NPR: Hospitals In Austin Are Running Out Of Water, Forcing Some To Transfer Patients
Local hospitals are being affected by widespread water issues in the Austin area, following severe weather this week. St. David's South Austin Medical Center said it lost water pressure from the city Wednesday, creating a series of problems. "Water feeds the facility's boiler, so as a result, it is also losing heat," David Huffstutler, CEO of St. David's HealthCare, said in a statement. Huffstutler said the hospital is working with city officials to fix the situation. In the meantime, hospital and city officials are finding transportation to get patients "who are medically able to be discharged home safely." (Lopez, 2/18)

Texas Tribune: “An Emergency On Top Of A Pandemic”: Texas Hospital Workers Scramble As Winter Storm Hampered Operations
Hospitals across Texas struggled through water outages and food supply disruption in the wake of this week’s historic and debilitating winter storm. Patient logjams, overflowing emergency rooms and hospital beds, exhausted workers, staffing shortages and power outages added to the challenging conditions, hospital officials said. (Brooks Harper, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Texas Cities Under Boil-Water Orders 
More than 14 million people in Texas are without safe drinking water, as the fallout of a severe winter storm exacts a historic toll. Cities including Austin, Houston and San Antonio are under boil-water notices until Monday. Some residents are bringing in shovelfuls of snow to flush their toilets. (Findell and Thomas, 2/19)

The New York Times: Texas Water Crisis: Frozen Pipes, Cracked Wells And Offline Treatment Plants 
Power began to flicker back on across much of Texas on Thursday, but millions across the state confronted another dire crisis: a shortage of drinkable water as pipes cracked, wells froze and water treatment plants were knocked offline. The problems were especially acute at hospitals. One, in Austin, was forced to move some of its most critically ill patients to another building when its faucets ran nearly dry. Another in Houston had to haul in water on trucks to flush toilets. (Healy, Fausset and Dobbins, 2/18)

The Texas Tribune: Already Hit Hard By Pandemic, Black And Hispanic Communities Suffer The Blows Of An Unforgiving Winter Storm
Neighborhoods across the state — some lined with million dollar homes, others by more modest dwellings — went cold and dark for days as Texas struggled to keep the power on during a dangerous winter storm. But while the catastrophe wrought by unprecedented weather was shared by millions left shivering in their own homes, the suffering was not equally spread. (Ura and Garnham, 2/19)

Modern Healthcare: Texas Home Care Workers Face Challenges To Provide Care During Winter Storm
When it comes to natural disasters, shutting down healthcare simply isn't an option for most providers. But Texas' recent winter weather and power outages posed particular challenges for home care providers as many roads were impassable and clients were trapped at home. In the greater Austin area, Deborah Garcia runs a small nonmedical home care agency, Texas Home Care Partners. Some of the company's caregivers have stayed at clients' homes since Monday, taking shifts with family members to care for clients. In other cases, families have taken over caregiving until the roads clear. "In cases where the client absolutely can't be alone and doesn't have family there, we have to stay," Garcia said. (Christ, 2/18)

Also —

The Hill: 1 Million Without Clean Drinking Water In Louisiana 
Thousands are without power and roughly 1 million Louisiana residents are without clean drinking water after crippling winter storms struck the southern and central U.S. this week. Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said Thursday at a press conference that water issues were affecting residents across the state, while the power outages remained mostly confined to the Baton Rouge and North Shore areas. (Bowden, 2/18)

NPR: 'A Disaster Within A Disaster': Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Cases Are Surging In Texas
Texas is seeing a surge in carbon monoxide poisonings this week, as plunging temperatures and persistent power outages send residents searching for warmth increasingly from dangerous sources. A total of 450 carbon monoxide-related calls statewide have been made to the Texas Poison Center Network since Feb. 11, a Texas Department of State Health Services spokesperson told NPR on Thursday night. She said some of those calls were made en route to an emergency room or urgent care center. (Treisman, 2/18)

Bloomberg: Winter Storms Target Homeless In Texas And Oregon
On Sunday afternoon, people started lining up to get into Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center — a shelter of last resort for some 800 people — six hours before the facility opened. Temperatures plunged over the weekend in Texas, bringing snow, ice, and widespread power outages to several million households across the state. But the most vulnerable Texans were those who had no homes. In Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and other cities, social workers and volunteers fanned out to search for unhoused people and usher them into emergency warming centers; when community shelters reached capacity, churches and nonprofits opened their doors to those seeking refuge. Not all found shelter: On Monday, a Houston man was found dead in a van after he declined to be taken to a warming center; another man was found dead on a highway median. (Capps and Bliss, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Pfizer Vaccine Is Highly Effective After One Dose and Can Be Stored in Normal Freezers, Data Shows
A single shot of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE is 85% effective in preventing symptomatic disease 15 to 28 days after being administered, an Israeli study found—news that could help guide policy makers setting vaccine priorities world-wide. ... The Israeli study, conducted by the government-owned Sheba Medical Center and released Friday, also found a 75% reduction in all Covid-19 infections, symptomatic or asymptomatic, after the first shot. The peer-reviewed study was published in the British medical journal Lancet as a correspondence, meaning it represents the views of the authors and not the journal. (Lieber, 2/19)

Bloomberg: Single Pfizer Shot Cut 85% Of Cases In Israel Health Workers
A single dose of the vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE reduced Covid-19 infections by 85% in a study in Israel, bolstering the U.K.’s decision to speed immunizations by delaying a second shot. Among health-care workers who got the vaccine, symptomatic infections were reduced by that percentage in the 15 to 28 days after the first dose, compared with those who didn’t get a shot, according to the report in The Lancet medical journal. While most workers received a second dose on schedule -- about three weeks after the first -- the booster would only have just started to kick in by the end of the study, so it was essentially looking at the effects of one dose, researchers said Thursday. (Levingston, Langreth and Lauerman, 2/18)

CBS News: Pfizer Says Deep-Freeze Storage Unnecessary As Israeli Study Shows Vaccine 85% Effective After 1st Shot
The first dose of the Pfizer vaccination is 85% effective against coronavirus infection between two and four weeks after inoculation, according to a study published in the Lancet medical journal. The pharmaceutical giant and its German partner BioNTech, meanwhile, have told the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that their vaccine can be safely stored at standard freezer temperatures, which, if approved by the FDA, could help facilitate faster distribution by negating the need for expensive deep-freeze storage. The Israeli survey was carried out on healthcare workers at the largest hospital in the country, which on December 19 launched a mass vaccination campaign regarded as the world's fastest. (2/19)

Two Canadian researchers offer similar results —

Reuters: Researchers Urge Delaying Pfizer Vaccine's Second Dose As First Highly Effective
The second dose of Pfizer Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine could be delayed in order to cover all priority groups as the first one is highly protective, two Canada-based researchers said in a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The vaccine had an efficacy of 92.6% after the first dose, Danuta Skowronski and Gaston De Serres said, based on an analysis of the documents submitted by the drugmaker to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (2/18)

CIDRAP: Analysis Suggests High Efficacy For Single Dose Of Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine
An analysis by Canadian researchers suggests that a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is highly efficacious, according to a letter published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Results from the phase 3 trial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, published in NEJM on Dec 31, 2020, suggested the efficacy after the first dose of the two-dose vaccine was 52.4%, based on data collected during the first 2 weeks after the first shot to before the second shot. The overall efficacy after two doses was 94.8%. (2/18)

The New York Times: Big Storms Mean Big Vaccine Delays As Bad Weather Wallops The U.S. 
Just as vaccine distribution was beginning to gather steam in the United States, brutal winter weather is delaying the delivery of hundreds of thousands of doses across the country. Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projected “widespread delays” in vaccine shipments and deliveries because of weather affecting a FedEx facility in Memphis and a UPS facility in Louisville, both vaccine shipping hubs. Now those projections appear to be coming true. (2/19)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Postpones COVID-19 Vaccines Amid Winter Weather Delays
Thousands of COVID-19 vaccine appointments scheduled Friday at sites run by the city of Los Angeles will have to be postponed after shipments of doses were delayed by the severe winter weather that’s wreaking havoc across the country. About 12,500 people will have their appointments delayed, and those affected should be notified by text, email or phone, according to a city statement. (Money, Shalby and Lu, 2/18)

Chicago Tribune: Thousands Of Chicago Vaccination Appointments Postponed After ‘Really Disruptive’ Week Of Snow In The Midwest 
Thousands of COVID-19 vaccination appointments in Chicago must be rescheduled as the city on Thursday evening still awaited delayed shipments stemming from a winter storm that pummeled the Midwest this week, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. (Yin, 2/18)

Boston Globe: Vaccine Shipments To Mass. Delayed; Baker Ponders Sending National Guard South To Fetch Supplies
As severe cold, snow, and ice grip much of the country, federal officials have informed the Baker administration that this week’s shipment of COVID-19 vaccine doses earmarked for Massachusetts has been delayed and won’t arrive until Monday, state officials said Thursday. Governor Charlie Baker also said that he’d consider activating the National Guard to travel to the storm-battered South to pick up shipments meant for Massachusetts. In a statement, a spokesperson for the COVID-19 Command Center said Baker had reached out to the US government to “offer any assistance” the state could provide. The administration is also “imploring the federal government to rectify the delay immediately.” (Andersen and Saric, 2/18)

PBS NewsHour: State Department Scrambles To Distribute Scarce COVID-19 Doses To Diplomats
The State Department has so far received less than a quarter of the 315,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses it requested for employees in the United States and worldwide, forcing the department to scrap an ambitious plan for swift global distribution and instead follow a piecemeal process in which the internal Bureau of Medical Services, or MED, is forced to make hasty, difficult decisions about distribution, multiple officials said. The State Department receives vaccine allotments directly from Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership, launched by the Trump administration in May 2020, charged with accelerating COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution. (Rogin, 2/18)

CNN: Florida County Commissioner Limited Vaccine Drive To The Two Richest Zip Codes And Then Created A 'VIP List'
A Manatee County, Florida, commissioner broke protocol for equitable vaccine distribution, which she had previously voted in favor of, when planning a vaccine drive initiated by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Vanessa Baugh admitted on Thursday that she "wanted to make sure certain people were on the list" for vaccination after emails revealed that she directed county officials to create a list to let her and others jump the line. In response to criticism that county officials had only permitted residents from the two richest zip codes in the county to get vaccinated at the event, Baugh further admitted that she picked the zip codes herself. (Murphy, Flores, Toropin and Weisfeldt, 2/18)

The Washington Post: D.C. Revises Coronavirus Vaccine Rules, Will Open To Young People With Health Problems On March 1
The District announced Thursday that it will offer coronavirus vaccines to people 16 or older with serious health problems, beginning March 1. Residents who have conditions such as cancer, diabetes or kidney or liver disease can seek a vaccine through their doctor or through the city’s public registration system. Doses remain in short supply, and this new group of patients — representing more than a quarter of adults in the city — will compete for appointments with seniors and an increasingly large pool of eligible essential workers. (Zauzmer, 2/18)

Boston Globe: Mass. Public Health Officials Apologize For Vaccine Website Issues, Say 60,000 Appointments Were Still Booked
Massachusetts public health officials apologized Thursday night after the state’s COVID-19 vaccination appointment website crashed earlier in the day, as a surge of newly eligible residents age 65 and over tried to book appointments. “The state’s website to find and book vaccine appointments experienced delays and technical difficulties and the administration sincerely apologizes for the frustration and inconvenience our residents experienced over the course of the day,” the state’s COVID-19 Command Center said in a statement. (Bowker, 2/18)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Rep. Anthony Brown Introduces Legislation For One-Stop COVID Vaccine Booking Website 
The federal government could incentivize states to create one-stop websites to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments with grant money under new legislation introduced by Maryland Congressman Anthony Brown. The proposal, called the Vaccine Administration Centralization to Coordinate and Improve National Execution (VACCINE) Act, also would create a national website and call center for Americans to find information about the state registration systems, and mandate that sites adhere to “modern design principles” to maximize efficiency. (Miller, 2/18)

USA Today: CVS To Help Underserved Americans Get COVID Vaccine Appointments
CVS Health plans to contact Americans living in underserved communities to help them schedule COVID-19 vaccine appointments amid signs that white people are getting the free vaccine at higher rates than Black Americans. The drugstore chain said Friday that it will call, email and text-message people living in what the federal government has deemed socially vulnerable areas to provide assistance and education in the vaccine process. The move also comes as reports circulate widely that Americans are struggling to navigate various scheduling systems, website crashes and a sluggish rollout of the two vaccines approved so far. (Bomey, 2/19)

The Hill: Top CEO Group, Nonprofits Launch Alliance To Encourage Employees To Take The COVID-19 Vaccine 
The Business Roundtable, the CDC Foundation and other nonprofits launched the Health Action Alliance on Thursday, a joint initiative to help bolster vaccination efforts and encourage people to get inoculated. The alliance, which also includes the Ad Council, de Beaumont Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will provide resources to the business community to help companies deliver information to employees on COVID-19 vaccines. (Gangitano, 2/18)

In other vaccination news —

KHN: To Vaccinate Veterans, Health Care Workers Must Cross Mountains, Plains And Tundra
A Learjet 31 took off before daybreak from Helena Regional Airport in Montana, carrying six Veterans Affairs medical providers and 250 doses of historic cargo cradled in a plug-in cooler designed to minimize breakage. Even in a state where 80-mph speed limits are normal, ground transportation across long distances is risky for the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine, which must be used within 12 hours of thawing. (Kime, 2/19)

KHN: Spurred By Pandemic, Little Shell Tribe Fast-Tracks Its Health Service Debut 
Linda Watson draped a sweater with the words “Little Shell Chippewa Tribe” over her as she received the newly recognized tribal nation’s first dose of covid-19 vaccine. “I wanted to show my pride in being a Little Shell member,” Watson, 72, said. “The Little Shell are doing very good things for the people.” (Houghton, 2/19)

KHN: Companies Pan For Marketing Gold In Vaccines
For a decade, Jennifer Crow has taken care of her elderly parents, who have multiple sclerosis. After her father had a stroke in December, the family got serious in its conversations with a retirement community — and learned that one service it offered was covid-19 vaccination. “They mentioned it like it was an amenity, like ‘We have a swimming pool and a vaccination program,’” said Crow, a librarian in southern Maryland. “It was definitely appealing to me.” Vaccines, she felt, would help ease her concerns about whether a congregate living situation would be safe for her parents, and for her to visit them; she has lupus, an autoimmune condition. (Kwon, 2/19)

KHN: Journalists Field Questions On Covid Coverage 
KHN Montana correspondent Katheryn Houghton discussed Thursday on Newsy how covid’s impact on disabled group housing isn’t tracked. ... California Healthline senior correspondent Anna Maria Barry-Jester shared updates on California’s vaccine rollout on KALW’s “Your Call” on Thursday. (2/19)

Also —

The Washington Post: Florida Women Dress As Elderly Women To Get Coronavirus Vaccine, Orange County Health Director Says 
The coronavirus vaccine is so coveted that two women in Florida went to extremes Wednesday to get inoculated: They dressed as if they were elderly, health officials said. The women, both younger than 45, “dressed up as grannies,” wearing bonnets, gloves and glasses to disguise themselves as older than 65, the age cutoff to be prioritized to get the coronavirus vaccine in Florida, according to Raul Pino, the director of the health department in Orange County, where Orlando is located. He attributed the deception to growing interest in the vaccine, giving the example of the women while explaining how high demand is in the area. (Kornfield, 2/18)

The Hill: Pfizer Begins Coronavirus Vaccine Trial In Pregnant Women 
Pfizer and BioNTech on Thursday announced a new trial aiming to test the safety and efficacy of its coronavirus vaccine among pregnant women. The companies, which together produced one of the two COVID-19 vaccines the Food and Drug Administration approved for emergency use in the U.S., said in a press release that it had given doses to its first group of participants in the new study, which aims to provide clear data on any impacts the inoculation may have for expectant mothers and their newborn children. (Castronuovo, 2/18)

Bloomberg: Covid Vaccine For Pregnancy Trials To Begin As Pfizer-BioNTech Start Tests
Covid vaccine developers are beginning trials in pregnant women, looking to provide reassurance that the shots are safe for expectant mothers. Pfizer Inc. and German partner BioNTech SE dosed the first patients in a trial of their messenger RNA vaccine in 4,000 women in the latter stages of pregnancy, the companies said on Thursday. The partners will run a mid-stage study for 350 volunteers between 27 and 34 weeks gestation to confirm safety, before moving into advanced trials for women between 24 and 34 weeks pregnant. (Ring and Kresge, 2/18)

In other vaccine development news —

The Hill: Fauci: Vaccine For COVID-19 Variant 'Likely Will Take Several Months' 
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, on Thursday said that a vaccine for a variant strain of the coronavirus believed to have originated in South Africa will likely take “several months.” (Budryk, 2/18)

The Washington Post: Pfizer And Moderna Vaccine Manufacturing Is Stressing A Supply System That Previously Served A Scientific Niche 
Acuitas Therapeutics, a tiny biotechnology firm in Vancouver, B.C., has just 30 employees and leases its labs from the University of British Columbia. The company doesn’t even have a sign on its building. Until last year, it outsourced production of only small volumes of lipid nanoparticles, fat droplets used to deliver RNA into cells, for research and a single approved treatment for a rare disease. But now, one of Acuitas’s discoveries has become a precious commodity. A proprietary molecule called an ionizable cationic lipid is a crucial piece of the mRNA vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, and it is in urgent demand for production of billions of vaccine doses worldwide. (Rowland, 2/18)

Stat: To Get Ahead Of Variants, Covid Drug Makers Use Evolution As Guide
Before becoming a Covid-19 drug, each candidate was just a tiny fragment of someone’s immune system, part of a swarm of Y-shaped proteins unleashed to try to keep the coronavirus from invading more cells. If the person recovered, these antibodies might end up in a blood sample in a lab. Some proved more effective than others. Yet even as researchers pinpointed the best of the bunch as possible medications, they knew their power could wane: What worked against the coronavirus as it was last year could falter as the pathogen evolved. (Boodman, 2/19)

Fox News: CDC Director Worries Over ‘Pandemic Fatigue’ Come Spring: ‘This Could Go Bad So Fast’
Despite encouraging national trends in coronavirus-related hospitalizations and cases, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) worries that "pandemic fatigue" come spring could significantly hamper the country’s trajectory toward vaccination-induced herd immunity. The comments from Dr. Rochelle Walensky also come as additional states continue to detect highly transmissible coronavirus variants first identified in the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7) and South Africa (B.1.351). A separate variant first found in Brazil (P.1) has also been identified in two states. CDC models have projected that the B.1.1.7 strain could become dominant in the U.S. by March. (Rivas, 2/18)

AP: Experts Warn Against COVID-19 Variants As States Reopen
As states lift mask rules and ease restrictions on restaurants and other businesses because of falling case numbers, public health officials say authorities are overlooking potentially more dangerous COVID-19 variants that are quietly spreading through the U.S. Scientists widely agree that the U.S. simply doesn’t have enough of a handle on the variants to roll back public health measures and is at risk of fumbling yet another phase of the pandemic after letting the virus rage through the country over the last year and kill nearly 500,000 people. (Renault, 2/18)

CNN: A Drop In Covid-19 Cases Can Be Deceptive, Official Warns. Here's How To Stay Ahead Of A Variant-Driven Surge 
Although the rise of Covid-19 variants in the United States could spell trouble, pharmaceutical companies and scientists are confident vaccines will evolve with them, senior White House adviser Andy Slavitt told CNN. "I spoke to all the pharmaceutical companies and scientists, and they all say the same thing: Even if these vaccines diminish a little bit, they will be able to continually update them," Slavitt, who is responsible for the Covid response, told CNN's Chris Cuomo on Thursday. (Holcombe, 2/19)

AP: Infant Boy Among Latest Oregon COVID-19 Deaths Reported
The Oregon Health Authority reported Thursday that an infant boy in Oregon had tested positive for COVID-19 and died the same day. This is Oregon’s youngest and only reported infant death related to COVID-19. Health officials described the death as extremely rare. ... Health officials say the infant had underlying health conditions. (2/18)

In related news about the coronavirus —

CIDRAP: Study Highlights Heart Damage 1 Month After Severe COVID-19
More than half of patients with severe COVID-19 and elevated levels of a key marker of heart muscle damage after hospital release showed signs of damage to the heart a month later, a study today in the European Heart Journal finds. Led by researchers from University College London, the study involved cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 148 COVID-19 patients who had elevated troponin levels, indicating heart damage, and who had required ventilatory support before being released from one of six London hospitals at least a month before. One in three had required mechanical ventilation. (2/18)

CIDRAP: High Mortality Found In Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients With Diabetes
Updated results from a study of hospitalized COVID-19 patients with diabetes shows 1 in 5 died within 28 days of hospitalization, French researchers reported yesterday in Diabetologia. The updated results from the CORONADO (Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and Diabetes Outcomes) study, which evaluated outcomes in diabetic French patients hospitalized for COVID-19 from Mar 10 through Apr 10, 2020, show that among 2,796 patients, 577 (20.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 19.2% to 22.2%) died within 28 days of hospitalization and 1,404 (50.2%; 95% CI, 48.3% to 52.1%) were discharged from the hospital. Results presented in May 2020 showed that 10% of patients who had diabetes and COVID-19 died within 7 days of hospitalization. (2/18)

NPR: Biden To Announce $4 Billion For Global COVID-19 Vaccine Effort
President Biden is set on Friday to announce a total of $4 billion in contributions to COVAX, the vaccine alliance trying to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to 92 low- and middle-income countries, a senior administration official told reporters. Biden will make the announcement during a virtual meeting of G-7 leaders about the pandemic. (Wise, 2/18)

AP: Biden Rolling Out Plan For $4 Billion Global Vaccine Effort
Joe Biden will use his first big presidential moment on the global stage at Friday’s Group of Seven meeting of world leaders to announce that the U.S. will soon begin releasing $4 billion for an international effort to bolster the purchase and distribution of coronavirus vaccine to poor nations, White House officials said. Biden will also encourage G-7 partners to make good on their pledges to COVAX, an initiative by the World Health Organization to improve access to vaccines, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview Biden’s announcement. (Madhani, 2/18)

The Washington Post: White House Announces $4 Billion In Funding For Covax, The Global Vaccine Effort That Trump Spurned
The White House is throwing its support behind a global push to distribute coronavirus vaccines equitably, pledging $4 billion to a multilateral effort the Trump administration spurned. At a Group of Seven meeting of leaders of the world’s largest economies Friday, President Biden will announce an initial $2 billion in funding for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to be used by the Covax Facility, senior administration officials said in a briefing. (Rauhala, Cunningham and Taylor, 2/18)

In related news —

Politico: U.S. Won’t Share Vaccine Before All Americans Receive Shots, Officials Say 
The Biden administration won’t donate to poor countries any of the coronavirus vaccine doses the U.S. has purchased before most Americans are vaccinated, a senior administration official told reporters Thursday. The comments come one day before Biden will join the G7 virtual meeting, where leaders of major industrialized nations are set to address anxiety over a global vaccine rollout that’s left behind poor countries. (Paun, 2/18)

CNN: House Democrats Plan To Push Biden's Covid Relief Plan Through The Chamber Next Week 
House Democrats are taking a major step forward to push through President Joe Biden's massive $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill by the end of next week. The House Budget committee announced Thursday it will take the step of cobbling together pieces of the plan on Monday and vote to advance it out of the committee, paving the way for House floor action by week's end. (Foran, 2/18)

Politico: Biden Privately Tells Governors: Minimum Wage Hike Likely Isn’t Happening 
When Joe Biden met with a group of mayors and governors last week he bluntly told them to get ready for a legislative defeat: his proposed minimum wage hike was unlikely to happen, he said, at least in the near term. “I really want this in there but it just doesn't look like we can do it because of reconciliation,” Biden told the group, according to a person in the room. “I’m not going to give up. But right now, we have to prepare for this not making it.” (Korecki and Cadelago, 2/18)

The New York Times: Kamala Harris: Women Leaving Work Force During Pandemic Is A 'National Emergency' 
Vice President Kamala Harris said on Thursday that the 2.5 million women who have left the work force since the beginning of the pandemic constituted a “national emergency” that could be addressed by the Biden administration’s coronavirus relief plan. That number, according to Labor Department data, compares with 1.8 million men who have left the work force. For many women, the demands of child care, coupled with layoffs and furloughs in an economy hit hard by the pandemic, has forced them out of the labor market. (Rogers, 2/18)

In other news —

The Hill: Conservative Groups Seek To Bolster Opposition To Biden's HHS Pick 
Conservative groups have launched advertising and grassroots campaigns in a bid to sink the nomination of Xavier Becerra for secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), portraying him as too liberal and inexperienced for the job. Heritage Action for America is backing a $600,000 ad campaign targeting Becerra, while Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion conservative group, is seeking to drum up grassroots support to pressure lawmakers to oppose Becerra's confirmation. (Samuels, 2/18)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Open Enrollment, One More Time 
An estimated 9 million Americans eligible for free or reduced premium health insurance under the Affordable Care Act have a second chance to sign up for 2021 coverage, since the Biden administration reopened enrollment on healthcare.gov and states that run their own marketplaces followed suit. Meanwhile, Biden officials took the first steps to revoke the permission that states got from the Trump administration to require many adults on Medicaid to work or perform community service in exchange for their health coverage. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case on the work requirements at the end of March. (2/18)

The New York Times: Mental Health Providers Struggle To Meet Pandemic Demand 
After Jessica W. was laid off from her job as an executive assistant in November, she began backsliding into the eating disorder that she thought she had overcome. “I started to not want to eat again,” Jessica, 33, said. “Those thoughts and behaviors — they’re just debilitating and they drain you. It becomes a constant battle with yourself.” Jessica, whose last name has been withheld to protect her privacy as she searches for a new job, was also struggling with anxiety and depression. So she went online and started searching for mental health providers in Connecticut, where she lives. One of the therapists she called wasn’t accepting new patients. Two of them told Jessica that they didn’t have the right skill sets to help her. Others simply didn’t respond. (Caron, 2/17)

In other health care industry news —

KHN: Medicare Cuts Payment To 774 Hospitals Over Patient Complications
The federal government has penalized 774 hospitals for having the highest rates of patient infections or other potentially avoidable medical complications. Those hospitals, which include some of the nation’s marquee medical centers, will lose 1% of their Medicare payments over 12 months. The penalties, based on patients who stayed in the hospitals anytime between mid-2017 and 2019, before the pandemic, are not related to covid-19. They were levied under a program created by the Affordable Care Act that uses the threat of losing Medicare money to motivate hospitals to protect patients from harm. (Rau, 2/19)

Look Up Your Hospital: Is It Being Penalized By Medicare?

Charlotte Observer: Atrium Health Breaks Ground On New Charlotte NC Facility 
Atrium Health announced Thursday that it had broken ground on a new, $13.8 million emergency care facility in Mountain Island, part of an effort the health system says is aimed at reducing barriers to care. The Atrium Health Mountain Island Emergency Department facility is associated with Atrium Health University, Atrium said in a release. Construction on the emergency department is expected to take approximately 10 to 11 months, Atrium said, and it is slated to open by the end of the year. (Chemtob, 2/18)

Modern Healthcare: CHS Emerges From Divestiture Program With Stronger Bottom Line In 2020
Community Health Systems in 2020 wrapped up its multi-year effort to sell underperforming hospitals, an undertaking that significantly trimmed its portfolio and appears to have bolstered its bottom line. Investor-owned CHS posted $511 million in net income to shareholders in a year where admissions were dampened by a devastating global pandemic, a major swing from its $675 million net loss in 2019. Like most of its peers, CHS' performance got a major boost from federal stimulus grants, of which it recognized about $600 million during the year. The company's earnings—expressed as adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization—were $1.8 billion in 2020, up 11% year-over-year. (Bannow, 2/18)

The New York Times: Clinical Trials Are Moving Out Of The Lab And Into People’s Homes 
When the pandemic hit last year, clinical trials took a hit. Universities closed, and hospitals turned their attention to battling the new disease. Many studies that required repeated, in-person visits with volunteers were delayed or scrapped. But some scientists found creative ways to continue their research even when face-to-face interaction was inherently risky. They mailed medications, performed exams over video chat and asked patients to monitor their own vitals at home. (Anthes, 2/18)

Stat: Researchers Push Academia To Reward Diversity Work In Promotions
Universities and academic hospitals have vowed to diversify their ranks after a year of reckoning over racial injustice. Among the remedies faculty are pushing: rewarding diversity and inclusion efforts in promotion decisions. (Joseph, 2/19)

Stat: Federal Judge Nixes Hospitals’ Attempt To Force HHS 340B Crackdown
A federal judge ruled Thursday that it’s too early for hospitals to challenge the federal government’s lack of action against drug makers in the 340B drug discount program. The decision is the latest installment in an escalating feud between hospitals and drug makers over substantial drug discounts providers get for treating low-income patients. (Cohrs, 2/18)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Modern Healthcare: Humacyte To Go Public In Merger That Would Create $1.1 Billion Company
Regenerative medicine company Humacyte agreed to go public via a merger with special purpose acquisition firm Alpha Healthcare Acquisition Corp. that would create an entity valued around $1.1 billion, the organizations announced Wednesday. Humacyte develops bioengineered human tissue to treat illnesses like end-stage renal disease, vascular disease, heart disease, diabetes and lung disease as well as repair or replace damaged arteries. After implanting a Humacyte product, patients can regrow their own tissues, which are regenerative and self-healing, Humacyte CEO Dr. Laura Niklason said during an investor presentation. (Kacik, 2/17)

Stat: Pharma's Ambitious Antibiotic Venture Hires A CEO To Fix A 'Broken' Pipeline
Several months after a splashy announcement, an ambitious pharmaceutical industry venture to tackle antibiotic resistance has hired its first chief executive officer and received $140 million in additional funding commitments. (Silverman, 2/18)

Stat: Covid Crushed In-Person Pharma Sales. Tech Is Pitching Itself As A Solution
The pandemic grounded tens of thousands of pharmaceutical reps who usually roam the country urging doctors to prescribe certain drugs — a shift that has opened the door for tech companies, who are pitching digital platforms on the promise that oceans of data can make pharma marketing better. (Aguilar, 2/18)

Modern Healthcare: Five Chronic Conditions Cost Employers $2.5 Billion Over Two Years, Study Shows
Companies spent $2.5 billion to treat employees' asthma, diabetes, hypertension, mental health and substance abuse and back disorders over the course of two years, according to a new study. UnitedHealthcare reviewed all claims issued by the Health Action Council's 57 nationwide employer members—which are responsible for coverage of 281,000 individuals—to find that more than 60% of workers struggle with at least one of these chronic conditions, making them the top cost drivers in employer healthcare. By studying which populations are most impacted by which diseases, Craig Kurtzweil, vice president of UnitedHealthcare's Center for Advanced Analytics, said he aims to help employers and payers lower their overall health spend by structuring targeted benefits packages to meet the needs of these workers. (Tepper, 2/18)

In other public health news —

The Hill: LGBT People Of Color Two Times More Likely Than Straight, White People To Get COVID-19: Study 
LGBT people of color are twice as likely to contract the coronavirus as their heterosexual, white counterparts, according to a study from UCLA Williams Institute. The study assessed the impact of the fall 2020 surge of COVID-19 in the United States, using data collected from 12,000 adult participants between Aug. 21, 2020, and Dec. 21, 2020. The study's "main finding" is that "that the impact of the pandemic on LGBT communities cannot be fully understood without considering race and ethnicity as well as sexual orientation and gender identity." (Vella, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Ivy League Cancels Spring Sports Season Over Covid-19 
The Ivy League Council of Presidents announced Thursday that it would not attempt to stage spring sports in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, making it the only conference in the NCAA’s Division I that remains completely on the sidelines for the fourth consecutive season. “These decisions are grounded in public health best practices and informed by the pandemic related policies currently in place at member institutions,” a council statement said, adding that the presidents had decided that having sports jeopardized the rest of their universities’ activities. (Higgins and Radnofsky, 2/18)

Politico: Former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole Announces Stage 4 Lung Cancer Diagnosis 
Former Kansas senator and Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole announced on Thursday that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. "My first treatment will begin on Monday. While I certainly have some hurdles ahead, I also know that I join millions of Americans who face significant health challenges of their own," the 97-year-old Dole said in a statement. (Kambhampaty, 2/18)

The New York Times: Are Some Foods Addictive? 
Five years ago, a group of nutrition scientists studied what Americans eat and reached a striking conclusion: More than half of all the calories that the average American consumes comes from ultra-processed foods, which they defined as “industrial formulations” that combine large amounts of sugar, salt, oils, fats and other additives. Highly processed foods continue to dominate the American diet, despite being linked to obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and other health problems. They are cheap and convenient, and engineered to taste good. They are aggressively marketed by the food industry. But a growing number of scientists say another reason these foods are so heavily consumed is that for many people they are not just tempting but addictive, a notion that has sparked controversy among researchers. (O'Connor, 2/18)

Burlington Free Press: Penuma Penile Implant Surgery Offered At Brigham And Women's In Boston
A Boston hospital is the first in New England to offer the only government-authorized cosmetic penile implant for men willing to shell out about $18,000 to size-up their reproductive member. Called "Penuma," the first procedure in New England was completed the week of Feb. 8 at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where Dr. Michael Philip O'Leary is one of only 10 surgeons in the U.S. currently able to perform the surgery. Approximately 300 patients have already expressed interest in receiving Penuma at Brigham and Women's. "There’s a strong interest in men for this type of surgery, and I think it will be very successful," said O'Leary. (Barndollar, 2/18)

The Hill: South Carolina Governor Signs Bill Banning Most Abortions 
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) on Thursday signed a bill into law that would ban most abortions in the state, the latest state to enact stringent abortion restrictions. The new law, dubbed the “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act,” prohibits abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected and mandates that doctors conduct an ultrasound before performing an abortion to see if a heartbeat can be detected. The law contains exceptions for a fetus that is conceived by rape or incest, or if the mother’s life is in jeopardy. (Axelrod, 2/18)

CNN: South Carolina Governor Signs Bill Prohibiting Most Abortions When A Fetal Heartbeat Is Detected
"This is a great day. It's a happy day," the Republican said during a packed event at the state Capitol. "There a lot of happy hearts beating right now." The South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act states that a doctor must perform an ultrasound on a person seeking an abortion to determine if there is a fetal heartbeat. If a heartbeat is found, a doctor cannot perform an abortion unless the physician believes it is a medical emergency, the pregnancy is the result of a rape or incest or there is a fetal anomaly, the bill says. Abortion providers who provide the procedure outside those parameters could face fines and imprisonment. (Watts and Kelly, 2/18)

In pandemic updates from Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia and California —

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Gov. Holcomb Signs COVID Liability Bill, Lawsuit Protection
Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill Thursday that would provide businesses, including nursing homes, civil immunity from coronavirus-related lawsuits. The act goes into effect immediately. “The pandemic has affected Hoosier businesses, schools and others in ways no one could have foreseen just one year ago," Holcomb said in a statement. "To aid in the state’s recovery, I made providing assurances that they will not have to live and work in fear of frivolous lawsuits a part of my Next Level Agenda." Critics worried Senate Bill 1 could impact legal claims targeting nursing homes that have no connection to the pandemic and would provide unnecessary and unprecedented protections. (Lange, 2/18)

AP: Kentucky Relaxing COVID Rules At Some Long-Term Care Centers
Kentucky is relaxing coronavirus-related restrictions at some of its long-term care facilities. Indoor visitation will resume at non-Medicare-certified facilities that have been through the COVID-19 vaccination process, Gov. Andy Beshear said. Group activities, communal dining and visitations among vaccinated residents will resume, he said. Included in the updated protocols are assisted living facilities, personal care homes, intermediate care facilities for people with intellectual disabilities and independent living centers, Beshear said. (2/19)

Georgia Health News: Bill To Allow Visitors In Hospitals, Nursing Homes Is Pared Down, But Still Sparks Emotional Debate
Georgia House committee held a passionate debate Thursday over a pared-down bill to allow people to visit patients in hospitals and long-term care facilities during a public health emergency. The nation is currently in the midst of such an emergency — the COVID-19 pandemic. (Miller, 2/18)

The Washington Post: Oakley Union School Board On Hot Mic Disparages Parents Who ’Want Their Babysitters Back’ 
Thinking they were in a private forum where they could safely vent, a group of San Francisco Bay area school board members unleashed months of pent-up frustration with parents, dismissing them as marijuana users desperate for free babysitting almost a year into the pandemic. “Are we alone?” one member of the Oakley Union Elementary School District Board of Trustees asked this week before describing her attitude toward critics: “B----, if you’re going to call me out, I’m going to f--- you up.” (Farzan, 2/19)

In other news from Louisiana, Utah, California and Pennsylvania —

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Louisiana Saw Nation's Steepest Spike In Drug-Overdose Deaths Between 2019 And 2020
The number of drug-overdose deaths in Louisiana rose more rapidly than any other state in the U.S. during the 12 months that ended last July, a period that included the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control. About 1,720 Louisianans died from overdoses during that period, which saw what the CDC estimates to be a record 86,000 overdose deaths. Louisiana’s total is 53% more than the number that died during the same time period the year before, a spike twice as steep as the national average. (Adelson and DeRobertis, 2/19)

Salt Lake Tribune: Bill Requiring Fathers To Pay 50% Of Pregnancy Costs Clears The Senate
A bill that would require a biological father to pay half of the out-of-pocket pregnancy costs for the woman carrying their unborn child passed unanimously through the Utah Senate on Thursday. HB113, which requires a final procedural vote in the Senate before heading to the governor for his signature or veto, would apply to a pregnant mother’s health insurance premiums and all medical costs related to the pregnancy from conception to birth. Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, said the bill is an effort “to try and bring some equity to the funding of pregnancies and share in that burden and [to recognize] the important role that the mother and the father play in the pregnancy.” (Stevens, 2/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: Oakland Plan To Replace Police With Mental Health Workers In Disarray
As protests against police brutality swept Oakland in June, the City Council took a bold step toward rethinking public safety: It set aside $1.85 million for a new program to dispatch counselors and paramedics to mental health crises, instead of armed law enforcement officers. Eight months later, the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland program has yet to get off the runway. And on Feb. 17, two community-based organizations that were vying for the contract bowed out. (Swan, 2/19)

Philadelphia Inquirer: The SPOT Period In Philadelphia Offers Free Menstrual Products To Those Experiencing Period Poverty
After years of running their nonprofit — No More Secrets: Mind Body Spirit, Inc. — out of Medley’s therapy office and the trunk of her car, on Saturday McGlone and Medley will open The SPOT Period in Germantown. It is believed to be the nation’s first menstrual hub. Entirely funded through community donations, The SPOT (which stands for Safety Programming for Optimal Transformation) offers an array of services including free menstrual and hygiene products, educational resources and seminars, access to clean water and toilets, a computer room, first period kits, and a Breonna Taylor safe room for “marginalized women to escape the dangers of the world.” (Farr, 2/19)

The Washington Post: France Considers Only One Covid Vaccine Dose For People Previously Infected 
France is weighing whether to give people previously infected with the coronavirus only one vaccine dose instead of two, a practice that if enacted here and followed by other countries could free up tens of millions of doses. “It’s likely that we’ll see similar moves elsewhere, given that we’re facing a shortage of vaccine doses,” said Tobias Kurth, the director of the Institute of Public Health at Berlin’s Charité hospital. (Noack, 2/18)

Bloomberg: Brazil Hits 10 Million Covid Cases With New Strain Taking Hold
Brazil became the third country in the world to breach 10 million coronavirus cases, with infections picking up speed in recent weeks as a new variant spreads amid a shortage of vaccines. Latin America’s largest nation reported 51,879 new cases Thursday, pushing the total confirmed to 10,030,626, according to Health Ministry data. It’s a toll that lags only the U.S. and India. Deaths rose by 1,367 to 243,457, the second-highest globally. (Leite, Viotti Beck and Aragaki, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: In Hunt For Covid-19 Origin, WHO Team Focuses On Two Animal Types In China 
World Health Organization investigators are honing their search for animals that could have spread the new coronavirus to humans, identifying two—ferret badgers and rabbits—that can carry the virus and were sold at a Chinese market where many early cases emerged. Members of a WHO team probing the pandemic’s origins say further investigation is needed into suppliers of those and other animals at the market, some of which came from a region of China near its Southeast Asian borders where the closest known relatives of the virus have been found in bats. (McKay, Page and Hinshaw, 2/18)

Also —

The Hill: WHO Deploys Team To Battle Ebola Outbreaks 
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Thursday it is sending a team of experts to Guinea and Congo to battle Ebola outbreaks there. Health authorities in Guinea declared an Ebola outbreak on Sunday after identifying three cases, the first outbreak there since the virus ravaged the country in 2016. There have also been four confirmed Ebola cases in Congo. (Axelrod, 2/18)

NPR: New Zealand Will Offer Free Sanitary Products At Schools To Fight Period Poverty
All schools in New Zealand will offer free sanitary products to students starting in June, officials said Thursday. The initiative, which aims to combat period poverty, expands on a pilot program that launched last year. In their announcement, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti said the program is open to all primary, intermediate, secondary and kura, or Maori-language immersion schools. Arden said that providing free period products at schools is one way for the government to help address poverty, increase school attendance and support students' well-being. (Treisman, 2/18)

AP: China Considers New Actions To Lift Flagging Birthrate
China is considering additional measures to increase its flagging birthrate, more than four years after ending its controversial one-child policy. For decades, China enforced strict controls on additional births in the name of preserving scarce resources for its burgeoning economy. But its plunging birthrate is now seen as a major threat to economic progress and social stability. On Thursday, the National Health Commission issued a statement saying it will conduct research to “further stimulate birth potential.” (2/19)

The Atlantic: Why COVID-19 Cases Are Falling So Fast
One month ago, the CDC published the results of more than 20 pandemic forecasting models. Most projected that COVID-19 cases would continue to grow through February, or at least plateau. Instead, COVID-19 is in retreat in America. New daily cases have plunged, and hospitalizations are down almost 50 percent in the past month. This is not an artifact of infrequent testing, since the share of regional daily tests that are coming back positive has declined even more than the number of cases. Some pandemic statistics are foggy, but the current decline of COVID-19 is crystal clear. What’s behind the change? Americans’ good behavior in the past month has tag-teamed with (mostly) warming weather across the Northern Hemisphere to slow the pandemic’s growth; at the same time, partial immunity and vaccines have reduced the number of viable bodies that would allow the coronavirus to thrive. But the full story is a bit more complex. (Thompson, 2/17)

Los Angeles Times: Hollywood Forever Crematorium Takes On COVID-19 Death Surge 
Diego Pablo had trained the young man in the craft of burning human bodies down to ash. Inside the crematorium, 44-year-old Pablo watched as his protege prepared to push the rose-covered cardboard coffin into the furnace’s yawning mouth. “What’s next?” Pablo asked, a gentle reminder to the 23-year-old — who towered over him — that something was missing. (Mejia, 2/12)

The Atlantic: The Virus Is Evolving. But So Are Your Antibodies
To locate some of the world’s most superpowered cells, look no further than the human immune system. The mission of these hometown heroes is threefold: Memorize the features of dangerous microbes that breach the body’s barriers. Launch an attack to bring them to heel. Then squirrel away intel to quash future assaults. The immune system is comprehensive, capable of dueling with just about every microbe it meets. It’s archival, ace at memorizing the details of its victories and defeats. It might be complicated, but it is also, simply put, cool as hell. (Wu, 2/12)

The New York Times: Potential For New Coronaviruses May Be Greater Than Known 
As the coronavirus continues to evolve, the scientific and public health focus has been on new variants in which a few mutations make the virus more infectious, or even, it may be, more deadly. These changes in the virus are all what scientists call point mutations, the substitution of one tiny bit of genetic code for another. Coronaviruses, as a group, are not known to mutate rapidly, but the pandemic caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 means that millions and millions of people are infected by billions and billions of viral particles, offering countless chances for change. (Gorman, 2/16)

The New York Times: Piecing Together The Next Pandemic 
Covid-19 arrived in Cambodia a year ago, on Jan. 23, when a Chinese national flew in from Wuhan, the city where the illness was first detected, and soon fell sick with a fever. A P.C.R. test to detect the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, came back positive. With that news, the disease had officially pierced the borders of another nation. For Cambodia, a developing country with a rudimentary health care system and multiple direct flights from Wuhan, the new disease seemed to present an especially high risk. (Zeeberg, 2/16)

Politico: Welcome To Recovery Lab: Health 
The Covid-19 pandemic is a crisis with no parallel in America for a century: a deadly global contagion combined with a deep economic downturn that has caused massive shocks throughout our society and economy. Our health care system has struggled with the volume of patients and the unprecedented challenge of vaccinating the entire population. Millions of jobs have ceased to exist and others have been completely restructured. Schools and universities have reconfigured curricula and schedules. Technology has become even more integral to how we shop, work and learn, making the digital divide wider than ever. Daily life has been completely altered, and it’s a good bet that our economy will never be the same. (Reynolds, 2/18)

Bloomberg: Pfizer Herd Immunity Study Stymied By Iceland’s Wins Over Covid
A push by Iceland to get Pfizer Inc.’s backing for a nationwide study on the ability of vaccines to quickly create herd immunity has run into an unexpected snag. The tiny island nation has done too good a job keeping Covid-19 in check. Before Christmas, Kari Stefansson, the head of Iceland-based deCode Genetics, and Thorolfur Gudnason, the country’s chief epidemiologist, reached out to Pfizer executives. Their pitch: If Iceland could quickly get 500,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech SE vaccine, the country could inoculate about 70% of its population by the end of March, creating the basis of a real-life study on whether herd immunity can be achieved as a result. (Brown and Sigurdardottir, 2/15)

The New York Times: W.H.O. Researcher Seeking Coronavirus Origins On His Trip To China
Peter Daszak, a member of the W.H.O. team and the president of EcoHealth Alliance in New York, is primarily concerned with the animal origins of the virus. A specialist in animal diseases and their spread to humans, Dr. Daszak has worked with the Wuhan Virology Institute, a collaboration that last year prompted the Trump administration to cancel a grant to his organization. In an interview after his return to New York, he said that the visit had provided some new clues, which all of the scientists, Chinese and international, agreed most likely pointed to an animal origin within China or Southeast Asia. (Gorman, 2/14)

Philadelphia Inquirer: NFL COVID-19 Data Helped CDC Coronavirus Research
There was plenty of uncertainty along the way, but the NFL season ended last Sunday without a hitch. In a season defined by the obstacles brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, it wasn’t always easy to see the league making it to the finish line in Tampa for Super Bowl LV. There were outbreaks, postponed games, and moments where the league’s interest in player safety was questioned, but the league announced last week the overall positivity rate among players and staff members was .08% and the NFL’s research on the virus was used by the government’s health agencies. (Smith, 2/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid Vaccines For The Tokyo Olympics Have Become A Political Issue 
The International Olympic Committee has a complicated view of whether athletes should be vaccinated for this summer’s Tokyo Games. The IOC won’t require Covid-19 vaccines for competition, and doesn’t want athletes to cut the line. But it’s also directed national Olympic committees to try to get shots for their athletes. The conflicting signals show what a touchy topic the vaccine has become ahead of Tokyo. Even discussing shots for athletes can provoke hostility as a slow vaccine rollout proceeds around the world among countries eager to turn the tide of deaths, case numbers and economic downturn. Yet sports officials in dominant Olympic nations say they’re pursuing the IOC’s request anyway. (Bachman and Radnofsky, 2/14)

Also —

The New York Times: Meet The Women Who Become Surrogates In NY
In 1995, Lisa Wippler, having recently retired from the Marines, moved with her husband and two young sons to Oceanside, Calif., and was contemplating her next chapter in life. The answer came while lying in bed one night, reading an article about infertility. “I had no idea how many couples out there needed help,” she said. Inspired, she sought out a local support group for women who had served as surrogates to help those who can’t have children on their own start families. “It was this amazing circle of women,” said Ms. Wippler, who is now 49. “All talking about their journeys and their stories.” (Dodge, 2/15)

The Washington Post: Restaurants Throw Away A Lot Of Food. These Volunteers Pick It Up First And Take It To People Who Are Hungry.
Abigail Goody’s 8-month-old daughter, Sailor, picked up the coronavirus in January from her day-care center in Woodbridge, Va. Goody, 29, and her husband, Bobby Hawkes, 28, a self-employed remodeling contractor, soon had covid-19, too. They all had relatively mild symptoms, said Goody, but the couple quickly realized they had a looming problem. “We had about a week’s worth of food in the fridge,” said Goody, who works as a hairstylist at a salon that is now closed. “I was thinking of things I’d have to do to stretch our meals.” (Free, 2/12)

The Washington Post: Bill Gates Is Fighting Climate Change And Covid Conspiracy Theories. He’s Also ‘Experiencing The Greatest Pushback Ever In My Life.’ 
Bill Gates, 65, is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and self-described technologist. He co-founded Microsoft in 1975 with childhood friend Paul Allen and turned it into one of the largest companies in the world. With his wife, Melinda, he now co-chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on global health and development, and on education in the United States. One of the largest private charitable organizations in the world, their foundation has given out more than $50 billion in grants in 135 countries. Gates is also involved in a number of private-sector ventures to encourage innovation in the fields of health and climate change. Released this month, his book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster” details his own exploration of the causes and effects of climate change. In it, Gates offers a framework for avoiding climate catastrophe by attaining what he deems the necessary goal of moving from 51 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions released each year to net zero by 2050. Noting that the world “has never done anything quite this big,” Gates argues that breakthrough technologies must play a critical role in getting there. (Ottesen, 2/16)

The Washington Post: Six Takeaways From Covid-19 That Could Shape Our Future 
In the story of our times, the political damage inflicted by President Donald Trump will figure prominently. But the raw physical, emotional and economic trauma of the pandemic will predominate. The lessons we draw from Trump may determine the fate of the republic. The lessons we draw from covid-19 may shape the future of the species. What follows is a partial list of the latter. (Michael Gerson, 2/18)

Los Angeles Times: Vaccine Hesitancy In Black Healthcare Workers
Across the nation, Black healthcare workers are receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at rates far lower than their white counterparts. We have seen this disparity in our own health system, Penn Medicine, where during the first two weeks of vaccine rollout, just 22% of eligible Black employees, compared with 62% of eligible white employees, got vaccinated or signed up to receive the shot. As Black physicians, we were alarmed but not surprised. While we have been vaccinated, we each made the decision with varying levels of uncertainty. (Florencia Greer Polite and Eugenia C. South, 2/19)

The Wall Street Journal: We’ll Have Herd Immunity By April 
Amid the dire Covid warnings, one crucial fact has been largely ignored: Cases are down 77% over the past six weeks. If a medication slashed cases by 77%, we’d call it a miracle pill. Why is the number of cases plummeting much faster than experts predicted? In large part because natural immunity from prior infection is far more common than can be measured by testing. Testing has been capturing only from 10% to 25% of infections, depending on when during the pandemic someone got the virus. Applying a time-weighted case capture average of 1 in 6.5 to the cumulative 28 million confirmed cases would mean about 55% of Americans have natural immunity. (Marty Makary, 2/18)

MarketWatch: COVID-19 Is On The Run — Expect The Pandemic To Be Under Control By Memorial Day 
The news cycle on COVID-19 can get stuck on negatives. Variant strains! Distribution snafus! Not enough vaccines! But barring unforeseen developments, we can expect to have the pandemic under control by Memorial Day. That doesn’t mean the virus will be out of our lives. But rising immunity from vaccines and prior exposure should have it cornered, with its impact reduced to something approaching a normal flu season in terms of deaths and hospitalizations. We already have the virus on the run. We are vaccinating over 15 times more people each day than report having a new infection. Some 40 million or more will have received at least one vaccine shot by the end of February, providing more protection each day. Meanwhile, about 110 million Americans have likely had the virus, which gives most of them immunity that studies show can last 6 months or longer. (Geoffrey Joyce, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Follow The Science, Not The Teachers Unions
Follow the science. That was Joe Biden’s promise to the American people—until Randi Weingarten and the American Federation of Teachers disagreed.I spent much of my time as governor saying that we needed to put children and parents first in public education. The teachers union in New Jersey spent tens of millions of dollars to oppose my reform efforts and protect the status quo. As a result our per pupil costs were among the country’s highest, and families in many urban districts were held hostage by failure. (Former Governor Chris Christie, 2/18)

The New York Times: A Year Of Unraveling
On a recent morning, Bill Williams, 87, awoke to learn of a terrible virus that had spread everywhere and was killing people. “Well, we’ve got this virus,” an aide at his nursing home in Broken Bow, Neb., told him. A few minutes later, he had forgotten about the virus, and so the nursing aide told him again. And then again. She would have to tell him the next day, too. “It’s pretty quiet in here,” Mr. Williams said, biting the inside of his lip a little. “Well, we’ve got this virus.” (Katie Englehart, 2/19)

Stat: I Got Vaccinated While Pregnant. Why Not Study People Like Me? 
The arrival of Covid-19 vaccines at the hospital where I work felt like a glimmer of hope, a small reprieve from the daily anxiety of feeling exposed and vulnerable while taking care of patients. When the time came for my appointment, though, I wavered. As a physician, I understand and respect the privilege of being among the first group in the United States to be offered the vaccine. But as a pregnant woman, I was left trying to interpret vague guidelines developed without data from clinical trials about people like me. (Catherine Mezzacappa, 2/19)

New York Post: Gov. Cuomo's Nursing Home Scandal Is More Than Just A Coverup
You’ve heard the expression that the coverup is worse than the crime? Well, in the case of Gov. Cuomo, the opposite might be true. Cuomo is under bipartisan fire after an aide admitted that his administration deliberately delayed releasing information showing the true extent of COVID-19 deaths in New York nursing homes, out of fears, according to the aide, that the information “was going to be used against us.” Stonewalling the Justice Department is bad enough, but Cuomo did something even worse: His administration provided inaccurate data to public health officials in real time, at the beginning of the crisis, when government scientists were desperately trying to figure out how the virus was spreading, who was most vulnerable and how to stop it. (Marc Thiessen, 2/18)

Stat: Dental Therapists: A Solution For Better Access To Dental Care 
Difficulty getting dental care is the norm in much of the United States, especially in rural areas. One problem is that there aren’t enough providers. Mid-level dental providers, or dental therapists, can help fill that gap, but they face resistance from dentists. (Elsa Pearson, 2/18)