 2017, Congress passed legislation allowing the devices to be sold directly to consumers, without a prescription from an audiologist. The next step was for the F.D.A. to issue draft regulations to establish safety and effectiveness benchmarks for these over-the-counter devices. (Span, 12/14)

Also —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hospital Police Have The Power Of Officers But Little Oversight
There is a new kind of police force emerging in America. At first glance it is familiar: Officers carry guns, can make arrests and generally cannot be prosecuted for on-duty actions. But unlike typical police forces, these departments operate largely in secrecy. They don't have to tell the public much about their operations, and there is no public board looking over their shoulder. Where do you find this new kind of police department? At local hospitals in a growing number of states. As concerns simmer over the death of George Floyd and others at the hands of law enforcement, hospital police forces — backed by the powerful health care lobby — are being formed without basic measures long used to hold officers accountable, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found. (Diedrich, Rutledge and Chen, 12/15)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hospital Violence Against Nurses Has Raged For Years
Across the nation, hospital violence has been a quiet, growing epidemic. While hospitals have hailed nurses and other medical staff as heroes of the pandemic, for decades they have left them vulnerable to abuse and assaults. Health care workers are at five times greater risk of being injured by violence than employees in any other private sector industry, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Rutledge, Chen and Diedrich, 12/10)

The New York Times: Kids Are Watching Pornography. Here’s How to Talk About It.
The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s recent report on videos of child sexual abuse on the website Pornhub may have parents wondering if their own children are watching Pornhub, or other pornography websites. Others may be appalled by the possibility that their child may view videos of assault and rape, or ask for or send sexually explicit selfies that could end up on social media or a porn site. All kinds of kids come across porn, and some routinely seek it out, younger than parents might expect. Beware of thinking “not my child.” In my experience as a sex education teacher and national consultant on relationships and consent, I talk about sex with lots of kids. It’s a rare teen who hasn’t seen sexually explicit media — for some, even before having a first kiss. Here are some talking points and guidelines to consider. (Zaloom, 12/10)

PBS NewsHour: How To Help Kids Build Resilience Amid COVID-19 Chaos
When bad things happen to children, we might share the comforting words “it’ll be all right” — kids bounce back. But, for many, those reserves of resilience are flagging under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic. Surveys suggest that children are absorbing the same grown-up worries and stress that are driving a surge of anxiety or depression among U.S. adults, while the normal outlets for defusing those tensions have evaporated. (Santhanam, 12/16)

The Washington Post: Suicides Among Teen Athletes Raise Mental Health Concerns 
The sounds in her home can become unbearable some days. Heather Wendling will sometimes hear the footsteps of her sons walking in the dining room and think it’s her daughter. She will hear the front door creak when her husband comes home after work and wonder whether it’s her daughter. She will hear the phone ring and know it’s not her daughter, but perhaps another friend or volleyball parent calling to offer condolences or help. When it all becomes too much, Wendling will sometimes head out to the backyard and sit on the swing set her daughter, London Bruns, used to play on as a little girl. “You can feel her energy there,” Wendling said, and when she is rocking back and forth, she wrestles with the questions of how London could have taken her own life at her home in Ridgefield, Wash., in the early morning hours of Sept. 21. She was 13 years old. (Stubbs, 12/16)

The Washington Post: Taraji P. Henson Wants Black People To Talk More Openly About Mental Health. 'Peace Of Mind,' Her New Facebook Watch Show, Does Just That. 
Taraji P. Henson is here to deliver something that can seem in short supply these days: peace of mind. That’s the name of a new Facebook Watch show the Golden Globe-winning actress and Oscar nominee will debut Monday. A longtime mental health advocate, Henson wants to normalize the conversation around mental health issues, particularly among African Americans who are less likely to seek treatment, and more likely to encounter racial disparities when they do. (Butler, 12/14)

The Washington Post: Composer Molly Joyce Mines Disability As Source Of Creativity 
Molly Joyce is among of the most versatile, prolific and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome. She’s composed spectral, searching works for orchestra, choir, string quartet and percussion ensemble; collaborated with ­virtual-reality artists, dancers and poets; and studied with the likes of Samuel Adler, Martin Bresnick and Missy Mazzoli. She also teaches composition at NYU, and this year released her stunning debut album, “Breaking and Entering.”And Joyce has achieved all this not so much despite a severe impairment of her left hand (the result of a childhood car accident) but through it. She has carved a unique sound as a composer by treating disability differently: not as an impediment but as a wellspring of creative potential. (Andor Brodeur, 12/13)

Stat: Did The FDA Understaff Its Review Of The Pfizer/BioNTech Vaccine? 
In what is arguably the most important decision the Food and Drug Administration has made this year — its emergency use authorization of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine — the agency apparently assigned only a single reviewer in each of two key scientific disciplines (clinical and statistics) to do the work in three weeks that usually takes months to do. (Peter Doshi and Matthew Herder, 12/17)

Los Angeles Times: ICUs Are Overflowing With COVID, But, Sure, Open Strip Clubs
In less than 24 hours, California hit two regrettable milestones, tallying the most COVID-19 deaths in a single day and a record number of new cases. The available space in intensive care units in Southern California dipped to 0% of capacity, forcing hospitals to scramble to find the additional beds and staff needed to care for the surge in seriously ill patients. Meanwhile, in an apparent bubble in San Diego, a Superior Court judge said it was A-OK for strip clubs to open for business, despite California’s stay-at-home order. He cleared the way for restaurants throughout the county to resume serving at least some diners as well. (12/17)

The New York Times: Can We Do Twice As Many Covid-19 Vaccinations?
It’s been a very good month for Covid-19 vaccines. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration provided an emergency authorization for a vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech. On Thursday, an advisory committee recommended authorizing a vaccine by Moderna, and the F.D.A. is expected to authorize it soon. These vaccines are a triumph. In large-scale trials with tens of thousands of participants, both demonstrated a stunning 95 percent efficacy in preventing Covid-19 — a number exceeding our best hopes. Both vaccines are supposed to be administered in two doses, a prime and a booster, 21 days apart for Pfizer and 28 days for Moderna. However, in data provided to the F.D.A., there are clues for a tantalizing possibility: that even a single dose may provide significant levels of protection against the disease. (Zeynep Tufekci and Michael Mina, 12/18)

Stat: To Get The Covid-19 Vaccine Right, Stop Pathologizing Communities Of Color
Broad skepticism about the safety and effectiveness of potential Covid-19 vaccines has created major challenges for policymakers and health officials as they develop vaccine programs. Much of this has been attributed to the anti-vaccine movement and the constant attacks on science by the outgoing presidential administration. (Julian L. Watkins, 12/18)

The Washington Post: The Work Isn’t Done On Covid-19. That’s Why I’m Participating In A Vaccine Trial.
With Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine being administered across the United States and Moderna’s vaccine under consideration for emergency authorization, there is a palpable sense that science has delivered. Yes, there have been remarkable breakthroughs, but the work is not done. Vaccine rollouts signal the eventual end of the coronavirus crisis, but many clinical trials are just getting started. These remaining trials are so important that I’ve decided to participate in one. (Leana S. Wen, 12/17)

The Wall Street Journal: The Monday When America Came Back
Who’s that battered old man making his way down shuttered streets, facemask hanging from an ear, IV pole dragging at his side. A poignant figure. Didn’t he used to be someone? But wait, look. He’s not walking, he’s marching. Like he’s got his old strut back. As if he just remembered who he is. That was the picture that came to mind on Monday. We were like America of old. And I’m not sure we’re fully seeing it. But on that day our Constitution did what it was built to do, prevail. And our scientific genius and spirit of invention asserted themselves as national features that still endure. So here’s to you, Dec. 14, 2020. You provided a very good ending to a very bad year. (Peggy Noonan, 12/17)

The Wall Street Journal: How To End Lockdowns Next Month 
The approval of several Covid-19 vaccines is an impressive technological development that should rapidly end the lockdowns and allow normal life to resume. But authorities like Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates argue that lockdown restrictions may have to continue through the fall and even into 2022, notwithstanding the catastrophic harms the lockdowns have caused, especially to young people, the poor and the working classes. The imminent dissemination of vaccines can help end lockdowns by the end of January. The Great Barrington Declaration, which we wrote with Martin Kulldorff of Harvard Medical School, provides the key idea: focused protection of people who face a high risk of mortality should they become infected. (Jay Bhattacharya and Sunetra Gupta, 12/17)

Los Angeles Times: What Biden Can Do On Day One For Healthcare Workers Like Me
President Trump’s inauguration speech began in light rain. But the next day he insisted that sunshine held off the rain until he finished, then it poured on a crowd of “a million and a half people,” which his press secretary called “the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period.” That was a lie, and Trump and his crew have been lying ever since. But this year we have a chance for a redo.  (Mark Morocco, 12/17)

The Wall Street Journal: School Choice: Better Than Prozac 
Teachers unions have pushed to shut down schools during the pandemic no matter the clear harm to children, just as they oppose charters and vouchers. Now comes a timely study suggesting school choice improves student mental health. Several studies have found that school choice reduces arrests and that private-school students experience less bullying. One reason is that charter and private schools enforce stricter discipline than traditional public schools. Choice programs also allow parents to pull their kids out of public schools if they are struggling and send them to schools that are safer or a better cultural fit. The new study in the journal “School Effectiveness and School Improvement” is the first to examine the link between school choice and mental health. (12/17)

CNN: Stimulus: Congress Shows Signs Of Cooperation As Trump's Election Sideshow Drags On 
For the first time in months there were small signs of a functioning government Wednesday as congressional leaders negotiated a Covid-19 relief package and millions of vaccine doses were shipped out under the watchful eye of officials with Operation Warp Speed while carrying out contingency planning for delays due to the winter storm. It was a glimmer of hope for progress after four years in which President Donald Trump has sowed dysfunction at every turn, a sign that perhaps America can eventually move beyond his politics of destruction. (Maeve Reston, 12/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Time For A Second Round Of PPP
At the onset of the pandemic, when many American small businesses faced mandatory closures and a drastic reduction in revenue, the Paycheck Protection Program offered a crucial financial lifeline. In a two-week period in March and April, more than 10 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims, and widespread, permanent small business closures and job losses seemed inevitable. Within a week of the passage of the Cares Act, the Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Treasury Department, launched PPP, injecting liquidity into businesses around the country. Very quickly, the number of Americans filing unemployment claims each week began to decline significantly. This wasn’t a coincidence. (Michael Faulkender and Stephen Miran, 12/17)

Boston Globe: The Year Of Fear And The Fragility Of The White, Male Myth
The past year has been replete with examples of the myths those with power and platforms tell about who should and should not be respected, revered, and honored in this country. In these tales, the heroes are usually white and male. It may be tempting simply to dismiss as sexist prattle one example of this phenomenon: last week’s much-maligned Wall Street Journal op-ed by Joseph Epstein, which implored incoming first lady Jill Biden to drop the title “Dr.” from her name. Because she’s not a medical doctor, Epstein mused, her use of the honorific diminishes its prestige. After all, the piece — which suggested “Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo” as alternative monikers —was swiftly met with the thunderous clapback it deserved. (Kimberly Atkins, 12/17)

Louisville Courier Journal: Righting Systemic Racism Should Focus On Black School Children
As peaceful protesters in the aftermath of Breonna Taylor’s death, we and thousands of others raised our voices for reforms to address her killing and longstanding systemic racism. While police reforms are critical, the needs of Black children must become a major focus if we are ever going to heal and transition to a more equitable, just community. The needs are great, including healthcare, food, housing, safety and especially education. As a community, we have been failing our Black children forever, and that’s an unforgivable historic injustice. (Tytianna Wells and Christie Welch, 12/18)

CNN: What Matters: 3,500 Americans Died In One Day. The President Didn't Mention It. 
Inoculations are happening, but more than 3,500 new Covid deaths were reported in the US on Wednesday, a single-day record. Americans still very much in danger certainly are not getting cues or public leadership from President Donald Trump, who judging by his Twitter feed remains focused almost exclusively on his election loss rather than on the deaths occurring on his watch -- or the tortured effort on Capitol Hill to give aid to Americans hurt by the pandemic. (Zachary B. Wolf, 12/17)

Chicago Tribune: It’s OK To Be Sad For COVID Christmas. Who Isn’t Depressed?
Christmas COVID depression came up the other day when I went to the doctor for a flu shot and politely asked the nurse: When will we get in line for the big coronavirus vaccine? I mean, after the politicians get their vaccines, because they’re politicians and so important. “That hasn’t been determined,” said the nurse, typing something into her computer, not really listening. But then she stopped and gave me one of those serious looks over the rims of her glasses, eyebrows up. “Have you had any feelings of depression lately?” she asked. (John Kass, 12/17)

The Washington Post: 'Sound Of Metal' Is The Most Comforting Movie Of 2020
“Sound of Metal” is a movie about providing that kind of deeper solace. It’s the rare film that is defined by its characters’ profound kindnesses to each other, even when they make difficult decisions or face serious disagreements. When Ruben’s (Riz Ahmed) hearing fails suddenly while he’s on tour with his bandmate and partner, Lou (Olivia Cooke), she is willing to sacrifice the sense of security she gets from being with him to get Ruben to a sober living community for deaf people. There, Joe (an astonishingly good Paul Raci) is gentle and patient with Ruben as he struggles to “learn to be Deaf” and to adapt to a community that has come together around the idea that deafness is not a disability or a flaw to be corrected, but a source of a unique and valuable culture. Ruben eventually discovers the joy of teaching, connecting with deaf students at an affiliated school. (Alyssa Rosenberg, 12/18)

Los Angeles Times: Helping Chronically Homeless People Requires New Laws
We see them every day. They are people like C, a woman in her mid-50s who has for years lived mostly in the parking lot of a Hollywood mall. She suffers from untreated, severe psychotic illness as well as from diabetes and hypertension. She spends much of her time talking to herself angrily and screaming profanities at passersby. Unfortunately, trapped by her profound sickness, she has resisted repeated attempts by L.A. County’s mental health workers to connect her with care and housing. (Jonathan Sherin and Henry Stern, 12/18)