CNBC: FDA Panel Recommends Pfizer's Covid Booster Doses For People 65 And Older After Rejecting Third Shots For General Population
An influential Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Friday resoundingly rejected a proposal to distribute booster shots of Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine to the general public, paring back those plans to instead recommend the third shots to people age 65 and older and other vulnerable Americans. “It’s likely beneficial, in my opinion, for the elderly, and may eventually be indicated for the general population. I just don’t think we’re there yet in terms of the data,” said Dr. Ofer Levy, a vaccine and infectious disease specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital. (Lovelace Jr., Towey and Mendez, 9/17)

AP: US Panel Backs COVID-19 Boosters Only For Elderly, High-Risk
In a surprising turn, the panel rejected, by a vote of 16-2, boosters for almost everyone. Members cited a lack of safety data on extra doses and also raised doubts about the value of mass boosters, rather than ones targeted to specific groups. Then, in an 18-0 vote, it endorsed the extra shot for select portions of the U.S. population — namely, those most at risk from the virus. (Perrone and Neergaard, 9/17)

Stat: FDA Advisory Panel Recommends Booster Doses Of Covid-19 Vaccine Only For Older And High-Risk Americans
The FDA is not required to follow the recommendation of its advisory committees but generally does. If the recommendation is adopted by the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it would put the U.S. policy on a par with countries like the United Kingdom. (Branswell and Herper, 9/17)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Advisory Panel Endorses Covid-19 Boosters For People 65-Plus Or At High Risk Of Severe Illness
The vote followed a daylong meeting that included intense debate among committee members over who should receive boosters and when, and presentations that offered varying conclusions about declining vaccine effectiveness and the benefit of administering extra shots. Many panel members said they had concerns about widening booster shots for the general population with limited data about whether the additional doses would be safe and effective. Members said they would potentially support recommending a third dose for certain high-risk groups of the population such as older adults, but that there wasn’t enough data to justify giving it to the general population. They said that vaccines such as Pfizer’s are holding up against severe disease. (Hopkins and Schwarz, 9/17)

NPR: FDA Expert Panel Supports Pfizer COVID Booster For Older People
FDA then polled the panel members for advice on other groups of people who might be considered for a booster. Though not an official vote, the panel member unanimously supported authorization of a Pfizer booster dose for health care workers or others at high risk of occupational COVID-19 exposure. ... The administration said in August that it planned to make booster shots available during the week of Sept. 20. That announcement was controversial because it came before the FDA had weighed Pfizer's application and before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's own panel of experts on immunization practices could consider the need for boosters. (Hensley, 9/17)

Politico: FDA Panel Votes Against Broad Rollout Of Pfizer Booster Shot, Endorses Narrower Use
A separate Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel will meet next week to outline the parameters for the booster's administration, which will likely include defining who qualifies as "high risk." That could include people with underlying health conditions like obesity, and groups like health care workers who are exposed to Covid-19 during the course of their jobs. The FDA panel took an unofficial straw poll Friday endorsing boosters for the latter group. (Gardner, 9/17)

And a new Israeli study shows good immune response from the booster shot —

CIDRAP: Studies Show Good COVID Booster Effect, Waning 2nd-Dose Protection 
Several new studies on the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine describe good effectiveness against the Delta (B1617.2) variant after a booster dose and high but waning protection against infection and severe illness 6 months after the second dose. Other, much smaller, studies demonstrated the safety of third mRNA vaccine doses. And a new British study on waning two-dose effectiveness coincides with the recent decision by UK officials to recommend booster doses. (Van Beusekom, 9/16)

Also —

CNN: Do Americans Need Boosters Yet? Here Are The Questions The FDA Will Be Asking 
Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration start meeting early Friday to discuss whether Americans need booster shots yet. It's a simple question but one that has become bogged down in politics and turf battles. It's sometimes seemed to put the FDA's independence at odds with a White House team eager to appear to be out ahead of an unpredictable pandemic. (Fox, 9/16)

CNBC: Booster Debate: Covid Vaccine Not Meant To Prevent Infection, Symptoms
Over the past week, there’s been plenty of back-and-forth among experts about whether people need Covid booster shots — but one crucial element is getting lost in the conversation. If you’re on team booster shot or not, or if you don’t know what to think, remember this: Being fully vaccinated is still preventing hospitalization in 86% of patients and death in 82%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In other words, even amid the spread of the contagious delta variant, the Covid vaccines are doing exactly what they’re designed to do. (Stieg, 9/16)

The Baltimore Sun: Who Gets A COVID-19 Vaccine Booster? For Now It Depends On Where You Live 
When Gov. Larry Hogan ordered COVID-19 boosters for some Marylanders earlier this month, he made the shots available for more people than elsewhere in the nation but didn’t go as far as some other countries. The Maryland order specifically said the doses should be available to residents in assisted living facilities, drug treatment centers and group homes for those with developmental disabilities. (Cohn, 9/16)

Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi Ranks First In Nation For COVID-19 Deaths Per 100,000
While COVID-19 hospitalizations are on the decline in Mississippi, the state is now leading the nation in coronavirus-related deaths per capita. Mississippi has 306 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000, coming in slightly above New Jersey with 305 per 100,000. Since the virus came into the state in March 2020, over 9,100 residents have died from coronavirus-related causes. The Mississippi State Department of Health reported nearly 900 of those deaths in the month of August, when the delta variant ripped through the state and further inundated hospitals and intensive care units. (Haselhorst, 9/16)

Mississippi Clarion Ledger: COVID-19 Is Killing Mississippi's Unvaccinated Pregnant Women
Seven pregnant Mississippi mothers critically ill from COVID-19 infections never made it from the intensive care unit to the operating room. With breathing tubes down their windpipes, most hooked up to ventilators, the women deteriorated so rapidly doctors at the University of Mississippi Medical Center had no choice but to deliver their babies prematurely via bedside emergency Cesarean section, almost unheard of today. One mother recovered and went home. Two remain in the ICU. Four of the mothers are dead. None was vaccinated against the coronavirus. (Haselhorst, 9/16)

ABC News: Florida Surpasses 50K COVID Deaths After Battling Delta Wave 
Florida surpassed 50,000 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began, health officials reported Thursday, with more than one fourth of those succumbing this summer as the state battled a fierce surge in infections fueled by the delta variant. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tallied 50,811 deaths after adding more than 1,500 COVID-19 deaths provided Thursday by the state's health department. Those reported deaths occurred over various dates in recent weeks. (Spencer and Licon, 9/16)

WUSF 89.7: AARP: Florida Nursing Homes Tie For Nation's Highest COVID Death Rate As Vaccinations Lag 
As the delta variant of the coronavirus caused Florida to become a hotspot for COVID-19 in late July and August, the state’s nursing homes also felt the brunt. Using federal data, the senior-advocacy group AARP released a report Wednesday that said 237 Florida nursing home residents died with COVID-19 during a four-week period that ended Aug. 22 — tied for the highest death rate in the nation. (Saunders, 9/16)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Surpasses 10,000 COVID-19 Deaths; Hogan Orders State Flags Lowered To Half-Staff In Remembrance 
More than 10,000 Marylanders have been killed by COVID-19 as of Thursday, a once-unthinkable death toll reflecting the severity of a pandemic that has killed millions more worldwide. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan ordered state flags to be lowered to half-staff in remembrance of those 10,011 who have died statewide from the coronavirus since March 2020. (Campbell, 9/16)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Averaging More Than 2,000 COVID-19 Cases A Day For The First Time Since January
The seven-day average of daily COVID-19 cases increased to more than 2,000 a day on Thursday — the first time it's been over 2,000 cases since January, according to state Department of Health Services data. The seven-day average was 2,063 cases on January 17. Now, the seven-day average is at 2,110 cases. The state reported 15 new COVID-related deaths Thursday. The seven-day average of daily deaths is 12, up 10 deaths from a month ago. (Bentley, 9/16)

Also —

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Approaches 1918 Influenza Pandemic Death Toll 
The United States just hit a grim milestone when it comes to the toll of the coronavirus, with now 1 in 500 Americans having died. But for some, an even-grimmer milestone is fast-approaching: When the death toll exceeds the 1918 influenza pandemic. We’re currently on-pace to surpass the 675,000 deaths that have been attributed to the last comparable pandemic in the coming days. The Washington Post’s tracker shows more than 668,000 deaths so far, with a still-increasing seven-day average of nearly 1,800 deaths per day. That means we’re likely to hit that number by early next week. ... But this moment also requires context. (Blake, 9/16)

NBC News: Covid Likely Led To A Rare Disorder That Left 8-Year-Old Girl Paralyzed
A Minnesota woman whose daughter has been hospitalized since March is urging people to get vaccinated and wear masks as the delta variant spreads and children return to the classroom. Lani Bauer’s 8-year-old daughter, Avella, was diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a condition that developed after she tested positive for Covid-19. (Bhojwani, 9/16)

And in covid research —

USA Today: Long-Haul COVID-19 Can Last Months. But Here’s Why Experts Are Optimistic About Recovery.
Workers find they're able to make it through a whole day again. Parents trust themselves with their own children. The brain fog descends less often, normal smells start to return, and racing hearts get more rest. Although COVID-19 may feel endless when symptoms linger a month or more after an infection, many people are back to feeling like themselves within about three months. Many more have recovered at six months, said Ravi Ganesh, who treats long-haul COVID-19 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.Everyone's path is different, though. (Weintraub and Leake, 9/17)

Fox News: Adults Ages 50 To 69 Most Likely To Report ‘Long COVID,’ UK Study Finds
An observational study out of the U.K. indicated that adults aged 50-69 reported so-called "long COVID," or symptoms months after initial COVID-19 infection, at the highest rates compared to all other age groups. Findings released Thursday from the Office for National Statistics drew from the Coronavirus Infection Survey, said to be the U.K.’s "largest regular survey of coronavirus (COVID-19) infections and antibodies," informing its pandemic response. (Rivas, 9/16)

CIDRAP: Comorbidities, Older Age Associated With Severe COVID In Kids
Among US children 17 and under, COVID-19 hospitalization was associated with older age and chronic comorbidities, including obesity or type 2 diabetes, according to a study yesterday in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. ... Factors associated with hospitalization were obesity or type 2 diabetes (aOR, 10.4), immunocompromised condition (aOR, 5.9), pulmonary disease (aOR, 5.3), cardiovascular disease (aOR, 5.0), asthma (aOR, 1.4), and private payer insurance (aOR, 1.16). While older children and adolescents were hospitalized at lower rates, the researchers note that those who were had a higher likelihood of severe illness. (9/16)

KHN: Scientists Examine Kids’ Unique Immune Systems As More Fall Victim To Covid 
Eighteen months into the covid-19 pandemic, with the delta variant fueling a massive resurgence of disease, many hospitals are hitting a heartbreaking new low. They’re now losing babies to the coronavirus. The first reported covid-related death of a newborn occurred in Orange County, Florida, and an infant has died in Mississippi. Merced County in California lost a child under a year old in late August. (Szabo, 9/17)

ProPublica: A Boy Went To A COVID-Swamped ER. He Waited For Hours. Then His Appendix Burst.
What first struck Nathaniel Osborn when he and his wife took their son, Seth, to the emergency room this summer was how packed the waiting room was for a Wednesday at 1 p.m. The Florida hospital’s emergency room was so crowded there weren’t enough chairs for the family to all sit as they waited. And waited. Hours passed and 12-year-old Seth’s condition worsened, his body quivering from the pain shooting across his lower belly. Osborn said his wife asked why it was taking so long to be seen. A nurse rolled her eyes and muttered, “COVID.” (Deam, 9/15)

KXAS-TV (NBC5): Cook Children’s Postponing Elective Surgeries Due To Staff, Bed Shortages Amid Latest COVID-19 Surge
Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth is rescheduling all elective surgeries that require inpatient admission to Oct. 11 or later due to the latest surge of COVID-19, the hospital said in a prepared statement issued Thursday evening. “We’re taking this extraordinary step to utilize Cook Children’s perioperative RNs in other areas of the hospital, including ICUs,” the statement said. “As reported in the media week after week, pediatric beds in our community are scarce, and Cook Children’s is no exception. (9/16)

KHN: Covid-Overwhelmed Hospitals Postpone Cancer Care And Other Treatment 
It’s a bad time to get sick in Oregon. That’s the message from some doctors, as hospitals fill up with covid-19 patients and other medical conditions go untreated. Charlie Callagan looked perfectly healthy sitting outside recently on his deck in the smoky summer air in the small Rogue Valley town of Merlin, in southern Oregon. But Callagan, 72, has a condition called multiple myeloma, a blood cancer of the bone marrow. “It affects the immune system; it affects the bones,” he said. “I had a PET scan that described my bones as looking ‘kind of Swiss cheese-like.’” (Neumann, 9/17)

Georgia Health News: Covid Surge Eases Slightly, But Swamped Hospitals See No Relief 
The state’s Covid cases and hospitalizations have dipped over the past week, Georgia health officials have reported. But that drop isn’t relieving the pressure on the front lines of hospitals — both smaller facilities and large urban centers. Take Appling Healthcare, which operates a rural hospital of 34 beds in Baxley, in southeast Georgia. (Miller, 9/16)

Bangor Daily News: EMMC Sees Record Hospitalizations For COVID-19, Eclipsing Last Winter’s Surge
Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor saw a record number of coronavirus hospitalizations on Thursday as the delta variant continues to spread across the state. A total of 58 people were hospitalized in the hospital that day, beating the previous record of 55 the hospital set on Dec. 31, 2020, amid that period’s winter surge, according to data from Northern Light Health. The record hospitalizations are indicative of the significant community spread occurring in Penobscot County, which has seen a significant number of cases in recent days. It is also another indicator that the present surge is eclipsing the worst seen in the county last winter. The 164 cases reported on Wednesday were the highest ever seen in the county. (Marino Jr., 9/16)

Houston Chronicle: Houston-Area ICU Beds Remain Scarce Even As COVID Hospitalizations Decline Across Texas
COVID-19 hospitalizations are declining across Texas and the Houston region, but ICUs remain stubbornly full, as the sickest patients require care for a longer period of time. Last week, the number of available adult ICU beds in Texas sunk below 300 for the first time in the pandemic, with 270 beds available on Sept. 8 and 279 available on Sept. 9, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. There were 326 beds available this Wednesday, including 65 in the nine-county region surrounding Houston, the data show. (Gill, 9/16)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Scenes From A Georgia Hospital As Staff Manages A Deluge Of COVID Patients
As the ultra-contagious delta variant continues to tear across the Southeast, the COVID-19 patients hospitalized here are sicker and stay longer than those earlier in the pandemic. They’re younger and require more care, more resources, more ventilators. And there have been way more of them than at any other point over the past 18 months, despite the widespread availability of vaccines. Memorial Health cared for a record-high 178 COVID-19 patients at the end of August, according to the hospital. That’s more than twice as many as it did during previous pandemic peaks, said Dr. Stephen Thacker, the hospital’s associate chief medical officer. The week the Atlanta Journal-Constitution visited Savannah in early September, Georgia reported the country’s fourth-highest number of COVID-19 hospital admissions. (Hallerman, 9/16)

The Washington Post: A Doctor Called Coronavirus Vaccines ‘Fake.’ Now He Sits On An Idaho Regional Health Board
Leaders of Idaho’s most populous county were deluged with constituent emails last month as they prepared to choose the newest member of a once-obscure regional health board. A doctor who served on the board for 15 years had just been let go over his support for pandemic restrictions. Hundreds wrote in for Ryan Cole, a doctor — backed by the Ada County Republican Party — who has called coronavirus vaccines “fake.” (Knowles, 9/16)

Louisville Courier Journal: Poll: Number Of Kentuckians Reluctant To Get COVID Vaccine Decreasing
The number of Kentuckians hesitant to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has decreased since March, new poll results show, but 20% still say they probably or definitely won't get the shot. The poll, from The Foundation for a Health Kentucky in partnership with the University of Cincinnati, involved calling 512 Kentuckians between Aug. 4 and Sept. 4. The results showed more than 1 in 3 unvaccinated people said nothing would persuade them to pivot and get a vaccine; 1 in 5 said they wanted more time and research before proceeding; and 1 in 6 said they wanted to see more evidence presented about the safety, efficacy and side effects of vaccines. (Ladd, 9/16)

The Hill: Pandemic Frustrations Zero In On Unvaccinated Americans
The growing frustration with the ongoing pandemic is boiling over, with all eyes turned to the unvaccinated as the key to getting through the COVID-19 crisis. As cases approach winter levels, the U.S. has been left to decide how to deal with and treat the millions who still haven’t received their shots, months after they became widely available. (Coleman, 9/16)

WUSF 89.7: Community Groups Work To Overcome Vaccination Barriers For Black Floridians 
The Rev. Clarence Williams addressed people outside his church in south St. Petersburg on a recent evening. Rather than preach the Bible, he was preaching about vaccines. “We have people that are counting on you to be healthy,” Williams said through a microphone to those gathered at Greater Mount Zion AME Church. "Come and be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.” (Colombini and Sheridan, 9/16)

NBC News: Fake Covid Vaccination Card Market Booms
The online market for fake Covid-19 vaccination cards is booming. Thousands of online sellers are claiming to offer near-perfect copies of the cards at prices that have risen sharply in recent weeks, with some now selling a single card for hundreds of dollars. While it’s unclear how many cards successfully make it to people who try to buy them, the  federal government is intercepting reams of them. A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the agency has intercepted thousands of packages of fake cards from China that “we basically stopped keeping track, because there were so many.” (Collier, 9/16)

PBS NewsHour: There’s No Evidence COVID-19 Vaccines Hurt Fertility. Here’s What’s Fueling The Myth
COVID-19 vaccines are both safe and effective for pregnant people and those who plan to become pregnant, according to all of the data gathered by researchers so far. But the baseless concern or belief that they could hurt a person’s ability to conceive and deliver a healthy child has influenced many in choosing not to get a shot. In August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially recommended that pregnant people get vaccinated against COVID-19, in part because they are at a higher risk of becoming severely ill from the disease compared to non-pregnant people. Those who are attempting to conceive or are breastfeeding should also get their shots, the CDC has said. In addition, there is some evidence that the virus — not the vaccine — could potentially negatively impact sperm production and testicular function. (Isaacs-Thomas, 9/16)

Fox News: Pelosi Slams GOP As A 'Cult' While Traveling Abroad In United Kingdom
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed Republicans while traveling abroad in the United Kingdom Thursday, saying that they are bad for America and members of a "cult." "I say to my Republican friends and I do have some," Pelosi said at an event in Cambridge, England, prompting laughter from the audience. "Take back your party. You’re the Grand Old Party of America, you’ve done wonderful things for our country. You now have been hijacked by a cult that is just not good for our country." (Mark Miller, 9/16)

In other news about the spread of covid misinformation —

Rolling Stone: TikTok Cult Leader Pivots To Preaching Anti-Vax Conspiracy Theories
“Today’s sermon is going to be on Unitopian Anarchy and Autonomy,” Unicole Unicron says in the opening of a sermon on YouTube. Clad in an ethereal white veil, against a background of dizzying black-and-white swirls, the leader of the self-described cult Unicult proceeds to spends the next 51 minutes detailing thoughts on the Covid-19 vaccine and why the cult’s leader is not encouraging followers to get the vaccine. “Only you have autonomy over your own body,” says Unicron, who uses xe/xim pronouns. “Do what is right for you. Perform no medical rituals that are against your own strong intuitive knowledge of your personal health.” Unicron then explains why xe believes contracting the virus would not get xim sick, saying, “I have ascended to the point where I am confident that my own experience of my own internal state and my own vibration of harmony is enough to protect me.” (Dickson, 9/9)

CNN: As Leaders Struggle To Dispel Misinformation About Vaccines, Some Celebrities Create More
Crucially, celebrities aren't persuasive all the time over all issues. Their influence is complicated by a variety of factors, such as their expertise, their affiliations with advocacy groups and their connection to the issue (think Ellen DeGeneres or Billy Porter on LGBTQ rights). But Mark Harvey, the author of the 2018 book, "Celebrity Influence: Politics, Persuasion and Issue-Based Advocacy," argues that what we're seeing with the coronavirus pandemic, and specifically with Covid-19 vaccines, is completely different. (Tensley, 9/16)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: COVID-19 Misinformation In Las Vegas A Public Health Crisis?
Clark County lawmakers will consider formally taking on a potential crisis that has emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic: misinformation. The county commission is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to declare COVID-19 misinformation a public health crisis that has fueled public mistrust and prolonged the pandemic by undermining efforts to combat the spread of the disease, according to a proposed resolution. “We’ve certainly seen across the country, but certainly right here in Nevada, what misinformation about the vaccines and the masks has resulted in,” said Commissioner Justin Jones, who is recommending the county adopt the resolution. (Johnson, 9/16)

10tv.Com: Avoiding COVID-19 Misinformation: Ohio State Medical Experts Detail What To Look Out For
how can Ohioans separate quality information from findings health officials have deemed as weak? Chief Scientific Officer Peter Mohler says the first thing you should do when conducting your own research is check the quality of the study. This includes making sure the study is controlled and focuses on a group of people large enough to make an impact. Next, Mohler suggests making sure the study is peer reviewed. That means several physicians have looked at the data and deemed it worth covering. 

The Oregonian: Oregon Medical Board Revokes License Of Doctor Who Bucked COVID Guidelines, Spread Misinformation 
The Oregon Medical Board revoked the license of a Dallas doctor earlier this month after he refused to follow COVID-19 guidelines in his office, spread misinformation about masks and over-prescribed opioids to his patients, according to medical board documents. The board also fined Steven Arthur LaTulippe $10,000 on Sept. 2. (Forrest, 9/16)

NBC News: 'Misinformation Killed Her': Bride-To-Be Who Hesitated To Get Vaccinated Dies Of Covid
Samantha Wendell could not wait for her wedding this summer. For nearly two years, the 29-year-old surgical technician had been meticulously planning every detail, from the seating chart to the Tiffany blue floral arrangements, her fiancé, Austin Eskew, said. Wendell and Eskew wanted to start a family as soon as they got married, Eskew, a correctional sergeant, said. The couple, of Grand Rivers, Kentucky, hoped to eventually have three, maybe four, children. So when the Covid-19 vaccines came out, and some of Wendell’s co-workers said the shots caused infertility — an unfounded claim that has gained ground despite top reproductive health groups refuting it — she “just kind of panicked,” Eskew, 29, said. (Chuck, 9/15)

The Washington Post: She Demanded A Hospital Treat Her Husband’s Covid-19 With Ivermectin. A Judge Said No.
After her husband was infected with the coronavirus and entered an intensive care unit this month, Angela Underwood pushed for the Louisville hospital that was treating him to administer ivermectin to her husband — the deworming drug some people have used to try to treat or prevent covid-19 in recent months. She sued Norton Brownsboro Hospital after it allegedly refused to administer the treatment to Lonnie Underwood, 58, without a court order and supervision by a doctor with the authority to do so. ... But a judge denied her emergency order request Wednesday in a scathing ruling that called out people who have promoted and supported ivermectin as an effective treatment for covid-19. (Bella, 9/16)

In case you missed it —

The Santa Barbara Independent: Mandatory Vaccination Debate Gets Personal At Santa Barbara County Board; Supervisor Compares Critics to Cult
It’s not every day an elected county official accuses members of the public who testified against the county’s COVID vaccination effort of behaving like members of a cult. But that’s exactly what County Supervisor Steve Lavagnino did this Tuesday morning, after listening to more than 90 minutes of public comment from 20 militant anti-vaxxers who frequently compared the county’s proposed vaccination plans to something straight out of Nazi Germany.Lavagnino, it turns out, knows something about cults. He grew up in one, he declared from the supervisors’ dais. His parents divorced when he was a kid over religious differences; his mother moved into a religious cult in Northern Idaho, and Lavagnino went with her. The theology was all about “conspiracy, catastrophe, and persecution,” he recalled. At age 10, Lavagnino said he first encountered a barcode scanner while shopping at a supermarket. Church elders, he said, wasted no time denouncing this new technology as a “mark of the Beast.” Lavagnino said the same type of thinking was evident in the speakers at this meeting. (Welsh, 8/25)

Politico: DeSantis Opens New War With Biden Over Covid Treatments
First came masks. Then a feud over vaccine mandates. Now a new front has opened in the Covid battle between President Joe Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: Covid-19 antibody treatments. On Thursday, DeSantis ripped into Biden’s plan to distribute doses of monoclonal antibody treatments to states across the nation. Florida and six other Southern states have relied on the therapies to treat patients infected with the virus but also took up 70 percent of the orders in early September. ... “We've been handed a major curveball here, with a really huge cut from HHS and the Biden administration,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Broward County. “We're going to make sure we leave no stone unturned. Whoever needs a treatment, we're going to work like hell to get them the treatment.” (Sarkissian, 9/16)

AP: Beshear: Kentucky May Run Low On Monoclonal Antibodies
Kentucky may not have enough monoclonal antibody courses to meet the rising demand in the state, Gov. Andy Beshear says. The federal government is rationing the treatments in response to a national shortage, which may limit Kentucky’s ability to give the medicine to anyone who would need it. (9/17)

WRDW: Monoclonal Antibody Supplies Limited In S.C. Due To Nationwide Shortage
A treatment intended to keep high-risk patients with COVID-19 out of the hospital is running low in South Carolina, according to the South Carolina Hospital Association. The association said some providers have even run out of that treatment, monoclonal antibodies, and the drug will not be restocked before next week. (Green, 9/16)

Charleston Gazette-Mail: "Last Ditch Effort": KCHD To Offer Antibody Treatments As State, Local Hospitalizations Stay High
The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department will now offer monoclonal antibody treatments at its office in downtown Charleston in an attempt to slow hospital overcrowding in the region. Monoclonal antibody treatments help people who are COVID-19 positive better fight the virus and its side effects, which are sending more people than ever to the state’s hospitals and intensive care units. “Receiving an antibody treatment does not mean the person does not have COVID-19 after the treatment. It means they are better equipped to deal with COVID-19,” said Dr. Sherri Young, interim health officer. “The goal here is to keep our hospitals, our ICUs, our clinics from being overcrowded.” (Coyne, 9/16)

And states are cheering or jeering Biden's vaccine mandates —

Stateline: States Embrace Vaccine Mandates Despite Potential Worker Exodus
President Joe Biden soon will require millions of workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested weekly. But before Biden’s announcement last week, 18 states and the District of Columbia already had told public sector workers to get their jabs or risk losing their jobs, and 21 states plus D.C. had such mandates for health care workers. Many of those state mandates will take effect in the coming weeks, offering a glimpse of the effects Biden’s plan could have on the workforce once the final federal rule is in place. Like the federal plan, most of those state requirements will allow for weekly testing as an alternative to vaccination. (Brown, 9/16)

USA Today: AGs From 24 States Threaten To Sue Over Joe Biden's Vaccine Requirement
Twenty-four Republican attorneys general signed a letter to President Joe Biden on Thursday threatening litigation against the president's requirement for employees of businesses with 100 or more workers to be either vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing. The prosecutors, led by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, called the requirement "disastrous and counterproductive." The prosecutors said the requirement would "drive further skepticism" about vaccines and cause some Americans to leave the job market, including healthcare workers. The letter was also signed by the attorneys general in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. (Bacon, Hayes and Hauck, 9/16)

Bloomberg: Arizona AG Mark Brnovich Admits Suit Over Biden Vaccine Rules Is A ‘Long Shot’
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich acknowledged that his suit challenging the Biden Administration’s announced Covid-19 vaccine requirements for many U.S. workers is unlikely to succeed because the actual rules haven’t been finalized. “Is it a long shot? Yeah, I recognize that,” Brnovich, a Republican former federal prosecutor who is running for U.S. Senate in 2022, said in a phone interview. “But I also think these are very important principles to be fighting for.” (Larson, 9/16)

In other news about vaccine and mask mandates —

The Hill: Seattle Area To Require COVID-19 Vaccine To Enter Indoor Venues 
Customers at Seattle-area restaurants, gyms and other indoor venues will soon be required to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 under a new county health order issued Thursday. The order, which goes into effect Oct. 25, mandates that indoor restaurants and bars with the capacity to seat at least 12 people require all customers 12 years of age and older to provide proof of vaccination prior to entry. (Castronuovo, 9/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Face Masks Don’t Obscure Parents’ Love
Parents worry, and Covid-19 has given them lots of things to worry about. Here’s one: How will babies be affected by being surrounded by people in masks? Will they have trouble connecting with their parents and other people? Fortunately, a new study and a number of earlier ones suggest that this worry, at least, is unfounded. Aside from providing much-needed relief to anxious parents, the research has some fascinating scientific implications. (Gopnik, 9/16)

AP: Beshear Slams School Leaders That Refuse To Require Masks
Kentucky’s governor on Thursday berated school leaders who refuse to extend mask requirements, accusing them of endangering children at a time the coronavirus is raging throughout the state. ... “If you are a school district that is not requiring universal masking, you are directly endangering the children, the staff ... everybody who is in each of your buildings,” [Gov. Andy] Beshear said at a news conference. “And it is an inexcusable decision. Every single public health agency, every one, has said that universal masking is the only way to keep kids in school.” (Schreiner and Blackburn, 9/16)

The Oregonian: 900 Students, Staff Quarantined After 4 COVID-19 Cases Amid Reynolds High School Closure
Classrooms at Reynolds High School sat empty Thursday as officials identified at least 901 students and staff potentially exposed to COVID-19, triggering by far the largest school shutdown statewide during Oregon’s worst wave of the pandemic. District officials chose to halt in-person learning for seven school days at Oregon’s second-largest high school, sending more than 2,600 students into online learning starting next week. (Zarkhin, 9/16)

Oklahoman: Oklahoma Health Department Launches In-School COVID-19 Testing Program
Oklahoma school districts will be able to opt into a program to provide free, in-school COVID-19 testing, the state Health Department announced Thursday. The program launched this week in partnership with the state Department of Education and is funded through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deputy health commissioner Keith Reed said at a news conference. It is an optional program: School districts can choose to opt in to the program, and parents can opt-in their children for COVID-19 testing at districts that have opted in the program, Reed said. (Branham, 9/16)

Los Angeles Times: Declining COVID-19 Cases Indicate Safe L.A. School Openings
The early weeks of fully opened Los Angeles County schools have coincided with declining pediatric coronavirus cases, the first indication campuses are generally operating safely without a troubling number of outbreaks. Citing the low number of coronavirus outbreaks in schools, public health officials on Thursday announced that schools in L.A. County will no longer be automatically required to send unvaccinated students home to quarantine for at least seven days after their last contact with an individual who tests positive. (Gomez, Lin II and Money, 9/16)

Philadelphia Inquirer: How Are Schools Deciding To Close Due To COVID-19 Cases? It All Depends
Philadelphia health officials say schools must temporarily shut down if they record six COVID-19 cases over the course of 14 days, which was the decision at Richmond Elementary and Emlen Elementary in the school district, and Lindley Academy and Pan American Academy charter schools. Suburban Pennsylvania counties don’t appear to have a similar rule, though Montgomery County officials said they were referring schools to state Department of Health guidelines, which say closure “may be recommended” if a school’s cases surpass 5% of its population — or it experiences “three simultaneous outbreaks” in classrooms, sports teams or activities. (Hanna, Gantz and Burney, 9/16)

CNN: Florida Chiropractor Signed Hundreds Of Mask Exemption Forms For Students, Pushing The District To Update Its Mask Policy 
A school district in Sarasota County, Florida, has tightened its mask policy after a chiropractor signed hundreds of medical exemption forms that allowed students to opt out of wearing masks in schools, officials said. The Sarasota County School Board had voted in August to implement a 90-day mandatory mask policy for students, employees, visitors and vendors, with exceptions for medical reasons or if wearing a face mask would not be consistent with a student's Individualized Education Plan. Then on September 1, the district updated its policy to only accept medical exemption forms from licensed medical doctors, osteopathic physicians or advanced registered nurse practitioners, Superintendent Brennan Asplen said in a letter to families and employees. (Kaye and Elamroussi, 9/16)

In higher-education news —

The Boston Globe: UMass-Amherst Reports 371 COVID-19 Cases Two Weeks Into Classes
After two weeks of classes, a COVID-19 outbreak at UMass-Amherst, one of the only Massachusetts universities that does not require mandatory weekly testing, has shot from 149 to 371, according to data published Thursday by the school. Administrators say they expected an early increase in positive COVID-19 cases, and they’re confident the university’s vaccination requirement, mask mandate, and social distancing protocols will keep students safe. The school says 96.6 percent of its combined student, staff and faculty population of 29,300 is vaccinated. (Alanez and Carlin, 9/16)

Athens Banner-Herald: COVID-19 Cases Declining At UGA, Other Georgia College Campuses
New cases of COVID-19 on University System of Georgia campuses started to come down this week after increasing at the beginning of the fall semester. The number of positive tests reported at nine schools – including the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech – declined this week, mirroring a trend that occurred at the same time last year. (Williams, 9/16)

Bloomberg: Ocasio-Cortez, Bush Lead Bid For Expanded Unemployment Aid
Progressive Representatives Cori Bush and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are leading a group of House Democrats in pressuring party leadership to include an expansion of unemployment aid in the $3.5 trillion tax and spending package being drawn up in Congress. “The current state of the unemployment system is a threat to all communities, especially Black and brown communities, in many of the states we represent,” 13 lawmakers wrote in a letter Thursday to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “We strongly urge Congress to include such improvements before the Build Back Better Act comes for a vote in the House and Senate.” (Dillard, 9/16)

In other news about covid's economic toll —

The Hill: California At Risk Of Losing Out On Hundreds Of Millions In Federal Rental Assistance, Auditor Warns 
The California state auditor is warning that residents could potentially lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal rental assistance granted amid the coronavirus pandemic due to state officials’ delayed allocation of the money. Auditor Elaine Howle wrote in a Thursday letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and state legislative leaders that the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) “must commit additional benefits to eligible households in order to reduce the State’s risk of losing millions of dollars in federal funds for this program at the end of September 2021.” (Castronuovo, 9/16)

AP: Kentucky Has Disbursed $65M In Eviction, Utility Relief
Kentucky has paid more than $65 million in rent and utility relief to residents during the pandemic, including more than $51 million since March, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. Roughly $152 million is still available. If a tenant is facing eviction, Beshear encourages them to apply for assistance, speak with their landlord, contact a local legal aid agency and ask a judge for additional time while they await their assistance through the fund. (9/17)

And more on the Democrats' social-spending plan —

NBC News: Prescription Drug Costs Pose A Stumbling Block For Democrats On Spending Bill
Democrats in Congress face difficult decisions about how to tackle prescription drug costs for seniors after it emerged as a sticking point between lawmakers trying to push a sweeping spending and tax bill across the finish line. The package is full of contentious issues, but President Joe Biden's proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices has already hit opposition among some Democrats, and is the target of extensive lobbying efforts by pharmaceutical companies. (Kapur, 9/16)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Much Ado About Drug Prices 
Congressional Democrats are finding it harder to actually write legislation to lower drug prices than it is to make promises about it. But the drug price provisions of the $3.5 trillion social-spending bill are critical — not only to keep that promise to voters but to produce savings that will pay for many of the other promised improvements, like new dental and other benefits for Medicare patients. Meanwhile, the abortion debate has been jolted by the Supreme Court’s decision to allow a highly restrictive law to take effect in Texas. And the Biden administration unveils a “Covid Control 2.0” strategy that includes more sticks and fewer carrots. (9/16)

AP: Federal Judge Halts Use Of Health Order To Expel Migrant Families Along The Border
A federal judge ruled Thursday that the U.S. government must stop using a Trump-era public health order to quickly expel migrants with children who are apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan gave the government two weeks to halt a practice that opponents say is unnecessary and improperly relies on the threat posed by Covid-19 to deprive people of their right to seek asylum in the United States. (9/16)

Roll Call: DHS Must Improve COVID-19 Border Protocols, Watchdog Says
The Department of Homeland Security must improve its COVID-19 response at the U.S.-Mexico border to protect the safety of its workforce, migrants and local communities, a government watchdog has found. “Without stronger COVID-19 prevention measures in place, DHS is putting its workforce, support staff, communities, and migrants at greater risk of contracting the virus,” investigators in DHS’s inspector general office said in a report Wednesday. (Simon, 9/16)

In related news about the immigration crisis —

The New York Times: Thousands Of Migrants Huddle In Squalid Conditions Under Texas Bridge
Thousands of migrants were crowded under a bridge outside the border community of Del Rio on Thursday, part of a massive surge in migration across the Rio Grande this week that has overwhelmed the authorities and caused significant delays in processing the arrivals. ... The scene — of dense crowds sleeping on dirt or milling about in triple-digit heat amid conditions of deteriorating sanitation — drew condemnations from local officials. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas ordered the state police and the National Guard to assist border agents in Del Rio, saying the federal response had not been enough to quell the surge in crossings. (Dobbins, Sullivan and Sandoval, 9/16)

Houston Chronicle: Gov. Abbott Sends Troops To Assist Border Patrol After Thousands Of Migrants Arrive In Del Rio
Thousands of asylum seekers, mostly Haitians, have arrived in Del Rio in recent days, the latest in a surge of migration to the southern border that the Biden administration has struggled to handle, prompting the federal government to boost Border Patrol in the region and Gov. Greg Abbott to send in more state troopers and the Texas National Guard. Masses of migrants have huddled under an international bridge where Border Patrol set up a temporary holding site to protect them from the sun while officials work to take them into custody and process them, to be either expelled immediately or allowed to seek asylum. (Wermund and Trovall, 9/16)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Governor Backpedals On Ordering Border Crossings Closed 
Gov. Greg Abbott said on Thursday that he directed state troopers and the Texas National Guard “to shut down six points of entry along the southern border” at the request of U.S. Customs and Border Protection — then reversed himself shortly after, blaming the Biden administration for flip-flopping in its request for state help. But a CBP spokesperson said the federal government — which operates ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border — had no plans to shut down any ports of entry. (Garcia and McCullough, 9/16)

Bloomberg: Texas Judge Rejects U.S. Bid For Earlier Hearing On Abortion Law
A federal judge in Texas denied a U.S. Justice Department request to move up a hearing on whether the state’s restrictive new abortion law should be put on hold while the government challenges the ban in a lawsuit. The Biden administration had argued that an Oct. 1 hearing on its motion for a temporary restraining order against the law should be moved to Sept. 21 because women are already being put at risk. But U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin denied the request Thursday. (Larson, 9/16)

USA Today: Biden Sues Texas Over Abortion Ban. Will It Go Back To Supreme Court?
The Biden administration’s attempt to block temporarily Texas’ ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy will almost certainly put the contentious law back before the Supreme Court – possibly  in a matter of weeks, legal experts said. What happens at that point is anybody’s guess. The Justice Department asked a federal judge in Austin Tuesday to block the ban, which became the most restrictive abortion law in the nation after the Supreme Court allowed it to take effect this month while the district court hears the federal government's challenge to the law. (Fritze, 9/16)

In other news about Texas' abortion law —

AP: Some Abortion Foes Question Tactical Wisdom Of New Texas Ban
The new Texas law that bans most abortions in the state has been welcomed by many of the religious leaders who help bolster the anti-abortion movement. Yet some abortion opponents in U.S. religious circles are wary of the law and questioning the movement’s current direction. The wariness relates in part to the law’s most novel feature, which some critics view as an invitation to vigilantes: It provides no enforcement role for public officials and instead authorizes private citizens to sue anyone they deem to be assisting in an abortion, with the prospect of gaining $10,000 in the process. (Crary, 9/15)

Business Insider: Texas Anti-Abortion Tip Site Raises Alarm Bells For Cybersecurity Experts
A website built to report on people seeking abortions in Texas may put their and their health providers' personal data and physical safety at risk, cybersecurity experts and abortion rights advocates say. Texas Right to Life, an anti-abortion advocacy group, created a website that solicits anonymous tips about people getting abortions. Under the state's new law restricting abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, private citizens can enforce the law by suing the doctor performing an abortion, the person who drove someone seeking an abortion to a clinic, or anyone else who "aids and abets" an abortion. (Hall and Beckler, 9/16)

The Washington Post: Mark Lee Dickson Paved The Way For The Texas Abortion Ban, One Small Town At A Time
Over the last two years, Dickson has lobbied towns and cities to ban abortion within their limits. Nearly 40 have. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 9/15)

In other news about abortion —

AP: McAuliffe, Youngkin Clash Over Abortion, COVID In 1st Debate
Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin clashed over abortion and vaccination policies Thursday in Virginia’s first gubernatorial debate of the general election season, as each sought to cast the other as extreme. The candidates in the closely watched race met at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, a small town in southwest Virginia, where the debate got off to a relatively heated start, with cross-talk and occasional snide remarks. (Rankin and Helber, 9/17)

WMUR: New Hampshire Executive Council Strips Funding From Abortion Providers
Abortion providers in New Hampshire are being stripped of public funding in a move that critics say will hurt health care for Granite Staters. The Executive Council voted Wednesday against family planning contracts for Planned Parenthood, the Lovering Center on the Seacoast and the Equality Health Center in Concord. The Republican majority on the Executive Council cited a new state law that requires physical and financial separation of abortion and family planning services at facilities that receive taxpayer dollars. (Sexton, 9/15)

The Daily Beast: Facebook Is Raking It In With Anti-Abortion Ads From Live Action
Rebekah Hagan was a college freshman when she discovered she was pregnant with her second child. In a vulnerable moment, swayed by pressure from the “abortion industry,” she obtained a medication abortion—a two-pill process that can successfully terminate most pregnancies before 10 weeks. She immediately regretted it. Luckily for Hagan, there was a revolutionary new procedure that could stop the effects of medication abortion in its tracks and save the life of a growing fetus. And it could be obtained by calling a single hotline. At least, that’s what dozens of ads on Facebook would like you to think. Hagan is one of the faces of a $100,000-plus ad campaign run by anti-abortion organization Live Action, which advertises so-called “abortion reversal” as an effective means of reversing a medication abortion. (Shugerman, 9/15)

The Hill: Man Charged In Fatal Planned Parenthood Shooting Ruled Incompetent To Stand Federal Trial
A Colorado man charged in the 2015 deadly shooting of a Planned Parenthood clinic has been ruled incompetent to stand federal trial.U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn ruled on Thursday that Robert Dear is “suffering from a mental disease or defect” rendering him not competent to proceed with the trial. ... Prosecutors said that Dear fired 198 bullets during the attack, which resulted in six deaths and eight injuries. (Williams, 9/16)

The New York Times: U.S. Seeks To Block Bankruptcy Plan That Would Free Sacklers From Opioid Claims 
The Justice Department moved on Thursday to block a bankruptcy plan that grants broad legal immunity to the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma, whose drug OxyContin has been at the heart of the nation’s opioid epidemic. William K. Harrington, the U.S. trustee for the Justice Department, filed a motion in federal court to halt confirmation of the settlement while the department appeals the judge’s decision to approve the deal. (Benner, 9/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Justice Department Fights Settlement That Would Shield Sacklers From Opioid Lawsuits
U.S. Trustee William Harrington, who is part of the Justice Department unit monitoring the nation’s bankruptcy courts, said in a Wednesday court filing that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain was wrong to approve the settlement earlier this month and said his ruling authorizing the deal between Purdue and its Sackler family owners will likely be overturned by a higher court. The Justice Department challenge represents the next stage in the fight over the settlement, which will likely move to an influential federal appeals court that oversees bankruptcy courts in New York, where Purdue filed for chapter 11. Mr. Harrington is joining attorneys general in Washington, Connecticut, Maryland and the District of Columbia who have said they also intend to challenge the settlement in the higher courts. (Randles, 9/16)

NPR: The DOJ Moves To Block The Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Deal That Shields The Sacklers
The Sacklers, who are not bankrupt, were granted releases from liability after agreeing to contribute roughly $4.3 billion of their private wealth to the deal. Supporters of the settlement, including most state attorneys general, said it will avoid costly litigation while funding drug treatment programs over the next decade. But throughout a two-week bankruptcy trial, and in court documents, the Justice Department repeatedly blasted releases from liability granted to the Sacklers as "unlawful" and "unconstitutional." (Mann, 9/16)

In other news about the opioid crisis —

WSB-TV Channel 2 - Atlanta: Georgia Doctor, 2 Medical Workers Arrested In ‘Massive’ Pill Mill, Feds Say 
Three medical professionals from Georgia are facing dozens of charges in what federal officials call a massive pill mill operation. The indictment released Wednesday details the alleged operation in which “massive quantities” of controlled substances, including highly addictive opioids, were to be distributed in Coffee County. The charges include one count of distribution and dispensation of controlled substances resulting in death by Dr. Wallace Steven Anderson, 67, of Douglas. The charge carries a minimum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison, up to life. There is no parole in the federal system. (9/16)

Becker's Hospital Review: Cyberattack Leads To IT Outage At Texas Cancer Clinics, Exposing 36,000
Austin (Texas) Cancer Centers began notifying 36,503 patients of a data breach that forced it to shut down its IT networks, according to data shared with the Maine attorney general's office. ... The cancer treatment network discovered Aug. 4 that hackers had deployed malware onto its systems, according to an Aug. 27 news release. The chain of cancer centers immediately shut down its IT network and law enforcement was contacted.  (Mitchell, 9/16)

In other health care industry news —

The Washington Post: How To Safely Get Health Care For Non-Covid Issues 
Whether it’s time for a routine visit with your primary care physician or you have a medical emergency that needs immediate attention, here are tips for deciding when to see a doctor, where to go for treatment and how to try to stay safe. (Bever and Chiu, 9/16)

KHN: Dentists Chip Away At Uninsured Problem By Offering Patients Membership Plans
Nevada dentist David White has seen diseased and rotted teeth in the mouths of patients who routinely put off checkups and avoided minor procedures such as fillings. While dental phobia is a factor, White said, the overriding reason people avoid treatment is cost. To help patients lacking dental insurance, White in 2019 started offering a membership plan that looks much like an insurance policy — except it’s good only at his offices in Reno and Elko. Adults pay $29 a month — or $348 a year — and receive two free exams, two cleanings, X-rays and an emergency exam, services valued at $492. They also get a 20% discount on office procedures such as fillings and extractions. (Galewitz, 9/17)

Axios: Intermountain, SCL Health Agree To Merge Hospital Systems 
Intermountain Healthcare will acquire SCL Health roughly six months after Intermountain and Sanford Health ended their merger attempt. The combined Intermountain-SCL system will own 33 hospitals, will generate more than $13 billion of annual revenue and will dominate several areas throughout Utah and Colorado — consequently gaining leverage over health insurers and employers as a must-have network if the deal is finalized. (Herman, 9/17)

Becker's Hospital Review: Amazon Vs. Apple Vs. Google Vs. Microsoft: Which Voice Assistant Is Most Effective For Health Screenings?
As providers look to further integrate voice assistants into clinical care, some options are more effective at answering patients' queries than others, according to a recent study published in the Annals of Family Medicine. For the study, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Healthcare researchers analyzed four major voice assistants' ability to understand queries from cancer patients. The four voice assistants were Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, Google Assistant and Microsoft Cortana. (Drees, 9/16)

The Baltimore Sun: Just A Year Into The Job, Baltimore’s Health Commissioner Faced The COVID Crisis. How Has She Helped Lead The City Through The Pandemic? 
Only weeks after Dr. Letitia Dzirasa’s appointment as Baltimore’s health commissioner in February 2019, cases of measles linked to a national outbreak in the Orthodox Jewish community surfaced just over the city’s northwest border, threatening to ripple through Park Heights and beyond. Dzirasa had hoped to start her new job quietly, combining clinical experience with a passion for equity and a goal of elevating the quality of life for residents long neglected and abused by the health care system. Instead, she faced an emergency involving a highly contagious disease and the deployment of a mass vaccination campaign to keep it at bay. (Miller, 9/16)

Stat: New Study Revives A Mozart Sonata As A Potential Epilepsy Therapy 
Could this be the return of the “Mozart effect”? In 1993, researchers reported that after college students listened to a particular Mozart piano sonata for 10 minutes, they showed better spatial reasoning skills than they did after listening to relaxation instructions designed to lower blood pressure — or to nothing at all. And their IQ scores jumped by 8 or 9 points in what became known as the Mozart effect. Even though the benefits were hard to reproduce (and wore off within minutes), the fad of Mozart for babies’ brain development was born. (Cooney, 9/16)

NPR: Pufferfish Toxin Holds Clues To Treating 'Lazy Eye' In Adults
A treatment that simulates the loss of an eye may help adults with the vision impairment known as amblyopia or "lazy eye." Studies in mice and cats suggest that the approach allows the brain to rewire in a way that restores normal vision, a team reports this week in the journal eLife. "It's as if you've turned back the clock to a period of early development," says Mark Bear, Picower professor of neuroscience at MIT, and coauthor of the study. The result is likely to make other scientists "start to rethink what sort of visual experience can retrain the visual system in adulthood," says Steven Grieco, a postdoctoral fellow in anatomy and neurobiology at the University of California, Irvine. (Hamilton, 9/15)

AP: Body Composting A 'Green' Alternative To Burial, Cremation
In a suburban Denver warehouse tucked between an auto repair shop and a computer recycling business, Seth Viddal is dealing with life and death. He and one of his employees have built a “vessel” they hope will usher in a more environmentally friendly era of mortuary science that includes the natural organic reduction of human remains, also known as body composting. (Peipert, 9/16)

USA Today: Only 9 Childhood Diseases Get More Than Half Of NIH Funding For Research, Study Shows: 'There's A Real Imbalance'
The ongoing COVID-19 vaccine trials in children has showed research in adults cannot be directly translated to kids, and the concept applies to other conditions and treatments in the pediatric field. “If there's one thing that the pediatricians banged into my head, it’s that children are not little adults,” Food and Drug Administration’s Dr. Peter Marks told USA TODAY last week. That’s why health experts are calling for more funding of pediatric diseases, especially after a study found the money going toward these conditions may not be allocated appropriately. (Rodriguez, 9/17)

AP: Biden Slammed For Challenging Nuclear Workplace Health Law
Officials in Washington state are upset the Biden administration is challenging a law making it easier for workers who become ill at a former nuclear weapons production site to be compensated. The Supreme Court will likely decide in the next few weeks whether to accept the U.S. Department of Justice’s appeal. If the high court rejects the case, the state law will stand. State Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Thursday called on the Biden administration to “stop this assault on Hanford workers.” (Geranios, 9/16)

The Washington Post: Texas Rails Against Federal Plan To Bring Nuclear Waste Storage Site To The State
A private company has won federal approval to build an expansive nuclear waste site in Texas, even as residents, state lawmakers, environmentalists and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) rail against it. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Monday issued a license for Andrews, Tex.-based Interim Storage Partners to store as much as 5,000 metric tons of radioactive waste. It’s one of two proposed storage sites — the other is in southeastern New Mexico — that has been under agency review for several years. (MacMillan and Gregg, 9/15)

In other public health news —

Fox News: CDC Study Finds Childhood Obesity Increased At ‘Substantial And Alarming’ Levels During COVID Pandemic
Child obesity levels in the U.S. increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among children who were already obese from the outset, according to the findings of a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC’s Dr. Alyson Goodman, who contributed to the report, said the results signal a "profound increase in weight gain for kids" and are "substantial and alarming." The study, released Thursday, is the largest yet to look at obesity trends during the pandemic. Among its chief findings was that roughly 22% of children and teens were obese last August – up from 19% a year earlier. (Betz, 9/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Adults Are Throwing Tantrums—In Restaurants, Planes And At Home. Blame The Pandemic
In line recently at a Winn-Dixie supermarket in Florida, John DiDonna worried that a nearby shopper was standing too close for Covid-era comfort. Mr. DiDonna asked him to take a step back. The shopper, he says, stepped even closer. Mr. DiDonna says he snapped. “Do you love me that much?” he barked. The other person argued back; Mr. DiDonna retorted with “a sprinkling of four-letter words,” he says. “Afterwards, I was mortified.” (Chaker, 9/16)

Bloomberg: Mental Health Could Be The Next Global Casualty Of Climate Change
One evening in July, Stephanie Felts was lying in bed trying to process simultaneous climate disasters all over the world. From a crushing Canadian heatwave to U.S. wildfires and China floods, the drumbeat triggered memories of a close call her family had with a raging inferno when they lived in Salt Lake City a few years ago. “I just realized, OK, this is as good as it will ever be—not because we can’t do anything to make things better, but because we just won’t,” said Felts, 43, who works in financial services and now lives near Atlanta. “It makes you feel like, ‘hey, the apocalypse is starting.’” (Sirtori-Cortina, 9/16)

And in travel news —

The Washington Post: United Airlines Says 90 Percent Of Workers Vaccinated After Mandate
United Airlines, the first U.S. carrier to require its employees be vaccinated, said Thursday that nearly 90 percent of its workers have received coronavirus vaccines, while Southwest Airlines — which does not mandate the shots — announced new bonus pay to workers who show proof of vaccination. (Aratani, 9/16)

CNBC: Is It Safe To Fly Now? One Preflight PCR Test Could Be The Answer
A study conducted earlier this year shows there may be a way to reduce the number of Covid infections on board commercial airplanes to virtually zero. Results of the study appeared in a peer-reviewed article published on Sept. 1 in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings medical journal. The article — a joint effort by Mayo Clinic, the Georgia Department of Public Health and Delta Air Lines — showed that that one polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test performed within 72 hours of flying decreased the rate of infected travelers onboard to 0.05%. That’s five people for every 10,000 passengers. At the time of the study, the rate of infection in the U.S. was 1.1% — or about 1 in every 100 people. (Pitrelli, 9/17)

AP: NYC's Rikers Island Jail Spirals Into Chaos Amid Pandemic
A spate of inmate deaths. Cellblocks unguarded. Staggering staffing shortages caused by AWOL guards. Detainees deprived of food and medical care. New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex, troubled by years of neglect, has spiraled into turmoil during the coronavirus pandemic. It’s not just inmates and advocates saying that. City officials, including the mayor, admit there are serious problems. One jail watchdog called it “a complete breakdown in the operation of the jails.” “In our office’s 50 years of monitoring the city jails, this is one of the most dangerous times we’ve seen,” said Mary Lynne Werlwas, a lawyer and the director of the Prisoners’ Rights Project at the Legal Aid Society. (Sisak, 9/16)

CBS News: Cockroaches, Rotting Food And Garbage: Lawmakers Say Rikers Island Jail Conditions Are A "Public Health Issue" 
New York State lawmakers are calling for greater criminal justice reform amid "an absolute humanitarian crisis" at Rikers Island jail complex. The ten facilities situated in the East River near New York City are scheduled to close by 2027, putting an end to some of its longstanding issues of violence and neglect. . "The place is in a state of emergency, and we need to act now," New York State Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas told CBS News' Lana Zak on Thursday. "We must work to decarcerate." While touring the island's facilities, González-Rojas said she saw garbage spewed across the floor, cockroaches and rotting food. She said inmates were piled on top of one another, and some had no access to showers or clothing. She added that she stepped over urine and even witnessed a suicide attempt at the jail. (Powell, 9/17)

In news from Texas, Louisiana, Michigan, Oregon and Alaska —

Houston Chronicle: Higher Rates Of Food Contamination Found At Markets In Houston's Low-Income Areas, Researchers Say
Knowing that people living in low-income neighborhoods often suffer from higher rates of food borne or gastrointestinal illnesses, University of Houston researchers decided to analyze the produce Houstonians eat. What they found: Loose-leaf romaine lettuce purchased from supermarkets in low-income Houston communities were contaminated with higher rates of disease-causing microorganisms, fecal contaminants and pathogens than lettuce purchased in high-income communities in the city. (Britto, 9/16)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: After Ida, Louisiana Hospitals Are Up And Running, But Fallout From Storm And Delta Surge Lingers
Many of the state’s biggest hospitals are back to full operations after Hurricane Ida, but surgeries and appointments remain bottlenecked, smaller hospitals in coastal areas are still partially shuttered and many employees are still living out of hotel rooms, Louisiana hospital officials said Thursday. Ochsner Health, the state's largest health care provider with 40 hospitals across the state, delayed 80,000 appointments due to the storm alone, according to Mike Hulefeld, chief operating officer. The hospital system has rescheduled about half of those missed appointments and is in the process of rescheduling as many as 6,000 surgeries. (Woodruff, 9/16)

Detroit Free Press: Feds: Female Genital Mutilation Case Involved Secret Network Of Doctors
Northville Dr. Jumana Nagarwala may be the only physician on trial on charges of performing female genital mutilation on minor girls in the U.S., but she wasn't the only doctor who was cutting children, federal prosecutors disclosed Thursday. Rather, they said, Nagarwala was part of a secret network of physicians in a tight-knit Indian community who were cutting 7-year-old girls across the country for years as part of a religious obligation and cultural tradition that had mothers and daughters traveling all over for the procedure. (Baldas, 9/16)

The Oregonian: Oregon Department Of Justice Grand Jury Finds Tigard Police Officer Justified In Shooting Man Experiencing Mental Health Crisis 
A grand jury convened by Oregon’s attorney general concluded a Tigard police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man experiencing a mental health crisis in January. The state Department of Justice announced the findings Thursday. The grand jury, which met for a total of eight hours over two days, made its decision late Wednesday. Gabriel Maldonado, then a Tigard police officer, shot 26-year-old Jacob Macduff on Jan. 6 after responding to what police characterized as domestic violence allegations. (Crombie, 9/16)

Anchorage Daily News: Cyberattackers Had Access To Most Alaskans’ Personal Data, State Health Agency Says
A May cyberattack against the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services could have exposed most Alaskans’ personal and health information to the attackers, the department said Thursday. “It is a fair statement to say that any Alaskan could have been compromised by this,” Health and Social Services Commissioner Adam Crum said. Given the attack’s scale, “we cannot be assured there is a low probability that protected health information was compromised, and therefore, in accordance with (federal law), we are notifying Alaskans their health or personal information may have been compromised,” the department said in a written statement. (Brooks, 9/16)

In news from California —

AP: Covered California Director To Step Down In February
The director of Covered California said Thursday he will step down early next year, prompting a national search for a new leader of the nation’s largest state-based health insurance marketplace. Peter Lee has been Covered California’s only executive director in its nine-year history, launching the marketplace in 2012 at a time when the Affordable Care Act was a polarizing force in U.S. politics. (Beam, 9/16)

KHN: Leader Of California’s Muscular Obamacare Exchange To Step Down 
Peter Lee, who has steered California’s Affordable Care Act marketplace since late 2011 and helped mold it into a model of what the federal health care law could achieve, announced Thursday he will leave his post in March. As executive director of Covered California, Lee has worked closely with the administrations of Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden to expand health coverage to millions of people who don’t get it through an employer or government program, most of them aided by income-based financial assistance from the state or federal government. Over 1.6 million people are now enrolled in plans through the exchange, which has covered 5.3 million Californians since it started selling health plans. (Wolfson and Hart, 9/16)

Los Angeles Times: Residents Displaced By LAPD Fireworks Explosion Demand Names
Following the release of a federal report about a massive fireworks explosion that destroyed part of a South L.A. neighborhood, residents Thursday demanded mental health services and the names of Los Angeles police officers involved. More than a dozen people gathered on East 27th street, holding signs that read “lies,” “not repaired” and “justice for our community.” In June, the LAPD damaged the block while trying to safely detonate a cache of illegal fireworks. (Mejia, 9/16)

AP: Cuba Begins Vaccinating Children As Young As 2
Sitting on her mother’s lap, 2-year-old Lucía looked at the illustrations in her book while around her several children watched the doctors in white coats and nurses with thermometers in amazement. In an adjoining room, Danielito, also 2, sniffled while getting a shot as a clown tried to distract him. Cuba on Thursday began a massive vaccination campaign for children between the ages of 2 and 10, becoming one of the first nations to do so. Health officials here say Cuba’s homegrown vaccines have been found safe to give to young children. (Rodriguez, 9/17)

AP: Cambodia Vaccinating 6-To-11-Year-Olds Before Schools Reopen
Cambodia began vaccinating 6-to-11-year-olds Friday so students can safely return to schools that have been closed for months due to the coronavirus. Prime Minister Hun Sen inaugurated the campaign to vaccinate the children, speaking live on state television and his Facebook page as his grandchildren and young family members of other senior officials were shown being given their jabs. (Cheang, 9/16)

Reuters: Brazil Official Wants Halt To Teen COVID-19 Shots After Death; Health Agency Says No Evidence For Move
Brazil's federal government wants to halt COVID-19 vaccinations for most adolescents, citing a death under investigation and adverse events after some 3.5 million teens have already been immunized, but several state governments vowed to press on. At a news conference, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga criticized states and cities for jumping the gun by vaccinating 12- to 17-year-olds without health issues that put them at risk of severe COVID-19, which he said was only supposed to start on Wednesday. (9/16)

In other global covid news —

Bloomberg: Italy Introduces Sweeping Covid Pass Mandate In EU First
Italy will require all workers to have a valid Covid passport, as the government led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi moves to set the toughest vaccination requirements in Europe. A cabinet meeting Thursday approved the measure, which applies to all public and private-sector workers and will come into force Oct. 15. Workers faces fines of as much as 1,500 euros ($1,763) for noncompliance, while employers who fail to check their workers may have to pay as much as 1,000 euros. (Albanese, 9/16)

Reuters: Dutch To Introduce 'Corona' Pass Despite Strong Opposition
The Netherlands will require proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative coronavirus test for entry to bars, restaurants, museums, theatres and other cultural events from Sept. 25, as almost all social distancing measures are dropped. A narrow majority of Dutch parliament late on Thursday rejected a motion calling on the government to change its mind about the 'corona' pass, as Prime Minister Mark Rutte said it was needed to prevent a new wave of infections. (9/17)

AP: Trial Begins Over COVID Outbreak In Austrian Ski Resort
A civil trial opened Friday in Austria over the government’s handling of a coronavirus outbreak at an Alpine ski resort during the early stages of the pandemic that relatives say resulted in unnecessary infections and deaths. The widow and son of a 72-year-old Austrian man are seeking about 100,000 euros ($117,000) compensation from the government in a test case for a larger class action suit involving hundreds of people who fell ill with COVID-19 following a trip to Ischgl in February and March 2020. (9/17)

The Washington Post: As World Leaders Gather In New York For U.N. General Assembly, A Vaccine Mandate Creates Confusion And Dissent
The debate unfolding around the world over coronavirus vaccine mandates is playing out on a small scale at United Nations headquarters ahead of a meeting of dozens of world leaders in New York next week. New York City officials have requested that heads of states, and the many diplomats traveling with them, show proof that they are fully vaccinated before entering the U.N. hall for the annual opening of the General Assembly, one of the top diplomatic events of the year. (Francis and Taylor, 9/16)

In other developments —

CNN: Philip Morris International Takes Control Of Asthma Inhaler Maker Vectura 
Cigarette giant Philip Morris International has taken control of UK inhaler maker Vectura despite objections from health care charities. The producer of Marlboro and Parliament cigarettes said in a statement on Thursday that it had secured nearly 75% of Vectura's shares, making it the majority shareholder. More than 45% of Vectura shareholders accepted the takeover offer, and Philip Morris international purchased 29% of the company's shares on the open market. (Riley, 9/16)

Bloomberg: Guinea Declares End To Outbreak Of Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever
Guinea declared an end to an outbreak of Marburg fever, as it continues to search for the origin of a case reported last month. After six weeks of surveillance of 173 people who had contact with a person who died from the disease, no suspect cases were found, Health Ministry Secretary-General Sekou Conde said in a statement Thursday. An awareness campaign is continuing to ensure the public takes precautionary measures against contracting the illness, he said. (Camara, 9/16)

The New York Times: Pioneering Gene Therapy Freed Her Of Sickle Cell. Is A Cure At Hand? 
Helen Obando, 18 and soon to be a high school senior, nibbled french fries at a cafe and chatted about her future. Dressed in a halter top and shorts, her toenails painted turquoise, she described her plans to enroll in community college, teach hip-hop dance and become a trauma nurse someday. For most of her life, such modest dreams would have been unattainable. Helen was born with sickle cell disease. Since babyhood, she had experienced episodes of searing pain, hospitalization and organ damage, and would have been expected to die in her 40s.But in 2019 she became the first American teenager with sickle cell to be declared free of the disease six months after undergoing an experimental gene therapy meant to cure her. Her symptoms have vanished. She assures teenagers she met at a camp for children with sickle cell: “One day they can have what I had.” (Kolata, 9/14)

Philadelphia Inquirer: For Doctors Treating Afghan Refugees At PHL, The Airport Is ‘A Modern-Day Ellis Island’
When refugees from Afghanistan arrive at Philadelphia International Airport, some of the first people they meet are the doctors and nurses staffing long lines of triage stations, prepared to care for people who’ve been in transit for days or weeks, and perhaps suffering trauma for even longer. The all-hands-on-deck effort -- staffed by health care workers from around the region -- is a mark of how crucial health care is for the new arrivals. Many left quickly, with no time to bring vaccination or health care records or to get the medical check-ups normally required before leaving for the United States. Some have suffered the physical and emotional trauma of struggling to get to airports blocked by weapons-wielding Talliban, and once there, waiting days to get a flight. (Whelan, 9/13)

Politico: Vaccine Mandates Crash Into America’s ‘Don’t Tell Me What To Do’ State 
The back doors of the union hall are propped open, letting the desert sunshine in to reflect off metal shelves lining the cinder block walls. On them are jars of peanut butter and piles of canned goods, unfolded cardboard boxes and other remnants of the food bank the local entertainment union set up here to help its 1,700 members after the coronavirus shutdowns last year threw them out of work almost overnight. Standing on the back steps, facing out toward the Las Vegas Strip on a 100-plus-degree August Friday, Phil Jaynes reflected on the progress his union had made in the months since. As coronavirus case counts fell and high-rise hotels, theaters and convention spaces began hiring again this past spring, the food bank grew quieter. In early July, Jaynes, as president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 720, reopened the union’s doors for the first time in 16 months. (Cassella, 9/13)

The New York Times: A Medical Career, At A Cost: Infertility 
From the start, Dr. Ariela Marshall, a hematologist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, proceeded with the conviction that if she worked harder, longer and better, she would succeed. And she did: She graduated as high school valedictorian, attended an elite university and was accepted into a top medical school. But one achievement eluded her: having a baby. She had postponed getting pregnant until she was solidly established in her career, but when she finally decided to try to have children, at 34, she was surprised to find that she could not, even with fertility drugs. Dr. Marshall attributed it to having worked frequent night shifts, as well as to stress and lack of sleep, which can affect reproductive cycles. (Mroz, 9/13)

The New York Times: The New Science On How We Burn Calories
It’s simple, we are often told: All you have to do to maintain a healthy weight is ensure that the number of calories you ingest stays the same as the number of calories you expend. If you take in more calories, or energy, than you use, you gain weight; if the output is greater than the input, you lose it. But while we’re often conscious of burning calories when we’re working out, 55 to 70 percent of what we eat and drink actually goes toward fueling all the invisible chemical reactions that take place in our body to keep us alive. “We think about metabolism as just being about exercise, but it’s so much more than that,” says Herman Pontzer, an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University. “It’s literally the running total of how busy your cells are throughout the day.” Figuring out your total energy expenditure tells you how many calories you need to stay alive. But it also tells you “how the body is functioning,” Pontzer says. “There is no more direct measure of that than energy expenditure.” (Tingley, 9/14)

In stories about DNA and ancestry —

The Washington Post: Forty-Five Years Later, Virginia Woman Identified As The Woodlawn Jane Doe
Authorities said Wednesday that they had finally identified the body of a 16-year-old girl found strangled and sexually assaulted 45 years ago in the Woodlawn area of Baltimore County. Known as the Woodlawn Jane Doe to cold case detectives for nearly five decades, Baltimore County police, using sophisticated DNA analysis that connected her body to relatives, identified the woman as Margaret Fetterolf of Alexandria, Va. ... Edward Fetterolf, Margaret’s brother, said in an interview that police told him last month that they had identified his sister’s body with the help of DNA a relative uploaded to Ancestry.com. He was stunned. (Rosenwald, 9/15)

Politico: How Joe Biden Became Irish 
While it is cliche for political figures to portray themselves as being “as American as apple pie,” President Joe Biden has long advertised another selling point: He’s also as Irish as a pint of Guinness (despite being, like his predecessor, a teetotaler). More so than any president since John F. Kennedy — the only other Catholic to hold the office — Biden’s Irish heritage is central to his public persona. He is so strongly identified with it that Sarah Palin, famously, could not get his name right. During prep sessions for their 2008 vice presidential debate, she kept referring to him as Senator O’Biden, according to an account given by a campaign aide. His Secret Service codename, meanwhile, is Celtic. (Schreckinger, 9/14)

The Boston Globe: Schools Must Meet Students Mental Health Needs
The return to in-person learning at schools in Massachusetts and across the nation has certainly been a challenging enough endeavor, with administrators juggling a host of problems, from a shortage of COVID-19 testing supplies to hotspots that temporarily shutter classrooms. But school officials have an equally difficult yet crucial task for which failure cannot be an option: providing effective mental health services in every school to give students care they need more than ever after nearly two years of upheaval caused by the pandemic. (9/17)

USA Today: HPV Vaccine Doses For Kids Slip As Wellness Visits Fall During COVID
As millions of kids head back to school full time this fall – in many cases for the first time in 18 months – parents undoubtedly have concerns about their children’s health and well-being. As medical professionals, we have a message to share: It’s time to vaccinate your children who are eligible … and not just against COVID-19. The effects of COVID-19 go far beyond the virus itself. Not only has COVID-19 caused millions of infections and deaths over the past year and a half, there also has been a substantial reduction in routine and preventative care for both children and adults – including falling vaccination rates for other dangerous illnesses. (Drs. Nancy Y. Lee, David G. Pfister and Richard J. Wong, 9/17)

Houston Chronicle: Abortion Banned And Parents Must Consent To Sex Ed For Teens
September is Sexual Health Awareness Month, and the timing marks just a year before Texas school districts and charters will be required to implement the new minimum standards for health education, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. Adopted by the State Board of Education last fall, the new TEKS include content on healthy relationships and sexual health and would introduce in middle school topics such as contraception and sexually transmitted infection prevention and treatment. The sexual health content will be delivered at pacing that is both developmentally appropriate and informed by data on interventions that achieve healthy outcomes for students. (Molly Clayton, 9/17)

Scientific American: A State-By-State Approach To Closing The Health Equity Gap 
As the Delta variant causes COVID-19 cases to swell, resurrects mask mandates and forces hospitals back to surge capacity, a familiar pattern is emerging. Like its less transmissible predecessors, this dangerous SARS-CoV-2 variant is especially affecting vulnerable populations in minority and rural communities, where vaccinations have lagged because of a perfect storm of reduced access to care, vaccine hesitancy, targeted misinformation campaigns and historically rooted mistrust. (Joseph V. Sakran, Suhas Gondi and Ebony Hilton, 9/15)

Stat: President Biden: Don't Misuse Bayh-Dole March-In Rights 
In a misguided attempt to control drug costs, some Congressional leaders are urging the Biden administration to misapply a 40-year-old law that supports 6 million jobs, helped launch 15,000 start-up companies, and contributed $1.7 trillion to U.S economic output. The lawmakers — Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) — want the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the Department of Defense, to misuse the march-in provision of the Bayh-Dole Act to set the price of federally-funded medicines — something the provision does not authorize. Such an action would undermine the intention of Bayh-Dole, while inflicting devastating damage on the U.S. (Joseph P. Allen, 9/17)

Stat: Start Now To Prevent The Next Purdue Pharma Debacle 
The judgment finalizing the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case is a likely bitter end to litigation stemming from the company’s role in fomenting the opioid epidemic, which has claimed half a million lives since 1999 and tethered millions of Americans to opioid painkillers and illicit narcotics. The owners of Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family, are paying $4.5 billion dollars in fines and the company is being shuttered, though the family has been granted immunity from any liability. While this is the largest fine ever levied on a pharmaceutical manufacturer, the Sacklers will remain one of the richest families in the world. (Haider J. Warraich, 9/17)

Houston Chronicle: Vaccine Mandates Un-American? George Washington Didn't Think So
Gen. George Washington was a lucky man during the American Revolution. Granted, he had his battlefield challenges. He had to cope with losing Manhattan to the Redcoats, had to get across the Delaware and take the war to the British, had to assess the damage done to the American cause by the traitor Benedict Arnold. And in 1777, he had to guard against a deadly outbreak of smallpox that, if allowed to spread, would devastate his army and, arguably, result in total defeat for the new American nation. (9/16)

USA Today: Doctors: How To Finally End The COVID Pandemic In America
To combat the delta variant’s aggressive spread, President Joe Biden announced a new and determined national strategy last week. Among other actions, the administration will require employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workers are either vaccinated or tested weekly. These steps send us in the right direction, and we welcome them. At the same time, we should see them for what they are: disaster relief in the face of a perfect storm. (Drs. Atul Grover and David J. Skorton, 9/17)

The Washington Post: Booster Shot Or No Booster Shot? We Need The Experts To Be Clear With Us
To boost or not to boost? That is the question. The Biden administration needs to quit its Hamlet routine and give us an answer. A definitive yes or no on the need for vaccine boosters to reinforce our protection against covid-19 is an absolute necessity if we are to continue inching our way into the new normal. I know that the science is complicated, the volume of data overwhelming and that even highly credentialed, well-meaning experts do not agree. But at this point, we need a decision that lets us get on with our lives. (Eugene Robinson, 9/16)

The New York Times: The U.S. Needs To Stop The Confusion Over Boosters 
Last year, many Americans (including me) despaired when the Trump administration’s policy around Covid vaccines veered away from science and the advice of public health experts. Now, the Biden administration risks undermining America’s already fragile trust in the institutions of public health. The administration recently announced that it was recommending that most Americans who got the Pfizer or Moderna Covid-19 vaccine receive a booster eight months after receiving their second shot. It released a statement from public health and medical experts in the Department of Health and Human Services who agreed that beginning the week of Sept. 20, many Americans should start receiving third vaccinations. (Aaron E. Carroll, 9/17)

Scientific American: A New Nurse Struggles To Save Patients In A New COVID Surge 
I saw my name followed by “RN” for the first time on July 27, 2020. The next day, my instructor, or preceptor, and I were assigned to the COVID intensive care unit at our hospital in Nashville, Tenn. I read the assignment sheet with a strange knot in my chest. It wasn’t fear or dread rising into my throat but something much harder to name. (Kathryn Ivey, 9/16)

The Atlantic: Stop Calling It A ‘Pandemic Of The Unvaccinated’ 
“Your refusal has cost all of us,” President Joe Biden said to unvaccinated people last week, as he announced a new COVID-vaccine mandate for all workers at private companies with more than 100 employees. The vaccinated, he said, are angry and frustrated with the nearly 80 million people who still haven’t received a vaccine, and their patience “is wearing thin.” (Yasmin Tayang, 9/16)

Georgia Health News: A Covid Crisis That Was Not Inevitable 
Our current crisis was not inevitable. Eighteen months ago we faced the collective challenge of a global pandemic the likes of which we had never seen. This required a tremendous learning curve in the understanding and response by a public health workforce that had been chronically underfunded and understaffed. Against this formidable challenge, we witnessed leadership successes and failures at every level of government and public health. Adaptive leadership in the face of an evolving pandemic is hard, even for those who are most prepared. We also witnessed the unfortunate politicization of critical public health strategies and the blatant spread of misinformation. As the current coronavirus Delta variant surges in Georgia and across the South, however, each day brings a new dystopian reality. (Dr. Harry J. Heiman, 9/16)

USA Today: Long COVID Symptoms Last For Months Or Longer. What You Should Know
There are more than 200 symptoms of long COVID-19, including fatigue, brain fog, breathlessness, headaches, all-over body pain, and gastrointestinal and heart problems. As many as 12 million people have experienced "long-haul" symptoms, a group often overlooked when attention focuses on deaths (1 out of every 500 people in the U.S. has died of COVID-19) and vaccine hesitancy (only 63% of Americans 12 and older are fully vaccinated). (Nicole Carroll, 9/17)