ABC News: Free COVID-19 Tests Ending For Uninsured Americans
Americans who don't have health insurance will now start to see some of the free COVID-19 testing options disappear, even if they are showing symptoms. Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest testing companies in the country, told ABC News that patients who are not on Medicare, Medicaid or a private health plan will now be charged $125 dollars ($119 and a $6 physician fee) when using one of its QuestDirect PCR tests either by ordering a kit online or visiting one of the 1,500 Quest or major retail locations that administer the tests, such as Walmart or Giant Eagle. More than 30 million Americans had no insurance during the first half of 2021, according to CDC estimates. (Breslin, 3/26)

The New York Times: Concerns Rise As A U.S. Reimbursement Fund For Testing And Treating The Uninsured For The Virus Stops Taking Claims
As the White House pleads with Republicans in Congress for emergency aid to fight the coronavirus, the federal government said that a fund established to reimburse doctors for care for uninsured Covid patients was no longer accepting claims for testing and treatment “due to lack of sufficient funds.” Some U.S. health care providers are informing uninsured people they can no longer be tested for the virus free of charge, and will have to pay for the service. (Barry, 3/28)

The Boston Globe: Cuts To COVID-19 Testing, Treatment, And Vaccination Worry Health Care Leaders
Dr. Adam Gaffney is worried. Massachusetts is shutting most of its free COVID-19 testing sites in the coming days and the federal government will no longer pay for COVID care and vaccinations for the uninsured. While the winter’s blizzard of Omicron cases may be a fading memory for those who have peeled off their masks and moved on with their lives, the risk of COVID infection and serious complications for others remains all too real. There are still hundreds of new infections reported every day in Massachusetts, with those with chronic health problems, a weakened immune system, or not fully vaccinated or boosted most vulnerable to serious illness. (Lazar, 3/26)

In other news about covid treatments —

Stat: FDA Limits Covid Therapy As Ineffective Against Omicron BA.2 Variant
U.S. health officials on Friday stopped the further deployment of the Covid-19 treatment sotrovimab to places where the BA.2 coronavirus variant is now causing the majority of infections, given laboratory studies showing the treatment likely doesn’t work against the variant. States in New England, as well as New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, will no longer receive shipments of the monoclonal antibody therapy made by Vir Biotechnology and GSK, officials said. (Joseph, 3/25)

The New York Times: New Antiviral Pills Help Treat Covid. Here’s How To Get Them
Earlier this month, President Biden announced an initiative called “test to treat,” which would allow people to visit hundreds of qualified pharmacy-based clinics, community health centers and long-term care facilities across the country to get tested for the coronavirus and, if positive, receive antiviral medication on the spot. Here are some of the most common questions about the new antiviral pills, and how the new program works. (Sheikh, 3/25)

The Washington Post: FDA Expected To Authorize Second Coronavirus Booster For 50 And Older 
The Food and Drug Administration is poised to authorize a second coronavirus vaccine booster for anyone 50 and older, a bid to provide an extra layer of protection amid concerns Europe’s rise in infections from an omicron subvariant could hit the United States, according to several government officials. The authorizations for second Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna boosters could be announced as soon as Tuesday, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to discuss the situation. They said talks continue, and it was possible, but unlikely, that major changes could occur. (McGinley and Sun, 3/26)

NPR: The FDA Is Expected To Authorize 2nd Boosters For People 50 And Up
The plan comes as evidence increases that protection from three shots is fading and a fourth shot would help boost immunity back up. And as BA.2, an even more contagious version of the omicron variant continues to spread in the U.S., concern is mounting it could fuel another surge. "We have a large number of people who are at least four to six months past their third shot," says Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, who supports the move. "Without protection against the omicron variant, particularly now we're confronting BA.2, there's a very high risk of hospitalization and death," he says. (Stein and Greenhalgh, 3/27)

ABC News: Officials Expected To Offer 2nd Booster Shot For Those Over 50 Years Old 
As soon as Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could authorize COVID-19 booster shots for Americans over 50 years old, two officials familiar with the matter told ABC News, though the fourth shots are likely to be only offered and not formally recommended. The officials stressed that the details are still under discussion and could change in the next few days. (Haslett and Strauss, 3/27)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

USA Today: COVID Vaccine For Kids Under 5: Will They Get Shots Before BA.2 Surge?
After enduring months of confusion and multiple setbacks, parents of young children were elated to find out Moderna plans to request the Food and Drug Administration to authorize a COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 6. Although parents welcomed the much-anticipated news, the BA.2 strain of the omicron variant continues to gain ground in the U.S., and access to these life-saving vaccines for 18 million of the nation's youngest is still weeks away. (Rodriguez, 3/25)

Detroit Free Press: COVID-19 Vaccines For Kids With Autism Present Challenges For Families
Autism, which affects as many as 1 in every 44 kids in the U.S., causes difficulties with communicating, social interaction and sensory processing. It can make things like wearing a mask or going to a crowded pharmacy or a vaccine clinic to get a shot challenging. Health leaders say those unique obstacles could be among the reasons the COVID-19 vaccination rate for people with autism isn't high enough in Michigan. The state health department said it doesn't collect that data and there isn't even a census of the number of people in Michigan who have an autism diagnosis. But Jill Matson, health education manager for the Autism Alliance of Michigan, said the alliance has anecdotal evidence that shots aren't getting to enough people. (Jordan Shamus, 3/28)

The Hill: 5 Things To Know About Coronavirus Vaccines For Young Children 
Pfizer’s vaccine for children under five has been on a roller coaster. It appeared in February that the vaccine could be moving towards authorization, with a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel meeting scheduled. But that was delayed in a surprise move as the company said it would wait for data on a third dose, which is expected to have higher effectiveness.  Those third dose data could come soon, helping clear the way for potential authorization. Pfizer has previously said the data would come in “early April.” (Sullivan, 3/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Pfizer, Moderna And J&J Face Shareholder Pressure To Broaden Covid-19 Vaccine Access 
Socially conscious investors and global-health activists are turning to shareholders to press Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson to make more of their shots available to people in poorer countries. Groups including the antipoverty organization Oxfam have succeeded in placing proposals on shareholder proxy ballots that ask drugmakers to do more to widen access to the Covid-19 vaccines, such as exploring the transfer of their technology to other manufacturers. (Loftus, 3/27)

CBS News: Omicron Deaths Of Johnson & Johnson Recipients Were Double The Rate Of Other Vaccinated Americans, New Data Show
Recently published figures ... suggest that COVID-19 deaths among Johnson & Johnson recipients may have peaked at more than double the rate of other vaccinated Americans during the Omicron variant wave. For the week of January 8, COVID-associated deaths among Americans who were vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson reached a rate of more than 5 out of every 100,000, according to the CDC's figures. That's higher than the rate among recipients of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, which was around 2 deaths per 100,000 people. (Tin, 3/25)

Medical XPress: Vaccinated More Likely To Die During Omicron Wave If They Got J&J Shot: CDC
The COVID-related death rate among Americans who received Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine was more than double that of people who received other vaccines, new data from the Omicron surge show. For the week of Jan. 8, as cases of the highly contagious variant surged, the rate of COVID-related deaths among people who had the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) shot was more than five in 100,000, according to figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That compared with about two deaths per 100,000 among those who received the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines, CBS News reported. (3/26)

In other vaccine research —

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Vaccines Not Tied To Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes 
Two studies published yesterday in JAMA, one from Sweden and Norway and one from Ontario, find no link between COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and adverse outcomes. (Van Beusekom, 3/25)

And in updates on vaccine mandates —

Bloomberg: Supreme Court Says Navy Can Curb Deployment For Unvaccinated
A divided U.S. Supreme Court said the Navy can limit deployment and training for 35 Seals and other special operations forces who are refusing on religious grounds to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Granting a Biden administration request over three dissents, the justices partly blocked a federal judge’s order that required the Navy to assign and deploy the sailors without regard to their unvaccinated status. The order will apply while litigation over the Navy’s vaccine mandate goes forward. (Stohr, 3/25)

Fox News: NYC Won't Rehire Unvaccinated Workers, Mayor Says
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday that his administration would not rehire unvaccinated city workers. Around 1,400 city employees were fired earlier this year for failing to comply with the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Adams said, during a news conference at Citi Field, he did not plan to rehire them. "Not at this time," he said, according to The Wall Street Journal, "We are not reviewing if we are going to bring [them] back. (Musto, 3/25)

Fox News: Long COVID Symptoms May Depend On The Variant A Person Contracted
Different variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, may give rise to different long COVID symptoms, according to a study that will be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2022) in Lisbon next month. Italian researchers suggested that individuals who were infected with the alpha variant of the virus displayed different emotional and neurological symptoms compared to those who were infected with the original form of SARS-CoV-2, an early release from the ECCMID regarding the study. (McGorry, 3/27)

CIDRAP: Different Variants Produce Varied Long COVID Symptoms, Study Suggests
Pre–Delta variant data to be presented next month at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) meeting in Portugal suggest that different variants of COVID-19 may produce different symptoms in people who develop long COVID. ... The authors found a change in long COVID symptoms when comparing patients who had Alpha variant to those infected with the original, wild-type strain. Myalgia, insomnia, brain fog and anxiety and depression significantly increased with the Alpha strain, while anosmia (loss of smell), dysgeusia (difficulty in swallowing), and impaired hearing were less common. (3/25)

In other covid research —

AP: Scientists: COVID-19 May Cause Greater Damage To The Heart
Scientists now believe that COVID-19 patients suffer more than respiratory issues. Several studies have revealed that the virus can also damage the heart. For those with a heart condition, the threat is even greater. A September 2020 study found that the risk of a first heart attack increased by three to eight times in the first week after a COVID-19 infection was diagnosed. The study, published by medical journal The Lancet, followed nearly 87,000 people in Sweden infected over an eight-month period. Their risk of stroke increased up to six times. (O'Donnell, 3/27)

Press Association: People With Covid-19 And Flu At Greater Risk Of Severe Illness And Death - Study
Adults in hospital with Covid-19 and the flu at the same time are at much greater risk of severe disease and death compared with patients who have Covid-19 alone or with other viruses, according to new research. Scientists found that patients who had both SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, and influenza viruses were more than four times more likely to require ventilation support and 2.4 times more likely to die than if they just had Covid-19. (Cameron, 3/25)

CIDRAP: Delta, Omicron COVID-19 Variants Caused More Cases In Pregnant Women
The highly transmissible Delta and Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variants caused triple and 10 times the rate of COVID-19 infections in pregnant women compared with other strains, with most cases among unvaccinated mothers and their newborns, finds a prospective study yesterday in JAMA. University of Texas researchers studied the outcomes of pregnant women diagnosed as having COVID-19 at a Dallas healthcare system. The study spanned the pre-Delta period (May 17, 2020, to Jun 26, 2021), the Delta period (Jun 27 to Dec 11, 2021), and the Omicron era (Dec 12, 2021, to Jan 29, 2022). COVID-19 vaccines became available in December 2020. (3/25)

The Washington Post: How Covid Brain Fog May Overlap With ‘Chemo Brain’ And Alzheimer’s 
People with “chemo brain” and covid brain fog could not seem more different: Those with “chemo brain” have a life-threatening disease for which they’ve taken toxic drugs or radiation. Many of those with covid brain fog, in contrast, describe themselves as previously healthy people who have had a relatively mild infection that felt like a cold. So when Stanford University neuroscientist Michelle Monje began studies on long covid, she was fascinated to find similar changes among patients in both groups, in specialized brain cells that serve as the organ’s surveillance and defense system. (Cha, 3/27)

USA Today: Families Suing Over COVID Nursing Home Deaths Face State Restrictions
With coronavirus cases circulating through Fair Acres Geriatric Center nursing home in June 2020, Christopher Beaty had alarming news for his family. His roommate at the Lima, Pennsylvania, nursing home had become sick with symptoms of COVID-19. Yet the roommate shared a room with Beaty for another 24 hours, continuously exposing him to the virus until he was relocated after testing positive, according to a federal lawsuit. It was too late for Beaty. The 63-year-old developed a fever and struggled to breathe. He was transferred to a nearby hospital on June 3 and tested positive for COVID-19. He died three days later. (Alltucker, 3/27)

In other news about the pandemic —

USA Today: Caregiver Fatigue's Signs Are Abundant, But Resources Can Be Minimal
As the world marked the two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, research found that among the 53 million Americans serving as caregivers, many battle fatigue. More than 1 in 5 Americans are caregivers for either an adult family member or a child with special needs. The number of family caregivers has increased since 2015, and there has been an increase of nearly 8 million caregivers for adults age 50 or older, according to AARP. A study in Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine found that the pandemic worsened the burden on Americans caring for a parent, the self-rated burden increasing 3 percentage points compared with pre-pandemic scores. (Elbeshbishi, 3/27)

AP: Ducey Extends Medical Licenses, Key To Virus Emergency End 
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has signed legislation that will prevent temporary medical licenses issued under his coronavirus executive orders from immediately becoming invalid if he ends the state of emergency he issued two years ago. Friday’s action extends temporary licenses issued since the Republican governor first declared a state of emergency on March 11, 2020. They will be valid until the end of the year if they were active at the start of this month. (Christie, 3/25)

AP: California Schools Prepare To Spot Post-Break COVID-19 Cases
California’s 7 million students and school employees are getting free at-home COVID-19 tests to help prevent outbreaks at their school when they return from spring break. The state has shipped or delivered more than 14.3 million antigen tests, enough for two tests per person, to counties and school districts as part of a massive push to limit infections and avoid classroom closures after the break, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Saturday. (Nguyen, 3/26)

KHN: Journalists Recap Coverage Of The Ongoing Pandemic And Lead Risks In Schools’ Drinking Water 
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber discussed how the covid-19 pandemic has affected home health care and those with disabilities on WBEZ’s “Reset With Sasha-Ann Simons” on March 21. ... KHN Montana correspondent Katheryn Houghton discussed the high levels of lead in drinking water across Montana schools on WBUR’s “Here and Now” on March 18. ... Dr. Céline Gounder, KHN senior fellow and editor-at-large for public health, discussed the difficulty of fighting covid amid political divisions in the U.S. on WBUR’s “On Point’s Coronavirus Hours” on March 17. (3/26)

Also —

NPR: White House Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre Tests Positive For COVID-19
A member of the Biden administration has tested positive for COVID-19 after accompanying the president to Poland. "This afternoon, after returning from the President's trip to Europe, I took a PCR test. That test came back positive," Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden's deputy press secretary, said in a statement Sunday. Jean-Pierre said she saw Biden at a meeting Saturday, but they were socially distanced, and he would not be considered a close contact by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. (Archie, 3/28)

Los Angeles Times: Guests And Crew Members Test Positive For COVID-19 Aboard Princess Cruise Ship
Passengers and crew members tested positive for COVID-19 aboard a 15-day Princess Cruise trip to the Panama Canal that returned Sunday to the Port of San Francisco. Those affected aboard the ship the Ruby Princess were either asymptomatic or showed mild symptoms of COVID-19 and were isolated and quarantined, Princess Cruises said in a statement. The cruise line did not say how many guests and crew members tested positive, or at what point in the trip they did so. The ship has since departed San Francisco for a 15-day cruise to Hawaii. (Shalby, 3/27)

Bloomberg: Elon Musk Tweets He ‘Supposedly’ Has Covid-19 Again; Almost No Symptoms
Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk said in a tweet he has Covid-19 again and is experiencing “almost no symptoms.” The chief executive officer of the electric-car maker and rocket company Space Exploration Technologies Corp. kept his Twitter followers apprised of his first bout with Covid in November 2020. The billionaire missed out on attending SpaceX’s first launch of astronauts to the International Space Station that month. (Sin and Trudell, 3/28)

AP: Former Nurse Guilty Of Homicide In Medication Error Death
A former Tennessee nurse is guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a patient who was accidentally given the wrong medication, a jury found Friday. She was also found guilty of gross neglect of an impaired adult in a case that has fixed the attention of patient safety advocates and nurses’ organizations around the country. RaDonda Vaught, 37, injected the paralyzing drug vecuronium into 75-year-old Charlene Murphey instead of the sedative Versed on Dec. 26, 2017. Vaught freely admitted to making several errors with the medication that day, but her defense attorney argued the nurse was not acting outside of the norm and systemic problems at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were at least partly to blame for the error. (Loller, 3/25)

The Tennessean: 'Zero Regrets About Telling The Truth': Ex-Nurse RaDonda Vaught Speaks Out Ahead Of Guilty Verdict
RaDonda Vaught has spent more than four years in limbo. A few more hours won't bother her much. The former ICU nurse spoke with the Tennessean outside a Nashville criminal courtroom on Friday morning while behind closed doors a jury deliberated on her fate. They ultimately found her guilty of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of an impaired adult. She will be sentenced on May 13. "Knowing what I know now — even if the jury finds me guilty, even if Judge Smith decides that prison time is the appropriate sentencing for this and it's the maximum amount of time — I have zero regrets about telling the truth," Vaught told The Tennessean on Friday morning. (Timms, 3/25)

KHN: Nurse Convicted Of Neglect And Negligent Homicide For Fatal Drug Error 
Vaught was acquitted of reckless homicide. Criminally negligent homicide was a lesser charge included under reckless homicide. Vaught’s trial has been closely watched by nurses and medical professionals across the country, many of whom worry it could set a precedent of criminalizing medical mistakes. Medical errors are generally handled by professional licensing boards or civil courts, and criminal prosecutions like Vaught’s case are exceedingly rare. (Kelman, 3/25)

In other news about health care worker shortages —

Side Effects Public Media: Two Years In: The Pandemic Through The Eyes Of A Health Care Worker’s Spouse
Nicole Oberhelman’s house is small, cozy and brims with character. Every corner tells a story. A painting of the first dance from her wedding is next to the TV. Up until early March, Christmas decorations were still on display. The holiday was extra special this year, because it was the closest to a normal one she’s had since the pandemic started. Nicole’s life has been upended by the pandemic in many of the same ways as others — she switched to remote work, quarantined from family members and wore masks in public. But her specific experience over the past two years isn’t shared by all — she is the wife of a health care worker who spent time on the frontlines. (Yousry, 3/25)

New Hampshire Public Radio: How A North Country Hospice Agency Hopes To Regrow Their Volunteer Program 
For years, the North Country Home Health & Hospice Agency has worked with community volunteers who spend time with end-of life patients. The volunteers offer companionship to patients, according to Alyssa Lennon, the director of hospice and palliative care at the agency. They also give family caregivers a break from their role and the time to run errands. Prior to the pandemic, Lennon said the agency had a robust volunteer program. But COVID-19 concerns, PPE requirements, and visitation limitation has caused volunteer numbers to dwindle. “We had less and less volunteers visiting homes,” Lennon said. (Fam, 3/28)

NPR: Addiction Recovery Has Money But Not Enough Workers In Oregon 
Like many people who work in the field of addiction, Staci Cowan is herself in recovery. She slid into heroin use years ago after she started taking opioids for an injury. The loss of her job and apartment followed. She found herself homeless when her mom was forced to draw a firm boundary. No more sleeping at her house. "The people on the streets, you think they're there for you," says Cowan. "But you quickly realize that no one is there for you except for yourself." Now, as a peer mentor at an addiction and recovery facility called Club Hope in the Portland suburb of Gresham, Cowan's job is to be there for other people. She celebrated four years in recovery recently. Listening to people is a big part of her job. She remembers what it was like to feel invisible. (Riddle, 3/28)

Also —

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Cobb 911 Operator Answers 20,000 Calls, Shatters County Record
A Cobb County 911 specialist was recently honored for handling more than 20,000 emergency calls in less than a year. County leaders paid tribute to Dana Bell, a call taker for the past 2½ years, during a commission meeting Monday. Commissioner Keli Gambrill presented Bell with a certificate of recognition that indicated she set a new county record for answering the most calls at Cobb’s Emergency Communications Center.“ E-911 call takers are crucial first responders during an emergency,” Gambrill said, reading from the proclamation. “(Dana) calmly provides a correct response and dispatch assistance during a dangerous time or serious situation, making our agency one of the best in the country.” (Bruce, 3/27)

The Washington Post: Thema Bryant, A Black Minister From Baltimore, Wants To Reshape Mental Health Care 
The day after the American Psychological Association’s newest leader pitched her vision for the organization to dozens of her colleagues in D.C., she walked into Maryland’s oldest Black church and stepped up to the wooden pulpit where her father and grandfather used to preach. “Hallelujah,” Thema Bryant, 48, said, smiling as her voice boomed through the century-old sanctuary at the Bethel AME Church in West Baltimore. “It’s good to be home.” (Tan, 3/27)

Stat: She Was Told ‘Girls Don’t Do That.’ Now Margaret-Mary Wilson Is A Top Executive At UnitedHealth Group
Long before she became a top executive at UnitedHealth Group, back in her native Nigeria, Margaret-Mary Wilson was discouraged from her dreams of becoming a doctor because “girls don’t do that.” But Wilson persisted, attending medical school in Nigeria, then receiving specialty training in the U.K. and U.S. She eventually entered a field, geriatric medicine, that people in her native country said there was no need for, because so many people died before they reached the age of 40. Hearing the stories of her grandfather, a nursing superintendent who had cared for hospital patients who were considered lucky if they saw a doctor once a month, Wilson thought there had to be a better way to deliver care. (McFarling, 3/28)

CIDRAP: Midlife Antibiotic Use Linked To Lower Cognitive Test Scores 
A new study suggests a link between antibiotic use in midlife and small decreases in cognitive test scores later in life. The study, led by researchers from Harvard Medical School and Rush Medical College, found that women who reported at least 2 months of antibiotic exposure in their mid-50s had lower mean scores on a standard cognitive assessment 7 years later compared with those who weren't exposed to antibiotics. The relationship persisted after adjustment for other lifestyle risk factors. (Dall, 3/25)

The Conversation: Long-Term Antibiotic Use By Middle-Aged Women May Affect Cognitive Function – New Study
Antibiotics are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the world. They’re used to treat many different bacterial infections. While most people may only be on a course of antibiotics for a week or two at a time, some may take antibiotics for a longer period to treat certain chronic conditions, such as pneumonia or acne. While antibiotics can be life-saving, long-term use can come with several side effects – not least of which is the risk of bacteria developing antibiotic resistance. And now, a recent study has also linked long-term antibiotic use by middle-aged women to an increased risk of cognitive decline. (Barker, 3/25)

Medical News Today: Antibiotics And Cognitive Decline: Is There A Link?
The gut microbiome consists of all the microbes and their genetic material living in our gastrointestinal tract. These microbes include bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The gut microbiome is essential for regulating our internal environment and the function of the immune system. There is two-way communication between the central nervous system and the gut, which is called the gut-brain axis. Scientists believe that the gut-brain axis allows our gut bacteria to influence the brain. The gut microbiome modulates brain development and function throughout our life. There is some evidence that changes to the intestinal microbiome may play a role in developing psychiatric and neurologic conditions, such as depression, autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, and Alzheimer’s disease. (Uildriks, 3/23)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Miami Herald: Recall: Major Pharmaceuticals Milk Of Magnesia, Pain Drug 
Ten lots of three oral drugs shipped to hospitals, nursing home and clinics nationwide have been recalled for “microbial contamination and failure to properly investigate failed microbial testing.” That’s in the FDA-posted recall alert from Plastikon Healthcare, manufacturer of the medications for the Major Pharmaceuticals brand. Here’s what you need to know. (Neal, 3/27)

The New York Times: F.D.A. Rushed A Drug For Preterm Births. Did It Put Speed Over Science? 
By the time Brittany Bonds gave birth to her third son in the back of an ambulance 10 weeks before he was due, she no longer trusted the drug Makena. The drug was intended to forestall preterm birth and improve the health of a baby. But it did not work for Mrs. Bonds, whose son Phoenix ended up in a NICU for 83 days. At 2, he still has a host of health problems. (Jewett, 3/25)

The New York Times: When Will Men Get Birth Control Pills? Your Questions, Answered 
A buzzy new animal study offers another contender in the search for a male form of birth control. Researchers at the University of Minnesota created a birth control pill for male mice, which proved 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy. The contraceptive targets a protein in the body that receives a form of vitamin A, which is involved with sperm production and fertility. Researchers gave this compound, referred to as YCT529, to male mice for four weeks; the animals showed drastically lower sperm counts. Four to six weeks after they stopped receiving the contraceptive, the mice could impregnate a female mouse again. (Blum, 3/25)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Worry As More Drugmakers Limit 340B Discounts 
UW Medicine is getting nervous about the future of its 340B discounts as more drug manufacturers restrict discounts for drugs dispensed at contract pharmacies. "We're seeing our savings be eroded dramatically," said Sumona DasGupta, assistant director of pharmacy audit and compliance. UW Medicine, which operates two 340B hospitals, has lost about two-thirds of its contract pharmacy savings, she said. Safety-net providers across the country expect more lost savings from drugmaker restrictions on 340B discounts to contract pharmacies, as sixteen drugmakers have announced plans to limit the discounts since summer 2020, despite ongoing lawsuits. (Goldman, 3/25)

Also —

KHN: Big Pharma Is Betting On Bigger Political Ambitions From Sen. Tim Scott
Sen. Tim Scott, a rising star in the Republican Party with broad popularity in his home state of South Carolina, is getting showered with drug industry money before facing voters this fall. Scott was the top recipient of pharma campaign cash in Congress during the second half of 2021, receiving $99,000, KHN’s Pharma Cash to Congress database shows, emerging as a new favorite of the industry. Though Scott has been a perennial recipient since arriving in Congress in 2011, the latest amount is nearly twice as much as his previous highest haul. (Pradhan and Knight, 3/28)

KHN: KHN Campaign Contributions Tracker: Pharma Cash To Congress
Every year, pharmaceutical companies contribute millions of dollars to U.S. senators and representatives as part of a multipronged effort to influence health care lawmaking and spending priorities. Use this tool to explore the sizable role drugmakers play in the campaign finance system, where many industries seek to influence Congress. (Lucas and KHN staff, 3/23)

CNN: Nostalgia Can Reduce Perception Of Pain, Study Shows
The next time you feel pain, you might consider skipping the ibuprofen and reaching instead for an old photo. Nostalgia -- that sentimental feeling of longing for the past -- can reduce pain perception, according to new research published in the journal JNeurosci. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Liaoning Normal University asked study participants to rate their level of pain from heat stimulation while looking at pictures that were nostalgic -- depicting old cartoons, childhood games or retro candy -- compared with more modern pictures. During the tasks, an MRI machine also scanned the 34 participants. Researchers found that observing pictures that triggered childhood memories was linked to participants reporting weaker feelings of pain. (Kent, 3/28)

In environmental news —

Bangor Daily News: No One Knows How Many Gallons Of 'Forever Chemicals' Are Flowing In Maine's Waters
Treatment plants release millions of gallons of wastewater into Maine’s waterways each day that could contain elevated levels of so-called forever chemicals that are used in a wide variety of consumer products and have been linked to long-term health and environmental risks. But as Maine races to better understand how widespread its PFAS contamination problem is, particularly on farms and in landfills, there’s little known about the level of contamination in the wastewater these plants are releasing, nor about the concentration of forever chemicals building up in the Maine rivers onto which it’s released. (Loftus, 3/28)

AP: Vermont Officials Seek More Time To Test Schools For PCBs 
Vermont state officials have asked the legislature for more time to test older schools for PCBs, a harmful group of chemicals commonly used in building materials and electrical equipment before 1980.The PCB testing program is part of a law passed by the Legislature last year. It requires every school constructed or renovated before 1980 to test their indoor air for PCBs by July 1, 2024. The legislation came after the closure of Burlington High School two years ago because of the discovery of PCB contamination in air samples. (3/27)

KHN: Climate Change May Push The US Toward The ‘Goldilocks Zone’ For West Nile Virus 
Michael Keasling of Lakewood, Colorado, was an electrician who loved big trucks, fast cars, and Harley-Davidsons. He’d struggled with diabetes since he was a teenager, needing a kidney transplant from his sister to stay alive. He was already quite sick in August when he contracted West Nile virus after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Keasling spent three months in hospitals and rehab, then died on Nov. 11 at age 57 from complications of West Nile virus and diabetes, according to his mother, Karen Freeman. She said she misses him terribly. (Bailey, 3/28)

In mental health news —

The Washington Post: How Medicare Can Make It Harder For End-State Dementia Patients To Use Hospice 
Janet Drey knows how hard it is to predict the future, especially the future of someone who lives with dementia. In 2009, a neurologist diagnosed her mother, Jean Bishop, then age 79, with frontotemporal dementia, a disorder that irreversibly damages the front and sides of the brain. When Jean could no longer walk, speak or feed herself a year later, doctors confirmed that she had less than six months to live, Drey recalls. The prognosis fit Medicare’s definition of being terminally ill. That prognosis qualified her for hospice care, an interdisciplinary approach that prioritizes comfort and quality of life in a person’s final months. (Harris, 3/26)

The New York Times: In Difficult Cases, ‘Families Cannot Manage Death At Home’ 
Where do people most want to be when they die? At home, they tell researchers — in familiar surroundings, in comfort, with the people they love. That wish has become more achievable. In 2017, according to an analysis in The New England Journal of Medicine, home surpassed the hospital as the most common place of death — 30.7 percent of deaths occurred at home, compared with 29.8 percent at the hospital. (Span, 3/26)

AP: Friends With Paws Placing Therapy Dogs In Some WVa Schools 
Some West Virginia schools will have a new face joining students this year: therapy dogs to offer companionship and comfort. Friends With Paws will be a partnership between the governor’s office, West Virginia Communities in Schools Nonprofit and the state Department of Education. The dogs will be placed in schools in counties where students are disproportionately affected by poverty, substance misuse or other at-risk situations, Gov. Jim Justice’s office said. (3/28)

In other public health news —

CIDRAP: Reported TB Cases Drop In US Amid COVID-19 
Reported tuberculosis (TB) diagnoses in the United States fell 20% in 2020 and remained 13% lower in 2021 than TB diagnoses made prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported yesterday, while a study today highlights disparities in at-home COVID testing. Before the pandemic, TB diagnoses declined by 1% to 2% each year. Mask use and distancing measures—aimed at preventing COVID spread—likely also limited TB transmission, the CDC said. TB infections were also likely missed as healthcare visits dropped during the first months of the pandemic. (Soucheray, 3/25)

The Boston Globe: As Some States Seek To Limit Reproductive Freedoms, BU Opens ‘Plan B’ Vending Machine
When they arrived at Boston University, Molly Baker and Charlotte Beatty didn’t expect their educational paths to lead them to the American vending machine industry. They did not envision growing familiar, for instance, with the intricacies of vending credit card systems. But after overseeing the launch of a new machine on campus that distributes emergency contraception, the co-presidents of BU’s Students for Reproductive Freedom have found themselves a sudden toast of the vending world. “We made it into Vending Times!” Beatty said of their project’s recent write-up in the trade publication. The so-called “Plan B vending machine” is among the first of its kind in the United States, offering students a generic version of what is known as the “morning after” pill for $7.25, significantly less than some over-the-counter options and with privacy not afforded by a trip to the pharmacy. (Arnett, 3/27)

Chicago Tribune: Advocates Aim To Decriminalize Psychedelic Plants In Illinois 
Marine Corps veteran Justin Wigg was suffering from anger issues and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, but traditional medicine had been little help. So last fall, he traveled to Peru for a treatment that isn’t legal in Illinois — at least not yet. It was a psychedelic, tea-like drink called ayahuasca, brewed from two tropical plants, and it produced hallucinations that Wigg, a Chicagoan, compared to “‘Alice in Wonderland’ meets ‘Fantasia.’” On the second of four ceremonial sessions, he said, he met a spirit figure called Mother Ayahuasca who lifted his burden. “I asked her to help with anger, and it was like the snap of a fingers, just gone,” he recalled. “I wasn’t angry anymore, which I know sounds crazy, but that’s the best way I can describe it.” (Keilman, 3/28)

KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: A Fight For The Right To Help
Americans get sued over medical debt. A lot. And — no surprise — many folks getting sued can’t afford lawyers. But for a non-lawyer to give even basic advice in a lawsuit is a crime. Such a helper could go to jail. Some New Yorkers are waging a legal fight to change that. A nonprofit called Upsolve wants to train people like pastors, social workers, and librarians to help others understand their rights and prepare them to represent themselves in court. In the Bronx, pastor John Udo-Okon wants to be one of those helpers. (Weissmann, 3/28)

Georgia Health News: Bill In Legislature Targets Dangerous ‘Surgical Smoke’ 
In operating rooms, the smoke created by surgery can be a health hazard for those breathing it in. Such “surgical smoke’’ is a byproduct of the thermal destruction of human tissue by the use of lasers or other devices. According to the CDC, the smoke has been shown to contain toxic gases, vapors and particulates, viruses and bacteria. A bill that has passed the Georgia Senate and is now before the House would address this issue. It would require hospitals and surgery centers in the state to implement policies to reduce surgical smoke. It’s sponsored by Sen. Matt Brass, a Newnan Republican whose wife is a nurse. (Miller, 3/25)

In other news from Georgia —

AP: Georgia Mental Health Bill Faces Sudden, Vocal Opposition
A bill to improve access to mental health treatment in Georgia that appeared to be sailing through the state Legislature is now facing vocal opposition, with some critics claiming it would protect pedophiles and threaten Second Amendment rights. State lawmakers supporting the bill have blasted some of the criticism as outlandish. (3/26)

In other health news from across the U.S. —

The Texas Tribune: Feds Restores Billions In Indigent Care For Texans 
Federal health officials on Friday restored $7 million a day in funding to Texas hospitals after stopping it six months ago over concerns about how the state pays for health care for uninsured Texans. Until last September, Texas had tapped this funding, which comes through what is known as the 1115 Medicaid waiver, to reimburse hospitals for patients who use Medicaid. Most states are able to get these dollars by matching the federal dollars from their general revenue. But Texas had come up with its own mechanism known as the Local Provider Participation Funds, in which private hospitals set up taxing districts and sent that money through local and state governments to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Harper, 3/25)

Modern Healthcare: Florida Suspends Centene's Medicaid Enrollment, Fines Insurer Over Tech Error
Florida's healthcare agency has immediately suspended Medicaid and long-term care enrollment in a Centene subsidiary and fined the insurer nearly $9.1 million, after a computer glitch led Sunshine State Health Plan to mistakenly deny medical claims for more than 121,100 lower-income adults and children. The $125.9 billion insurer must pay the fine within 30 days, according to a state Agency for Health Care Administration letter sent to Sunshine State Health Plan's CEO on Wednesday. Centene's Florida arm must also submit a plan for how it aims to reprocess all provider and patient claims within 21 days, demonstrate within 30 days that future claims are paid promptly and participate in weekly phone calls with the agency's senior executives about how the process is going. (Tepper, 3/25)

Colorado Sun: Colorado Regional Mental Health Centers Alarmed By Plan To Overhaul System
The signature piece of legislation to redefine Colorado’s mental health system is a 232-page bill that’s causing panic among community mental health centers that for decades have cared for the state’s most vulnerable patients. That’s because the bill laying out the state’s new Behavioral Health Administration proposes blowing up the system as they know it. Colorado has 17 community mental health centers, each responsible for providing crisis services, ongoing therapy and help with housing to people who are low income or don’t have insurance. The centers operate in 17 regions of the state under no-bid contracts with the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which dispenses funding through the Medicaid program. The centers receive $437 million in tax dollars per year. (Brown, 3/28)

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Bill Helping Patients Fight Health Insurers Ready For Approval
A bipartisan bill that would help patients meet health insurance copays may finally move after sitting dormant for more than a year following unanimous passage by the Ohio Health Committee. A Dispatch story earlier this month described how House Bill 135 was mysteriously stalled after questions were raised by Cincinnati Rep. Bill Seitz, the No. 3 GOP House leader. Dozens of advocacy groups – such as the American Cancer Society, The AIDS Institute, and Ohio State Medical Association – support the measure. Only organizations representing health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers openly opposed the bill. (Rowland, 3/25)

The Columbus Dispatch: Disabled Parents Say Their Differences Are Being Used Against Them In Ohio Family Courts
Kara Ayers was shopping for clothes with her children when a conversation with a store employee took a turn. "The lady at the checkout asked me how I had my daughter," Ayers said. "I didn’t understand at first." The clerk explained. She asked whether "I had her vaginally or a c-section. I was like, 'Who says vaginally at the Kohl’s checkout?'" Ayers, who uses a wheelchair, was stunned but not surprised. Strangers routinely ask her all kinds of inappropriate questions about her marriage and her parenting. (Staver, 3/28)

Iowa Public Radio: Iowa Is Considered A Leader In Lowering The Rate Of Stillbirth; Two Of The State's Congresswomen Want To Help The Rest Of The Country Follow Suit 
Two of Iowa’s members of Congress are co-sponsoring a bill (Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act) that would clarify that stillbirth prevention activities can be funded through the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant—which is allocated to every state health department. There is a companion bill in the U.S. Senate as well. Both 1st District Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson and 3rd District Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne are co-sponsoring the bill, along with more bipartisan co-sponsors in other states. "Stillbirths devastate thousands of families each year, and we have to be doing everything we can to help reduce the risk of stillbirths,” Axne said. “This bipartisan legislation will provide much-needed funding to support the health of mothers and babies in Iowa and across the country, and I’m proud to be working with my colleagues to combat this silent crisis." (Arena, 3/25)

The New York Times: Public Health Catastrophe Looms In Ukraine, Experts Warn
A convoy of five vans snaked slowly on Friday from the battered Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, toward Chernihiv, in the northeast of the country. On board were generators, clothes, fuel — and medications needed to treat H.I.V. With a main bridge decimated by shelling, the drivers crept along back roads, hoping to reach Chernihiv on Saturday and begin distributing the drugs to some of the 3,000 residents in desperate need of treatment. (Mandavilli, 3/26)

The Atlantic: Is Ukraine Barreling Toward A COVID Surge?
With its 35 percent vaccination rate, Ukraine was especially vulnerable even before the invasion forced 10 million people from their homes. That much of the population must now cram together in packed train cars and basement bomb shelters will not help matters. For many in Ukraine, though, such concerns are not top of mind. “Their priority is just to flee and survive,” Paul Spiegel, the director of the Center for Humanitarian Health at Johns Hopkins University, told me. In his research, Spiegel has found a strong connection between conflicts and epidemics. But assessing the interplay between disease and violence in Ukraine is difficult right now: After the invasion, reporting on case counts slowed to a trickle. (Stern, 3/25)

AP: US-Backed Group Gets Lifesaving Meds To Ukrainians Amid War 
Thousands of patients in Ukraine are receiving lifesaving medicines to treat HIV and opioid addiction through a U.S.-funded group still operating despite the Russian invasion. Supplies are running short and making deliveries is a complicated calculus with unpredictable risks. Officials say the quiet work of the Alliance for Public Health shows how American assistance is reaching individuals in the besieged nation, on a different wavelength from U.S. diplomatic and military support for the Ukrainian government. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/27)

In related news —

AP: First Lady Jill Biden Visits St. Jude, Meets Ukrainian Kids 
First lady Jill Biden traveled to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee on Friday to meet with Ukrainian children with cancer and their families fleeing the war and seeking treatment in the U.S. Biden was greeted when she arrived at the Memphis hospital by president and CEO James Downing; Rick Shadyac, CEO of ALSAC, which raises funds for St. Jude; and actress Marlo Thomas, the daughter of hospital founder and late actor Danny Thomas. (Sainz, 3/25)

In other news from around the world —

AP: Shanghai Starts China's Biggest COVID-19 Lockdown In 2 Years
China began its most extensive lockdown in two years Monday to conduct mass testing and control a growing outbreak in Shanghai as questions are raised about the economic toll of the nation’s “zero-COVID” strategy. China’s financial capital and largest city with 26 million people, Shanghai had managed its smaller, past outbreaks with limited lockdowns of housing compounds and workplaces where the virus was spreading. But the citywide lockdown that will conducted in two phases will be China’s most extensive since the central city of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected in late 2019, first confined its 11 million people to their homes for 76 days in early 2020. Millions more have been kept in lockdown since then. (3/28)

AP: British Museum To Remove Sackler Name From Galleries
The British Museum will remove the Sackler name from galleries, rooms and endowments following global outrage over the role the family played in the opioid crisis. The museum is the latest cultural institution to cut ties with the Sacklers. The Sackler name has been removed in recent years from wings and galleries at institutions including the Louvre in Paris and the Serpentine Gallery in London. (3/26)

The Tennessean: RaDonda Vaught Trial: Prosecuting Ex Nurse May Worsen Hospital Safety
The criminal trial of RaDonda Vaught, charged with homicide and elderly abuse for a medical error, further erodes the safety of patients and staff in Tennessee and across the nation. Ms. Vaught’s trial underscores the failure of both the Tennessee Board of Health and Board of Nursing and also of Glen Funk, Nashville's district attorney general to understand patient safety and the prevention of medical errors. (Dana Kellis, 3/25)

Stat: HHS's Failure To Address Health Harms Of Climate Crisis Is Environmental Racism
The 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination against recipients of federal funding, including those covered by Medicaid and Medicare, along with actions that have racially disparate impacts. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, which is responsible for enforcing civil rights laws, has never addressed, much less recognized, the climate crisis despite the fact that communities of color disproportionately suffer innumerable and unrelenting climate-related health harms. Failing to address this injustice constitutes both environmental and institutional racism. (David Introcaso, 3/28)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas’ Biotech+ Hub Strengthens Our Future As Biomedical Leader
On a brisk, windy day in Dallas last week, our city took what we hope will be a major step forward in combining the outstanding public scientific research taking place at UT Southwestern Medical Center with private investment and philanthropy. Mayor Eric Johnson, philanthropist Lyda Hill and U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson were among those at the ribbon-cutting for the BioLabs facility at the Biotech+ Hub at Pegasus Park. The project, on a 23-acre campus anchored by what was the Exxon Mobil headquarters off Stemmons Freeway near the Design District, has the potential to become a national center of biomedical and pharmaceutical advancement, attracting the best minds in medicine and science. (3/28)

Bloomberg: How Crispr Technology Could Transform How We Test For Disease 
The last two years of enduring nasal swabs for Covid have all of us thinking a lot more about the way in which we test for infectious diseases. You helped found Mammoth Biosciences in 2018, fresh from getting your Ph.D. under Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna, one of the pioneers of the gene-editing technology Crispr. At the time, most Crispr companies were focused on finding treatments and cures for human diseases. You were pitching the idea that Crispr could transform how diseases are identified in the first place. How can Crispr make a difference in detecting disease? (Lisa Jarvis, 3/27)

Modern Healthcare: Why The Latest Federal Spending Bill Matters To Digital Health Equity 
On March 15, President Joe Biden signed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill that included a variety of new initiatives, including aid to Ukraine, infrastructure investment and the renewal of community project funding. That funding includes about $10 billion in congressionally directed spending projects throughout the country. A CPF request I submitted, backed by Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) along with the support of 16 regional stakeholders for a Digital Health Equity Program, was included in the bill. (Dr. Joshua Elder, 3/25)

Bloomberg: The Vaccine-Hesitant Could Use Some Friendly Shame 
The experience of the global Covid-19 pandemic raises a troubling question about the state of human society: Why would so many otherwise intelligent people refuse vaccines that can save their lives and help protect their friends and loved ones? The answer lies to a large extent in shame, and in the ways government officials, scientists and community leaders should and shouldn’t deploy it. (Cathy O'Neil, 3/27)

The New York Times: Africa C.D.C. Director On How Africa Can Fight Covid Now 
Last month, in my role as leader of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, I asked that donations of Covid-19 vaccines to Africa be momentarily delayed until the third and fourth quarter of the year. At the moment, Africa’s most pressing need is administering the vaccines we have to willing people. Every country is unique in what it needs to fight Covid-19, but logistical challenges and issues of vaccine hesitancy — similar to those seen in other places around the world — have momentarily outstripped shortages for the continent. We do not want vaccines to go to waste. Now that supply is not the primary challenge, we need to focus on better delivery. (Dr. John Nkengasong, 3/27)

The New York Times: We Study Virus Evolution. Here’s Where We Think The Coronavirus Is Going. 
As scientists who study how viruses evolve, we are often asked about the future of the coronavirus. Will it go away? Get worse? Fade into the background of our lives? Become seasonal like the flu? Here’s what we know: The virus’s Omicron variant was significantly more infectious and more resistant to vaccines than the original strain that first emerged in Wuhan, China. There’s no reason, at least biologically, that the virus won’t continue to evolve. The coronavirus variants that have emerged thus far sample only a fraction of the genetic space that is most likely available for evolutionary exploration. (Sarah Cobey, Jesse Bloom, Tyler Starr and Nathaniel Lash, 3/28)

CNN: Putting Your Covid Diagnosis On Blast Is No Longer A Thing 
More than two years into the pandemic, getting a Covid diagnosis has become fairly commonplace: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some 80 million Americans have contracted the virus at least once, out of a total US population of about 329 million. And if you consider all the people who contracted the virus but may never have received a formal diagnosis, health experts tell us about 43 percent of the country has been infected with Covid. Most of us know someone who's had it, and may even have gotten it once or twice ourselves. Still, there are plenty of people who haven't had the virus, and that might be one reason a positive test result still makes headlines for public figures. But maybe being famous isn't reason enough anymore to tell us all about your Covid diagnosis. (Peggy Drexler, 3/27)

The Colorado Sun: How Colorado Can Prepare For The Next COVID-19 Variant
The Omicron surge has peaked and is falling rapidly as the number of people living in Colorado who remain susceptible to the virus shrinks. Our communities are returning to normal. However, a new Omicron subvariant that appears to partially overcome preexisting immunity to Omicron is likely to increase the number of Colorado infections in the coming weeks. Fortunately, most of these infections will be mild and not result in hospitalizations and deaths, especially when people are fully immunized or have had prior recent Covid-19 infections. The Omicron wave is likely to infect 50% of the world’s population by the end of March, according to Dr. Christopher Murray of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle. Murray suggests that SARS CoV-2 will then become endemic and have an impact similar to influenza during a bad season. (Dr. Stephen Berman, 3/27)

Stat: The Parallel Plights Of Two Disparate Communities Hard Hit By Covid 
I constantly straddle two disparate worlds. One is in Boston, where I work for one of the country’s best health care systems and serve as a professor at Harvard Medical School. The other is in northern New Mexico, where I am a member of the Taos Pueblo tribe. While these two communities could not be more different in population, culture, or geography, the Covid-19 pandemic has linked them in an unfortunate but all-too-common way: both are beset by racism and racial disparities in health care. (Tom Sequist, 3/28)

The Star Tribune: Get A Booster If You Haven't Already 
This deep into the COVID-19 pandemic, it's clear that what happens in Europe tends not to stay in Europe. Rising infections there often serve as an advance warning of another COVID surge in the United States. Unfortunately, the still-evolving virus is once again spreading on the other side of the Atlantic, with sharp case increases reported in Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain. Pandemic fatigue is no excuse not to prepare for rising cases here. One of the most important steps to take is getting a COVID booster if you haven't already. The number of people in Minnesota and elsewhere who haven't yet done so is alarming. (3/27)