CNBC: FDA Temporarily Halts Use Of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Due To Rare Blood Clotting Issues
The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it is asking states to temporarily halt using Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine after six people in the U.S. developed a rare blood clotting disorder. The FDA said the recommendation is “out of an abundance of caution.” “Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare,” the FDA said in a joint statement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for the federal government, and we take all reports of health problems following COVID-19 vaccination very seriously.” (Lovelace Jr., 4/13)

Stat: U.S. Calls For Pause On Use Of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 Vaccine
The clotting issue is similar to the one reported after use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, which has not been authorized for use in the United States to date. And it is similar to an event that occurred during Johnson & Johnson’s U.S.-based clinical trial, an event that led to a temporary pause in that trial. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration jointly announced the recommendation, which falls short of an order not to use the vaccine. The statement said a special meeting of CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will be held Wednesday to review the data around the issue. (Branswell, 4/13)

AP: US Recommends 'Pause' For J&J Vaccine Over Clot Reports
In a joint statement Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said they were investigating clots in six women that occurred in the days after vaccination. The clots were observed along with reduced platelet counts — making the usual treatment for blood clots, the blood thinner heparin, potentially “dangerous.” More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the U.S., the vast majority with no or mild side effects. (Miller, 4/13)

In other vaccine safety and efficacy news —

Reuters: AstraZeneca Shot Is Good If Safety Issues Can Be Overcome, U.S. Official Fauci Says
U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine had good efficacy, but safety concerns needed to be straightened out and it might not be needed for Americans because of supplies of other shots. “I think that the AstraZeneca vaccine from a standpoint of efficacy is a good vaccine, and if the safety issue gets straightened out in the European Union ... the efficacy of that vaccine is really quite good,” he told BBC radio on Tuesday. (4/13)

USA Today: No Evidence Of Surge In Miscarriages Since Vaccine Rollout
While vaccines are generally considered safe for pregnant women and new mothers, this group's exclusion from COVID-19 vaccine trials has left health care professionals with no clear data to guide their patients. But a new study released by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in late March found that the vaccines based on messenger RNA, or mRNA, conferred good protection against the virus to both pregnant and lactating women, and likely their newborns. (Fauzia, 4/12)

CNBC: Can You Mix And Match Covid Vaccines? Here's What We Know So Far
With new guidance following reports of rare blood clots, the global medical community is considering whether it’s possible, and safe, to administer two different vaccine candidates to the same person. This week the European Medicines Agency and the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency both determined that there is a possible link between the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine and very rare cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets. (Tatelbaum, 4/9)

NPR: CDC Studies 'Breakthrough' COVID Cases Among People Already Vaccinated 
Ginger Eatman thought she was safe after getting her second COVID-19 vaccination in February. But she kept wearing her mask, using hand sanitizer and wiping down the carts at the grocery store anyway. A few weeks later, she noticed a scratchy throat. "By Wednesday morning, St. Patrick's Day, I was sick. I had congestion — a lot of congestion — and some coughing," says Eatman, 73, of Dallas, Ga. Her doctor thought her symptoms might be allergies. But Eatman started feeling sicker. And then she suddenly lost her sense of smell. She even tried her strong perfume. Nothing. (4/13)

The New York Times: The U.S. Is Nearing Universal Covid-19 Vaccine Eligibility For Adults
The state of Pennsylvania and the city of Los Angeles are accelerating plans for wider Covid-19 vaccine eligibility this week, as the United States approaches universal eligibility for adults. Most states and U.S. territories have already expanded access to include anyone over 16. Others, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington State, have plans in place for universal adult access to start in the next few days. All states are expected to get there by Monday, a deadline set by President Biden. Some states have local variations in eligibility, including Illinois, where Chicago did not join a statewide expansion that began Monday. (Baker, 4/12)

CNN: How The US Hit Its Vaccine Stride 
With an average of 3.1 million doses of Covid-19 administered each day, the United States is on pace to hit another vaccination milestone: Half of adults in the country are expected to have received at least one dose of the vaccine by the end of this week. This signals remarkable progress especially if you consider that at the end of December, less than three million doses had been administered in total and governors were crying out for more supply. (Sealy, 4/12)

CNN: Here's What Can Help The US Soon See A Covid-19 Turnaround, Fauci Says
US officials are racing to vaccinate as many Americans as possible to beat another Covid-19 surge -- and doses are being administered at a record pace. But that's not all the US needs to be doing right now. "Don't declare victory prematurely," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said on CNN Monday night. "We see so many pulling back on some of the public health measures, the mask mandates, the restaurant opening, the bars, we can't be doing that. We've got to wait a bit longer until we get enough vaccine into people that we will clearly blunt any surge." (Maxouris, 4/13)

CNBC: White House Using NASCAR, Country Music TV To Reach Vaccine-Hesitant Americans
The White House is using alternative methods to reach Americans who remain reluctant to get a Covid-19 vaccine: NASCAR, CMT, the country music television channel, and shows like “Deadliest Catch,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. “We’ve run PSAs on the ‘Deadliest Catch,’ we’re engaged with NASCAR and country music TV. We’re looking for a range of creative ways to get directly connected to white conservative communities,” Psaki said. (Nunley, 4/12)

Axios: Facebook To Push Vaccine Eligibility Notifications Outside Of The U.S. 
Facebook plans to begin delivering notifications to users in their News Feed about vaccine eligibility in 20 countries starting this week, the company said Monday. It's part of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's pledge to help bring 50 million people closer to getting COVID-19 vaccines. Facebook has been scrutinized for misinformation on its platform that may deter people from wanting to get vaccinated. (Fischer, 4/12)

WJCT 89.9 FM Jacksonville: FBI: That Post-Vaccine Selfie Might Be More Dangerous Than You Think 
The FBI is warning Floridians about the risks of sharing photos of COVID-19 vaccine card on social media. Scammers may steal personal information off the cards or use the images to create fake vaccine cards that they can sell. The Federal Trade Commission echoed the warning, saying the innocuous-seeming information on the cards might reveal more than you think. (Boles, 4/9)

Reuters: Native Health Providers Drive Alaska's Vaccination Success Story
Despite its sprawling geography and often-inhospitable climate, Alaska ranks among the top U.S. states for getting COVID-19 vaccine into the arms of its residents, and its indigenous population has played a major role in that achievement. With a history and culture deeply shaped by deadly outbreaks of disease that have periodically ravaged remote corners of their subarctic homeland, Alaska Natives have aggressively led the way on inoculations against COVID-19 for the state as a whole. (Rosen, 4/13)

Politico: How New Mexico Became The Country’s Unlikely Vaccination Star
Shortly after the first Covid-19 vaccine was cleared for emergency use in December, leaders of New Mexico’s largest health care system suggested they should shut down the slick coronavirus vaccine appointment website they had opened weeks earlier. That way, they explained, they could avoid conflict with the statewide registry that New Mexico’s health department had already set up. That decision proved to be crucial, helping New Mexico streamline its vaccination campaign and become the unlikely U.S. leader, local and national experts say. That success came despite the sprawling state’s longstanding public health challenges, including a high poverty rate and routinely poor health care outcomes, and caught the attention of other states interested in replicating its model. (Goldberg, 4/12)

CNBC: Covid Vaccines Increasingly Mandatory At Colleges This Fall
The number of colleges and universities that will require students be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 is suddenly escalating. In just the last few days, Duke University, Brown, Northeastern University, the University of Notre Dame, Syracuse University and Ithaca College all announced that students returning to campus in the fall must be fully vaccinated before the first day of class. (Dickler, 4/12)

CNBC: Colleges Will Require The Covid Vaccine—These Are The Challenges Ahead
Every year, colleges across the country require students to get vaccinations for diseases such as Measles and Tetanus. Now, one year into the coronavirus pandemic, vaccines against the virus are becoming available for college-age students. On March 25, Rutgers University announced that the school would update its typical vaccine requirements to include the Covid-19 vaccine, becoming one of the first large public universities to mandate the immunization. Some expressed outrage on behalf of students, however, surveys suggest the majority of college students support vaccination. (Johnson Hess, 4/12)

The Washington Post: A Vaccine Study In College Students Will Help Determine When It’s Safe To Take Masks Off
A week before she would have become eligible for a coronavirus vaccine, Madden Brewster agreed to forgo a shot for months to help scientists answer one of the most pressing questions of the pandemic: When can we all stop wearing our masks? Brewster, a 24-year-old graduate student at the University of Colorado at Boulder, is as eager as anyone for the pandemic to end, but delaying her shot may be her most powerful way to contribute. She is one of the first volunteers in a massive study unfolding at 20 colleges. It aims to determine how well the Moderna vaccine prevents inoculated people from becoming unwitting carriers of the virus. (Johnson, 4/12)

NPR: Vaccine Passports? From Colleges To Cruise Ships, Proof Of Vaccinations Required 
A political debate has erupted over the idea of requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for entry into certain settings. While politicians argue over equity and privacy concerns, some businesses and institutions are moving ahead and developing apps for people to prove their status easily and securely. When students return to Cornell University for the fall semester, for example, they'll be required to be vaccinated with exemptions for medical or religious reasons. "We want to have the most normal semester that we can," says Michael Kotlikoff, the university's provost. And he says the best way to do this "is really to achieve herd immunity that protects everyone" so that activities can resume in dorms, classrooms and around campus. (Aubrey, 4/12)

Bloomberg: Vaccine Requirements Spread In U.S., Sowing Concern On Overreach
Covid-19 vaccination requirements are fast becoming facts of life in the U.S., spreading business by business even as politicians and privacy advocates rail against them. Brown, Notre Dame and Rutgers are among universities warning students and staff they’ll need shots in order to return to campus this fall. Some sports teams are demanding proof of vaccination or a negative test from fans as arenas reopen. Want to see your favorite band play indoors in California? At bigger venues, the same rules apply. A Houston hospital chain recently ordered its 26,000 employees to get vaccinated. (Baker, 4/10)

CNBC: CDC Chief Says Michigan Should ‘Shut Things Down,’ Vaccinating Alone Won’t Stop Covid Surge
A top Biden administration health official said Monday that Michigan should “shut things down” as it grapples with an overwhelming surge in coronavirus cases. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said a boost in Covid-19 vaccinations alone isn’t the answer — even as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer calls on the federal government to send more vaccines her way. (Breuninger, 4/12)

Reuters: More Therapeutics But No Surge In Vaccine For Michigan, Biden Administration Says
The White House said on Monday it was prepared to send additional therapeutic treatments to the state of Michigan, which is experiencing a worrying number of COVID-19 cases, but declined to promise more vaccine as the state has sought. White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt told reporters the U.S. government would work to ensure that states such as Michigan were ordering the full amount of vaccine that was available to them but said that shifting distribution was not in line with the administration’s public health strategy. (Mason and O'Donnell, 4/12)

The New York Times: Surging Virus Has Michigan's Whitmer At Loggerheads With Biden
The Biden administration and Michigan’s Democratic governor are locked in an increasingly tense standoff over the state’s worst-in-the-nation coronavirus outbreak, with a top federal health official on Monday urging the governor to lock down her state. As the governor, Gretchen Whitmer, publicly called again for a surge of vaccine supply, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at a White House news conference that securing extra doses was not the most immediate or practical solution to the outbreak. She said that Michigan — whose metro areas include 16 of the 17 worst outbreaks in the nation — needed to enact shutdown measures to stamp out the crush of infections. (Weiland and Smith, 4/12)

CNN: Michigan Vaccine Rebuff Puts Biden And A Top Ally In A Dicey Political Spot 
President Joe Biden is confronting his most controversial and politically unpalatable moment yet since assuming responsibility for the US' response to the pandemic. His administration's blunt rebuff of a plea by his ally and Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to target the state for an increased supply of vaccines to combat a Covid-19 spike represents the kind of tough decision the President will increasingly face on the exit road from the crisis. (Stephen Collinson, 4/13)

CNN: Michigan Could See Its Worst Covid-19 Case Surge Yet, Official Warns. Some Say More Measures Are Needed
With an alarming rise in new Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations, officials say Michigan is now a hotspot for the virus in the US. And it's on track to potentially see a surge in cases "that's even greater than the one we saw in the fall," Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state's chief medical executive, said in a Friday news conference. Just how bad are things in the state? Covid-19 cases per million people are four times higher what they were in mid-February. The percent of positive tests are also four times higher than the numbers then. (Maxouris, 4/13)

Modern Healthcare: COVID Hospitalizations In Michigan Top Fall Surge; Beaumont Seeing Nurse 'Burnout'
The number of ill Michigan residents with positive cases of COVID-19 occupying hospital beds in the state has surpassed the fall surge in hospitalizations, straining health care systems that are still rebounding from the last wave of infections. On Monday, Michigan hospitals reported 3,918 COVID-positive patients occupying about 18% of hospital beds across the state, surpassing the fall peak of 3,884 on Dec. 1. COVID hospitalizations have increased more than 26% in a week and nearly 83% from two weeks ago with 61% of COVID patients in Southeast Michigan hospitals. (Livengood, 4/12)

Reuters: British Variant Of COVID-19 Not As Severe As Feared
A highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first identified in Britain does not cause more severe disease in hospitalised patients, according to a new study published in the medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases on Monday. The strain, known as B.1.1.7, was identified in Britain late last year and has become the most common strain in the United States, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study analysed a group of 496 COVID-19 patients who were admitted to British hospitals in November and December last year, comparing outcomes in patients infected with B.1.1.7 or other variants. The researchers found no difference in risks of severe disease, death, or other clinical outcomes in patients with B.1.1.7 and other variants. (4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: U.K. Strain Doesn’t Result In More Severe Covid-19 Among Hospitalized Patients, Study Finds
People infected late last year with the variant, known as B.1.1.7, had more virus in their bodies than patients infected with older strains, a sign the newer variant is more infectious, according to the study published online Monday by the medical journal the Lancet Infectious Diseases. But the patients hospitalized with B.1.1.7 didn’t die at higher rates or have worse outcomes overall. The findings add to scientists’ understanding of B.1.1.7’s impact, which has become especially important now that the strain has come to dominate cases in the U.K., U.S. and some other countries. (Abbott, 4/12)

ABC News: In Rare Instances, South Africa Variant May Evade Pfizer Vaccine, Researchers Say
The first real-world study pitting COVID-19 variants against the Pfizer vaccine showed that the variant first detected in South Africa may be able to evade some vaccine protection, new research conducted in Israel found. While "breakthrough" COVID-19 cases, meaning people who get infected or sick despite being vaccinated, are extremely rare, health experts have been monitoring a handful of virus variants to see if current vaccines offer robust protection against them. (Schumaker, 4/12)

In regional news —

The New York Times: Two Worrisome Variants Make Up Over 70 Percent Of Cases Analyzed In N.Y.C., City Officials Say
New York City health officials said on Monday that infections with the coronavirus variant that first emerged in Britain, B.1.1.7, have been increasing in every borough, but slightly more in southern Brooklyn, eastern Queens, and Staten Island. Genetic analysis shows that B.1.1.7 now accounts for about 30 percent of cases sequenced citywide. The data, which was included in new maps and a report released by the city, represents the first time officials have offered a ZIP-code level look at how worrisome variants have been spreading in New York, overtaking original versions of virus and clustering in some parts of the city more than others. (Otterman, 4/12)

Los Angeles Times: Is California Coronavirus Variant Preventing A Spring Surge?
California had one of the lowest average daily coronavirus case rates in the nation over the most recent seven-day period, while Michigan’s case rate — the worst in the nation — was 12 times higher than California’s, placing growing strain on hospitals there. One factor that may be helping California — for reasons not fully understood — is the presence of the California variant. The California variant here might be helping to keep a lid on the U.K. variant, which is believed to be more transmissible than the conventional strains of the coronavirus and likely results in more severe illness and, as a result, a greater chance of death. (Lin II, 4/12)

In other pandemic news —

NPR: CDC Studies Find Racial, Ethnic Disparities In COVID-19 Hospitalizations
Days after declaring racism a serious public health threat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a pair of studies further quantifying the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color. The studies, published Monday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, examine trends in racial and ethnic disparities in hospitalizations and emergency room visits associated with COVID-19 in 2020. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a regular White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing that the new literature underscores the need to prioritize health equity, including in the country's accelerating vaccine rollout. (Treisman, 4/12)

CIDRAP: Study Finds 12% Of US children With COVID-19 Are Hospitalized
Among a cohort of 20,714 US children with COVID-19, more than 1 in 10 were hospitalized, of whom 31.1% (756) had severe COVID-19, defined as requiring admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), mechanical ventilation, or comparable treatment, according to a research letter late last week in JAMA Network Open. The study found that 2,430 (11.7%) of the 20,714 children who had an emergency department or inpatient encounter were hospitalized with COVID-19. (4/12)

CBS News: Hospitals Open Pediatric Long-Haul COVID Units As Children Grapple With Lingering Virus Effects
At least five hospitals in the U.S. have started pediatric long-haul clinics to help kids with lingering COVID-19 illness as the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mount a massive, nationwide study of long-haul COVID that includes children. While many children do not experience severe COVID-19 illness, the coronavirus can have a lasting and serious impact on their health. At the request of CBS News, one hospital in Omaha documented how it is trying to help a girl who is struggling with the lingering effects of the virus. (4/12)

CIDRAP: Analysis Reveals Lower COVID-19 Viral Load, Growth In Children
Children may transmit COVID-19 infections less than adults do, according to a study late last week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). The researchers looked at viral samples from 305 children and adults infected with COVID-19 in Manitoba and found that children's samples had lower viral growth in cultures and higher cycle threshold (Ct) values, indicating less viral load. Samples were collected March to December 2020 and represent 1.5% of positive COVID samples in Manitoba at the time and 7.2% of the province's positive samples in children. Children were more likely to be symptomatic (37.7% vs 6.9%). For symptomatic children, the researchers note, the duration between symptom onset and testing was not associated with viral culture results. (4/12)

Axios: Democrats, Led By Biden, Are Aiming Big On Health Care 
Democrats are exploring adding a huge array of health policies to upcoming spending legislation, ranging from further enhancing Affordable Care Act subsidies to allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. The next few months may give Democrats the opportunity to walk the walk after campaigning extensively on health care for years, and to plug some of the glaring holes in the system that were exposed by the pandemic. (Owens, 4/13)

Los Angeles Times: Democrats Seek To Undo Trump Regulations On Methane, Healthcare
In the House, representatives are pushing to overturn a Department of Health and Human Services rule passed the day before Trump left office that would give the agency five years to review thousands of regulations. The agency currently has more than 18,000 regulations. Any regulations not reviewed by that time would expire. They do not have a Senate sponsor yet. Biden delayed its implementation until 2022 to give ongoing lawsuits over the rule a chance to end. (Wire, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Infrastructure Plan Would Fund Shift Toward Home Healthcare For Seniors
President Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan would devote $400 billion to providing seniors more medical care at home, with the aim of shifting treatment away from institutions and hospitals as the U.S. faces a looming surge in its aging population. Democrats say the measure is needed because the healthcare system is unprepared for the unprecedented growth in the senior population and the bill would boost incomes for the many women and people in minority groups who provide the services. (Armour, 4/12)

In other Biden administration news —

The Washington Post: Biden Picks Anne Milgram, Former N.J. Attorney General, To Lead DEA
President Biden has selected Anne Milgram, a former state attorney general, prosecutor and longtime advocate for reform of the criminal justice system, to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, the White House announced on Monday. Milgram, who once declared, “there’s no system that is more old-school and broken and problematic than the criminal justice system,” currently works as a lawyer in private practice, and as a law professor and podcaster. Milgram did not respond to a request for comment. The Washington Post first reported Milgram’s selection. (Diamond and Barrett, 4/12)

WMFE: FEMA Taking Applications For COVID-Related Funeral Aid 
People with loved ones who died of COVID-19 in 2020 can ask the federal government for help paying for the funerals. FEMA will start accepting applications for funeral assistance on Monday. Applicants must provide a death certificate as well as funeral home contracts and receipts. (4/12)

Politico: FDA Lifts Curbs On Dispensing Abortion Pills During Pandemic
The Biden administration is lifting restrictions on dispensing abortion pills by mail during the Covid-19 pandemic, reversing a Trump administration policy that the Supreme Court backed in January. Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock informed the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in a letter Monday that her agency concluded that allowing patients to receive the pills via telemedicine and through the mail will not increase risks and will keep people safe from contracting the virus. (Miranda Ollstein and Tahir, 4/12)

Stat: Cavazzoni To Take Over Influential Spot Atop FDA Drug Center 
Patrizia Cavazzoni has been named the permanent leader of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the agency’s acting commissioner, Janet Woodcock, announced Monday morning. The position of CDER director is one of the most influential at the sprawling agency. Cavazzoni, who is in her late 50s, was handpicked by Woodcock to join the agency in 2018 and has been leading the drug center in an acting role since last spring. Cavazzoni is known as a problem-solver who has taken on some of the FDA’s most pressing problems, former top FDA officials told STAT last year. (Florko, 4/12)

The Washington Post: Biden’s FDA Takes New Steps Toward Limiting Toxic Heavy Metals In Commercial Baby Foods
The Food and Drug Administration, after congressional pressure, is now pursuing a plan to address high levels of heavy metals in baby foods. Although the agency has set maximum allowable levels of metals like lead in bottled water, it has not regulated levels of metals in baby and toddler foods, with the exception of arsenic in rice cereal. But spurred by a congressional report in February that found many of the products made by the country’s largest commercial baby food manufacturers contain significant levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, advocacy groups, members of Congress and outraged parents have urged the agency to act. (Reiley, 4/12)

The Hill: HHS Expands Medicaid Postpartum Coverage For Illinois Mothers Up To A Year After Giving Birth
President Biden’s Health and Human Services Department (HHS) has approved expanded Medicaid postpartum coverage for mothers in Illinois, making it the first state to provide continuous coverage for up to a year after a birth. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced on Monday that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved eligibility for new mothers to be covered beyond 60 days after giving birth. The approval went into effect on Monday at the start of Black Maternal Health Week and will stay in place until Dec. 31, 2025. (Coleman, 4/12)

US News & World Report: Illinois Gets OK For First-In-Nation Extension Of Medicaid For Postpartum Mothers
llinois received the green light on Monday for a first-in-the-nation waiver to extend its Medicaid program to low-income people up to one year after they give birth. "That's a big deal," Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said on Monday during a press conference. "The postpartum period is an important part of maternity care, and it is a time when mothers may be dealing with a host of medical conditions." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one-third of pregnancy-related deaths occur in the first year after giving birth. Maternal health advocates have long urged the extension of Medicaid as a way to combat strikingly high maternal death rates in the U.S. as Medicaid covers more than 40% of all births in the U.S. (Cirruzzo, 4/12)

Stat: Federal Agency Calls For Higher Medicaid Rebates If Trials Are Delayed
In a bid to lower prescription drug costs, a federal agency is recommending pharmaceutical companies pay higher Medicaid rebates if they have not completed required trials to confirm the effectiveness of medicines that received accelerated approval. Specifically, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, or MACPAC, on Friday voted 16-to-1 to boost two different types of rebates that drug makers would have to offer Medicaid if they fail to complete so-called confirmatory trials. Although Congress has to act on the recommendation, the agency hopes that drug makers will be moved to complete these trials rather than take a hit on revenue. (Silverman, 4/12)

Stat: PhRMA’s New Message To Washington: Don’t Take Us For Granted 
Pharmaceutical companies have a frank new message for Washington: Don’t take us for granted. The industry’s lobbying group, PhRMA, launched a new, seven-figure ad campaign Tuesday with that sentiment prominently laid out across the top, just above a clear reminder of the industry’s role in developing medicines and vaccines for Covid-19. (Florko, 4/13)

The Baltimore Sun: Pay For CEO Of Emergent BioSolutions, Maker Of COVID Vaccine In Baltimore, Increased 51% In 2020 
The president and CEO of Emergent BioSolutions, a Gaithersburg-based maker of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine at a troubled East Baltimore plant, saw his compensation grow 51% last year. Robert Kramer, 63, who has led Emergent BioSolutions since April 2019, earned $5.6 million in 2020, up from $3.7 million in total pay in 2019, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (Mirabella, 4/12)

Stat: Huntington’s Community Grieves Not Just One Therapeutic Setback, But Two
For the community of people affected by Huntington’s disease — a group that is no stranger to disappointment — the back-to-back announcements last month still hit like a double whammy. First, Roche announced it was cutting off the dosing of its experimental therapy tominersen, in a closely watched, much-hyped Phase 3 clinical trial. Then, a week later, Wave Life Sciences said it was abandoning two Huntington’s therapies in earlier stage trials. (Joseph, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Antios Therapeutics Takes Aim At Hepatitis B With $96 Million Financing
Biotechnology startup Antios Therapeutics Inc. has secured $96 million in venture capital to fund its quest to effectively cure people with chronic hepatitis B infections. Hepatitis B is liver inflammation caused by infection with the hepatitis B virus. Most healthy adults who are infected can clear the virus, according to the Hepatitis B Foundation. But in some people hepatitis B infections persist for the long term. Chronic hepatitis B infection can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer and death. (Gormley, 4/12)

AP: Unusual Treatment Shows Promise For Kids With Brain Tumors
For decades, a deadly type of childhood cancer has eluded science’s best tools. Now doctors have made progress with an unusual treatment: Dripping millions of copies of a virus directly into kids’ brains to infect their tumors and spur an immune system attack. A dozen children treated this way lived more than twice as long as similar patients have in the past, doctors reported Saturday at an American Association for Cancer Research conference and in the New England Journal of Medicine. Although most of them eventually died of their disease, a few are alive and well several years after treatment -- something virtually unheard of in this situation. (Marchione, 4/12)

CIDRAP: Audit And Feedback, Prior Approval May Reduce Fluoroquinolone Use
A study of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals found that prospective audit and feedback (PAF) and prior-approval strategies focused on fluoroquinolone use were associated with lower fluoroquinolone prescribing rates, US researchers reported today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. Despite multiple safety warnings on fluoroquinolones from the Food and Drug Administration and concerns about antibiotic resistance and Clostridioides difficile infection, the antibiotics are frequently prescribed in US healthcare settings. In the two-part study, conducted at 15 VA acute-care medical centers, researchers surveyed antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) leaders about the local implementation and acceptability of different strategies to improve fluoroquinolone prescribing, along with analysis of data on antibiotic administration at each hospital in 2017 and 2018. The researchers then compared fluoroquinolone days of therapy (DOT) per 1,000 days present (DP) for sites with and without PAF and/or prior approval. (4/12)

Stat: Sage Drug Reduces Muscle Tremor But With Significant Side Effects
Sage Therapeutics said Monday that its experimental pill was more effective than a placebo in treating patients with essential tremors, a neurological condition that causes involuntary, rhythmic muscle shaking, in a mid-stage trial. But a high starting dose of the drug was not well tolerated. More than 60% of patients had to switch to lower doses of the treatment, called SAGE-324, because of side effects, including sleepiness and drowsiness. (Feuerstein, 4/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Microsoft Bulks Up With $16 Billion Deal For Nuance Communications
Microsoft Corp. MSFT 0.02% has agreed to buy artificial intelligence company Nuance Communications Inc. NUAN 15.95% for $16 billion, extending Chief Executive Satya Nadella’s run of big acquisitions to accelerate growth in everything from healthcare to videogaming. Microsoft said Monday it would pay $56 per Nuance share, a 23% premium over Friday’s closing price, in a bet on the growing demand for digital tools within healthcare. The all-cash deal is Microsoft’s second largest acquisition under Mr. Nadella. The company in 2016 spent about $26 billion for professional network LinkedIn Corp. (Tilley, 4/12)

Boston Globe: Microsoft To Buy Nuance Communications For $19.7 Billion
Microsoft announced on Monday that it has agreed to acquire Burlington-based artificial intelligence and technology company Nuance Communications in an all-cash deal valued at $19.7 billion, including Nuance’s net debt. Microsoft said the deal represents its push into industry-specific cloud offerings, such as its software for health care providers, which it introduced last year. The deal is Microsoft’s second-largest acquisition, behind its purchase of LinkedIn, the professional networking platform it bought in 2016 in a deal worth more than $26 billion. (Gardizy, 4/12)

Stat: Amazon Doubles Down On Its Growing Presence In Diagnostics
Vin Gupta’s hiring in January 2020 could not have come at a better time for Amazon. The extent of the coronavirus crisis wasn’t yet clear, but the company’s cloud division had just nabbed a practicing pulmonologist and public health expert to guide its strategy during the worst respiratory pandemic in global history. The result is a growing enterprise within the company to help customers build diagnostic tools that may long outlast the pandemic, and help Amazon further expand its footprint in the $3.5 trillion health care industry. (Ross, 4/12)

In other health industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Insurers Are Partnering To Offload The Costs Of Kidney Failure Patients
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota inked a new value-based care plan with a DaVita Kidney Care affiliate on Monday, in a move to provide more cost-effective treatment to its new cohort of Medicare Advantage members. The partnership represents the latest example of an insurer rushing to offload—or at least, better manage—the risk of patients suffering from permanent kidney failure, who are now eligible to enroll in Advantage plans for the first time this year. (Tepper, 4/12)

Modern Healthcare: Steward Health, Aya Healthcare In Legal Dispute Over Traveling Healthcare Worker Wages
Steward Health Care System and Aya Healthcare are suing one another over unpaid contracts for traveling medical staff. Steward Health, which has nine hospitals in Massachusetts in March filed a claim in the Massachusetts Superior Court against the San Diego-based traveling nurse agency for "unilaterally stopping all crisis medical staffing services" being provided at Steward Health facilities and for price gouging the cost of traveling staff. The court issued an injunction requiring Aya Healthcare to provide clinical staff, including registered nurses, certified nurse assistants and clinical technicians, among others, to Steward Health's facilities through April 4, as long as the health system paid a $10-million bond. (Christ, 4/12)

Anchorage Daily News: Balancing Workers’ Rights With Responsibility, Alaska Employers Navigate COVID-19 Vaccine Policies
The calls for a boycott started as soon as word got out last month that Alaska Industrial Hardware was requiring workers get vaccinated for COVID-19. The business is a fully owned subsidiary of Bering Straits Native Corp., where the board of directors in mid-March voted to mandate vaccinate for all employees unless they are approved for medical or religious exemptions. Officials say the board’s decision reflected the disproportionate toll the virus is taking on Alaska Native people, particularly elders. (Hollander, 4/10)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: Education And Empathy: N.H. Health Officials Turning Focus To The Vaccine Hesitant
Around 60 percent of eligible Granite Staters have already been vaccinated against COVID-19 or booked an appointment. Now, public officials say, they’re beginning to work harder on reaching those who either need more information or aren’t sure yet they want to get the vaccine. The Winnipesaukee Public Health Network has spent the last few months focusing on vaccine distribution for vulnerable populations like the homebound and the homeless. (Fam, 4/12)

Health News Florida: Here’s How Veterans In North Florida Are Getting Vaccinated Through VA 
The SAVE LIVES Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in March, gives Veteran Affairs medical facilities across the country the legal authority to provide COVID-19 vaccines to all veterans. Prior to this act, only veterans enrolled in VA Health Care could get vaccinated. All veterans, regardless of their health care enrollment status, can now get vaccinated. (Shebovsky, 4/12)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: In Louisiana, Young People Can Get A COVID Vaccine. But Does Everyone Want It?
By early April, when getting a vaccine might be as easy as strolling up and rolling up a sleeve, providers haven’t seen the same banging-down-the-door enthusiasm from young people since the state lifted all requirements nearly two weeks ago. “The younger crowd isn’t calling us,” said Lisa Carr, co-owner of Carr Drugs in Algiers, one of the first pharmacies to give out vaccines in the state. “I don’t know if they’re going to mass vaccination sites, or if they are waiting for a good reason to have to get the vaccine like a trip or return to college.” Though younger people are getting the vaccine by the thousands, they’re not showing up in the same numbers as people over 40, according to data from the Louisiana Department of Health. (Woodruff, Killett and Daniel, 4/10)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Health Experts Advise People To Keep Wearing Masks, Even After The State's Order Expires On Saturday
One day before the Utah Legislature’s expiration date on a statewide mask order arrives, health experts are telling Utahns to keep wearing their masks to ward off the spread of COVID-19. “We need to be respectful to businesses when they ask for masking, because it is still relevant — both to their patrons who are coming in, but also their workers,” Dr. Kristin Dascomb, infectious diseases physician and Intermountain Healthcare’s medical director for infection protection for employee health, said Friday during Intermountain’s weekly COVID-19 briefing over Facebook Live. (Means, 4/9)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: UNH Graduation Will Check For Proof Of COVID Vaccine— Is This The Future Of Large Gatherings? 
A large college graduation is the stuff of nightmares for epidemiologists during a global pandemic. The sheer number of people that attend violates one of the cardinal rules of public health — gather, if you gather at all, in small groups— a hundred fold. Family members who’ve traveled from across the country to sit in densely packed sports stands spew spittle as they scream their graduate’s name. Thousands of people embrace each other at almost every opportunity — they hug friends, kiss family, shake professors’ hands. (Rosenbluth, 4/12)

In other covid news from the states —

AP: California Lifts COVID-19 Limits On Indoor Worship Services
California on Monday lifted its limits on indoor worship services in the face of U.S. Supreme Court rulings that struck down the coronavirus public health mandates. However, the state Department of Public Health guidelines still said indoor gatherings were “strongly discouraged” and advised limiting the numbers to 25% of a building’s capacity for the two-highest levels of the state’s four-tier COVID-19 restrictions. The recommended capacity for the two lower levels — those areas with moderate to minimum spread — is 50% capacity. (Jablon, 4/13)

Houston Chronicle: From 983 Cases To 3: How COVID Killed The Flu In Houston
What medical officials worried would be a “twindemic” at the end of last year — the concurrence of influenza and COVID-19 sicknesses overwhelming Houston’s hospitals — turned out surprisingly well. At Memorial Hermann, just three patients tested positive for influenza during the 2020-2021 flu season, compared to 983 patients during the 2019-2020 flu season. Doctors test for both flu and COVID-19 as a precaution. The same public health measures that prevent SARS-CoV-2 from spreading — masks, social distancing and regular hand-washing — kept influenza strains from sickening people. (Wu, 4/12)

WLRN 91.3 FM: Miami-Dade Restaurants Prep For Easing Of COVID Restrictions 
Miami-Dade County will be open for business past midnight beginning next week for the first time since July. County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the lifting of a COVID-related curfew this week. The announcement allows restaurants and bars to return to pre-pandemic hours of operation but Michael Beltran, chef and owner of Ariete Hospitality Group said it doesn’t mean all restaurants will be able to operate full throttle right away. (Perdomo, 4/12)

WMFE: Orange County Launches Mobile COVID-19 Vaccination Program
Orange County is launching a mobile COVID-19 vaccination program for people in underserved communities. The first site in the mobile COVID-19 vaccination program will open at Barber Park on Monday. Residents 16 and older can get the Pfizer vaccine Monday through Friday at the site. Up to 1,000 doses will be available each day. (Prieur, 4/12)

Axios: The Pandemic's Impact On Tampa Bay's Ports 
The impact of COVID-19 on Tampa Bay's Port Tampa and Port Manatee came down to two things: home goods and fruit, according to an analysis by logistics software company Descartes. Port Manatee shifted from importing mostly fruit to larger items, like refrigerators and air conditioners. At Port Tampa, fruit juice — usually the third-ranked commodity — declined 81.6% in import volume. Import values of juice plummeted by $122.7 million. (San Felice, 4/12)

AP: California Re-Opens Enrollment For Health Insurance Coverage
California on Monday re-opened enrollment for its state health insurance exchange, hoping more people will buy coverage now that the federal government is offering new assistance that could lower monthly premiums by $1,000 or more in some cases. Normally, people can only buy health insurance through the state exchange — known as Covered California — once per year during an open enrollment period. But last month, President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. About $3 billion of that money is coming to California in the form of new subsidies to help some people pay their monthly health insurance premiums. In some cases, people can buy coverage for as little as $1 per month. (Beam, 4/12)

AP: Hawaii To Allow Some Nurses To Perform Abortions
Gov. David Ige on Monday signed legislation that would make Hawaii the latest state to allow some nurses to perform abortions. Hawaii law previously said only physicians could perform early, in-clinic abortions. But because of a doctor shortage, several smaller islands lack abortion providers which forces residents of those islands to fly to Honolulu if they need the procedure. “This act will enable people who desperately need reproductive health care services to receive health care from very high quality health care providers, including advanced practice registered nurses, where they need it, when they need it, and ... in their own communities,” Laura Reichardt, the director of the Hawaii State Center for Nursing, said a bill signing ceremony. (McAvoy, 4/13)

The Hill: New Mexico Governor Signs Marijuana Legalization Bill
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Monday signed legislation to legalize the use and sale of recreational marijuana in the state, as well as to expunge the records of people with prior, low-level cannabis convictions. Lujan Grisham has advocated for legalization since taking office, and she called the state Legislature into a special session last month to vote on the bills after lawmakers failed to do so before the regular legislative session expired. (Weixel, 4/12)

North Carolina Health News: Cooper, GOP Focus On Senior Needs In Budget Process 
Dolores Gardner of Greenville looks forward to receiving farmers-market-fresh vegetables along with meals delivered to the home she shares with her husband Austin. Those are coming from Pitt County Meals on Wheels in July as one of the services financed through Home and Community Care Block Grants, funds that are expected to get a hike this year in state and federal budgets. (Goldsmith, 4/13)

Georgia Health News: White Bagging: Insurer Shift On Drugs Raises Alarm 
A big change in drug treatment for cancer is arriving in Georgia. It’s not a new medication. What’s coming is something known as “white bagging,’’ an insurer tactic involving expensive infusion or injection drugs. And at Crisp Regional Health Services in Cordele, Jennifer Taylor, an oncology nurse practitioner, is concerned about the ultimate effect on patient care. (Miller, 4/12)

KHN: Orange County Hospital Seeks Divorce From Large Catholic Health System
In early 2013, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Orange County, California, joined with St. Joseph Health, a local Catholic hospital chain, amid enthusiastic promises that their affiliation would broaden access to care and improve the health of residents across the community. Eight years later, Hoag says this vision of achieving “population health” is dead, and it wants out. It is embroiled in a legal battle for independence from Providence, a Catholic health system with 51 hospitals across seven states, which absorbed St. Joseph in 2016, bringing Hoag along with it. (Wolfson, 4/13)

Politico: NCAA Hints Championships At Stake With Florida Considering Transgender Sports Ban
The NCAA is “closely” keeping tabs on states including Florida that are moving to ban transgender athletes from playing girls’ sports, warning in a statement Monday that locations that don’t treat all student-athletes with “dignity and respect” could lose out on hosting championship games. While not mentioning Florida by name, the statement from the NCAA Board of Governors comes just one day before the House is slated to take up its proposal clarifying that female sports teams are specifically for “biological” women and girls. State lawmakers were quick to criticize the NCAA’s take on the issue. (Atterbury, 4/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Converts Hotels, Vacant Buildings - They Now House 8,000 Homeless People
A six-month sprint to convert hotels, motels and other vacant buildings into homeless housing has created shelter for more than 8,000 people at a fraction of the cost of new construction, state officials said Friday. The Homekey program, which was started last summer with money from the federal coronavirus relief package, awarded nearly $800 million to dozens of California cities and counties to purchase sites and convert them into housing with supportive services by the end of 2020. (Koseff, 4/11)

The Baltimore Sun: ‘I Come To Breathe’: In A Time Of Stress, Black People Looking To Yoga For Meditation, Relief And Healing 
As Kendra Blackett-Dibinga headed to her yoga studio in Mount Vernon on the first day of the trial for the Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd two weeks ago, she spotted a Black man wearing a hoodie, emblazoned with big white letters: “I Can’t Breathe.” Those three words reinforced her purpose as a yoga instructor. (Turner, 4/13)

Reuters: India, Overwhelmed By COVID Surge, Fast-Tracks Approval For Foreign Vaccines
India is to fast-track emergency approvals for COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorised by Western countries and Japan, paving the way for possible imports of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and Moderna shots. The move, which will drop the need for companies to do small, local safety trials for their vaccines before seeking emergency approval, came following the world’s biggest surge in cases in the country this month. (Pal and Das, 4/13)

AP: India Reels Amid Virus Surge, Affecting World Vaccine Supply
The Indian city of Pune is running out of ventilators as gasping coronavirus patients crowd its hospitals. Social media is full of people searching for beds, while relatives throng pharmacies looking for antiviral medicines that hospitals ran out of long ago. The surge, which can be seen across India, is particularly alarming because the country is a major vaccine producer and a critical supplier to the U.N.-backed COVAX initiative. That program aims to bring shots to some of the world’s poorest countries. Already the rise in cases has forced India to focus on satisfying its domestic demand — and delay deliveries to COVAX and elsewhere, including the United Kingdom and Canada. (Saaliq and Ghosal, 4/13)

Reuters: Cipla Doubles Remdesivir Production To Meet 'Unprecedented' Demand
India’s Cipla Ltd has doubled production of COVID-19 medication remdesivir to help meet “unprecedented demand” as the country battles a massive second wave of infections, the drugmaker said on Tuesday. India has overtaken Brazil as the world’s second-worst coronavirus-hit country after the United States, having administered about 107 million vaccine doses among a population of 1.4 billion. On Sunday, the country banned the export of anti-viral drug remdesivir and its active pharmaceutical ingredients to deal with crippling shortages of the medication in many parts. (Ravikumar, 4/13)

The New York Times: Britain Rejoices And Asks: Are Lockdowns Finally Finished?
In China it was fengcheng. In Spain it was el confinamiento. In France it was le confinement. In Britain it was known as lockdown, plain and simple — but it had the distinction of being one of the longest and most stringent in the world. On Monday, that finally began drawing to an end. After months of coronavirus restrictions that encroached on almost every aspect of daily life, the English celebrated a hopeful new chapter, many of them in what seemed the most fitting way possible: with a pint at a pub. (Santora, Specia and Nagourney, 4/12)

Axios: Brits Flock To Pubs For First Time In Months As U.K. Lockdown Eases 
People in England are enjoying some semblance of normalcy — and pouring their first pints in public — after COVID-19 restrictions eased at midnight Monday, allowing non-essential locations like salons, gyms and pubs to reopen for the first time since January. Britain's partial reopening has come amid one of the world's most successful vaccination campaigns, sharply curbing a COVID-19 outbreak that has killed more people than in any other country in Europe. (Allassan, 4/12)

AP: The Latest: Britain Meets Target On Jabs For Over-50s
Britain says it has hit its target of giving at least one dose of vaccine to everyone over 50 and others in groups at highest risk from the coronavirus by mid-April. The government says everyone in those groups has been offered a jab, and about 95% of eligible people have received a shot. More than 32 million people, over 60% of adults, have had a first shot and almost 15% of people in the U.K. have had both doses. On Tuesday the vaccination drive was expanded to people aged 45-49, the start of the second phase of the inoculation campaign. (4/13)

Reuters: England To Start Using Moderna Jab On Tuesday
England will start using the Moderna vaccine on Tuesday, which will be used at over 20 sites this week as the third shot that is available in Britain for COVID-19. Health officials started using the Moderna jab in Wales last week and had said it would be rolled out across the rest of the United Kingdom in the coming days. (4/13)

NPR: Germany Is Expected To Centralize Its COVID-19 Response. Some Fear It May Be Too Late 
This week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is making good on a veiled threat she issued two weeks ago to centralize pandemic management. Amid growing calls for Merkel to take control of the situation and bypass the country's 16 state leaders, Germany's parliament is expected to pass a measure this month that will allow her finally to take charge of the country's COVID-19 response. As the third wave of infection rages, some worry it may already be too late. Hospitals in Germany warn they're about to run out of intensive care beds, even as state leaders continue to relax coronavirus restrictions. (Nicholson, 4/12)

AP: WHO Urges Pause In Market Sale Of Captured Live Wild Animals
The United Nations’ health agency on Tuesday urged countries to suspend the sale of live animals captured from the wild in food markets as an emergency measure, saying wild animals are a leading source of emerging infectious diseases like the coronavirus. The World Health Organization, backed by key partners, issued new guidance saying that animals — particularly wild animals — “are the source of more than 70 percent of all emerging infectious diseases in humans, many of which are caused by novel viruses.” (4/13)

Stat: Europe Tries To Lower Drug Prices With Small Doses Of Transparency
For countries in Europe, negotiating a deal with a pharma company over drug prices is the equivalent of a David and Goliath matchup. Payers have little leverage to push back against prices and terms set by pharma companies, causing many to accept demands for confidentiality in exchange for a discount. Increasingly, though, some European governments are calling for an end to the secrecy in a bid to rein in drug prices. (Davis Pluss, 4/13)

Reuters: Japan To Release Contaminated Fukushima Water Into Sea After Treatment
Japan will release more than 1 million tonnes of contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear station into the sea, the government said on Tuesday, a move opposed by neighbours including China, which called it “extremely irresponsible.” The first release of water will take place in about two years, giving plant operator Tokyo Electric Power time to begin filtering the water to remove harmful isotopes, build infrastructure and acquire regulatory approval. (Obayahsi and Sheldrick, 4/13)

The Baltimore Sun: Vaccinating Vulnerable Populations And The Myth Of Widespread Hesitancy 
How often have you heard that our most vulnerable populations are desperately seeking access to the COVID vaccine? Almost never? Instead, the prevailing narrative is that people who are Black or impoverished or isolated or elderly or homeless or who use various drugs and so forth are suspicious of, and resistant to, the vaccine. There is, of course, some truth to this narrative. For a variety of reasons, many people in these groups and others are not yet ready to get a vaccine. Many will require discussion and outreach from trusted sources to make a well-informed decision. They deserve that and should receive these services and much more. (Deborah Agus and Harriet Smith, 4/12)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Variants Don’t Need To Be Scary 
News about emerging coronavirus variants can sound scary to a public not accustomed to genomic jargon. But viruses undergo mutations frequently, both within infected people and as they travel from one person to another. That’s why it’s important to remember this (modified) adage: All variants are innocent until proven guilty. The coronavirus responsible for the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, has nearly 30,000 bases, or nucleotides. As the virus evolves and spreads from host to host, some of these bases change. If just 20 bases changed, that would yield more than a trillion possible variants different from the strain responsible for the first outbreak. Of the 136 million confirmed Covid-19 cases in the world to date, one million individuals have had their virus sequenced. And of those one million sequences, scientists have been concerned about only a handful of variants, because they are more infectious, cause more severe illness or partly evade our immune response or all of the above. (Eric J. Topol, 4/13)

CNN: Michigan Vaccine Rebuff Puts Biden And A Top Ally In A Dicey Political Spot 
President Joe Biden is confronting his most controversial and politically unpalatable moment yet since assuming responsibility for the US' response to the pandemic. His administration's blunt rebuff of a plea by his ally and Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to target the state for an increased supply of vaccines to combat a Covid-19 spike represents the kind of tough decision the President will increasingly face on the exit road from the crisis. (Stephen Collinson, 4/13)

Stat: No Evidence That Patents Slow Vaccine Access 
At this point in the exhausting and deadly Covid-19 pandemic, people around the globe are giving thanks for the multiple vaccines that have been produced and authorized in record time. All governments now share the goal of quick and worldwide vaccination. To reach this goal, many are latching onto the idea of suspending intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines and medicines, including more than 400 health, labor, religious, and other groups. Late last year, the governments of India and South Africa petitioned the World Trade Organization to waive patent protections for Covid-19 therapies. (Andrei lancu, 4/13)

USA Today: COVID Vaccine Certificates Are Tickets For Return Trip To Normal Life
It is becoming increasingly clear that once you have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19, you have very little chance of either getting sick from it or spreading it to someone else. This is especially true after two doses of an mRNA vaccine, either the Pfizer or Moderna versions. There is an almost palpable sense of freedom two weeks after the second dose, but I also believe that the science of diminished risk should translate directly into tangible freedoms that might entice others who are still hesitant to take the vaccine. (Dr. Marc Siegel, 4/13)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Research Verifies Pandemic's Effect On Mental Health 
While many people have been out of work during the pandemic, San Diego State Professor Jean Twenge has been working overtime. The psychologist has been uber-busy designing surveys and sifting through statistics to assess the effects of the pandemic on parents and children — with some surprising findings. Last June, she co-published research comparing mental health responses of adults after the onset of the pandemic to a similar survey of adults in 2018. (Diane Bell, 4/9)

Stat: Three Steps Toward Creating A Functioning U.S. Biosimilars Market 
The development of safe, effective, and innovative biologic medicines is one of modern medicine’s far-reaching achievements. From cancer and colitis to rheumatoid arthritis, biologics have transformed many severe diseases into treatable conditions for millions of people. (Pierre Bourdage, 4/12)

Health Affairs: Reversing Hospital Consolidation: The Promise Of Physician-Owned Hospitals
Economic theory holds that competition drives innovation, improves the quality of goods and services, and lowers prices for consumers. Health care delivery is no exception. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting operational challenges in hospital care delivery have stimulated policy makers’ appetite to address longstanding problems in hospital market efficiency and consolidation. In large part because of mergers, the vast majority of US metropolitan residents now live in highly concentrated hospital markets. As policy experts and researchers consider opportunities to engender flexibility, expand capacity, and promote competition in the nation’s hospital industry, a sector plagued by 20 years without labor productivity growth, recent research has reaffirmed the challenges of hospital market consolidation. Hospital and physician consolidation into health systems results in the loss of both price and non-price competition. Well-documented, specific harms of provider consolidation are many, including a lack of quality benefits and decrement in patient experience, physician burnout due to a loss of control over the practice environment, and higher hospital prices driving rising insurance premiums and ultimately rising costs to consumers. (Brian J. Miller, Robert E. Moffit, James Ficke, Joseph Marine and Jesse Ehrenfeld, 4/12)

Newsweek: Biden Infrastructure Plan Misses The Mark On Care For Disabled Americans 
President Joe Biden last week proposed $400 billion in new federal spending on home- and community-based services for seniors and individuals with disabilities as part of a $2 trillion infrastructure package. While these provisions might at first glance seem out of place with a topic normally associated with roads and bridges, the proposal fits with the broader themes of Biden's plan. As with the overall package, Biden's home-based care proposal begins with a good idea but points it in the wrong policy direction, using it as an excuse to expand government rather than tackling important structural reforms. The proposal stems from a longstanding disparity within the state-federal Medicaid program. While states must cover nursing home care for all eligible Medicaid beneficiaries, home- and community-based care remain only optional services for states to cover. As a result, states can, and do, institute waiting lists to access home- and community-based care. Beneficiaries on these lists receive full medical benefits, but have to wait—years, in some cases—to qualify for services like visits from a home aide to help with activities of daily living. (Chris Jacobs and Mary Vought, 4/9)

Los Angeles Times: Anti-Asian Bias Flourishes In The Medical Profession 
The operating room nurse, a trim, muscular white man in his 30s, possessed the brisk and efficient movements of one well-versed in the elaborate ritual of running a surgical suite. My assistant that night, a young male surgeon-in-training, and I had been called to a hospital a hundred miles from ours to help procure organs from a patient declared brain dead. Standing with my assistant, our hands freshly scrubbed, we were ready to be gowned and gloved for the operation. The nurse gathered the first sterile gown in his arms. But instead of walking over to begin dressing me, the surgeon in charge, he walked over to my assistant and draped the material over his shoulders. I saw my young colleague flush under his mask, trying to shake off the gown and motion to me. (Pauline W. Chen, 4/12)

Newsweek: New Mexico's Dangerous, Discriminatory Assisted Suicide Law 
In the midst of a pandemic, the New Mexico state legislature ignored the needs of its constituents—many of whom lack basics like reliable electricity and running water, never mind basic medical care—in favor of passing a dangerous and discriminatory assisted suicide law. This and similar policies in other states have proven the failure of proponents to safeguard the people most susceptible to abuse, mistakes and coercion. Beyond the fact that every supposed "safeguard" in the New Mexico law and others like it is unenforceable and circumventable, legislators in the state have allowed medical professionals with less training to facilitate patients' suicide. Doctors themselves are not always accurate in their prognostications, and patients could throw away good months, years or even decades over a best-guess mistake. Patients like Jeannette Hall, who would have killed herself with assisted suicide but is, thankfully, still alive decades later. (Matt Valliere, 4/13)

Stat: Building The Perfect Wearable For Clinical Trials 
The pace of innovation in wearable technology has never been faster. As often as once a year, major brands debut new devices, offering consumers sleeker and faster hardware and updated software. While consumers may get excited about the latest bells and whistles, these product launches generally leave the clinical care and research communities in the cold. This is unfortunate for two reasons: it’s doesn’t advance health care, and it’s a missed business opportunity for companies that make wearables. The pharmaceutical industry is an increasingly interested buyer for these devices. What was once a novelty for trials and studies is now approaching common practice. (Sam Volchenboum, 4/13)