The New York Times: Governor Of Michigan, Battling Virus Surge, Again Calls For More Vaccine Supplies 
With her state fighting a huge coronavirus surge, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan renewed her appeal to the Biden administration on Sunday to send the state much larger supplies of vaccine, an idea that the White House has rebuffed. Michigan has recently become a major Covid hot spot in the United States. Average daily reports of new cases have risen sevenfold since a low point in February, and nine of the 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the most new cases per capita lately are in Michigan. Hospitals are filling up. (Tompkins, 4/12)

USA Today: Biden Administration Won't Surge Vaccines To Virus Hotspots
President Joe Biden's administration said Friday additional vaccine doses will not be delivered to states seeing surges in COVID-19 cases, despite appeals from local leaders and some health experts. The administration says its current rollout plan, based on state adult population, is "fair and equitable." "We're not even halfway through our vaccination program so now is not the time to change course on vaccine allocation," said Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House COVID-19 task force, during Friday's briefing. (Kiggins and Iyer, 4/10)

NPR: Should States Like Michigan With COVID Spikes Get More Vaccine?
The Biden administration allocates vaccines to states each week based on the number of adults who live there. It's a simple formula aimed at equal distribution and it is watched closely by governors, including Minnesota's Tim Walz. "Anytime they announce how many vaccines there are, I do my math," said Walz. "Minnesota gets 1.74% of what that national number is." (Keith, 4/9)

In related news about Michigan —

Detroit Free Press: Workers Weary, Patients Angry As COVID-19 Fills Michigan Hospitals
By Friday — even as the state administered its 5 millionth vaccine — some hospitals had returned to banning visitors, halting nonemergency procedures and implementing pandemic surge plans. Nearly two dozen hospitals had reached 90% capacity, according to data compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. More than 15% of Michigan hospital beds held COVID-19 patients. Six metro Detroit counties were reporting the most patients since the pandemic’s first, terrifying wave last spring. That meant there are fewer hospital beds available now then when 90-year-old Dean Jensen waited for hours in Trenton. (His family was able to get him treated at the Detroit Medical Center, where he received 18 stitches.) (Erb and Jordan Shamus, 4/10)

CNN: Michigan's Covid-19 Crisis Could Be A Sign Of What's To Come For The US, Expert Says 
As the US races to vaccinate more Americans, Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising, predominantly among younger people who haven't yet gotten a shot. Some experts worry this might only be the start of what's to come in the next weeks. Michigan is already in the middle of a violent surge, and one epidemiologist says other states should be paying close attention. (Maxouris, 4/12)

Crain's Detroit Business: Diabetes Patients At High Risk From COVID-19 Are Managing Conditions More Effectively
Diabetes is one of the health risk factors—along with such conditions as lung, kidney, liver and heart disease, obesity and a weakened immune system—that experts cite as reasons Detroit's COVID-19 positive cases and death rates were initially much higher than other areas. Since March 2020, Detroit has recorded 50,623 positive tests of COVID-19 and 1,890 deaths, representing 7% and 12%, respectively, of Michigan's total of 715,478 cases and 16,327 confirmed deaths as of April 7. During the first COVID-19 surge last spring, Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties represented 38% of the state's total positive cases and 49% of the deaths by April 30, according to a Crain's analysis. (Greene, 4/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Recent Rise In U.S. Covid-19 Cases Driven By Younger People 
Younger people who haven’t been vaccinated are helping drive a rise in new Covid-19 cases, health officials are finding. Five states—Michigan, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey—account for some 42% of newly reported cases. In Michigan, adults aged 20 to 39 have the highest daily case rates, new data show. Case rates for children aged 19 and under are at a record, more than quadruple from a month ago. There were 301 reported school outbreaks as of early last week, up from 248 the week prior, according to state data. (West and Ansari, 4/12)

CNBC: U.S. Sees Rising Covid Cases Associated With Youth Sports, CDC Director Says
The U.S. is seeing increasing reports of Covid-19 cases linked to youth sports, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday. The connection between youth sports and increased coronavirus cases comes as the highly infectious B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the U.K. has become the most common Covid strain in the U.S. (Miao, 4/9)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Youths Driving Michigan's Latest COVID-19 Surge. Is Wisconsin Next?
As Michigan leads the country in another COVID-19 surge with case numbers approaching the worst period of the pandemic, health officials say Wisconsin could follow suit if residents are not vigilant about wearing masks and social distancing. The latest surge in Michigan appears to have risen out of a “perfect storm” of relaxing state public health orders at the same time that the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant took off, said Marianne Udow-Phillips, director of the Center for Health research Transformation at the University of Michigan. (Linnane, Chen and Bannon, 4/10)

In related news about the spread of the coronavirus —

CNN: As Vaccinations Keep Rising, So Do Covid-19 Hospitalizations Among Those Who Aren't Vaccinated 
For the third straight week, new Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are increasing, according to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walenky. "Cases and emergency room visits are up," Walensky said Friday. "We are seeing these increases in younger adults, most of whom have not yet been vaccinated." (Maxouris, Yan and Colbert, 4/11)

Fox News: Coronavirus Cases, Hospitalizations Rising In Pennsylvania
Coronavirus cases and related hospitalizations are rising in Pennsylvania, according to state health data. The state on Thursday saw some 4,746 additional cases of the novel virus, marking the third day in a row daily new cases have surpassed 4,000, according to estimates from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The 7-day average of new cases in the state is also on the incline, rising to 4,328 on Thursday, representing a roughly 6% increase from a week prior. Overall, 1,064,092 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state to date. (Farber, 4/10)

Los Angeles Times: California's COVID-19 Death Toll Surpasses 60,000 Even As Conditions Improve
The COVID-19 death toll in California has exceeded 60,000, an alarming statistic that comes even as conditions in the state continue to improve. The state’s toll represents 10.7% of COVID-19 deaths nationwide. California is home to about 12% of Americans. Although California’s death toll was lower per capita than in the other most populous states, COVID-19 has hit some communities particularly hard. The state’s lower-income Latino communities — home to many essential workers who often live in crowded housing — saw disproportionately high numbers of deaths while affluent areas saw lower numbers. (Lin II and Money, 4/11)

Also —

USA Today: COVID: California, Illinois, Washington Lift Vaccine Restrictions
With the majority of states having already lifted vaccine restrictions to all adults in recent weeks, the United States grows ever closer to President Joe Biden's two vaccine goals. Three more will join them this week: First, Illinois will open up vaccine eligibility to those 16 and older Monday, and following close behind are Washington state and California on Thursday. It all comes nearly a week before Biden's goal for states to make all adults in the U.S. eligible for coronavirus vaccines, which is Monday, April 19. The six remaining states after this week will open up at or before that date. (Aspegren, 4/12)

Anchorage Daily News: Alaskans Letting Down Their Guard, Not COVID-19 Variants, Likely Responsible For Rising Case Counts
Print article Alaskans letting their guard down — not coronavirus variants — are likely responsible for the recent rise in cases in the state, health officials said this week. Contagious COVID-19 mutations that can partially evade vaccines and stall the pandemic’s end are part of a haunting scenario playing out in other states and countries, which have seen surges driven by variants many months into the pandemic. The variant first identified in England last year is now the most dominant strain in the U.S., the director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. (Berman, 4/10)

CIDRAP: Reports Detail High COVID-19 Burden In Native Americans 
During the pandemic, Native Americans have had 2.2 times greater COVID-19 case incidence and almost quadruple the death rate of White people in Montana, according to a study today in Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). A separate MMWR report looked at COVID-19 cases and response on a 10,000-member tribal reservation in Montana, while a third detailed control efforts taken on a North Dakota reservation. (McLernon, 4/9)

CNBC: Covid: Regeneron To Request FDA Clearance For Antibody Drug As Preventative Treatment
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said Monday it will ask the Food and Drug Administration to allow its Covid-19 antibody therapy to be used as a preventative treatment. The therapy, which was given to former President Donald Trump shortly after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 last year, has already been authorized by the FDA to treat adults with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 and pediatric patients at least 12 years of age who have tested positive for the virus and are at high risk of severe disease. (Lovelace Jr., 4/12)

Stat: Regeneron Says Its Antibody Cocktail Injection Prevents Covid
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said Monday that a single shot of its monoclonal antibody cocktail reduced the risk that volunteers exposed to Covid-19 would develop the disease by 81%. The study enrolled 1,500 healthy volunteers, each of whom shared a home with someone who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and randomized them to receive a single dose of its antibody treatment, given subcutaneously, or placebo. After 29 days, 11 patients in the treatment group developed Covid-19 compared to 59 on placebo. (Herper, 4/12)

In other news about covid treatments —

The Washington Post: NIH Trial May Settle Debate Over Ivermectin As A Covid-19 Treatment 
The requests were strange: Customers flocking to a Nevada feed store were asking for an animal deworming drug that they said worked for covid-19. “‘No, that’s not for you,’” Makenna LaFond, who works at Sierra Feed and Saddlery in Reno, recalled saying. “‘That’s for a 1,100-pound horse.’ Then, they would buy, like, six tubes of it.” LaFond said requests for the paste decreased late last year after she aired her concerns during a local television interview. But elsewhere, interest in ivermectin is running high, despite insufficient evidence that it works as a treatment for covid-19 and the sometimes dangerous consequences when people take the animal version. The Food and Drug Administration said at least three people were hospitalized in February after taking the veterinary formulation. It warned that high doses can cause allergic reactions, seizures, liver injury and even death. (McGinley, 4/8)

ScienceDaily: Using Genetics, Researchers Identify Potential Drugs For Early Treatment Of COVID-19 
A new study using human genetics suggests researchers should prioritize clinical trials of drugs that target two proteins to manage COVID-19 in its early stages. The findings appeared online in the journal Nature Medicine in March 2021. Based on their analyses, the researchers are calling for prioritizing clinical trials of drugs targeting the proteins IFNAR2 and ACE2. The goal is to identify existing drugs, either FDA-approved or in clinical development for other conditions, that can be repurposed for the early management of COVID-19. Doing so, they say, will help keep people with the virus from being hospitalized. (4/9)

Politico: Pfizer Asks To OK Covid Vaccine For Younger Teens 
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech on Friday asked the Food and Drug Administration to greenlight its coronavirus vaccine for use in children 12 to 15 years old, just one week after the companies said a late-stage trial showed the vaccine was highly effective in this age group. If U.S. regulators clear the request, it would make Pfizer's shot the first to become available to younger teens. The move could also speed the timeline for getting more students back into school and curb costly safety measures being considered by education systems. (Owermohle, 4/9)

The New York Times: Pfizer Requests Authorization To Use Vaccine In Young Teens 
More than 2,000 young adolescents participated in the vaccine trial’s third phase. Among those who received it, none developed symptomatic coronavirus infections or exhibited serious side effects, the companies said last month. The vaccinated 12- to 15-year-olds also produced higher levels of antibodies, on average, than older adolescents and young adults did. The trial results have not yet been published in a scientific journal. ... Moderna is also testing its vaccine in children. Results from its study of 12- to 17-year olds, which began in December, are expected soon. A separate trial consisting of children under 12 began last month. (Anthes, 4/9)

In other news about the covid vaccine in adolescents and young adults —

ABC News: High Schoolers Are Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine. What Do They Think?
One effort underway in Franklin County, Ohio, has helped prioritize high schoolers and make getting the two doses of the Pfizer vaccine -- the only one currently authorized for those as young as 16 -- as easy as possible. "It's really important to think about the fact that teens don't live by themselves. If we're trying to target the whole community to get the rate of COVID down, so that we're reducing that transmissibility, we can't ignore this young population," Dr. Sara Bode, primary care physician and medical director of Nationwide Children's Hospital's Care Connection School-Based Health and Mobile Clinics, told ABC News. "We have to really have them be a significant part of that outreach, otherwise we're just going to shift who is getting COVID and passing it, even if asymptomatic." (Deliso, 4/11)

NPR: More Colleges Say They'll Require Students To Have COVID Vaccines For Fall
Duke University in North Carolina has announced that it will require students to have a COVID-19 vaccine when they return this fall. And the list of campuses with such policies is growing. Rutgers University in New Jersey was the first, and since then more than a dozen residential colleges have followed. The University of Notre Dame; two Ivy League universities, Brown and Cornell; and Northeastern University in Massachusetts are among those requiring the vaccine for the fall. Cleveland State University will do so for all students living on campus. (Nadworny, 4/11)

AP: US Colleges Divided Over Requiring Student Vaccinations
U.S. colleges hoping for a return to normalcy next fall are weighing how far they should go in urging students to get the COVID-19 vaccine, including whether they should — or legally can — require it. Universities including Rutgers, Brown, Cornell and Northeastern recently told students they must get vaccinated before returning to campus next fall. They hope to achieve herd immunity on campus, which they say would allow them to loosen spacing restrictions in classrooms and dorms. (Binkley, 4/11)

Also —

Capital & Main: New COVID Variants May Complicate School Reopenings
After weeks of watching COVID-19 case numbers fall, federal health officials this week provided an unambiguous update: That trend has been reversed. New cases of the disease are up 2.3% nationally, based on a seven-day average, and hospital admissions are up 2.7%, according to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Perhaps more worrisome than the raw numbers, though, are the demographics. “Across the country, we are hearing reports of clusters of cases associated with daycare centers and youth sports,” Walensky said at a White House press briefing Wednesday. “Hospitals are seeing more and more young adults — those in their 30s and 40s — admitted with severe disease.” (Kreidler, 4/9)

Stat: Despite Critics, Researchers Investigate Possible New Mental Health Disorder
For Abby Williard, school always felt like a slog. Growing up in a small town in central Pennsylvania, Williard couldn’t seem to complete her schoolwork or stop daydreaming in class. Although she has anxiety and depression, she felt like something else was at play. “I would cry in class because I just couldn’t handle it, I couldn’t take it,” she said. At points, Williard gave up on trying to succeed in school: She nearly failed several classes and was so quiet that teachers would sometimes mark her absent. But one day when she was 16, years of confusion gave way to “a huge moment of clarity.” (Sohn, 4/12)

USA Today: Nearly 40% Of Marines Decline COVID-19 Vaccine, Prompting Some Democrats To Urge Biden To Set Mandate For Military
Nearly 40% of U.S. Marines who have been offered the COVID-19 vaccine have declined it, according to the Pentagon. Of the 123,500 Marines who have had access to the vaccine, 75,500 Marines are either fully vaccinated or have received one dose, and about 48,000 have declined it, Communication Strategy and Operations Officer Capt. Andrew Woods told USA TODAY. (Elbeshbishi, 4/10)

The Hill: Pentagon Insists Vaccine Rollout A Success Despite Spotty Data
The Pentagon is touting its rollout of coronavirus vaccines even as it is unable to say how many service members have actually received COVID-19 vaccinations. Defense Department (DOD) officials say they have delivered more than 2 million shots, but a lack of hard numbers has made it difficult to determine how many of those have gone into the arms of troops versus military families and civilian employees. (Mitchell, 4/11)

In other military news —

Fox News: ‘Patient 16’ Recovers From COVID-19 Infection During Defense Department Study
A military spouse who was hospitalized due to COVID-19 was able to fight off the infection after taking part in a Defense Department study that involved a filter attached to a dialysis machine to rid her blood of the virus. Retired Col. Matt Hepburn, a physician who worked for years in the defense advanced research projects agency, or DARPA, told "60 Minutes" that the military is working on several moonshot projects to help prevent the next pandemic and assist in the current one. One included a sensor that would be placed underneath your skin in order to detect chemical reactions that may be occurring due to an infection. The sensor is still being developed but Hepburn likened it to a "check-engine light." (DeMarche, 4/12)

CBS News: Military Programs Aiming To End Pandemics Forever
It might surprise you to learn that many of the innovations deployed to counter the coronavirus were once obscure Pentagon-funded projects to defend soldiers from contagious diseases and biological weapons. The life-saving vaccine developed in record time owes a debt to these programs. To learn more, we met the man who has been leading the rapid vaccine effort, retired Colonel Matt Hepburn. An army infectious disease physician, he spent years with the secretive defense advanced research projects agency or DARPA, working on technology he hopes will ensure COVID-19 is the last pandemic. (Whitaker, 4/11)

San Antonio Express-News: Military Suicides In COVID Era Hit A New High
Suicides across the armed services rose sharply in the first year of the coronavirus, hitting a record 571 deaths in 2020, but a Pentagon official and others say the stress of the pandemic isn’t the likely culprit. Just what is behind the steady rise during years of Defense Department efforts to reduce self-inflicted deaths baffles experts, a mystery nowhere near being solved. (Christenson, 4/12)

Fox 17 West Michigan: A Battle Back Home: Burn Pits And The Burden Of Proof
Often called this generation’s Agent Orange, burn pit exposure has been pointed at by many veterans as the cause of otherwise unexplained health problems. (4/12)

CBS News: Georgia Becomes Third State To Shut Down Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Site After Adverse Reactions
Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine is facing a double dose of problems. Georgia is the third state to temporarily shut down a vaccine site after eight people suffered adverse reactions to the shot. Earlier this week, 18 people in North Carolina reported side effects, while 11 people in Colorado reacted to the shot with symptoms ranging from dizziness, nausea and fainting. "This is a really potent vaccine, and what we're seeing is some of that potency relating at a very rare side effect that we just have to be aware of," said Dr. David Agus, a CBS News medical contributor.  (Battiste, 4/10)

Georgia Health News: Reactions To J&J Vaccine In Cumming Not A Cause For Alarm, State Says 
State officials are halting COVID vaccinations at a Cumming site after eight people had adverse reactions to getting a Johnson & Johnson shot there Wednesday. The CDC is evaluating the situation in the Atlanta suburb and in three other states – Iowa, Colorado and Michigan. (Miller, 4/9)

Insider: Johnson &Amp; Johnson Had A Very Bad Week — But Fears Of Negative Reactions And Blood Clots Are Likely Overblown
Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine rollout hit several unfortunate snags this week — some far worse than others.  ... The timing of these developments was unfortunate, experts said, but there's no reason to doubt the shot's safety yet. "You don't want to be fueling unnecessary worries about the safety of vaccines when you're still seeing an enormous outbreak and death rates all over the world from COVID," Art Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University, told Insider. He added that the side effects observed at the US vaccination sites were "absolutely trivial." (Bendix, 4/10)

And there are more reports of people contracting covid after being fully vaccinated —

ABC7 New York: New Jersey Man In Hospital With COVID Despite Being Fully Vaccinated, Wife Says
Laura Eugene's husband is in the hospital fighting for his life. She says they got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine back on March 6. Eugene says on April 1, her husband started to feel sick. "He started to feel like he had a sore throat stuffy, his coughing and then he started to run a fever, started to feel fatigue. He just gets it every day -- just kept on getting a symptom," she said. Her husband tested positive for COVID on April 1, she says. Now he is in critical condition and is being treated for pneumonia as well. (Yang, 4/11)

New York Post: Brooklyn Woman Gets COVID 3 Weeks After Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
She’s shot out of luck. A Brooklyn woman who managed to avoid catching COVID-19 throughout 2020 went down with the bug this month — three weeks after being vaccinated. Ashley Allen, 31, spoke to The Post by phone while quarantined in her Williamsburg apartment and in between calls from city contact tracers. The contact tracers “started asking me questions about what I was doing three weeks ago,” Allen said. “And I said I was getting vaccinated.” Allen was thrilled when she was able to book an appointment for the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the Javits Center on March 10. (Levine, 4/10)

In other news —

The Washington Post: Emergent Solutions CEO Received 51 Percent Compensation Boost In 2020
Emergent BioSolutions, the troubled manufacturer at the heart of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine production problems, gave its chief executive officer a 51 percent increase in total compensation in 2020, to $5.6 million, according to a public filing Friday. The annual proxy disclosure by the publicly traded company said CEO Robert Kramer received $893,000 in salary, a $1.2 million bonus, $2.1 million in stock awards, and $1.4 million in stock options. (Rowland, 4/10)

Bay Area News Group: Nearly Half Of California Adults Have Received A Vaccine Shot
Nearly half of Californians 18 and older have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, an encouraging metric as some experts watch with concern spiking case rates in Michigan, New Jersey and elsewhere in the country. So far, 46.8 percent of adults in California have received at least one vaccine shot, and 25.5 percent have been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among residents 65 and older, 81.5 percent have received at least one shot, and 57.4 percent are fully vaccinated. (Castañeda, 4/10)

AP: Wisconsin Reports Almost 25% Of Population Fully Vaccinated
Wisconsin health officials reported nearly a quarter of the state’s population has completed COVID-19 vaccination on Sunday. Over 1.4 million people — making up 24.3% of the state’s population — have been completely vaccinated by either receiving the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. (4/11)

KHN: The Gender Vaccine Gap: More Women Than Men Are Getting Covid Shots
Mary Ann Steiner drove 2½ hours from her home in the St. Louis suburb of University City to the tiny Ozark town of Centerville, Missouri, to get vaccinated against covid-19. After pulling into the drive-thru line in a church parking lot, she noticed that the others waiting for shots had something in common with her. “Everyone in the very short line was a woman,” said Steiner, 70. (Ungar, 4/12)

The Washington Post: Gov. Abbott Falsely Says Texas Is Close To Coronavirus Herd Immunity 
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said “simple math” is behind the recent decline of coronavirus cases in his state: Take the number of people who have been vaccinated and combine it with the number who have been infected. The result, he argued, is something “very close” to herd immunity — the point at which enough of the population is immune that the virus can no longer easily spread. “We remain very vigilant and guarded and proactive in our response, but there is simple math behind the reason why we continue to have success,” Abbott, a Republican, said on “Fox News Sunday.” The equation “means, very simply, it’s a whole lot more difficult for covid-19 to be spreading to other people in the state of Texas.” (Thebault, 4/11)

In related news about the vaccine rollout —

The Washington Post: For Immigrants, IDs Prove To Be A Barrier To A Dose Of Protection 
The line started outside, on a street usually teeming with people waiting to enter college bars, and snaked up the stairs of an old firehouse to the Brazilian Worker Center, where shots of the coronavirus vaccine were being administered on this cold New England spring morning. Finally, it was Maria Sousa’s turn. She had been waiting for more than an hour with her husband and daughter when a center volunteer greeted them in Portuguese and guided them to the registration desk, where they presented their identification — Brazilian passports. (Johnson, 4/10)

The Oregonian: Many Oregon People Of Color Eager To Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19 While Others Wait For Answers
Julia Mines didn’t want to get vaccinated against COVID-19, fully aware of the nation’s history of medical experimentation on African Americans. But she did it anyway. “I needed to set an example,” said Mines, director of a drug and alcohol recovery center for Black Portlanders. But, in the end, only two of her seven employees at The Miracles Club have gotten shots, she said, even though they had early access because they work face-to-face with people of color. (Zarkhin, 4/11)

North Carolina Health News: Advocates Combat Vaccine Disparity In Latin Community
As the sun set in leafy west Durham, leaving a palette of salmon- and gold-colored streaks across the sky, a steady stream of people walked up to the Asbury United Methodist Church on a windy Thursday evening. Upbeat salsa music wafted from an amplifier in the church side yard. Rapid response operators from La Semilla, a faith-based organization that reaches out to the Latino and larger immigrant communities, stood under a canopy, swaying to the festive beat. (Blythe, 4/12)

Also —

Philadelphia Inquirer: COVID-19 Vaccination Response Reduced In Blood Cancer Patients, Pitt Study Finds
All 70 elderly volunteers had measurable, although varied, levels of disease-fighting antibodies, the researchers said Friday during a Zoom news conference. In contrast, almost half of the 67 patients with blood cancers did not produce any antibodies. The response rate was even worse in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a slow-progressing malignancy of the blood and bone marrow. Only 3 out of 13 made antibodies, even though most of them were not undergoing cancer therapy that could suppress or damage their immune systems. (McCullough, 4/9)

CNN: When You Should Get The Covid-19 Vaccine If You've Had The Virus 
Over 175.1 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered in the United States as of April 9, but many people still have questions about when to get the vaccine -- particularly if they have had Covid-19 over the past year. Taking the vaccine also becomes more complicated if someone was recently diagnosed with Covid-19 or was diagnosed in between their two doses. People need to take several factors into account when getting the vaccine, according to CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen. (Marples, 4/11)

Stat: Biden Pushes For A New, $6.5 Billion Agency Aimed At Curing Cancer 
The Biden administration on Friday proposed the creation of a $6.5 billion medical research agency with an audacious goal: quickly developing cures for diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes. If the agency is established, it could mark a fundamental shift in how the U.S. government funds research, steering the emphasis from basic science to higher-risk projects more directly aimed at major medical breakthroughs. (Facher, 4/9)

Modern Healthcare: White House Budget Proposes Billions Of Dollars For Cancer Research, Opioid Crisis Response
President Joe Biden's budget request to Congress proposes the creation of a new agency dedicated to cancer research, billions of dollars in funding to help end the opioid epidemic and an investment in the rural health workforce. As Biden's first budget request to Congress as president, it offers a look at his priorities on healthcare and education, with increases in discretionary—or optional spending—across the board. A proposal detailing mandatory spending requests—which includes Medicaid and Medicare—will come later, White House officials said Friday. (Hellmann, 4/9)

Stat: Biden Pushes Congress To Boost Pandemic Preparedness Funding
The Biden administration is asking Congress to bolster public health funding yet again — a call the White House says is necessary to prepare the country for the next pandemic and address public health crises that have been pushed amid Covid-19. Biden called for a $1.6 billion funding increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — a boost that represents almost a quarter of the agency’s current budget — to help increase core public health capacity at the federal and state level. The money could also be used to help build out public health data infrastructure and train new public health experts. (Cohrs, 4/9)

KHN: Biden Seeks $400 Billion To Buttress Long-Term Care. A Look At What’s At Stake. 
There’s widespread agreement that it’s important to help older adults and people with disabilities remain independent as long as possible. But are we prepared to do what’s necessary, as a nation, to make this possible? That’s the challenge President Joe Biden has put forward with his bold proposal to spend $400 billion over eight years on home and community-based services, a major part of his $2 trillion infrastructure plan. (Graham, 4/12)

Politico: How Biden Hopes To Fix The Thorniest Problem In Housing 
President Joe Biden is proposing a historic infusion of federal money into housing as part of his $2 trillion infrastructure package, but the plan is already running into doubts about whether it’s enough and resistance from the very people he needs to make it a reality. A key element of Biden’s $213 billion proposal is offering cities federal dollars to encourage them to ease zoning rules that drive up housing costs, impede the construction of affordable homes and often prevent people of color from moving in. But housing advocates and economists say Biden’s decision to rely solely on financial incentives without including more punitive actions to force changes could dampen the plan’s effect on one of the major drivers of the affordable housing crisis in the U.S., particularly in the largest metro areas. (O'Donnell, 4/10)

Also —

KHN: ‘Explained By KHN’: Health Insurance Help In Covid Relief Law
The twists and turns of the American health system can sometimes leave people lost, confused and looking for answers. We’ve created a new video series — “Explained by KHN” — in which our correspondents and editors answer common health care and health policy questions. The $1.9 trillion covid relief package that President Joe Biden signed into law in March includes more money to help Americans pay their health insurance premiums for the next two years. KHN correspondent Emmarie Huetteman explains some of the changes that could help consumers.  (4/12)

The Washington Post: Fact Check: Biden’s Claim That The ‘Average Rapist Rapes About Six Times’ 
“The average rapist rapes about six times," President Biden said in remarks April 9. During an economic briefing, the president touted his budget proposal, highlighting additional funding for programs funded by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 — a bill that Biden had shepherded to passage as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In particular, he highlighted a push to provide additional funds to end a backlog in rape kits. Then he mentioned this statistic — and stepped into a hornet’s nest of fierce debate among specialists on sexual assault. (Kessler, 4/12)

The Washington Post: Fed’s Powell Says Reopening Economy Too Quickly Could Cause New Coronavirus Spike 
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell warned in an interview broadcast Sunday that reopening the economy too quickly could lead to another worrisome jump in coronavirus cases, arguing that the country has not completely turned the corner and that the pandemic continues to pose major risks to any recovery. Powell, speaking in a “60 Minutes” interview, also said that the coronavirus pandemic had exacerbated economic disparities in the United States and that this could take time to address during an uneven recovery. (Siegel, 4/11)

The Wall Street Journal: The Other Reason The Labor Force Is Shrunken: Fear Of Covid-19
A little over a year ago, Chanee McLaurin was a few weeks into a new job selling insurance when she began to hear coughing in her office. Co-workers, one after another, stopped showing up. Then she overheard a colleague whispering into her phone that she had been diagnosed with flu-like symptoms. “I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to go home. And I’m probably not going to come back,’” said Ms. McLaurin, who is 29 and lives in a suburb of Dallas. (Guilford, 4/11)

In related news about covid's economic toll —

The New York Times: How Covid Turned Food Pantries Into ‘Mini-Costcos’
The good news is that there’s plenty of food being distributed to the city’s hungry, about 1.6 million people, according to the Food Bank for New York City, a nonprofit that does a lot of the distributing. This means that smaller food pantries on the receiving end are bursting at the seams with products but struggling without the infrastructure to store and share them. (Laterman, 4/9)

Stat: Natural Killer Cells Induce Remissions In Patients With Blood Cancer
Two patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma were told their tumors were so resistant to treatment that hospice was their best option. Then, they were enrolled in a clinical trial of a novel immunotherapy involving so-called natural killer cells. After treatment, they saw complete remission. (Feuerstein, 4/9)

Stat: Lilly’s Retevmo Shows Success In Rare Tumors With Key Genetic Mutation
Retevmo, a drug developed by Eli Lilly’s Loxo Oncology unit, shows efficacy in tumors beyond the lung and thyroid cancers where it is approved so long as those tumors bear a key genetic alteration, the company said. Full data were released Sunday at a presentation at the virtual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. (Herper, 4/11)

Stat: Revolution Medicine Seeks To Bolster Case For Its Lead Cancer Drug
Revolution Medicines on Saturday presented updated data to bolster the case for its lead cancer drug — designed to stop tumor growth by throttling back mutations in a common cell-signaling pathway. The drug, called RMC-4630, won’t shrink tumors very much on its own. The drug’s main purpose will be as a backbone of combination treatments. (Feuerstein, 4/10)

Stat: ITeos Therapeutics Debuts First Data On TIGIT-Targeting Cancer Immunotherapy 
ITeos Therapeutics offered the first look at clinical data for its experimental cancer antibody that works by blocking the novel — and very buzzworthy — protein target called TIGIT. The tumor-shrinking activity of the company’s drug, called EOS-448, was minimal but still comparable to early study data from competing TIGIT-targeted drugs in development, including ones from Roche and Merck. (Feuerstein, 4/11)

Stat: Clinical Study Reports Hold More Details About Cancer Drug
For years, researchers have urged regulators to release clinical study reports that are generated during clinical trials in order to support further research and improve care. Now, a new study offers evidence why this is a good idea: There were more harmful side effects found in clinical study reports than listings in corresponding trial registries or published studies. (Silverman, 4/9)

In other pharmaceutical industry news —

Stat: Trial Shows Promise Aiming A Cold-Sore Virus At Children's Brain Tumors
A therapy that sends a modified cold-sore virus to selectively kill tumor cells and spark an immune response to a particularly deadly brain cancer in children showed promise in an early clinical trial, scientists reported Saturday. They hope their approach to high-grade gliomas will pave the way toward a combination treatment with immunotherapy that could spare children the harsh toxicities of current therapies. (Cooney, 4/10)

The Washington Post: Are MRNA Flu Shots In The Works? Yes, But Not For The Upcoming Flu Season. 
The technology used in two of the coronavirus vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration may enable scientists to develop flu shots in record time, but also make inoculations that could be more effective and protect against numerous flu strains for years at a time. The messenger-RNA technology — used in the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines — would be a leap forward for flu shots, some of which still rely on a process developed in the 1950s involving chickens, petri dishes and dead viruses. Researchers are hopeful that the success of those coronavirus vaccines will grease the wheels for mRNA flu shots and help expedite what is typically a lengthy process involving years of research, clinical trials and regulatory review and approval. (Bever, 4/11)

CBS News: Some Members Of Sackler Family Under Fire Over Ties To Opioids 
Purdue Pharma, privately owned by some members of the Sackler family, is the drug maker that developed and marketed the powerful painkiller OxyContin. The company has been blamed for helping to spark the opioid epidemic that killed nearly half a million people in this country over the past two decades. And yet, for much of that time, the Sacklers – one of the wealthiest families in America (as compiled by Forbes magazine) – have largely avoided public scrutiny for the part they allegedly played. They are now the subject of Keefe's new book: "Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty" (Doubleday). (4/11)

Stat: Google Is Exploring A Health Record Tool For Patients
After 13 years, Google is coming back for patient health records. The tech giant has launched an early user feedback program aimed at exploring how patients might want to see, organize, and share their own medical record data. The work could inform the creation of a consumer-facing medical records tool along the lines of Apple’s Health Records app. It also follows an early attempt by Google — later panned by medical experts — at creating a new version of the electronic medical record in 2008. (Brodwin, 4/9)

Bloomberg: Microsoft Makes Big Bet On Health-Care AI Technology With Nuance
Microsoft Corp. is making a massive bet on health-care artificial intelligence. The software giant is set to buy Nuance Communications Inc., tapping the company tied to the Siri voice technology to overhaul solutions that free doctors from note-taking and better predict a patient’s needs. Microsoft may announce the deal as soon as Monday if talks are successful, according to people familiar with the matter. The price being discussed could value Nuance at about $56 a share, a 23% premium to Friday’s close, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Set to be Microsoft’s largest acquisition since LinkedIn Corp., the purchase would give Nuance an equity value of about $16 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. (Bass, Baker and Porter, 4/12)

In other biotech and research news —

Axios: Using Brain Interfaces To Learn About Learning 
A new study uses a brain-computer interface (BCI) to observe the neural activity in monkeys during the process of learning. The internal state of the brain is often a mystery — including to ourselves — but new neural interfaces are making it easier for scientists to observe the mind in action. (Walsh, 4/10)

Axios: Illumina CEO On A Genomics-Forward Future 
The head of the world's leading genetic sequencing company predicts a future where genomic data will increasingly drive health care. As our ability to read genes gets faster and cheaper, genetic sequencing could pave the way for everything from enhanced disease surveillance to truly personalized care. (Walsh, 4/10)

Stat: Researchers See A 'Tractable Approach' To Taming Chromosomal Metastasis
The latest hope for stopping untreatable cancers traces its roots to a turn-of-the-century German zoologist, gazing into a microscope at the eggs of sea urchins. Studying the process of fertilization, Theodor Boveri made a curious observation. In most cases, the correct number of urchin chromosomes lined up in perfect order and created an embryo. But every once in a while, the chromosomes would get scrambled, leading to unpredictable cell division and uncontrollable growth. Those aberrant divisions were the root cause of cancer, Boveri theorized in 1914, a once-controversial claim that has since been cemented in oncologic lore. (Garde, 4/10)

Stat: Analysis Of Diversity At Premier Medical Journals Met With Silence 
When cardiologist Raymond Givens read the article in the Journal of the American Heart Association last year, it stopped him in his tracks. Written by a fellow cardiologist, it claimed educational affirmative action programs were promoting underprepared Black and Hispanic trainees who would not gain admission to top medical schools or become the best doctors. While the article was widely condemned as racist and error-filled and was swiftly retracted by the journal, its publication left Givens with a host of questions. (McFarling, 4/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Soaring Costs Of Nurses During Covid-19 Pandemic Are At Center Of Lawsuits
Hospital chain Steward Health Care Systems LLC and staffing firm Aya Healthcare Inc. are suing each other over outstanding bills in a dispute over soaring wages for nurses in the pandemic. Aya, based in San Diego, claims the Dallas-based hospital chain owes it more than $40 million including overdue bills, according to a lawsuit Aya filed Tuesday in Massachusetts Superior Court. Steward last month sued Aya in the same court, alleging price gouging and seeking to stop the staffing firm from canceling work for its nurses scheduled at the hospital chain. (Evans and Carlton, 4/8)

Modern Healthcare: MACPAC Approves Recommendations On Specialty Drugs, Behavioral Health
The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission approved recommendations on accelerated-approval drugs and behavioral health services during its April meeting on Friday. Commissioners voted to recommend that Congress increase the minimum rebate percentage and additional inflationary rebate on drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration through the accelerated approval program. MACPAC commissioner Thomas Barker was the only commissioner to vote against the measure. (Brady, 4/9)

Becker's Hospital Review: How Scripps Health And Monarch Healthcare Used Analytics To Optimize Physician Resources And Avoid Burnout
Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the rate of burnout among physicians, who were already feeling bogged down by growing administrative workloads and additional challenges. During a Feb. 24 webinar hosted by Becker's Hospital Review and sponsored by Ingenious Med, industry experts discussed best practices to minimize physician burnout and described how analytics and tools can help healthcare organizations tackle burnout factors before they impact clinician well-being and care quality. (4/11)

USA Today: USDA Issues Public Health Alert For More Than 211,000 Pounds Of Ground Turkey For Possible Salmonella Risk
A public health alert has been issued for approximately 211,406 pounds of raw ground turkey products potentially linked to salmonella hadar illness. The Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued the alert Saturday night for the products that were produced by Plainville Brands, LLC, which is based in New Oxford, Pennsylvania. The affected products were shipped to stores nationwide and have January "use by/freeze/sell by" dates. The health alert said there were concerns that "some product may be frozen and in consumers’ freezers." (Tyko, 4/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: Is Premature Graying A Pandemic Thing? Experts Explain Possible Links
“In certain people, gray hair is kind of a telltale sign, of stress,” said Dr. Natasha Mekinsova, a dermatologist at UC Irvine who is an expert on hair conditions. “It’s probably going to depend on how we all process stress.” Though there hasn’t been a large-scale study of graying during the pandemic, studies have already found promising links. A team of researchers at Harvard found that in mice, stress activated nerves that triggered the fight-or-flight response, which then caused damage to stem cells that differentiate to create specialized cells called melanocytes, which produce the color we see in our hair. The study, published in Nature, found that stress caused those cells to deplete, and the effect was permanent — and resulted in gray. (Vainshtein, 4/11)

360Dx: NIH Aims To Address COVID Testing Disparities In Underserved Communities
Not long after the start of COVID-19 pandemic, communities of color as well as underserved communities, in general, complained about their lack of access to testing. More than a year later, some diagnostic companies say they are seeing a decline in COVID-19 testing as more tests are being made available. Yet for those in neighborhoods where access to tests were limited, challenges to getting a SARS-CoV-2 test remains. (Ketchum, 4/11)

KHN: Readers And Tweeters Give Tips On Treating Diabetes And Long Covid
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (4/12)

In other public health news about CTE —

The Washington Post: Ex-NFL Player Phillip Adams’s Brain To Be Examined For CTE 
The brain of Phillip Adams, the former NFL player identified as the gunman who fatally shot six people Wednesday in Rock Hill, S.C., will be examined for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease found in dozens of former players. Forensic autopsies typically do not identify CTE, but York County Coroner Sabrina Gast said her office will work with Boston University, whose CTE center has studied the disease for more than a decade, to determine whether Adams had the disease, she said in a statement. (Hill, 4/10)

AP: Adams Said To Have Spurned NFL, Union Health Programs
The NFL and its players’ union have an array of health programs designed to help players in their life after football. According to his agent, Phillip Adams did not avail himself of those opportunities. Adams, a journeyman player, spent six seasons in the league. Authorities say he fatally shot five people in South Carolina — including a prominent doctor, his wife and their two grandchildren — before killing himself early Thursday. Agent Scott Casterline told The Associated Press the 32-year-old Adams did not participate in the physical and mental health programs that are easily accessible for ex-players. (Wilner, 4/9)

NPR: Supreme Court Rules For Worshippers And Against California COVID Restrictions
For the fifth time, the U.S. Supreme Court has sided with religious adherents and against California's COVID-19 restrictions. This time, the court barred the state from enforcing a rule that for now limits both religious and non-religious gatherings in homes to no more than three households. The court's unsigned order came on a 5-4 vote. Chief Justice John Roberts cast his lot with the dissenters, but failed to join their opinion. He noted simply that he would have left the lower court order intact. (Totenberg, 4/10)

In news about abortion —

Boston Globe: TelAbortion, With Medication Through The Mail, Comes To Massachusetts
Is Massachusetts ready for abortion through the mail? Reproductive rights advocates certainly are. They note that medication abortions — safe and FDA-approved in the first 10 weeks of gestation — already make up 40 percent of abortions in Massachusetts. People have been ending pregnancies at home, on their own, for years. But the Food and Drug Administration requires a patient to pick up the medication in person from a health provider — a requirement the Trump administration upheld even during the pandemic. During last year’s lockdown, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists sued and got the requirement lifted temporarily in July. But the Trump administration appealed, and the Supreme Court reversed that decision in January. (Ebert, 4/11)

AP: Some GOP-Led States Target Abortions Done Through Medication
About 40% of all abortions in the U.S. are now done through medication — rather than surgery — and that option has become all the more pivotal during the COVID-19 pandemic. Abortion rights advocates say the pandemic has demonstrated the value of medical care provided virtually, including the privacy and convenience of abortions taking place in a woman’s home, instead of a clinic. Abortion opponents, worried the method will become increasingly prevalent, are pushing legislation in several Republican-led states to restrict it and in some cases, ban providers from prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine. (Crary and Samuels, 4/11)

In other news from the states —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 1 In 3 Wisconsin Nursing Homes Violated COVID-19 Safety Rules
In one of the most comprehensive looks at nursing home safety during the pandemic, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation has found that 1 in 3 Wisconsin facilities violated coronavirus protocols, including by asking COVID-positive staff to keep working, not screening visitors for symptoms and not isolating infected residents. Even when inspectors were present, employees at several facilities didn't always wear face masks. Two homes substituted flannel shirts or plastic aprons for gowns, despite having an ample supply. At least five nursing homes didn’t tell residents or their families about coronavirus cases for days or weeks. (Chen, Volpenhein and Cohen, 4/9)

Health News Florida: Florida Lawmakers Move Forward On Telehealth Expansion
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic there have been few silver linings. But health experts say one good thing the pandemic has caused is an expansion of telehealth. A proposal to keep many of the state’s pandemic-era telehealth practices in place is moving forward, but some say a few important provisions aren't including in the legislation. (McCarthy, 4/9)

Axios: Maskless Woman Who Coughed At Pier 1 Customer Gets 30 Days In Jail 
The maskless woman who coughed on another customer in a Florida Pier 1 last June was sentenced to 30 days in jail Thursday for second-degree assault, the Washington Post reports. The incident, which illustrates the polarized tension surrounding mask-wearing, took place in June 2020 when COVID-19 cases were surging. A number of videos showing customers refusing to wear masks in stores went viral at the time. (Saric, 4/11)

Bangor Daily News: Maine’s Aggressive Lead Policy Has Child Testing Back Up After Pandemic Lull
Lead testing of Maine’s youngest and most vulnerable children is on the rise, with only a temporary dip early in the pandemic, moving the state closer to its goal of eradicating lead poisoning by 2030. A 2019 law that broadened screening and a trend toward more in-office rather than at-the-lab testing boosted screens for the heavy metal, which can damage the brains of young children. The law widened testing to all children aged 1 and 2 instead of only those covered by MaineCare, the state’s version of Medicaid. Monthly tests were up 43 percent this March compared to June 2019, when the law went into effect. While testing dipped in March and April of last year, when Gov. Janet Mills’ COVID-19 civil emergency proclamation discouraged non-urgent medical care, it quickly got back on track once office visits were again allowed. (Valigra, 4/12)

AP: West Virginia Lawmakers Approve Needle Exchange Regulations
A West Virginia bill that would regulate needle exchange programs gained final approval in the Republican-controlled legislature on Saturday amid a spike in HIV cases in the state. Critics have said its more stringent requirements for the programs will constrain the number of providers who give clean syringes to injection drug users not able to quit the habit. The legislation would also require participants show an identification card to get a syringe. (Dil, 4/11)

Modern Healthcare: Ohio Expects To Save $240 Million In Medicaid Drug Costs By Running Its Own PBM
Ohio officials expect that consolidating the seven private pharmacy benefit managers that run its Medicaid managed-care system into a single, state-regulated PBM will save more than $240 million every year. The change will go in effect starting in early 2022. Officials will administer PBM services through Gainwell Technologies, a state-regulated PBM that will replace the seven PBMs currently operating in the managed-care system. A pharmacy pricing and audit consultant will help state officials make decisions with regard to in-network providers, pharmacy reimbursement and more. (Tepper, 4/9)

AP: Top Chinese Official Admits Vaccines Have Low Effectiveness
China’s top disease control official, in a rare acknowledgement, said current vaccines offer low protection against the coronavirus and mixing them is among strategies being considered to boost their effectiveness. China has distributed hundreds of millions of doses of domestically made vaccines abroad and is relying on them for its own mass immunization campaign. But the director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu, said at a conference Saturday their efficacy rates needed improving. (McDonald and Wu, 4/11)

Axios: Secretary Of State Anthony Blinken Calls For Investigation Into COVID-19 Origins 
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken criticized the Chinese government for its lack of transparency in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday's "Meet the Press," and called for a more thorough investigation into the of the origins of COVID-19. Investigating the origins of the virus has been hallmarked by geopolitical tensions, and U.S. officials have expressed skepticism about a report assembled by the World Health Organization and China. (Saric, 4/11)

In news from Europe —

CIDRAP: Studies Suggest Link Between Blood Clots, AstraZeneca COVID Vaccine 
Two studies today in the New England Journal of Medicine describe 11 patients in Austria and Germany and 5 in Norway who developed an unusual blood clotting disorder after receiving their first dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine. The first study, led by researchers at the Institute for Immunology and Transfusion Medicine in Greifswald, Germany, involved 11 patients who had abnormal blood clots or thrombocytopenia (low platelet counts) 5 to 16 days after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. (Van Beusekom, 4/9)

AP: Pubs, Hairdressers Set To Reopen As UK Eases Virus Lockdown
Millions of people in Britain will get their first chance in months for haircuts, casual shopping and restaurant meals on Monday, as the government takes the next step on its lockdown-lifting road map. Nationwide restrictions have been in place in England since early January, and similar rules in the other parts of the U.K., to suppress a surge in coronavirus infections that swept the country late last year, linked to a more transmissible new variant first identified in southeast England. (Lawless, 4/11)

CNN: Losing A Long-Term Spouse Can Be Deadly, Studies Show
The world has joined Queen Elizabeth II in sorrow over the loss Friday of her husband of seven decades, Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, just two months shy of his 100th birthday. The duo was a loving and close-knit couple. The Queen told guests at a luncheon on their 50th wedding anniversary that Phillip had "quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years."... Studies have shown that surviving spouses can suffer from sleep disruption, depressive episodes, anxiety, impaired immune function, and overall poorer physical health. (LaMotte, 4/11)

In other global developments —

AP: India Overtakes Brazil As 2nd-Worst Hit Country
India reported another record daily surge in coronavirus infections Monday to overtake Brazil as the second-worst hit country. The 168,912 cases added in the last 24 hours pushed India’s total to 13.5 million, while Brazil has 13.4 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. India also reported 904 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 170,179, which is the fourth highest toll, behind the United States, Brazil and Mexico. (4/12)

Fox News: Israel COVID-19 Study Finds South Africa Variant Able To 'break Through' Pfizer Vaccine
A new study from Israel indicates the South Africa variant of the coronavirus can "break through" the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to some degree. A team from Tel Aviv University and Clalit Health Services found that the prevalence of the South Africa variant among patients who received both doses of the vaccine was around eight times higher than those unvaccinated – 5.4% versus 0.7%. The study compared over 400 people who received at least one shot of the vaccine and contracted the coronavirus with the same number who were infected and unvaccinated. (Aitken, 4/11)

AP: Small But Quick: Bhutan Vaccinates 93% Of Adults In 16 Days
When plotted on a graph, the curve of Bhutan’s COVID-19 vaccination drive shoots upwards from the very first day, crossing Israel, United States, Bahrain and other countries known for vaccinating people rapidly. Those countries took months to reach where they are, painstakingly strengthening their vaccination campaigns in the face of rising coronavirus cases. But the story of Bhutan’s vaccination campaign is nearly finished — just 16 days after it began. (4/12)

Stat: Make It Easier For Employers To Help Get America Vaccinated 
Businesses across the country are ready, willing, and able to help America get vaccinated. They have the reach, relationships, and trust to help overcome distribution barriers and vaccine hesitancy. There’s only one problem: There’s no easy way for them to do vaccinations. Many of the nation’s largest employers tell the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which I work for, that they’ve developed sophisticated vaccination strategies designed to get doses into the arms of any employee who wants one. Some are willing to vaccinate employees’ relatives, the employees of other companies, and even the broader communities in which they operate. (Michael Carney, 4/12)

Dallas Morning News: Our Health System Is Not Equipped To Vaccinate Rural Communities
President Joe Biden has boldly announced that 90% of Americans are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine this month. As new COVID variants continue to threaten the United States and increase our susceptibility to the coronavirus, achieving herd immunity through mass vaccination is paramount. Despite this need, many Americans still face major barriers to obtaining the vaccine, especially the 1 in 5 residents who live in rural parts of the country. The reality is that our health care system is not equipped to vaccinate rural communities. We need emergency measures to support vaccine distribution, but our response shouldn’t stop there. This pandemic should serve as a wake-up call: Rural health care can deliver during public health emergencies and otherwise if we invest in the people and infrastructure required. (Dr. Adrian N. Billings and Dr. Janice Blanchard, 4/11)

New England Journal of Medicine: Antibody Responses To Natural Infection And Vaccination 
The continuing spread of SARS-CoV-2 remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. What physicians need to know about transmission, diagnosis, and treatment of Covid-19 is the subject of ongoing updates from infectious disease experts at the Journal. In this audio interview conducted on April 6, 2021, the editors discuss the role of antibodies in immunity against wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. (Eric J. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., Lindsey R. Baden, M.D., and Stephen Morrissey, Ph.D., 4/8)

CNN: The 30% Who Could End The Pandemic 
When losing soldiers flee a battlefield -- or people migrate in search of a better life -- they are voting with their feet. "Foot voting" lets people control their own destiny, law professor Ilya Somin argues. In America today, people are also voting with their arms, rolling up their sleeves to get vaccinated against Covid-19 -- and the impact will likely be momentous. Nearly 70% of Americans are "arm voting" -- they either expect to be vaccinated or already have been, according to Pew Research's polling. By contrast, in November, voter turnout soared -- but still only about 62% of voting-age people cast ballots in the Biden-Trump contest. More than 114 million Americans have gotten at least one dose of a vaccine. (Richard Galant, 4/11)

NBC News: Vaccine 'Passports' Could Be Useful — But Only If Government Gets Out Of The Way
With nearly 25 percent of Americans having been fully vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been issuing new guidelines every few weeks for what fully vaccinated people can safely do. Now, for many, the question is how to prove they've been vaccinated — or trust that others have been. The most popular answer has been some sort of certification more robust than the paper cards familiar from the Instagram feeds of the newly vaccinated — what has been somewhat misleadingly dubbed a "vaccine passport." And that has sparked a serious backlash. (Julian Sanchez, 4/11)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Genome Sequencing Can Lead To Life-Changing Care For Infants. California Should Make It More Available 
Innovative medical technology is constantly being developed, and with it comes the possibility for incredible breakthroughs in modern medicine. California has never seen scientific advancements within closer reach than they are today. For critically ill infants hospitalized with unexplained rare diseases, the opportunity to benefit from a medical miracle has arrived. (Brian Maienschein, Patrick Frias, Stephen Kingsmore, 4/9)

Los Angeles Times: Are Youth Sports Harming Our Kids' Mental Health? 
In the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I swore I’d never again complain about driving carpool for my kids’ rock-climbing team through Seattle traffic. Medical science has long touted the physical and mental health benefits of children’s sports. Add in social interaction, and youth sports feels like an all-in-one pandemic fix. But as youth teams and leagues return, it’s worth examining what our children are actually signed up for. Youth sports are no longer the neighborhood pickup games of American lore. In recent years children as young as 6 and 7 are increasingly enrolling in high-level sports programs with professional coaches and year-round competition schedules. (Audrey Young, 4/10)

USA Today: Online Clinics Are Path To Abortion Care Amid Hostile Laws And Rulings
Near total bans on abortion became law recently in Arkansas and South Carolina, suggesting a dire future for abortion rights if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade — a possibility that seems more likely than ever before. But the road ahead will not be shaped by anti-abortion legislators or Supreme Court justices alone.  A different path to abortion access has emerged. Over the past year, new virtual clinics have begun delivering medication abortion entirely remotely. Last July, a federal court suspended a Food and Drug Administration rule that requires patients to obtain the first drug in a medication abortion at a health care facility during the pandemic. That drug, mifepristone, is the only one of 20,000 FDA-regulated medications that requires in-person dispensation but can be taken at home. (Rachel Rebouche and Ushma Upadhyay, 4/12)

The New York Times: A Once-In-A-Century Crisis Can Help Educate Doctors 
Over the past year, ordinary medical research nearly ground to a halt as researchers focused on coronavirus vaccine trials and treatments. Single-mindedness paid off. Drugmakers developed lifesaving vaccines in record time, and now a third of Americans are at least partially vaccinated. But ultimately, the pandemic is a once-in-a-century crisis that may force health professionals and medical schools to look beyond the traditional tools of modern medicine and think more broadly about how we train doctors to grapple with public health catastrophes. (Molly Worthen, 4/10)

Boston Globe: Boston’s Hospitals Should Put Patient Trust First 
In July, Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, then president of Brigham and Women’s hospital, stepped down from an outside, well-paid position on Moderna’s board of directors. Her hospital was helping lead a large study of the Cambridge biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine and a Globe reporter had inquired about a potential conflict of interest. There was no evidence of wrongdoing by Nabel. But at a moment when trust in medicine had never seemed so important — when the health and economic well-being of the region rested on faith in the coming vaccine — it was clear that Brigham and Women’s had to act. (4/11)

Stat: Three Steps Toward Creating A Functioning U.S. Biosimilars Market 
The development of safe, effective, and innovative biologic medicines is one of modern medicine’s far-reaching achievements. From cancer and colitis to rheumatoid arthritis, biologics have transformed many severe diseases into treatable conditions for millions of people. Unlike so-called small-molecule drugs, like aspirin or a cholesterol-lowering statin, which are normally developed by synthesizing chemicals with well-defined structures, biologics are derived from complex living organisms. Current biologics are administered either by infusion under a doctor’s supervision or by injection, which can be done in a doctor’s office or at home. (Pierre Bourdage, 4/12)

The Washington Post: The Deadly Covid-19 Pandemic Is Obscuring Another — Obesity 
As America emerges from the covid-19 pandemic, we need to focus urgent attention on another disease that kills hundreds of thousands every year: obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 42 percent of Americans have obesity. Nearly 1 in 10 have severe obesity, up from 1 in 20 two decades ago. Obesity is a risk factor for other chronic diseases, including diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and several cancers. By itself, it’s the second-leading cause of preventable death, after tobacco, responsible for an estimated 300,000 deaths per year. (Leana S. Wen, 4/11)