The Washington Post: Biden Marks 900,000 Covid-19 Deaths And Urges: ‘Get Vaccinated, Get Your Kids Vaccinated’
President Biden on Friday urged all Americans to get vaccinated, as he marked another “tragic milestone” in the coronavirus pandemic. “900,000 American lives have been lost to COVID-19,” he said in a late-night statement issued Friday. “They were beloved mothers and fathers, grandparents, children, brothers and sisters, neighbors, and friends. ”The death toll would have been higher without coronavirus vaccines, Biden said, estimating they had “saved more than one million American lives,” as he urged unvaccinated Americans to “get vaccinated, get your kids vaccinated, and get your booster shot if you are eligible.” (Timsit, 2/5)

The New York Times: U.S. Covid Death Toll Surpasses 900,000 As Omicron’s Spread Slows 
More than 2,600 Americans are dying from Covid-19 each day, an alarming rate that has climbed by 30 percent in the past two weeks. Across the United States, the coronavirus pandemic has now claimed more than 900,000 lives. Yet another, simultaneous reality of the pandemic offers reason for hope. The number of new coronavirus infections is plummeting, falling by more than half since mid-January. Hospitalizations are also declining, a relief to stressed health care workers who have been treating desperately ill coronavirus patients for nearly two years. (Bosman and Smith, 2/4)

CNN: US Reports More Than 900,000 Total Covid-19 Deaths
Experts believe the true burden of disease to be much higher. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the number of Covid-19 deaths in the US was about 32% higher than reported between February 2020 and September 2021. (McPhillips, 2/4)

NBC News: 900,000 Dead: Covid Deaths Are Surging In Low-Vaccination States
The country has recorded 100,000 deaths since Dec. 13. During that period, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania have the largest number of deaths when adjusted for population. Of those states, Pennsylvania is the only one to have fully vaccinated more than 60 percent of its population. "Fully vaccinated" means that at least two weeks have passed since a person has received the second dose of a two-dose vaccine or one dose of a single-dose vaccine. (Chiwaya, 2/4)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Hiring Ramped Up In January Even As Omicron Raged
Healthcare employment was more resilient than expected in January as companies picked up hiring even as COVID-19 hospitalizations reached a record high. Healthcare companies added an estimated 18,000 jobs in the first month of 2022, up from 14,300 in December, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report issued Friday. The industry's strong showing contributed to 467,000 new jobs recorded across the economy, which was far more than economists projected. (Bannow, 2/4)

Modern Healthcare: Recruitment And Retention Is The Top Priority, Hospital Execs Say
UW Health recently had 3,600 nursing shifts to fill over a six-week period. The integrated health system, like so many across country, has turned to staffing agencies to fill workforce gaps. But that created friction between its in-house staff and travel nurses, who are often being paid at least twice as much. On Jan. 16, UW Health implemented a new program for its around 3,400 nurses to ease some of that tension, offering a $100 hourly bonus for nurses who add a 12-hour shift to their normal weekly schedule. The Madison-based system filled 92% of its open shifts within of a week of the program's announcement. (Kacik, 2/4)

In related news about health care workers —

The Baltimore Sun: Programs In Maryland Aim To Attract And Keep The ‘Starry-Eyed’ Among Nurses Amid Bruising Pandemic 
Sophia Rois Geffen was working in public health when she decided to train as a nurse so she could connect more closely with people. With graduation from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing about six months away, she and other fellow Hopkins nursing students realized most patients won’t see their faces, masked against the persistent coronavirus. It’s one of the many ways the landscape has changed and challenged nurses in the past two years. But it’s not deterring Geffen and her classmates from running headlong into a pandemic that pushed many experienced professionals to the exits and created a massive shortage of nurses nationwide. “We all came in pretty starry-eyed,” she said. “Now, we understand it’s a challenging time just to be in the profession.” (Cohn, 2/7)

Detroit Free Press: Whitmer Proposes $3 Billion Extra For Front-Line Workers, Police, Other 'Heroes'
Michiganders working in elementary school classrooms, at grocery store checkout lines, driving city buses and serving in any number of other vital jobs amid the ongoing pandemic may be in line for a payday. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will propose $500 million in one-time "hero pay" benefits intended for a yet-undefined group of Michigan workers and $50 million for similar payments to law enforcement officers, firefighters, first responders and correctional officers. That is in addition to $1.65 billion for teacher and school staff retention, first reported Sunday by the Free Press, she will propose when she presents her 2023 budget recommendations this week to state lawmakers along with extra billions to be spent in the current financial year. (Boucher, 2/7)

Dallas Morning News: Hospitals Are Relying More On Expensive Travel Nurses In A Cycle That Has No End In Sight
Travel nurses make more on average than most nurses employed full-time at hospitals, as travel nurse agencies charge high premiums to fill staffing holes. Many nurses are leaving full-time positions for more lucrative travel jobs, opening even more positions for hospitals to fill. With every new opening, travel agencies are able to hike up their rates. However, hospitals don’t blame travel nurses on their increased supplemental staffing expenses, Love said. “For the nurses that enter the workforce and go to be traveling nurses, we’re certainly not being critical of them in any way,” he said. “We understand. They have to look at their own individual situation and make their best choice.” (Wolf, 2/7)

CBS News: Staff Shortages, COVID Patients Pushing Hospitals To Breaking Point 
In much of the country, the number of COVID cases is falling. The Omicron variant may result in less severe illness, but inside many of the country's hospitals, the work is more demanding than ever. That's largely because - according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - nearly 400,000 health care workers have left since the start of the pandemic. Last month, hospitals in 18 states reported critical staff shortages. (Alfonsi, 2/6)

Bloomberg: U.S. Troops Reinforce Hospitals In Covid’s Battle Of Attrition
University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, is besieged with Covid patients packing its intensive-care unit, where rooms have been improvised from plastic sheeting and staff have fallen victim to the disease. The U.S. Army is reinforcing its defenses. Captain Jamie Dowd, a nurse who has treated ghastly trauma in Syria and Iraq, was sent to the hospital on a 30-day mission with 24 other troops to help fight the worst wave of Covid-19 cases since the deadly spring of 2020. Plucked from Fort Polk in Louisiana, Dowd last week peered out from the shadows of a room in the Newark progressive-care unit. (Griffin, 2/4)

KHN: Bounties And Bonuses Leave Small Hospitals Behind In Staffing Wars 
A recent lawsuit filed by one Wisconsin health system that temporarily prevented seven workers from starting new jobs at a different health network raised eyebrows, including those of Brock Slabach, chief operations officer of the National Rural Health Association. “To me, that signifies the desperation that hospital leaders are facing in trying to staff their hospitals,” said Slabach. His concern is for the smaller facilities that lack the resources to compete. (Sable-Smith, 2/7)

Also —

The Baltimore Sun: ‘A Target On My Back:’ Baltimore County Health Officer Backs Bill Criminalizing Threats Against Health Officials 
Baltimore County health department employees are being harassed regularly as they try to perform their duties, according to the county’s top health official, who on Friday urged state lawmakers to pass legislation that would criminalize threats against public health employees. “We’re being threatened, we’re being harassed and we’re being intimidated,” Baltimore County’s public health officer Dr. Gregory Branch told county representatives during a House delegation meeting Friday. The legislation — sponsored by Del. Karen Lewis Young of Frederick County and several Democratic House and Senate lawmakers from Baltimore, Frederick, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties — would make it a misdemeanor to threaten public health employees and hospital staff members with the intent to intimidate or interfere with their ability to work. (Deville, 2/4)

NBC News: These Health Care Workers Say They Were Fired After Raising Safety Concerns
Marian Weber says she wanted to make Ketchikan, Alaska, her forever home. With its widespread greenery and rainy days, and waterfront crowded by houses, it was a long-awaited dream. And staying for good seemed like a real possibility. Weber, 47, was a travel nurse contracted to work at the city-owned Ketchikan Hospital, run by PeaceHealth, a not-for-profit health care system. She says she arrived in April 2021, and the hospital renewed her contract in August before promptly terminating it within the same month. (Lee, 2/6)

News Service of Florida: Florida Files An Appeal Over Turning Down Requests For Daily COVID-19 Data 
The Florida Department of Health has gone to an appeals court in a battle about whether it should provide daily COVID-19 data, as it seeks to be shielded from explaining officials’ decision-making about releasing the information. Attorneys for the department filed a petition late Wednesday at the 1st District Court of Appeal as part of a lawsuit filed in August by the Florida Center for Government Accountability and state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, and later joined by several media organizations. The underlying lawsuit alleges the Department of Health violated public records laws by turning down requests for daily COVID-19 data. The data, in part, would have provided county and demographic information about COVID-19 cases. (Saunders, 2/4)

In other news about the spread of covid —

Texas Tribune: Texas COVID-19 Hospitalizations Down As Omicron Wave Appears To Crest
After an anxious January marked by a wave of COVID-19 infections that pushed Texas hospitals and intensive care units to their limits, the number of Texans in the hospital with COVID-19 across the state has been in a steady decline for over a week, according to state health data. The decrease is the latest in a series of hopeful signs that the surge driven by the highly contagious omicron variant may be starting to abate, forecasters and health officials say. If the trend continues, the state would have passed its peak hospitalizations for this wave on Jan. 20, when Texas hospitals reported 13,371 patients with COVID-19 — a number that has decreased daily since then. That falls short of the record 14,218 hospitalizations the state saw a year ago on Jan. 11, 2021. (Brooks Harper, Essig and Luis Martínez, 2/6)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Officials Think COVID Cases Will Keep Falling Despite Subvariant
State health officials are "optimistic" that COVID-19 cases will continue to decline despite the emergence of a subvariant of omicron believed to spread more easily than the original form of omicron. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, said during a media briefing Thursday that it is still unclear what the implications of the subvariant, known as BA.2, will be. It was first detected in Wisconsin last month and still represents a tiny fraction of COVID-19 cases in the state. Despite the subvariant being more contagious, he said he is "optimistic" the omicron surge will continue to subside. (Volpenhein, 2/4)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Surpasses 2 Million COVID-19 Cases
The Michigan health department reported 9,805 new COVID-19 cases over a two-day period Friday, an average of 4,903 per day, bringing Michigan to 2,009,221 confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic.Another 209 coronavirus-related deaths were also reported Friday, 155 of which were identified in a regular vital records review. This increases the state's COVID-19 death toll to 30,379. (Marini, 2/4)

Also —

CIDRAP: New Conditions Common 1 To 5 Months After Positive COVID Test 
A cohort study of Americans tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection shows that new-onset shortness of breath, heart rhythm abnormalities, and type 2 diabetes were more common 31 to 150 days after testing positive for COVID-19 than among those with negative results. The research was published today in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 2/4)

Albany Times Union: After 130 Days In The Hospital, A New York COVID-19 Patient Finally Gets To Go Home
Tommy Raus arrived home Friday morning. That's a major accomplishment, considering that on Sept. 13, 2021 he began a harrowing COVID-19 journey that saw him face death numerous times during a 130-day stay at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany. The 47-year-old Raus went from being unable to breathe on his own or even move his toes in the hospital as his health collapsed to where he is now moving and talking and settling into completing his recovery at home with visits from nurses and therapists. “I’m on oxygen now. I was in such bad pain,” Raus said in a telephone interview Thursday from Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital in Schenectady where he spent 14 days after leaving St. Peter’s. “It’s just so hard to deal with this." (Crowe II, 2/6)

ABC News: Parents Name Baby Boy After Doctor Who Treated Mom For COVID-19 
A couple in Texas have paid the ultimate tribute to a doctor who went above and beyond to help their family last year. Diana Crouch, 28, and Chris Crouch, 37, welcomed a baby boy last November and named him Cameron, after one of Diana’s doctors. The couple credit Dr. Cameron Dezfulian, the medical director of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease, ICU unit at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, with helping to save both Diana and Cameron’s lives. (2/7)

The New York Times: 2 Men In Miami Sentenced For Stealing 192 Ventilators Bound For El Salvador 
Two men in Miami have each been sentenced to 41 months in prison for stealing medical ventilators bound for a Covid-19 care facility in El Salvador as part of a U.S. aid program, federal authorities in Florida said on Friday. The crime occurred in August 2020, according to a news release issued by the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of Florida after the sentencing of the second of the two men. (Medina, 2/5)

Stat: Animal Study Suggests Omicron Boosters May Not Provide A Benefit 
A new study conducted in primates suggests there may not be a benefit from updating Covid-19 vaccines to target the Omicron variant at this time. The work, by scientists at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’s Vaccine Research Center, shows that animals boosted with the original vaccine had similar levels of protection against disease in the lungs as did primates that received an updated booster based on the Omicron strain. The work was done with Moderna’s licensed vaccine and a booster shot based on the Omicron variant. Study of blood from the animals showed that many of the measurable immune responses — rises in neutralizing antibody levels, for instance — were not substantially different, regardless of which booster shot they were given. (Branswell, 2/4)

USA Today: Omicron-Specific Booster May Not Be Needed Yet
A new pre-print study suggests that an omicron-specific COVID-19 booster may not be necessary at this point in time. The study, published Friday, found that an omicron-specific version of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine and a booster of the original vaccine generated similar immune responses in monkeys. Researchers vaccinated the primates with two shots of the Moderna vaccine, then boosted them either with the original vaccine or with an omicron-specific vaccine nine months later. The omicron-specific shot "provided no advantage" over the regular shot in producing antibodies, they found. (Tebor, 2/7)

In other news about vaccines —

Fox News: CDC Weighs Increasing Time Between Vaccine Doses To Lower Risk Of Heart Inflammation
U.S. health officials are considering new changes to vaccine guidance that would lengthen the amount of time between doses in order to lower the risk of heart inflammation for immunocompromised people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told a panel of outside advisers on Friday these proposed changes would apply to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Immunocompromised people, who generally don’t respond as well to vaccines, are the only population advised to get four vaccine jabs. (Betz, 2/6)

Axios: Kids' COVID Vaccines Create A New Dilemma For FDA, CDC 
Federal health regulators will soon face their next controversial vaccine decision: whether to authorize Pfizer's vaccine for children younger than 5, despite ongoing questions around dosing and effectiveness. Once again, the pandemic is forcing health officials to choose between unconventional vaccine approval methods and the human costs of abiding by more traditional — yet time-consuming — regulatory processes. (Owens, 2/7)

CIDRAP: Adults Living With HIV In New York Had Lower COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake
COVID-19 vaccine uptake among adults living with HIV in New York was lower than that of the rest of the state's population as of October 2021, according to a study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). New York public health agencies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studied COVID-19 vaccination rates among 101,205 state residents living with HIV as of October 24, 2021, using HIV surveillance and immunization registry data. (2/4)

Bangor Daily News: Cumberland County Outpaces Nearly Every US County In Vaccinating Children Against COVID-19
Cumberland County has more 5- to 11-year-olds fully vaccinated against COVID-19 than any county east of the Mississippi, a Bangor Daily News analysis of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows. More than 60 percent of Cumberland County’s 21,000 residents aged 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated, the data show. It’s a rate that is far higher than counties containing Boston, New York City and Los Angeles. The county ranks fourth in the nation for COVID-19 vaccinations in that age group. (Marino Jr., 2/7)

In updates on covid pills and treatments —

NBC News: Low-Income, Uninsured Face Hurdles To Obtain Covid Antivirals
When Regina Schearack and her 85-year-old father began to develop Covid symptoms last month, they went to get tested at a pharmacy in Midway, Georgia. After the tests came back positive, their pharmacist, Pete Nagel, said they had two options if they wanted treatment: Get a doctor to write a prescription and then return to the pharmacy for the newly authorized antiviral drugs or get four monoclonal antibody shots right away — two in the arms and two in the stomach. (McCausland, 2/6)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: COVID-19 At-Home Pills Hailed As 'Game-Changer' Slow To Leave Shelves
Some Wisconsin pharmacies have hundreds of courses of COVID-19 antiviral pills sitting in supply, amid a "surprising" lack of demand for the at-home pills hailed as a game-changer in treating COVID-19. Officials initially warned that supply of Paxlovid and molnupiravir, the two types of COVID-19 antiviral pills that became available in January, would be "extremely limited." But some pharmacies have hundreds of courses of the treatments in supply and have been filling few prescriptions for the treatments, even as COVID-19 cases surged. (Volpenhein, 2/5)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Montco Surgeon Fired For Allegedly Prescribing Bogus COVID-19 Drugs Through Italian Restaurant
A Montgomery County surgeon has been fired by Tower Health after allegations she prescribed two drugs for COVID-19 patients that the FDA has warned are ineffective and possibly dangerous. Edith D. Behr was terminated Thursday from her position at Pottstown Hospital, Tower announced Thursday. The allegations, which circulated over the past weeks on social media, contend that Behr had been working with a restaurateur in Lebanon County to prescribe the two drugs, which are not approved for treating COVID. (Affo, 2/4)

Crain's Detroit Business: Entrepreneurs Launch Goodbill To Target At-Home COVID Test Reimbursement, Negotiate Hospital Bills
Navigating insurers' methods for getting reimbursed for at-home COVID-19 tests can be complicated. It usually involves cutting bar codes off the box, filling out an online form, then printing that form and mailing it to the insurer. Detroit entrepreneur Ian Sefferman and colleagues in Seattle have streamlined that process with a new website called Goodbill. The site, and eventually coordinating mobile app, works by uploading your insurance card and the appropriate bar codes on the tests and automates the reimbursement process for the user. (Walsh, 2/4)

In other testing and monitoring updates —

Fox13Now.com: Utah Pausing Use Of Rapid Tests At State-Run Sites
The Utah Department of Health will temporarily pause the use of rapid antigen tests at state-operated COVID-19 testing sites starting Monday. This includes testing sites run by UDOH mobile test teams, TestUtah, and TourHealth. (Burt, 2/6)

USA Today: COVID Testing Sites, Labs Proliferate Amid Easy Money, Lax Oversight
Tents, storage units, trailers, a former barbershop, an old karate studio and worn-down suburban strip malls. The locations are among the hundreds of sites nationwide where pop-up coronavirus testing vendors have set up shop in recent months, capitalizing on lax regulations, financial incentives and high demand for testing. State officials have been warning residents to avoid unregulated sites. But many Americans – without free, quick and accessible alternatives for coronavirus testing – have rushed to the locations anyway. (Alltucker and Hauck, 2/6)

NPR: Antibody Tests Are Now In Drugstores. What Can They Tell You About COVID? 
My drugstore has started advertising antibody tests. Does that mean I can tell how protected I am from COVID by forking over a fee — I've seen $10 to $140 — and a vial of blood? Although antibody tests are increasingly available, the answer is, unfortunately, no. We put this question to experts, who explained why these tests — also called serology tests — are not yet useful for most individuals and why you definitely shouldn't change your behavior based on the results. (Eldred, 2/4)

CBS News: CDC To Ramp Up Wastewater Monitoring Program To Track COVID-19 
Hundreds of wastewater treatment sites across the country will start submitting water samples to laboratories to detect the presence of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday. Data from the water samples can help communities detect the virus early on, and is now published to the CDC's COVID Data Tracker. The updated data tracker allows people to see virus level changes in participating communities' wastewater over the last 15 days and will be updated daily, according to Dr. Amy Kirby, who leads the National Wastewater Surveillance program. The percentage of positive tests over the last 15 days will also be made available using the data tracker. (Powell, 2/5)

Also —

Forbes: Meet The Family-Owned Company That Invented Swabs For Covid Tests
On a foggy early Janu­ary day in the northern Italian city of Brescia, which was hit hard by the first wave of Covid-19 in 2020, Stefania Triva, 57, sets out two swabs side by side on her desk. One is a regular cotton Q-tip, the other a special “flocked” swab, studded with tiny synthetic fibers that resemble split ends. That special swab—made by her family’s 43-year-old company, Copan—is the key element in hundreds of millions of Covid-19 PCR tests currently being plunged into noses around the world. Sitting in front of a large red-and-yellow abstract painting and a corkboard filled with photos of her three children, Triva delves into the subtle differences that make her flocked swabs the gold standard. (Tognini, 2/6)

AP: Fed Up With Their County, Upstate Towns Consider Secession 
Some towns in upstate New York opposed to mask mandates and other public health measures put in place during the pandemic are considering voting with their feet and switching counties. The Buffalo News reported representatives from Marilla, Wales, Holland and Grand Island were among a group that met last week to discuss leaving Erie County for Wyoming or Niagara counties. (2/6)

And more on covid mandates —

The Wall Street Journal: Judges Weigh More Biden Vaccine-Mandate Cases After Supreme Court Rulings
Courts around the country are weighing how to apply the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent mixed guidance on the federal government’s power to impose Covid-19 vaccine mandates, as judges consider whether the Biden administration can enforce such requirements on groups including government contractors and federal workers. (Gershman, 2/6)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada Among Last 9 States With Rigid Indoor Mask Mandates
Nevada is one of nine states that still require people to wear a mask in indoor public places regardless of vaccination status, according to a new report by AARP. The other states that require masks indoors are California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington. With disease transmission still rampant in the state, Gov. Steve Sisolak’s medical advisory team has not discussed with either the governor’s office or the state health division about possibly ending or easing the mandate, epidemiologist Brian Labus, a member of the team, said Friday. (Hynes, 2/5)

Fox News: Johns Hopkins Study Reignites COVID Lockdown Debate
A recent controversial Johns Hopkins meta-analysis reignites a discussion about the adverse consequences of lockdowns after finding they had no significant mortality benefit during the first wave of the 2020 pandemic in the United States and Europe, according to a recent report. "We find no evidence that lockdowns, school closures, border closures and limiting gatherings have had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality," said the authors of the study, which is not peer-reviewed and reflects the authors' views, not necessarily those of the university.  The study authors, however, did find closing nonessential businesses reduced COVID-19 mortality by 10.6%, which is likely most related to the closure of bars. (Sudhakar, 2/5)

The Boston Globe: Protesters Gather Outside Brigham And Women’s Hospital Over Patient Dropped From Transplant List
About 100 protesters gathered outside Brigham and Women’s Hospital Sunday afternoon in support of a Massachusetts man whose family has said he was dropped from its heart transplant waitlist because he hasn’t been vaccinated for COVID-19. David Ferguson Jr., who is known as D.J., has been hospitalized since November, according to an online fund-raiser. His mother, Tracey Ferguson, has said he has been suffering complications from atrial fibrillation and deteriorating heart failure and has been treated at hospitals around Boston. Brigham and Women’s Hospital has told Ferguson that he was ineligible for a transplant because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19, according to his family. Ferguson’s father, David, told WBZ last month that vaccination against COVID-19 went against his son’s “basic principles. He doesn’t believe in it.” (Brinker and Hilliard, 2/6)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Deleted Stacey Abrams Tweet With No-Mask Photo Prompts Georgia Political Debate
The tweet from Stacey Abrams seemed innocuous enough, promoting her appearance at a Decatur school honoring Black History Month. But the pictures under the now-deleted post are what triggered a Republican backlash that could factor into the November race for governor. Abrams visited Glennwood Elementary School on Friday to talk about her new children’s book and speak with faculty and staff. The school’s principal tweeted her thanks — along with images of Abrams, without a mask, posing with students and faculty. Abrams amplified the message on social media. Within hours, Republicans had bombarded both the principal and Abrams with attacks criticizing the Democratic candidate. Not long after the principal deleted her tweet, Abrams did the same. (Bluestein, 2/6)

Also —

The Washington Post: N95, KN95 Masks Provide Best Protection Against Covid, CDC Study Shows
Wearing any kind of mask indoors is associated with significantly better protection from the coronavirus, with high-quality N95 and KN95 masks providing the best chance of avoiding infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. In indoor public settings, surgical masks reduce the chances of testing positive by 66 percent, the CDC estimated. Top-of-the-line N95 and KN95 masks, the tightfitting face coverings often worn by health-care workers, cut the odds of infection by 83 percent, the health agency said. (Bernstein and Sellers, 2/4)

KHN: Ready For Another Pandemic Malady? It’s Called ‘Decision Fatigue’ 
Most all of us have felt the exhaustion of pandemic-era decision-making. Should I travel to see an elderly relative? Can I see my friends and, if so, is inside OK? Mask or no mask? Test or no test? What day? Which brand? Is it safe to send my child to day care? Questions that once felt trivial have come to bear the moral weight of a life-or-death choice. So it might help to know (as you’re tossing and turning over whether to cancel your non-refundable vacation) that your struggle has a name: decision fatigue. (Gold, 2/7)

Stat: Doctors, Public Health Groups Mount A Rare Campaign For Biden’s FDA Pick
Some of the nation’s most influential doctors and public health groups are orchestrating a mad-dash effort to convince senators to confirm Robert Califf, President Biden’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Advocacy groups like the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Friends of Cancer Research are calling lawmakers and their staff. The American Heart Association is organizing an activist call-in campaign. Even celebrity doctors and Califf’s former colleagues at Duke University are phoning Capitol Hill. (Florko and Cohrs, 2/7)

Stat: Biden FDA Pick Vows To Reform Accelerated Approvals To Win Senator’s Vote
President Biden’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration promised a key senator that he will crack down on drug companies abusing the so-called accelerated approval pathway within a month of his confirmation. Robert Califf met with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, last week, STAT first reported. In a new letter made public Friday, Wyden provides a clear summation of his discussion with the nominee. Califf promised not to halt the use of the accelerated approval pathway, which allows the FDA to approve drugs without clear evidence they help patients live longer, but instead to discipline drug makers that get drugs approved via the shortcut pathway and then drag their feet on the follow-up clinical trials mandated by the FDA. (Florko, 2/4)

Roll Call: Wyden Probes FDA Nominee's Views On Accelerated Drug Approvals 
Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is pressing the White House's nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, Robert Califf, to pledge to crack down on drugmakers' use of fast-track approval pathways as the nominee seeks the chairman's support. Wyden's support of Califf is crucial to his confirmation vote in the closely divided Senate, especially given some other Democrats' concerns over the nomination. But Wyden's requests don't necessarily mean he's a no vote, a Finance Committee staffer said. Several Senate Democrats recently expressed skepticism about voting to confirm Califf, and several, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., have said they will not confirm the Biden administration's nominee. (Cohen, 2/7)

And more news from the Biden administration —

CBS News: Health And Human Services Secretary To Take More Active Public Role In Coming Weeks 
President Biden on Friday phoned a man who, on paper, serves as one of the country's top federal health officials but, in reality, has kept a notably low profile as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage. In a recent phone call from the Oval Office, Mr. Biden told Health and Human Health Services Secretary Xavier Becerra that he is pleased with the former California congressman's oversight of the sprawling department, and that he looks forward to boosting secretary's profile in the coming weeks, multiple people confirm to CBS News. "He just wanted him to know directly that he feels good about the work going on at HHS and that, going forward, he looks forward to working closely together," said one of the people, who, like other administration officials and lawmakers familiar with the situation, was granted anonymity to speak frankly about the conversation. (O'Keefe, 2/6)

CNN: Xavier Becerra, HHS Secretary, Has Been A Background Player For Much Of His Tenure. He Says That's About To Change
Stung by accusations that he's been absent during a once-in-a-century public health crisis, Xavier Becerra -- the country's top health official -- tells CNN he's looking to step into a bigger public role as part of a reset a year into dealing with the dominant issue in his portfolio. President Joe Biden has been disturbed himself with the recent string of stories, and on Friday called his Health and Human Services secretary directly from the Oval Office to say he was pleased with the work being done and that he had Becerra's back, according to two people told about the call. This followed White House chief of staff Ron Klain reaching out to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to reiterate support. On Sunday, the White House announced Becerra will join first lady Jill Biden Wednesday on a trip to Minnesota for a listening session on childcare provisions within the administration's Covid relief package. (Dovere, 2/6)

Stat: Eric Lander’s All-Staff Mea Culpa Is The Latest In A String Of Apologies 
It wasn’t his first apology. But the sweeping mea culpa that Eric Lander issued this past week might have been his most remarkable yet. In an all-staff email, the White House science adviser apologized to his employees for speaking to them “in a disrespectful or demeaning way.” The letter, which Politico reported on Friday, represents just the latest in a string of Lander controversies dating back years. It is sure, also, to cement his reputation as a researcher whose brilliance is often interpreted, fairly or not, as arrogance. (Facher, 2/6)

AP: School Lunch Rules Updated To Help Ease Pandemic Disruptions 
Low-fat chocolate milk instead of only non-fat. Fewer whole-grain offerings. Less severe salt limits. The Biden administration issued transitional standards for school lunches Friday that are meant to ease the path for cafeterias to get back on a more healthful course as they recover from pandemic and supply chain disruptions. Schools have struggled to meet the government’s nutrition benchmarks through the pandemic but have not been punished for falling short. The “bridge” rule announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture extends emergency flexibilities for the next two school years as schools gradually transition back to normal. (Thompson, 2/4)

The Washington Post: School Lunch Menus To Get Shakeup With New USDA Rule 
The Biden administration will make schools and child-care providers offer low-fat or nonfat unflavored milks, and limit the fat in sweet flavored milks, among other things. At least 80 percent of the grains served in school lunch and breakfast each week must be considered rich in whole grains, under the new policies. And while the weekly sodium limit for school lunch and breakfast will remain at the current level, there will be a 10 percent decrease required for the 2023-2024 school year. These adjustments would mark a change from the direction that the Trump administration took when it came to nutrition standards at schools. Trump aides had rolled back rules, initially easing policies regarding whole grain, nonfat milk and sodium, citing food waste and nonparticipation as key rationales. (Reiley, 2/4)

Politico: Biden Inches Back Toward Michelle Obama’s School Nutrition Standards
The Biden administration today is issuing a new rule asking schools to soon start meeting nutrition standards that were strengthened at the urging of former first lady Michelle Obama — but were suspended during the pandemic as schools struggled to procure more nutritious options. The stricter nutrition standards — which cut sodium, require more whole grains and mandate more fruits and vegetables — were also partially relaxed during the Trump administration. One of former Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s first moves was to “Make School Meals Great Again” by loosening rules for whole grains, sodium and flavored milks. (Evich, 2/4)

And New York City schools begin 'Vegan Fridays' —

New York Daily News: Vegan Fridays At NYC Schools Gets Off To Uneven Start 
A new “vegan Fridays” initiative in city public school cafeterias off to an uneven start, with some schools lacking fully vegan offerings and some kids and parents panning the new plant-based menu. The new initiative was supposed to kick off in schools citywide with vegan veggie tacos and seasoned broccoli, according to the DOE school food menu. In reality, schools served a mix of entrees, some dairy-free and some not, depending on the supplies they had on hand, earning mixed reviews from students and parents. (Moynihan and Elsen-Rooney, 2/4)

Eater NY: New Yorkers Share Photos On Twitter Of NYC’s First ‘Vegan Friday’ Meals 
Mayor Eric Adams made headlines on Thursday when he announced that New York City schools would be required to serve completely vegan lunches on Fridays, effective the following day. The mandate is off to a rocky start in the nation’s largest school system. New Yorkers took to Twitter on Friday morning, sharing images of school lunches that left something to be desired: dry black bean tacos, bags of chips, sad-looking stir fries, and other meals that city officials claim to be nutrient-packed. Several users on the social media platform say their children were dished up food that wasn’t actually vegan, like lasagna and bean and cheese burritos. (Fortney and Orlow, 2/4)

In related news —

Insider: Expert: How Parents Can Make A Difference In School Nutrition
When Chris Vangellow's four children returned to in-person learning after being remote for much of the COVID-19 pandemic, they noticed something different about school lunches. Now that lunches were free for everyone — a federal policy during the 2021-22 school year — the kids reported that portion sizes were getting smaller and smaller, and the food was becoming less and less appetizing. Vangellow encouraged his kids, ages 13, 14, 15, and 16, to pack snacks from home to supplement school lunch, especially on days they had sports. But he couldn't let go of what they had said. (Burch, 1/25)

Press Association: Scientists Create Spinal Cord Implants That Could Allow Paralyzed People To Walk
A scientific breakthrough may enable paralysed people to walk again as researchers have created human spinal cord implants in a world first. The 3D implants, made using human cells, had an 80% success rate in restoring the ability to walk in paralysed mice in the laboratory, researchers said. Tissue samples from patients are transformed into functioning spinal cord implants through a process that mimics the development of the spinal cord in human embryos. Over the next few years the scientists plan to be able to create personalised implants to repair tissue damaged from injury, and without the risk of rejection by the body. (2/7)

In other research news —

NPR: Depression Responds To Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Treatment In Studies
At the end of the first day, an unfamiliar calm settled over Emma. Even when her partner picked her up to drive home, she stayed relaxed. "I'm usually hysterical," she said. "All the time I'm grabbing things. I'm yelling, you know, 'Did you see those lights?' And while I rode home that first night I just looked out the window and I enjoyed the ride." The remedy was a new type of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) called "Stanford neuromodulation therapy." By adding imaging technology to the treatment and upping the dose of rTMS, scientists have developed an approach that's more effective and works more than eight times faster than the current approved treatment. (McClurg, 2/6)

In pharmaceutical and biotech developments —

Stat: FDA Regulator Gives Cool Reception To Drug Lilly Licensed From Chinese Firm
A Food and Drug Administration meeting scheduled for next week to review a Chinese-developed cancer immunotherapy is likely to be challenging for drug sponsor Eli Lilly, following skeptical comments published Friday evening by the U.S. agency’s top cancer regulator. Writing in Lancet Oncology, the FDA’s Richard Pazdur described imported cancer drug data from China as a “bridge over troubled waters.” As an example, Pazdur singled out sintilimab, an anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor developed by the China-based drugmaker Innovent and licensed to Lilly. (Feuerstein, 2/4)

Stat: The Quest For The Small Molecule Holy Grail With Merck's Head Of R&D
Scientists at Merck are staring down a drug development puzzle. One that has to do with a mutated protein called PCSK9, which is associated with the production of harmful levels of cholesterol in the blood. The PCSK9 protein is actually relatively easy to target a drug against. Two cholesterol-lowering monoclonal antibodies that work by blocking PCSK9 were approved back in 2015. Last December, the FDA approved a third treatment that works by interfering with the RNA that precedes PCSK9. But all of these medicines are administered by regular injections. The puzzle that Merck scientists are trying to solve is how to design a more convenient pill that can lower cholesterol by also blocking PCSK9. (Tirrell, Feuerstein and Garde, 2/7)

Axios: The “Next Frontier” For Pioneering Cancer Therapies 
Cancer treatments that modify a patient's immune cells to attack cancer cells are being re-engineered to try to treat more cancers in more people. CAR-T immunotherapies have been successful in treating certain types of blood cancers in some people. But they struggle against solid tumors, which make up about 90% of cancers in adults. "Solid tumors are the next frontier," says J. Joseph Melenhorst, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania who develops CAR-T therapies. (Snyder, 2/6)

Fox News: Limiting Screen Time In Infants May Decrease Risk Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Study Finds
Male toddlers who watched more television at age one were more likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at age 3, compared to those without any screen time, according to a recent multi-site Japanese study published in JAMA Pediatrics. "[A]mid the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rapid change in lifestyles, with electronic devices being used as the main channels of communication and social interactions," the authors wrote.  "Amid this social climate, examining the associations of screen exposure with a child's health is an important public health issue." (Sudhakar, 2/4)

In other pediatric news —

CNN: Pregnant Women Who Are Overweight Are Less Likely To Affect Children's Weight Than Previously Thought 
A pregnant woman's body mass index has less of an influence on her child's BMI than previously believed, according to a new study. BMI is a measure that uses height and weight data to track changes in weight. Children with a high BMI, measuring 25 or higher, were more likely to be overweight or obese due to environmental factors rather than their mother's weight when she was pregnant, found the study published in the journal BMC Medicine. Environmental factors include anything that makes children eat more and exercise less, said study author Tom Bond, senior research associate at the University of Bristol and visiting researcher at Imperial College London. (Marples, 2/7)

CNN: Eating Disorders And Children: The Pandemic Is Making Them Worse 
Like many girls in high school, Ella (not her real name) had days where she struggled with self-esteem. "I was able to cope with it because I had sports, I had friends, and I had school. Then the pandemic hit in March (2020) and I lost all of that," said Ella, who looks younger than her 15 years. "I wanted to do something proactive to help me cope, so I turned to exercise. I'd run almost every day. I went for bike rides and for hour-long walks." A runner herself, Ella's mom Alice (also not her real name) was pleased to see her daughter embracing such healthy habits during the dreary months of lockdown in their home town of Ottawa, Canada. But it wasn't long before she noticed that if Ella wasn't exercising, she appeared nervous and edgy. (LaMotte, 2/4)

In other public health news —

CIDRAP: US Flu Markers Decline Further, H3N2 Still Dominant
US flu levels dropped further and dipped below the national baseline last week, though sporadic activity continues across the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest weekly update. The percentage of outpatient visits for flulike illness declined from 2.8% to 2.0% last week, putting it below the national baseline of 2.5%. (2/4)

AP: Millions In Tax Dollars Flow To Anti-Abortion Centers In US 
Anti-abortion centers across the country are receiving tens of millions of tax dollars to talk women out of ending their pregnancies, a nearly fivefold increase from a decade ago that resulted from an often-overlooked effort by mostly Republican-led states. The nonprofits known as crisis pregnancy centers are typically religiously affiliated and counsel clients against having an abortion as part of their free but limited services. That practice and the fact that they generally are not licensed as medical facilities have raised questions about whether it’s appropriate to funnel so much tax money their way. (Kruesi, 2/5)

The New York Times: The Pandemic Has Made Many Seniors Less Active 
Many health experts are worried about worsening physical conditioning and mobility among older adults since Covid-19 upended the daily routine. Recent research indicates that many of those who had mild to moderate infections, even some who have managed to avoid the virus altogether, may be suffering functional declines. To date, much of the attention paid to the pandemic’s effects on the older population has focused on its frightful mortality rate: Nearly three-quarters of Americans who have died have been 65 or older. (Span, 2/5)

Health News Florida: Shriners Hospitals For Children Is Closing Its Tampa Facility 
Shriners Hospitals for Children is closing its only facility in Florida. In a statement, the organization said its outpatient clinic on the University of South Florida's Tampa campus closes April 1. In a statement, Shriners spokesman Mel Bower said the organization is working on identifying ways to continue providing patient care in the region. "As health care has evolved from inpatient care to outpatient focused models of care, we have already started transitioning portions of our care to local and state affiliates who complement our services locally and throughout the state of Florida," Bower said in the statement. (2/4)

AP: UChicago Medicine To Build $663M Cancer Hospital In City
A $633 million and 500,000-square-foot cancer hospital through University of Chicago Medicine has been pitched for the city’s South Side. Hospital officials have submitted an application for site planning to the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board. Construction wouldn’t begin until next year and the hospital could open to patients by 2026. (2/6)

Modern Healthcare: Home Care Startup ConcertoCare Nabs $105 Million To Expand Palliative Services
ConcertoCare raised a $105 million to expand its home care services beyond the eight states where it currently operates, the company announced on Thursday. Wells Fargo Capital led the Series B round, with participation from Obvious Ventures, Vast Ventures, the Schusterman Family Foundation, SteelSky Ventures, Pennington Partners and Deerfield Management. The startup has raised nearly $150 million in total funding. (Tepper, 2/4)

Modern Healthcare: OU Health Names Inaugural CEO
Dr. Richard Lofgren was named CEO of OU Health, the integrated academic health system announced Friday. Lofgren, the longtime chief executive at UC Health in Cincinnati, will lead the newly formed OU Health, which was created last year after OU Medicine hospitals and its affiliated physicians merged. Prior to UC Health, Lofgren was an executive at University HealthSystem Consortium, which has since been acquired by the group purchasing organization Vizient. (Kacik, 2/4)

In obituaries —

The Boston Globe: Dr. Herbert Benson, Who Documented And Promoted Meditation’s Health Benefits, Dies At 86
For those who had doubts about trying to reap the medical benefits of what he dubbed “the relaxation response,” Dr. Herbert Benson had a ready answer. “It’s not a drug, there are no side effects, and it’s cheap, other than your time,” he told the Globe in 2011. “It changes your genes’ activity. What could be more profound than that?” A pioneer in studying and extolling the medical benefits of meditation, Dr. Benson died of heart disease and kidney failure Thursday in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He was 86 and lived in Brookline. (Marquard, 2/6)

Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Parents' Rights Bill Raises Alarm About Impact On Child Abuse
A proposed law to protect parents' rights in Kentucky is raising alarm among critics who say it could upend efforts to protect children from abuse and neglect, interfere with education and lead to more lawsuits with the state liable for costs. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, a non-partisan group, said the bill, known as the "Parents' Rights Protection Act," could have significant, unintended consequences in areas including child protection. "Parental rights are clearly important and must be upheld," Brooks said. "However, those rights should not come with a cost of failing to protect children from abuse or neglect." (Yetter, 2/7)

AP: Nashville Expanding Mental Health Worker, Police Partnership 
Nashville announced that it will expand a pilot project that pairs mental health professionals with police after the program’s first seven months yielded promising results. The announcement comes roughly a week after nine law enforcement officers — including six from Metro Nashville Police — fatally shot a man walking on Interstate 65. Officers speaking to him for about 30 minutes failed to de-escalate the situation. Landon Eastep’s wife, Chelesy Eastep, later told reporters her husband had woken up “agitated” and decided to go for a walk to calm down. Eastep’s death sparked a call for greater focus on mental health crisis response. (2/6)

Philadelphia Inquirer: ‘Absolutely Repulsive’: Outlaw Slams Cops Who Abuse Philly’s Injured-On-Duty Benefits
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw has vowed to investigate and punish Philadelphia police officers who are abusing a generous state disability benefit at a time when hundreds of officers say they are too injured to work. An Inquirer investigation, “MIA: Crisis in the Ranks,” published last week, found that at least 652 officers were labeled “injured on duty” on a 2021 list shared between the Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office, a figure that had more than doubled since 2017. (Gambacorta, Laker and Bender, 2/7)

North Carolina Health News: Wake Forest University Students On Fertilizer Plant Fire 
On the evening of Jan. 31, a fertilizer plant with 600 tons of ammonium nitrate inside caught on fire on Cherry Street in Winston-Salem, displacing 6,500 residents while emergency officials waited to see if the combustible materials would cause explosions. The Winston Weaver Company Fertilizer site is not too far from Wake Forest University, a campus with nearly 7,600 students who will return to class this week with many questions after a chaotic several days. Many are wondering about the long-term effects of being in close proximity to such a huge fire. (Jallow, 2/7)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Booming Missouri Medical Marijuana Industry Bets On Full Legalization In 2022 
Missouri medical marijuana sales are climbing, and thousands of workers have flocked to the industry. Now, business owners are betting big on full legalization in 2022. In the town of Humansville, Missouri, troops of cannabis workers are tending to crops in a facility about the size of a typical Target store. They are cultivating dozens of strains of flower for Flora Farms, one of the state’s most ubiquitous brands. “We think the market will go up three or four times (if full legalization passes),” said Mark Hendren, president of Flora Farms. “We hope that, and we expect that. And that’s just looking at what’s happened in other markets.” (Suntrup, 2/6)

Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi To Accept Medical Marijuana License Applications By June
Days after medical marijuana was legalized in Mississippi, the Mississippi State Department of Health, the entity overseeing the program, announced when it will begin accepting applications for licenses. By June, the state health department plans to begin accepting online medical marijuana license applications for patients, medical practitioners and cannabis cultivation facilities, according to a department news release Friday. After the process kicks off in June, there will be a 30-day approval time for licensure applications and a five-day approval time for program patients. (Haselhorst, 2/4)

The CT Mirror: Roads Are Deadlier Than Ever. Figuring Out Why Is Complicated.
On March 23, 2020, Connecticut came to a standstill. In an effort to control the devastating spread of COVID-19, Gov. Ned Lamont instructed all non-essential businesses to stop in-person operations and asked residents to “Stay Safe, Stay at Home.” As state after state issued lockdown orders, roads across the country emptied. Major highways were eerily deserted, and traffic fell to new lows. But something else started to happen, too. Even though there were fewer cars on the road, more people were dying in car crashes. (Golvala and Altimari, 2/6)

In news about the housing crisis and how it affects your health —

San Francisco Chronicle: Is Homelessness Increasing In San Francisco? Here’s Why The Data Isn’t Yet Clear
The coronavirus pandemic postponed the Point-in-Time, or PIT, count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless people that was to be held in 2021.The PIT count is a federally mandated tally of people experiencing homelessness conducted every two years that is considered the best data for measuring homelessness trends across the U.S. The last count was held in 2019, and indicated 8,035 people were experiencing homelessness in San Francisco. (Jung, 2/4)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Planned To Compel More People Into Drug And Mental Health Treatment. So Far, Only Two Have Been Helped
In 2019, San Francisco identified about 4,000 unhoused people who also struggled with addiction and mental illness, many of them deteriorating visibly on the streets. The tally came not long after the city broadened its rules on who can be forced into court-ordered mental health and drug treatment, a move that could have applied to 50 to 100 people, according to one estimate. But only two people have been treated by the expanded rules so far. (Morris, 2/5)

KHN: How The Tiny-Home Movement Is Providing More Than Just A Roof To Homeless People 
Tucked inside a residential neighborhood, and surrounded by a wooden fence and greenery, are nine little houses. With multicolored siding and roofs, they look like people-sized birdhouses. And they fit right in. So does Gene Cox, 48. He hasn’t been homeless in more than seven years. That’s the point of this little development. “This is the longest time I’ve stayed in one place,” said Cox, nursing coffee and a cigarette outside his tiny home after working second shift as a benefits administrator. “I’m very nomadic. I’ve moved around Wisconsin a lot over the last 22 years.” (Bruce, 2/7)

AP: Australia To Open Borders To Vaccinated Travelers On Feb. 21 
Australia will open its borders to all vaccinated tourists and business travelers from Feb. 21 in a further relaxation of pandemic restrictions announced Monday. Australia imposed some of the world’s toughest travel restrictions on its citizens and permanent residents in March 2020 to prevent them from bringing COVID-19 home. (McGuirk, 2/7)

In covid updates from China and the Olympic Games —

Axios: U.S. Figure Skater Vincent Zhou Tests Positive For COVID At Olympics 
Team USA men's figure skater Vincent Zhou has tested positive for COVID-19 following regular screening at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, officials announced Monday. "Under the guidance of the [U.S. Olympic Committee] medical staff, Zhou is undergoing additional testing to confirm his status," per a statement from U.S. Figure skating officials. "If the results are negative, Zhou will be able to compete in the men's short program, which begins Tuesday," the statement added. (Falconer, 2/7)

CNBC: China's Zero-Covid Policy 'Won't Work' With Omicron: Epidemiologist
China’s strict zero-Covid approach won’t be able to limit the spread of the highly infectious omicron variant, according to a U.S. epidemiologist. Beijing may not be able to use the same “authoritarian approaches” against omicron because the variant is unlike the others, Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said on Friday. “Trying to stop omicron is kind of like trying to stop the wind,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.” China is “uniquely at risk” to omicron, Osterholm said, for a combination of reasons: Early studies suggest its Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines are “not very effective” against the variant, and at the same time China’s success at preventing the spread of Covid so far means it has a very large population that remains vulnerable. (Bala, 2/6)

In news from Canada and Russia —

USA Today: US Closely Tied To Protests Against COVID Mandates In Canada
A former American diplomat says U.S. anti-vaccination groups must stop efforts to fuel protests in Canada – and GoFundMe shut down a funding page set up by U.S. groups in support of Canadian truckers and others protesting COVID-19 measures there. “Under no circumstances should any group in the USA fund disruptive activities in Canada. Period. Full stop,” said Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada under President Barack Obama, on Twitter. "How is it many Republicans are publicly more 'concerned' about events in Canada than Russia?" (Bacon, Ortiz and Thornton, 2/6)

Fox News: Unvaccinated Dad Loses Custody Of Kids; Judge Waves Away Dad's Research On Jabs
An unvaccinated father in New Brunswick, Canada, lost custody of his children, including an immunocompromised 10-year-old, after a judge ruled in favor of the mother late last month, according to reports. The parents, who were not identified in the court ruling, had separated in 2019 but shared custody of their three kids. Last year, the mother asked to have the custody agreement changed because the father and his new wife refuse to be vaccinated and in light of their daughter’s ongoing treatment for non-cancerous tumors in her blood vessels, according to CBC News. Justice Nathalie Godbout said she made the decision with a "heavy heart" but it was necessary for the child’s health amid the coronavirus pandemic and the recent effects of the omicron variant. (Stimson, 2/5)

AP: Russia Hits New COVID-19 Record; 10x More Than A Month Ago
Russia is reporting a record daily count of new coronavirus infections, a tenfold spike from a month ago as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads through the country. The figure of 189,071 new infections released by the state coronavirus task force on Sunday was about 2,800 cases more than the previous day and continued a surge that began in mid-January, when daily new cases were around 17,000. (Heintz, 2/6)

In other global developments —

ABC News: Pope Decries Genital Mutilation, Sex Trafficking Of Women 
Pope Francis on Sunday decried the genital mutilation of millions of girls and the trafficking of women for sex, including openly on city streets, so others can make money off of them. In remarks to the public in St. Peter’s Square, the pope noted that the day was dedicated worldwide to ending the ritual mutilation, and he told the crowd that some 3 million girls each year undergo the practice, “often in conditions very dangerous for the health.” (D'Emilio, 2/6)

The Washington Post: Urban Air Pollution Affects 2.5 Billion People Worldwide, Study Says 
About 86 percent of people living in urban areas worldwide — 2.5 billion people — are being exposed to air pollution levels roughly seven times greater than World Health Organization guidelines, according to new research, led by George Washington University researchers and published in the Lancet Planetary Health journal. (Searing, 2/6)

The Star Tribune: COVID Treatment Warrants Fresh Look 
COVID-19's omicron variant spelled trouble in multiple ways. It is highly transmissible. It weakened vaccines' defense against infection, though the shots still confer strong protection against severe illness. In addition, two of three widely used monoclonal antibody treatments for those infected with it are essentially ineffective. The virus's ability to surprise requires a medical arsenal that adapts nimbly as well. Given that, it's time for the World Health Organization (WHO) and other officials to take a fresh look at a historic infectious disease treatment — convalescent plasma. (2/6)

NBC News: How To Fight The Next New Covid Variant After Omicron? Plan For It Now
Every few days, the story goes, villagers hear cries for help coming from the river and pull out people who are drowning. This cycle repeats itself, over and over. The village builds floats; it trains search and rescue teams. But as time passes, people continue to drown, and it feels like an impossible battle to win. Some people in the village start to say, “We should just let them drown.” Arguments ensue, until one day they realize the drowning people are all coming from rapids upstream. When villagers put up a sign warning boaters about the rapids, boats stop capsizing — and drowning passengers stop drifting down into the village. (Dr. Megan Ranney, 2/5)

Los Angeles Times: What Americans Can Learn From Brazil’s COVID Fight 
Getting vaccines into arms remains a huge challenge for policymakers and public health experts as we struggle to manage COVID-19 and prepare for the next pandemic. On this front, Brazil’s experience can offer some compelling and relevant guidance. For one, Brazil is messy like the United States. It is geographically sprawling and diverse, with similar patterns of racial injustice and economic inequality, and with a similarly decentralized government that makes it hard to carry out coherent national policies. (Jessica Rich, 2/6)

The New York Times: The Covid Policy That Really Mattered Wasn’t A Policy 
If the C.D.C. had recommended better masks from the beginning, how many people would have worn them and for how long? If the Biden administration had flooded stores with cheap rapid tests, would people have used them? If boosters had been pushed earlier, and more loudly, would the United States no longer trail peer nations in vaccinations? Put differently: How much would getting our pandemic policies right have mattered? (Ezra Klein, 2/6)

Stat: High-Risk Individuals Aren't Getting Priority For Monoclonal Antibodies 
Ms. S, a primary care patient in one of our clinics (M.L.B.), recently called in with loss of taste and a terrible cough, worse than her regular breathing problems. She said she had gone out to play bingo the past weekend with friends, her first outing in weeks. Two days later, one of her friends called and told Ms. S she had tested positive for Covid-19. Ms. S was frightened — as an older woman with heart and lung conditions, getting Covid-19 posed a serious threat to her life, especially since she hadn’t yet received her booster vaccine. But she didn’t have a home test to check for Covid-19.“What do I do now?” she asked. (Caroline Behr and Michael L. Barnett, 2/4)

Stat: A Supreme Court Ruling Led To The Shortage Of Home Covid-19 Tests 
Many pharmacies across the nation are sold out of Covid-19 rapid diagnostic tests, making it exceedingly difficult for Americans to contain the spread of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Similar shortages and backlogs hampered efforts to control earlier surges, too. The lack of diagnostic tests has been blamed on everything from slow FDA approval of rapid tests to manufacturers deliberately restricting supplies to keep prices high. But there’s another culprit — the U.S. Supreme Court. (Paul R. Michel, 2/7)

Bloomberg: Moderna’s HIV Vaccine Trial Will Advance Many Companies' MRNA Plans 
The first volunteers have rolled up their sleeves for a new kind of vaccine against HIV, developed by Moderna and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Like Moderna’s Covid vaccine, the shot uses mRNA technology to deliver the instructions for key proteins needed to build an immune response. The trial could be a pivotal moment for mRNA. With luck, it will demonstrate how the technology can be deployed in areas of medicine where progress has been slow or nonexistent. Researchers have spent decades working out a possible way to inoculate people against HIV, and mRNA will make it possible to test the theory much faster than expected. (Lisa Jarvis, 2/4)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Pass Bill To Provide Dementia Training For First Responders
Police are responding to a growing number of incidents involving those with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. (Trey Addison, 2/5)

The Baltimore Sun: Nursing Shortage Is A National Health Issue 
At the height of the pandemic nurses made headlines as heroes. Nearly two years into the pandemic, nurses make headlines walking out of their jobs and leaving bedside care. Some nurses resign from burnout and fatigue. Others are choosing to become travel nurses, retire early or to simply leave the profession entirely. The nursing shortage is leading hospitals to close units or scale back services, which affects not only high acuity units like the Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Department, but long-term care, labor and delivery, and the operating room.Desperate to keep their units staffed, hospitals are offering upwards of $40,000 sign-on bonuses and paying upwards of $140 an hour out of desperation. (2/6)

Crain's Chicago Business: Threats, Intimidation Against Doctors And Health Workers Must End 
The AMA has advocated against the culture of violencein America, including domestic violence, gun violence, racism, police brutality and xenophobia—and violence against physicians and health professionals is no exception. While not a new occurrence, the reported uptick in intimidation, threats and attacks toward people in the medical field has been on the rise for at least the last decade—and has become even more of an alarming phenomenon since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The AMA believes when it comes to healthcare, physicians’ voices should be the loudest in the room—and we make it happen every day. (Dr. Gerald E. Harmon, 2/4)

The CT Mirror: Heavy Metals Contamination Is Affecting Connecticut Communities
Corporate facilities around the United States routinely release toxic chemicals including heavy metals into the surrounding land, air, and water – sometimes without the knowledge of neighboring people. Historic industrial communities are rife with hazardous pollution and sadly, Connecticut has hundreds of potential and known hazardous waste sites that need to be cleaned up, some of the worst air quality in the country, and rivers and lakes that are contaminated with industrial toxins and poisonous mercury. The rates of asthma and cancer are among the highest in the country, and both can be attributed to environmental factors. (Jonathan Sharp, 2/4)

The New York Times: Who Are We Caring For In The I.C.U.? 
We gathered as a medical team in front of my patient’s room early one Saturday. She was one of the sickest patients in the intensive care unit. Her lungs were destroyed by cancer and a rare reaction to her chemotherapy, and her condition worsened each day, despite aggressive interventions. It was clear that there was nothing more that we could do. Except to keep her alive until Monday. Struggling to come to terms with this reality, her family had begged us to continue our interventions through the weekend. So we would keep her intubated, deeply sedated and, we hoped, pain-free, performing the rituals of intensive care until the family was ready to say goodbye. (Daniela J. Lamas, 2/6)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The Kids Needlessly Stuck In Hospitals 
Across the country, there are children confined to a hospital room — missing school, cut off from peers and unable to even step outside — for no medical reason. There’s simply nowhere else for them to go. The ongoing pandemic has caused mental health crises among the young to skyrocket. An increasing number of these children and adolescents are admitted to an emergency room where they are assessed and stabilized. And then they wait. (Aisha Sultan, 2/6)

USA Today: Fentanyl Deaths: Young Americans' Fear And Depression Drive Overdoses
Even as we still grapple with COVID-19, an epidemic lurking beneath the surface may be disrupting the lives of young Americans even more.  Based on a recent analysis of Centers for Disease Control data, fentanyl has become the predominant killer for Americans ages 18 to 45. In the past two years, deaths from fentanyl have significantly exceeded deaths from COVID-19 for this age group. The overdoses cut across gender, race, socioeconomic status and geography. (Henna Hundal, 2/6)