Stat: AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 Vaccine Shows Better-Than-Expected Efficacy
AstraZeneca said Monday that the Covid-19 vaccine it developed with the University of Oxford reduced both mild and serious forms of the disease, paving the way for a likely U.S. authorization of the vaccine. Doctors, regulators, and government officials the world over are likely to breathe a sigh of relief at the results, which are better than expected and appear materially higher than those in previous studies. (Herper, 3/22)

CNN: AstraZeneca Vaccine Is 79% Effective Against Symptomatic Covid-19, Company Says 
AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine showed 79% efficacy against symptomatic disease and 100% efficacy against severe disease and hospitalization in a new, US-based clinical trial, the company said Monday. The findings from the new Phase 3 trial, which included more than 32,000 participants, may boost confidence in the vaccine, which was originally developed by the University of Oxford. (Kennedy, 3/22)

NPR: AstraZeneca Vaccine Is Effective Against COVID-19, Phase III Study Says
AstraZeneca's vaccine can be stored, transported and handled at normal refrigerated conditions (2-8 degrees Celsius or 36-46 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least six months. The company said it can also be administered without the need for preparation within existing healthcare settings. (Diaz, 3/22)

Also —

Bloomberg: Vaccine Battle Heats Up With EU Ready To Halt U.K. Shipments 
The European Union is ready to start withholding Covid-19 shots from the U.K., risking a sharp deterioration in relations with London in a bid to turn around its lackluster vaccination campaign. The EU will likely reject authorizations to export AstraZeneca Plc’s coronavirus vaccines and their ingredients to the U.K. until the drugmaker fulfills its delivery obligations to the 27-nation bloc, according to a senior EU official. (Chrysoloras, Ring and Mayes, 3/21)

Bloomberg: AstraZeneca R&D Oncology Chief José Baselga Dies At 61 
José Baselga, a renowned cancer doctor who led AstraZeneca Plc’s oncology research-and-development arm, has died. A fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research, Baselga died of Creuzfeldt-Jacob Disease, a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disorder, according to a Spanish news report. He was 61. (Gopal, 3/21)

Politico: CDC Cuts School Distancing Requirements To 3 Feet
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that students attending in-person instruction only need to stay 3 feet apart, rather than 6, as long as universal masking is maintained. The agency’s new guidance, released Friday, recommends 3 feet of separation at elementary, middle and high schools in communities with low, moderate or substantial transmission. But the agency says middle school and high school students should stay 6 feet apart in communities where test positivity rates are 10 percent or higher and cohorting — when groups of students are kept together with the same staff throughout the day — is not available. (Banco, 3/19)

CIDRAP: CDC Updates COVID School Guidance, OKs 3-Feet Distancing
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today updated its guidance on school reopening and said that for most elementary and middle schools across the country, at least 3 feet of physical distancing is sufficient when masks are worn properly. For middle schools and high schools in areas with high community transmission, 6 feet of distancing is still recommended unless students can cohort in small groups. And 6 feet is still required when students are not wearing masks—while eating lunch, for example. (Soucheray, 3/19)

In related news about remote learning —

CIDRAP: CDC Survey Shows Remote Learning In Pandemic Strains Children, Parents
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today published a survey that shows that American families have been strained by school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic and suffer high levels of stress when children are given online instruction. The survey, conducted Oct 8 through Nov 13, 2020, included 1,290 respondents who have children ages 5 through 12 enrolled in public or private school: 45.7% reported that their child received virtual instruction, 30.9% in-person instruction, and 23.4% combined instruction. (3/19)

CNBC: Remote Learning: Parents Stressed Out, Some Turned To Drugs, Alcohol: CDC
Parents with kids stuck home during the pandemic will tell you how stressed they are, but now the CDC has scientific evidence that virtual schooling is taking a real physical and emotional toll — driving some parents to drugs and alcohol to help cope. The findings, published Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggest that virtual learning “might present more risks than in-person instruction related to child and parental mental and emotional health and some health-supporting behaviors.” (Miao and Higgins-Dunn, 3/19)

WUSF Public Media: Miami Beach Police Use Pepper Balls, SWAT Teams To Enforce Spring Break Curfew 
Miami Beach officials have extended an 8 p.m. curfew for at least another week on Sunday following dozens of arrests as unruly people gathered by the thousands, fought in the streets, destroyed restaurant property and refused to wear masks. The emergency curfew went into effect Saturday night, after SWAT officers in bulletproof vests dispersed pepper spray balls to break up the rowdy, spring break crowds that descended on South Beach. (3/21)

Miami Herald: Miami Beach Commission Extends Spring Break Curfew, Closures
Curfews and causeway closures to control unruly spring break crowds in South Beach will be extended through April 12, the Miami Beach City Commission unanimously decided Sunday during an emergency meeting. An 8 p.m. curfew in South Beach’s entertainment district and a 10 p.m. shutdown of the eastbound lanes of the MacArthur, Julia Tuttle and Venetian causeways will remain in effect Thursday through Sunday for the remainder of spring break. (Vassolo, 3/21)

AP: Police Chief Says Miami Partying "Couldn't Go On Any Longer"
Pointing to over 1,000 arrests in one of the nation’s top party spots, Miami Beach officials warned Sunday that the unruly spring break crowd gathering by the thousands, fighting in the streets, destroying restaurant property and refusing to wear masks has become a serious threat to public safety. During a last-minute meeting Sunday, city officials voted to extend a highly unusual 8 p.m. curfew for another week along famed South Beach, with the possibility of extending it well into April if needed, and stressed this isn’t the typical spring break crowd. They said it’s not college students, but adults looking to let loose in one of the few states fully open during the pandemic. (Kennedy, 3/22)

In related news about spring break —

KVEO-TV: Spring Breakers Are Leaving Soon And Some Are Not Concerned About Taking COVID-19 With Them
If you walked along the beach in front of Clayton’s Beach Bar on South Padre Island this week, you would have thought that COVID-19 never existed. ... But all parties must end. And the students that were out on the beach must return to where they came from. But they weren’t too concerned about the possibility of COVID-19 following them home after their weeklong party on the beach. (Helms, 3/20)

NBC News: 'Chaotic Situation': Puerto Ricans Indignant At Tourists Breaking Covid Mandates
Scenes of American tourists violating Covid-19 measures and mandates while visiting Puerto Rico have stirred indignation among residents worried that their efforts to control the pandemic may be marred as more visitors arrive on spring break trips. (Acevedo, 3/20)

Orlando Sentinel: At Disney World, Spring Break Crowds Are Here, Along With Coronavirus Fears, Too
In Central Florida, there are signs the tourists are returning during the first spring break since the coronavirus pandemic canceled the annual celebration last year. Yet the crowds are coming during what’s a complex juggle of balancing the region’s economic recovery with the threat of COVID-19 and as national news shows paint Florida as a superspreader state. (Russon, 3/20)

KHN: Some Dream — Others Scheme — To Find A Vaccine Before Spring Break
Hawaii, Florida, Seattle and the South of France are on the minds of New York City college students. Those are some of the destinations that undergrads mentioned when asked where they’d go for spring break, if they weren’t grounded by covid-19. “I’d be getting a house with 10 people, with a pool, and we’d be going crazy in Miami,” said Sile Ogundeyin, 22, a senior economics major at Columbia University, who was sitting on the steps of the library with his friends. (Mogul, 3/22)

CNBC: Covid Cases Are Rising In 21 States As Health Officials Warn Against Reopening Too Quickly
Even as the pace of vaccinations accelerates in the U.S., Covid-19 cases are increasing in 21 states and highly infectious variants are spreading as governors relax restrictions on businesses like restaurants, bars and gyms. Public health officials warn that while roughly 2.5 million people nationwide are receiving shots every day, infection levels have plateaued this month and some states have failed to reduce the number of daily cases. (Newburger, 3/20)

CNN: Some Experts Are Split On Whether US Could See Another Covid-19 Surge 
The spread of variants, in combination with the still small percentage of fully vaccinated Americans, is why experts have stressed state leaders should not be lifting Covid-19 measures just yet -- and Americans should be doubling down on safety measures, to avoid another surge of the virus. But while at least a dozen governors have eased restrictions this month and cases across the US are no longer seeing the steep declines recorded earlier this year, one expert says it's unlikely the US will see another Covid-19 surge. (Maxouris, 3/22)

Axios: Former FDA Chief: Fourth COVID Wave Not Likely 
The U.S. is unlikely to face a fourth wave of the coronavirus, but will likely see plateauing case numbers before they continue to decline, Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb told ABC's "Face the Nation" on Sunday. It comes amid growing concerns about a possible surge in the U.S. Gottlieb noted that there are still many unanswered questions about new COVID-19 variants that could pose problems down the road. (Saric, 3/21)

In updates on the coronavirus variants —

CNBC: Fauci Says Variant From U.K. Likely Accounts For Up To 30% Of U.S. Infections
The highly contagious variant first identified in the U.K. likely accounts for up to 30% of Covid-19 infections in the United States, White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday. The variant, called B.1.1.7, has been reported in at least 94 countries and detected in 50 jurisdictions in the U.S., Fauci said during a White House news briefing on the pandemic, adding that the numbers are likely growing. (Lovelace Jr. and Miao, 3/19)

Bloomberg: U.K. Says It’s Developing Fast Test For Covid-19 Variants
The U.K. government is developing new testing technology that would identify whether positive Covid-19 test samples contain variants of concern, and provide more rapid results. The “genotype assay test” would halve the time it takes to identify the variants and could be used in addition to standard testing to find cases more quickly, the U.K. government’s health ministry said in a statement Monday. (Gopal, 3/21)

In news about contract tracing —

The Pew Charitable Trusts: For States COVID Contact Tracing Apps Privacy Tops Utility
The digital contact tracing effort in Virginia is 2 million phones strong. Roughly a quarter of the adult population has downloaded the state’s COVIDWISE app or opted in on their iPhones to receive exposure notifications. Almost 26,000 times, a notification has been sent to let someone know they were likely exposed to a person with COVID-19.But that’s the bulk of the information the state health department can glean. The system doesn’t track user locations, so officials don’t know where exposures happened, according to Jeff Stover, an executive adviser to the commissioner of Virginia’s Department of Health. (Van Ness, 3/19)

NPR: How Care Coordination And Support For Isolation Can Help Curb The Pandemic 
While everyone's hopes are trained on COVID-19 vaccines to lead the way out of the pandemic, public health experts say that other public health tools are still crucial for stopping the virus. One of those tools — contact tracing — may finally be ready to have its moment, says Crystal Watson, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. During the winter surge, contact tracers were overwhelmed; they couldn't possibly reach everyone who tested positive — and their close contacts — to tell them to stay home to slow the spread. (Simmons-Duffin, 3/19)

The New York Times: House Votes To Avert Deep Medicare Cuts To Pay For $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Plan
The House voted on Friday to avert an estimated $36 billion in cuts to Medicare next year and tens of billions more from farm subsidies and other social safety net programs, moving to stave off deep spending reductions that would otherwise be made to pay for the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill enacted last week. The action, opposed by the vast majority of Republicans, would effectively exempt President Biden’s pandemic aid package from a deficit-reduction law that requires that all spending be offset by automatic, across-the-board cuts to certain government programs. It passed by a vote of 246 to 175, with 29 Republicans joining Democrats to support it. (Cochrane and Sanger-Katz, 3/19)

Modern Healthcare: House Votes To Avert Medicare Cuts, But Senate Action Uncertain
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Friday that would prevent Medicare cuts to providers but its future is unclear in the Senate, where Republicans are bitter over the recently passed COVID-19 relief bill that passed along party lines. The legislation, introduced by House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) and passed 246-175, would extend a pause on the 2% Medicare sequester cuts through the end of the year. (Hellmann, 3/19)

The Washington Post: New Cost-Cutting Medicare Rule May Add Costs To Patients 
A cost-saving change in Medicare launched in the final days of the Trump administration will cut payments to hospitals for some surgical procedures while potentially raising costs and confusion for patients. For years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) classified 1,740 surgeries and other services so risky for older adults that Medicare would pay for them only when these adults were admitted to the hospital as inpatients. Under the new rule, the agency is beginning to phase out that requirement. On Jan. 1, 266 shoulder, spine and other musculoskeletal surgeries were crossed off what is called the “inpatient-only list.” (Jaffe, 3/21)

In news about Medicaid expansion and more —

The Morning Call: A Huge Spike In Medicaid Enrollment In Pa. Shows How Devastating The Coronavirus Has Been  
as unemployment dramatically spiked last year, reaching a high of 12% in April, thousands of people in the central Pennsylvania county turned to the government for health care. Cumberland County saw a nearly 22% increase in Medicaid enrollment from February 2020 to the same month this year. While that represents the greatest increase in the state, it’s far from an outlier. Enrollment in the program rose by more than 388,000, or 13.7%, during the same time period — reaching 3.2 million people in February. The change represents a dramatic expansion of Pennsylvania’s social safety net, exceeding single-year Medicaid enrollment increases that occurred during the Great Recession, a Spotlight PA analysis found. (Mahon and Olumhense, 3/22)

The Washington Examiner: Democrats To Use Carrots And Sticks To Get Red States To Embrace Obamacare Medicaid Expansion
Congressional Democrats have been adding pressure on states that have not yet expanded Medicaid, the government health insurance plan for poor people. This coming Tuesday, during a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing, they’ll try to turn the effort up to 11.At the hearing, Democrats will discuss the Incentivizing Medicaid Expansion Act of 2021, which would allow the federal government to fund at 100% for three years the Medicaid expansion for any state that has not yet expanded it as envisioned by Obamacare. Under Obamacare, states that had not expanded their Medicaid programs by 2014 were not eligible for 100% funding for the first three years. The new bill lets states qualify for full funding at any point in the future. (Hogberg, 3/21)

AP: Medicaid Incentive So Far Not Enough To Sway Holdout States
Democrats' nearly $2 trillion coronavirus relief package includes a big financial incentive for the states that have opted against expanding Medicaid to provide health coverage for more low-income Americans. It's proving to be a tough sell. The Associated Press surveyed top Republican elected officials in the dozen states that have resisted expanding coverage under a key provision of former President Barack Obama's heath care law. Some have softened their opposition, but the key gatekeepers— governors or legislative leaders — indicated they have no plans to change course. (Mulvihill and Collins, 3/19)

AP: Medicaid Expansion Incentives Under Review
Alabama Republicans for years have opposed expanding Medicaid eligibility. Now, they may be cracking the door. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and legislative leaders said they are reviewing details of the nearly $2 trillion coronavirus relief package that includes new financial incentives for the states that have opted against expanding Medicaid to provide health coverage for more low-income Americans. A spokeswoman for Ivey said the governor is “open to the discussion” on expansion but that state leaders need additional information about the long-term cost projections. (Chandler, 3/22)

WKOW: Memo: Rejection Of Medicaid Expansion Costs WI $1.6 Billion
It's become a bi-annual tradition in Wisconsin politics: Democrats and Republicans debate whether the state should adopt the full Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. A memo released last week by the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau found if Wisconsin lawmakers accepted the federal money starting in 2014, it would have brought in an additional $1.6 billion through the current two-year budget. "The idea is to make sure everybody in this state has access to good, quality healthcare," said Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-West Point). (Bayatpour, 3/19)

Star Herald: Medicaid Expansion Advances In Wyoming But Time Running Out
A state legislative committee has advanced a proposal to cover more people in Wyoming under the federal Medicaid program but time for the measure is running out. The House Revenue Committee voted 5-3 Thursday to send the proposal to the full Wyoming House. A similar measure has been awaiting a vote on the Senate floor. Monday is the deadline for the two bills to receive an initial vote in their chamber of origin or they won't be considered further this year. (3/21)

Axios: White House Easter Egg Roll Canceled Due To COVID-19 Pandemic 
The White House Easter Egg Roll has been canceled for the second year in a row due to the coronavirus pandemic. The White House Historical Association announced the event will instead take place virtually. The holiday celebration is organized by the first lady and typically draws crowds of 30,000 people. (Gonzalez, 3/20)

AP: Several White House Employees Fired For Using Drugs
Five White House staffers have been fired because of their past use of drugs, including marijuana, press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday. Marijuana has become a delicate issue for President Joe Biden's administration because 15 states and Washington, D.C., allow for recreational usage, despite a federal prohibition. The administration has tried not to automatically penalize potential staffers for legal behavior in their communities by developing a more flexible policy, Psaki said in a statement to The Associated Press. (Boak, 3/19)

Axios: How The Biden Administration Made Health Policy Without A Health Secretary 
With Xavier Becerra's confirmation on Thursday as Health and Human Services secretary, the Biden administration's health care team is clicking into place — not that it's been sitting around waiting. Many of the most important health care jobs in the executive branch right now aren't the Senate-confirmed leadership roles, but the management advisers and rank-and-file civil servants in charge of the vaccination effort. (Baker, 3/19)

In updates on the stimulus act —

USA Today: Vice President Kamala Harris To Visit Fla. Monday To Tout COVID Relief
Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Jacksonville, Florida, on Monday to tout the administration's $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus plan, according to an administration source. It will be her first visit since crisscrossing Florida last fall during the presidential campaign. (Fins, 3/21)

KHN: Journalists Analyze The Covid Relief Bill
Reporter LJ Dawson discussed how undocumented immigrants have been left out of the pandemic relief package with Newsy on Tuesday. KHN correspondent Emmarie Huetteman discussed Affordable Care Act provisions included in the recent covid-19 relief bill with Newsy on Monday. (3/20)

In news about the Trump administration —

Axios: WashPost Journalists Writing Scoopy Book On Trump's COVID-19 Response 
Washington Post journalists Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta will be out June 29 with "Nightmare Scenario," a scoopy narrative of President Trump's chaotic response to the pandemic. Harper, the publisher, says the authors "reveal the numerous times officials tried to dissuade Trump from following his worst impulses ... And they show how the petty backstabbing and rivalries amongst cabinet members, staff, and aides, created a toxic cycle of blame, sycophancy, and political pressure." (Allen, 3/19)

Stat: Undocumented Immigrants Sought Less Care After Trump Campaign Launch
Undocumented immigrants were less likely to visit primary care physicians after former President Trump launched his presidential campaign in 2015, according to a March study — suggesting his rhetoric had a chilling effect, experts said, that could make those individuals less likely to seek critical care or, even now, Covid-19 vaccinations. The study, published earlier this month in JAMA, showed a 34.5% decrease in undocumented adults’ primary care visits when they compared the periods roughly a year and a half preceeding the June 16, 2015 start of Trump’s campaign to the period roughly three years after it. Undocumented children’s visits dropped by even more — 43.3%. (Faheid, 3/22)

Axios: All Veterans, Their Spouses, Caregivers Will Be Eligible To Get COVID-19 Vaccines 
Veterans, their spouses and caregivers will be able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine through the Department of Veterans Affairs as soon as doses are available, according to newly finalized legislation. The VA has counted more than 11,000 deaths and recorded more than 223,500 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the medical system. (Chen, 3/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Poised To Make Vaccines Available To All By Last Week Of April, Newsom Says
California is poised to make coronavirus vaccines available to all residents 16 and older by the last week of April, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday, a move that would eliminate the tiered system that currently only grants vaccine eligibility to seniors, some essential workers and younger people with disabilities or underlying medical conditions. “We’re anticipating within five-and-a-half weeks ... we can eliminate all the tiering, so to speak, and make available the vaccines to everybody across the spectrum because the supply will exponentially increase,” Newsom said during a news conference in San Francisco. (Ho and Williams, 3/19)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Is Expanding COVID Vaccine Eligibility Starting Next Week. Here’s What You Need To Know. 
In the coming weeks, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Thursday, vaccine eligibility will open up to all adults in the state. Maryland will expand vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 or older “no later than April 27,” Hogan said at an afternoon news conference at the State House in Annapolis. In the meantime, the governor said, the state will expand eligibility in “waves” that accommodate risk factors such as age, occupation and underlying health conditions. (Oxenden, 3/19)

AP: Tennessee To Expand Vaccine Eligibility
Tennessee health officials on Monday are expected to expand eligibility to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. “As Tennessee continues working to protect those most at risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 and provide vaccinations as quickly as possible, counties may progress through each of the phases as vaccine supply allows,” said Bill Christian, spokesperson for the Department of Health, in an email. (3/22)

Health News Florida: DeSantis Lowers COVID Vaccine Eligibility Age To 50 And Older 
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Florida will lower the coronavirus vaccination age eligibility to 50 effective Monday. "I'm going to sign an executive order this morning," he said Friday at a news conference in Tallahassee. On Monday, residents age 60 were added to the eligibility pool. Florida has also expanded eligibility to include first-responders, health care workers, school staff and people whose doctors say they are medically vulnerable. (3/19)

WMFE: Orange County Will Offer Vaccines To People 40 And Older Starting Monday 
Mayor Jerry Demings says Orange County will begin vaccinating people age 40 and older starting Monday at the county Convention Center. It's unknown at this time if other counties will follow suit. Demings says the decision came after consulting with nearby Lake, Osceola and Seminole counties and representatives of the White House and the state. (Prieur, 3/19)

In other rollout news from the states —

ABC News: California Among Worst In Getting Vaccines To Vulnerable Populations, CDC Report Finds
About a quarter of California's population has received one shot of the coronavirus vaccine so far, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, most of the shots so far appear to have gone to populations that are less vulnerable than others. State health officials say they are working to improve those numbers. The CDC issued a report last week that measured county's vaccine rollouts with regards to "social vulnerability." The vulnerability index included several factors including race, education, poverty level and housing, which the agency noted has also been linked to higher coronavirus rates. (Pereira, 3/21)

WUSF Public Media: Military Personnel Delivering COVID-19 Vaccines At FEMA Sites 
As states try to ramp up vaccinations for COVID-19 and expand eligibility, some, including Florida, have asked for federal help. In response, FEMA has tapped the military for the mission. Inside a large white tent at the Tampa Greyhound Track, Air Force medical technician Linzie Avalos stood at a folding table in her camo uniform and boots prepping some needles for the crowds of people lined up to get their shots. (Colombini, 3/21)

KHN: In America, Covid Vaccine Eligibility Is A ‘Crazy Quilt’ Of State Rules
In North Carolina, the nation’s leading tobacco producer, any adult who has smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime can now be vaccinated against covid. In Florida, people under 50 with underlying health conditions can get vaccinated only if they have written permission from their doctor. In Mississippi, more than 30,000 covid vaccine appointments were open Friday — days after the state became the first in the contiguous United States to make the shots available to all adults. (Galewitz, 3/22)

Axios: CDC: 1 In 6 U.S. Adults Has Been Fully Vaccinated Against COVID 
One in six U.S. adults has been fully vaccinated for the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions' vaccine tracker. The U.S. has administered a total of 121 million doses and vaccinated 42.9 million people 18 years and older, representing 16.7% of the adult population. Roughly 40.8% of people 65 years and older have been fully vaccinated. (Knutson, 3/20)

USA Today: COVID Vaccine Motivation: Krispy Kreme Is Giving Away Free Donuts For Showing Vaccination Card
Krispy Kreme is providing a sweet incentive to encourage more people to roll up their sleeves for the COVID-19 vaccine: Free doughnuts through the end of 2021. Starting Monday, consumers who show a valid COVID-19 vaccination card at locations nationwide will get a free Original Glazed doughnut, the Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based chain announced.  (Tyko, 3/22)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Workers' COVID-19 Vaccine Demand Still Outpaces Supply
With demand for the COVID-19 vaccine far outpacing supply, some healthcare workers have been caught in the decentralized scramble for vaccination, industry experts say. Even months into vaccination efforts in the U.S., only 52% of frontline health workers have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and just 42% have received both doses, according to a new survey by Kaiser Family Foundation and The Washington Post completed in early March that polled healthcare workers who are not self-employed. (3/19)

NPR: COVID-19 Vaccine Embraced By Black And Latinx Americans
When COVID-19 vaccines began arriving in Memphis, Tenn., late last year, some Black residents had questions. Did the vaccines cause infertility? Did they alter a person's DNA? They don't. And local community leaders worked hard to counter these and other vaccine myths as they came up in public forums around town or appeared online. Even so, Dr. Pat Flynn, an infectious disease specialist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, was worried that early public vaccination events might be dominated by white people in a town where most residents are Black. (Hamilton, 3/20)

Boston Globe: Should Pregnant Women Get The COVID-19 Vaccine? With Little Data, Some Are Eager, Some Wary 
When COVID-19 vaccines became available late last year, Dr. Lauren Westafer faced a double challenge. She’d been asked to help develop a guide for pregnant women and their doctors in deciding about vaccination. And Westafer, an emergency medicine physician at Baystate Health in Springfield, had just learned that she herself was pregnant. She would have to navigate the very process she was developing for doctors and patients everywhere — and on that road she would confront a surprise: her emotions were suddenly running counter to the choice she had expected to make. (Freyer, 3/21)

KHN: So You’re Vaccinated Against Covid. Now What?
As you surely know, this country’s covid vaccination effort has been plagued by major birth pangs: registration snafus, poor communication, faulty data and a scant supply of vaccine — all exacerbated by inequitable allocation, alleged political favoritism and unseemly jockeying for shots. Still, as of Friday, over 118 million shots had gone into arms, and about 42 million people, 12.6% of the nation’s population, had been fully vaccinated. Nearly one-quarter of U.S. residents have had at least one dose. (Wolfson, 3/22)

In news about Trump supporters and the covid vaccine —

Modern Healthcare: Chicago Hospital Board Under Fire In Trump Tower Vaccine Controversy
A Chicago hospital is scrambling to contain fallout from the controversial decision to vaccinate workers at Trump Tower and members of the CEOs suburban church. In a statement, the board of safety-net Loretto Hospital said it had reprimanded hospital CEO George Miller Jr. and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Anosh Ahmed "for their roles in mistakes of judgment made," but did not specify any sanctions. (Strahler, 3/21)

The Washington Post: In This Rural Trump Country, Covid Vaccine Is An Easy Sell—For Now
Cindy Stidham is a nurse with faith in most vaccines — but as scientists raced to produce one to counter the coronavirus, she figured she'd hang back. “I’ll be the last in line to get it,” Stidham, a political conservative from the reddest corner of Virginia, told herself as the first two vaccines, developed with uncommon speed, won FDA approval late last year. Yet there she was last week at a clinic at Mountain Empire Community College, in an Appalachian county where President Donald Trump won 80 percent of the vote in November, sweeping her long hair off to one side so her arm could get jabbed. (Vozella, 3/21)

Politico: Vaccine Mystery: Why J&J’s Shots Aren’t Reaching More Arms
Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot Covid vaccine was supposed to be the catalyst for the country’s return to normal. Instead, it’s sparking confusion and finger-pointing between the states and the Biden administration over why millions of doses are sitting unused. Almost three weeks after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the shots, no one appears to be able to explain why immunizations are lagging. Some states are thought to be intentionally holding back shots, while others say it takes time to inoculate populations like the homebound. (Banco and Roubein, 3/22)

AP: A Rapid COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Backfired In Some US States
Despite the clamor to speed up the U.S. vaccination drive against COVID-19 and get the country back to normal, the first three months of the rollout suggest faster is not necessarily better. A surprising new analysis found that states such as South Carolina and Florida that raced ahead of others to offer the vaccine to ever-larger groups of people have vaccinated smaller shares of their population than those that moved more slowly and methodically, such as Hawaii and Connecticut. (Johnson and Forster, 3/22)

Axios: Biden's Next Challenge: Vaccine Diplomacy 
The U.S. accounts for 27% of the world’s coronavirus vaccine production, but 0% of the global supply beyond its own borders. Critics and allies alike say it’s time for that to change. China has gotten a head start on vaccine diplomacy, sending millions of doses all over the globe, including to Latin America. Experts say it’s in America’s interests to compete in the race to vaccinate the world, and the calls to start doing so are getting louder. (Lawler, 3/22)

Stat: How Pharma Companies Stacked Up In The Covid-19 Vaccine Race
In the early stages of the race to develop Covid-19 vaccines, it wasn’t clear how many would work, which manufacturers would score successes, or which projects would fall by the wayside. Now, just a few days past the first anniversary of the start of Moderna’s Phase 1 trial — the first to begin in the United States — we have a much clearer picture of the Covid vaccine landscape. (Branswell, Herper and Garde, 3/22)

Also —

Axios: The Countries Producing The Most COVID-19 Vaccines 
The Biden administration on Thursday took a modest first step toward sharing coronavirus vaccines with the world, announcing that it intends to send 1.5 million AstraZeneca doses to Canada and 2.5 million to Mexico. The vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University hasn't been approved in the U.S., and the White House has faced growing criticism for sitting on doses that could be used elsewhere. (Lawler, 3/19)

Bloomberg: Are MRNA Covid Vaccines Risky? What The Experts Say
When it became clear in early 2020 that the Sars-CoV-2 virus posed a pandemic threat, researchers who’d been exploring an innovative way to make vaccines saw an opportunity. Experimental messenger RNA vaccines had been recognized for years for their potential speed and flexibility in a fast-moving epidemic, and were some of the first Covid inoculations to move into human trials. The effort paid off when, late last year, vaccines from Moderna Inc. and the Pfizer Inc./BioNTech SE partnership were the first to prove effective. Because the technology is so new, however, these vaccines are particularly vulnerable to disinformation campaigns aimed at dissuading people from taking the shots. (Langreth, 3/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Hospitals Hide Pricing Data From Search Results
Hospitals that have published their previously confidential prices to comply with a new federal rule have also blocked that information from web searches with special coding embedded on their websites, according to a Wall Street Journal examination. The information must be disclosed under a federal rule aimed at making the $1 trillion sector more consumer friendly. But hundreds of hospitals embedded code in their websites that prevented Alphabet Inc.’s Google and other search engines from displaying pages with the price lists, according to the Journal examination of more than 3,100 sites. (McGinty, Wilde Matthews and Evans, 3/22)

In other health industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Michigan Blues To Pay $100- $125 Million To Settle National Antitrust Lawsuit
Employers, individuals and other claimants insured by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan over the last decade stand to split up to $125 million as part of a $2.67 billion proposed antitrust settlement agreement that the national Blue Cross association and its 36 member plans have signed off on. While admitting no wrongdoing, the Blues were alleged in an 8-year-old antitrust lawsuit filed in Alabama by more than 1 million plaintiffs to have overcharged self-funded company plans, fully insured company plans and individuals based on national association membership licensing rules that prohibited plans from competing in others' territories or states. (Greene, 3/21)

Modern Healthcare: Sanford Invests $300 Million In Rural Health
Sanford Health will invest $300 million to boost rural health, the not-for-profit health system announced Friday. The Sioux Falls, S.D.-based system plans to create eight new graduate medical residencies and fellowships, which Sanford hopes will foster a network of specialists in underserved rural communities. Sanford will also add new soccer, baseball and softball fields to its sports complex in Sioux Falls and expand its tournaments, sports training programs and youth and adult leagues. (Kacik, 3/19)

Stat: Finch Therapeutics Goes Public, Quietly Reshuffles An Executive
Microbiome company Finch Therapeutics is, officially, worth about $960 million. Shares in the company began trading publicly on Friday morning. The company’s shares were initially priced at $17; as of 11 a.m., that price had increased by 30% to nearly $22. Finch’s stock ticker is FNCH. The company announced positive topline results from a Phase 2 trial this summer for its treatment for C. difficile, a potentially fatal gut infection that often returns even after a course of antibiotics. (Sheridan, 3/19)

Stat: Digital Therapeutics Startups Are Ready For More Regulation, Not Less 
Digital therapeutics companies are eager to show their work. Five days before President Biden took office, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule to exempt a laundry list of medical devices from typical regulations, including newly cleared apps to treat psychiatric disorders. Now, their creators have pushed back, demanding that digital therapeutics need and deserve regulatory scrutiny. (Palmer, 3/22)

Also —

MedTech Dive: 1 Year After COVID-19 Hit: What's Next For FDA, Electives, Testing And Robotics 
Initial signs of the tumultuous year ahead began to take hold a year ago this month, with the World Health Organization’s pandemic declaration and a wave of regional lockdowns. Like much of the business world, the medtech industry has ridden a roller coaster of steep demand for novel diagnostics and a plunge in once-stable business lines like hip and knee replacement surgeries. With accurate testing among the most immediate public health and market needs, giants like Abbott and Becton Dickinson jumped into new markets of PCR, antigen and antibody tests. (3/15)

Healthcare Dive: COVID-19: 1 Year Later
For the healthcare industry, much has changed, and some of those alterations may be permanent. Providers have learned a lot over the past year, including how to improve systemwide communications and work on more efficient patient flow strategies. And hospital staff have faced unprecedented levels of stress and burnout, leading to concerns about hiring enough people and keeping them well in the future. Meanwhile, most primary care providers have largely recovered from the pandemic financially, but they're increasingly frustrated with lack of access to coronavirus vaccine to give to their patients, many of whom report worsening chronic medical conditions. (3/15)

Stateline: ‘Why Do I Put My Life On The Line?’ Pandemic Trauma Haunts Health Workers
Brittany Bankhead-­Kendall, 34, was a newly minted surgeon when the COVID-19 pandemic began. At first, like thousands of other health care professionals, she worked tirelessly in crisis mode. But by last fall, she was experiencing random and repeated physiological symptoms, including a racing heart and dimmed vision. She diagnosed herself as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The worst of the pandemic may be behind the country. But for front-line health workers such as Bankhead-Kendall, the psychological scars from the chaos and uncertainty they’ve lived through, and the suffering and death they’ve witnessed, may take much longer to heal. (Vestal, 3/18)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Providers Determine How To Best Use Ultrafast 5G
The same technology expected to make increasingly immersive virtual reality, driverless cars and other “smart” products possible will also improve hospital processes and patient care—at least, that’s what some early adopters are hoping. A small number of healthcare organizations in recent years have struck partnerships with telecommunications companies to try out 5G—the newest generation of wireless internet—for an expansive roster of innovative tech projects, including programs related to augmented and virtual reality, robot-assisted telesurgery, and data processing. (Cohen, 3/20)

KHN: Blue Shield Spent Years Cultivating A Relationship With Newsom. It Got The State Vaccine Contract
Gavin Newsom was just making a name for himself as mayor of San Francisco in 2005 when Blue Shield of California wrote him its first major check. The young, business-friendly Democrat had exploded onto the national scene the year before by issuing same-sex marriage licenses in San Francisco, and he was pushing his next big idea, called Project Homeless Connect. The initiative would host bazaar-style events in neighborhoods across the city, linking homeless people to services like food assistance and health care. (Young and Hart, 3/19)

USA Today: Poll: 1 In 4 Americans Have Seen Asians Blamed For COVID-19
One in 4 Americans, including nearly half of Asian Americans, in recent weeks have seen someone blame Asian people for the coronavirus epidemic, a new USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds. The nationwide survey was taken Thursday and Friday in the wake of last week's mass shooting in Georgia that killed eight people, six of them women of Asian descent. Reports across the country of physical assaults and verbal abuse against Asian Americans have jumped during the yearlong pandemic. (Page and Elbeshbishi, 3/21)

CNBC: Biden Urges Congress To Pass Hate Crime Legislation Over Violence Against Asian Americans
President Joe Biden on Friday urged Congress to “swiftly pass” hate crime legislation to address the rise in discrimination and violence against Asian Americans during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act aims to increase Justice Department oversight of coronavirus-related hate crimes, provide support for state and local law enforcement agencies, and make hate crime information more accessible to Asian American communities. (Miao, 3/19)

The Washington Post: Nationwide Protests Supporting Asian Americans Unfold After Recent Attacks
Demonstrations unfolded across the country Saturday as activists and officials linked the massacre in Atlanta to a surge in violence against Asian Americans amid the covid-19 pandemic. ... Meanwhile, a growing chorus of advocates has called for a renewed federal effort to fight gun violence, arguing that, amid rising racism, lax gun laws make it too easy for someone to act on their hate. (Kaplan, Bella, Bellware and Wang, 3/20)

AP: Pope Decries Shame Of Racism, Like ‘Virus’ Lurking In Wait 
Pope Francis on Sunday denounced racism, likening it to a virus that lurks in waiting and only to emerge and show that “our supposed social progress is not as real or definitive” as people think. Francis tweeted on racism on the date that the United Nations marks as International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The pope likened racism to a “a virus that quickly mutates and, instead of disappearing, goes into hiding, and lurks in waiting.” (3/21)

NPR: Atlanta Killings: Sex Worker Advocate Sees Deadly Consequences Of Overlapping Hatreds
The man accused of killing six Asian women told police that he attacked the Georgia massage businesses because they contributed to his "sex addiction." The spas, police said, were a source of "temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate." Although authorities have not said whether sex work occurred at the businesses, the spas he targeted were reported sites of law enforcement prostitution stings and reviewed online as places where sex work occurred. (Bowman, 3/21)

In news from California —

San Francisco Chronicle: Campaign To Recall Newsom Criticized For 'Chinese' Virus Rhetoric
Organizers of the campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom have repeatedly called the coronavirus a “Chinese” virus over the past year, echoing rhetoric that Asian American leaders say has fueled racist attitudes and violence. On its website, the recall campaign referred to the virus as the “Communist Chinese Party (CCP) Virus,” and some political operatives who have worked on the effort have used similar language. (Gardiner, 3/21)

Los Angeles Times: 'I Can't Suffer In Silence Anymore': Demonstrators Remain Vigilant In Protests Against Anti-Asian Attacks 
Maria Tran had felt the sting of anti-Asian racism before, including the time “an older white gentleman on the street told me to go back to Vietnam” and the many references to “the China virus” by former President Trump. But the pain and outrage caused by last week’s killing of eight people in Georgia — including six women of Asian descent — were too much for her to bear alone. On Sunday, she joined scores of others at a vigil and rally at Village Green Park in Garden Grove to protest racially driven hate and violence. The Orange County demonstration was one of several held across California throughout the weekend. (Christensen, 3/21)

HealthDay: Kids' ER Visits For Swallowed Magnets Soars
Calls to U.S. poison centers about incidents involving children and high-powered magnets surged more than 400% after a court overturned a ban on the magnets, a new study finds. "Regulations on these products were effective, and the dramatic increase in the number of high-powered magnet related injuries since the ban was lifted - even compared to pre-ban numbers - is alarming," said Dr. Leah Middelberg. She's lead author of the study and emergency medicine physician at Nationwide Children's Hospital, in Columbus, Ohio. (Preidt, 3/18)

CNN: Melatonin For Children: Experts Say To Use Caution 
Melatonin is a popular over-the-counter sleeping aid, touted as a natural way for adults to fall asleep and used by millions around the world. So why wouldn't it be good for children, too? "There is a view that if it's natural, then it can't hurt," said Rebecca Robbins, an associate scientist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who studies sleep. "The truth is, we just really don't know the implications of melatonin in the longer term, for adults or kids," she said. (LaMotte, 3/22)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Study: 94% Of Older Adults Prescribed Drugs That Raise Risk Of Falling
If your parents or grandparents take antidepressants, high blood pressure medication, or tranquilizers such as Valium and Xanax, you might want to keep an eye on them. A new study from the University of Buffalo shows nearly every older adult was prescribed medication that increased their risk of falling in 2017. In 1999, the researchers found, 57% of adults age 65 and older were prescribed drugs that might cause them to lose their balance. In 2017, however, that percentage leaped to 94%. (Clanton, 3/18)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Key To Lowering Blood Pressure Could Be In Your Tea, Research Shows
Next to water, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world, and in the U.S., the drink can be found in nearly 80% of households, according to the Tea Association of the USA. Now, research has shown that consuming the beverage could have blood pressure-lowering benefits. Since, high blood pressure, also called hypertension, puts people at risk for developing heart disease and stroke — two leading causes of death in the U.S. — the news of tea’s antihypertensive properties could lead to developing new blood pressure-lowering medications. (Willis, 3/18)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: More Body Fat May Better Protect Women From Heart Disease Death
Amid regular chatter about burning body fat, good news has emerged about the potential benefits of having it. New research shows that higher rates of body fat in women may offer more protection against dying from heart disease. The findings come from a recent UCLA study where researchers analyzed data from two studies. One set of data was focused on body composition and came from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2004. Another data set came from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2014 and focused on cardiovascular disease. (Willis, 3/19)

In other public health news —

Bloomberg: Cruising Plans Its Official Comeback For June 
On the heels of Crystal Cruises’ announcement this week that it would circumvent the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by launching Bahamas-only trips this summer, two further lines will open itineraries in the Caribbean as soon as June. The latest announcements came from Royal Caribbean International, which will sail a ship from Nassau, the Bahamas, to Cozumel, Mexico, and sister line Celebrity Cruises, which will explore southern Caribbean itineraries from Sint Maarten. Additional cruise lines are expected to follow with similar announcements in the coming days and weeks. (Golden, 3/21)

CNBC: Returning To Pre-Pandemic Life: Tips To Cope With Fear, Anxiety
People around the world have anticipated the moment when life can return to “pre-pandemic normal.” But as that reality seems within sight, many are now feeling increased anxiety about getting back into life. A recent survey from the American Psychological Association found that 49% of adults reported feeling uncomfortable about returning to in-person interactions when the pandemic ends. Even 48% of who have received the Covid vaccine report feeling the same way. (Stieg, 3/21)

Sky News: Hearing Loss, Tinnitus And Vertigo May Be Associated With Coronavirus, Research Suggests 
Hearing loss and other auditory problems may be strongly linked to coronavirus, new research suggests. Scientists estimate 7.6% of people infected with COVID-19 experience hearing loss, while 14.8% suffer tinnitus. They also found the prevalence of vertigo was 7.2%. The researchers, from The University of Manchester and Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, compiled data from 24 studies that identified an association between coronavirus and auditory and vestibular problems. The vestibular system includes parts of the inner ear and brain that process the information involved with controlling balance and eye movements. (Bennett, 3/22)

AP: Texas Roadhouse CEO Takes Own Life As Tinnitus Worsened By COVID
Kent Taylor, founder and CEO of the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain, has died. He was 65. His family and the company say he took his own life after suffering from symptoms related to COVID-19, including severe tinnitus. Taylor's family and the company on Sunday confirmed his death in a statement. Tinnitus is a common condition involving ringing or or other noises in one or both ears. Experts say the coronavirus can exacerbate tinnitus problems. (3/21)

In other covid research news —

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 17% Of U.K. COVID Patients Had Skin Rash As First Symptom
Skin rash might join the list of other symptoms associated with COVID-19.Dr. Alessia Viscont at King’s College London and fellow researchers analyzed data from 336,847 U.K. users of the COVID Symptom Study app to examine the diagnostic value of body rash or an acral rash in SARS-CoV-2 infection. ... The researchers found a significant association between skin rashes and a positive swab test result. Among respondents of the online survey, 17% reported skin rashes as the first symptom, and 21% said it was their only clinical sign. (Clanton, 3/18)

Axios: Long-Haul COVID-19 Can Happen In Kids, Too 
Like adults, children can suffer from long-haul symptoms after having the coronavirus, the Washington Post reports. Cases are rare but growing, doctors told the Post. (Owens, 3/19)

KHN: The Hype Has Faded, But Don’t Count Out Convalescent Plasma In Covid Battle
Six months after it was controversially hailed by Trump administration officials as a “breakthrough” therapy to fight the worst effects of covid-19, convalescent plasma appears to be on the ropes. The treatment that infuses blood plasma from recovered covid patients into people newly infected in hopes of boosting their immune response has not lived up to early hype. Some high-profile clinical trials have shown disappointing results. Demand from hospitals for the antibody-rich plasma has plunged. After a year of large-scale national efforts to recruit recovered covid patients as donors and the collection of more than 500,000 units of covid convalescent plasma, known as CCP, some longtime advocates of the therapy say they’re now pessimistic about its future. (Aleccia, 3/22)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia ‘Granny Cams’ Bill Disappoints Senior Advocates
The family of World War II veteran James Dempsey never would have learned the true story of the 89-year-old’s death in an Atlanta nursing home without footage from a hidden camera they placed in his room after becoming suspicious. The video revealed his disturbing final moments when the nursing staff ignored his repeated pleas for help, saying he could not breathe. The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled in December that Dempsey and his family acted legally when placing a hidden camera and it could be used in a criminal case. But now, the Georgia General Assembly is considering a bill that would restrict hidden “granny cams,” like the one used by the Dempsey family and sanctioned by the Supreme Court. Instead, the legislation would authorize in-view cameras so that a long-term care facility and its employees would know they are being filmed. (Teegardin, 3/19)

Health News Florida: Deal Reached On COVID-19 Liability Protections 
Legislative leaders announced Thursday they have an agreement on COVID-19 liability protections for businesses, nursing homes and other health care providers and that a bill should be headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk late next week. Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, and House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, said the House would accept a proposal (SB 72) that the Senate amended and passed Thursday in a 24-15 vote along almost straight party lines. Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, was the only Democrat who voted for the measure. (Sexton, 3/19)

Axios: Idaho Lawmakers COVID Outbreak: Legislature Shuts Down 
The Idaho Legislature has shut down for two weeks after at least 10 members and staff tested positive for COVID-19, CNN reported Saturday. The recess comes as House and Senate lawmakers are due to debate major issues, like "setting budgets and pushing through a huge income tax cut," per AP. (3/21)

Health News Florida: Doctors Push Back On Marijuana Potency Arguments 
Florida doctors on Thursday pushed back against allegations that the state’s medical marijuana program is being used by people seeking to get high for fun. The physicians spoke out after a committee approved a controversial proposal being pushed by Republican lawmakers in the state House. (Kam, 3/19)

PBS NewsHour: Stockton, CA Gave Residents A Guaranteed Income—Here’s What Happened 
We found that, number one, people did not stop working. In fact, we found that those who received the guaranteed income were more likely to find full-time employment and were less likely to be unemployed than they were before the guaranteed income. ... We also found health, mental health impacts, from something as small as $500. We saw that depression decreased. We saw that cortisol levels decreased. We saw that stress and anxiety decreased. And according to the Kessler scale, comparable to clinical trials of Prozac, which doesn't mean that medicine isn't important. But I think it does mean that economic insecurity has a huge mental health cost and so much of the anxiety and stress we see is due to economic insecurity. (3/21)

The Washington Post: Third Dose Of Sinopharm Vaccine Needed For Some In UAE
A "very small number" of people in the United Arab Emirates are being invited to receive a third shot of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine after antibody tests indicated they did not have a sufficient immune response following two doses of the Chinese-made vaccine, its distributor confirmed Sunday. Walid Zaher, the chief researcher for G42 Healthcare, which distributes the Sinopharm vaccine in the UAE, told Dubai Eye radio that a study was underway to give some people third doses. (Schemm, 3/21)

Axios: Half Of U.K. Adults Have Had First Coronavirus Vaccine Shot 
Half of adults across the United Kingdom, roughly 26.8 million people, have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine as of Saturday, according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Minister Matt Hancock. The country administered a record 711,100 doses on Friday and is fourth in the world for total population vaccinated, coming just behind Israel, United Arab Emirates and Chile, according to Reuters. (Knutson, 3/20)

The New York Times: Rich Countries Signed Away A Chance To Vaccinate The World
In the coming days, a patent will finally be issued on a five-year-old invention, a feat of molecular engineering that is at the heart of at least five major Covid-19 vaccines. And the United States government will control that patent. The new patent presents an opportunity — and some argue the last best chance — to exact leverage over the drug companies producing the vaccines and pressure them to expand access to less affluent countries. The question is whether the government will do anything at all. (Gebrekidan and Apuzzo, 3/21)

CNBC: Third Covid Wave Hits Europe, France, Germany Eye More Lockdowns
More than a year after the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic, Europe is continuing to struggle with the virus amid a third wave of infections and ramping up of lockdown measures. At the same time, the bloc’s vaccination rollout remains sluggish, hit by manufacturing issues and supply snags, to the extent that European Union leaders are meeting this week to discuss — once again — the introduction of possible vaccine export bans. (Ellyatt, 3/22)

Axios: Protests Erupt Across Europe Over COVID-19 Restrictions 
Several European cities saw anti-lockdown protests on Saturday, with some leading to clashes between demonstrators and police. As case numbers and variants in Europe surge, the vaccine rollout has been sluggish and countries have gone back into lockdown. The protests are part of the rising frustration with COVID-19 restrictions on the continent. (Saric, 3/21)

In other global news —

Reuters: Pandemic Hits Efforts To Stop Mexico's 'Silent' Killer
Chagas, spread mostly via the faeces of blood-sucking bugs, is one of the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that affect 1.7 billion people around the world, mostly in poor countries, according to the World Health Organization. Chagas patients are more likely to be cured if they are treated soon after infection, making early detection key. But the coronavirus pandemic slowed Mexico’s already limited testing and the number of diagnoses more than halved in 2020 compared to 2019 as COVID-19 overwhelmed the health system. (Murray, 3/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: How COVID's Rise Is Elevating Another Serious Threat: Superbugs
In the midst of a raging COVID-19 pandemic with its growing variants, why in the world should we pay any attention to “superbugs,” bacteria that resist antibiotics? After all, COVID-19 is a virus, and superbugs are bacteria. For good reason: These rogue bacteria can seize on COVID’s weakened victims, and in many cases, become their final cause of death. So COVID’s rise has directly accelerated the use of the few, still-potent antibiotics we have to treat these bacteria. The more such antibiotics circulate, the more chance that resistant mutations will occur, curtailing their effectiveness. In effect, COVID-19 has given superbugs a true shot-in-the-arm, cementing their place as a health crisis equal and parallel to its own. (Jean Mudge, 3/21)

The New York Times: The AstraZeneca Vaccine Is Safe. How Can We Get People To Trust It?
The European Medicines Agency, Europe’s top drug regulator, confirmed last Thursday that the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is safe. In some ways, that shouldn’t be news: It had previously received approval by the E.M.A. and some 20 million people in Europe have already received doses, largely without issue. But earlier in the week, several European countries temporarily halted inoculations out of concern that it caused blood clots. Now that regulators have reaffirmed the AstraZeneca vaccine’s safety, we need to address the next key challenge: confidence and trust in it. Although the vaccine has been given the official green light, the reported risks and the temporary suspensions have heightened anxieties and increased hesitancy. (Heidi J. Larson, 3/22)

Stat: We Need To Start Thinking More Critically About Long Covid 
A newspaper columnist reached out to me a while back after noticing a few of my tweets. As a pulmonary and critical care physician, I had made the point that researchers and journalists should speak more cautiously about a still-mysterious condition that was coming to be known as long Covid. The columnist was curious if other medical professionals shared my skepticism of the narrative emerging in news stories. “I’m asking as much as a person as a journalist,” this correspondent shared with me, “because I’m more terrified of this syndrome than I am of death.” (Adam W. Gaffney, 3/22)

Chicago Tribune: Give Customers And Patients A Choice To Be Served By Vaccinated Workers 
It’s apparently too much to ask that employers adopt a “no jab, no job” policy requiring all employees who deal closely with public to get vaccinated against COVID-19 when their turn comes or else find another line of work. I got a lot of pushback from vaccine skeptics when I floated that idea recently. So how about we flip the script? Let’s give customers — including and especially patients — the right to know if the employees they’re dealing with have been vaccinated and the opportunity to take their business elsewhere. (Eric Zorn, 3/20)

The Washington Post: Virus Variants Mean Our Covid Winter Isn’t Over. Don’t Ease Restrictions Now. 
f you live in the northeastern part of our country, you don’t put your winter jackets into storage at the first sign of spring because you know a cold snap is likely lurking around the corner. The same must be true of the pandemic. No matter where you live, it is too early to relax restrictions that continue to have a critical role in controlling this pandemic. From California to Maine, Florida to Seattle, the covid-19 winter is not yet done, and highly infectious variants are threatening new storms. (Ashish, K. Jha, 3/19)

NBC News: How Will We Know If The Covid Pandemic Is Really Over? And How Will We Feel When It Is?
Most people remember the day Covid-19 became real to them. For me, it was March 13, 2020: I was in a foreign country and was told by the U.S. government that I needed to immediately return home. For some, it may have become real the day they began working from home, found themselves teaching their kids full time or canceled their weddings. For others, it may not have become real until they or someone they loved contracted Covid-19. Some of us have losses — loved ones, our businesses, our jobs, our careers — that made this pandemic traumatically tangible. Most of us have drifted through these often-disastrous last few months rather than really lived them. And now, while we have all been hoping for a clear conclusion to the pandemic, it’s likely that there won’t be a single day to mark in celebration. Rather, "the end" may be a series of small events and gradual re-emergences into a changed reality as changed people, and it may be more difficult to navigate than we imagine. (Ellen Braaten, 3/20)

Scientific American: We Need Social Science, Not Just Medical Science, To Beat The Pandemic 
As with most disasters, when the history of the COVID pandemic is written, there will be a fair amount of finger-pointing involved. Much more could have been done to mitigate the coronavirus impact in the United States, but in reality, there are very few countries that totally escaped this scourge. Scientific research has provided a lot of new knowledge by which to manage the pandemic—and of course, the development of vaccines in record time is welcome news. But even with vaccines, success in controlling this virus continues to depend in large measure on human behavior. Science cannot take on these big challenges solely through medical fixes; rather it needs social and behavioral science to have a seat at the table as well. History is also a useful guide for understanding the present. (Nicholas Dirks, 3/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Should Wake Up From Its Single-Payer Dreams
Single-payer health care has new life in California. State lawmakers just introduced AB1400, legislation that would launch a government takeover of the state’s health insurance system, effectively banning private coverage and enrolling every Californian in the same plan. One of the bill’s co-authors, Assembly member Miguel Santiago, says that putting the state in charge of Californians’ care will deliver a “health care model that is affordable and accessible to all.” Assembly Member Ash Kalra agrees, saying that single-payer would “save lives” and “improve public health.” (Sally C. Pipes, 3/19)

Los Angeles Times: Getting Past Disease To The Science Of Wellness 
America was sick before COVID-19 struck. The pandemic has made our national sickness more acute and illustrated the critical importance of “wellness” in preventing disease and optimizing health. We know this because COVID disproportionately affected people with chronic illness and unhealthful lifestyles. As a scientist who has worked at the leading edge of medicine, engineering and genetics for decades, I’m on a quest to give mind and body wellness the scientific rigor and urgency it deserves. No doctor, policy or breakthrough drug is as effective as “wellness” at minimizing disease and enhancing the length and quality of life. (Leroy Hood, 3/21)

Roll Call: 4 Tips For Secretary Becerra From A Veteran HHS Partner 
Secretary Xavier Beccera, congratulations on your confirmation to lead the Health and Human Services Department! Your tenure in Congress and experience serving the large and diverse citizenry of California make you an ideal steward of America’s health care system. What I offer here is not a road map for navigating politics and bureaucracy, but some practical advice from a former governor who has partnered with presidents and Cabinet secretaries to turn health policy into real-world assistance for sick and endangered Americans. (Steve Beshear, 3/22)

Also —

Dallas Morning News: The Pandemic Has Crushed Young People’s Spirits
If there has been a common experience of this current age of pandemic, it is the unsettling feeling of dislocation — temporal, sensory, social. It’s a troubling human problem that appears to manifest in the young especially, and most acutely in teenagers and young adults who are in the most important stage of their lives for developing, understanding and exploring those very parts of life. A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey showed that during the pandemic, some 63% of 18- to-24-year olds have experienced anxiety or depression, with roughly a quarter also contemplating suicide. One public health expert, Boston University’s Dr. Sarah Lipson, was involved in a separate survey revealing that the pandemic has adversely affected the mental health of 80% of college students. (Thomas S. Hibbs, 3/21)

CNN: Accepting The Possibility Of Death Is Becoming More Common 
It was well past midnight, but I couldn't see the time because a steady stream of tears blurred my vision. I sat in a slumped zombie posture at the computer, too exhausted from months of lockdown to be productive, but too anxious to sleep. I spent nights like these ferociously typing poorly-crafted love notes to my toddler, who I woefully reflected was too young to remember me if I wound up another victim to this once-in-a-century plague. (Allison Hope, 3/21)

Also —

The Philadelphia Inquirer: I Don’t Mistrust Vaccines. I Mistrust Government Distribution. 
I don’t lack trust in any of the available vaccines. I do, however, mistrust their distribution. Most commentary on the disparities in vaccination rates among white, Black, and Latino populations has focused on vaccine hesitancy and mistrust as driving poor immunization rates for people of color. The narratives attempt to explain a crisis by saying: People of color don’t choose vaccination. I disagree. What we really have is a crisis of biased distribution that overlooks communities of color. (Shedra Amy Snipes, 3/19)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Why Are Black People Being Treated Like America’s Vaccine Hesitancy Problem? 
Never mistake hesitancy for rejection. Just because the average person might say she’s hesitant about going to the dentist or being admitted for surgery doesn’t mean she ends up not doing either, especially if they’re critical procedures. It just means that person is being human and weighing conflicted feelings. Some of us are private about that skepticism and some of us are public. Harboring doubt, in that sense, is healthy because it keeps us alert. That’s exactly what most Black people who have been wrongfully accustomed to years of medical neglect, racism, and violence are doing right now: staying alert. We should be. (Ivan Walks and Charles Ellison, 3/19)