AP: U.S. Opens COVID Boosters To All Adults, Urges Them For 50+
The U.S. on Friday opened COVID-19 booster shots to all adults and took the extra step of urging people 50 and older to seek one, aiming to ward off a winter surge as coronavirus cases rise even before millions of Americans travel for the holidays. Until now, Americans faced a confusing list of who was eligible for a booster that varied by age, their health and which kind of vaccine they got first. The Food and Drug Administration authorized changes to Pfizer and Moderna boosters that makes it easier. (Neergaard, Perrone and Stobbe, 11/19)

Stat: CDC Expands Eligibility For Covid-19 Booster Shots To All Adults
The new recommendations state that people between the ages of 18 and 49 who have no risk factors may get a booster if they wish. All other people should get a booster. From now on health personnel administering booster doses will need to ask two simple questions of people who received one of the mRNA vaccines as their primary Covid series: Are you 18 or older? and Has it been six months or longer since you received your second shot? (Branswell, 11/19)

The Washington Post: With Federal Sign-Offs, All American Adults Now Eligible For Coronavirus Vaccine Boosters
Federal health officials hope a straightforward boosters-for-all policy will prompt millions more people to get the shots before they travel or gather with friends and family over the holidays. Many are concerned about the worsening picture as winter approaches. After new cases dipped to almost 69,000 on Oct. 25 — their lowest point in months — they began climbing again, with the seven-day average rising 40 percent to more than 96,000 on Thursday. The final piece of the booster-policy overhaul fell into place early Friday evening when Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accepted two unanimous recommendations from the agency’s independent experts. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said anyone 18 and older may get a booster and — to stress the urgency of increasing protection for the most vulnerable age group — anyone 50 and older should make sure they get one. (Sun, McGinley and Stead Sellers, 11/19)

USA Today: COVID Booster Shots: What To Know As They Become Open To All US Adults
Vaccine experts say there's little downside to getting a booster dose; side effects are comparable to the initial round of shots. Protection from vaccines starts to fade at about six months, data shows. The same people who are vulnerable to severe COVID-19 – those over 65 or with certain medical conditions such as diabetes or lung disease – are also more vulnerable to so-called breakthrough infections. Here is what you should know about boosters. (Weintraub, 11/21)

But questions have been raised over the booster initiative —

Axios: Experts Criticize CDC's Language On COVID Vaccine Boosters 
While public health experts largely cheered the expansion of U.S. COVID booster recommendations to all adults, the language they used raised some eyebrows. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Friday accepted a key advisory committee's recommendation that adults "may" get a booster dose. Those at higher risk for poor COVID outcomes have been told they "should" get another shot. (Reed, 11/22)

NBC News: ‘Too Late’: Some Question Why Boosters Weren’t Authorized For All Adults Sooner
Friday’s authorization by federal officials to expand Covid-19 booster shot eligibility to all adults was met with overwhelming support from public health experts. But some were puzzled as to why the Food and Drug Administration didn’t make the move sooner. Despite a plan by the Biden administration to have boosters available to nearly all Americans by late September, the FDA had only authorized a third shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for certain populations, such as those 65 and older and people with underlying medical conditions, up until this point. (Chuck, 11/20)

On the changing meaning of "fully" vaccinated —

Fox News: Fauci Vague On Changing Definition Of 'Fully Vaccinated': 'We Might Modify'
"We’re going to take a look right now at what the durability is of the booster," Fauci told "State of the Union" host Dana Bash. "We’re going to follow people who get boosted." "People should not be put off by the fact that as time goes by and we learn more and more about the protection that we might modify the guidelines," he explained. "That’s what we’ve been saying all along by follow the science, things change and you have to follow the data." For now, the definition of fully vaccinated will remain as two shots of a Pfizer or Moderna regimen or one shot of a Johnson & Johnson vaccine. (Aitken, 11/21)

CBS News: Gottlieb Says That "At Some Point," COVID-19 Vaccines Could Be Considered A "Three-Dose Vaccine"
Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Sunday on "Face the Nation" that he thinks "at some point" Americans who received the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines would be considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 after three doses, although likely "not this year." "I think eventually this will be considered the three-dose vaccine, but I would be hard-pressed to believe CDC is going to make that recommendation any time soon," said Gottlieb. (Hayes, 11/21)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Covid-19 Deaths In 2021 Surpass 2020’s
The number of U.S. Covid-19 deaths recorded in 2021 has surpassed the toll in 2020, according to federal data and Johns Hopkins University, demonstrating the virus’s persistent menace. The total number of reported deaths linked to the disease topped 770,800 on Saturday, Johns Hopkins data show. This puts the pandemic-long total at more than twice the 385,343 Covid-19 deaths recorded last year, according to the most recent death-certificate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Kamp, Whelan and DeBarros, 11/21)

Axios: Thanksgiving COVID Alarm As Cases Rise 20% 
Coronavirus cases are rising, nationally and in most states — an ominous trend heading into the week of Thanksgiving. Two-thirds of Americans plan to have Thanksgiving gatherings that resemble their pre-pandemic festivities, according to recent Monmouth University polling. But as cases rise, travel and indoor celebrations will put the millions of unvaccinated Americans at risk. (Owens and Beheraj, 11/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Breakthrough Hospitalizations Concentrated Among Most Vulnerable
Breakthrough cases of Covid-19 are hitting older people and those with underlying health conditions particularly hard, according to a new review of data by The Wall Street Journal that sharpens the picture of who remains at risk despite vaccinations. State reporting is inconsistent but collectively shows there have been more than 1.89 million cases and at least 72,000 hospitalizations and 20,000 deaths among fully vaccinated people in the U.S. this year, the Journal found. (Kamp and Evans, 11/21)

In news across the states —

Des Moines Register: Iowa COVID Cases Surging Again; Thanksgiving Gatherings Worry Experts
Just over a week before Thanksgiving, Dubuque County public health specialist Mary Rose Corrigan stared into a camera for a weekly PSA, and posed a rhetorical — but timely — question: Should people attend indoor, public events without masks or social distancing? Though delivered with a deliberate dose of Iowa nice, her answer for Dubuque residents was unmistakable: “Are you kidding me?” The number of COVID-19 cases in Iowa is again on the rise after a brief dip, as is the case in most neighboring states. In Minnesota, for one example, cases have risen so rapidly that emergency departments are overwhelmed, according to Minnesota Public Radio. (Coltrain, 11/20)

Bangor Daily News: Maine CDC Reports Record COVID-19 Hospitalizations
COVID-19 hospitalizations have reached record numbers once again this month. On Sunday, 287 patients were hospitalized with the virus, according to data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The state’s previous record number of hospitalizations was set on Thursday, when 280 patients were hospitalized due to COVID-19. Currently, there are 80 patients who are in critical care beds, and 30 patients that are on a ventilator, according to Maine CDC data. (Lausier, 11/21)

The New York Times: Covid-19 Surge Strains Michigan’s Hospitals
The toll on hospitals is compounded by a staffing shortage that is rippling through the state’s health care system and a rise in people seeking medical help for issues not related to Covid-19, health leaders said. Covid-19 hospitalizations in the state are up 46 percent over the last two weeks, according to a New York Times database. The only other state with a higher spike in that time was New Hampshire, where hospitalizations increased 58 percent. Michigan had a higher per capita rate of hospitalizations than all but one state, North Dakota. Covid-19 cases in Michigan are up 78 percent over the last two weeks, according to The Times’s database. Only three states have bigger increases over that time. (Patel, 11/21)

AP: Conn. COVID-19 Rate Is Rising Faster Than Other States
Connecticut is experiencing a more rapid increase in COVID-19 cases than any other state, according to the most recent statistics. The state has averaged 738 daily cases over the last week, which represents a 116% increase over two weeks earlier, the Hartford Courant reported. That’s higher than any other state for the same period. Four of the five states with the highest recent increase in virus cases are in New England, the newspaper reported. (11/22)

AP: COVID-19 Hospitalizations On The Rise In New York
New York is continuing to see an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in November as the holiday season approaches, according to the latest state data released Saturday. Nearly 6,100 people a day are now testing positive for COVID-19 in New York — up 22% from roughly 5,000 for the seven days through Nov. 11. That’s the highest seven-day average since mid-April. (Villeneuve, 11/21)

Politico: VA Stats Show Devastating Covid Toll At Vets’ Nursing Homes
Almost a year after Congress passed a law requiring disclosure of Covid-19 deaths in veterans’ homes, the Department of Veterans Affairs finally began making public how many U.S. veterans got sick and died of the virus in special nursing homes meant to ease their final days. It now reports deaths of 1,498 home residents and 54 staff since late May 2020 at the special State Veterans Homes, which the VA finances and the states operate — and that number is likely to rise because data for some homes in hard-hit states is still missing or under VA review. (Kenen, Tahir and James Vestal, 11/19)

The New York Times: Disney Puts Worker Vaccine Mandate On Pause After Florida Ban On Restrictions
Disney has put on pause a coronavirus vaccine mandate for employees of its Florida theme park after the State Legislature and the governor made it illegal for employers to require all workers get the shots, a company spokesperson confirmed Saturday. Walt Disney World could have been facing fines under the policy now on hold, illustrating how even one of the most iconic tourism brands in the state has to deal with the headwinds of political debate over the pandemic response. (Manuel Ramos, 11/21)

Health News Florida: Judge Rejects Florida's Request To Block Biden's Vax Mandate For Health Care Workers 
A federal judge has quickly rejected Florida’s request to block a Biden administration requirement that workers at hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers be vaccinated against COVID-19. U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers issued an 11-page order Saturday denying a motion by Attorney General Ashley Moody for a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order against the federal rule. Moody’s office filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the rule and sought an injunction or temporary restraining order before the vaccination requirement takes effect Dec. 6. (Saunders, 11/22)

Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New Florida COVID Laws Could Put Companies In Tough Spot Between Federal And State Rules
Republican state lawmakers have said the idea behind the new laws against COVID-19 vaccine mandates passed this week is to protect people's rights to choose their own health care options. But the new laws could put many business owners in a tough spot. Companies with either 100 or more employees could soon face stiff federal penalties if they don't follow rules issued by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration that require employees to be vaccinated or test regularly. Health care employers such as hospitals who are covered by a more strict mandate from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are in the same boat. (Gilliam, 11/20)

Also —

The Washington Post: Marine Corps Compliance With Vaccine Mandate On Course To Be Military’s Worst
Up to 10,000 active-duty Marines will not be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus when their deadline arrives in coming days, a trajectory expected to yield the U.S. military’s worst immunization rate. While 94 percent of Marine Corps personnel have met the vaccination requirement or are on a path to do so, according to the latest official data, for the remainder it is too late to begin a regimen and complete it by the service’s Nov. 28 deadline. Within an institution built upon the belief that orders are to be obeyed, and one that brands itself the nation’s premier crisis-response force, it is a vexing outcome. (Horton, 11/21)

AP: Kansas Plan On COVID Mandates Faces Bipartisan Skepticism
Conservative Kansas legislators are trying to tamp down fears about the cost and other potential problems with their proposal to provide unemployment benefits to workers who lose their jobs for refusing COVID-19 vaccines. The GOP-controlled Legislature is expected to consider the measure during a special session that convenes Monday, along with another proposal that would make it easier for workers to claim religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The measures are responses to vaccine mandates from President Joe Biden covering more than 100 million American workers. (Hanna, 11/22)

AP: Health Workers Again Challenge Rhode Island's Vaccine Rule
A group of Rhode Island health care workers is again asking a federal judge to block the state’s requirement that people working in the medical profession be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. A lawyer for eight people went before a federal judge on Friday seeking a preliminary injunction barring the state from enforcing the vaccine mandate, arguing that the state must provide a religious exemption if it offers a medical exemption, The Providence Journal reported. (11/20)

The New York Times: Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor-Elect Says She Doesn’t Support Mandates
Winsome Sears, the lieutenant governor-elect of Virginia, reaffirmed on Sunday that she did not support a sweeping vaccine mandate for Virginians like the rules implemented in New York City and elsewhere. “I’m not going to force anybody to do that,” Ms. Sears said on the CNN program “State of the Union.” She added, “I have said: Get the vaccine. And then if you’re not going to get the vaccine, then do what’s necessary to keep yourself safe and keep other people safe.” (Delkic, 11/21)

AP: Tennessee Governor's Aide Warned New COVID Law Was Illegal
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's office warned lawmakers that their sprawling bill limiting COVID-19 restrictions would violate federal law that protects people with disabilities and put the state at risk of losing federal funds, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. The Republican-controlled Legislature ignored the advice and passed the bill anyway. Less than two weeks later, the Republican governor signed it into law. (11/19)

Politico: Buttigieg: Federal Vaccine Mandates Will Not Impact Holiday Travel
With Thanksgiving on the horizon, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg assured the nation on Sunday that federal worker vaccine mandates will not impact holiday travel. Federal vaccination mandates for civilian federal employees kick in Monday. And Buttigieg said he expects no travel disruption because of it, noting his agency's employees have been very cooperative. “I have seen no indication the vaccine requirements are going to impact travel in any way, certainly in terms of our ability as a federal administration to provide the services that are needed,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.“ (Kim, 11/21)

Meanwhile, mask mandate changes cause worry —

KHN: Lifting DC’s Strict Indoor Mask Mandate Triggers Mix Of Confusion, Anxiety And Relief
A mile northeast of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., along what’s known as the H Street corridor, about half the people crowding the sidewalks are wearing masks. Perhaps it’s because they know that when they step into any business or establishment here, they will have to put one on anyway. The capital, after all, is one of the few remaining cities or states nationwide that mandate masks for public indoor spaces — at least it has, until today. “We have a bunch of rule followers,” said Claire Bengur, the owner of Atlas Salon, which has been in the neighborhood since 2018. “I am so thankful that my salon is in D.C.” She’s been glad to have a mask requirement, she said, because it’s impossible to do clients’ hair without standing close to them. (Michelle Gomez, 11/22)

Reuters: Activists Urge Biden To Push For Intellectual Property Waiver For COVID-19 Vaccines
Fifteen human rights groups are urging U.S. President Joe Biden to get personally engaged in a long-running fight to enact an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organization, calling his leadership "a moral necessity. " Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, Public Citizen and 11 other groups told Biden in a letter that an emergency waiver was urgently needed to combat the pandemic, noting that fewer than 7% of people in low-income countries had received a first COVID-19 vaccine and vaccines remained scarce. (Shalal, 11/22)

AP: GOP Embraces Natural Immunity As Substitute For Vaccines
Republicans fighting President Joe Biden’s coronavirus vaccine mandates are wielding a new weapon against the White House rules: natural immunity. They contend that people who have recovered from the virus have enough immunity and antibodies to not need COVID-19 vaccines, and the concept has been invoked by Republicans as a sort of stand-in for vaccines. Florida wrote natural immunity into state law this week as GOP lawmakers elsewhere are pushing similar measures to sidestep vaccine mandates. Lawsuits over the mandates have also begun leaning on the idea. Conservative federal lawmakers have implored regulators to consider it when formulating mandates. (Izaguirre, 11/21)

On at-home covid tests —

KHN: Success Of Covid Antiviral Pills Hinges On Access To Speedy And Accurate Tests
Within a few weeks, perhaps before many Americans finish decorating for the holidays, the U.S. could have access to a new antiviral pill from Merck expected to alter the deadly trajectory of the covid-19 pandemic — with a second option from Pfizer to follow shortly after. Now under federal review, both pills are being hailed by infectious-disease doctors not prone to superlatives. “This is truly a game changer,” said Dr. Daniel Griffin, an expert on infectious diseases and immunology at Columbia University. “This is up there with vaccines. It’s not a substitute for vaccines; we still want to get people vaccinated. But, boy, this is just another great tool to have.” (Aleccia, 11/22)

Axios: COVID Rapid Tests Face Holiday Demand Spike 
As many Americans prepare to travel and see loved ones ahead of Thanksgiving, developers and sellers of rapid at-home COVID-19 tests say they are prepared to meet an expected spike in demand for their products. The U.S. has been slower to embrace rapid at-home COVID-19 testing than Europe as regulatory hurdles helped make the tests scarce and overpriced. But the Biden administration has recently allocated billions of dollars to buy millions of rapid at-home COVID-19 tests to increase supply. (Saric, 11/21)

KHN: Why You Can’t Find Cheap At-Home Covid Tests
While developing a rapid test that detects the coronavirus in someone’s saliva, Blink Science, a Florida-based startup, heard something startling: The Food and Drug Administration had more than 3,000 emergency use authorization applications and didn’t have the resources to get through them. “We want to try to avoid the EUA quagmire,” said Peb Hendrix, the startup’s vice president of operations. Its test is still in early development. On the advice of consultants, the company is weighing an alternative route through the FDA to the U.S. market. (Pradhan and Norman, 11/22)

And on other vaccine news —

Bloomberg: Biden Vaccine Coordinator Choucair Leaving White House
White House Vaccinations Coordinator Bechara Choucair is leaving the administration to return to the private sector, he said in a message Sunday to Bloomberg News. Choucair’s last day will be Monday. He joined President Joe Biden’s team during the transition last year and was charged with accelerating the nascent Covid-19 vaccination effort Biden inherited upon taking office in January. A White House spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Sunday night. Choucair, a former Chicago health commissioner and senior executive at Kaiser Permanente, is departing after the U.S. expanded access to vaccines for all people over age 5 and widely approved booster doses for adults. (Tozzi, 11/22)

KHN: Journalists Cover Issues From Pollution To Vaccines And The Spread Of Covid In Hospitals
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

The New York Times: House Passes Biden’s Build Back Better Bill
The House narrowly passed the centerpiece of President Biden’s domestic agenda on Friday, approving $2.2 trillion in spending over the next decade to battle climate change, expand health care and reweave the nation’s social safety net, over the unanimous opposition of Republicans. The bill’s passage, 220 to 213, came after weeks of cajoling, arm-twisting and legislative legerdemain by Democrats. It was capped off by an exhausting, circuitous and record-breaking speech of more than eight hours by the House Republican leader, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, that pushed a planned Thursday vote past midnight, then delayed it to Friday morning — but did nothing to dent Democratic unity. (Cochrane and Weisman, 11/19)

Politico: Dems’ $1.7T Spending Bill Clears House, But Senate Changes Loom
The House passed a sweeping $1.7 trillion spending bill Friday, a major step forward for the health care and climate package before action turns to the Senate, where an uncertain fate awaits. The behemoth bill is the most significant restructuring of the social safety net in decades, touching nearly every aspect of American life from universal pre-K to college assistance to elder care. Democrats also hope the landmark legislation can help them beat the historical odds and maintain full control of Congress next year. (Caygle, Ferris and Wu, 11/19)

Stat: Democrats’ Major Drug Pricing Reforms Clear A Hurdle In The House
House Democrats Friday broke a monthslong logjam and advanced prescription drug pricing reform policies as part of a broader domestic spending package. Despite a last-minute lobbying sprint by the pharmaceutical industry, the drug pricing deal Democrats announced earlier this month remained largely unchanged. The plan would allow Medicare to negotiate some drug prices, penalize drug makers that hike prices faster than inflation, and cap drug costs for seniors and patients who use insulin. (Cohrs, 11/19)

Politico: ‘Whole Different Ballgame’: Dems Vow They’ve Learned Obamacare Lessons In Messaging $1.7T Megabill
A huge boost to the nation’s safety net. A looming midterm with the majority on the brink. A flood of GOP attack ads. That’s where House Democrats hope the similarities end between now and 2010. As they take their first pass at President Joe Biden’s $1.7 trillion social spending bill, House Democrats are gambling that its medley of popular family, health care and climate proposals can steer them toward a radically different political fate than eleven years ago — when a historic electoral wipeout followed the passage of their signature health care overhaul. (Ferris and Caygle, 11/19)

Also —

Politico: New GOP Weed Approach: Feds Must ‘Get Out Of The Way’
“We need the federal government just to get out of the way,” said Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who introduced the first Republican bill in Congress to decriminalize marijuana this past week and pointed to more than 70 percent of Americans supporting the idea. Stronger Republican involvement could hasten a snowball effect on Capitol Hill, where Democrats lead the charge on decriminalization but lack results. It could also chip away at Democrats’ ability to use cannabis legalization to excite progressives and younger voters as the midterms approach. (Fertig and Zhang, 11/21)

Bloomberg: Biden’s Doctors Say He’s ‘Healthy’ But Suffers Stiff Gait
President Joe Biden is “healthy” and remains “fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency,” his doctors said Friday after he underwent a routine physical exam and colonoscopy just a day before his 79th birthday. But the president is suffering from a “perceptibly stiffer and less fluid” gait following a series of injuries and is experiencing a more frequent need to clear his throat or cough during public engagements, according to his physician, Kevin O’Connor. And his exam found mild nerve damage in the president’s feet, prompting them to suggest he be fitted with orthotics. (Epstein and Sink, 11/19)

Politico: Biden 'Fit For Duty' After Harris Is Temporarily Granted Powers During Medical Procedure
The White House released Joe Biden's health summary Friday — describing an active president who is "fit for duty" — hours after presidential power was temporarily transferred to Kamala Harris while Biden underwent a colonoscopy under anesthesia. The vice president worked from her West Wing office at the White House while the president underwent the procedure during his annual physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, press secretary Jen Psaki said. (Niedzwiadek and Ward, 11/19)

The Boston Globe: Vice President Harris Makes History Today As The First Acting Female President While Biden Undergoes Brief Medical Procedure
President Biden was temporarily unable to carry out his duties Friday when he went under anesthesia for a medical procedure, so Vice President Kamala Harris briefly assumed the duties of president, making her the first woman to formally hold the job in the nation’s history. Twitter was abuzz Friday when the news broke. “Vice President Kamala Harris will become the first woman in American history with presidential powers today as President Biden transfers powers to her while he is under anesthesia for a routine colonoscopy,” tweeted author and political commentator Keith Boykin. (Andersen, 11/19)

The Hill: More Americans Say Its Unlikely They Will Ever Have Children: Poll 
An increasing portion of Americans say they are unlikely to ever have children, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Forty-four percent of current non-parents between ages 18 and 49 said they are unlikely to have children someday, marking an increase from 37 percent of respondents in 2018, according to the survey. Just 26 percent of people in that group said they were "very likely" to have children someday, down from 32 percent in 2018, according to the poll. (Beals, 11/21)

The Washington Post: More Americans Say They’re Not Planning To Have A Child, Pew Poll Says
More U.S. adults who do not already have children are saying they are unlikely to ever have them, a new Pew Research Center survey finds — findings that could draw renewed attention to the risks of declining birthrates for industrialized nations. Experts are concerned that the U.S. birthrate, which has declined for the sixth straight year, may not fuel enough population growth on its own to keep the future economy afloat and fund social programs. Women between the ages of 18 to 49 and men between 18 and 59 who said they are not parents were asked the question, “Thinking about the future, how likely is it that you will have children someday?” (Timsit, 11/21)

In more news on Facebook and public health —

The Washington Post: Facebook Knew Its Algorithms Were Biased Against People Of Color
“Even though [Facebook executives] don’t have any animus toward people of color, their actions are on the side of racists,” said Tatenda Musapatike, a former Facebook manager working on political ads and CEO of the Voter Formation Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that uses digital communication to increase participation in local state and national elections. “You are saying that the health and safety of women of color on the platform is not as important as pleasing your rich White man friends.” (Dwoskin, Tiku and Timberg, 11/21)

Also —

NPR: Why People With Mental Illness Are at Higher Risk of COVID
Even before the federal government's recent decision last week to authorize COVID boosters all adults, it had already recommended them in October for people with certain high-risk conditions. Along with with illnesses like diabetes and heart disease, that list included mental health conditions. The decision to prioritize people with psychiatric diagnoses in the early rollout of boosters came after after a growing number of studies linked mental health disorders with higher risk of both COVID-19 infection and of serious outcomes. (Chatterjee, 11/22)

The Washington Post: For Many Men, Apps Can Be ‘An Important Gateway To Mental Health’
The online help provides a “less intimidating entry to mental health,” says C. Vaile Wright, a psychologist who is senior director of health-care innovation for the American Psychological Association. “They are an important gateway to mental health for many men who need help but never considered reaching out for it before. ”Research has show that men often avoid seeking help because of gender expectations that they should not appear vulnerable or unable to handle their own problems, according to one recent study. They seek help for mental health struggles at approximately half the rate of women. Yet research has also shown that men are four times more likely to commit suicide than women, are more likely to abuse and die of drugs, especially opiates, as well as alcohol, and are at the forefront of the loneliness epidemic. (Reiner, 11/20)

Axios: Connecticut Health Officials Warn Of Fentanyl-Laced Marijuana 
The Connecticut Department of Public Health is investigating reports of patients who said they only smoked marijuana, but displayed opioid overdose symptoms and required naloxone for revival. In one of the cases, the marijuana in question tested positive for containing fentanyl, according to the state's public health agency. (Doherty, 11/20)

CIDRAP: CDC Closes Salmonella Backyard Poultry Outbreak Probe After 1,135 Cases
The CDC yesterday added 272 cases to an ongoing Salmonella outbreak tied to backyard poultry, with 1,135 now confirmed sick in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The CDC also said it has closed its investigation into the outbreak. Two people died from Salmonella infections during this outbreak, and 273 required hospitalization. Illnesses started on dates ranging from Dec 15, 2020, to Oct 10, 2021. Twenty-four percent of those sick were under 5 years, and 12% were under 1 year. Of 1,107 people with sex information available, 646 (58%) were female. (11/19)

Obituaries —

The Baltimore Sun: Dr. Diane M. Becker, A Public Health Scientist Who Championed Healthy Community Medicine In Underserved Areas, Dies 
Dr. Diane M. Becker, a retired Johns Hopkins public health scientist who championed healthy community medicine in underserved areas and led research that found a bit of dark chocolate could help the heart, died of metastatic breast cancer Wednesday at her North Roland Park home. She was 78. She spent nearly 60 years at Hopkins — she arrived when she was 18 as a nursing student and later earned her doctorate there. (Kelly, 11/21)

The New York Times: Britain Will Review Racial Bias In Medical Devices
Britain will conduct an independent review into whether medical devices used in the country have perpetuated racial and gender biases, the country’s health secretary said on Sunday, spurred by health disparities highlighted during the pandemic. “It is easy to look at a machine and assume that everyone’s getting the same experience,” wrote Sajid Javid in the Sunday Times. “But technologies are created and developed by people, and so bias, however inadvertent, can be an issue here too.” (Kwai, 11/21)

ABC News: UK To Probe Racial Bias In Medical Devices After COVID Toll
The British government is investigating whether built-in racial bias in some medical devices led to Black and Asian people getting sick and dying disproportionately from COVID-19. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said Sunday that the pandemic had highlighted health disparities along race and gender lines. He said that a third of intensive care admissions in Britain at the height of the pandemic were people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds, more than double their share of the population. (Lawless, 11/21)

Reuters: UK Calls For Action On Racial Bias In Medical Devices
Britain called on Sunday for international action on the issue of medical devices such as oximeters that work better on people with lighter skin, saying the disparities may have cost lives of ethnic minority patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he had commissioned a review of the issue after learning that oximeters, which measure blood oxygen levels and are key to assessing COVID patients, give less accurate readings for patients with darker skin. "This is systemic across the world. This is about a racial bias in some medical instruments. It's unintentional but it exists, and oximeters are a really good example of that," Javid said during an interview with the BBC. (11/21)

On covid research —

AP: COVID-19 Increases Stillbirths During Pregnancy: Research
Pregnant women who become infected with the delta variant face a significantly higher risk of a stillbirth or dying during childbirth, new studies show. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report Friday that examined 1.2 million deliveries in 736 hospitals nationwide from March 2020 through September 2021. Stillbirths were rare overall, totaling 8,154 among all deliveries. But researchers found that for women with COVID-19, about one in 80 deliveries resulted in a stillbirth. Among the uninfected, the rate was one in 155. (11/21)

CIDRAP: Poorer Nations Got Fewer Doses Of The COVID Vaccines They Helped Test
High-income countries have received disproportionately more COVID-19 vaccine doses than low- and middle-income countries, allowing them to vaccinate much more of their populations, finds a study yesterday in JAMA Network Open. Yale University researchers identified COVID-19 vaccines listed by the World Health Organization for emergency use and all vaccine trials completed by Sep 7, 2021. (11/19)

CIDRAP: Full ICUs Amid COVID Surges Could Lead To Thousands Of Extra Deaths
A modeling study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report estimates that 12,000 more people die 2 weeks after US hospitals reach 75% adult intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy amid COVID-19 pandemic surges, a figure that rises to 80,000 when ICUs are full—which is the case now in many hospitals in multiple US states. Researchers from the US Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency COVID Task Force evaluated the relationship between overwhelmed hospitals and excess deaths from Jul 4, 2020, to Jul 10, 2021. The end of the study period included the emergence and eventual dominance of the more transmissible Delta (B1617.2) variant. (Van Beusekom, 11/19)

Also —

CIDRAP: Staphylococcus Bloodstream Infections Rising In Europe, Study Finds
In another surveillance study published yesterday in Eurosurveillance, European researchers reported a significant increase across the continent in Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections (BSIs), despite a decline in BSIs caused by methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA). The analysis of data from the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net) for 2005 through 2018 found that, in the 25 EU/EEA countries that consistently reported data on S aureus BSIs, the proportion of BSIs caused by MRSA declined from 30.2% in 2005 to 16.3% in 2018. The percentage of MRSA BSIs declined across all age-groups. (11/19)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Crisis Paves Way for At-Home Endoscopy
Late last year, gastroenterologist Dr. Michael Bass decided to try out a new program: an endoscopy that patients would complete at home, with his support, over telehealth. The COVID-19 crisis essentially shut down operations at the private practice Bass sees patients at, GI Specialist of Delaware, for some of 2020, as in-person procedures were canceled or deferred in the early days of the pandemic. Even since then, patients have been hesitant to return to the office, Bass said. He needed a way to move as much care as possible out of the practice, and like many physicians, turned to telehealth. (Kim Cohen, 11/19)

Stat: A New, Gel-Based Wearable Can Catch Infections Before The Naked Eye Can
A team of researchers has designed a wearable sensor that, in preliminary testing, identified infections in open wounds before they looked any different than uninfected wounds. Their sensor, which combines principles from biology, materials science, and electrical engineering, may one day be a low-cost, time-saving alternative to existing diagnostic tools. (Bender, 11/19)

Stat: FDA Approves First Drug For Genetic Cause Of Dwarfism 
The Food and Drug Administration approved the first treatment for the most common cause of dwarfism Friday, a drug that has proved to increase children’s height but has been polarizing among adults with short stature. The treatment, developed by BioMarin Pharmaceutical, is a once-daily injection for children with achondroplasia, a rare genetic disorder that results in dwarfism and can lead to serious medical complications. In a pivotal clinical trial, patients who got the drug, called Voxzogo, grew 1.6 centimeters more over the course of a year than those who received placebo. That means patients who take Voxzogo throughout childhood are likely to reach heights similar to their peers who don’t have achondroplasia, according to BioMarin. (Garde, 11/19)

Axios: Fertilis Introduced A 3D-Printed Petri Dish For More Automated IVF 
Australian company Fertilis has developed a new petri dish for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) that it says reduces human error and boosts success rates. As couples increasingly delay childbearing to later in life, the need for effective assisted reproductive technologies like IVF is only expected to grow. (Walsh, 11/20)

CIDRAP: FAO Plan Aims To Counter Antibiotic Resistance In Food, Ag Sectors
Citing the rising threat posed by antimicrobial overuse to the food and agriculture sectors, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today released a new 5-year action plan on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). With the world expected to produce as much food over the next 30 years as it has in the past 10,000, and antimicrobial use in livestock expected to double to keep up with demand, the FAO says now is the time to help countries strengthen their capacities to manage AMR risks in the food and agriculture sectors. Doing so will not only buy time for the discovery and development of new drugs, the agency argues, but also help build more sustainable, resilient food systems. (Dall, 11/19)

Modern Healthcare: House-Passed Bill Would Mandate Some Staffing Changes
Nursing homes across the country would need to meet new staffing requirements under a domestic policy package that passed the House Friday, a change the industry says would force facilities to close but which advocates say is sorely needed. The $1.75 trillion package, which awaits approval from the Senate, directs the Health and Human Services Department to issue regulations on "appropriate" minimum staffing ratios at skilled nursing facilities, which would mark the first update to the law since the 1980s. (Hellmann and Goldman, 11/19)

Health News Florida: Costs And Considerations For Home Health Care Of Aging Loved Ones In Florida
Gary Barg worked with his mom throughout most of her 80s. She would drive to the Fort Lauderdale office of his company, Caregiver Media Group. She had a stroke in July and Barg found himself practicing what he had built his business around for more than a quarter of a century — caring for aging loved ones. "We had to learn how to do the things that we were teaching and teaching caregivers for 26 years," he said. (Hudson, 11/22)

In other industry news —

AP: New Orleans EMS Director Quits Amid Staffing Shortages
There’s a vacancy in the top post of New Orleans Emergency Medical Services. The director, Dr. Emily Nichols, is resigning after more than three years in the job, a spokesperson for the agency said Friday. Nichols told her paramedics that she was leaving the agency, which has been hit by staffing shortages worsened by the coronavirus pandemic. The agency intended to announce the resignation Monday, spokesperson Jonathan Fourcade said. (11/21)

Modern Healthcare: TriHealth To Construct $30M Ambulatory Campus In Underserved Community
TriHealth is planning to build a large medical campus in near its headquarters in Cincinnati, as a "one-stop shop" for care, the not-for-profit health system announced. The Finneytown, Ohio, facility will be two stories with an area of 55,000 square feet and is expected to be completed in mid-2023, the health system announced on Friday. Recruitment is currently underway to staff the ambulatory campus with 18 to 20 primary care providers. (Devereaux, 11/19)

Stat: Flagship Pioneering’s Noubar Afeyan On Moderna's 'Crazy' Path
On his desk — placed so its visible on his Zoom calls — Flagship Pioneering founder and CEO Noubar Afeyan has a plaque imploring those who see it to “trust your crazy ideas.” It’s effectively a slogan for Flagship Pioneering, the brazen venture capital firm behind Moderna. (Sheridan, 11/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Novartis Rethinks Sales Strategy For New Cholesterol Drug Launch
Novartis AG NVS -0.38% bet big on its new cholesterol-busting drug. To overcome the tricky market for new heart medicines, it is pursuing an unconventional strategy that turns the traditional drug launch on its head. Rather than seeking to grab the attention of patients and winning support from individual physicians, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant is focusing on the people who run large hospital systems. Its pitch: A large-scale rollout of the drug, called Leqvio, could avert thousands of heart attacks and strokes. (Roland, 11/21)

Stat: Verily’s Amy Abernethy Hints At Clinical Trial Blueprint For 2022
Verily’s quest to become a major player in the life sciences has resulted in a scattershot string of efforts, but as the company plans for 2022, charging forward with its clinical trial strategy will be the Alphabet spinout’s priority. Speaking at the 2021 STAT Summit, Amy Abernethy, president of Verily’s clinical trials platform, said that company is gearing up to release a new “blueprint” for its future in the space, and spelled out some of the pillars of the approach. The company’s strategy includes making it easier for a diverse pool of people to participate in trials, enabling more robust data collection, and preparing for more complex study designs that the first two pillars enable. (Aguilar, 11/19)

Modern Healthcare: Bain Capital Nabs Majority Stake In InnovaCare
Bain Capital Private Equity invested an undisclosed sum in InnovaCare Health on Friday, making the private equity powerhouse a majority owner of the value-based primary care provider group. The new investment ousts Summit Partners from its majority stake in the 23-year-old system. InnovaCare will continue to be led by CEO Dr. Richard Shinto and the current management team, who will also retain significant ownership in the business. The company's primary care provider network currently treats more than 250,000 patients annually, including 27,000 Medicare Advantage members. (Tepper, 11/19)

NBC News: A Rural Hospital Closed Its Obstetrics Unit, Hitting Most Vulnerable The Hardest
Shantell Jones gave birth in an ambulance parked on the side of a Connecticut highway. Even though she lived six blocks away from a hospital, the emergency vehicle had to drive to another one about 30 minutes away. The closer medical center, Windham Hospital, discontinued labor and delivery services last year and is working to permanently cease childbirth services after “years of declining births and recruitment challenges,” its operator, Hartford HealthCare, has said. (Lee, 11/21)

On the cost of health care —

AP: Cap On Drug Price Hikes For Privately Insured Sparks Battle
Workers and families with private health insurance would reap savings on prescription drugs from a little-noticed provision in President Joe Biden’s sweeping social agenda bill. It’s meant to break the cycle of annual price increases for widely used medicines. That provision would require drug companies to pay rebates to Medicare if they increase prices above the rate of inflation. Drugs sold to private plans would count in calculating the penalty, like a tax on price increases. The issue is dividing business groups in a fierce lobbying battle. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/21)

KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: The Insurance Warrior’s Battle Plan
Matthew Lientz was an engineer for Boeing for over 30 years. When he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, he needed surgery from an expert doctor in another state. Although the surgery was his only option, his insurance denied the claim. That’s when his wife, Diane, contacted Laurie Todd, who calls herself the “Insurance Warrior.” Together, the three of them made the case for Lientz’s life. Fourteen years later, the speeches they gave in a conference room full of executives are a master class in winning insurance appeals — and living to tell the tale. Through this battle, Todd learned that taking on your health insurance provider often means going up against your employer. That’s because most large companies “self-insure.” (Weissmann, 11/22)

Baltimore Sun: Nurses From University Of Maryland To Graduate Early And Head To The Pandemic Front Lines
Seeking to ease a nursing shortage exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, the University of Maryland School of Nursing will allow nursing students to exit a bit early and begin working in the field. It’s the fourth time the school has approved such a move, which affects students scheduled to graduate Dec. 23. (Cohn, 11/21)

Axios: Michigan Recommends Face Masks For All Residents Amid COVID Surge 
Michigan announced a new advisory on Friday, saying that all residents 2 years or older should wear a face mask at indoor gatherings regardless of vaccination status. The advisory comes as Michigan faces its highest surge of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. The state hit its highest seven-day case rate in 2021 at 589.3 cases, the Detroit Free Press reports, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Frazier, 11/20)

WUSF Public Media: COVID Patients In The Tampa Bay Region Can Get Monoclonal Antibody Treatments At Home
Patients at high risk for developing severe COVID-19 can receive a monoclonal antibody treatment at home. Tampa-based DeliveRxd Pharmacy is offering the free homebound service in Citrus, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter counties. (Colombini, 11/21)

The CT Mirror: State Contracts Weren't Sema4's Only Boost. Annie Lamont's Firm Helped.
The coronavirus was spreading rapidly, workplaces were locked down, and Connecticut could barely turn around a virus test result in less than two weeks. It was April of 2020. The state was desperate for help from any laboratory that could process COVID tests quickly. Much of the laboratory space at Sema4, a Stamford-based healthcare technology startup, was sitting idle, its genomic data analysis business largely suspended by the pandemic. So Sema4 pivoted. (Altimari, Phillips and Golvala, 11/21)

The Boston Globe: Hospitals Are Busier Than Ever — But Not Because Of COVID
In the bay outside the crowded emergency department of UMass Memorial Medical Center, the ambulances keep coming. Just inside the doors, a pair of paramedics wait with their patient, an elderly woman on a stretcher. Eventually, they take the patient to a room where a nurse checks on her. But many others are not so lucky. Sick and distressed, they lie in beds in the hallways, bright lights overhead, alarms beeping, doctors and nurses rushing past. There are more patients here than beds or medical staff to care for them. (Dayal McCluskey, 11/20)

Houston Chronicle: Report: Harris County Jail Population Nears Capacity, Many Inmates Decline Vaccine
The Harris County jail is expected to reach capacity during the holiday season, according to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, and many inmates have declined the COVID-19 vaccine. Information about the jail population and COVID-19 status was included in a report filed Friday in federal court in connection with a 2019 civil rights lawsuit challenging Harris County’s bail practices. Gonzales is among the defendants. (Bauman, 11/21)

AP: Rhode Island Awarded $81.7M Federal Grant For New Health Lab
Rhode Island’s congressional delegation announced the new federal Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity grant. They say the current facility, commissioned in 1978, has insufficient laboratory space, inadequate building systems and broken equipment, and the state spends more than $500,000 annually to keep it working efficiently. The state health laboratories work to investigate and mitigate life-threatening diseases, including COVID-19, eastern equine encephalitis, Ebola, H1N1, and Zika. Last year, when commercial testing services weren’t yet widely available, the number of COVID-19 samples that could be tested was limited due to insufficient laboratory space, the delegation said. (11/21)

Bloomberg: U.K. Expands Covid Booster Plan In Bid To Avoid New Restrictions
The U.K. government is extending its coronavirus booster program, part of an effort to avoid following other European nations into imposing new restrictions to control the virus. From Monday, everyone over age 40 will be invited to have a third dose of the vaccine. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the hope is that by bolstering immunity within the population, the number of serious cases that require hospitalization will be limited. Britain has already delivered 15 million booster jabs covering a quarter of the population. (Landberg, 11/22)

Bloomberg: Javid Says ‘Plan B’ Not Needed, Confirms Racial Bias Probe
There’s no need yet for the U.K. to implement “Plan B” to clamp down on persistently high Covid infection levels, said U.K. Health Minister Sajid Javid. Separately, Javid confirmed that the U.K. would follow the lead of U.S. health agencies and review what he called possible “systemic racial bias” in certain medical devices and “in health services across the world.” On Sky News, Javid said expanding the vaccine booster program would be the key to a Christmas season without new restrictions. (Krasny and Sidders, 11/21)

In news from Europe —

The Washington Post: Europe Protests: Clashes In Rotterdam And Rallies In Rome Amid New Pandemic Restrictions
Protests against coronavirus restrictions erupted across Europe — including clashes in Rotterdam and massive rallies in Vienna — as authorities announced more-stringent measures in an attempt to control rising cases ahead of the winter holidays. At least seven people were injured and more than 50 arrested after protests in Rotterdam turned violent late Friday, with protesters throwing stones and police firing shots, according to Dutch police. Demonstrators decried a proposed law that would ban unvaccinated people from entering businesses even if they provide a negative test. They also protested a partial lockdown that went into effect last week and will last until at least Dec. 4, which forces restaurants and other establishments to close at 8 p.m. (Stein, 11/20)

NBC News and AP: Police In The Netherlands Open Fire On Covid Lockdown Protesters As European Nations Reintroduce Restrictions
Police opened fire on anti-lockdown protesters in the Dutch city of Rotterdam Friday ahead of demonstrations in several European cities against new Covid restrictions. Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told reporters ... police officers "felt it necessary to draw their weapons to defend themselves" more than once after protesters tore through the city's central shopping district, setting fires in their wake. (Da Silva, 11/20)

AP: Tens Of Thousands Protest Belgium's Tighter COVID-19 Rules
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated through central Brussels on Sunday to protest reinforced COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Belgian government to counter the latest spike in coronavirus cases. Many among the police estimate of 35,000 at the rally had already left for home when the demonstration descended into violence as several hundred people started pelting police, smashing cars and setting garbage bins ablaze. Police, responded with tear gas and water cannons and sought to restore order as dusk settled on the Belgian capital. (Casert, 11/22)

AP: Austria Enters Nationwide Lockdown To Fight Soaring Cases
Austria went into a nationwide lockdown early Monday in a desperate effort to contain spiraling coronavirus infections. The lockdown in the Alpine nation comes as average daily deaths have tripled in recent weeks and some hospitals have warned that their intensive care units are reaching capacity. The lockdown will last at least 10 days but could extend to 20, officials said. People will be able to leave their homes only for specific reasons, including buying groceries, going to the doctor or exercising. (11/22)

Reuters: Germany Debates Compulsory Vaccination As Fourth COVID Wave Rages
German politicians are debating making COVID-19 vaccinations compulsory for citizens in light of soaring infections and low inoculation rates. Several members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc said on Sunday that federal and state governments should introduce compulsory vaccinations soon as other efforts to push up Germany's low inoculation rate of just 68% have failed. (11/21)

The Hill: Putin Revaccinated As Russia's Vaccine Rate Remains Low
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that he has revaccinated with Russia's COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, as Russia's vaccination rate remains just above one third of the population. "Today, I received another dose of vaccine — Sputnik Light, at your recommendation, at the recommendation of your colleagues. It is called revaccination," Putin was quoted as saying by state-owned Russian News Agency TASS after meeting with health officials. "I was revaccinated two hours ago. I feel nothing. I am in normal condition. Everything is all right," he added. (Choi, 11/21)

ABC News: 'I Lost Everything': Guadeloupe Riots Overtake COVID Protest
Residents in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, an overseas territory of France, expressed dismay Sunday after protests against COVID-19 restrictions erupted into rioting and looting for the third day in a row, prompting French authorities to send in police special forces. Road blockades by protesters made traveling across the island nearly impossible Sunday. Firefighters reported 48 interventions overnight into Sunday morning. The island of 400,000 people has one of the lowest vaccination rates in France at 33%, compared with 75% across the country. (Soupama and Corbet, 11/21)

Elsewhere around the world —

Associated Press: After Slow Starts, Some Asian Vaccination Rates Now Soaring
When Cambodia rolled out COVID-19 vaccines, lines stretched down entire streets and people left their shoes out to save their places as they sheltered from the sun. But three months into its campaign, just 11% of the population had received at least one dose. In far wealthier Japan, it took two weeks longer to reach that level. Now both countries boast vaccination rates that rank among the world's best. They are two of several nations in the Asia-Pacific region that got slow starts to their immunization campaigns but have since zoomed past the United States and many nations in Europe. (Rising and Cheang, 11/22)

Bloomberg: Vietnam Expects To Fully Vaccinate All Adults For Covid By Year’s End
Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh directed local officials to accelerate Covid-19 shots in order to fully vaccinate all adults age 18 and older this year, surpassing the nation’s inoculation target, the cabinet’s news portal reported. The nation will have enough vaccine doses this month to administer two shots to its entire adult population against the virus by the end of the year, according to the report, which also cited Deputy Premier Vu Duc Dam. (Ngoc Chau, 11/22)

Bloomberg: Hong Kong Approves Sinovac Vaccine For Children Ages 3-17
Hong Kong approved lowering the age of eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccine from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. to three years old, down from 18 years old. The city’s Secretary for Food and Health said adolescents from 12-to-17 years will be accorded priority to receive the vaccine, “with a view to extending to children of a younger age group at a later stage,” according to a statement on Saturday. Experts serving on panels for the Centre for Health Protection had earlier backed the new age limit. (Lee, 11/20)

The New York Times: Why Are There So Many Premature Births In America? 
Rates of preterm births in the United States are much higher than in other wealthy nations. A systematic review of global preterm birth published in 2019 showed that the U.S. was in the top ten for preterm births in 2014, ranking seventh, between Pakistan and Ethiopia. Another study found that in part, the “stresses of racism and income disparity” may be exacerbating bad outcomes for American moms and babies. (Jessica Grose, 11/20)

The Baltimore Sun: Faith-Based Groups Have A Role To Play In Ending Health Care Disparities 
The pandemic has shown again the incessant health disparities that exist in communities of color and reminded us how important it is for health care and communities to work closely together toward equity. Local faith-based groups need to be a core part of that effort. Even before the pandemic, churches, mosques, temples and synagogues have long provided the practical and spiritual support to generations of people historically denied access to public health resources. They are able to earn the trust of disenfranchised communities that often have good reason to doubt medical institutions and government health programs. There’s no reason they can’t do the same to ease COVID vaccination fears and concerns. (Lisa Cooper, Mary Ka Kanahan and Debra Hickman, 11/22)

Stat: The U.S. Needs To Engage Communities Around BIPOC Data 
Nearly 170 years ago, a physician who had been born into a poor family used data to stop a cholera epidemic in London’s then-marginalized Soho neighborhood. By interviewing residents and plotting the locations of those who were ill on a simple map, John Snow, today seen as one of the founders of modern epidemiology, identified a shared water well as the source of cholera. Removing the pump handle, which stopped the epidemic by cutting off the supply of contaminated water to the community, is one of epidemiology’s legendary stories. (Warren Kibbe and Giselle Corbie-Smith, 11/22)

NBC News: Why The APA's Apology For Promoting White Supremacy Falls Short
At the end of October, the American Psychological Association released an official apology for being “complicit in contributing to systemic inequities, and [having] hurt many through racism, racial discrimination, and denigration of people of color.” The apology sought to comprehensively denounce the eminent institution’s history of promoting white supremacy within the United States and position the association to effectively remedy these harms through commitments to anti-racist psychological practices. The APA also noted Black psychologists were ignored when they tried to raise these issues over half a century ago. (Evan Auguste, Wade Nobles and Daryl Rowe, 11/21)

The Boston Globe: How Health Care Systems Do, And Do Not, Support Patients 
I live with my four children, three of whom have rare diseases. My sons Austin and Max both have Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and my son James has primary immune deficiency. At the time my sons were diagnosed with Duchenne, there were no treatments for it. I was told to take them home and love them because they wouldn’t survive until adulthood. When my son Max was 9, he enrolled in a study that resulted in the first approved disease-modifying treatment for Duchenne. The Food and Drug Administration approved this therapy, in part, based on its benefit to Max while in the clinical trial. But MassHealth has yet to approve Max for access to this treatment. He’s now 19. (Jennifer McNary, 11/22)

The CT Mirror: Period Supplies Are Basic Necessities
There is an ever growing movement to expand access to period supplies. As of the 2022 academic school year, public schools in California, grades six to 12, community colleges and the California State University System — a network of 23 campuses with more than 485,00 students — will be required to provide free period products in restrooms. Period poverty, the struggle to purchase essential period supplies, is a nationwide issue that is causing individuals to miss out on daily life. (Janet Alfano, 11/19)

Georgia Health News: Hospitals Need Help To Stay In A Vital Drug Program 
Rural hospitals across Georgia operate on razor-thin margins, providing a necessary service to communities in need. Due to financial issues, several rural Georgia hospitals have closed over the past decade, forcing those in need of care to travel greater distances for health care. That’s why initiatives like the 340B Drug Pricing Program have been so valuable for health systems like Taylor Regional Hospital. By reducing the cost of drugs, the 340B program has enabled us to save millions of dollars on drug costs and get them into the hands of those in the community who need them. Those savings have helped us expand coverage in our rural community and provide a higher standard of care. (Jonathon Green and Michael Azzolin, 11/19)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas Health Care Is A Tale Of Two Cities
Even before the pandemic, Dallas was a health care paradox. It is home to world-class medical research and it is expanding access to more people through local projects. But it also ranks poorly among American cities in terms of health insurance coverage and disparities of outcome. Important health care institutions across the city deserve praise both for their excellence and their work to expand care, but we cannot ignore a stark reality — too many have too little access to care, and too little ability to pay for the care they receive. (11/21)

The Washington Post: With Poor Nations Only 5 Percent Vaccinated, Wealthy Nations Need To Look In The Mirror 
What began as a hopeful attempt to vaccinate the poorest nations against the coronavirus has struggled mightily. In high-income and upper-middle-income nations, 73 percent of eligible people have gotten at least one shot, while only 41 percent have in lower-middle-income and a paltry 5 percent have in low-income countries. The United States and other wealthy nations should look in the mirror and strive to keep this from happening next time. (11/21)

Dallas Morning News: The Tiny Upside To COVID-19 Is That Humanity Is Ready For An Even Deadlier Epidemic
There is no consolation to the victims of COVID-19. Data means nothing to the grieving. Yet, if there is such thing as an upside to COVID, it is that humans are now armed for a pandemic. So we can take a deep breath and, at last, walk tall and with optimism. Mankind, emerging from 20 months of solitude and stress, is now set for the big one. The scientists did it right. It took tremors to prepare us for a quake to come. (Michael Badowski, 11/22)

CNN: Yogi Berra's Wisdom On Covid 
"It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future." Different versions of that saying have been attributed to physicist Niels Bohr, movie producer Samuel Goldwyn and baseball great Yogi Berra, among others. Whoever first said it captured the plight we currently face. As Covid-19 has rampaged around the world for the past two years, the disease has defied simple forecasting. The latest mysteries: Why is it surging in highly vaccinated nations like Germany? Is the US in for another, and perhaps final, "winter wave" -- or will vaccinations and immunity from past infections limit a significant rise in cases? (Richard Galant, 11/21)

The Boston Globe: As Younger Children Get Vaccinated, It’s Time To Plan For Lifting The School Mask Mandate 
Last month, over the resistance of some pockets of the state, Massachusetts Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley extended the state’s mask mandate for public schools to at least Jan. 15, 2022. It was a wise decision. COVID-19 vaccine approval for 5- to 11-year-olds was just around the corner, and the extension would give families time to get shots for their children. It would also give public health officials a chance to see, in the early part of next year, if a Christmas COVID spike was materializing. (11/22)

Bloomberg: Thanksgiving Covid Tips: Four Ways To Minimize Harm 
Thanksgiving 2021 should be the reward for abstaining from 2020 celebrations until Covid-19 vaccines rolled out. Why not? The virus is still very much around, but times really have changed. Remember those 11th-hour pleas from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to cancel last year’s gatherings as a big fall surge was building? They were reasonable, then: Big holiday celebrations pose some of the worst risks of viral transmission, with lots of people mixing in badly ventilated houses for long periods of time. (Faye Flam, 11/20)

CNN: The Most Important Way Of Stopping Another Covid Surge 
This past summer's Covid-19 surge, which burned through large swaths of the country, peaked in early September after reaching about 160,000 cases per day. The subsequent decline in cases was steep, but after two months, infections in the United States are rising again. We have tools to blunt the escalation of new cases, but we must act now with a sense of urgency -- and that means intensifying efforts to increase vaccination rates in all age groups, using a range of strategies including broad vaccine mandates such as the Biden Administration's requirement for businesses employing more than 100 workers to have employees get vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. (Jonathan Reiner, 11/20)