CNBC: U.S. Could Ramp Up Slow Covid Vaccinations By Giving Two Half Doses Of Moderna Shot
The head of the federal government’s Covid-19 vaccine program said Sunday that health officials are exploring the idea of giving a major group of Americans half volume doses of one vaccine to accelerate the rollout. Moncef Slaoui, the head of Operation Warp Speed, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that one way to speed up immunizations against Covid-19 was to give two half-volume doses of the Moderna vaccine to some individuals. (Pound, 1/3)

Reuters: U.S. May Cut Some Moderna Vaccine Doses In Half To Speed Rollout, Official Says
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had administered 4,225,756 first doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 13,071,925 doses. ... [Moncef] Slaoui said he was optimistic vaccinations would continue to accelerate. He rejected the suggestion that officials should prioritize giving more people a single shot, rather than holding back doses for the second shot, saying that cutting Moderna vaccine doses in half was “a more responsible approach that would be based on facts and data.”

Politico: Feds May Cut Moderna Vaccine Doses In Half So More People Get Shots, Warp Speed Adviser Says 
Earlier Sunday, top federal infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci cautioned that the government shouldn't deviate from the doses and schedules used in clinical trials on the vaccines, adding that distribution efforts need to be more efficient. "We know what the science tells us," Fauci said on NBC's "Meet the Press," without directly addressing Slaoui's suggestion. "So my feeling ... is let's do it the way the clinical trials have instructed us to do it. But let's get more efficient into getting it into people's arms." (Ehley, 1/3)

The New York Times: As Rollout Falters, Scientists Debate New Vaccination Tactics 
As governments around the world rush to vaccinate their citizens against the surging coronavirus, scientists are locked in a heated debate over a surprising question: Is it wisest to hold back the second doses everyone will need, or to give as many people as possible an inoculation now — and push back the second doses until later? Since even the first shot appears to provide some protection against Covid-19, some experts believe that the shortest route to containing the virus is to disseminate the initial injections as widely as possible now. (Wu and Robbins, 1/3)

CNN: More Than 4.2 Million Coronavirus Vaccines Have Been Given And Experts Say The US Needs To Go Faster 
With more than 4.2 million people given their first doses of Covid-19 vaccines so far, experts say the pace of inoculation in the US needs to speed up. "No excuses -- we're not where we want to be, but hopefully we'll pick up some momentum and get back to where we want to be with regard to getting it into people's arms," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday on NBC's Meet The Press. (Holcombe, 1/4)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Vaccine Has Arrived, But Frustrated Americans Are Struggling To Sign Up
After months of anticipation, millions of doses of the two authorized coronavirus vaccines — made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — are flowing into hospitals and health departments across the nation, putting the end of the pandemic in sight. But Americans trying to access shots are encountering systems that vary widely county to county and that, in many places, are overwhelmed. Some counties and hospital systems launched reservation websites, only for them to quickly become booked or crash. Others announced appointments only through Facebook, with slots filling before some residents knew to look. And many have not revealed how the vaccine will be made available to anyone beyond health-care workers and long-term care residents and employees, the focus of the first round of vaccinations. (Shammas and Rozsa, 1/3)

AP: Fauci: Vaccinations Are Ramping Up In A `Glimmer Of Hope'
The U.S. ramped up COVID-19 vaccinations in the past few days after a slower-than-expected start, bringing the number of shots dispensed to about 4 million, government health officials said Sunday. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, also said on ABC’s “This Week” that President-elect Joe Biden’s pledge to administer 100 million shots of the vaccine within his first 100 days in office is achievable. And he rejected President Donald Trump’s false claim on Twitter that coronavirus deaths and cases in the U.S. have been greatly exaggerated. (Robertson, 1/3)

Also —

The Hill: Romney: Lack Of Comprehensive Vaccine Distribution Plan Is 'Inexcusable' 
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) slammed federal distribution of the coronavirus vaccine on Friday, calling the lack of a comprehensive strategy “inexcusable.” Romney called the unprecedented rapid vaccine development “a tribute to the [National Institutes of Health], the [Food and Drug Administration] and to the professionals in the pharmaceutical industry.” (Budryk, 1/1)

The Washington Post: Teachers Start Getting Coronavirus Vaccines — But Only In Some Places 
A small number of teachers and school nurses in a few states have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, but most are still waiting amid a stumbling rollout of the vaccine across the country. Even as a new, highly contagious strain of the coronavirus has been confirmed in some U.S. states and a few thousand people are dying from covid-19 each day, officials in many districts are making plans to reopen schools soon and teachers are coming under increasing pressure to return to classrooms. (Strauss, 1/3)

Stat: Primary Care Doctors Are Being Left Behind In The Vaccine Rollout
In March, Marc Price set up a tent outside his primary care practice in Malta, N.Y., where he and his colleagues could don their protective gear to see the daily stream of coronavirus patients. Three weeks ago, the tent was finally upgraded to a shed ahead of snowstorms. But, despite months of constant close contact with Covid-19 patients, staff at the practice have yet to be vaccinated. (Goldhill, 1/4)

Anchorage Daily News: Amid COVID-19 Vaccine Confusion, Health Officials Clarify That Most Alaska Seniors Can’t Get Shots Yet
Confusion surrounding Alaska’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout has led to some Alaskans trying to book vaccination appointments before they’re eligible to receive the vaccine, state health officials said Saturday. Tessa Walker Linderman, who helps lead the state’s vaccination effort, and Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer, said in an interview that they’ve heard about instances of older Alaskans attempting to make appointments over the weekend via the state website, even though they are not yet eligible. Although Alaskans 65 and older will be the next group eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, most will have to wait at least a few weeks to sign up for an appointment, the two state health officials clarified. (Berman, 1/3)

CNN: Oxford/Astra Zeneca Vaccine: UK Becomes First To Roll Out Shots As Covid-19 Cases Surge 
The United Kingdom became the first nation to inoculate people with the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine outside of trials on Monday, with the country's health secretary hailing the day as a "real pivotal moment." Doses of the vaccine, approved by UK regulators on December 30, will initially be delivered at "a small number of hospitals for the first few days for surveillance purposes," before the bulk of doses arrives at medical practices later in the week, said England's National Health Service (NHS). (Halasz and Rahim, 1/4)

Reuters: UK First To Roll Out AstraZeneca Shots In Race To Stem COVID Surge
As major powers eye the benefits of being first out of the pandemic, Britain is rushing to vaccinate its population faster than the United States and the rest of Europe, though Russia and China have been inoculating their citizens for months. Just under a month since Britain became the first country in the world to roll out the vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, Pinker, who has kidney disease, received the Oxford/AstraZeneca shot. (Faulconbridge and Smout, 1/3)

Stat: Britain Gambles On Covid-19 Vaccines, Upping The Stakes For The Rest Of Us
In an extraordinary time, British health authorities are taking extraordinary measures to beat back Covid-19. But some experts say that, in doing so, they are also taking a serious gamble. (Branswell, 1/4)

But the United States says it will wait several months —

Politico: Warp Speed Chief: U.S. Won’t Get AstraZeneca Vaccine Until April 
Americans likely won’t receive AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine before April because of lingering questions about its effectiveness in certain groups, a top Trump administration health official said hours after U.K. regulators authorized the company’s shot Wednesday. The prediction by Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, moves back the U.S. government’s timeline for greenlighting the AstraZeneca shot by at least two months. Slaoui earlier this month estimated the British drugmaker would file for emergency use authorization with the Food and Drug Administration as early as February. (Owermohle, 12/30)

In related vaccination news from Britain —

The Hill: Britain To Allow Mixing And Matching Of COVID-19 Vaccines 
Britain is set to allow the mixing of various coronavirus vaccines under special circumstances, despite limited knowledge on whether mixed doses provide the same amount of protection as uniform doses. The British government released updated guidelines on New Year's Eve that state, "[If] the same vaccine is not available, or if the first product received is unknown, it is reasonable to offer one dose of the locally available product to complete the schedule." (Jenkins, 1/2)

The New York Times: Britain Opens Door To Mix-And-Match Vaccinations, Worrying Experts 
Amid a sputtering vaccine rollout and fears of a new and potentially more transmissible variant of the coronavirus, Britain has quietly updated its vaccination playbook to allow for a mix-and-match vaccine regimen. If a second dose of the vaccine a patient originally received isn’t available, or if the manufacturer of the first shot isn’t known, another vaccine may be substituted, health officials said. The new guidance contradicts guidelines in the United States, where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has noted that the authorized Covid-19 vaccines “are not interchangeable,” and that “the safety and efficacy of a mixed-product series have not been evaluated. Both doses of the series should be completed with the same product.” (Wu, 1/1)

ABC7 Chicago: Wisconsin Pharmacist Awaiting Charges For Deliberately Spoiling COVID-19 Vaccine, Officials Say
The Wisconsin pharmacist accused of intentionally sabotaging more than 500 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine remained in a county jail over the weekend, awaiting formal charges, as questions remain about his motive and access to the vaccine. "It's become clear this was a situation involving a bad actor instead of a bad process," said Dr. Jeff Bahr, president of the Aurora Healthcare Medical Group. It's unclear what if any changes healthcare systems like Advocate Aurora will make, but officials say both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are thoroughly documented. (1/3)

Modern Healthcare: Advocate Aurora Health Defends COVID-19 Vaccine Security After 'Bad Actor' Spoils Doses
Advocate Aurora Health officials said Thursday they are still confident in the system's security protocols despite an employee intentionally removing 570 doses of coronavirus vaccine from refrigerated storage over the weekend, saying the act was the result of a "bad actor" and not "bad processes." A pharmacist at Aurora Medical Center-Grafton in Wisconsin admitted to removing 57 vials, which each containing approximately 10 doses of the Moderna vaccine, from freezers at least twice between Dec. 24 and Dec. 26. The employee, who has not yet been identified, returned the vials into storage each time and has been fired. Local and federal authorities are investigating the incident. (Ross Johnson, 12/31)

In more news about the Moderna vaccine —

NBC 7 San Diego: FDA: Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine May Cause Side Effects In People With Facial Fillers  
The FDA advisory committee reviewing the new Moderna vaccine noted a specific side effect involving several trial participants who have cosmetic facial fillers. Carmel Valley facial plastic surgeon Dr. Amir Karam said specifically, facial swelling was seen in a small number of trial patients. “So what they've seen in the 30,000 member trial that Moderna has done, is they found about three of those patients has reaction to the filler. The reaction was localized to where the filler was put in, so in a couple of cases it was the lip and the cheek,” he said.  (Payton, 1/3)

Fox News: Oregon Health Care Worker Hospitalized After Allergic Reaction To Moderna Vaccine
An Oregon health care worker was hospitalized following a severe allergic reaction to Moderna's coronavirus vaccine, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) said [last] week. "OHA is closely monitoring the case, which involves an employee at Wallowa Memorial Hospital who experienced anaphylaxis after receiving a first dose of the Moderna vaccine this week," Oregon Health Authority said Thursday in a news release. "The individual is recovering at a hospital." (Fordham, 1/2)

NBC4 Washington: Friends Get Lucky, Randomly Receive COVID-19 Vaccine Before Doses Expire 
David MacMillan is not a first responder or healthcare worker. So even he was surprised when a Giant Food pharmacist asked him and his friend if they wanted to get the Moderna vaccine. He posted his experience at the Giant in Northeast D.C. Friday on TikTok.  “She turned to us and was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got two doses of the vaccine and I’m going to have to throw them away if I don’t give them to somebody. We close in 10 minutes, do you want the Moderna vaccine?” he relayed in the video. MacMillan didn’t hesitate. ... Giant issued a statement backing the pharmacist’s actions, explaining that the healthcare workers scheduled to get the doses didn’t show. Giant said the D.C. Department of Health makes it clear, if there are extra doses that will expire, they should be given to anyone who will take them. “The Moderna vaccine is valuable and lifesaving, and we are happy to have not wasted it and given this couple each a dose,” Giant said in a statement. (Spencer, 1/3)

CNBC: South African Coronavirus Variant 'More Of A Problem' Than UK One
A variant of the coronavirus identified in South Africa is more problematic than the strain found in the U.K., Britain’s health minister has said, as both strains continue to spread rapidly. Speaking to the BBC Monday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the variant found in South African was especially concerning. “I’m incredibly worried about the South African variant, and that’s why we took the action that we did to restrict all flights from South Africa,” he told the BBC’s Today program. (Ellyatt, 1/4)

ABC News: South Africa Variant 'More Of A Problem' Than UK Strain 
The South Africa variant was detected in the U.K. for the first time last week, linked to a contact of someone who had been in South Africa. South African scientists say 501Y.V2 emerged after the first epidemic wave in a severely affected metropolitan area, Nelson Mandela Bay, located on the coast of South Africa's Eastern Cape province. "This lineage spread rapidly, becoming within weeks the dominant lineage in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces," researchers wrote in a scientific paper published last month. "Whilst the full significance of the mutations is yet to be determined, the genomic data, showing the rapid displacement of other lineages, suggest that this lineage may be associated with increased transmissibility." (1/4)

Also —

The Wall Street Journal: New Covid-19 Strains: What Scientists Know About Coronavirus Variants 
Scientists around the world are scrambling to learn more about previously unknown variants of the coronavirus that seem to spread from person to person more readily than other versions of the Covid-19-causing pathogen. One new variant, known as B.1.1.7, was identified in December in the U.K., leading to travel restrictions and a widespread lockdown there. Since then, the U.K. variant has been detected in China and other countries, as well as in Colorado, California and Florida. In South Africa, meanwhile, doctors and researchers battling a second surge of Covid-19 cases are studying another new variant and what role it plays in the rising tide of cases there. The variant, known as B.1.351, has been identified in samples dating back to October. It hasn’t been detected in the U.S. (Hernandez and Toy, 1/1)

The Washington Post: U.K. Variant Continues To Spread Around The World As Coronavirus Pandemic Enters 2021 
More than 30 countries have reported cases of the highly transmissible “U.K. variant” of the novel coronavirus, raising fears of increased global spread of the virus, even as countries begin to unroll vaccination programs in the new year. Vietnam on Saturday was the latest nation to report a case, which authorities detected in a woman quarantined after recent travel from Britain. Vietnam has banned nearly all international travel, but it is providing repatriation flights for citizens stranded in Britain. (Berger, 1/2)

Fox 5 Atlanta: CDC Talks About New Variant Of COVID-19 That Spreads Faster
More cases of a new more transmissible variant of COVID-19 are being reported in the U.S. cases have shown up in Colorado, California and now Florida. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said while it is monitoring this new variant closely, health officials weren't surprised when it first showed up. (Dillon, 1/2)

Bay Area News Group: COVID-19: The Hunt For Coronavirus Genomes That Could Worsen Pandemic
The highly contagious new strain of COVID-19 that’s spreading throughout the United Kingdom may now be coursing through the U.S. The challenge is finding it. Unlike the UK, America has not yet fully harnessed the power of genomics to quickly detect important changes in the virus that could alter the trajectory of the pandemic ravaging the country. “We’re working blind,” with insufficient screening to know how prevalent the strain is, said Dr. Charles Chiu of UC San Francisco, whose lab is collaborating with the state’s Department of Public Health to seek the new variant, called B.1.1.7., in viral samples among recent UK travelers in many California counties. (Krieger, 1/3)

Business Insider: Trump Said CDC'S COVID Tracker Is 'Fake News' And Agency Exaggerates Cases 
President Donald Trump on Sunday railed against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying the agency exaggerates the number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths. The CDC is run by people he appointed himself. The agency has been updating new cases and death counts daily for months. "The number of cases and deaths of the China Virus is far exaggerated in the United States because of @CDCgov's ridiculous method of determination compared to other countries, many of whom report, purposely, very inaccurately and low," Trump tweeted. "'When in doubt, call it Covid.' Fake News!" (Dzhanova, 1/3)

Los Angeles Times: COVID Fatalities In U.S. Top 350,000. Refuting Trump, Fauci Says Deaths Are ‘Not Fake’
As the U.S. COVID-19 death toll surpassed 350,000 Sunday, President Trump claimed the country’s fatality count toll was “far exaggerated,” an assertion that was quickly refuted by the nation’s top infectious-diseases expert. “The deaths are real deaths,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an ABC interview. “That’s not fake.” Trump also suggested Sunday on Twitter that states, not the federal government, bore responsibility for a vaccine rollout lagging expectations. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti countered Trump’s assertion, saying states and municipalities had been denied crucial resources to move ahead more expeditiously. (King, 1/3)

ABC News: 'There's No Running Away From The Numbers:' Fauci Laments Surging COVID Deaths As Trump Claims 'Fake News' 
"The deaths are real deaths," Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, when asked by [ABC's "This Week" Co-anchor Martha] Raddatz for his response to the president's tweet. "All you need to do is go out into the trenches. Go to the hospitals and see what the health care workers are dealing with. They are under very stressful situations in many areas of the country. The hospital beds are stretched, people are running out of beds, running out of trained personnel who are exhausted." "That's real," he continued. "That's not fake. That's real." (Kelsey, 1/3)

Politico: Surgeon General Defends Integrity Of Covid-19 Numbers 
Surgeon General Jerome Adams declined to condemn President Donald Trump on Sunday for calling Covid-19 death figures “far exaggerated,” but he did defend the numbers Trump attacked. “From a health perspective, I have no reason to doubt those numbers,” Adams said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” responding to a question from host Jake Tapper pressing him on a tweet Sunday where the president stated without evidence that Covid-19 numbers have been inflated. (Cohen, 1/3)

In related news on the COVID surge —

The New York Times: U.S. Air Travel Hits Pandemic High, Adding to Fears of Yet More Case Surges and the New Variant
With the coronavirus raging in many parts of the country and hospitals dangerously overstretched, public health officials warned on Sunday that more calamitous days may be ahead, as infections tied to holiday gatherings fuel a fresh spate of illness and death. “It’s terrible, it’s unfortunate, but it was predictable,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said on “Meet the Press.” (1/3)

The Wall Street Journal: ‘It’s A Desperate Time’: Crush Of Covid-19 Patients Strains U.S. Hospitals 
On New Year’s Day at Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park Medical Center in Southern California, the overflowing emergency room spilled into the hallway. Doctors treated patients on oxygen in the waiting room after running out of beds. Some 80% of patients admitted in recent days have Covid-19.In Texas, patients who need to be transferred from small facilities to big metropolitan hospitals sit in limbo for hours or days, putting them at risk of developing complications from delays. Desperate smaller hospitals have flown patients as far as Albuquerque, N.M., and Oklahoma City for an open bed. (Evans, Lovett and Mai-Duc, 1/3)

The Hill: COVID-19 Model Predicts 150,000 More US Deaths Within The Next Month 
A top COVID-19 model predicts 150,000 more deaths in the U.S. in the next month as the country heads into what is anticipated to be the worst phase of the pandemic. Projections from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation show the death toll over the next month could be far beyond that of December, which set a record at about 77,500. (Axelrod, 1/2)

The Washington Post: An Inflatable Costume Likely Led To A Covid Outbreak That Killed 1 Hospital Worker And Infected 43 Others In California 
A staff member dressed as a smiling, red-nosed Christmas tree strolled through the emergency department at a San Jose hospital on Christmas Day, hoping to provide holiday cheer. Days later, a coronavirus outbreak swept through the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, eventually infecting 43 employees and killing one. Hospital officials now say the “air-powered” Christmas costume is likely to blame for the 44 positive tests, all recorded between Dec. 27 and Friday. Experts said the fan inside the costume could have blown coronavirus-laden droplets throughout the department. (Peiser, 1/4)

The New York Times: 9 Sisters At Upstate Convent Die As Outbreak Infects 47 
A coronavirus outbreak at a convent near Albany has infected nearly half of its roughly 100 residents, leaving nine sisters dead in December, the convent and local officials said on Sunday. The outbreak took place in the St. Joseph’s Provincial House in Latham, N.Y., the headquarters of the Albany Province of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Residents include sisters who are retired and who have long-term health care needs. (Zaveri, 1/3)

The Daily Beast: 145 Employees In One Washington State Costco Catch COVID, And The Store Is Still Open
How badly do you want that rotisserie chicken? A coronavirus outbreak at a Costco in Washington state has reportedly seen 145 of its 383 staff test positive for the disease—but the store is still open to any card-carrying customers who are bold enough to step inside. Local network KOMO News reports the outbreak hit the Yakima County store and that the number of cases rocketed over the past week. Just 68 people had tested positive on Thursday, but that shot up to 145 by Monday. Even though county health officials have said they expect that number to rise further as more employees are tested, the store has been allowed to remain open after implementing some unspecified recommendations to mitigate the spread. (Ross, 12/31)

The Guardian: Dozens Of Residents Die At Belgian Care Home After Santa Visit 
At least 26 residents of a Belgian retirement home have died since a visit by a volunteer dressed as Saint Nicholas who has since tested positive for Covid-19. The deaths at the Hemelrijck home in Mol, near Antwerp, have prompted the local municipality to criticise the “completely irresponsible” organisers of the festive visit, although the cause of the infection is not yet certain. (Boffey, 12/31)

In other news, funeral homes are filling up —

AP: California Funeral Homes Run Out Of Space As COVID-19 Rages
As communities across the country feel the pain of a surge in coronavirus cases, funeral homes in the hot spot of Southern California say they must turn away grieving families as they run out of space for the bodies piling up. The head of the state funeral directors association says mortuaries are being inundated as the United States nears a grim tally of 350,000 COVID-19 deaths. More than 20 million people in the country have been infected, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Weber, 1/3)

KHN: ‘Last Responders’ Brace For Surge In Covid Deaths Across US
Funeral director Kevin Spitzer has been overwhelmed with covid-related deaths in the small city of Aberdeen, South Dakota. He and his two colleagues at the Spitzer-Miller Funeral Home have been working 12-15 hours a day, seven days a week, to keep up with the demand in the community of 26,000. The funerals are sparsely attended, which would have been unthinkable before the pandemic. (Loose, 1/4)

Politico: Biden Picks 3 Coordinators For Covid-19 Response 
President-elect Joe Biden is expanding his White House Covid-19 Response team, tapping three senior officials to coordinate vaccine, testing and supply chain strategy in an announcement first shared with POLITICO. The officials are set to play a major role in Biden's response to the worsening pandemic, which the president-elect has made his top priority ahead of taking office. Nearly 20 million Americans have been diagnosed with Covid-19, and more than 336,000 have died with the virus. Biden's team has repeatedly criticized the Trump administration for not doing more to speed shots, tests and supplies in recent weeks. (Diamond, 12/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Inauguration To Feature Virtual Parade
President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration will include a virtual parade as part of a series of events on Jan. 20 that have been scaled-down because of the coronavirus pandemic, the inaugural committee said Sunday. ... The inaugural committee also has told people not to attend the inaugural activities and hired a chief medical adviser, Dr. David Kessler, to help plan the event based on health safety protocols. (Parti, 1/3)

AP: Memorial Held For Congressman-Elect Who Contracted COVID-19
Louisiana Congressman-elect Luke Letlow, who recently died from COVID-19 complications, was remembered Saturday as a man who loved people and felt called to serve others. “This is a gentleman who cared about nothing but others,” said former Republican U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, who hired Letlow as chief of staff during his tenure in Washington and later backed Letlow’s bid for Congress. “He was a true servant’s servant. We never want to forget what he’s done for our state, what he’s done for me and my family.” Letlow, an incoming Republican member of the U.S. House, died Tuesday at 41. Gov. John Bel Edwards ordered flags flown at half-staff on Saturday for Letlow, who is survived by his wife, Julia Letlow, and their children, Jeremiah, 3, and Jacqueline, 1. (1/3)

In other political news —

KHN: Seniors Face Crushing Drug Costs As Congress Stalls On Capping Medicare Out-Of-Pockets
Sharon Clark is able to get her life-sustaining cancer drug, Pomalyst — priced at more than $18,000 for a 28-day supply — only because of the generosity of patient assistance foundations. Clark, 57, a former insurance agent who lives in Bixby, Oklahoma, had to stop working in 2015 and go on Social Security disability and Medicare after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. Without the foundation grants, mostly financed by the drugmakers, she couldn’t afford the nearly $1,000 a month it would cost her for the drug, since her Medicare Part D drug plan requires her to pay 5% of the list price. Every year, however, Clark has to find new grants to cover her expensive cancer drug. (Meyer, 1/4)

Politico: How Trump Warped HHS Long Before Covid-19 
They called it the "End of Science and Medicine" party — a hastily organized, informal sendoff for a senior career health official, less than six months into the Trump administration. Tom Novotny, the deputy assistant secretary for health, had refused to take a transfer to a lower-profile office. Now he was abruptly retiring. And Joshua Prasad, a then-29-year-old public health adviser who served as Novotny's aide, blasted out an email inviting colleagues to come say goodbye, the subject line intended as a joke on Novotony's "science and medicine" portfolio and the reality that his team was about to be disbanded. (Diamond, 12/31)

CIDRAP: Two Studies Find That COVID-19 Antibodies Last 8 Months 
Two studies published [Dec. 22] demonstrate that COVID-19 immune responses last as long as 8 months, although the authors focus on different reasons. In the first study, all patients demonstrated the presence of memory B cells—immune cells that "remember" viral proteins and can trigger rapid production of antibodies when re-exposed to the virus—as long as 8 months after initial infection. The second study investigated antibody responses in 58 confirmed COVID-19 patients in South Korea 8 months after asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection, finding high rates of serum antibodies. (Kuebelbeck Paulsen, 12/23)

CIDRAP: Hospital Air Frequently Contaminated With COVID-19, Study Finds
A study of hospital air contamination in JAMA Network Open last week found that 17.4% of air samples from environments near COVID-19 patients were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, the virus that causes COVID-19, but only 8.6% contained viable virus. (12/28)

CIDRAP: No Mom-To-Baby Virus Spread Noted In Late-Pregnancy COVID-19 
No vertical—mom-to-baby—transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, occurred in a study of 64 pregnant women with confirmed COVID, reports a study yesterday in JAMA Network Open. ... The study, led by Andrea Edlow, MD, maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), focused on mothers in the third trimester of pregnancy, which is when the highest transfer of maternal antibodies occurs. (McLernon, 12/23)

USA Today: Heart Failure In Children: Another Rare COVID-19 Complication. Here's What To Look For.
Adam Millar was 18 when he started to experience a cold that wouldn't go away. It was the middle of hockey season, so he brushed his symptoms off. After what seemed like two or three months of a cough and fatigue, his cold progressed. "I didn't even have the energy to stand to brush my teeth," he told USA TODAY. Millar's heart was in failure, he later found out. Heart failure — often caused by myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle — is a rare condition for teens and young adults. It's more common in older people, often the result of heart function declining over a period of years. (Aspegren, 1/1)

The New York Times: Some Covid Survivors Haunted By Loss Of Smell And Taste 
Until March, when everything started tasting like cardboard, Katherine Hansen had such a keen sense of smell that she could recreate almost any restaurant dish at home without the recipe, just by recalling the scents and flavors. Then the coronavirus arrived. One of Ms. Hansen’s first symptoms was a loss of smell, and then of taste. Ms. Hansen still cannot taste food, and says she can’t even tolerate chewing it. Now she lives mostly on soups and shakes. (Rabin, 1/2)

Philadelphia Inquirer: He Thought He Was Over COVID-19, Then Had A Stroke. Doctors Are Studying How To Prevent More Cases Like His
Troy Randle’s COVID-19 symptoms were difficult yet bearable. After recovering from fever, cough, and headache that started in late March, he was cleared to return to work as a cardiologist in the Virtua Health network in South Jersey. But after Randle was back on the job for two days in mid-April, his head began to ache again, and it was different. He felt as if it were being squeezed in a vise. An MRI revealed that a blood clot had blocked an artery in Randle’s brain. He was suffering a stroke. Physicians worldwide were starting to report the same thing in some of the sickest patients with COVID, as well as a mysterious increase in smaller blood clots elsewhere in the body. In the lungs, the liver, the kidneys — even the toes, as in those purplish “COVID toes” depicted in many a social-media feed months ago. Many hospitals began treating COVID patients with high doses of blood thinners as a preventive measure. (Avril, 1/4)

Also —

NPR: Lessons From Lockdown In Boston: Why Kids With Asthma Had Fewer ER Visits
Just one week after Massachusetts closed schools and daycares in March, Boston Children's Hospital saw a drastic change in asthma-related visits to the emergency room: They were down 80% from the prior two months. For two more months, during the state's stay-at-home order, they stayed that way. When the order began lifting in late May, the ER was seeing 82% and 87% fewer asthma emergency visits compared to 2018 and 2019, according to a recent study published in the journal Annals of the American Thoracic Society. (Kendrick, 1/4)

Houston Chronicle: As COVID-19 Cases Spike, Nurse Aides Work To Reduce Unnecessary Hospital Admissions
The key to keeping patients who are recovering from serious medical events from returning to the emergency room during the COVID-19 pandemic as hospitalization rates soar again could lie in a Houston medical program. Grand-Aides is an organization of 1,500 nurse aides and medical assistants who check on patients after they’re discharged from the hospital to ensure that they’re taking medications, adhering to special diets and managing side effects at home. The program was conceptualized in 2012 by Arthur “Tim” Garson, a health policy expert and former dean of academic operations at Baylor College of Medicine, but has gained renewed interest as fears of catching COVID-19 lead people to avoid seeking medical care. (Wu, 12/31)

Indianapolis Star: Susan Moore's Death Leads IU Health Board Member To Call For Equity
A member of IU Health's board of directors said he is concerned about the experience of Dr. Susan Moore, a Black woman who described receiving inadequate care at the system's Carmel hospital before dying of COVID-19 this month. Julius C. Trimble, who also serves as resident bishop of the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church, said he is connecting Moore's story with a broader problem facing Black patients who require health care. He also penned an op-ed published on IndyStar this week. "The question that hangs out over me, you know, is whether or not race is a factor in whether a person receives treatment, and the best quality treatment," said Trimble, a longtime advocate for racial health equity, in an interview with IndyStar. "That question has to be answered." (Martin, 12/30)

Also —

Modern Healthcare: New Care Model Helps Primary-Care Practices Treat Obesity
Despite the prevalence of obesity in the U.S. and its contribution to costly chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, seasoned primary-care physicians often lack the education and resources to adequately address the condition among their patients. A 2017 survey from the medical association AMGA found 68% of its members weren’t following any guidelines for obesity care management in their practices. There were several reasons for this, including stigma among health professionals about obesity being a lifestyle choice rather than a chronic condition, said Elizabeth Ciemins, AMGA vice president of research and analytics. Additionally, physicians weren’t adequately trained until recently on obesity management and were often uncomfortable broaching the topic with patients. Providers “don’t know how to have those conversations,” Ciemins said. (Castellucci, 1/2)

KHN: Children’s Hospitals Are Partly To Blame As Superbugs Increasingly Attack Kids
A memory haunts Christina Fuhrman: the image of her toddler Pearl lying pale and listless in a hospital bed, tethered to an IV to keep her hydrated as she struggled against a superbug infection. “She survived by the grace of God,” Fuhrman said of the illness that struck her oldest child in this central Missouri city almost five years ago. “She could’ve gone septic fast. Her condition was near critical.” Pearl was fighting Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as a superbug. A growing body of research shows that overuse and misuse of antibiotics in children’s hospitals — which health experts and patients say should know better — helps fuel these dangerous bacteria that attack adults and, increasingly, children. Doctors worry that the covid pandemic will only lead to more overprescribing. (Ungar, 1/4)

GMA: Doctor Erases Cancer Patients' Medical Debt Totaling $650,000 
Around 200 people are starting 2021 off without any medical debt thanks to the kindness of an oncology doctor who erased $650,000 of his patients' debt. Dr. Omar Atiq, a medical oncologist for nearly 40 years, closed his cancer clinic in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in March after nearly three decades in business. He worked with a billing company for several months after closing to try to collect payments from his former patients, but soon made a decision to stop reaching out. (Kindelan, 1/1)

Stat: Five Key Milestones In The Pandemic That We're Anticipating In 2021 
On the first day of fall, STAT published its best guesses of 30 moments to come in the pandemic that could mark a change in its course or serve as a time to reflect on how Covid-19 had reshaped our lives. In reality, some of the turning points have turned out better than they could have. (Joseph, 1/4)

CNN: Coronavirus Pandemic, Year Two: Here's What To Expect 
Our global coronavirus nightmare is entering its second year, and we're hanging on the best we can. Our lives have been turned upside down, the economy is sputtering and more than 1.8 million people have died -- 350,000 of them in the US, more than any other country in the world. (Karimi, 1/4)

CNN: Mental Health In 2021: What We'll Experience And Overcome 
With progress in efforts for Covid-19 vaccines and predictions for when the population will receive them, there seems to be a light at the end of the long, harrowing pandemic tunnel. As the physical risks are better managed with vaccines, however, what will likely still remain is the indelible impact of the pandemic weighing on the collective psyche. (Rogers, 1/4)

KHN: Heading Off The Next Pandemic
As the covid-19 pandemic heads for a showdown with vaccines it’s expected to lose, many experts in the field of emerging infectious diseases are already focused on preventing the next one. They fear another virus will leap from wildlife into humans, one that is far more lethal but spreads as easily as SARS-CoV-2, the strain of coronavirus that causes covid-19. A virus like that could change the trajectory of life on the planet, experts say. (Robbins, 1/4)

GMA: 5 TikTok Doctors Share 5 Tips To Take Control Of Your Health In 2021 
One major lesson learned from the coronavirus pandemic is that prioritizing health is as important as ever. To kick off 2021, "Good Morning America" asked five influencer doctors for their tips on how to take charge of our health in the new year. (Kindelan, 1/4)

Modern Healthcare: ‘Payviders,’ Burnout And COVID-19 Are Among The Threats To A Better Year For Hospitals In 2021
Among the many looming threats hospitals will face in 2021 is the rise of so-called payviders—insurers that have bought or partnered with medical groups and other providers.“ The line between providers and payers is getting blurrier and blurrier over the course of time with major payers taking significant positions in the provider space,” said David Morlock, a managing director in Cain Brothers’ Health Systems M&A group. Such deals exploded in 2020, a trend that will likely continue this year. That doesn’t bode well for hospitals, as these deals usually entail managing patients’ cost using global budgets. That means keeping them out of the most expensive settings—namely, anything involving a hospital. (Bannow, 1/2)

Stat: The Biotech 2021 Preview, From M&A To Gene Therapy And More
Hello, Biotech 2021. In the interest of humility, we’ll note that last year’s preview story made no mention at all of the coronavirus. Sadly, we paid no mind to our colleague Helen Branswell’s prescient tweet. All of which is to say there’s no way to be certain what the coming year will bring. But here are some trends and burning questions for biotech that are on our radar screen for 2021. (Feuerstein and Garde, 1/4)

NPR: Walmart And Opioid Crisis: Former Pharmacists Say Company Ignored Red Flags
Internal company documents made public last month as part of a Justice Department lawsuit against Walmart show pharmacists all over the country warned Walmart executives about opioid sales that appeared unsafe. Pharmacists complained that dangerous "pill-mill" doctors were sending patients to Walmart after other chains stopped filling their opioid prescriptions. Pharmacists sent emails to Walmart executives saying they feared losing their licenses and their jobs because of opioid sales. According to the DOJ complaint, patients often paid in cash, also considered a red flag by the DEA. A pharmacist at a Walmart store in Texas said filling opioid prescriptions "is a risk that keeps me up at night." (Mann, 1/3)

In other public health news —

NBC News: Larry King Hospitalized With Covid-19
Broadcast journalist Larry King was moved Sunday from the ICU at a Los Angeles hospital, where he continues to be treated for Covid-19, a source close to the family said. The source said King, 87, has been in the hospital for about 10 days, and that King believes he contracted the virus from a health care worker who went to his home. (Goldstein and Romero, 1/4)

USA Today: When Teachers Brought Free Lunch To Kids Amid COVID-19, They Saw Poverty Up Close
First-grade teacher Shiela Garland had long known that 100% of students in Arizona’s Stanfield Elementary School District, where she has taught for 16 years, ate free meals. Garland did not really know what those numbers meant until this spring, when the coronavirus pandemic hit and schools closed across the United States. Suddenly, she and other Stanfield staff found themselves in masks and gloves, riding up to 150 miles a day on school buses traversing gravel and dirt roads to hand out food and homework packets to children. (Hernandez, 1/3)

Fox News: 2020’s Oddest, Non-Coronavirus Health News 
Shortly after the world welcomed in the new decade, COVID-19 began to dominate headlines, from the moment the pandemic was declared to recent news of two separate but promising vaccines against the virus receiving emergency use approval in the U.S. But there were some instances where health news didn’t involve the coronavirus. Read on for a look at some of the oddest health news that 2020 had to offer. (Farber, 12/29)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Inmates Allege State Has Mismanaged COVID Response 
Several people incarcerated in Missouri prisons believe the state’s department of corrections has failed to properly manage its response to the coronavirus, which has now killed 40 inmates. Jails and prisons have been a hotbed for the spread of the disease. According to the COVID Prison Project, more than 308,000 inmates across the country have tested positive and 1,832 have died. (Moore, 1/4)

AP: "Mask Up" Video Contest To Show Importance Of Wearing Mask
State medical groups are sponsoring a video contest to explain why it’s important to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Alabama Department of Public Health, the Alabama Hospital Association and the Medical Association of the State of Alabama are sponsoring the “Mask Up Alabama” video contest. A Health Department news release says the contest is for Alabamians of all ages to share why they feel it is important to wear a mask. The videos should be 30-second or less and need to highlight basic information related to mask wearing and COVID-19. The deadline for submissions is noon on Jan. 11. There is no fee to enter the contest and the full rules can be found on the Health Department website. (1/3)

Boston Globe: Baker Signs New Health Care Law Covering Telehealth, Other Services Into Effect
The COVID-19 pandemic has strained the health care system in myriad ways over the past year, but Governor Charlie Baker said Friday that a “silver lining” of the public health crisis is that reforms like telehealth were able to be tested, and proved effective. Baker signed into law on New Year’s Day a multi-faceted health care bill that requires insurance companies to cover telehealth visits the same way they cover in-person care, and provides a short-term model for how those services will be paid. The new law also protects coverage for COVID-19 testing and treatment, expands the scope of practice for advanced practice nurses and optometrists, addresses surprise out-of-network billing by requiring patient notification before nonemergency procedures and gives community hospitals two years of enhanced Medicaid reimbursements. (Murphy, 1/1)

Boston Globe: Mass. Renews Public Health Campaign To End The Stigma Of Addiction
As the state experiences a slight rise in overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has rolled out a new phase of its media campaign to combat the stigma of substance addiction. The #StateWithoutStigMA campaign features a fresh voices and faces reminding people of the importance of accessing lifesaving care including treatment, recovery and support resources, the department said in a statement. The $575,000 campaign, funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s State Opioid Response federal grant, features people from all walks of life talking about how and why they support fighting the stigma of addiction. (Saric, 1/2)

AP: New Washington Law Sets $100 Cap On Copayments For Insulin
Many Washington residents with diabetes will have an easier time affording insulin this year, as a law imposes a $100 cap on patient copayments. The law applies to any health-care plan issued or renewed after Jan. 1 that covers insulin drugs. It includes language to protect people who have “high deductible” insurance from paying more than $100 per 30-day supply, the Seattle Times reported. (1/2)

AP: Wyoming Group Seeks To Improve Public Access To Healthy Food
Last winter, a group of farmers, educators and economic development professionals gathered on the Casper College campus to discuss what it would take to develop a self-sustaining food network in Wyoming and begin to solve food security issues that have long plagued small communities around the state. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Wyoming — one of the few states in the country without a food council at the time — saw food insecurity rates in the double digits and, despite its agrarian reputation, offered few opportunities for farmers to either reach new markets or even begin selling their wares. (Reynolds, 1/3)

CNN: Man Who Pleaded Guilty To Practicing Medicine Without A License As A Teen Faces New Fraud Charges 
Malachi A. Love-Robinson, the Florida man who pleaded guilty to practicing medicine without a license as a teen, has been arrested on new allegations of fraud. Love-Robinson, 23, was booked Thursday morning into the Palm Beach County Jail in south Florida on charges of grand theft and fraud, jail records show. (Riess and Caldwell, 1/2)

The Washington Post: India Approves Two Vaccines As It Prepares For Massive Immunization Push
India granted emergency approval Sunday to its first vaccines — Oxford-AstraZeneca and homegrown Covaxin — as it prepares to undertake an unprecedented immunization program for the country of more than 1.3 billion. The announcement of India's approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine came days after regulators in Britain greenlighted it and marks a big step for the country that is the world's second-worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic. India aims to administer the vaccine to 300 million people in the first phase, and distribution could begin in the coming days. (Masih, 1/3)

The Hill: Russia Gives Over 800,000 People Its COVID-19 Vaccine 
Russia’s health minister on Saturday announced that more than 800,000 citizens have received the country’s coronavirus vaccine, with more than 1.5 million doses distributed. Reuters reported that the TASS news agency quoted Mikhail Murashko as saying that from Jan. 1, people who received the Sputnik V vaccine will receive an electronic verification certificate, with the health ministry maintaining a database of all those vaccinated. (Castronuovo, 1/2)

NPR: China Reports Tens Of Thousands Inoculated In First Days Of COVID-19 Vaccine Campaign
Beijing says it has inoculated more than 73,000 people in the first two days after China's first domestic coronavirus vaccine was approved for commercial use. China's capital has set up 220 vaccination centers around the city to dole out the two-step vaccine. The elderly and front-line medical workers will receive the first doses. The shots are made by a subsidiary of Chinese state vaccine maker Sinopharm, which said on Thursday that its vaccine is 79% effective overall. The company has not yet released more detailed clinical data that might explain why that rate is lower than results from human trials it conducted in the UAE, where the vaccine was deemed 86% effective. (Feng, 1/4)

Reuters: Why Indonesia Is Vaccinating Its Working Population First, Not Elderly 
As Indonesia prepares to begin mass inoculations against COVID-19, its plan to prioritize working age adults over the elderly, aiming to reach herd immunity fast and revive the economy, will be closely watched by other countries. (Widianto and Diela, 1/4)

In other global developments —

The Hill: UK Gets Rid Of Tax On Menstrual Products 
The U.K. on Friday got rid of the sales tax on menstrual products after breaking from the European Union and its tax rules regarding sanitary products. Treasury chief Rishi Sunak followed through with his March promise to remove the tax on tampons and sanitary pads, which was only possible after the U.K.’s official separation from the EU, The Associated Press reported. (Coleman, 1/1)

The Washington Post: Here’s What Leadership On Vaccination Would Look Like 
Of the 13.1 million doses of coronavirus vaccine distributed thus far, only 32 percent — about 4.2 million — have been administered. The alarming delay is largely due to the Trump administration’s lack of leadership. The administration seems to believe its responsibility ends once vaccines are shipped to states. But that’s wrong. Here’s what the federal government should do to infuse urgency into the vaccination efforts. (Leana S. Wen, 1/3)

Fox News: COVID Vaccinations Are Going Much Too Slowly — Here’s How To Speed Them Up And Save Lives
Vaccines against the novel coronavirus were developed in record time. But getting those vaccines into the arms of Americans has been frustratingly slow at a time when speeding up vaccinations is literally a matter of life and death. Tragically, thousands of people are dying of COVID-19 every day in the U.S. and the confirmed death rate from the disease reached nearly 350,000 people across the nation Saturday night, according to Johns Hopkins University. Hospitals are running out of capacity to treat COVID-19 patients in addition to patients being treated for other conditions. (Sally Pipes, 1/3)

The Washington Post: Vaccination Is Going Slowly Because Nobody Is In Charge 
Vaccine development for covid-19 has occurred at a remarkable pace, thanks in large part to the careful work of the scientific community, both in the United States and around the globe. Operation Warp Speed played a key role in accelerating the creation of vaccines without cutting corners, and producing millions of doses. As a result, the two vaccines that have been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration are safe and highly effective against the disease. That’s why we want them to reach people’s immune systems as quickly as possible — and why the current delays in getting people vaccinated are so disappointing. Let’s start with a quick recap: As recently as early October, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said we’d have 100 million doses of vaccine by the end of 2020. One month later, that was reduced to 40 million doses. As recently as Dec. 21, Vice President Pence, the head of the White House coronavirus task force, said that we were on track to vaccinate 20 million Americans by Dec. 31. Unfortunately, 20 million doses haven’t even gotten to the states. (Ashish K. Jha, 12/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Pharmacies Can Get Shots In Arms 
The federal government built a Covid vaccine delivery scheme to track every dose shipped to the states. Information like location and travel history is available in a software platform developed for “Operation Warp Speed” called Tiberius, so that public-health officials can make sure the limited supply is allotted carefully and fairly. These are important goals, but central control comes with a trade off: it slows down the process of getting shots into arms. Poor local and state planning hasn’t helped. Neither has the trickle of funds the feds have provided to stand up vaccination sites. Add it all up and you have the explanation for the sluggish pace of immunization. Fewer than 5 million people have been vaccinated so far, versus the 20 million promised. Here’s what’s needed to turn things around. (Scott Gottlieb, 1/3)

Miami Herald: You Know How Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned? That’s How Much Trump Cares About The Lack of COVID Vaccines
The day before returning to the White House for New Year’s Eve, Donald Trump played golf at his country club in West Palm Beach. He was there from 9:26 a.m. to 2:33 p.m., a leisurely round. Meanwhile thousands of his fellow Floridians in the same high-risk bracket spent many of those hours strangling their phones, unsuccessfully trying to get an appointment for the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Others lined up early at inoculation sites, only to be sent home after supplies soon ran out. “Operation Warp Speed” currently looks more like “Operation WTF.” The big rollout is rocky and slow throughout the country, but the only surprise is that people are actually surprised. (Carl Hiaasen, 1/2)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: House Must Get To The Bottom Of Trump's Deadly Politicization Of The Pandemic
Through spring and summer of 2020, the Trump administration attempted to “alter or block” more than a dozen scientific reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention related to the pandemic, a top House lawmaker alleges. Rep. Jim Clyburn, who chairs the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, wants more information about this deadly politicization of public health. As usual, the administration has been uncooperative — so much so that Clyburn’s panel last month finally subpoenaed two top U.S. health officials. Good. This is urgent information to pursue, even if it can’t be fully exposed until after the current president exits. (1/3)

The Wall Street Journal: The Year In Covid ‘Messaging’
Anthony Fauci is being clobbered after admitting to the New York Times that he publicly lowballed his estimate of the Covid-19 herd immunity threshold, but it’s ludicrously late in the day to discover that “messaging” has been going on. Dr. Fauci’s early pooh-poohing of masks to preserve supply for medical personnel at least was defensible for the larger good. Not until summer did he admit the test-and-trace miracle cure was no such thing given the realities of asymptomatic spread. To this day, test-and-trace serves as the magic X in every pundit piece, allowing the author to claim that our failing mommy and daddy (a k a government) let us down by not enacting this simple solution. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., 1/1)

The Hill: COVID-19 Doesn't Care About New York Or New Delhi
Public health experts say we will be in a much better place come late summer of 2021. We think that perspective severely discounts the billions of people living outside of the United States, the European Union (EU) and other wealthier countries — and in doing so, underestimates the difficulty of a true global recovery from health and economic impacts of the pandemic. (Marian W. Wentworth and Wade Warren, 1/3)

Stat: Covid-19 Vaccines Are Safe. That Doesn't Mean No Side Effects
As the first Covid-19 vaccines are being distributed in the United States and in other countries around the world, the main question now on many minds is, “Are these vaccines safe?” The answer is yes. (Wayne C. Koff and Michelle A. Williams, 12/23)

Stat: Under Prior Authorization, Who Is Choosing Americans' Medicines? 
New Year’s Day, the day of new beginnings, is a day health care providers like me dread. It starts the annual deluge of requests to renew “prior authorizations” — a bureaucratic tactic that insurers use to see how dedicated we are to the treatments we choose for our patients. (Brian Barnett, 1/1)

The New York Times: Starving Children Don’t Cry
Starvation is agonizing and degrading. You lose control of your bowels. Your skin peels off, your hair falls out, you hallucinate and you may go blind from lack of vitamin A. While you waste away, your body cannibalizes itself: It consumes its own muscles, even the heart. Yet Abdo Sayid, a 4-year-old boy so emaciated he weighed just 14 pounds, wasn’t crying when he was brought to a hospital recently in Aden, Yemen. That’s because children who are starving don’t cry or even frown. Instead, they are eerily calm; they appear apathetic, often expressionless. A body that is starving doesn’t waste energy on tears. It directs every calorie to keep the major organs functioning. (Nicholas Kristof, 1/2)

CNN: The Stimulus And MacKenzie Scott Show Two Sides Of The Same Problem 
On Monday night, Congress finally passed a second relief bill in response to the catastrophic Covid-19 pandemic. The $900 billion package is the first new aid many Americans have seen since March, and the direct payouts — $600 for those making under $75,000, plus a boost of $300 a week to unemployment payments — are half that provided in the spring. Yet even that paltry package was hard-won, as a number of Senate Republicans had initially opposed a second round of relief payments. (Hemmer, 12/22)

CNN: Why Winter Weather Makes It Easier To Catch A Cold Or Flu 
Many of us have heard: "Don't go outside without a coat; you'll catch a cold." That's not exactly true. As with many things, the reality is more complicated. Here's the distinction: Being cold isn't why you get a cold. But it is true that cold weather makes it easier to get the cold or flu. (Libby Richards, 1/4)

Kansas City Star: Jackson County Sheriff’s Tweet Led To Colon Cancer Screening 
A preventive health screening for colon cancer may have saved my life. And I can thank a tweet from Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forté for pushing me to get tested. At 58, Forté has had four colonoscopies in the 12 years since he was first diagnosed with prostate cancer. Early detection may have saved his life as well. (Toriano Porter, 1/4)