The Washington Post: Fauci Says Moves To Reopen ‘Inexplicable’ As U.S. Case Numbers Plateau 
Health experts warned that pandemic fatigue in the United States could jeopardize recent progress against the virus. ... “I don’t know why they’re doing it but it’s certainly, from a public health standpoint, ill-advised,” the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, Anthony S. Fauci, said in an interview with CNN on Thursday. Citing what he said was a high baseline for case numbers, Fauci called the decision to pull back on precautions “inexplicable.” (Cunningham, 3/5)

The New York Times: As Biden Urges Caution On Covid, Governors Split On How Fast To Reopen 
Despite President Biden’s sharp criticism of Texas and Mississippi for abruptly removing mask mandates, states and cities are aggressively going their own ways on Covid-19 restrictions as they decide when and how to reopen their economies. The change in presidents has brought nearly diametrical federal responses to the pandemic, but the country is facing a patchwork of rules, state to state and city to city, similar to what was seen when the virus arrived a year ago and during the last months of the Trump administration. (Bosman, Shear and Epstein, 3/4)

The Washington Post: With The Pandemic Far From Over, Texas Leaders Blame Immigrants For Spreading The Virus
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Tex.) made a surprising announcement on Tuesday: His state would entirely scale back its restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus, including the mandate that Texans wear face coverings. Shortly afterward, Gov. Tate Reeves (R-Miss.) made a similar announcement. The announcements were puzzling. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had on Monday cautioned states about being overeager to rescind containment measures, given that data indicated that the sharp decrease in cases over the past few weeks had stalled. Shortly after Abbott’s announcement, President Biden offered another reason for patience: millions more vaccine doses will soon be available. (Bump, 3/4)

The mask war heats up in Texas —

CNN: Leaders And Businesses Say Masks Are Essential Protection As Texas And Mississippi Lift Covid-19 Restrictions 
Leaders and businesses across the US are pushing back against states lifting mask mandates by doubling down on their commitment to enforcing Covid-19 precautions as variants continue to cause concern. This week, Texas and Mississippi joined the list of states expanding business capacity and lifting the mandates for residents to wear masks. A representative for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that the mandates were no longer necessary, but a restoration of livelihoods and normalcy was urgent. (Holcombe, 3/5)

NBC News: Businesses' Bid To Enforce Covid Safety Rules Stymied By Texas Governor's Decision To Scrap Mask Mandate
Working the door at a business in Texas that still requires masks against Covid-19 could be hazardous to your health — and not just because of the virus, top security experts said Thursday. Gov. Greg Abbott’s sudden decision this week to lift the mask mandate and other coronavirus restrictions has undermined the ability of these companies to enforce their own rules for protecting staffers and customers, they said. (Siemaszko, 3/4)

The Hill: Abbott Defends Scrapping Mask Mandate: It 'Isn't Going To Make That Big Of A Change' 
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Thursday defended his decision to eliminate a statewide mask mandate amid an avalanche of criticism over the decision. Abbott said in an interview with Fox News that officials in Austin are still advocating that Texans wear face coverings and that the state's residents are more aware now of how to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (Axelrod, 3/4)

Houston Chronicle: Masks In Restaurants? The Texas Restaurant Association Says Yes
The debate over Gov. Greg Abbott’s lifting of the statewide mask mandate has roared through Texas, most vocally within the restaurant industry. Texas restaurants looking for answers on how to negotiate mask and other safety measures come March 10 got new guidance Thursday when the Texas Restaurant Association updated its best practices advice, called the Texas Restaurant Promise. The association is suggesting that all restaurant employees continue to wear face coverings while working and pass a health screening before each shift. Additionally, it recommends social distancing when seating parties, and cleaning, disinfecting, and hand hygiene practices. (Morago, 3/4)

Governors of other states weigh in —

ABC News: Which States Have Dropped Mask Mandates And Why
Five states -- Texas, Mississippi, Iowa, Montana and North Dakota -- have ended, or soon will end, statewide mask mandates, despite the looming threat of COVID-19 and highly transmissible variants. They're joining 11 other states -- Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Tennessee -- that never required face coverings statewide. (Lenthang, 3/4)

ABC News: Alabama's Governor Extends Mask Order Until April 9, Eases Some Restrictions 
Alabama's governor said Thursday she is extending the state's mask mandate until April 9. "After April the 9th I will not keep the mask order in effect," Gov. Kay Ivey said at a news conference. "We've kept the mask mandate in place for more than a generous period of time because it's helped," she said. "We've seen dramatic results and real progress being made." (Shapiro, 3/4)

Axios: Republican Governor Of West Virginia Says There's No Plan To Lift Mask Mandate 
West Virginia has no plans to lift its mask mandate, Gov. Jim Justice (R) told CNN on Thursday, adding, "I don't know what the rush is, and if we don't watch out, we can make some mistakes." Texas and Mississippi, both led by Republican governors, are ending coronavirus restrictions as vaccinations ramp up across the country. Ditching the public safety measures could hasten another surge in coronavirus cases. (Rummier, 3/4)

CNN: Covid-19 Death Rates 10 Times Higher In Countries Where Most Adults Are Overweight 
The risk of death from Covid-19 is about 10 times higher in countries where most of the population is overweight, according to a report released Wednesday by the World Obesity Federation. Researchers found that by the end of 2020, global Covid-19 death rates were more than 10 times higher in countries where more than half the adults are overweight, compared to countries where fewer than half are overweight. (Mascarenhas and Rahim, 3/5)

The Washington Post: Most Coronavirus Deaths Occurred In Countries Where Majority Of Adults Are Overweight 
Among the nations with overweight populations above the 50 percent threshold were also those with some of the largest proportions of coronavirus deaths — including countries such as Britain, Italy and the United States. Some 2.5 million people have died around the world of covid-19, more than 517,000 of which were in the United States. (Cunningham and Hassan, 3/4)

The Hill: Most Virus Deaths Recorded In Nations With High Obesity Levels: Analysis
The WOF observed, however, that a few countries appeared to go against the trend. "Countries that appear to run against the trend include New Zealand, Australia and several Gulf states, where overweight prevalence among adults is high (over 60%) but reported deaths from COVID-19 are relatively low (below 10 per 100,000)," the WOF wrote. "These figures are clearly affected by national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and will change as the pandemic unfolds and as vaccination programmes are extended." (Choi, 3/4)

In related news —

US News: Obese People See Rare Advantage In Coronavirus Vaccination Priority
People who are overweight have long been stigmatized while seeking health care. But one area they’ve been prioritized is in distribution of the coronavirus vaccine. (Milligan, 3/5)

NJ.com: N.J. Quietly Added 11 Medical Conditions, Including Being Overweight, Asthma, To COVID Vaccine Eligibility List
When New Jersey significantly expands vaccine eligibility later this month, it won’t just be teachers and essential workers joining the list. The state will also add 11 more medical conditions that make people eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine — including asthma, high blood pressure, and a body mass index that qualifies them as overweight. (3/4)

ABC News: Pediatric COVID-19 Cases In Mississippi 10 Times Higher Than Previously Thought: Study 
The number of children and adolescents with COVID-19 in Mississippi may be more than 10 times the number of previously reported cases, according to a new study. Pediatricians have previously suggested that because children are more likely to have COVID-19 without showing any symptoms, many infections in children are never diagnosed. (Jain, 3/4)

CIDRAP: Study In Mississippi Finds COVID-19 Vastly Underestimated In Kids
A retrospective seroprevalence study in Mississippi indicates that only a fraction of COVID-19 cases in children and adolescents were detected last spring and summer. In the study, published today in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), researchers from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH), and the CDC tested a convenience sample of 1,603 residual serum specimens from people under the age of 18, collected from May 17 through Sep 19, 2020, for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. They then estimated the cumulative number of coronavirus infections during that period by extrapolating the seroprevalence to all Mississippi children and compared it with the number of reported pediatric COVID-19 cases through Aug 31. (3/4)

In other updates on the spread of the coronavirus —

The New York Times: Brazil’s Covid Crisis Is A Warning To The Whole World, Scientists Say
Covid-19 has already left a trail of death and despair in Brazil, one of the worst in the world. Now, a year into the pandemic, the country is setting another wrenching record. No other nation that experienced such a major outbreak is still grappling with record-setting death tolls and a health care system on the brink of collapse. Many other hard-hit nations are, instead, taking tentative steps toward a semblance of normalcy. (Andreoni, Londono and Casado, 3/4)

CIDRAP: California Farmworkers Show Higher COVID-19 Incidence Than Community
From June to November 2020, farmworkers in Salinas Valley, California, had 22.1% COVID-19 positivity compared with 17.2% of adults living in the same communities with a 7.2% rate in higher-risk farmworkers who had no symptoms, according to a study yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases. From Jun 15 to Nov 30, 2020, researchers gathered COVID-19 diagnoses from 6,864 farmworkers and 7,305 non-farmworkers who were tested through the Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas (CSVS). Farmworkers, 75% of whom were Latino, had a 28.5% higher probability of positive tests (95% confidence interval [CI], 20.1% to 37.4%). (3/4)

Axios: "Fludemic" Model Accurately Maps Where COVID Hotspots Will Crop Up A Week Out 
By combining a range of private and public information, a small startup says it is able to predict COVID-19 hot spots at the neighborhood level a week out — with 92% accuracy. The startup, Data Driven Health, made a version of its flu and COVID-prediction model freely available Wednesday, offering data down to the neighborhood level. (Fried, 3/4)

And some good news out of Florida —

Axios: Tampa-Area Officials Say Super Bowl Wasn't A Super-Spreader Event 
Despite dire predictions, Tampa’s Super Bowl was not a coronavirus super-spreader event, Hillsborough County health officials said yesterday, per the Tampa Bay Times. 53 cases in Florida and four more elsewhere were found to be associated with official Super Bowl events. (Montgomery and San Felice, 3/4)

Tampa Bay Times: Coronavirus Cases Plummet After Vaccines At Florida Care Facilities
The number of coronavirus cases in Florida nursing homes and assisted-living facilities is down dramatically since their peak in January and after nearly a year of deadly outbreaks and resident isolation. On Tuesday, the state Department of Health reported 684 coronavirus cases among Florida’s 136,780 long-term care residents, down from 3,651 cases on Jan. 17. (LaFever, 3/5)

The Washington Post: Infrared Fever Scanners Popular In The Covid Fight Can Be Wildly Inaccurate, Researchers Say 
Temperature-scanning devices that check for fevers in schools, workplaces and public venues across the United States distort the results in a way that could overlook the telltale sign of a coronavirus infection, according to new research that casts doubt on the systems’ effectiveness in helping people resume normal life. The thermal cameras and “temperature tablet” kiosks have been heralded as a critical first line of defense against new pandemic outbreaks. But in a new study of the scanners by the surveillance research organization IPVM, researchers warn that the tools are dangerously ineffective, raising the risk that infected people could be waved through medical screening checkpoints and go on to spread the virus unchecked. (Harwell, 3/4)

The New York Times: Ivermectin Does Not Alleviate Mild Covid-19 Symptoms, Study Finds 
Ivermectin, a controversial anti-parasitic drug that has been touted as a potential Covid-19 treatment, does not speed recovery in people with mild cases of the disease, according to a randomized controlled trial published on Thursday in the journal JAMA. Ivermectin is typically used to treat parasitic worms in both people and animals, but scientific evidence for its efficacy against the coronavirus is thin. Some studies have indicated that the drug can prevent several different viruses from replicating in cells. And last year, researchers in Australia found that high doses of ivermectin suppressed SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in cell cultures. (Anthes, 3/4)

AP: Heart Problems May Be Rare In Pro Athletes After COVID-19
Heart inflammation is uncommon in pro athletes who’ve had mostly mild COVID-19 and most don’t need to be sidelined, a study conducted by major professional sports leagues suggests. The results are not definitive, outside experts say, and more independent research is needed. But the study published Thursday in JAMA Cardiology is the largest to examine the potential problem. The coronavirus can cause inflammation in many organs, including the heart. (Tanner, 3/4)

AP: Medical Providers Reminded That COVID-19 Tests Are Free
New Mexico’s top insurance regulator is putting medical providers on notice that people cannot be charged for coronavirus testing after reports that residents have been required to pay for coronavirus rapid-result tests. Insurance Superintendent Russell Toal said Wednesday that his office is preparing an administrative bulletin to ensure testing costs are not passed directly on to consumers, as state health officials push for robust testing to track infection rates and new strains of COVID-19. Toal said the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance has received reports and complaints of people being charged in excess of $100 for testing services that should be free. The extent of the improper billing is unclear. (Lee, 3/4)

CNN: Testing For Covid-19 Is Still Important, But The Numbers Are Dropping 
Covid-19 testing numbers are dropping in the US. And that's bad news. Without testing, there's no way to keep track of where the pandemic is headed and whether vaccines are working. And there's no way to make use of one of the most important tools for fighting infectious diseases: contact tracing. (Thomas and McPhillips, 3/4)

In news from China —

The New York Times: Some Scientists Question W.H.O. Inquiry Into The Coronavirus Pandemic’s Origins 
A small group of scientists and others who believe the novel coronavirus that spawned the pandemic could have originated from a lab leak or accident is calling for an inquiry independent of the World Health Organization’s team of independent experts sent to China last month. While many scientists involved in researching the origins of the virus continue to assert that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic almost certainly began in a leap from bats to an intermediate animal to humans, other theories persist and have gained new visibility with the W.H.O.-led team of experts’ visit to China. Officials with the W.H.O. have said in recent interviews that it was “extremely unlikely” but not impossible that the spread of the virus was linked to some lab accident. (Gorman, 3/4)

Bloomberg: Covid Origin Probe Debate Heats Up as Scientists Protest
The controversy over the investigation organized by the World Health Organization and China about the origins of Covid-19 heated up as a group of scientists called for an independent probe to consider all hypotheses and nail down whether the virus came from an animal. A group of more than 20 signatories said in an open letter published by the Wall Street Journal that the existing mission isn’t independent enough and demanded a new probe to consider all possibilities over the origin. Half of the joint team are Chinese citizens whose scientific independence may be limited, they said. The criticism comes as the mission considers delaying an interim report, which was expected soon. The investigators may instead publish that summary statement on the same day as the full report, a WHO spokesman said. (Gretler, 2/4)

CNN: China Approves Sale Of Traditional Medicine Products To Treat Covid-19 
China has approved three traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) products for sale to help treat Covid-19, the government's National Medical Products Administration announced on Wednesday. The agency used a special approval procedure to green-light the three products, which "provide more options for Covid-19 treatment," it said in a statement. (Gan and Yeung, 3/4)

CBS News: COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Have Been Sold On The Dark Web. Are They Real? 
Sellers on 15 different "dark web" marketplaces have dispersed hundreds of doses of what they allege are COVID-19 vaccines, according to a new study by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky. What's more, Kaspersky's researchers believe a significant portion of those sales, as much as 30%, could be of actual vaccines. "There is evidence that suggests some of these sellers are providing real doses," said Dmitry Galov, a researcher at Kaspersky who led the study of illicit online vaccines sales. "There are pictures of packaging and medical certificates. It looks like some of these people do have inside access to medical institutions." (Gandel, 3/5)

The Washington Post: Fake Coronavirus Vaccines Seized In Several Countries Are ‘Tip Of The Iceberg,’ Interpol Says 
First came the fake medical-grade masks and coronavirus tests. Now, a new threat has emerged, global police organization Interpol warns: fake doses of the coronavirus vaccine. Interpol said Wednesday that police in China and South Africa have seized thousands of doses of fake vaccines — a cache it said was just the “tip of the iceberg.” (Berger, 3/4)

In other vaccine news —

The New York Times: U.S. Vaccination Pace Increases To 2 Million Doses A Day 
The average number of vaccine doses being administered across the United States per day topped two million for the first time on Wednesday, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A month ago, the average was about 1.3 million. President Biden set a goal for the country shortly after taking office to administer more than 1.5 million doses a day, which the nation has now comfortably exceeded. (3/5)

Axios: U.S. Is Ahead Of Pace On COVID Vaccines 
The U.S. is now vaccinating an average of 2 million people a day, up from 1.3 million in early February. That puts us on track to hit President Biden's goal of 100 million doses a month ahead of schedule. (3/4)

NPR: Accidentally Trashed, Thawed Or Expired: Reports Of COVID Vaccine 'Spoilage' Grow
As the speed of COVID vaccinations picks up, so do the reports of doses going to waste. And it's more than just a handful at the end of the day because of a few appointment cancellations. Health officials are trying to address the problems that lead to waste, but without slowing down the roll out of the lifesaving vaccinations. The incidents include the 335 discarded doses in Lee County, North Carolina that were damaged in shipping, and recent problems in Tennessee, where nearly 5,000 doses went to waste in the month of February, prompting additional federal oversight. (Farmer, 3/4)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Good And Not-So-Good News On Covid 
There’s good news and bad news on covid-19 this week. On the one hand, several million doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine authorized by the FDA for emergency use are already going into the arms of people around the nation. And the Biden administration has brokered a deal with rival manufacturer Merck to produce even more doses of the J&J vaccine, which can be transported and administered more easily than the covid vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. (3/4)

In updates on side effects of the Moderna vaccine —

CIDRAP: Large, Local, Delayed Skin Reactions Noted After Moderna COVID Vaccine
A small number of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine recipients experienced delayed, large, localized skin irritations at the point of injection, according to a letter published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. While the symptoms cleared up in a median of 8 days, the researchers want to make sure clinicians are aware of this side effect and can navigate appropriate treatment and vaccine guidance. The letter details these delayed skin reactions in 12 people, 4 of whom didn't have any allergy history. (3/4)

CNN: Detroit Mayor Declines Johnson & Johnson Allotment, Saying The Other Vaccines Are Better
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan declined an initial allocation of the newly authorized Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine this week even as nationwide demand continues to outpace available supply. Duggan, a Democrat who has been mayor since 2014, said he turned down the shipment because the city is able to meet current demand with its supply of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines -- even as his administration expanded vaccine eligibility Thursday to residents ages 50 and older with chronic medical conditions. (Setty, 3/4)

Bangor Daily News: Maine Won't Receive New Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Doses Next Week
Maine will get 8,000 fewer COVID-19 vaccine doses next week compared to this week after states were told they would get no new Johnson & Johnson shots. A decline had been expected by states after the new one-dose vaccine’s rollout this week. But Maine did not expect a full drop-off after it expanded eligibility on Wednesday to teachers, school staff and childcare workers under an order from President Joe Biden, who pledged that the U.S. will have enough doses to vaccinate every adult by May. (Shepherd, 3/4)

The New York Times: One And Done: Why People Are Eager For Johnson & Johnson’s Vaccine 
In North Dakota this week, health officials are sending their first Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines to pharmacies and urgent care clinics, where people who don’t necessarily have a regular doctor can get the single jab. In Missouri, doses are going to community health centers and rural hospitals. And in North Carolina, health providers are using it to inoculate meatpacking, farm and grocery workers. Since Johnson & Johnson revealed data showing that its vaccine, while highly protective, had a slightly lower efficacy rate than the first shots produced by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, health officials have feared the new shot might be viewed by some Americans as the inferior choice. (Weiland, 3/4)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

Hartford Courant: Connecticut Dramatically Rolls Back COVID Restrictions, Allowing Full Indoor Dining, Increased Entertainment And Sports Capacity; Travel Ban Lifted
Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday announced that he will roll back pandemic-related restrictions in Connecticut starting March 19, including allowing restaurants to operate at full capacity, loosening rules on sports and entertainment venues and lifting the state’s travel ban. The state will maintain some key measures, including a mask mandate, social distancing rules, a curfew for restaurants and the closure of all bars. (Brindley, Fawcett and Putterman, 3/4)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Gov. Hogan Announces COVID Vaccine Equity Plan That Seeks Community Partners 
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan unveiled a plan Thursday to improve the equitable distribution of vaccines that largely relies on churches and community groups requesting clinics in their neighborhoods. Hogan touted the plan as a way to improve the pace of getting coronavirus vaccine shots into the arms of Marylanders who are not white. Three majority-Black jurisdictions — Baltimore City and Prince George’s and Charles counties — each have fewer people vaccinated than the state’s other counties do. (Wood and Miller, 3/4)

Philadelphia Inquirer: 9,000 Philly Teachers Have Been Vaccinated And Thousands More Are Eligible As Some Schools Prepare To Open Monday
Every educator who works in Philadelphia and wants the COVID-19 vaccine can be inoculated by the end of the month, officials said Thursday. Through a partnership of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the city, and the Philadelphia School District, about 9,000 teachers and other school staff have received their first doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and in all, 20,000 district, charter, parochial, and independent school teachers, as well as day-care workers, have appointments for shots. (Graham, 3/4)

Axios: Figuring Out Florida's "Extremely Vulnerable" Vaccine Qualification 
Qualifying for a COVID vaccine as "extremely vulnerable" under Florida's new guidelines is entirely up to doctors' discretion, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press conference Wednesday. Being "extremely vulnerable" is the only way Floridians under 65 who are not frontline workers or firefighters, police and teachers 50 and up can get the vaccine so far. (Montgomery and San Felice, 3/4)

CNN: DeSantis Denies Involvement In Vaccine Drive Following Revelation Of $250,000 PAC Donation From Former Illinois Governor 
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is denying the state had any involvement in a vaccine drive at a private, gated community after questions arose about a $250,000 donation from a resident to a PAC supporting him following the drive. Ocean Reef Club resident and former Illinois governor Bruce Rauner made the massive donation to the Friends of Ron DeSantis PAC on February 25, after a vaccine drive was held in January. That donation makes Rauner one of the PAC's top donors. (Murphy, 3/4)

Axios: "Vaccine Tourism" Stretches States' Supplies 
Americans who are highly motivated to get vaccinated are traveling across state lines after hearing about larger vaccine supplies or loopholes in sign-up systems. "Vaccine tourism" raises ethical and legal questions, and could worsen the racial socioeconomic and racial inequalities of the pandemic. (Fernandez, 3/5)

Also —

The Washington Post: San Diego Zoo Great Apes Get Coronavirus Vaccines 
On Wednesday, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the zoo’s nonprofit parent organization, said that four orangutans and five bonobos have now received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine made specifically for animals. They’re the first nonhuman primates to be vaccinated against the virus, which has been shown to infect a number of mammals. “This isn’t the norm. In my career, I haven’t had access to an experimental vaccine this early in the process and haven’t had such an overwhelming desire to want to use one,” said Nadine Lamberski, chief conservation and wildlife health officer at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, told National Geographic. (Peiser, 3/5)

The Hill: Wells Fargo Offering Paid Time Off For Employees To Get COVID-19 Vaccine
Wells Fargo is offering employees up to eight hours paid time off to get the coronavirus vaccine, according to an internal memo viewed by Bloomberg. The bank will also offer its employees at its 25 biggest locations free coronavirus testing, according to Bloomberg. Those who are not at those locations can ask for at-home tests. (Lonas, 3/4)

KHN: Kaiser Permanente, Big Player In State Vaccine Effort, Has Had Trouble Vaccinating Own Members 
As managed-care giant Kaiser Permanente assumes a prominent role in California’s new covid-19 vaccination strategy, it is drawing mixed reviews from members across the country for the way it has run its own vaccine program over the past two months. Conversations with 10 Kaiser enrollees in five states — Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Maryland and California — revealed a common frustration: difficulty snagging an appointment. Many also described receiving sporadic and sometimes confusing information from the company, though some said Kaiser has been doing better recently. (Wolfson, 3/4 )

Roll Call: Senate In For Another Long Night, And Day, On Pandemic Relief
The Senate planned to begin voting on amendments to a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package Friday after clerks pull an all-nighter reading the text of the 628-page measure aloud on the floor. The insistence of a reading by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., ensured a slow start to deliberations on a mammoth coronavirus aid package that Republicans appeared to uniformly oppose. (Lerman, 3/4)

NBC News: GOP Sen. Johnson Delays Covid Relief Bill By Forcing All 628 Pages To Be Read Out Loud
A Republican senator severely delayed passage of a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package Thursday by insisting that the entire 628-page bill be read out loud. In protest of the bill, which had been expected to pass after a marathon round of votes overnight Thursday, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., objected to waiving the reading of the legislation. (Clark, 3/4)

The Hill: Ron Johnson Grinds Senate To Halt, Irritating Many 
It is just the latest step by Johnson, who is up for reelection in a state narrowly won by Biden, to burnish his Trump credentials, whether that’s by repeating unfounded theories about the Jan. 6 attack or becoming the face of GOP opposition to the coronavirus bill that is broadly popular even among Republicans. (Carney, 3/4)

CNN: Covid-19 Relief Plan: Here's What's In The Senate Stimulus Bill 
The $1.9 trillion coronavirus package being considered by the Senate contains a wide range of proposals to help Americans still struggling with the economic fallout of the pandemic. The legislation, released Thursday, differs in at least two major ways from the bill that passed the House of Representatives last week. The final Senate package will have to be approved again by the House before it can be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature. (Luhby and Lobosco, 3/4)

In related news about covid's economic toll —

The Hill: Jobs Report To Provide First Measure Of Biden Economy
The first monthly jobs report covering the Biden presidency will be released Friday morning as congressional Democrats race to pass a massive economic relief package. Economists expect the February jobs report to show a modest rebound in hiring as progress against COVID-19 boosted confidence in a quicker end to the pandemic. Analysts estimate that U.S. employers added 180,000 jobs last month — a pace that’s not nearly fast enough to quickly fill the hole left by COVID-19, but better than January’s meager addition of 49,000 jobs. (Lane, 3/4)

CBS News: Low-Wage Workers Bearing The Brunt Of The COVID Recession 
Steve Roth has more homeless Americans to help now than he did during the Great Recession over a decade ago, he tells Scott Pelley. The retired firefighter and EMT says the pandemic has increased the number of people living in the encampments around Columbus, Ohio, that he has been providing food and medical aid to for 22 years. Roth talks to Pelley for a report on the disproportionate economic impact the pandemic is taking on the country's low-wage workers to be broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, March 7 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.  The economic impact of the pandemic not only cost them their jobs – often in restaurants, hotels and small retailers – but also shuttered many of the places offering the things they needed to get by, says Roth. (3/4)

CNN: State Finances: Pandemic Budget Hit For Many Was Smaller Than Predicted
When the coronavirus pandemic was declared nearly a year ago, the future for state and local government finances looked grim. Millions of people had lost their jobs, the stock market tanked and governors ordered nonessential businesses to close -- all of which threatened to pummel many of the tax revenue streams states and municipalities rely on. Now, the picture appears rosier than many states and localities had feared. State tax revenues, on average, have not fallen as much as initially predicted, and several economic forecasters have ratcheted down their estimates of budget shortfalls. The situation, however, varies widely, with states dependent on tourism or oil -- like Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota and Nevada -- faring worst. (Luhby, 3/5)

Stat: Physician And Patients May Prefer Brand-Name Drugs, But They Cost Medicare Part D A Lot Of Money
Generic drugs may remain lower-cost alternatives to brand-name medicines, but the Medicare Part D program could have saved roughly $1.7 billion in 2017 if doctors and patients had actively opted for these copycat treatments, a new study finds. (Silverman, 3/4)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Stat: Eli Lilly’s Diabetes Drug Reduced Weight And Blood Sugar In Trial
Eli Lilly said Thursday that a study showed its experimental diabetes drug, tirzepatide, reduced patients’ blood sugar and body weight more than a rival medicine, Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic. Investors had been nervously awaiting the result, which was reported in a press release. (Herper, 3/4)

Stat: What To Look For In Lilly’s Eagerly Awaited Alzheimer’s Data 
Earlier this year, amid the increasingly bruising debate over Biogen’s controversial treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, Eli Lilly issued a six-paragraph press release extolling the promise of an under-the-radar therapy of its own — one that, if effective, would seem to support Biogen’s claims as well. Now the world is about to see detailed data that will illuminate whether Lilly’s work offers reason for hope after years of frustration — or more equivocal evidence in the search for a treatment to slow the mental decline that marks Alzheimer’s. (Garde, 3/5)

Stat: Ovid Sells Off Its Lead Drug To Double Down On Neuro Research 
Ovid Therapeutics, months removed from a crushing clinical trial disappointment, said Wednesday that it is trading its most promising drug for enough cash to fund its ambitions in rare neurological diseases. (Garde, 3/3)

Stat: Kronos Bio Speeds Development Of Genetically Targeted Leukemia Drug
Kronos Bio said Thursday that it had reached an agreement with the Food and Drug Administration for a unique, late-stage clinical trial that will accelerate the development — and potentially the approval — of its drug for patients with a genetically defined type of leukemia. To demonstrate the efficacy of the drug, called entospletinib, Kronos will use highly sensitive sequencing tests to confirm undetectable levels of leukemic cells in patients. Achieving a negative finding for “measurable residual disease” is associated with longer remission and improved survival. (Feuerstein, 3/4)

Stat: Amgen Spends $1.9 Billion On Five Prime, Eyeing An Expansion In Asia
Amgen said Thursday it will purchase Five Prime Therapeutics for $1.9 billion to obtain a potential treatment for gastric cancer, a move that will also expand the biotech giant’s focus in Asia. The deal represents a major victory for Five Prime, which traded as low as $2.17 last March. The company’s stock jumped in November, when key results from a study of its gastric cancer drug, bemarituzumab, were released, and have continued to rise since. (Herper, 3/4)

CNBC: Altria Asks FDA To Spread The Word That Nicotine Doesn't Cause Cancer
Marlboro parent Altria is asking the Food and Drug Administration to help it spread the word that nicotine doesn’t cause cancer. CNBC on Thursday obtained a copy of a letter Altria sent to the FDA asking the agency to help get the message out about nicotine as part of a proposed advertising campaign on the risks of tobacco use. (Tsai, 3/4)

Axios: The Cost Of The Pandemic Is Catching Up To Health Insurers 
Health insurers' massive pandemic windfall may be interrupted, thanks to an uptick in people seeking the medical care they put off and higher COVID-19 testing and treatment costs. It turns out that an uncontrolled pandemic gets expensive for insurers, patients, and employers. (Owens and Brown, 3/4)

Georgia Health News: Federal Antitrust Scrutiny Revealed In Wake Of Navicent-Houston Merger Collapse 
The Federal Trade Commission has revealed that it investigated a proposed merger of hospital systems in Middle Georgia. The announcement Wednesday that the FTC had reviewed the deal – and then closed its probe – came less than a week after the two hospital systems said they were calling the deal off. Atrium Health Navicent, in Macon, and Houston Healthcare, based in Warner Robins, said last Thursday that they had ended their partnership talks after three years. (Miller, 3/4)

Tampa Bay Times: Air Ambulance Service Jet ICU Relocating To Tampa International Airport
Air ambulance company Jet ICU is moving to Tampa. The service, which had been headquartered at Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport for most of the past 14 years, will relocate operations to Tampa International Airport after the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority approved a lease agreement on Thursday. (Cridlin, 3/5)

Axios: Virtual Doctor's Visits And Digital Health Tools Take Off In Pandemic 
Telemedicine and other health-related technologies have gotten huge boosts over the past year as COVID-19 upended how patients receive medical attention. Virtual doctor's appointments and therapy sessions will likely be the norm, even after more people are vaccinated. (Hart, 3/4)

KHN: Firefighters — ‘Health Care Providers On A Truck’ — Signal Pandemic Burnout
Tim Dupin thought — or at least hoped — that Missouri firefighters, paramedics and other emergency medical services personnel would be among the first to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. After months of feeling overlooked by elected leaders in the distribution of safety equipment and other resources, surely, Dupin thought, their role on the front line of the medical system would be recognized. They had, throughout the pandemic, responded to calls the way they always had: Without regard to whom or what they would encounter at the scene, interacting with people who could have the coronavirus, despite often having makeshift personal protective equipment and masks that were old, faulty or moldy. (West, 3/5)

CNN: Teens Who Misuse Prescription Opioids At Higher Risk For Suicide 
About one of every three high school students who said they were misusing prescription opioids when they were surveyed reported they had attempted suicide, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. Previously, researchers have reported that young people who had misused prescription opioids at any point were at higher risk for suicidality, which the American Psychological Association defines as the "risk of suicide, usually indicated by suicidal ideation or intent" and a detailed plan to carry it out. (Rogers, 3/5)

WAFF: Tianaa Pills, Said To Produce An Opioid Like Addiction, Could Soon Be Off Alabama Store Shelves
Tianaa Red, Tianaa White, Za Za Red: these names may not mean anything to you. But for some, they are painful reminders of addiction and loss. They’re dietary supplements, not approved by the FDA, sold at convenience stores. If you take enough, some say it gives off a high, similar to heroine. (Klapp, 3/4)

In other news about the opioid crisis —

The Washington Post: Congress Questions Cardinal Health, Other Drug Makers On Opioid Settlement Tax Breaks 
Congress is questioning four large drug companies about their plans to deduct some of the costs of a landmark opioid settlement from their taxes, disclosures first revealed in an analysis last month by The Washington Post. On Thursday, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform sent letters asking Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health to provide details about the tax deductions, which would lower the cost of a legal settlement in which they have proposed to pay a combined $26 billion to compensate communities impacted by the opioid crisis. (MacMillan and Schaul, 3/4)

The Washington Post: The $14 Million CEO: Drug Distributor Boosts Executive’s Pay Despite Historic Opioid Settlement
Steven Collis led one of the nation’s largest drug distributors through the deadliest years of the opioid epidemic, when pain pills poured through its warehouses and into the hands of addicts. But while Collis’s company, AmerisourceBergen, prepares to pay a $6.6 billion legal settlement to compensate communities ravaged by prescription drug abuse, the 59-year-old chief executive is set to receive a financial windfall. (MacMillan and Schaul, 3/2)

The Hill: NY Doctor Charged With Five Counts Of Murder For Prescribing Large Amounts Of Opioids 
A doctor in Long Island, N.Y, doctor was charged on Thursday with five counts of second-degree murder and 11 counts of reckless endangerment over allegations that he disregarded medical ethics and began prescribing high amounts of opioids to patients without examining them. The Nassau County District Attorney's Office said in a news release that 75-year-old George Blatti faces the 16 new charges alongside more than 50 others stemming from his now-defunct medical work. Blatti is accused of prescribing tens of thousands of opiate pills to patients in many cases without reviewing their medical history or conducting a medical exam. He pleaded not guilty at a Thursday hearing, according to The Associated Press. (Bowden, 3/4)

Salt Lake Tribune: Being ‘Godless’ Might Be Good For Your Health, New Study Finds
In recent decades, a number of studies have found that being religious can be good for your health. People who regularly attend services are less likely to smoke, may be less likely to use drugs or be obese  and may live longer than those who don’t attend services. Those findings have led some to conclude that, if religion is good for you, being an atheist will be bad for your health. That’s not exactly the case, said David Speed, professor of psychology at the University of New Brunswick in St. John, Canada. In a new study called "Godless in the Great White North,” published in the Journal of Religion and Health, Speed looked at data and found that atheists may be just as healthy as devoted believers. “If you compare the health outcomes for those two groups, they are really similar to each other,” said Speed. (Smietana, 3/4)

The Washington Post: Consumer Product Safety Commission Finds Mix Of Product Injuries Changed During Pandemic 
The pandemic saw a dramatic shift in how Americans got hurt last year, as months of lockdowns and stay-home orders reshaped everyday routines and presented unfamiliar dangers, according to a study released today by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Sports injuries collapsed. Injuries from fireworks and bicycles spiked. Severe injuries caused by home power tools soared. More people were hurt by chain saws and skateboards. But bad injuries on playground equipment plummeted. (Frankel, 3/4)

Georgia Health News: Poisoning Peril: More Kids Ingesting Hand Sanitizer 
As COVID-19 spread last year, sales of hand sanitizers skyrocketed, with consumers and businesses trying to prevent infection. Also soaring were sanitizer-related calls to the Georgia Poison Center. Here and nationally, more kids than usual have been ingesting these fluids, which are typically alcohol-based. The state saw a 60 percent increase in poisoning calls related to sanitizer last year over 2019, says Gaylord Lopez, executive director of the Georgia Poison Center. The cases are continuing to rise so far this year, he adds. (Miller, 3/4)

The New York Times: Drinking Alcohol And Cancer: Should Your Cocktail Carry A Cancer Warning?
When the pandemic struck last year, many Americans rushed to stock up on alcohol, causing retail sales of wine, beer and liquor to surge across the country. But the uptick in sales was a worrying sign for health experts focused on cancer prevention. In recent years, a growing number of medical and public health groups have introduced public awareness campaigns warning people to drink with caution, noting that alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer, behind tobacco and obesity. (O'Connor, 3/4)

USA Today: Universal Flu Vaccine: Study Suggests Protection May Be Possible
Every year the flu kills thousands of people and sickens millions more who didn't get a flu shot or in whom it didn't work well. In 1918, the worldwide death toll from flu topped 50 million and researchers have been worried about a repeat ever since. Now, a team of government and former government scientists has developed a vaccine that seems – at least in monkeys – to protect against the strains most likely to cause a global pandemic. The group, which published their monkey results in a Wednesday study, has begun a small trial to test the vaccine in healthy adults. (Weintraub, 3/4)

The Baltimore Sun: ‘It’s Put The Future On Hold’: A Year Of Shutdown Has Changed How We Work, Play And Navigate A Pandemic-Altered World 
Shortly after the shutdown began, her daughter hosted a friend for a sleepover — via a video call on her iPad, which she rested on a pillow next to her own head. As the months passed, one of her sons began starting the school day with a blanket over his head, unable to face yet another day in front of his computer. “I feel like we lost a year of our lives,” said Jenn Ambrosiano-Reedholm, a mother of three in Cockeysville. “And it feels extra-long.” (Marbella, 3/4)

Axios: COVID-19 Lessons For Trapping The Next Pandemic 
Now that COVID-19 vaccines are bringing hope to fighting the pandemic, there is some concern the U.S. and others will lose interest in improving the tools needed to confront emerging outbreaks. On top of the coronavirus pandemic, there are currently other smaller outbreaks around the globe — some with pandemic potential. (O'Reilly, 3/4)

USA Today: Cuomo Administration Altered Report On Nursing Home Deaths: Reports
The Cuomo administration's reporting of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes drew another round of criticism late Thursday after it was revealed the total death count was stripped from a state report last July. The report released by the Department of Health last summer had long been criticized for not including the number of nursing home deaths that occurred in hospitals, leading to a drastic undercounting. Now the reason is more clear: The Cuomo administration pressured the health department to not include the full death count attributed to nursing homes in the report, according to The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. (Spector, 3/5)

The New York Times: Cuomo Aides Rewrote Nursing Home Report To Hide Higher Death Toll 
Top aides to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo were alarmed: A report written by state health officials had just landed, and it included a count of how many nursing home residents in New York had died in the pandemic. The number — more than 9,000 by that point in June — was not public, and the governor’s most senior aides wanted to keep it that way. They rewrote the report to take it out, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The New York Times. (Goodman and Hakim, 3/4)

In news from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and California —

AP: Pennsylvania Extends Nursing-Home Virus Response Program
Wolf administration officials said Thursday that Pennsylvania will extend a key feature of its response to coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes, albeit on a scaled-down model after federal funding ran out in December. The Regional Congregate Care Assistance Teams now will run through May, costing $6 million a month to support services such as testing, staffing and rapid response services for outbreaks, administration officials said. Some of that money is state aid that the Wolf administration expects to get reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (3/5)

AP: North Carolina To Offer Reopened Schools Widespread Testing
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services told education leaders Thursday it would offer charter schools and local school districts rapid COVID-19 tests for free to help control outbreaks. The more robust testing would be available to students, families and school staff who are symptomatic or get exposed to someone who tested positive for the virus. Schools could also ask for weekly screening of teachers and staff. They could even request testing for both scenarios. The agency described the plan for the state education board. (3/4)

North Carolina Health News: Prison Policy, COVID Death Count Change After NCHN/Vice Probe 
North Carolina’s state prison agency will now review their reporting around whether a prisoner has died of COVID-19 alongside cause-of-death determinations made by health department officials, following a North Carolina Health News and VICE News investigation that found the state failed to disclose all of the prisoners who died of COVID-19-related causes in their custody. The Department of Public Safety, which oversees state prisons, has also adjusted their count of prisoners who have died of COVID-19-related causes to include two of the prisoners identified by NC Health News and VICE News who had not been reported to the public. (Critchfield and Saunders, 3/5)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Georgia House Leaders Back Budget With More Money For Schools, Mental Health
Besides education, one of the major drivers of the budget increase next year is health care, with Medicaid — the program that covers the poor and disabled — slated for another big increase. That’s in part because recipients who put off medical treatment and appointments during the pandemic are expected to see their doctors more in 2022. The House plan also includes more money for nursing homes hit hard by the pandemic. House Appropriations Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn, said the measure puts more than $58.5 million extra into various mental health programs, some of which have been overwhelmed by the impact the pandemic has had on mental health and addiction problems. (Salzer, 3/4)

KHN: One School District’s Struggle Over Public Health, Parents And Politics 
Brandon Dell’Orto listened to the comments and complaints as the school board meeting dragged on hour after hour. Many parents were angry. Their kids were sad, bored, borderline depressed, fed up with a school model that didn’t allow them to be on campus every day. The parents wanted schools open. They demanded it. Dell’Orto, a history teacher and teachers union leader in the Roseville Joint Union High School District near Sacramento, knew it wasn’t so simple. Many of the district’s classrooms couldn’t meet new state guidelines for resuming safe on-campus instruction. Further, 4 in 5 teachers in his union, the Roseville Secondary Education Association, opposed a full return to the physical classroom. They feared for their safety and that of some students, and many preferred to wait to be vaccinated before once again teaching in person. (Kreidler, 3/5)

In news about homelessness —

Bloomberg: To End Homelessness, Santa Fe Found A Better Plan
For years, the plan for solving homelessness in Santa Fe wasn’t much of a plan at all. As in a lot of communities, reaction was the rule. Cleaning up encampments only meant chasing them from one part of the city to another. The city didn’t have a data-driven strategy; it couldn’t boast a people-oriented focus, either. Different agencies saw unique parts of the problem, but rarely the whole issue. By 2018, New Mexico topped U.S. lists for the percentage of people experiencing chronic homelessness. “We spent a lot of money not solving the problem,” said Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber. Late that year, Webber decided to try something different. He committed the city to the “Built for Zero” strategy, an administrative philosophy that focuses on better use of data and coordination to tackle homelessness. Santa Fe is one of more than 80 communities that have taken up the Built For Zero pledge, a commitment to reduce homelessness to a standard called “functional zero.” (Capps, 2/4)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Pays $61,000 A Year For One Tent In A Site To Shelter The Homeless. Why?
San Francisco is paying $16.1 million to shelter homeless people in 262 tents placed in empty lots around the city where they also get services and food — a steep price tag that amounts to more than $61,000 per tent per year. The city has created six tent sites, called “safe sleeping villages,” since the beginning of the pandemic to get vulnerable people off crowded sidewalks and into places where they have access to bathrooms, three meals and around-the-clock security. The annual cost of one spot in one site is 2½ times the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco. (Thadani, 3/4)

The New York Times: Desperate Italy Blocks Exports Of Vaccines Bound For Australia 
Italy has blocked 250,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine from being flown to Australia, the government said on Thursday, making good on the European Union’s recent threats to clamp down on vaccine exports amid a global tug of war over desperately needed shots. The decision to stop the shipment by AstraZeneca was a sharp escalation in the competition for vaccines, one that has become ever more frantic as Europe confronts the early signs of a possible new wave of infections driven by new coronavirus variants. (Mueller and Stevis-Gridneff, 3/4)

AP: Australia Asks EU To Stop Blocking Vaccine Exports
Australia is seeking assurances from the European Union’s executive arm that future shipments of vaccines will not be blocked, after Italy banned a large export of the AstraZeneca coronavirus shots. The shipment to Australia of more than a quarter-million doses was blocked from leaving the 27-nation bloc — the first use of an export control system instituted by the EU to make sure big pharma companies respect their EU contracts. (3/5)

In other global developments —

AP: Ontario Leader Disappointed In Biden For Not Sharing Vaccine
The leader of Canada’s most populous province expressed irritation Thursday with the U.S. refusal to ship vaccines north of the border, saying he’d hoped for a change of stance with a new American president, but it remains “every person for themselves.” The U.S. so far isn’t allowing locally made vaccines to be exported, so Canada — like the other U.S. neighbor, Mexico — has been forced to get vaccines from Europe and Asia. “I thought I’d see a little bit of a change with the administration but again it’s every person for themselves out there,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said. (Gillies, 3/4)

Los Angeles Times: Did Air Pollution Play Role In Italy's Big COVID Death Toll?
For decades, Bergamo and other picturesque cities in the Po River Valley in northern Italy have suffered some of the worst air quality in Europe. Pollution has long been considered a leading cause of cancer in the area, which is full of factories and highways crowded with trucks hauling commercial goods. Many of the homes are off the main gas grid, meaning that, in winter, wood-burning and pellet stoves release particulate matter into the stagnant air. Now, scientists are investigating whether one longstanding health crisis has played a role in making a new one worse. Early research suggests that long-term exposure to microscopic particles abundant in Bergamo’s dirty air — and that are also in Los Angeles’ — is associated with greater risk of death from COVID-19, which is, after all, a respiratory disease. (Brancolini, 3/5)

CNN: COVAX Offers Hope Of Vaccine Equality With Roll Out Across Africa 
When Covid-19 vaccinations arrived in Kenya for the very first time this week, the country's health minister likened them to critical weapons of defense. "We have been fighting this virus, but we have been fighting it with rubber bullets," said Kenya's Minister of Health Mutahi Kagwe. "But what we have received here is equivalent, metaphorically speaking, to acquisition of machine guns, bazookas, and tanks to fight this war against Covid-19." (Gafas, 3/4)

The Atlantic: 5 Pandemic Mistakes We Keep Repeating
When the polio vaccine was declared safe and effective, the news was met with jubilant celebration. Church bells rang across the nation, and factories blew their whistles. “Polio routed!” newspaper headlines exclaimed. “An historic victory,” “monumental,” “sensational,” newscasters declared. People erupted with joy across the United States. Some danced in the streets; others wept. Kids were sent home from school to celebrate. One might have expected the initial approval of the coronavirus vaccines to spark similar jubilation—especially after a brutal pandemic year. But that didn’t happen. Instead, the steady drumbeat of good news about the vaccines has been met with a chorus of relentless pessimism. (Tufeki, 2/26)

The New York Times: Want to Sanitize a Baseball Stadium? Send in the Drones
On Wednesday morning, four days before spring training games began and fans returned across Major League Baseball, a six-foot-wide drone flew throughout a 10,500-seat stadium in Surprise, Ariz., the preseason home of the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers. The drone sprayed a cleaning solution that, according to its manufacturer, will protect surfaces from germs, including the coronavirus, for more than 30 days. The spraying took 90 minutes with a drone named Paul. (Wagner, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Museums Launch Covid-19 Exhibits: Virus-Shaped Pinatas, ‘Happy Hour’ Masks 
In South Florida, the pandemic is already history. On display at HistoryMiami Museum in downtown Miami are a first-grader’s virtual homework log with Zoom links; a high school mortarboard marked “I survived Quarantine and Graduation”; and a black Grim Reaper suit a lawyer wore to beaches last year to warn visitors about the deadly virus. Recently, the museum added two empty Pfizer vaccine vials. (Calvert, 3/3)

The Washington Post: As Cremation Becomes More Common, The Funeral Industry And USPS Adapt 
Lately, nine or 10 times a month, Jason Oszczakiewicz, a Pennsylvania funeral home director known as “Oz,” walks into his local post office. Each time, he carries the same special package: the ashes of someone who has just died. “I seem to be mailing a lot to Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, New York,” Oz said, after sending “a gentleman, a son, to his mother in Florida. ”The pandemic that has changed the rhythms and rituals of life is doing that in death, too. (Jordan, 3/3)

The Marshall Project: What People In Prison Need To Know About The COVID-19 Vaccine
Over 100 incarcerated people around the country told us their questions about the vaccine. Here’s information about whether it’s safe, when it could be available and more. (3/2)

The New York Times: What Do Vaccine Efficacy Numbers Actually Mean? 
This week, Johnson & Johnson began delivering millions of doses of its coronavirus vaccine across the United States after receiving an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. Central to getting the green light was a trial that Johnson & Johnson ran to measure the vaccine’s efficacy. Efficacy is a crucial concept in vaccine trials, but it’s also a tricky one. If a vaccine has an efficacy of, say, 95 percent, that doesn’t mean that 5 percent of people who receive that vaccine will get Covid-19. And just because one vaccine ends up with a higher efficacy estimate than another in trials doesn’t necessarily mean it’s superior. Here’s why. (Zimmer and Collins, 3/3)

Reuters: 'When Will It End?': How A Changing Virus Is Reshaping Scientists’ Views On COVID-19
Chris Murray, a University of Washington disease expert whose projections on COVID-19 infections and deaths are closely followed worldwide, is changing his assumptions about the course of the pandemic. Murray had until recently been hopeful that the discovery of several effective vaccines could help countries achieve herd immunity, or nearly eliminate transmission through a combination of inoculation and previous infection. But in the last month, data from a vaccine trial in South Africa showed not only that a rapidly-spreading coronavirus variant could dampen the effect of the vaccine, it could also evade natural immunity in people who had been previously infected. (Steenhuysen and Kelland, 3/3)

NBC News: What Brains Could Teach Scientists About The Lasting Effects Of Covid-19
Dr. Avindra Nath spends his days surrounded by brains. His goal: learning all he can about how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, affects brain tissue, potentially leading to long-term symptoms of the virus. "The involvement of the brain is quite extensive," said Nath, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The brains he studies come from Covid-19 patients who died suddenly, and were all donated by family members. (Edwards, Gosk and Dunn, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Germans Have Coined More Than 1,200 Words To Talk About Coronavirus
If you go out in Germany during the pandemic, don't forget your Alltagsmaske (everyday mask) or Spuckschutzschirm (spit protection umbrella). If it's a bit frigid outside, maybe don a Schnutenpulli (literally, snout sweater, a cozier word for mask).Heading out on a date? Be sure to check the latest Mundschutzmode (mouth protection fashion) before selecting your Gesicht­s­kondom (face condom, as a mask is sometimes known). (Beck, 3/1)

Also —

The Washington Post: Dog Saved New Owner’s Life After He Had A Stroke 
Brian Myers knew he was in trouble when he fell to the floor. He had no feeling on his left side and couldn’t stand up in the crawl space between his bed and the wall.“It was really frightening — I couldn’t get up and I didn’t realize at that moment that I’d had a stroke,” he said. “My cellphone was on the dresser about 15 feet away, but there was no way I could get to it.” Seconds later, Myers, 59, felt something wet and rough on his face: his dog’s tongue. (Free, 3/3)

NBC News: Kentucky Mom Alleges Hospital Workers Missed Her Cancer — Then Covered Up Their Mistake
Kim Johnson was nervous as she sat down at her dining room table in January 2015, clutching an unopened letter from the radiology department at Fleming County Hospital in Flemingsburg, Kentucky. Breast cancer had killed Johnson’s mother years earlier, a painfully slow death that took a toll on her entire family. The prospect of that happening to her was all Johnson had been able to think about since she’d discovered a tender lump in her right breast weeks before, prompting her doctor to send her for a mammogram. (Solon and Hikenbaugh, 3/3)

Houston Chronicle: How Texas Fails The Mentally Ill
Texas’ mental health system is strained beyond capacity, with waitlists for hospital beds that stretch on for sometimes up to a year. The state’s lack of oversight is so extreme that officials were unable to say which private hospitals received state funds for bed space to help reduce the waitlist.  The state just started collecting that information in September. The state’s 10 public mental hospitals are supposed to be a kind of last safety net for the ill and indigent, but many of them are chaotic and dangerous places, where police visit up to 14 times a day. And that’s for people lucky enough to find a bed. (Stuckey, 2/25)

CNN: Texas Governor's Appalling Decision On Masks 
I was getting my first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at the Bayou City Event Center in Houston when the news broke that Governor Greg Abbott is lifting Texas' mask mandate -- even as health officials warn not to ease restrictions aimed at stemming the pandemic. No one at the vaccination site removed their mask, fortunately. But we immediately started discussing the decision -- and we were all appalled. (Katie Mehnert, 3/4)

Dallas Morning News: Texas Still Needs A Mask Mandate, Governor Abbott
After many dark and difficult months, we are beginning to turn the fight on COVID-19. Infection and death rates have been falling steadily as vaccines are more widely distributed and larger numbers of people have developed natural immunity. We understand Gov. Greg Abbott’s impulse Tuesday to essentially declare victory against the virus by ending a statewide mask mandate and permitting all Texas businesses to open at 100% capacity beginning Wednesday. The trouble is that his declaration is premature. While businesses deserve the chance to get back on their feet, the governor needed to maintain the mask mandate to give those same businesses the cover they need to require their patrons to wear a mask. Doing so would have helped ensure the businesses aren’t forced to close again in the event we get yet another wave of infections. (3/3)

The Washington Post: We Have A Choice Between Two Covid-19 Futures. Let’s Make The Right One. 
We are at a turning point in the fight against covid-19, and President Biden is right: “Neanderthal thinking” that puts immediate gratification ahead of what’s best for public health and the economy only helps the virus and postpones the day when life returns to something like normal. The process of vaccinating the nation remains frustratingly slow and user-unfriendly, but it has improved. There is still far too much randomness involved. Did you check the right local or state government website at the right moment when new appointments were being posted? Did you click quickly enough on that text from CVS announcing that vaccines were available in your area? Still, more than 40 percent of Americans prioritized for vaccines — in most states, health professionals, the elderly and those with preexisting conditions — have found ways to get their shots. And with roughly 54 million of us having received at least one vaccine dose, we are on pace to far surpass Biden’s original, too-cautious goal of 100 million vaccinations in the administration’s first 100 days. (Eugene Robinson, 3/4)

The New York Times: Seeking Connection In A New Normal 
And so we emerge, blinking after lockdown, in the strange sunlight of community. After a year of death, a season of hope is suddenly before us, ushered in by President Biden’s promise of enough vaccines for every American adult by the end of May. Life is never so sweet as in the pivot out of despair, the chance to embrace what I recently saw called “the endorphins of possibility.” Soon, if we’re not staggered by the reckless decision of Texas and a handful of other states to abandon medical caution and common sense, we may experience a summer of normal. Normal! Will we recognize it when we see it, feel it, live it? Normal is a movable feast, depending on your view. “The U.S. Is Edging Toward Normal, Alarming Some Officials” was a New York Times headline for the ages this week.(Timothy Egan, 3/5)

Also —

Stat: Covid-19 Can Bring A New Era Of Public Health Leadership. But Will It? 
The bubonic plague — also known as the Black Death — killed as many as 200 million people in the mid-14th century, about one-third of the population of Europe. It was the deadliest epidemic in history, yet it gave birth to public health initiatives that survive today, including quarantines and checkpoints to stop the spread of disease. In the wake of World War II, a wave of international collaboration created the World Health Organization. The HIV/AIDS epidemic spawned a new era of urgency and activism for international health efforts. Great threats have historically been catalysts for change. Will the Covid-19 pandemic help make public health more valued, sustainable, and resilient? It’s possible, but not without sustained commitment in five areas: (Marian W. Wentworth, 3/5)

Boston Globe: Winter Is Almost Over. Almost. 
America is entering a dangerous phase of the coronavirus crisis: jumping the gun. Yes, three different vaccines against the disease have been approved. Millions of the most high-risk Americans have been inoculated. Both new infections and deaths are trending down, and statistical models are promising. The weather will soon improve, which should reduce infections. But that doesn’t mean the country, or Massachusetts, should declare victory quite yet. A cautious reopening, laser-focused on the unacceptable number of schools that remain closed, is going to require a bit more patience from a public that’s understandably tired of sacrifice. Leaders, including Governor Baker, should take heed of the warning from newly installed CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and put a temporary pause on business reopenings for just a little longer while vaccinations continue. (3/4)

San Francisco Chronicle: Feeling Whiplash, California? The Ever-Revolving COVID Rules
Californians' difficult sacrifices have turned around the latest surge of coronavirus infections, so it’s time for a cautious return to strictly necessary activities like — baseball? Gov. Gavin Newsom recently expressed “all the confidence in the world” that fans will be watching Major League Baseball in person next month, typifying the whiplash reversals and re-reversals that have haunted the state’s response to the pandemic. In scarcely over a month, we’ve gone from closing everything to Opening Day. (3/4)

Boston Globe: Massachusetts Should Pay People To Quarantine
With vaccines slowly being rolled out across the United States, it appears the nation may be close to a turning point in the coronavirus pandemic. However, the daily case rate remains high, and new, highly contagious variants threaten to create clusters of fresh infections in the coming months. This makes it more important than ever that states bolster non-vaccine strategies — specifically, supported quarantine and isolation — in order to mitigate viral transmission. Apart from vaccinations, quarantine (keeping exposed people away from others) and isolation (keeping sick people away from others) are the best ways to stop transmission of the virus. After a surge of infections early in the pandemic, South Korea adopted an aggressive policy of testing, contact tracing, and “supported” isolation and quarantine. This included identifying those exposed to the virus and providing support services so that it was feasible and affordable for them to stay apart for seven to 10 days. The government delivered grocery supplies and paid financial compensation to those in isolation and unable to work. They provided people who needed it access to quarantine facilities, with twice-daily check-ins to monitor their health. (Linda J. Bilmes and Margaret Bourdeaux, 3/3)

Stat: Use The Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 Vaccine To Create Equity, Trust 
The Food and Drug Administration’s recent approval of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the United States is wonderful and welcome news. Its addition dramatically increases the likelihood that all adults will have a chance to be vaccinated before this summer — but only if people are willing to accept any of the three available vaccines. That will happen only if people trust that the different vaccines are being distributed fairly. (Ruth R. Faden and Ruth A. Karron, 3/5)

The Washington Post: Democrats Demonized Big Pharma. Now It’s Saving Us From Covid-19
The end of the pandemic is finally in sight. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a third coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, which has partnered with its bitter rival Merck to produce 94 million doses in the next eight weeks. Together with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the J&J vaccine is expected to provide enough doses to inoculate every American adult by the end of May — two months ahead of schedule. Not since World War II has an industry mobilized to rescue humanity in this way. So as our long national nightmare approaches its end, it’s worth reflecting on a couple of salient truths: It was the pharmaceutical industry Democrats demonized during the last election that saved us, while the government health experts they lionized failed us. (Marc A. Thiessen, 3/4)

Newsweek: Biden Must Expose China's COVID-19 Cover-Up 
Chinese authorities are still refusing to share critical evidence about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) still refuses to challenge Beijing and is even promoting Chinese cover stories that allege the pandemic did not begin in Wuhan. The Biden administration has begun to notice, but still needs a game plan for holding both Beijing and the WHO accountable. Pinpointing the origins of the coronavirus pandemic is a scientific imperative. America's ability to detect, prevent, and prepare for future pandemics depends on knowing precisely how this one started. The answers to this question clearly have political implications, but public health must come first. (Anthony Ruggiero, 3/4)

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Chicago Tribune: Washington Can No Longer Ignore The Coming Medicare Crisis 
Official Washington, D.C., just got another early warning. The Congressional Budget Office recently confirmed the Medicare trustees’ 2020 report that the Medicare trust fund — the Part A account that funds the hospitalization and related services — faces insolvency in 2026. Insolvency means that Medicare wouldn’t be able to fully reimburse hospitals, nursing homes and home health agencies for promised benefits. In 2026, Medicare payments would be immediately cut by 10%, and the payment cuts would continue each year thereafter. (Robert E. Moffit, 3/4)

Tampa Bay Times: Restricting Access To Sex Ed In Florida Schools Will Put Young People At Risk 
As a pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist, I spend a lot of time discussing sexual health with teens and parents. Often, the young person has arms folded and a scowling face, the parent is shaking a finger and lecturing the teen, and neither is sharing helpful information. At other times, I have teens and parents who are communicating openly on topics such as whether the teen plans to be sexually active after starting on effective contraception and vowing to use condoms, or will be abstinent for the foreseeable future — no conflict, just a family communicating honestly. (Diane Straub, 3/5)