USA Today: Pfizer Says Its COVID Vaccine For Kids Under 5 Appears Safe, Effective
Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine appears to be safe and effective for children ages 6 months to 5 years, according to a company study released early Monday. The study of nearly 1,700 young children showed the vaccine to be as safe as a placebo and more than 80% protective during the omicron outbreak. No new safety issues were identified during the trial, the companies said in a news release, and the majority of reported adverse events were mild or moderate. (Weintraub, 5/23)

The Washington Post: Pfizer Covid Shot 80 Percent Effective In Young Kids, Early Data Shows 
Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, said Monday that an early analysis showed their three-dose coronavirus vaccine regimen triggered a strong immune response in young children, proving 80 percent effective at preventing symptomatic infections in children 6 months to 4 years old. The results, along with other recent developments, signal that the long and frustrating wait for a vaccine for the youngest children, the last group to lack access, could be over within weeks. (Johnson, 5/23)

NBC News: Covid Vaccine For Kids Under 5: 3 Doses Of Pfizer Vaccine Is Effective, Pfizer Says
The 80 percent efficacy figure may change as the company gathers more data. It is based on 10 symptomatic cases of Covid that occurred seven days after the third dose of the vaccine as of April 29. A formal analysis will be performed once there are at least 21 positive cases in the clinical trial. The safety and immune response data are finalized, the company said. The first two doses of the vaccine are given three weeks apart, followed by a third dose at least two months later. The findings were announced in a news release, and the full data haven’t been made available for outside experts to review. (Miller and Lovelace Jr., 5/23)

The New York Times: Pfizer Says Three Doses Of Its Vaccine Produce A Strong Response In The Youngest Children
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said the number of children in the trial who fell ill with Covid was too small to make a definitive statement on efficacy. Only 10 children participating in the trial became ill with Covid after those in the vaccination group were given the third dose. The clinical trial’s protocol specified that analysis of vaccine efficacy required at least 21 Covid cases. The companies said that final data on efficacy, a secondary endpoint for the clinical trial, would be shared “once available.” (LaFraniere, 5/23)

CNN: Three-Dose Covid-19 Vaccine Produces Strong Immune Response In Children Ages 6 Months To 5 Years, Pfizer And BioNTech Say
The Phase 2/3 trial included 1,678 children who received a third dose during the period when the Omicron coronavirus variant dominated. Antibody levels tested one month after the third dose showed the vaccine produced a similar immune response as two doses in 16-to-25 year-olds, the companies said in a news release. The data has not yet been peer-reviewed or published. (Kounang, 5/23)

CBS News: Military Plane Carrying 39 Tons Of Baby Formula Arrives In U.S.
Enough specialty infant formula for more than half a million baby bottles arrived Sunday in Indianapolis, the first of several flights carrying infant formula from Europe expected this weekend to relieve the deepening shortage in the U.S. The formula, weighing 78,000 pounds, or 39 tons, was being transported by military plane, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One as President Biden flew from South Korea to Japan. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Indianapolis to greet the arrival of the first shipment. (5/22)

ABC News: Plane Carrying More Than 75,000 Pounds Of Imported Baby Formula Lands In US 
Another shipment of formula will be flying into Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on a FedEx plane this coming week, the White House announced Sunday afternoon. FedEx has secured a government contract to carry that critical cargo, bringing it from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. From there, the formula will be transported to a Nestlé facility in Pennsylvania via FedEx's integrated air and ground network. The White House said the flight and trucking "will take place in the coming days." (Hutzler, 5/22)

The Washington Post: First Shipment Of Baby Formula From Germany Arrives In Indianapolis 
The Biden administration announced Sunday that it would use the Defense Production Act to give two companies priority on ingredients or equipment necessary to manufacture formula. Abbott Nutrition will be able to make priority orders for sugar and corn syrup. Reckitt will be able to place priority orders for filters that have been constrained during the pandemic. (Wang, Jeong and Johnson, 5/22)

The CEO of Abbott apologizes —

The Wall Street Journal: Abbott CEO Apologizes For Company’s Role In Baby Formula Shortage 
Abbott Laboratories Chief Executive Robert Ford apologized Saturday for his company’s role in the nationwide shortage of baby formula and promised production will ramp up again in June. “We’re sorry to every family we’ve let down,” Mr. Ford wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. (Otis, 5/22)

The Washington Post: Abbott CEO Robert Ford: What We're Doing To Fix The Formula Shortage. 
We at Abbott take great pride in helping people with diabetes check their glucose, providing critical coronavirus testing and making lifesaving heart devices. And yes, we take great pride in manufacturing nutrition and formula to feed America’s infants, including our most vulnerable. But the past few months have distressed us as they have you, and so I want to say: We’re sorry to every family we’ve let down since our voluntary recall exacerbated our nation’s baby formula shortage. (Robert Ford, 5/21)

More on the formula shortage —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Homemade Baby Formula Putting Wisconsin Babies In The Hospital
Children's Wisconsin has seen an increase in the number of babies being admitted due to inappropriate substitutions for baby formula, the hospital said Friday. The hospital frequently sees babies that are malnourished or show a failure to thrive, for reasons including a lack of access to formula, Heather Van Roo, a hospital spokeswoman, said in a statement to the Journal Sentinel. "But we are seeing more kids where inappropriate substitutions of formula is a factor in their hospitalization," she said. (Shastri, 5/20)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Baby Formula Shortage Hurting Cincinnati Families Of Color
Laurie Alexander, of West Price Hill, is researching how to get baby formula from outside the United States. She's three months pregnant, and while she's breastfed her three babies, she has always had to supplement with formula. The shortage of baby formula now is worrying her, even though her delivery date is six months out and federal officials say help is on the way. "It's very scary," Alexander said. "I'm looking at the U.K. and Canada. I've been trying to stock up on it early." The nationwide shortage is alarming parents of babies who need it. In the Cincinnati area, nonprofits that help lower-income moms and women of color say the problem is exacerbated for their clients, who are suffering the most from ever-rising costs with inflation and often, a lack of transportation. (Demio, 5/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: Baby Formula Crisis: Bay Area Health Officials Offer Advice On Coping With Shortage
In a joint statement Friday, officials from all nine Bay Area counties, plus San Benito County and the city of Berkeley, noted that while California is faring better than many other states in the shortage, parents having trouble finding their baby’s formula should use caution when looking for alternatives. “Babies need the right balance of nutrients — not too much or too little of anything — to grow and be healthy,” the statement said. “It is important for your baby’s health to use products that meet federal standards to ensure the formula is safe and free of harmful bacteria.” (Echeverria, 5/21)

Bloomberg: Dangerous DIY Baby Formula Recipes Go Viral As Parents Get Desperate
As a nationwide baby formula shortage sends parents into crisis mode, social media posts containing dangerous misinformation about homemade formula recipes have gone viral online, racking up views in the millions. Although major networks like Facebook, TikTok and YouTube have taken steps to label photos, videos and posts with contextual information pointing to the harms of such recipes, and in some cases removed them, they have done so inconsistently, allowing the advice to continue spreading and putting children at risk. (Alba, 5/21)

Reuters: Third Possible Case Of Monkeypox Found In The U.S.
Health authorities said they may have found a third case of the monkeypox virus in the United States and are running tests on a patient in South Florida to confirm if the person has contracted the disease, which is staging a rare outbreak outside of Africa. The case in Broward County, Florida, is "related to international travel," the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Florida Department of Health said in a statement on Sunday, "and the person remains isolated." (Mckay, 5/23)

USA Today: Monkeypox Outbreak: Joe Biden Says US Has Enough Vaccines
A day after saying “everybody should be concerned” about an outbreak of the rare disease monkeypox, President Joe Biden on Monday sent a more reassuring message. Biden said the smallpox vaccine is effective on monkeypox and the United States has enough “to deal with the likelihood of a problem.” (Groppe, 5/23)

The Hill: Biden Says Monkeypox Quarantine Requirements Unlikely, But ‘People Should Be Careful’ 
President Biden on Monday said he does not expect the United States to impose quarantine requirements for individuals infected by or exposed to monkeypox, but he urged Americans to “be careful” as the virus circulates more widely. Biden was asked during a press conference in Tokyo about other countries, namely Belgium, that have required those infected with monkeypox to quarantine for 21 days, and whether Americans should expect something similar. “No, I don’t think so,” Biden said. (Samuels, 5/23)

Bloomberg: Monkeypox Virus Shouldn’t Spur Covid-19 Level Of Concern, Joe Biden Says
President Joe Biden sought to reassure Americans that the current monkeypox outbreak was unlikely to cause a pandemic on the scale of Covid-19. “I just don’t think it rises to the level of the kind of concern that existed with Covid-19,” he told reporters Monday in Tokyo at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The US has enough small pox vaccine stockpiled to deal with the outbreak, Biden said. Still, he said people should be cautious. (Cook and Jacobs, 5/23)

Politico: Health Official On Monkeypox: ‘I Feel Like This Is A Virus We Understand’
Biden administration health official Ashish Jha said Sunday he expects that monkeypox will not have widespread impact in the United States. “I feel like this is a virus we understand,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.” Speaking to host Martha Raddatz, the White House coronavirus response coordinator said monkeypox is far different than coronavirus, since it is not something new and treatments already exist for it. (Cohen, 5/22)

Also —

AP: Expert: Monkeypox Likely Spread By Sex At 2 Raves In Europe 
A leading adviser to the World Health Organization described the unprecedented outbreak of the rare disease monkeypox in developed countries as “a random event” that might be explained by risky sexual behavior at two recent mass events in Europe. In an interview with The Associated Press, Dr. David Heymann, who formerly headed WHO’s emergencies department, said the leading theory to explain the spread of the disease was sexual transmission among gay and bisexual men at two raves held in Spain and Belgium. Monkeypox has not previously triggered widespread outbreaks beyond Africa, where it is endemic in animals. (Cheng, 5/23)

NBC News: As Monkeypox Outbreak Swells, Experts Offer Guesses As To Why Europe Has Seen Unprecedented Spread
From past instances of human-to-human transmission, scientists have learned that the virus spreads through the exchange of large respiratory droplets or via direct contact with bodily fluids, lesions that form during infection, or contaminated items like clothing or bedding. Monkeypox isn't considered a sexually transmitted infection, but it could be passed during sexual encounters, experts said. Many of the recent cases in Europe are among men who have sex with men, and a Friday alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that some recent cases started out with lesions around the anus and genitals. "I'm guessing that sexual transmission will be high on the list of potential culprits," said Dr. Grant McFadden, director of the Biodesign Center for Immunotherapy, Vaccines and Virotherapy at Arizona State University. (Bendix, 5/20)

Bloomberg: Conspiracy Theories That US May Be The Source Of Monkeypox Virus Swirl In China
Chinese social media users are speculating the US could be the source of monkeypox infections now reported in at least a dozen countries, including the UK, Spain and Australia. The viral infection has been highlighted as a trending topic on popular social media platform Weibo for the past three days with a hashtag on the US reporting two suspected monkeypox cases attracting more than 51 million views as of Monday. While Chinese state media has refrained from accusing the US of intentionally spreading monkeypox -- an accusation it made about Covid-19 -- many social media users haven’t held back. (Lew, 5/23)

Axios: HHS Says Recent U.S. Smallpox Vaccine Order Not Related To Monkeypox Outbreak
The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority's (BARDA) recent purchase of smallpox vaccines is not related to the new monkeypox outbreak, a spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told Axios. "The most recent BARDA purchase of smallpox vaccine was part of a standard and ongoing preparedness efforts and unrelated to specific events," an HHS spokesperson told Axios. (Scribner, 5/20)

The global spread continues —

Press Association/Bloomberg: Monkeypox Infections Rising In UK With ‘More Cases Every Day’
Monkeypox is spreading through community transmission in the UK with more cases being detected daily, a senior doctor has warned. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed 20 cases of the disease in the UK with nine other countries outside of Central and West Africa also reporting outbreaks. The disease, which was first found in monkeys, can be transmitted from person to person through close physical contact - including sexual intercourse - and is caused by the monkeypox virus. Dr Susan Hopkins, a chief medical adviser for UKHSA, said updated figures for the weekend will be released on Monday as she warned of more cases "on a daily basis". (Speare-Cole, 5/22)

Press Association/Bloomberg: High-Risk Monkeypox Close Contacts Told To Isolate For 21 Days In UK
Contacts of monkeypox cases at high risk of having caught the infection should self-isolate for 21 days, latest government guidance says. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidance now recommends that people who have had "unprotected direct contact or high-risk environmental contact" should isolate for three weeks. This includes no travel, providing details for contact tracing and avoiding direct contact with immunosuppressed people, pregnant women and children under 12. Those who are considered at high risk of having caught monkeypox may have had household contact, sexual contact, or have changed an infected person's bedding without wearing appropriate PPE. (Speare-Cole, 5/22)

AP: Israel Reports First Case Of Monkeypox, Suspects Others 
Israeli authorities say they have detected the country’s first case of monkeypox in a man who returned from abroad and were looking into other suspected cases. Israel’s Health Ministry said late Saturday the man was in a Tel Aviv hospital in good condition. It called on anyone returning from abroad with fever and lesions to see a doctor. ... Israel’s case appeared to be the first identified in the Middle East. (5/22)

USA Today: WHO Convenes Meetings, Steps Up Response On 'Atypical' Surge In Monkeypox Cases. Here's What We Know
The World Health Organization on Friday said it was stepping up efforts to understand and combat monkeypox as nearly a dozen countries are investigating "atypical" outbreaks. The organization said the ongoing situation is being discussed at several meetings. "There are about 80 confirmed cases so far, and 50 pending investigations. More cases are likely to be reported as surveillance expands," the health agency said in a news release. The spike in monkeypox cases in Europe and North America has perplexed public health professionals because the rare disease is typically found in central and west Africa — and human-to-human transmission is usually considered uncommon. (Tebor, Shannon and Weise, 5/21)

USA Today: 6th Child Dies From Hepatitis Outbreak In 36 States; CDC Seeks Answers
A spreading hepatitis outbreak that killed six children has infectious disease experts  scrambling to find answers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the sixth death last week. The CDC said the outbreak of the liver disease has expanded to 180 reported youth patients across 36 states and territories over the past seven months. The number of cases increased by 71 in two weeks, but the CDC said most of those were "retrospective" patients who may have been ill weeks or months earlier. "Not all are recent, and some may ultimately wind up not being linked to this current investigation," the CDC said in a statement. The agency said testing ruled out some of the viruses that commonly cause hepatitis. (Bacon, 5/22)

Reuters: Mexico Reports First Death Of Child From Mysterious Severe Hepatitis
Mexican authorities confirmed on Friday the first death of a child from a severe form of hepatitis with unknown origin in the country, marking the first death in Latin America as cases spread worldwide. The three-year-old child, originally from the central state of Hidalgo, was transferred to a hospital in Mexico City, but died this week, the Hidalgo Health Secretariat said. (5/20)

NBC News: Unexplained Hepatitis: No New Clues In The Apparent Uptick In Strange Pediatric Illness
Most of the new cases were the result of a retrospective analysis, Dr. Jay Butler, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s deputy director for infectious diseases, said Friday. That is, doctors looked back on their patients over the past seven months to find previously unidentified cases. A handful, he said, were new cases that occurred in the past two weeks. ... Testing in recent cases has revealed that about half had evidence of an adenovirus, specifically adenovirus type 41. But there is no proof yet that the virus — which usually causes mild upset stomach — is behind the liver inflammation. (Edwards, 5/20)

The CT Mirror: 'Your Lives Intersect With Ours': COVID On The Rise Again In Nursing Homes
Coronavirus infections among nursing home residents are on the rise again, increasing almost six-fold over one month. For the two-week period ending April 12, 85 infections were recorded among nursing home residents in Connecticut. For the two-week period ending May 10, 478 infections were reported. Staff infections also rose, to 346 for the two-week period ending May 10, up from 115 during the two-week stretch that ended April 12. Nursing home infections and deaths are made public every two weeks in Connecticut. (Carlesso, 5/20)

The Baltimore Sun: No One Wants To Hear It, But Another COVID Wave Is Here In Maryland 
Cases are rising around Maryland and much of the Northeast so fast it seems that everyone knows someone who has COVID-19. Some of those infected had it before, while others have it for the first time. “This isn’t over,” said Crystal Watson, public health lead in the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security’s Coronavirus Resource Center, during a news conference Friday marking the United States reaching the milestone of a million COVID-19 deaths earlier in the week. “We are in the midst of a surge,” she said. It may not be like the pandemic peak over the winter of 2021-2022, Watson said, “but it’s still important to be actively vigilant about preventing infection." (Cohn, 5/22)

WUSF Public Media: The Number Of COVID-19 Patients In Florida Hospitals Is Up 24% 
Florida saw a jump in COVID-19 cases over the past week, while reported deaths of Florida residents during the pandemic climbed to more than 74,300. Meantime, federal officials reported the number of Florida hospital inpatients with COVID jumped 24 percent during the past week. It comes after a nearly 20 percent increase the previous week. A report issued Friday by the Florida Department of Health said the state had a reported 60,204 new COVID-19 cases during the week of May 13 to Thursday. That was up from 39,374 new cases the previous week and continued a steady increase during the past two months. (5/22)

The Boston Globe: COVID-19 Is Worse Than Official Data Show, Former R.I. Health Department Official Says
A former high-level employee at the Rhode Island Department of Health says that COVID-19 cases have been on the rise for months in Rhode Island, but the information has been hidden in the official data and ignored by Governor Daniel McKee, whom he accuses of incompetence. Julian Drix, who was the acting co-director of the Health Department’s Health Equity Institute and in charge of the coordinated COVID response for Central Falls and Pawtucket, told the Globe on Friday that McKee’s administration dismantled the infrastructure that helped Rhode Island respond to and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Now, Drix says, Rhode Island is more vulnerable during this surge — and the problems exposed by the pandemic are straining the health care system. (Milkovits, 5/20)

Los Angeles Times: Another Bummer Coronavirus Summer For California? Cases Keep Rising Along With Concerns
With coronavirus cases on the rise, California finds itself in a familiar, if frustrating, position — with the threat of another wave looming as summer fast approaches. Coronavirus cases are increasing, in many areas at an accelerating pace. Authorities have not yet expressed alarm about the state of California’s hospitals or imposed far-reaching new rules to blunt the virus’ spread. But officials say it is possible healthcare systems could once again come under strain unless the transmission rate is restrained — underscoring how vital it is for residents and businesses to make use of the protective tools at their disposal. (Money and Lin II, 5/21)

The Washington Post: D.C.-Area Schools Face Rising Covid Cases, Aren’t Restoring Strict Rules 
School districts in the Washington region are contending with the national surge in covid cases that has resulted in the highest numbers since the winter omicron surge and left more students at home quarantining. But this latest spike in cases arrives after most districts have already lifted masking requirements and shortened quarantine protocols — and, following federal health guidelines, the region’s school leaders say they are not reconsidering a complete overhaul of covid policies in the final stretch of the academic year. Prince George’s County is the only school district — and one of the few big districts in the country — that still has a mask mandate. (Stein, Natanson and Asbury, 5/22)

In other news about the spread of covid —

CIDRAP: Study: Omicron Caused 3 Times As Many Deaths As Delta In Massachusetts
More adults died of COVID-19 in Massachusetts in the first 8 weeks of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant surge than in the entire 23-week Delta period, suggests a modeling study published today in JAMA. (5/20)

CIDRAP: People With Low Body Weight Show Less Waning COVID Vaccine Immunity
A new study shows significantly less antibody waning 6 months after two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in people with low body weight, suggesting that those adults could wait longer than 6 months for a booster dose. The study appears in JAMA Network Open. The small study involved 50 South Korean young adult healthcare workers who received the standard series of Pfizer vaccine and had not had a previous infection with COVID-19. Eighty percent of participants were women. (5/20)

WUSF Public Media: How To Get New Antiviral Drugs For COVID: Sarasota Hospital Releases New Guide
With coronavirus cases on the rise again in Florida, Sarasota Memorial Hospital has started a program to make it easier for patients to find COVID treatments, like the antiviral Paxlovid. Infectious disease specialist Dr. Manuel Gordillo says people over 65, or those 12 and up with a medical condition that increases their risk of severe COVID, are eligible. He says Paxlovid is the best option, and a prescription is needed. "So if you get infected, you can get it within five days for the orals, seven days for the injectables. And those decrease the chances of hospitalization or death," he said. Pfizer data shows Paxlovid -- taken within five days of infection -- decreases the risk of hospitalization or death by 88 percent. (Sheridan, 5/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area COVID Patients Flag ‘Paxlovid Rebound’ After Taking Antiviral Treatment
When Berkeley resident Myriam Misrach tested positive for the coronavirus last month, she started taking the COVID antiviral pill Paxlovid the same day. Over the five-day course of treatment, her cough and shortness of breath mostly faded, but a couple days after taking the final pill, her symptoms came roaring back. For 48 hours thereafter, she also had a fever, headache, nausea, runny nose and lost her sense of taste, she said. And she once again tested positive for the virus — despite having tested negative and feeling much better just a few days prior. “I had everything in the book,” said Misrach, 66, who is vaccinated and boosted. “It was not at all a mild case.” (Ho, 5/21)

On long covid —

American Homefront Project: The Military Is Trying To Learn More About Long COVID 
Kara Gormont is the former Chief of Staff for the Defense Health Agency. She dedicated her career to helping keep service members healthy. But when Gormont developed long COVID in November 2020, she learned first hand that the military at the time had no process to deal with it. "I truly felt very abandoned by the healthcare system that I had at that time given 28 years of my life to," Gormont said. "And nobody believed me, nobody believed that I was sick, nobody believed that I had COVID." A year and a half later, she’s still experiencing symptoms, including gastrointestinal problems and brain fog. "My doctors themselves didn't know what was going on," Gormont said. "I didn't have an established plan of care with them. They didn't necessarily agree what was happening.” (Hirschfeld, 5/20)

The New York Times: Long Covid Symptoms And Treatment: What We Know So Far
There is little consensus on the exact definition of long Covid, also known by the medical term PASC, or post-acute sequelae of Covid-19. While the World Health Organization says long Covid starts three months after the original bout of illness or positive test result, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sets the timeline at just after one month. (Sheikh and Belluck, 5/21)

Fox News: Army Nears 100% Vaccination, Claims Only 1% Refusal Among Troops
The U.S. Army reports that it nears a 100% COVID-19 vaccination rate among troops, claiming the service has issued 3,411 general officer reprimands to soldiers who refused the order to be vaccinated. The active forces have recorded a 97% completion of vaccination regimen, with that number to hit 98% after additional troops complete their current booster regimen. The Pentagon in Aug. 2021 issued a vaccine mandate for the armed forces, with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordering each branch to fully vaccinate active duty, Guard and Reserve troops. Troops in various military branches had months to comply with the order, with each branch setting its own deadline to complete the regimen. (Aitken, 5/22)

Chicago Tribune: As COVID-19 Cases Rise, 60% Of Eligible Kids In Illinois Are Still Unvaccinated 
On a steamy spring morning, Dave Jordan sat in the un-air-conditioned gym at Harlan Community Academy and pulled up his left shirt sleeve to receive his second COVID-19 booster. As he headed back to work security at the Roseland high school, he vowed to talk with his family again about getting their shots. Jordan said his 16-year-old daughter received only one dose, in October, shortly after his 11-year-old daughter contracted the coronavirus. The younger girl has not been vaccinated, Jordan said. He has had “frustrating” family discussions but can’t seem to overcome concerns about long-term effects of the vaccine. “We do see the (case) numbers boosting up, and so I think I’m going to be encouraging them today to go ahead and get their shots,” said Jordan, who is also pastor of 1st Holy Zion M.B. Church in Fuller Park. (Buckley, Swartz and Mahr, 5/23)

In updates on covid mandates and mask-wearing —

The Texas Tribune: Judge Blocks Biden Administration From Lifting Title 42 
A federal judge in Louisiana on Friday blocked the Biden administration from lifting a public health order that immigration officers have used to quickly expel migrants at the southwest border, including asylum-seekers. District Judge Robert R. Summerhays, a Trump appointee in Lafayette, ruled that the Biden administration violated administrative law when it announced in April that it planned to halt Title 42, a health order aimed at preventing the spread of communicable diseases in the country, on Monday. The ruling will most likely spark a monthslong legal battle. The U.S. Department Justice quickly filed an appeal Friday with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and said it believes that the Biden administration’s decision to lift 42 was legal. (Garcia, 5/20)

CBS News: DHS Watchdog: Migrants Weren't Tested For COVID Before Transport On Domestic Commercial Flights 
The top watchdog for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) failed to test migrants before transferring, transporting and releasing migrants from ICE detention facilities – a clear violation of the department's COVID-19 policy. (Sganga, 5/20)

Fox News: White House Coronavirus Advisor Supports Continued Use Of Masks Indoors
The White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha supports the continued use of masks while indoors as cases continue to rise again. "I agree with Mayor Adams that when you're in indoor space, you should be wearing a mask," Jha said during an appearance on "This Week." "I feel that very strongly that in crowded indoor spaces, in places with high transmission, people should be doing that." The United States survived a severe winter spike that recorded the highest level of infection with a seven-day rolling average of around 800,000 cases. The level dropped to a much more manageable case count over the past few months, but May has seen another rise, with the seven-day average peaking over 100,000 for the first time since February. (Aitken, 5/22)

The New York Times: Philadelphia Schools Reinstate Mask Mandate 
When students and teachers in Philadelphia return to school on Monday, they will have to wear masks once again, as coronavirus cases continue to rise — the latest twist in the city’s evolving approach to masking. William R. Hite Jr., the superintendent of the Philadelphia School District, announced on Friday that “all school district students and staff will be required to wear their masks during the school and work day and while riding on school buses and vans” until further notice. (Jones, 5/23)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Masks Advised In Milwaukee Due To 'High' Level Of COVID-19 Spread
The Milwaukee Health Department on Friday recommended that residents return to masking as the county moved into the "high" level of COVID-19 community spread, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mask advisory applies when inside in public settings — regardless of vaccination status or past COVID-19 infection, the department said in a statement. It applies to anyone older than 2 years old who is not prevented from wearing a mask for medical reasons. (Dirr, 5/20)

Detroit Free Press: Masks Urged In 22 Michigan Counties, CDC Warns
The number of Michigan counties where risk from COVID-19 is high has grown to 22 this week, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as a new wave of cases and hospitalizations sweeps the state and the nation. "There's a lot of infections across America," Dr. Ashish Jha, White House coronavirus response coordinator, said earlier this week. "What's driving that? What is primarily driving that is these incredibly contagious subvariants" of the omicron variant, BA.2 and BA.2.12.1. "They are more contagious with more immune escape, and they are driving a lot of the increases in infection that we're seeing across the nation right now. And that is ... a huge challenge." (Jordan Shamus, 5/20)

The Wall Street Journal: With State Abortion Restrictions Looming, Some Officials Promise Not To Enforce Them
A new wave of abortion restrictions is expected in half of the U.S. if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Some local officials are pledging not to enforce them, potentially creating uneven legal landscapes within conservative states that are home to more liberal urban areas. District attorneys in metropolitan areas including Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas and San Antonio have said they won’t prosecute abortion providers or others, including those who assist a woman in obtaining the procedure. Current state attorneys general who are up for re-election in Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as Democratic candidates for that office in Georgia and Arizona have likewise pledged not to enforce any laws banning abortion in their states. (Kusisto, 5/22)

In abortion news from Texas and Oklahoma —

Dallas Morning News: John Cornyn Supports Allowing Exceptions To Texas Abortion Law For Rape, Incest
Sen. John Cornyn on Friday said he would permit exceptions for cases of rape and incest in laws restricting abortion that will be triggered in Texas if Roe vs. Wade is abolished. “I would permit those exceptions, but I understand others have strongly held feelings to the contrary,” Cornyn said during a recording of Lone Star Politics, a political show produced by KXAS (NBC 5) and The Dallas Morning News. Cornyn, who is against abortion, stressed that he respects the right of the Legislature to pass abortion-related laws. And he supports the view that Roe vs. Wade should be scrapped. Earlier this month a leaked draft opinion foreshadowed that the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to strike down the law, which in 1973 legalized abortions. (Jeffers Jr., 5/21)

The Texas Tribune: Some Texas Republicans Want To Ban Firms Paying For Abortions Out Of State 
With Texas poised to automatically ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, some Republicans are already setting their sights on the next target to fight the procedure: businesses that say they’ll help employees get abortions outside the state. Fourteen Republican members of the state House of Representatives have pledged to introduce bills in the coming legislative session that would bar corporations from doing business in Texas if they pay for abortions in states where the procedure is legal. This would explicitly prevent firms from offering employees access to abortion-related care through health insurance benefits. It would also expose executives to criminal prosecution under pre-Roe anti-abortion laws the Legislature never repealed, the legislators say. (Despart, 5/23)

Oklahoman: Poll Shows Most Oklahoma Voters Don't Want Total Abortion Ban
Less than one-third of Oklahoma voters want a ban on all abortions and only Republicans are deeply divided on the question, according to a poll taken before the state Legislature approved bills this year aimed at shutting down most abortions. The poll, taken by Amber Integrated in December of 500 registered Oklahoma voters, shows 31% would support a total ban on abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade; 55% of the Oklahoma voters surveyed did not want a total ban and another 14% were unsure. (Casteel, 5/22)

From Florida, Michigan, New York, and Massachusetts —

Politico: Florida’s Firewall Against Abortion Restrictions Is In Peril
Florida’s Supreme Court, forged by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, could decide the fate of abortion rights in the state. That’s because Florida’s abortion rights are not just intertwined with federal court rulings but also rely on a decadesold Florida Supreme Court decision that extends privacy rights to abortion. Those rights are enshrined in the Florida Constitution, and the state Supreme Court has previously cited it to overturn restrictive abortion laws, including one requiring parental consent for minors seeking abortions. But the current Florida Supreme Court is dominated by conservatives, including three appointed by DeSantis, and some fear the state justices could interpret the privacy rights differently. (Fineout, 5/22)

AP: Florida Suspends Abortion Clinic After Hospitalizations
An abortion clinic that serves women from all over the U.S. South had its license suspended this weekend under an emergency order from Florida health officials after two women who had undergone procedures at the clinic were hospitalized this year. The state Agency for Health Care Administration ordered the suspension of the license for American Family Planning of Pensacola, effective starting Saturday. (5/22)

Newsweek: Contraception 'Should Not Be Legal,' Says Trump-Backed Candidate Eubanks
Jacky Eubanks, a Trump-endorsed candidate for Michigan's legislature, said she would vote to make contraception illegal. ... Eubanks, who is running for Michigan's 63rd House district, backed a ban on contraception during an interview with right-wing news outlet Church Militant. ... Eubanks continued to blast contraception as leading people to believe in "the false sense of security that they can have consequence-free sex." She said a ban on contraception would also convince people to wait until marriage to have sexual relations. (Stanton, 5/21)

Politico: The Pro-Abortion Rights, Former Obama Adviser Republican Running For New York Governor 
New York Republicans spent years being rejected by Harry Wilson, a corporate consulting executive who repeatedly demurred a run for governor to focus on his family and career. In February, he finally changed his mind. Now the state GOP is the one rejecting him. By the time Wilson — a Westchester County businessperson who built a fortune after decades on Wall Street and advised President Barack Obama’s Treasury department — jumped into the race, the party had lavished endorsements and resources on Rep. Lee Zeldin. The Long Island congressman is a close ally of former President Donald Trump and recently said appointing an anti-abortion rights health commissioner in New York would be a “great idea.” (Gronewold, 5/21)

The 19th: Massachusetts Lawmakers Want To Make Medication Abortion Available At Colleges
As abortion access is thrown into uncertainty around the nation, Massachusetts lawmakers are pushing for legislation that would require health centers at public colleges and universities to offer medication abortions. Lawmakers and advocates who support the bills say medication abortion should be accessible on campus because college students may not know where to find abortion providers, often lack transportation to visit them and have class schedules that make traveling for care difficult. (Nittle, 5/20)

Also —

The Atlantic: How The End Of Roe Would Change Prenatal Care
Even now, laws in more than a dozen states that restrict abortion past 20 weeks are changing the use of the second-trimester anatomy scans. “People are moving those tests backward, doing them earlier than is optimal,” says Laura Hercher, a genetic counselor at Sarah Lawrence College who recently conducted a survey of genetic counselors in abortion-restrictive states. But the earlier the scan, the less doctors can see. Certain brain structures, such as the cavum septum pellucidum, might not develop until week 20, says Chloe Zera, an obstetrician in Massachusetts. Being unable to find this structure could indicate a brain anomaly, or just that the scan was done too early. Doctors might also pick up evidence of a heart defect but not know how severe or fixable it is. At 20 weeks, the heart is only the size of a dime. (Zhang, 5/20)

KHN: Journalists Explore Affordability Of Mental Health Care And Abortion Laws’ Effect On Miscarriages 
KHN correspondent Aneri Pattani discussed why finding affordable mental health care is so difficult on NPR’s “A1” on May 18. ... Freelancer Charlotte Huff discussed how Texas abortion laws complicate miscarriage treatment on “Texas Standard” on May 16. (5/21)

Wyoming Public Radio: Traveling Nurses Are Expensive, So Two Wyoming Hospitals Cut Pregnancy Services 
Elise Mascorro gave birth to her baby in Rawlins this past February. "My experience was amazing. I've never really been someone who liked doctor's offices or would, like, want to go. And I actually enjoyed going to the doctors," she said laughing. This was Mascorro's first child and she had trouble with her pregnancies in the past. So, she appreciated having an OB/GYN nearby, helping her out. But in the past couple of weeks, the Memorial Hospital of Carbon County in Rawlins announced they will no longer be providing labor and child delivery services in June. That was the second hospital to make the decision within a month. South Lincoln Hospital District in Kemmerer also cut those services. (Kudelska, 5/20)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Fighting To Find Nurses, Mercy Experiments With Uber’s ‘Gig Worker’ Model 
For a 150-year-old St. Louis hospital system, the answer to staffing shortages may be a labor model popularized by Silicon Valley startups. Since late last year, Chesterfield-based Mercy has been piloting a program in Springfield where both staff nurses and “gig worker” nurses can sign up for shifts through an app. Now the health system is expanding it across all of Mercy. “Millennials, and those even younger, are starting to look at work in a different way,” said Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Betty Jo Rocchio. “They probably were earlier, and we missed the signs, in nursing.” (Merrilees, 5/22)

In other health care industry news —

North Carolina Health News: Sheriffs Want Out Of Transporting Of Psych Patients 
When two sheriff’s deputies showed up at the hospital room of John Noel’s husband, Chris, he thought he was being arrested. No one had told him they were coming. The deputies handcuffed Chris and escorted him to the back seat of a patrol car, according to Noel. Driving away from the hospital, Chris asked the officers if they were taking him to prison. They ignored his questions... The officers were taking Chris from the emergency department at Duke Regional Hospital in Durham to Holly Hill Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Raleigh under an involuntary commitment order. (Knopf, 5/23)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Some N.H. Treatment Facilities Rethink Restraint And Trauma 
New Hampshire residential treatment facilities used restraint on children at least 100 times per month between 2016 and 2021. Some months saw more than 300 restraint incidents. State officials are trying to get that number down to zero. And experts say the way to get there is through something called “trauma-informed care”: an approach that focuses less on punishment, and more on understanding why a child might act a certain way in stressful situations and preventing them from repeating behavior that could harm themselves or others. Many children in residential treatment facilities have experienced abuse, neglect or other significant traumas. The vast majority are involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. (Fam, 5/23)

Stat: How Businesses Turned Health Records From GE Into A Lucrative Asset
It was supposed to be a routine client meeting. Instead, one of GE Healthcare’s largest customers dropped a bombshell: It had taken data GE considered confidential — millions of patient medical records stripped of identifying information — and linked it to a massive trove of insurance claims, vacuuming up financial details tied to the patients’ medical problems, prescriptions, and doctor’s visits. The revelations by Quintiles, a global drug research company, set off a cascade of concerns within GE, according to a confidential memo obtained by STAT. Executives worried GE was “at risk of privacy violations” and called for an internal legal review. The unsettling part was how precisely the patients were flagged in another dataset, with near perfect accuracy, the memo said. (Ross, 5/23)

In research news —

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri S&T Research Could Improve Laser Treatment Of Tumors 
Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have found a way to measure the effectiveness of light energy which will help to better use lasers in treating tumors. Missouri S&T physics professor Alexy Yamilov, along with a team of researchers led by Yale University, published an article in the journal Nature Physics outlining their research. The team shows how to determine the maximum amount of light energy that can be focused at certain depths of materials. The findings can be used by light-based medical technology firms developing new methods to better assess how much energy they can use, and if the technique will work: “It tells them how the energy is going to be distributed inside, and under the best conditions, so they can estimate whether it will be safe to do this,” Yamilov said. (Ahl, 5/23)

Stat: Role Of Genetics Researchers In White Supremacist Ideology Debated 
The 18-year-old gunman suspected of carrying out a racist attack that killed 10 and injured three people in Buffalo, N.Y., last weekend left no questions about why he drove 200 miles to a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood and opened fire. A 180-page document he allegedly posted online detailed the white supremacist ideologies that motivated his plan to target and murder Black Americans. But for the genetics researchers who discovered their work cited in the screed as justification for the bloodshed, there are only questions — how did this happen? Could we have done more to prevent it? And what needs to change to stop it from happening again? (Molteni, 5/23)

Axios: Jif Peanut Butter Recall: FDA Links Select Products To Salmonella Outbreak
The J. M. Smucker Co. is recalling select Jif peanut butter products for potential Salmonella contamination. The voluntary recall comes amid a multistate outbreak of infections linked to certain Jif peanut butter products produced by the company’s facility in Lexington, Kentucky. Health officials from the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the ongoing outbreak and say there have been 14 reported cases of Salmonella Senftenberg infections with two hospitalizations. (Tyko, 5/21)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: 185K Pounds Of Bacon Products Recalled After Nationwide Distribution
An Iowa company has recalled about 185,610 pounds of ready-to-eat bacon topping products that might be contaminated with metal, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture news release Friday. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said it expects there to be additional products containing the bacon and urges consumers to check back frequently to view updated lists and labels. The product was produced on various dates between Feb. 21 and 23 and March 3 and 5. (Garcia, 5/20)

NPR: Virtual Workouts Spiked During The Pandemic. Can The Trend Last?
At the height of the pandemic, when going to the gym wasn't an option, millions of people began exploring virtual workouts from home for the first time. And many of them now say they won't go back. While this is clearly a boon for the companies developing these systems, it has also helped people who don't feel comfortable in a gym or don't have time to get there. Linda Munson, 56, who lives in Berlin, Conn., has worked a desk job from home since the initial COVID shutdown in 2020. "I was packing on the pounds," she admits. Munson's never been much of a gym person. "I am very socially awkward. I get anxious going out. I probably would ... walk in the gym and sign up for a membership and then not go," she says. (Fulton, 5/22)

KHN: The New MADD Movement: Parents Rise Up Against Drug Deaths 
Life as he knew it ended for Matt Capelouto two days before Christmas in 2019, when he found his 20-year-old daughter, Alexandra, dead in her childhood bedroom in Temecula, California. Rage overtook grief when authorities ruled her death an accident. The college sophomore, home for the holidays, had taken half a pill she bought from a dealer on Snapchat. It turned out to be fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid that helped drive drug overdose deaths in the U.S. to more than 100,000 last year. “She was poisoned, and nothing was going to happen to the person who did it,” he said. “I couldn’t stand for that.” (Scheier, 5/23)

KHN: Caskets Wrapped In Colorful Images Pay Tribute To Young Lives Lost To Trauma And Violence 
Calyia Stringer had a smile on her face the day she posed for a photo with a yellow flower in her hand. The toddler beamed with pride as she showed off the bloom before handing it to her godmother, Jatoria Foster. “She was so happy,” Foster said. “That was one of the best memories I have of her.” No one thought the same image would end up on the lid of Calyia’s casket — until the unthinkable happened. The 3-year-old was killed last September when a stray bullet tore through her grandmother’s bedroom in East St. Louis, Illinois. For Calyia’s funeral, her family wanted to remember the happiest moments of her life, so the funeral home decorated her casket with three photos of the girl. (Anthony, 5/23)

Stat: Pfizer To Refund $290,000 In Four States Over Misleading Copay Coupons
Amid controversy over the use of patient coupons, Pfizer has agreed to refund $290,000 to settle charges of misleading roughly 5,000 people in Colorado, Kansas, Vermont, and Arizona who spent much more than expected when they used coupons supplied by the drug maker. The company will also pay a total of $120,000 to the states to cover legal costs, among other things. This is only the latest instance in which Pfizer has been cited over such allegations. Three years ago, the company paid $975,000 to settle charges of misleading consumers in Oregon and, in 2018, it reached a $700,000 settlement with New York State. In each episode, consumers were told they would “pay no more than” a small amount of money — typically, from $15 to $25 — for certain drugs, but were actually required to pay more due to limits on total savings that were not prominently disclosed. (Silverman, 5/22)

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

Oklahoman: Oklahoma Legislature OKs Revamp To Medicaid Program
Oklahoma legislators on Friday approved plans to revamp the state's Medicaid program into a value-based health care model that incentivizes providers to improve patient health. The plan includes some elements of the Medicaid managed care plan the Stitt administration tried to implement last year, but lawmakers were directly involved in crafting the details this time. The Oklahoma Supreme Court last year ruled the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which oversees the state's Medicaid program, exceeded its authority in trying to implement managed care. (Forman, 5/21)

CBS News: John Fetterman, Democratic Senate Nominee In Pennsylvania, Released From Hospital After Stroke
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has been released from the hospital more than a week after he had a stroke, his wife Gisele Barreto Fetterman tweeted Sunday. Fetterman won the Democratic primary for Senate while he was in the hospital recovering. (Reardon, 5/22)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati May Add Protections For Gender Expression, Breastfeeding
Cincinnati could soon add anti-discrimination protections for "gender expression" and and women who breastfeed in public. The city's anti-discrimination law already has protections for transgender people. But under the proposed changes, the law specifically forbids discrimination based on "gender expression,"  which is defined in the bill as how a person expresses themselves through "one's behavior or appearance, that may or may not be those traditionally associated with the individual's assigned sex at birth." Businesses, employers and landlords would be among those subject to the new rules. (Coolidge, 5/23)

KQED: California Debates Opening Safe Injection Sites To Prevent Overdose Deaths 
Lawmakers in California are debating whether to open sites where people can inject or snort illegal drugs under the watchful gaze of a health care worker. These facilities are an effort to save lives as overdoses skyrocket across the country. "Instead of having people use drugs on the sidewalk when your kid is walking by, we want to give them a place where they can go inside," said state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, the sponsor of a bill to pilot facilities in Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles. (McClurg, 5/23)

Salt Lake Tribune: One In Three Homes In Utah Has Dangerous Radon Levels. Here’s What Can Be Done
Lurking in one of three Utah homes are dangerous levels of radon, a naturally occurring gas blamed for scores of cancer deaths in Utah each year, according to a radon report submitted to the Legislature on Wednesday. Radon is Utah’s “most deadly geological hazard,” Utah Geological Survey director William Keach told the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee. “Radon can get into your home, it can come through your water pipes, it can come through your basement,” Keach said. “If you have a well that’s got radon gas getting into it, it can come into your house that way.” (Maffly, 5/20)

The Denver Post: Avian Flu Found In Dead Geese In Colorado Park
The avian flu has been found in dead geese in Lakewood and city officials urge the public not to handle dead birds or animals. A presumptive positive test for avian influenza, also know as bird flu, was received by Colorado Parks and Wildlife after dead goslings were found in Cottonwood Park, 10461 W. Evans Ave., according to a Lakewood news release. An investigation is ongoing. Avian flu has been spreading among wild birds and domesticated poultry in Colorado. The first identified human case in the United States of the H5N1 virus — avian flu — was found last month in a Colorado man who works on a Western Slope poultry farm. (Nicholson, 5/21)

The Washington Post: World Health Assembly Clouded By Pandemic Treaty Backlash
Global health leaders gathered in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the pandemic are facing another viral problem: a visceral, passionate online backlash that falsely accuses the World Health Organization of conspiring to take power from national governments. The World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the WHO’s 194 member states, is holding its first fully in-person event in two years as some coronavirus-related restrictions are lifted. While the assembly, now in its 75th year, is usually considered a dry, technocratic event, this year it is being framed by conspiracy theorists as a key moment in the battle between democracy and tyranny. (Taylor, 5/22)

Politico: 4 Things To Watch As Countries Meet For The World Health Assembly 
The pivotal meeting in the global health calendar starts Sunday with representatives from health ministries around the world descending on Geneva to take decisions on health policy. While much of the diplomacy will happen at receptions and private meetings, the first fully in-person World Health Assembly in two years is expected to adopt several resolutions that will start to shape how the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHA is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization's 194 members. (Furlong, 5/20)

Reuters: WHO Chief Says It Must Take Central Role In Global Health 
The head of the World Health Organization said on Monday that it must be "at the centre" of a global healthcare system, while also acknowledging the need for internal reforms. ... The WHO is under scrutiny after an independent panel described it as "underpowered" when COVID-19 struck, with limited powers to investigate outbreaks and coordinate containment measures. (5/23)

In other global developments —

Stat: European Regulator Suspends Generic Drugs After Finding Flawed Studies
In the latest dust-up over the safety of medicines, the European Medicines Agency recommended suspending marketing authorization for dozens of generic drugs after finding problems with tests conducted by a contract research organization. Specifically, the regulator pointed to “serious concerns” about the quality and reliability of data in bioequivalence studies run by Synchron Research Services, which is based in Ahmedabad, India. Bioequivalence studies are conducted to show that a generic medicine releases the same amount of an active ingredient in the body as a brand-name medicine. (Silverman, 5/20)

Fox News: British Health Report To Recommend Raising Smoking Age To 21
English health officials have suggested the country should raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21 as part of an initiative to discourage smoking and mostly eliminate it by 2030. The British government in 2019 set the new deadline after a green paper report indicated that the then-current timeline of ending smoking by 2025 seemed unlikely. The report found that 14% of adults smoked. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that the goal is to bring that number to below 5% over the next eight years, and raising the legal age for smoking to 21 could prove a crucial part to that plan. (Aitken, 5/21)

The Washington Post: ‘Long Covid’ Is Going To Be A Long Haul 
Covid-19 has killed more than 6 million people worldwide but will also leave a lasting scar on hundreds of millions who have survived. The disease can trigger cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms; it can affect the skin, kidneys, liver, the endocrine organs and the eyes. Moreover, the damage to the body may linger long after the initial sickness. Much about this phenomenon of “long covid” is still unclear, but evidence is accumulating that populations will be struggling for years to come. (5/22)

USA Today: COVID Masks - Should We Still Be Covering Our Faces As Cases Spike?
The United States has passed 1 million COVID-19 deaths, more than any other nation, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. As we headed toward this tragic milestone (and the uptick in cases that has accompanied it), state mask mandates across the nation have dropped. (5/22)

The Baltimore Sun: One Million American Lives: The Toll From COVID Is So Much Greater Than It Had To Be 
A million Americans have been lost to the pandemic, according to the federal government’s official count, making this a disaster that defies most comparisons. And yet it’s so much worse. By the time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the nation had reached the bleak crossroads the month, it was in all likelihood old news and a gross underestimate. (Josh Gohlke, 5/20)

The Atlantic: I Feel Safest In My Hospital
"No thanks,” my patient said to me. “Two is enough.” I was caught off guard the first time I recommended a COVID booster shot and heard that response. “What do you mean, it’s enough? Do you toss out half of your cardiac meds? Do you say, ‘Eh, that seems like enough’ partway through your hernia operation?” I’ve been receiving that response more and more these days. “Two is about right.” “I’ll stick with two.” These folks are not vaccine skeptics. I work at a public hospital in New York City and my patients come from communities that were pummeled by the coronavirus; most lined up for the shots as soon as they became available in early 2021, undeterred by logistical barriers or social-media rumors. A year later, despite cases rising sharply due to the BA.2 variant, they—like most Americans—seem to have moved on. (Danielle Ofri, 5/22)

The New York Times: How To Control Covid When Everyone Moves On 
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, there’s been a refrain among infectious disease experts: you may be done with the virus, but the virus is not done with you. Like everyone else, health officials and providers wish the epidemic would end. At the same time, we must live in a parallel universe in which preventing and managing Covid-19 remains a daily focus when everyone else seems to have moved on. This is fundamentally what it means for a disease to becomes endemic: People with power, privilege and resources no longer view themselves at risk and consider it a problem primarily of “vulnerable populations.” (Jay K. Varma, 5/23)

Los Angeles Times: The Catastrophic Success Of China's Zero-COVID Policy 
For two years, it seemed as though China’s ruthless COVID-19 policy had paid off. After stumbling in its initial efforts to stem the pandemic, China’s rulers fixed a simple numeric target — zero COVID cases — and made sure everyone knew they had to reach it. The results looked severe to Western eyes, but they stopped the virus’ spread. They also gave China a propaganda victory, emboldening their claims that authoritarian governments could solve social problems better than liberal democracies, which in worrying too much about people’s civil rights, ended up killing them instead. (Jeremy L. Wallace, 5/21)

CNN: We Need A Global Pandemic Treaty -- Before It's Too Late 
Whether it was conducting groundbreaking research, completing clinical studies, manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines or distributing and administering billions of doses, scientists, public health officials, doctors and countless others have taken on the Herculean task of protecting people around the world from the novel coronavirus with vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. While we -- the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume -- recognize the innovation and effort the global community undertook in the past two years, we also acknowledge that there is more to do. As world leaders come together at the World Economic Forum this week, I hope that they collectively work toward a healthy and safe future for the generations to come. Developing vaccines or treatments that can actually prevent transmission of disease, not just hospitalizations and deaths, would help control the virus. And there needs to be multilateral cooperation from countries to provide equitable access to vaccines and therapeutics to all. (Adar Poonawalla, 5/23)

The New York Times: How The Right To Birth Control Could Be Undone
The leaked draft opinion of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade has prompted a flurry of debate about the fate of other so-called unenumerated rights — rights that are not explicitly outlined in the Constitution — including the right to access contraception. (Melissa Murray, 5/23)

Los Angeles Times: Best Way To Protect Abortion Rights? Finalize The ERA 
When Roe vs. Wade was decided in 1973, it was rooted in rights that flow from privacy — not equality. As the country has now seen in the leaked Supreme Court draft ruling, that right to privacy is about to be demolished. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. bemoans in the draft opinion that Roe “was remarkably loose in its treatment of the constitutional text,” basing the right to abortion on the right to privacy when neither is “mentioned” in the Constitution. While we can’t change the composition of the court poised to overturn Roe, we can change the text they are charged with interpreting. It’s time to finalize the Equal Rights Amendment and enshrine gender equality. (Kate Kelly, 5/20)

Columbus Dispatch: Will Ohio's Constitution Be Amended To Allow Abortion Access?
With the U.S. Supreme Court likely to overturn Roe vs. Wade by letting each state regulate abortion as it wishes, the General Assembly’s Democrats are proposing a state constitutional amendment to guarantee Ohio’s women access to abortion. It’s likely that if the proposal reached Ohio’s ballot, voters would approve it, which is required for amendments to the state constitution. But getting the measure on the ballot would first require the approval of 60 Ohio House members and 20 state senators, which is why Democrats said that their plan, at a minimum, would advance discussion of the issue. (Thomas Suddes, 5/22)

Los Angeles Times: Leave Abortion Law To The States? Just Look At The Fugitive Slave Act To See How That Will Go
Why not leave abortion to the states? One of the most common arguments made by those who want to downplay the significance of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s leaked draft opinion in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health is that it would not make abortion illegal. Rather, it would merely return the abortion debate to the legislative sphere, where it belongs. Individual states would pass their own abortion laws, as restrictive or nonrestrictive as their electorate wants them to be. (Ronald J. Granieri, 5/19)

The Atlantic: What Alito Doesn’t Understand About Pregnancy
When I train medical students, I emphasize that almost nobody is more acutely aware of time than an obstetrician is. Whenever doctors in my field are briefed about a new patient, the first question we ask is: “How many weeks?” The answer affects everything. A pregnant patient diagnosed with high blood pressure at 12 weeks is usually suffering from chronic hypertension, a condition not immediately dangerous to her. At 37 weeks, a similar blood-pressure reading signals preeclampsia, a direct risk to the patient and her fetus. A patient whose water breaks the week before her due date, at 39 weeks, is probably going to have a healthy baby; someone in the same situation at 20 weeks faces a terrifying ordeal that will probably end in infection and pregnancy loss. The dangers that a patient faces, the treatment options we can consider, the risks she may be willing to take—all of these evolve over the nine months of a pregnancy. The only people who understand this better than obstetricians do are our pregnant patients themselves, who count every passing moment in their bodies. (Chavi Eve Karkowsky, 5/21)

Also —

The Star Tribune: Build On Insulin Affordability Reform 
Access to insulin can be a matter of life or death for those with diabetes, a disease that more than 37 million Americans live with. But the drug's soaring price can alarmingly put it out of reach of those who need it. "The price of insulin has risen inexplicably over the past 20 years at a rate far higher than the rate of inflation," according to an analysis published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings in 2020. "One vial of Humalog, which used to cost $21 in 1999, costs $332 in 2019, reflecting a price increase of more than 1000%." (5/22)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Make Health Care Tax Credits Permanent
Nothing keeps Ohioans up at night like the cost of health care. With the rising cost of food, rent and child care, too many families are left worrying about how to pay the bills and make ends meet. Half of Americans worry about keeping up with health care costs, not only because it drains our bank accounts, but because we literally can’t live without it. Fortunately, the American Rescue Plan, signed by President Joe Biden last year, was historic legislation that drove down health costs at a time when access to quality care had never been more vital. In addition to making critical investments to fight the pandemic, the American Rescue Plan made health care premiums more affordable than ever. (Ozie Davis, 5/21)

Scientific American: The U.S. Needs Its Local Public Health Officials Back, Stat 
In many ways, the most important scientific battlefields have become the forums and meetings of local government. During the first year and a half of the pandemic, while I and many others were participating in local county council and board of education meetings virtually, a misinformed group was showing up in-person and dominating the public comments section of these forums. The group members’ wild conspiracy theories went completely unchecked as this vocal minority applied pressure to elected officials to go against accepted science. They continuously called for the dismissal of our top local health officials. We were naive to believe that those efforts would fail. (Jared DeCoste, 5/20)

USA Today: Rare CUP Cancer With No Known Origin Or Treatment Plan Killed My Mom
Most bobbleheads go up and down. Sitting on the dashboard, they nod along with the music you're playing as your car hums along. They're happy little things. My own head goes the other direction. As cancer ruthlessly dragged down my mother this spring – less than two months between diagnosis to death – I often found my chin moving methodically from left shoulder to right, eyes bleary and cast down at the floor next to my mother's bedside, a physical manifestation of my disbelief. (Kyle Bagenstose, 5/21)