AP: Biden Win Confirmed After Pro-Trump Mob Storms US Capitol
Congress confirmed Democrat Joe Biden as the presidential election winner early Thursday after a violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in a stunning attempt to overturn America’s presidential election. Before dawn Thursday, lawmakers finished their work, confirming Biden won the election. (Mascaro, Jalonick and Taylor, 1/7)

Politico: Trump Agrees To ‘Orderly Transition’ Of Power 
President Donald Trump early Thursday morning acknowledged for the first time he will leave office and agreed to an orderly transition of power. ... Notably though, Trump didn’t admit defeat or say he was conceding. He also failed to publicly recognize the deadly riot his supporters participated in inside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. (McGraw and Kumar, 1/7)

The New York Times: As House Was Breached, A Fear ‘We’d Have To Fight’ To Get Out
Two explosive devices were found around noon near the headquarters of the Republican National Committee, then destroyed by a bomb squad. And the federal authorities arrested a 70-year-old man from Alabama near the Capitol in possession of a firearm and materials to make several Molotov cocktails. (Kanno-Youngs, Tavernise and Cochrane, 1/7)

AP: 4 Died As Trump Supporters Invaded Capitol 
Four people died as supporters of President Donald Trump violently occupied the U.S. Capitol. Washington, D.C., Police Chief Robert Contee said the dead on Wednesday included a woman who was shot by the U.S. Capitol Police, as well as three others who died in “medical emergencies.” Police said both law enforcement and Trump supporters deployed chemical irritants during the hours-long occupation of the Capitol building before it was cleared Wednesday evening by law enforcement. (1/6)

Americans cope with anxiety and their mental health —

USA Today: What To Do About That Pit In Your Stomach In This Terrifying American Moment
On the day Congress was set to formally declare Joe Biden president-elect, chaos erupted in Washington, D.C., when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. A woman was shot and killed, the National Guard has been mobilized and more than a dozen people have been arrested. Some watched in disbelief. Others noted their predictions this day would come. All of us are witnessing the deepening of our nation's fracture, the power of misinformation and lies. Many Americans are fearful and outraged. (Dastagir, 1/6)

Los Angeles Times: 'Tearing Us Apart:' For A Watching Nation, Capitol Riot Marks A Surreal Unraveling
For many Americans watching from afar, the violent breaching of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday by extremist partisans of President Trump resounded with the echoes of another national tragedy, giving rise to an almost vertigo-inducing sensation: a rip in the fabric of time. “It felt like watching the towers come down — it was that surreal,” said Renee Ryan, who sat in her Seattle home Wednesday with her son, Wolf, and remembered the feeling of unreality on Sept. 11, 2001, as the world was transfixed by the unfolding attack on the World Trade Center. “Except [now] it was our own people.” (Kaleem, King, Lee, Read and Hennessy-Fiske, 1/6)

Houston Chronicle: How Trump Ruined Americans' Mental Health
The aftermath of the 2020 election has been chaotic and unprecedented, with President Donald Trump refusing to concede to President-elect Joe Biden and launching a nationwide legal battle challenging the election results. Psychiatrist and Yale University professor Bandy X. Lee believes what's truly at stake now is the mental health of Americans who have witnessed Trump's erratic behavior for four years. Lee is the editor of "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President." (Medley, 1/7)

Politico: Democrats Retake The Senate With Georgia Sweep 
Democrats have won the Senate majority after a remarkable pair of runoff victories in Georgia, giving the party control of Congress and smoothing the path for President-elect Joe Biden to enact the agenda he ran on in 2020. ... The results of the Senate flip could be felt immediately. [Jon] Ossoff and [Raphael] Warnock campaigned vigorously on additional Covid-19 relief measures, while Senate GOP leaders had declined to commit to additional stimulus funding after recently approving a $900 billion package. (Arkin, Desiderio and Forgey, 1/6)

The New York Times: With New Majority, Here’s What Democrats Can (And Can’t) Do On Health Care 
The Democrats’ new congressional majority puts a variety of health policy ideas suddenly into reach, even if big structural changes remain unlikely. A series of tweaks bolstering the Affordable Care Act stands the best chance of passage. Legislators could make insurance subsidies more generous, get coverage to low-income Americans in states that haven’t expanded Medicaid, and render moot a pending Supreme Court lawsuit that aims to overturn the entire law. (Kliff and Sanger-Katz, 1/7)

USA Today: With Jon Ossoff And Raphael Warnock Wins, Biden Poised To Cut Taxes And Boost Health Care
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in the middle of this year on whether the Affordable Care Act is constitutional. ... Biden has said he has a plan for not only salvaging the law but making it stronger. "What I’m going to do is pass Obamacare with a public option,'' Biden said in the final presidential debate against Donald Trump. "It becomes Bidencare." He says Americans can maintain private insurance, but a public option will also be available, particularly benefiting Americans who couldn't access Medicaid because they live in the dozen states that didn't allow them to do so under the ACA. (Jones, 1/7)

USA Today: Georgia Senate: How Democratic Control Could Advance Biden’s Agenda
The Senate sweep in Georgia gives the party control of the upper chamber for the first time since the 2014 elections and boost President-elect Joe Biden’s ability to carry out his early legislative agenda. ... Biden has said he would rejoin the World Health Organization, which President Donald Trump began to withdraw from in July, and reestablish the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, which was eliminated by the Trump administration in 2018. ... Biden [also] hopes to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, which provides health care for millions of Americans. (1/6)

Politico: Biden’s Health Agenda Is About To Get Bigger 
President-elect Joe Biden’s health agenda is about to get more ambitious. ... Adding Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to the Senate means that suddenly Republicans’ threats to block HHS nominee Xavier Becerra from confirmation over his abortion rights record don’t mean much of anything. (Cancryn, Diamond and Roubein, 1/6)

Los Angeles Times: Democratic Wins In Georgia Ease Biden’s Path, Starting With Xavier Becerra’s Confirmation
Xavier Becerra’s path to President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet just got smoother, $2,000 relief checks for Americans became significantly more likely, and a passel of Trump-era regulations got shakier Wednesday as advocates and strategists began calibrating how Democratic control of the Senate would reshape the new administration’s agenda. (Lauter and Hooker, 1/6)

Also —

The Wall Street Journal: What Happens When The Senate Is Split 50-50? 
The party in Senate control decides what comes to the floor for a vote. A Democratic majority means that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), the expected leader, will be able to control what legislation is given priority and what proposals are blocked. It also allows for more coordination with the Democratic-led House and the new Democratic White House. Still, in the Senate, lawmakers need 60 votes to advance most legislation. This often forces legislators to work together across party lines because supermajorities are rare. (Andrews, 1/6)

The Washington Post: Joe Biden’s Cabinet And Administration Picks 
One of President-elect Joe Biden’s very first tasks will be filling the top positions in his White House and Cabinet. ... Once confirmed, they will be instrumental in carrying out Biden’s goals and setting the tenor of his presidency. We’re tracking the people who Biden has already named and the top contenders for unfilled roles. (1/6)

ABC News: Members Of Trump Cabinet Discussing Invoking 25th Amendment: Sources
There have been discussions among some members of the Trump Cabinet and allies of President Donald Trump about the 25th Amendment, which would be a vehicle for members of the cabinet to remove Trump from office, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the discussions tell ABC News. It is unclear how extensive these conversations have been or if Vice President Mike Pence is supportive of such action. Many have been horrified by Wednesday's events and Trump's encouragement and lack of engagement to call in resources to stop the protesters, the sources said. (Santucci, Faulders, Shapiro, and Karl, 1/6)

Axios: GOP Considers Drastic Options Against Trump Including 25th Amendment 
In recent days, there is a sense of futility among long-time confidants trying to get through to Trump. He's simply not engaging with some, and while with others, he's talking but not listening. He doesn't want to hear that he lost the election to Biden, that Pence can't overturn the results, that he should help rather than hurt the Republican Party, or that he should tell his protesters to stand down. (Swan and Talev, 1/7)

Vox: The 25th Amendment: The Quickest Way Trump Could Be Stripped Of Power, Explained
Section 4 has never been invoked. Before Trump, discussions of it mostly envisioned a president who became physically or mentally unwell (in the decades before it was ratified in 1967, several presidents had faced serious health problems). But due to Trump’s erratic governance, it’s come up often during his presidency. (Prokop, 1/6)

New Statesman: Could The 25th Amendment Be Used To Remove Donald Trump From Office?
The 25th amendment has, historically, mostly been used voluntarily by presidents to temporarily transfer executive power to their vice-presidents while they undergo medical procedures under Section 3 of the amendment. It was previously invoked in 2007, when Dick Cheney was made acting president for two hours while George W Bush underwent a colonoscopy. (Vock, 1/7)

CNN: US Coronavirus: The US Reports Record Deaths As CDC Forecasts Sharp Rise By The End Of The Month 
As the United States reported its highest single day of Covid-19 deaths, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned the overall toll could exceed 430,000 by the end of the month. The US reported 3,865 coronavirus deaths Wednesday, bringing the overall toll to 361,123 people in the US, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In addition, the number of people who have been infected reached more than 21.2 million, according to the data. (Holcombe, 1/7)

CBS News: Video: Congresswoman Describes Holding Location As 'Super-Spreader Event'
Representative Susan Wild said Wednesday that lawmakers evacuated from the Capitol building were placed in a secure location with 300 to 400 people. Holding members of Congress in the same location is a "super-spreader event," the Pennsylvania Democrat said, and some lawmakers are not wearing masks. Listen to the congresswoman's remarks. (1/6)

CNN: Congressman Announces He's Positive For Covid-19 Four Hours After Voting On House Floor
GOP Rep. Jake LaTurner of Kansas has announced via Twitter that he has Covid-19. He is not experiencing any symptoms, according to the tweet. He voted in person four hours ago on the House floor per this vote tally. (Wilson and Diaz, 1/7)

CBS Los Angeles: Rep. Michelle Steel Tests Positive For COVID-19, Condemns Violence At Capitol 
Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Huntington Beach, who was sworn into office on Sunday, announced Wednesday that she has tested positive for COVID-19. ... Steel’s announcement was released shortly before supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress prepared to certify the results of the Nov. 3 election. (1/6)

USA Today: 'Double Standard': Black Lawmakers And Activists Decry Police Response To Attack On US Capitol
Civil rights leaders blasted law enforcement agencies for their slow response to rioters at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, noting the massive show of police force in place for Black Lives Matter demonstrations last year over police killings of unarmed Black men and women. "When Black folks are protesting and progressives are protesting peacefully they were tear-gassed, they were arrested, they were shot with rubber bullets. They were shot with real bullets," said Derrick Johnson, president of the national NAACP. "We watched it take place all summer long when people were peacefully demonstrating." (Hauck and Barfield Berry, 1/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: ‘America’s Double Standard’: Racial Justice Activists Denounce Police Reaction To Pro-Trump Mob
The violent pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday sent shock waves across the nation and enraged Bay Area supporters and organizers of racial justice protests, who said police appeared to show much more restraint — and use significantly less force — in responding to the largely white crowd. “It is America’s double standard on full display,” said Zahra Billoo, a civil rights lawyer and executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in the Bay Area. “It is not surprising, but it is nonetheless disappointing to see how this violent mob of people attempting to disrupt law and order are treated so differently than civil rights advocates, like myself, and other Muslims and minorities who have been advocating for change through law and order for decades.” (Sanchez, 1/6)

The Washington Post: Kid Gloves For Pro-Trump Mob As Black Lives Matter Face Strongarm Tactics
When Chanelle Helm helped organize protests after the March 13 killing of Breonna Taylor, Louisville police responded with batons, stun grenades and tear gas. The 40-year-old Black Lives Matter activist still bears scars from rubber bullets fired at close range. So Helm was startled and frustrated Wednesday to see a White, pro-Trump mob storm the U.S. Capitol — breaking down barricades, smashing windows and striking police officers — without obvious consequence. “Our activists are still to this day met with hyper-police violence,” Helm said. “And today you see this full-on riot — literally a coup — with people toting guns, which the police knew was coming and they just let it happen. I don’t understand where the ‘law and order’ is. This is what white supremacy looks like.” (Klemko, Kindy, Bellware and hawkins, 1/6)

Was the Capitol's lack of security related to coronavirus? —

The Washington Post: Capitol Breach Prompts Urgent Questions About Security Failures 
The Capitol Police was short some officers Wednesday, because they had been infected with the coronavirus or exposed to someone in a way that required quarantine, according to people familiar with the situation. However, law enforcement officials said, the Capitol Police and other federal agencies also seemed to underestimate the potential threat posed by Trump’s supporters — even as the D.C. police grew more alarmed. (Leonig, Davis, Lamothe and Fahrenthold, 1/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Capitol Police Weren’t Prepared For Rioters, Authorities Say
Former Senate historian Donald Ritchie said the Capitol Police might be excused for misreading the pro-Trump crowd. “This is just so totally out of character for the way in which Americans protest or Americans congregate or show their political feelings,” Mr. Ritchie said, noting that the Capitol has seen massive protests over myriad issues over its history. “I’m astonished that it happened,” he said, “for the same reasons the police were astonished that it happened.” The coronavirus pandemic also posed new challenges for the police department. As Congress has remained open for business during the pandemic, at least a dozen officers had tested positive for the coronavirus by May 2020, and were concerned about their working conditions, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. (Viswanatha and Gurman, 1/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Vaccines Have Triggered Severe Allergic Reactions In 29 People In U.S. To Date 
At least 29 people in the U.S. have developed severe allergic reactions to Covid-19 vaccines, federal health authorities said Wednesday. The rate is far higher than for the seasonal flu vaccine, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said. But the severe reactions were rare and didn’t result in any deaths, and they encouraged use of the shots. (McKay, 1/6)

Stat: More Allergic Reactions To Covid-19 Vaccines Seen, But Cases Remain Few
Twenty-nine people in the United States have developed anaphylaxis after being vaccinated against Covid-19 since the vaccine rollout began, health officials reported Wednesday, with cases occurring after vaccination using both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines. (Branswell, 1/6)

Los Angeles Times: CDC: Severe Allergic Reactions To Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine ‘Rare’
Severe allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech were “rare” in the first 10 days of its rollout across the country, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 21 cases of anaphylaxis — none of them fatal — has been confirmed among nearly 1.9 million doses administered, CDC researchers wrote Wednesday in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. That works out to 11.1 cases per 1 million doses. (Kaplan, 1/6)

The Washington Post: Allergic Reactions To The Coronavirus Vaccine Are Rare And Outweighed By The Benefit Of Protection, CDC Finds 
Allergic reactions to coronavirus vaccinations remain rare and should not dissuade Americans from being vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. Of the 1.9 million people who received a shot during the first two weeks of vaccination, 21 experienced severe allergic reactions, according to a CDC study released Wednesday. Most of those people had a history of allergic reactions, and 20 of them have fully recovered. (Wan and Achenbach, 1/6)

In related news about allergic reactions —

USA Today: Death Of Florida Doctor Following COVID-19 Vaccine Under Investigation
A Florida doctor has died several weeks after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, although it's not yet clear whether his death Monday was related to the shot he received on Dec. 18. Dr. Gregory Michael, 56, an OB-GYN at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, died after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke apparently resulting from a lack of platelets. Miami medical examiners are investigating his death, the Florida Department of Health said in a statement. (Weintraub, 1/6)

ABC News: Doctors Encourage COVID Vaccination Despite Reports Of Cosmetic Facial Filler Swelling 
A recent update from the Food and Drug Administration has many people concerned that the COVID-19 vaccination may have an unexpected side effect among people who had previously received cosmetic facial fillers. Many people who have received cosmetic injections to smooth wrinkles, plump lips or otherwise rejuvenate their facial appearance are wondering if they should delay their COVID-19 vaccination. But experts caution that side effects from these cosmetic fillers are so rare and so mild that they should not dissuade people from getting the vaccine. (Farber, 1/5)

CNN: Dr. Fauci Says US Should Have Had Better Coronavirus Vaccine Rollout 
The United States could and should have done a better job of rolling out coronavirus vaccines, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said Wednesday. Federal officials have been struggling to explain why, when they promised 20 million vaccines would have been given to people by the end of the year, only 5.3 million people have been vaccinated nearly a week into the New Year and fewer than 20 million vaccines have even been distributed. (Maxouris and Fox, 1/7)

The Hill: CVS Aims To Finish First Round Of Nursing Home COVID-19 Vaccinations By Jan. 25 
CVS is on track to finish giving the first of three rounds of COVID-19 shots in nursing homes across the country by Jan. 25, the company said Wednesday. The Trump administration is partnering with CVS and Walgreens to inoculate nursing home residents and staff against the coronavirus. The campaign launched Dec. 21, and is now underway in 49 states and the District of Columbia. (Weixel, 1/6)

Modern Healthcare: HHS To Distribute $22 Billion To Aid COVID-19 Testing, Vaccination
HHS will dole out more than $22 billion to states and local jurisdictions by Jan. 19 to support COVID-19 containment and lagging vaccination rollouts, the federal government announced Wednesday. More than $19 billion will aid testing, contact tracing and other mitigation efforts as well as $3 billion to boost vaccination campaigns. "We're making these billions in new funds available to states as quickly as possible to support our combined efforts to end the pandemic," HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in prepared remarks. (Kacik, 1/6)

In related news on the vaccine rollout —

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout At Nursing Homes Encounters Fewer Residents, Reluctant Staff 
Hesitancy on the part of long-term-care-facility staffers to receive Covid-19 vaccinations is slowing the rollout of the shots to the nation’s nursing homes and assisted-living centers, CVS Health Corp. said Wednesday. Another factor driving lower-than-anticipated rollout numbers: Initial estimates by the facilities overstated the number of people living in them by about 20% to 30%, CVS said. During the pandemic, families have been reluctant to send relatives to nursing homes, which have been linked to more than 115,000 deaths. (Terlep, 1/6)

CNBC: What People Might Not Be Allowed To Do If They Don't Get Vaccinated
A perfect storm is brewing as Covid-19 vaccines start to roll out more widely in countries around the world. While many people can’t wait to protect themselves from the virus, some are adamant that they won’t get the jab, leaving populations divided into those that have been vaccinated and those that haven’t. ... As a result of the differing views, a debate could start to emerge in 2021. Should any restrictions be imposed on people who choose not to get vaccinated given they can catch and spread the virus? (Shead, 1/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Finally, A Use For The Old Sears: Covid-19 Vaccine Center 
Americans are heading back to Sears, but not to shop. Public-health agencies and health-care organizations from Iowa to Florida are using some of the hundreds of closed Sears department stores to help with the nationwide effort to administer Covid-19 vaccines to millions of people. (Krouse, 1/6)

CNN: Florida Seniors Spend Hours In Line Overnight Waiting For Coronavirus Vaccines 
The haphazard rollout has led to dramatic scenes in the state. On Monday night, Daytona Beach officials announced that the first 1,000 people lining up for Tuesday vaccinations would be allowed to park and wait overnight in Daytona Stadium to alleviate traffic and road blocking. The announcement came after the line started to form 12 hours before the first shot on Tuesday was scheduled to be given, according to WFTV. On Monday morning, all 1,000 people allocated to receive the vaccine for the day were at the location by 6:30 a.m., a half an hour before the site was schedule to open, the outlet reported. (Holcombe, 1/7)

AP: Florida Company Accused Of Steering Vaccines To Rich Donors
Florida launched an investigation Wednesday into an upscale nursing home amid reports that it administered coronavirus vaccines to wealthy donors and members of a country club along with its residents and employees. The Washington Post and New York Post both reported that MorseLife Health System, a nonprofit that operates a nursing home and assisted living facility in West Palm Beach, has given vaccinations to donors and members of the Palm Beach Country Club, whose foundation has donated at least $75,000 to MorseLife since 2015, tax records show. (Spencer, 1/6)

In other vaccine news from the states —

Houston Chronicle: Kroger Rolls Out COVID Vaccine To Staff As It Prepares For Rush
Pharmacy Manager Nabeel Sattar took off his white coat, rolled up the short sleeve on his left arm and received his COVID-19 vaccine during a Wednesday press conference at a Kroger store on Studemont Street. Then, he slipped back inside his office and went back to work. It’s been busy since the grocery chain received its first doses of the Moderna vaccine in Houston Tuesday and began administering them — starting with pharmacy staff, managers said. Other area pharmacies are begining to roll out vaccines as well, though not yet to the general public. “Let’s just say demand is high,” said Derek David, pharmacy practice coordinator for Kroger, noting high call volume at area stores. (Drane and Wu, 1/7)

Houston Chronicle: Houston’s Vax Plan Includes Some Public Works, Solid Waste Staff As Frontline Workers
Houston’s internal vaccination program for city employees, much like the public system that has been overwhelmed by demand, is working to conform to sometimes vague state guidelines as health officials prioritize who they poke first. Meanwhile, a handful of agencies still are coordinating their plans for offering vaccines to workers who are not police or firefighters but still staff critical functions for local and state government. Frontline workers in Houston including police, firefighters, health officials and street maintenance crews are receiving vaccines through the city’s internal program, which began administering the Moderna vaccine earlier this week. Officials said more than 260 workers were included in that first phase, though thousands of city workers received notice via email on how to register to receive the vaccine. (Begley, 1/6)

AP: Coronavirus Vaccine Preregistration Now Open In Oklahoma
Registration began Wednesday in Oklahoma for residents to be notified when they are eligible for a coronavirus vaccination, according to the State Health Department, which later reported a one-day record increase in deaths due to COVID-19.The department’s registration portal, https://vaccinate.oklahoma.gov, had about 125,000 visits and more than 79,000 registrations as of Wednesday afternoon, according to deputy health commissioner Keith Reed. (Miller, 1/6)

Albuquerque Journal: NM Warns Against ‘Jumping Line’ To Get Vaccine
Health Secretary-designate Tracie Collins urged New Mexicans to remain patient Wednesday and wait their turn for a COVID-19 vaccine, following “sporadic reports” of people sharing technical codes that allowed them to jump the line and book an appointment for the shot. As soon as this week, Collins said, the Department of Health will announce who’s next in line to receive one of the COVID-19 vaccines. She suggested the priority will be adults 75 and older. Collins also said the state is tightening its screening procedures to ensure only those eligible for a vaccine – largely health care workers and people at long-term care facilities, at this point – can get the shot. “It’s time – once again – to think about what is the greater good here,” she said Wednesday, urging people to wait their turn. (McKay, 1/6)

The Washington Post: Virginia Deploys National Guard On Vaccines; Covid-19 Hospitalizations Spike
Coronavirus hospitalizations reached record highs in the District, Maryland and Virginia on Wednesday, as Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam joined the chorus of public officials saying the pace of vaccinations must move faster. Northam (D) threatened to reallocate doses of vaccine if hospitals and local vaccination clinics could not administer them, and deployed the National Guard to help with inoculations, echoing actions announced Tuesday by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R). (Portnoy and Schneider, 1/6)

CNN: New Covid Variant: CDC Has Found More Than 50 US Cases Of Variant First Identified In UK 
At least 52 cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in the UK have been found in the United States, according to data posted Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This includes at least 26 cases in California, 22 cases in Florida, two cases in Colorado, and one case each in Georgia and New York. (Nedelman, 1/6)

The Washington Post: CDC Foresees Spread In U.S. Of Highly Contagious Coronavirus Variant 
The mutant variant of the novel coronavirus first seen in Britain is likely to be present in much of the United States. Although the variant has so far been detected in a very small fraction of infections, it shows signs of spreading and may become significantly more common in coming weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and infectious-disease experts. (Achenbach and Guarino, 1/6)

The New York Times: U.S. Is Blind To Contagious New Virus Variant, Scientists Warn 
With no robust system to identify genetic variations of the coronavirus, experts warn that the United States is woefully ill-equipped to track a dangerous new mutant, leaving health officials blind as they try to combat the grave threat. The variant, which is now surging in Britain and burdening its hospitals with new cases, is rare for now in the United States. But it has the potential to explode in the next few weeks, putting new pressures on American hospitals, some of which are already near the breaking point. (Zimmer, 1/6)

AP: Official: New Coronavirus Strain Likely In Nebraska
A new, more contagious strain of the coronavirus that has been discovered in five states is probably in Nebraska as well, but officials haven’t yet confirmed its presence, the state’s chief medical officer said Wednesday. Dr. Gary Anthone said the new strain is concerning because it could lead to an increase in hospitalizations in Nebraska. Anthone said the state’s public health lab is purchasing its own equipment to test for the mutated virus. The new strain has led to a national lockdown in England, and the virus has been detected in California, Florida, New York, Georgia, and neighboring Colorado. (Schulte, 1/6)

And on vaccine efficacy against the new variants —

Stat: Scientists Monitor A Coronavirus Mutation That Could Affect Vaccine Strength
As scientists try to track the spread of a new, more infectious coronavirus variant around the world — finding more cases in the United States and elsewhere this week — they are also keeping an eye on a different mutation with potentially greater implications for how well Covid-19 vaccines work. The mutation, identified in a variant first seen in South Africa and separately seen in another variant in Brazil, changes a part of the virus that your immune system’s antibodies get trained to recognize after you’ve been infected or vaccinated. (Joseph, 1/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Vaccines Expected To Work On South Africa Coronavirus Strain 
A new variant of the coronavirus that is surging across South Africa may make the existing Covid-19 vaccines less effective, but is unlikely to be totally resistant to the shots, according to leading researchers who have studied the mutations and the vaccines. The variant, which has already shown up in patients in Europe and other African countries, has quickly become the predominant one in South Africa, exacerbating a second wave of infections that is overwhelming hospitals and has driven daily deaths to record highs. (Steinhauser, 1/6)

The New York Times: Study Says Blood Plasma Reduces Risk Of Severe Covid-19 If Given Early
A small but rigorous clinical trial in Argentina has found that blood plasma from recovered Covid-19 patients can keep older adults from getting seriously sick with the coronavirus — if they get the therapy within days of the onset of the illness. The results, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, are some of the first to conclusively point toward the oft-discussed treatment’s beneficial effects. (Wu, 1/6)

CIDRAP: Early Convalescent Plasma May Lower Risk Of Severe COVID In Seniors 
Plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients with high levels of antibodies appeared to delay or stop progression of illness in mildly ill older adults infected with the novel coronavirus, a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded. (Van Beusekom, 1/6)

Also —

NPR: Antibody Treatments For COVID-19 Are Worth The Effort, Doctors Say
Many doses of the monoclonal antibody drugs that treat mild to moderate COVID-19 are sitting unused around the country. There are logistical problems with providing these drugs and skepticism over whether they work. But two major health systems have had good success in deploying these medications, and they're reporting hopeful results. Monoclonal antibodies, manufactured by Regeneron and Eli Lilly, have been available since just before Thanksgiving. The Food and Drug Administration authorized them for emergency use after studies suggested that they reduced the risk of hospitalization among people at elevated risk. That includes people over 65 and those with underlying health conditions such as obesity. (Harris, 1/6)

10News.com: San Diego Supercomputer Uncovers Several Potential COVID-19 Treatments
With the help of a supercomputer at UC San Diego, researchers have identified several promising drugs approved for other diseases that might work as treatments for COVID-19.For the last several months, a team led by Valentina Kouznetsova and Igor Tsigelny at the San Diego Supercomputer Center has been scouring the FDA database of approved drugs, running complicated molecular simulations to find compounds that might be just the right fit to smother the virus. (1/6)

Cincinnati Enquirer: UC Scientist Sees Issues With Remdesivir As COVID-19 Treatment
While the world has its eyes on vaccines to stop the spread of coronavirus, therapeutic drugs are still needed to treat hospitalized patients. One of these treatments, remdesivir, is the first and only antiviral agent of its kind that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved so far for COVID-19. But research performed at the University of Cincinnati concludes that the drug is being used too indiscriminately when treating patients hospitalized with the virus. The study was published late last month in the online, peer-reviewed journal Fundamental & Clinical Pharmacology.  (1/6)

Politico: Biden To Phase Out Operation Warp Speed Co-Leader 
The leaders of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed will continue working on the vaccine rollout during the Biden administration, a transition official confirmed on Wednesday. But Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser to the government’s vaccine accelerator, won’t stay on for long. Slaoui will take on a reduced role as a consultant for four to six weeks before departing, according to a Biden transition official. Gen. Gustave Perna, Operation Warp Speed’s chief operating officer, will continue to control the logistics of vaccine distribution, the transition official said. (Roubein, 1/6)

Stat: Warp Speed’s Slaoui Will Stay On As A Consultant For Biden
Moncef Slaoui, the controversial head of Operation Warp Speed, will serve as a consultant in the Biden administration, he confirmed Wednesday. He suggested it would be a less active role than his current position, as the initiative’s chief adviser. (Florko, 1/6)

KHN: Listen: How Operation Warp Speed Became A Slow Walk 
KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal appeared on Diane Rehm’s “On My Mind” podcast on NPR to discuss the bottlenecks that have prevented doses of precious covid-19 vaccine from making it from drugmakers’ factories into patients’ arms. It didn’t have to be this way, she explains. (Zuraw, 1/7)

In other political news —

The Washington Post: Some Americans Won't Get Their Stimulus Checks Until They File Their 2020 Taxes 
As the U.S. Treasury rushes to distribute second stimulus payments, many Americans learned this week that they will not receive the $600 until they file their 2020 tax return, a delay threatening additional hardship. (Long, 1/6)

AP: Walgreens To Sell Drug Wholesale Business For $6.5B
Walgreens Boots Alliance will sell its pharmaceutical wholesale business to AmerisourceBergen in a $6.5 billion cash and stock deal. Pharmaceutical wholesalers essentially act as middlemen, purchasing drugs from manufacturers and then distributing them to customers like drugstore chains, hospitals and doctor’s offices. (Murphy, 1/6)

In other pharmaceutical and research news —

Stat: Generic Drug Makers Fear A 'Skinny Labeling' Court Ruling Will Pose A Huge Threat 
An arcane regulatory term known as skinny labeling may have a funny ring to it, but to generic drug makers, it is no laughing matter. What has the generic industry upset is a recent court ruling that, legal experts say, could effectively negate a key aspect of a decades-old law which makes it possible to supply Americans with many of cheaper generic alternatives to pricey brand-name medicines. (Silverman, 1/7)

Stat: CRISPR Cures Progeria In Mice, Raising Hope For One-Time Therapy 
Biologists tend not to discuss experimental results on a handful of cells and a single solitary mouse — too preliminary, too sketchy. David Liu of the Broad Institute therefore had no plans to present such findings, which he’d peeked at over his graduate student’s shoulder, when he gave a high-profile talk in 2018 at the National Institutes of Health on a form of the CRISPR genome-editing system that he’d invented. (Begley, 1/6)

Stat: Siddhartha Mukherjee Forms A Second Cell Therapy Company
Almost five years after debuting his first biotech company, noted writer and oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee has officially unveiled his second: Myeloid Therapeutics. The new company, based in Cambridge, Mass., launched Wednesday with a $50 million Series A. (Sheridan, 1/6)

Modern Healthcare: Half A Million Fewer Women Remain In Healthcare Workforce Amid Pandemic, Study Finds
The number of healthcare jobs held by women has not yet recovered from the massive losses the industry took in the beginning of the pandemic, a recent study finds. As many as 530,000, or 3.8%, fewer healthcare jobs were held by women in October compared to February, according to a study by Altarum, a not-for-profit health research and consulting organization. There were about 36,000, or 1.2%, fewer healthcare jobs for men, who typically make up a significantly smaller segment of the healthcare workforce. (Christ, 1/6)

Charlotte Observer: Charlotte’s Thereasea Elder, Pioneer Black Nurse, Dies At 93 
Thereasea Clark Elder, Charlotte’s first Black public health nurse, died at the age of 93 on Tuesday. Elder — best known and revered for her work as a nurse who integrated Mecklenburg County’s Public Health Department — was born in 1927 in Lancaster, South Carolina and attended school in Charlotte. According to a history website from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, Elder was raised on Hamilton Street in Charlotte’s Greenville neighborhood, along with five other children born to Booker T. and Odessa Clark. (Bose, 1/6)

Crain's Detroit Business: Beaumont's New Anesthesia Model In Place At Additional Hospitals
Irving, Texas-based NorthStar Anesthesia has taken over anesthesia services at Beaumont Health's three northern hospitals in Royal Oak, Troy and Grosse Pointe and associated ambulatory surgery centers and pain clinics, a move that angered some anesthesia nurses, surgeons and physicians when the contract was announced last summer. With the consolidated contract, which began Jan. 1, NorthStar now offers comprehensive anesthesia services to seven of Beaumont's eight hospitals. Last August, NorthStar started managing anesthesia services at Beaumont's Dearborn, Taylor, Trenton and Wayne hospitals and their associated ambulatory surgery centers and pain clinics. (Greene, 1/6)

Fox News: Dozens Of Coronavirus Cases Linked To Christmas Eve Services At Boston-Area Church
Dozens of people who attended Christmas Eve services at a church in Woburn, Mass., a Boston suburb, have tested positive for COVID-19. At least 44 cases of the virus are linked to the services at Genesis Community Church, which held four services on Dec. 23 and Dec. 24. "Every individual who attended Christmas Eve at Genesis has been contacted and made aware of the situation as well as being encouraged, whether symptomatic or not, to get tested for COVID-19," the church said in a statement, per the Boston Globe, which reported that each service was attended by roughly 105 people. The outbreak occurred despite the fact that every attendee was required to wear a mask during the service. Social distancing between church-goers who were not part of the same household was also required, and attendees had to register in advance for the service. (Farber, 1/6)

Manchester Ink Link: Report Finds A ‘Tidal Wave’ Of Homelessness
The number of homeless people was already growing fast before the pandemic, and now the problem has grown larger than we know, experts say. In Manchester alone, the count of unsheltered homeless has more than doubled from July 1, with about 170, to over 480 as of Nov. 30. (Lessard, 1/6)

Barron's: Here’s The Overlooked Demographic Problem Caused By The Covid-19 Pandemic, Says HSBC Economist 
There is a looming demographic problem being created by the coronavirus pandemic. As unfortunate as they are, it isn’t the deaths—some 361,000 in the U.S. and 1.9 million globally, according to the tracker from Johns Hopkins University. Rather, it is the declining birthrate. (Goldstein, 1/7)

In other public health news —

The Washington Post: Dr. Dre Says He’s ‘Doing Great’ After Suffering A Reported Brain Aneurysm 
Following reports that he had suffered a possible brain aneurysm, rapper and producer Dr. Dre said late Tuesday he was “doing great” and recovering at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “I’m doing great and getting excellent care from my medical team,” the 55-year-old said in a statement posted to his Instagram account. “I will be out of the hospital and back home soon. Shout out to all the great medical professionals at Cedars. One Love!!” (Bella, 1/6)

KHN: San Francisco Wrestles With Drug Approach As Death And Chaos Engulf Tenderloin
In early 2019, Tom Wolf posted a thank-you on Twitter to the cop who had arrested him the previous spring, when he was homeless and strung out in a doorway with 103 tiny bindles of heroin and cocaine in a plastic baggie at his feet. “You saved my life,” wrote Wolf, who had finally gotten clean after that bust and 90 days in jail, ending six months of sleeping on scraps of cardboard on the sidewalk. (Scheier, 1/7)

AP: Arizona Deemed 'Hot Spot Of The World' Amid Virus Surge
Five months after President Donald Trump hailed Arizona as a model for how it dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic, public health experts warned Wednesday that the state has become “the hot spot of the world” and that health restrictions the governor has been hesitant to impose could have tamped down the crisis. “It’s way worse than July already, and it’s going to continue to get worse. We’re probably two weeks behind LA in terms of our situation,” Will Humble, head of the Arizona Public Health Association, said referring to Los Angeles County, where a COVID-19 surge has created a shortage of oxygen and led ambulance crews to stop transporting patients they can’t revive in the field. (Tang, 1/6)

AP: Community College To Offer Course In Mental Health First Aid
College of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City says it will offer a course in first aid for mental health amid the surge of mental health challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The Virginian-Pilot reported Wednesday that the community college will conduct the eight-hour course this spring. It will be for students in the school’s human services technology program, which is for entry-level positions in mental health fields. (1/6)

KHN: Illinois Is First In The Nation To Extend Health Coverage To Undocumented Seniors 
As a nurse manager for one of Chicago’s busiest safety-net hospitals, Raquel Prendkowski has witnessed covid-19’s devastating toll on many of the city’s most vulnerable residents — including people who lack health insurance because of their immigration status. Some come in so sick they go right to intensive care. Some don’t survive. “We’re in a bad dream all the time,” she said during a recent day treating coronavirus patients at Mount Sinai Hospital, which was founded in the early 20th century to care for the city’s poorest immigrants. “I can’t wait to wake up from this.” (Bruce, 1/7)

KHN: In Los Angeles And Beyond, Oxygen Is The Latest Covid Bottleneck 
As Los Angeles hospitals give record numbers of covid patients oxygen, the systems and equipment needed to deliver the life-sustaining gas are faltering. It’s gotten so bad that Los Angeles County officials are warning paramedics to conserve it. Some hospitals are having to delay releasing patients as they don’t have enough oxygen equipment to send home with them. (Bichell and Weber, 1/7)

Rolling Stone: Gov. Cuomo Announces Proposal To Legalize Marijuana In New York 
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that he will introduce a proposal that would finally legalize marijuana in New York state. “I’m announcing a proposal to legalize cannabis and create an equitable adult-use cannabis program in NYS,” Cuomo tweeted Wednesday. “This program will generate much-needed revenue, while allowing us to support those that have been most harmed by decades of failed cannabis prohibition.” (Kreps, 1/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Nations Stretch Scarce Covid-19 Vaccines By Delaying A Second Shot 
Governments engaged in a desperate race to roll out vaccines to beat back a winter surge of the coronavirus have turned to a new tactic: freeing up scarce vaccine supplies so they can inoculate more vulnerable people faster with a single shot by delaying the second dose. ... The approach has prompted pushback by some medical authorities, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which this week called delaying the second dose potentially detrimental to public health. However, other U.S. health officials have said they are looking into options such as tinkering with dosage sizes and other ways to stretch the reach of available vaccines. Elsewhere in Europe, some authorities are leaning toward the British approach. (Strasburg and Sugden, 1/6)

The New York Times: Japan Declares State Of Emergency In Tokyo Area After Days Of Hesitation 
After days of record coronavirus counts and a rapidly rising death toll, Japan declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures on Thursday, the country’s first such declaration since April. The announcement by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga came five days after governors from the affected prefectures had pleaded with the central government to act, and after his own coronavirus expert panel had recommended the emergency declaration, citing explosive growth in infections in the vast capital region. (Rich and Inoue, 1/7)

AP: Australia Moves Up Vaccination Start To February
Australia is advancing the start of its coronavirus vaccination program to mid-February, with plans to inoculate 15% of the population by late March. The government had argued there was no reason for an emergency rollout that cut short usual regulatory processes as has occurred in the United States and elsewhere because local transmission rates in Australia are much lower. It had planned to start vaccinating in March. (1/7)

AP: EU Commission Greenlights Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine
The European Union’s executive commission gave the green light Wednesday to Moderna Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine, providing the 27-nation bloc with a second vaccine to use in the desperate battle to tame the virus rampaging across the continent. The European Commission granted conditional marketing authorization for the vaccine. The decision came against a backdrop of high infection rates in many EU countries and strong criticism of the slow pace of vaccinations across the region of some 450 million people. (Furtula and Corder, 1/6)

In other global developments —

CNN: Exposure To Air Pollution In South Asia Linked To Pregnancy Loss, Study Finds 
Pregnant women in South Asia who have been exposed to air pollution face an increased risk of pregnancy loss, miscarriage, and stillbirth, according to a new study. Researchers found that an estimated 349,681 pregnancy losses each year across India, Bangladesh and Pakistan were associated with bad air quality. (Regan, 1/6)

CNN: India Begins Mass Bird Cull In Response To Avian Flu Outbreak 
India has begun culling tens of thousands of poultry birds after avian influenza was detected in ducks, crows and wild geese in at least a dozen locations across the country. The country's Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying issued an alert on Wednesday, urging states to take measures to avoid any further spread of the disease. (Mogul and Gupta, 1/7)

The New York Times: Court In Pakistan Bans ‘Virginity Tests’ In Sexual Violence Cases 
A court in the northern city of Lahore in Pakistan has abolished so-called virginity tests, which women are subjected to in sexual assault cases, setting a precedent for the practice to be potentially outlawed nationwide. The practice — banned in neighboring Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh — continues to take place in Pakistan and more than a dozen other countries where it is seen as a measure of virtue and of whether a woman is trustworthy. (Schmall and ur-Rehman, 1/6)

New England Journal of Medicine: Efficacy And Safety Of The MRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine
This phase 3 randomized, observer-blinded, placebo-controlled trial was conducted at 99 centers across the United States. Persons at high risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection or its complications were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive two intramuscular injections of mRNA-1273 (100 μg) or placebo 28 days apart. The primary end point was prevention of Covid-19 illness with onset at least 14 days after the second injection in participants who had not previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2. (Baden et al, 12/30)

American Academy Of Pediatrics: COVID-19 Transmission In US Child Care Programs
Central to the debate over school and child care reopening is whether children are efficient coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmitters and are likely to increase community spread when programs reopen. We compared COVID-19 outcomes in child care providers who continued to provide direct in-person child care during the first 3 months of the US COVID-19 pandemic with outcomes in those who did not. (Gilliam et al, 1/01)

JAMA Network: Risk Factors Associated With All-Cause 30-Day Mortality In Nursing Home Residents With COVID-19 
In this cohort study of 5256 US nursing home residents with COVID-19, increased age, male sex, and impaired cognitive and physical function were independent risk factors for all-cause 30-day mortality. (Panagiotou et al, 1/4)

Also —

CIDRAP: Study: Clarithromycin Safe Alternative For Cesarean Deliveries
During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, azithromycin was one of the virus' unproven, potential treatments, and the resulting shortage forced US doctors to rely on the substitute drug clarithromycin as an adjunct surgical prophylaxis for preventing endometritis in non-elective cesarean deliveries. Now, new research findings reveal that the option is a safe alternative. In a recent study published by PLOS One, 4.5% of healthy women who were given clarithromycin and needed cesarean deliveries developed endometritis compared with 11.2% of those who didn't receive any adjunct macrolide prophylaxis (crude analysis, p = 0.025). (McLernon, 12/30)

CIDRAP: CDC Study Finds Sharp Drop In Outpatient Antibiotics In First Half Of 2020
A new study by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a substantial decrease in the number of outpatients who received antibiotic prescriptions during the first 5 months of 2020 compared with previous years. In the study, published last week in Clinical Infectious Diseases, CDC researchers looked at data from the IQVIA Total Patient Tracker to estimate the monthly number of patients dispensed prescriptions for commonly used antibiotics from retail pharmacies from January 2017 through May 2020. They averaged estimates from 2017 through 2019 to create a baseline, and defined the percent change from January through May in each year as the seasonally expected change. They then calculated the percent change in January through May 2020 and compared it to the previous years. (1/4)

Stat: Along With Vaccines, The U.S. Needs A National Hi-Fi Mask Initiative 
Though the first Covid-19 vaccines are now being given to health care workers, other frontline workers, and the elderly in the United States, it will likely be months before enough Americans are vaccinated to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2. And with a more-infectious variant, called B.1.1.7, spreading globally — for which vaccine effectiveness is still unknown — more must be done to prevent as many infections and save as many lives as possible. (Abraar Karan, Ranu Dhillon and Devabhaktuni Srikrishna, 1/7)

The Washington Post: It’s Not Enough For Health-Care Workers To Warn People About Vaccine Symptoms 
On the day of my first vaccination against the novel coronavirus, my phone was alive with celebration. Confetti exploded and champagne corks popped as my health-care colleagues shared photos of themselves being vaccinated. The next day, I compared notes with a group of fellow pediatricians. Most felt nothing, many had sore arms, several were fatigued or had muscle aches, one had a fever. All short-lived. All in keeping, we knew, with clinical trials. We continued to bask in relief. My own headache was a throbbing sort of ache, at the base of the back of my skull. It wasn’t severe as headaches go, but it was hard not to feel a creeping sense of dread. When I was ill with covid-19 just four weeks earlier (yes, you still should be vaccinated if you’ve previously tested positive for the virus), it had started with a similar headache. (Dorothy R. Novick, 1/6)

Houston Chronicle: The COVID-19 Vaccine Is Safe. Here’s Why. 
For many Houstonians, daydreams of a return to normal life are tempered by an uneasiness about how quickly the COVID-19 vaccines were developed. Most vaccines take years to develop — one of the fastest was the mumps vaccine, which took four years. What’s different about the COVID-19 vaccine, and how was it developed so quickly? Was it rushed? Is it safe? What are the side effects?Because of unprecedented international collaboration that built upon existing vaccine science, massive funding and resources directed at vaccine development, and high numbers of people willing to participate in clinical trials, the COVID-19 vaccines currently approved by the FDA were able to overcome the barriers that usually slow down vaccine development. Truthfully, these vaccines aren’t completely new. (Farah Kudrath and Janak Patel, 1/7)

The Hill: Want To Defeat COVID-19? Empower Your Diplomats 
The first case of Ebola struck Lagos, Nigeria in July of 2014. A serious outbreak of this highly lethal infectious hemorrhagic fever in a megalopolis connected to points around the globe would have been catastrophic. American diplomats in Nigeria had a mission: convince local authorities of the gravity of the situation and give them the tools to shut the disease down. (Jeff Hawkins and Mark C. Storella, 1/6)

Psychology Today: Diagnosing Trump With A Mental Illness
Health professionals are not usually allowed to comment on a person’s mental health unless they have personally assessed the individual and have conducted a full examination. Psychiatrists are limited by the Goldwater Rule. What is the Goldwater Rule? The Goldwater Rule refers to Rule 7.3 code of ethics, which forbids psychiatrists from professionally commenting on the mental health of individuals they have not personally assessed (and even then, they are bound by the privacy and confidentiality rules). (Arash Emamzadeh, 1/5)

Los Angeles Times: Trump's New EPA Rule Is Yet Another Attack On Science 
The Trump administration is handing out another parting gift to polluters as it nears the exit door — and it is going to exit — by finalizing a long-gestating rule that would limit the scope of scientific studies the Environmental Protection Agency can use in forming regulations. Yeah, I know, sounds tedious, but the rule could have a profound effect by, among other things, barring the EPA from using anonymized health impact studies to decide whether a compound or emission ought to be regulated. Such studies have been relied upon for years in measuring the potential effects of pollutants. Think mercury and particulate matter from smokestacks. Think water quality. Think any intersection of regulatory decisions and studies in which people participate under the promise of privacy. (Scott Martelle, 1/5)

Stat: Doctors On Social Media Are Being Harassed And Cyberbullied 
As women in medicine who use social media to advocate for public health and social justice, we know firsthand what it’s like to be personally attacked and sexually harassed online. These attacks have taken many forms. Some are more of a nuisance, like online trolling after advocating for mask wearing during the pandemic. Others are downright egregious and scary, such as an anonymous call to our hospital leadership “reporting” online advocacy efforts, or having our personal information published online, also known as doxxing. (Vineet Arora, Tricia Pendergrast and Shikha Jain, 1/5)

The Oregonian: Oregon’s Lack Of Urgency In A Devastating Pandemic
The halting rollout of COVID-19 vaccines isn’t just an Oregon story. Across the country, states have struggled to administer the doses they’ve received from drug manufacturers, thanks in part to a lack of federal help or resources. The slow rollout reflects once again the costs this country bears due to weak national leadership in addressing a once-in-a-century pandemic. But don’t let Oregon’s leaders off the hook for their roles in fumbling the vaccine rollout. (1/6)

Sacramento Bee: What Will US House Rules On Gender-Neutral Language Change? 
A code of conduct change in the U.S. House of Representatives swaps gendered language for gender-inclusive terms in its official language. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, and Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, outlined the proposal Friday. It’s included in a package of “sweeping” rule changes that, among other things, promote diversity and inclusion in the 117th Congress. The House approved the package Monday in a 217-206 vote on party lines, The Hill reports. (Bailey Aldridge, 1/4)