Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Active Virus Cases Climb In State's Public Schools
Active covid-19 cases in public schools increased about 15% statewide over the seven-day period that ended Monday, according to state Department of Health data. The time period included the first week back to school after spring break, with cases rising to 170 from a previous count of 148. The Health Department report before spring break, dated March 18, listed 302 active covid-19 cases among students and staff members in public school districts. Several of the state's largest school districts have said they are keeping face-covering requirements in place for students and staffs after Gov. Asa Hutchinson last week announced an end to a statewide mask mandate that aimed to mitigate the spread of covid-19. (Adame, 4/6)

CNN: In Michigan's Latest Coronavirus Surge, There's A New Kind Of Patient 
Michigan is in another coronavirus surge and hospitals are again on the front line, but this time they have a new type of patient: younger and healthier. Fred Romankewiz was on his way to get vaccinated, but he didn't feel well so he canceled the appointment and got a Covid-19 test instead. Though he'd been inches from the coronavirus finish line, the 54-year-old construction materials salesman from Lansing now tested positive. "What really is frustrating to me is it's been a year and what -- three months now, and I played it right to the tee. I mean, I did everything correct," said Romankewiz. "And then to have this happen." (Marquez, 4/5)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada COVID Positivity Rate Rises For First Time In Nearly 3 Months
Nevada’s COVID-19 test positivity rate on Monday increased for the first time in nearly three months, according to state data. The uptick in the two-week daily positivity rate to 4.3 percent came after a week where the rate remained unchanged at 4.2 percent. It is first time the positivity rate has increased since Jan. 13, when it peaked at 21.6 percent, according to state data. The metric essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected. The increase comes on the first day of expanded vaccine eligibility for Nevadans 16 and older. (Dylan, 4/5)

CIDRAP: Studies Detail Large COVID Outbreaks At US Prisons, Jails 
Four new studies highlight the dangers of COVID-19 in cramped prisons with inmates transferred among facilities, scarce testing resources and personal protective equipment (PPE), and high vaccine hesitancy at US prisons and jails. (Van Beusekom, 4/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus Infections On The Rise In The Bay Area, Following National Trend
Coronavirus infections trended up in the Bay Area for the week ending Friday, with the average number of daily new cases at 475, up 8.7% from the prior week ending March 26. The data could indicate that California is beginning to fall in line with the rest of the United States, where coronavirus infections have steadily plateaued or increased due to more infectious variants. “On the West Coast, we see a leveling off,” which is not a bad thing, said Dr. George Rutherford, an infectious disease expert at UCSF. “We may go back up a little bit. We may hit bottom and bounce up a little bit.” (Vaziri and Allday, 4/5)

ABC News: Illinois Bar Linked To 46 COVID-19 Cases, School Closure: CDC 
An indoor opening event at a bar in rural Illinois in February led to 46 COVID-19 infections, one school closure and a hospitalization of a resident of a long-term care facility, according to a report issued Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency took a look at the incident at the unidentified business, which had a max capacity of 100 people. Illinois began reopening indoor bars and restaurants to customers at the end of January, with strict capacity limits and other health protocols. (Pereira and Salzman, 4/5)

In related news —

AP: Montana Governor Tests Positive For COVID-19
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has tested positive for COVID-19 a few days after receiving his first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. The governor’s office released a statement Monday evening saying that after experiencing mild symptoms a day earlier, Gianforte was tested “out of an abundance of caution.” (4/6)

The Hill: Study: Around 40,000 US Children Lost A Parent To COVID-19
According to a study published in the American Medical Association's JAMA Pediatrics journal on Monday, an estimated 37,300 to 43,000 U.S. children experienced the loss of at least one parent due to COVID-19 in the past year. A closer look at the data found that the burden, which authors of the study acknowledge will likely "grow heavier" amid the ongoing pandemic, has landed disproportionately on Black children. (Folley, 4/5)

ABC7 Chicago: Children Now Playing 'Huge Role' In Spread Of COVID-19 Variant, Expert Says
New developments in the COVID-19 pandemic have one leading epidemiologist re-evaluating his own advice. Dr. Michael Osterholm is the Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. He was also a member of Joe Biden's COVID-19 Advisory Board during the time between Biden being elected president and inaugurated. Osterholm previously supported sending children back to school. He said the virus was not a major threat to children. Now, the situation has changed. "Please understand, this B.1.1.7 variant is a brand new ball game," Osterholm said on NBC's Meet the Press. "It infects kids very readily. Unlike previous strains of the virus, we didn't see children under 8th grade get infected often or they were not frequently very ill, they didn't transmit to the rest of the community." (4/5)

CNN: A Dangerous Covid-19 Variant Has Spread To All 50 States. Experts Worry It Could Send Cases Surging 
The highly contagious Covid-19 variant first identified in the UK has now been reported in every state in the US, and experts are concerned spreading variants could send cases surging. "America appears to be done with the pandemic," said Dr. Michael Osterholm, director for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "The virus is not done with us." More than 15,000 cases of the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant, which also appears to be more deadly, have been reported in the US. While the US races to get Americans vaccinated in time, many experts are asking the public to hold onto precautions for just a little while longer. (Holcombe, 4/6)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: COVID-19 Variant Detected In Dane County Child Care Center Outbreak
An outbreak of a contagious COVID-19 variant at a Dane County child care center has infected 35 people, including 16 children and five child care workers, the county health department said. The B.1.1.7 variant, which was first identified in the United Kingdom, has been found in cases associated with the center, according to Public Health Madison and Dane County. The virus spread quickly among children, family members and workers, the health department said. All the children who tested positive are 6 years old or younger. (Carson, 4/5)

CNBC: Fauci Warns Against Relaxing Public Health Measures As Summer Approaches
White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Monday that Americans should continue to be vigilant and adhere to public health measures as warmer summer months approach. “You might remember a little bit more than a year ago when we were looking for the summer to rescue us from surges. It was, in fact, the opposite,” Fauci said during a White House coronavirus briefing. (Macias, 4/5)

Fox News: Massachusetts Has Highest P.1 Coronavirus Variant Case Count In US
Massachusetts now accounts for about a quarter of the P.1 coronavirus variant cases detected in the U.S., surpassing Florida’s 55 with 58. According to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Bay State’s total is currently highest in the U.S. A review of data conducted by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard traced the sudden rise in variant cases to clusters in Cape Cod. The state announced the first case of the P.1 variant, which was originally detected in Brazil and is more transmissible than the original strain, on March 16, and said it was identified in a Barnstable County woman in her 30s. She first tested positive for the virus in late February, and at the time officials said there was no information available pertaining to her travel history or illness. (Hein, 4/5)

And a "double mutant" is found in California —

Deadline: Double Mutant Coronavirus Variant From India Found In California 
Just as California seemed to be on the verge of truly turning the Covid-19 corner, the Stanford Clinical Virology Lab confirmed a case of an emerging variant that originated in India, Deadline has learned. According to Lisa Kim, Senior Manager of Media Relations for Stanford Health Care, “The Clinical Virology Lab at Stanford Health Care identified and confirmed the newly described ‘India’ variant last week. This variant has the L452R mutation found in the CA variant, as well as another significant spike mutation, E484Q. This same position is mutated to a different amino acid (K) in both the South Africa and Brazil (P.1 and P.2) variants.” (Tapp, 4/5)

Al Jazeera: How Dangerous Is India’s ‘Double Mutant’ COVID-19 Variant? 
The E484Q mutation, which is similar to the E484K mutation identified on the Brazilian and South African variants, can change parts of the coronavirus spike protein. The spike protein forms part of the coronavirus outer layer and is what the virus uses to make contact with human cells, bind to them, then enter and infect them. The vaccines have been designed to create antibodies which target the spike protein of the virus specifically. The worry is that if a mutation changes the shape of the spike protein significantly then the antibodies may not be able to recognise and neutralise the virus effectively. Scientists are investigating whether this may be the case for the E484Q mutation. (Khan, 4/5)

Axios: CDC: Disinfecting Indoor Surfaces Only Necessary After Recent COVID-19 Case 
Regular household cleaners and soap — not disinfectant — are fine to use to clean indoor surfaces and lower the risk of spreading the coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. “Disinfection is only recommended in indoor settings, schools, and homes where there has been a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 within the last 24 hours,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at Monday's White House coronavirus briefing. (Rummier, 4/5)

Boston Globe: CDC Updates COVID-19 Guidance On Cleaning And Disinfecting Homes And Workplaces
CDC chief Dr. Rochelle Walensky also said that “in most cases, fogging, fumigation, and wide-area or electrostatic spraying is not recommended as a primary method of disinfection and has several safety risks to consider.” (Kaufman, 4/5)

In case you missed it —

Reuters: Clorox To Ship 2 Million Disinfecting Products A Day By Summer To Meet Demand: Executive 
Clorox Co will be able to meet the feverish demand for its disinfectants by summer, when it expects to ship 2 million disinfecting products per day, the company’s chief growth officer told Reuters [last month]. It previously said it would meet consumer demand by the end of 2021. (Cavale, 3/11)

Fox News: Coronavirus Vaccine Passports Won’t Be Mandated By Federal Government, Fauci Says
The federal government won’t be mandating so-called coronavirus "vaccine passports" — proof that one has been vaccinated against COVID-19 — for travelers or businesses after the pandemic is over, according to the nation’s top infectious disease expert. "I doubt that the federal government will be the main mover of a vaccine passport concept," Dr. Anthony Fauci, who also serves as President Biden's chief medical adviser, told the Politico Dispatch podcast on Monday. "They may be involved in making sure things are done fairly and equitably, but I doubt if the federal government is going to be the leading element of that," he added. (Farber, 4/5)

NBC News: Politicization Of 'Vaccine Passports' Could Aggravate GOP Hesitancy, Experts Warn
Growing conservative backlash to the idea of "vaccine passports" — proposed by some private-sector industries to promote a safer environment as states begin to ease coronavirus restrictions — could make Republicans even less likely to get their shots, experts warned. Last month, multiple polls found that about half of Republicans or those who identified as having voted for former President Donald Trump either want to wait and see before getting vaccinated or say they will never get the shots. So-called vaccine hesitancy among Republicans could stand in the way of the U.S.'s ultimately achieving herd immunity, which scientists estimate will be reached when 70 percent to 85 percent of the population has Covid-19 antibodies. (Smith, 4/6)

In other travel news —

Axios: CDC Guidance Says Cruise Ships Won't Need To Mandate Vaccines 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that while it recommends all staff and travelers aboard cruise ships be vaccinated for COVID-19, cruise companies do not need to mandate vaccines in order to resume travel safely. Cruise ships were some of the first super-spreader sites for the coronavirus in 2020 and have been docked ever since. (Perano, 4/5)

The Washington Post: Norwegian Cruise CEO Lays Out Plan For Return To U.S. Cruising 
The chief executive of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings on Monday rolled out a plan to start sailing again from the United States with fully vaccinated passengers and crew. A big catch: He still needs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to sign off, more than a year after the agency prohibited cruising in the United States. The move by CEO Frank Del Rio is a bold salvo amid the cruise industry’s escalating frustration with the CDC, whose allegedly “outdated” rules have been the target of complaints in recent weeks. The criticism has only mounted since Friday, when the agency said travel for vaccinated people was low risk — but also laid out a raft of additional conditions, under a “conditional sailing order,” that cruise lines need to meet before getting permission to operate from U.S. ports. (Sampson, 4/5)

CNBC: Qatar Airways CEO Says Covid Vaccines Likely To Be Required For Travel
The CEO of a flagship Middle Eastern airline has said the requirement for Covid-19 vaccinations will likely be a trend in air travel, as the industry attempts to rebound from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. “In the short term, yes, I think that the vaccine passport will be helpful to give confidence both to governments and to the passengers in our industry to start travelling again,” Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on Tuesday. (Turak, 4/6)

The Washington Post: U.S. Appoints New Global Coronavirus Coordinator As Biden Steps Up Efforts To Combat Pandemic 
The United States Monday said that it was stepping up efforts to combat covid-19 worldwide, appointing a veteran diplomat to run the Biden administration’s global coronavirus response and pledging to support the more equitable production and distribution of vaccines. “This pandemic won’t end at home until it ends worldwide,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in remarks Monday announcing the appointment of Gayle Smith, former director of the U.S. Agency for International Development, as global covid-19 coordinator. (Cunningham, 4/6)

Politico: U.S. Searches For New AstraZeneca Vaccine Producer After Emergent Mix-Up
U.S. health officials are helping AstraZeneca find a new manufacturing partner for millions of its coronavirus shots after the contractor Emergent BioSolutions mixed up ingredients for two Covid-19 vaccines it's simultaneously producing, a senior health official told POLITICO. The Biden administration already told Johnson & Johnson to directly take over vaccine manufacturing at Emergent’s Maryland plant after reports that the manufacturer had contaminated 15 million Johnson & Johnson doses with ingredients for AstraZeneca’s shot. (Owermohle, 4/5)

Roll Call: Fellow Democrats Pressure Biden To Weaken Vaccine Patents
Democrats in Congress, activist groups and developing countries are lobbying President Joe Biden to weaken intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines, a move that could expand global supplies but would anger the drugmakers that partnered with the government to create the life-saving shots. The drugmakers argue that stripping them of their patent protections could backfire at a time when they are working to produce boosters to combat virus variants. And they say there are better ways to ensure the vaccines reach the world's population. (Cohen, 4/5)

In economic news —

The Washington Post: Yellen: U.S. Economy Threatened By Slow Vaccine Rollout In Poor Countries 
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday called for speeding up the distribution of coronavirus vaccines in poorer nations, arguing the United States and global economies are threatened by the impact of covid-19 on the developing world. While the United States and other rich countries are hoping for a return to normalcy as soon as this fall, many parts of the developing world are not on pace to have widespread vaccination of their populations until 2023 or 2024. Those countries have largely suffered more devastating economic impacts from covid, in part because they do not have the fiscal capacity to authorize the levels of emergency spending approved in the United States. (Stein, 4/5)

Stat: There’s No Point Person For HHS’s $187 Billion Covid-19 Provider Fund 
Health care providers are eagerly awaiting billions of dollars from a Covid-19 relief fund. But President Biden’s health department has not yet tasked a point person with making final policy decisions on the program. Amid all the other pandemic-related issues the Health and Human Services Department is dealing with, much work remains on the provider grant fund. (Cohrs, 4/6)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland To Open COVID Vaccine Eligibility To All Adults, Starting Tuesday At Mass Vaccination Sites 
Everyone in Maryland who is 16 or older will be eligible next week to get the coronavirus vaccine at any site offering shots in the state, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday. And people 16 and older can get shots this week, starting Tuesday, at the state’s five mass vaccination sites. The state will require the hundreds of other vaccine providers in Maryland to offer shots to adults and older teenagers, a total of almost 4.9 million people, as of April 12. (Cohn and Wood, 4/5)

The Hill: Washington, D.C. To Expand COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility To Those Ages 16 And Older
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced on Monday that all residents of the nation’s capital over the age of 16 will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine beginning later this month. Bowser said all Washingtonians ages 16 and older will be eligible for the vaccine on April 19. Essential workers who fall under the third tier of the city’s Phase 1C category, which includes essential higher education employees, individuals working in construction and essential employees working in information technology, will become eligible on April 12. (Pitofsky, 4/5)

AP: Iowa Opens Vaccinations To All Adults As Virus Spreads
Iowa opened coronavirus vaccination to everyone age 16 and older on Monday, as the state dealt with increasing spread of the virus and a seven-day death rate that was among the highest in the nation. State public health officials reported 68 more deaths on Sunday. Many of those people died weeks earlier because there is a delay between when someone dies and when the the National Center for Health Statistics processes the death certificate, attributes the death to COVID-19 and gets the information to Iowa. (Pitt, 4/5)

AP: Vaccinations Open To Everyone 16 And Up In Wisconsin
Everyone age 16 and up became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Wisconsin on Monday, the same day that an outbreak of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus was reported at a Dane County child care center and positive cases statewide continued to increase. (Bauer, 4/5)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Vaccine Eligibility Expands Across Philly, Pa., And N.J.; Del. Opens To All Adults Tuesday
UPS workers have been a critical part of the Philadelphia region’s vaccine supply chain, yet for months weren’t eligible to receive shots. That all changed on Monday, when Philadelphia’s vaccination eligibility expanded to include sanitation workers, maintenance and janitorial staff, utility workers, and postal and package delivery workers. ”This will be good,” said Richard Hooker Jr., secretary treasurer and principal officer of Teamsters Local 623, which represents about 4,500 UPS warehouse workers and drivers in Philadelphia who have experienced, “a lot of anxiety, a lot of concern, again because we’re not getting the vaccine but we’re delivering the vaccine.” (Laughlin, Whelan and Steele, 4/5)

Boston Globe: State’s New COVID-19 Eligibility Rules Open The Flood Gates For People To Seek Vaccinations
New state eligibility rules for COVID-19 vaccinations effectively flung the doors wide open to the vast majority of residents, allowing immediate shots for people who are even slightly overweight or smoked as few as 100 cigarettes in their lifetimes. The rules, which took effect on Monday, allow anyone who suffers from a single co-morbidity, such as being overweight or a former smoker, to immediately seek an appointment regardless of age — a full two weeks before the general public was scheduled to become eligible. (Lazar, 4/5)

The Hill: 5 US Colleges To Require Students Be Vaccinated Before Returning In Fall
At least five U.S. colleges and universities have announced plans to require students be fully vaccinated before returning to campuses in the fall. Students who attend Cornell University, Rutgers University, Fort Lewis College, Nova Southeastern University and St. Edward’s University will have to be fully vaccinated before returning to campus in the fall, with limited exemptions for underlying medical conditions and religious beliefs. (Schnell, 4/5)

USA Today: Walgreens COVID Vaccine: Chain To Switch From 4-Week Window To 3
Walgreens has been administering the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine a week after federal guidelines say it is ideally delivered, but the chain will change its policy to come into line with the government's recommendations. While the extra time is not feared to be a problem, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked the drugstore chain to follow its guidelines, the agency confirmed. Until now, Walgreens had been administering the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine four weeks after the first, the company confirmed Monday to USA TODAY. Federal guidance is three weeks. (Bomey, 4/5)

Roll Call: Fauci Sticks With Two-Dose Vaccine Regimen 
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he continued to believe it better to inject Americans with two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines on the drugmakers' recommended schedule — a view that is at odds with other Biden administration advisers. Some experts, like Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist and former adviser to President Joe Biden, have called for delaying the second dose of the vaccine until more of the initial doses are administered. The British government has delayed second doses, enabling it to reach more of its population more quickly with a single dose, and its death rate from COVID-19 has declined more quickly than that of the United States. (Raman, 4/5)

Fox News: Fauci Weighs In On COVID-19 Vaccine Safety In Pregnant Women
While studies regarding COVID-19 vaccine safety in pregnant women are ongoing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical advisor, said that there doesn’t appear to be any concerns for now. "Those studies are going to be done soon, and some are ongoing right now, but for pregnant women who have already taken it, after the emergency use authorization, there doesn’t seem to be any problem," Fauci said, in a short Q&A posted to the White House’s Twitter account. (Hein, 4/5)

In other vaccine news —

Bloomberg: Valneva To Start Final Tests On Alternative Covid Vaccine
Valneva SE plans to start final-phase clinical trials on its Covid-19 vaccine candidate this month, a step forward for a French drugmaker’s low-tech shot that’s being backed by the U.K. government. The Lyon-based company said Tuesday a phase 1/2 test gave positive results for a high dose. Valneva shares rose as much as 8.4% in early Paris trading. The vaccine uses a sample of the virus that has been killed to stimulate an immune response without causing the disease. The approach has been used for decades with inoculations for polio and hepatitis A. Valneva has said the well-established safety profile of inactivated jabs may allow a successful shot to be used in a broader group of people than newer technologies from other drugmakers. (Mulier, 4/6)

The New York Times: Researchers Are Hatching A Low-Cost Covid-19 Vaccine
A new vaccine for Covid-19 that is entering clinical trials in Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam could change how the world fights the pandemic. The vaccine, called NDV-HXP-S, is the first in clinical trials to use a new molecular design that is widely expected to create more potent antibodies than the current generation of vaccines. And the new vaccine could be far easier to make. Existing vaccines from companies like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson must be produced in specialized factories using hard-to-acquire ingredients. In contrast, the new vaccine can be mass-produced in chicken eggs — the same eggs that produce billions of influenza vaccines every year in factories around the world. (Zimmer, 4/5)

Bay Area News Group: Can Sleep Or Stress Impair Your COVID-19 Vaccination?
COVID-19 vaccines are enormously effective at warding off the deadly virus. Is there a way to make them even better? To learn more, a major new UC San Francisco study is enlisting 600 unvaccinated Bay Area residents to investigate whether a range of predictors — such as age, sleep, stress and emotional wellbeing – might influence the power and persistence of our body’s defenses. “We’re measuring factors that may lead to a more robust response, as well as factors that we believe will dampen, or weaken, the antibody response,” said UCSF psychiatry professor Elissa Epel, a co-investigator of the Building Optimal Antibodies Study project. (Krieger, 4/5)

The Washington Post: Can The Vaccine Make Your Period Worse? These Women Say Yes. 
A number of women and menstruators have taken to social media — including Facebook groups and Reddit threads — to share their accounts of their post-vaccination periods and seek explanations about what’s happening to their menstrual cycles. What’s more, the lack of answers has led some to decry sexism within the medical establishment. (McShane, 4/5)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Orioles Enlist Eddie Murray In Broad COVID Vaccine Push: ‘We Need To Protect One Another’ 
The Baltimore Orioles are summoning Hall of Famer Eddie Murray to join current players — and a masked Oriole Bird — in a high-profile “Take One for the Team” campaign encouraging people to get the coronavirus vaccine. Fans attending Thursday’s home opener will spot prominent signs inside Camden Yards featuring the mascot and reading: “Take One for the Team. Get the Vaccine.” The broadcast of the game against the Boston Red Sox will show similar electronic messaging on the stadium’s warehouse wall. (Barker, 4/6)

KHN: For This Hospice Nurse, The Covid Shot Came Too Late
Antonio Espinoza loved the Los Angeles Dodgers. He loved them so much that he was laid to rest in his favorite Dodgers jersey. His family and friends, including his 3-year-old son, donned a sea of blue-and-white baseball shirts and caps in his honor. Espinoza died at age 36 of covid-19, just days after he got his first dose of a covid vaccine. He was a hospice nurse who put his life in danger to help covid patients and others have a peaceful death. (de Marco, 4/6)

The Oregonian: Scheduling Website Freezes Up As Masses Try To Snag COVID Vaccine Appointments At Portland International Airport Monday 
Many Portland-area residents who became eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations Monday morning after months of patiently waiting their turns encountered a new frustration: A scheduling website that wouldn’t let them book appointments. Leagues of people 16 and older with underlying conditions and frontline workers visited an appointment scheduling website for Portland International Airport’s drive-thru at 9 a.m. Monday, only to discover that the website repeatedly froze up, displayed computer coding instead of appointment times or offered them appointment times but wouldn’t let proceed through the booking process. (Green, 4/5)

AP: FDA OKs First New ADHD Drug In Over A Decade For Children
U.S. regulators have approved the first new drug in over a decade for children with ADHD, which causes inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. The Food and Drug Administration late Friday OK’d Qelbree (KELL’-bree) for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children ages 6 to 17. It comes as a capsule that’s taken daily. (Johnson, 4/5)

Stat: FDA Rejects Acadia's Bid To Expand Use Of Anti-Psychosis Drug
Acadia Pharmaceuticals said Monday that U.S. regulators had rejected its application seeking to expand the use of its anti-psychosis drug Nuplazid to a broader group of patients. The decision by the Food and Drug Administration was widely expected following a March 8 letter sent by the agency to Acadia, citing undefined “deficiencies” in the Nuplazid application. (Feuerstein, 4/5)

In other pharmaceutical industry news —

Stat: Lilly Is A Holdout Among Companies That Agree To Disclose Exec Clawbacks
A coalition of institutional investors is pushing Eli Lilly(LLY) to adopt a policy to disclose when executive pay is clawed back for misconduct. But the company is refusing to do so, even though more than a dozen large drug makers, wholesalers, and retailers have agreed to take such a step. (Silverman, 4/5)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Pharmacist Gets Probation For Illegally Importing Drug That Officials Wanted To Use For COVID-19
A Utah pharmacist will not serve prison time for illegally importing an antimalarial drug the state had planned to buy as part of a controversial coronavirus treatment plan. Dan Richards, CEO of the Draper-based Meds in Motion, in January pleaded guilty to importing hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine from a vendor that wasn’t registered with U.S. drug regulators, in shipments that were falsely labeled as an herbal supplement. (Alberty, 4/5)

360Dx: Abbott's New Global Diagnostics Coalition Focuses On Future Pandemic Preparedness
Although the pandemic isn't over yet, the question of future pandemics is still on the mind of many infectious disease experts. With that in mind, Abbott is using its infectious disease experience, building on its Global Viral Surveillance Program for HIV and viral hepatitis research, to spearhead a coalition that will prepare for disease outbreaks, particularly those that haven't yet happened and pathogens that have yet to be discovered. According to Gavin Cloherty, the head of infectious disease research at Abbott, the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition is "the culmination of several years of preparation" that has grown from the global surveillance program. (Ketchum, 4/4)

In science and research news —

Stat: Research On Therapies For Herpes And Diabetes Win STAT Madness 
From curing herpes to treating diabetes in a new way, their innovations might one day treat some of the world’s most prevalent health problems. This year’s two finalists in STAT Madness, a bracket-style competition that showcases cutting-edge research across the biomedical sciences, harnessed new approaches to devise possible therapies that could help millions of people with all-too-common maladies. (Sohn, 4/5)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: COVID Tracker: The Pandemic’s Silver Lining Is That Medical Research Is Getting Supercharged
There is reason for optimism around COVID-19 right now but it’s got nothing to do with our current situation, which isn’t great. The good news amid all the bad is that the pandemic has shaken us out of our medical-research complacency and seems ready to generate a decade or two’s worth of biotech innovation in the blink of an eye. Like many of you, I have been injected with the first fruit of that science supercharging and will get the second dose soon. (Brooks, 4/5)

Modern Healthcare: Not-For-Profit Hospitals Spend Less On Charity Care Than For-Profit, Public Providers
Not-for-profit hospitals provided fewer services free of charge to financially disadvantaged patients than their government and for-profit counterparts, despite their tax-exempt status requiring community benefits and charity care, according to a study published in Health Affairs on Monday. Charity care equaled 2.3% of total expenses in 2018, compared with 3.8% and 4.1% of for-profit and government-run hospitals' expenses, respectively, according to researchers at John Hopkins University's Carey Business School and Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study analyzed 2018 Medicare hospital cost reports to review 4,663 providers' charity-care spending. (Gellman, 4/5)

Modern Healthcare: Changes To Medicaid Supplemental Payments Could Follow New State Reporting Requirements
New rules that would impact Medicaid payments could be on the way, as state reporting changes could lead to bigger base payments and reduced supplemental payments, according to experts. Providers have long complained that Medicaid base payment rates lag far behind traditional Medicare or commercial insurance, making supplemental payments necessary for safety-net providers to keep their doors open. (Brady, 4/5)

Stat: Troubling Podcast Puts JAMA Under Fire For Its Mishandling Of Race 
Weeks after it was scrubbed from the Journal of the American Medical Association’s website, a disastrous podcast — whose host, a white editor and physician, questioned whether racism even exists in medicine — is surfacing complaints that JAMA and other elite medical journals have routinely excluded, minimized, and mishandled issues of race. Recent examples include research blaming higher death rates from Covid-19 in African Americans on a single gene in their nasal passages; a letter claiming structural racism doesn’t play a role in pulse oximeters working less well on patients with dark skin because machines can’t exhibit bias; and an article claiming that students of programs designed to increase diversity in medicine won’t make good doctors. (McFarling, 4/6)

The Wall Street Journal: New Long Covid Treatments Borrow From Brain Rehab Tactics 
The newest patients in cognitive rehabilitation programs didn’t suffer concussions, traumatic brain injuries or strokes. They got Covid-19. Cognitive problems are some of the most persistent and common long-term symptoms that people struggle with months after getting Covid. Patients report short-term memory problems, slow processing speeds, poor word recall and difficulty multitasking. To help them, doctors at medical centers including Mayo Clinic, Yale and Johns Hopkins are starting to refer some patients to cognitive rehabilitation more typically used for patients with concussions and other traumatic brain injuries. (Reddy, 4/5)

KHN: What Covid Means For The Athlete’s Heart
For sports fans across the country, the resumption of the regular sports calendar has signaled another step toward post-pandemic normality. But for the athletes participating in professional, collegiate, high school or even recreational sports, significant unanswered questions remain about the aftereffects of a covid infection. Chief among those is whether the coronavirus can damage their hearts, putting them at risk for lifelong complications and death. Preliminary data from early in the pandemic suggested that as many as 1 in 5 people with covid-19 could end up with heart inflammation, known as myocarditis, which has been linked to abnormal heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death. (Hawryluk, 4/6)

NH Times Union: Pembroke Track And Field Coach Fired For Not Allowing Team To Wear Masks 
Brad Keyes said he was fired from his position as Pembroke Academy’s track and field coach Monday after he informed school Athletic Director Fred Vezina that he would not allow any member of his team to compete this spring while wearing a mask. Keyes said Vezina told him last week that Pembroke Academy would require its athletes to wear masks as a COVID-19 protocol while competing in all running events plus the long jump, triple jump and the high jump. (Roger Brown, 4/5)

NBC News: Office Buildings Are Opening Back Up. Not All Employees Want To Return.
On the morning Alexia Layne-Lomon returned to her office for the first time since the pandemic began, she woke up anxious. Her stomach felt queasy. Commuting into work, once a mindless daily routine, now felt foreign and risky. Layne-Lomon, 38, of Roslindale, Massachusetts, is one of millions of employees across the country who hastily made the transition to remote work last spring. A couple of weeks ago, she went back to her building to train a new employee at the anti-poverty agency where she is the director of development and grants. (Chuck, 4/5)

KHN: Colleges And Universities Plan For Normal-Ish Campus Life In The Fall
Dr. Sarah Van Orman treads carefully around the word “normal” when she describes what the fall 2021 term will look like at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and other colleges nationwide. In the era of covid, the word conjures up images of campus life that university administrators know won’t exist again for quite some time. As much as they want to move in that direction, Van Orman said, these first steps may be halting. (Kreidler, 4/6)

KHN: An Indie Artist’s Plea To Look Beyond Algorithms And Curated Playlists
When the pandemic hit, Debórah Bond, like many artists, was caught off guard. “I thought I’d be juggling gigs and touring,” said the independent R&B/soul musician. A full-time artist, Bond, 44, made a living through a patchwork of vocal gigs — performing live at weddings, bars and theaters, recording jingles, teaching vocal lessons and hosting events. But the coronavirus pandemic found her burning through her savings and struggling to make ends meet in a tiny rental accessory dwelling unit above the tree-lined garage of a home in Hyattsville, Maryland. (Giles, 4/6)

In other public health news —

AP: Doctor’s Testimony Details Floyd’s Heart Activity
George Floyd had “pulseless electrical activity” and his heart wasn’t beating when he arrived at a Minneapolis hospital, a doctor testified Monday. Dr. Bradford Langenfeld was on duty at Hennepin County Medical Center the night Floyd was brought in after being restrained by police last May, and testified Monday at the trial of one of the officers. (Marchione, 4/5)

The Washington Post: For Pregnant Women, Gestational Hypertension Increases Risk Of Later-Life Heart Disease 
Women who have high blood pressure during pregnancy are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease later in life — 67 percent more likely if they have what is known as gestational hypertension, according to the American Heart Association’s new analysis of existing research. This type of hypertension, which develops during pregnancy in women who had normal blood pressure before becoming pregnant, also raises a woman’s risk for stroke by 83 percent later in life, compared with the risk facing women who do not have high blood pressure during pregnancy. (Searing, 4/5)

CIDRAP: Campylobacter In Raw Milk Sickens 5 In Washington State
Health officials in Washington state said they have identified five campylobacteriosis infections in people who recently drank raw milk from a creamery in Sequim, according to an Apr 2 Washington State Department of Health (WSDH) statement. The raw milk from Dungeness Valley Creamery was bought in four different counties, and the company has voluntarily recalled all of its raw milk with a "best buy" date of Apr 13 or earlier, due to potential contamination with Campylobacter. (4/5)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Study Shows Weight Loss Reduces Responsiveness To Food Marketing
In the U.S. over 35% of U.S. adults are obese, and more than 34% are overweight, according to the National Institutes of Health. Studies have examined the role food marketing plays in making us gain weight, and a new one from the University of British Columbia and French researchers shows that it has an impact, but it can change. UBC Sauder School of Business Assistant Professor Dr. Yann Cornil and a team of researchers have found that people with obesity tend to be more responsive to food marketing. When they lose a notable number of pounds, however, their responsiveness decreases. (Willis, 4/2)

AP: New Utah Law Requires Dads To Pay Prenatal Child Support
Biological fathers in Utah will be legally required to pay half of a woman’s out-of-pocket pregnancy costs under a new law unique to the state that critics say doesn’t do enough to adequately address maternal health care needs. The bill’s sponsor has presented the measure as an effort to decrease the burden of pregnancy on women and increase responsibility for men who have children. But some critics argue the new legislation won’t help women who are most vulnerable and could make abusive situations even more dangerous for pregnant women. (Eppolito, 4/5)

Modern Healthcare: Arkansas Governor Vetoes Bill Banning Care For Trans Youth, Citing Doctors' Concerns
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) vetoed a bill Monday that would severely hamper access to care for transgender kids, citing opposition from medical experts and doctors. The bill would have banned doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, hormone therapies and other gender-affirming care to transgender people under the age of 18. Leading medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association and others opposed the proposal, citing the negative health impacts kids who don't have access to a gender-affirming care experience. (Hellmann, 4/5)

AP: California Stalls Bill Banning Some Intersex Surgery For Children
California legislation to ban some medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children stalled Monday for the third straight year in the same committee, with the author saying that proposed amendments would have stripped much of its purpose. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) wants to bar certain types of surgeries on children born with intersex characteristics. That’s when their genitalia, chromosomes or reproductive organs don’t fit typical definitions for male or female bodies. (4/5)

AP: Tennessee Mental Health Support Line Adds Texting Capability
A Tennessee phone line that offers callers mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic has added an option to talk via text messaging. The state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services says the Emotional Support Line for Pandemic Stress now lets people call or text the line at 888-642-7886 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Central time daily. (4/6)

AP: CDC Inquiry Sought On HIV Outbreak In WVa's Largest County
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday submitted a congressional inquiry with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding an HIV outbreak in West Virginia’s largest county. The West Virginia Democrat asked for the inquiry on behalf of the Kanawha County Commission two months after a CDC official warned that the county’s outbreak was “ the most concerning in the United States.” (Raby, 4/6)

KHN: Missouri ‘Voted For This Lie,’ Says State Rep Trying To Block Medicaid Expansion
It is hard to qualify for Medicaid as an adult in Missouri. Single adults aren’t eligible for coverage through the state’s program — dubbed MO HealthNet — at all, and parents can’t make more than 21% of the federal poverty level: $5,400 in 2021 for a family of three. That was all set to change on July 1 because of a constitutional amendment voters approved last summer, which made Missouri the 38th state to expand Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act. Single adults would be covered if they made under around $17,770. (Martinez Valdivia, 4/6)

In covid updates from Texas, Arizona, Ohio and Massachusetts —

Dallas Morning News: Near-Capacity Crowd Gathers At Globe Life Field As Rangers Fans Seek Return To Normalcy In Largest Documented Event During Pandemic
A near-capacity crowd of 38,238 gathered Monday afternoon at Globe Life Field to watch the Texas Rangers take on the Toronto Blue Jays, marking the largest publicly documented attendance at an event during the COVID-19 pandemic. The stadium was open to 100% capacity — 40,158 — for Monday’s home opener and was officially announced as a sellout, but health protocols established by the stadium proved difficult to enforce as thousands of people poured into the stadium throughout the afternoon. (Smith and Blum, 4/5)

AP: Some Businesses Want Masks On, Even As States Drop Mandates
Several weeks have passed since Texas ended its COVID-19 mask mandate. But if you want to pick up a snack at Soul Popped Gourmet Popcorn in Austin’s Barton Creek Square Mall, you’ll still be turned away if you aren’t wearing a face covering. “We cannot afford to take chances with the lives of my staffers. They’re young people and their parents have entrusted me with their care,” says owner De J. Lozada. She’s also concerned about her 85-year-old father, who will soon return to his part-time job in the store. (Rosenberg, 4/5)

AP: Arizona Governor Signs COVID-19 Liability Shield
Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday signed legislation giving businesses, nursing homes and others a broad shield from lawsuits related to COVID-19, making Arizona the latest state to limit liability after the pandemic. Republican lawmakers approved the legislation in party-line votes in the House and Senate last week, saying businesses struggled during the pandemic and shouldn’t have to worry about the potential for frivolous lawsuits. (4/5)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio To Consolidate Health Orders Into One; Masks, Social Distancing Still Required
Ohio consolidated many of its health orders into one, but masks and social distancing will still be required, Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday. The new health order issued Monday focuses on four priorities: wearing masks, maintaining distance, washing hands and spending more time outside rather than inside. "If we can keep those things in mind, those four things, we're going to be able to do about anything we want to do this summer," DeWine said. "People are tired. They've been at this for a year and so it has to be simple." (Balmert, 4/5)

Boston Globe: A Year Into The Pandemic, DCF Workers Visiting Only About Half Of Children In-Person
Workers in Massachusetts’ child welfare agency are seeing only about half of the children under their watch in-person each month, state data show, illustrating the state’s heavy reliance on remote check-ins during the pandemic even as schools, day cares, and others have returned mostly to face-to-face interactions. The October death of David Almond, an intellectually disabled teen from Fall River, underscored the potential risks in relying solely on virtual visits, particularly as other safeguards fail. The 14-year-old’s father and his father’s girlfriend — now charged with murder in his death — routinely staged his video meetings with social workers from the Department of Children and Families to hide his abuse, state investigators found. (Stout, 4/5)

Reuters: Global COVID-19 Death Toll Surpasses 3 Million Amid New Infections Resurgence
Coronavirus-related deaths worldwide crossed 3 million on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the latest global resurgence of COVID-19 infections is challenging vaccination efforts across the globe. (Abraham and Maan, 4/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19’s Ground Zero Shifts To India
Ground zero of the world’s Covid-19 outbreak shifted to India Monday as it recorded more than 100,000 fresh cases for the first time, topping the daily totals everywhere else in the world. The South Asian nation is locking down neighborhoods and restricting travel again even as it tries to ratchet up its vaccination drive to save lives and salvage its nascent economic recovery. (Bellman and Agarwal, 4/5)

The Washington Post: Brazil’s P.1 Variant Fuels Coronavirus Surge In Peru, Uruguay, South America
There is mounting anxiety in parts of South America that P.1 could quickly become the dominant variant, transporting Brazil’s humanitarian disaster — patients languishing without care, a skyrocketing death toll — into their countries. (Chauvin, Faiola and McCoy, 4/5)

Bloomberg: Worst Covid Surge In Southeast Asia Hammers Philippine Hospitals
As hospitals in the Philippine capital reach capacity from a new surge of coronavirus cases, increasingly desperate Filipinos are stocking up on oxygen tanks and touting unapproved medications amid fears the health care system may collapse. Daily infections rose to a record last week in the Southeast Asian nation, where one in nearly five Covid-19 tests comes back positive and vaccination rates lag its neighbors. (Yap and Calonzo, 4/6)

ABC News: Europe's Vaccine Rollout 'Unacceptably Slow': WHO 
The World Health Organization criticized Europe's sluggish vaccine rollout as "unacceptably slow" in a recent statement, pointing to the low rate of Europeans who have been fully vaccinated. Just 10% of Europeans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and only 4% have been fully vaccinated, according to the WHO. (Schumaker, 4/5)

NPR: England To Offer Free Twice-A-Week COVID-19 Tests
England is aiming to offer free twice-a-week rapid COVID-19 tests for everyone in the coming weeks, but critics think it will do more harm than good because of the possibility of incorrect test results. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Monday in a press conference that England will start easing lockdown restrictions April 12 in an effort to open the economy again, beginning with businesses including pubs and gyms. Johnson cited vaccination rate in England, saying, "We think that these changes are fully justified by the data." (Muhammad, 4/5)

AP: New Zealand To Open Travel Bubble With Australia On April 19
New Zealand announced Tuesday it will open a long-anticipated travel bubble with Australia on April 19 now that both countries have been successful in stamping out the spread of the coronavirus. The start of quarantine-free travel between the neighboring nations will come as a relief to families who have been separated by the pandemic as well as to struggling tourist operators. (Perry, 4/6)

In updates on the Tokyo Olympics —

Axios: North Korea Pulls Out Of Games Over COVID Concerns 
North Korea's sports ministry announced Tuesday that it's decided to pull out of this summer's Tokyo Olympics "to protect athletes from the global health crisis caused by the coronavirus." North Korea is the first country to withdraw its team from the Games because of pandemic concerns. (Falconer, 4/6)

CBS News: Two Years Ago, Swimmer Rikako Ikee Was Diagnosed With Leukemia. Now, She's Qualified For The Tokyo Olympics.
Two years after being diagnosed with leukemia, swimmer Rikako Ikee will now head to the Tokyo Olympics in her home country. Rikako Ikee won the 100-meter butterfly event at Japan's Olympic trials in 57.77 seconds to qualify for the 4X100 medley relay in the upcoming Games. After the race, the 20-year-old pumped her fist and broke down in tears before being hugged by her opponent in a lane next to hers. (Brito, 4/5)

USA Today: New Federal Rules Could Improve Health Care Price Transparency
"Would you like Wednesday or Friday?” the medical scheduler asked. That simple question catches many people flat-footed. It’s easy to take it at face value, look at your calendar and determine which date you prefer for a needed surgery. In my case, it was an arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus — one of the pieces of cartilage in the knee that, when damaged, can cause significant pain and swelling. But there are consequences to selecting a surgery date that go beyond the block of time on your calendar. For me, there was about $11,000 hanging in the balance. That’s because behind the question of Wednesday or Friday was the issue of where the surgery would take place. On Wednesdays my orthopedic surgeon practiced at his affiliated hospital. On Fridays he performed procedures at the outpatient surgery center located literally across the street. The cost for his work was about the same at both locations, but the facility fees at the hospital led to a price tag that was about $11,000 higher than the cost for the same procedure, with the same doctor, at the outpatient location across the street. (Michael S. O'Neil, 4/4)

The New York Times: The Authoritarian Plan For A National Abortion Ban 
The anti-abortion movement was never going to stop with overturning Roe v. Wade. For years, Republicans have argued that their goal was to return the issue of abortion to the states. At no point was this believable; since 1984, the Republican Party platform has called for a constitutional amendment banning abortion. Having spent decades denouncing abortion as a singular moral evil, the anti-abortion movement will not be content to return to a pre-Roe status quo, where abortion was legal in some places but not others. (Michelle Goldberg, 4/5)

Modern Healthcare: The Role Of Mandated Nurse Staffing Ratios
The pandemic put a spotlight on healthcare staffing challenges, especially in nursing. California is still the only state to mandate minimum nurse/patient ratios. Are minimum nurse staffing ratios an effective way to ensure quality care and patient safety in hospitals? (Bonnie Castillo and John Welton, 4/6)

Stat: Excited Delirium: Valid Clinical Diagnosis Or Medicalized Racism? 
The “diagnosis” of excited delirium, a term often used to justify and defend police brutality, disproportionately against Black people, has circulated in the medical canon for more than 25 years. It is time — past time, actually — for organized medicine to denounce its diagnostic validity and its use as a shield to justify excessive police force. It reemerged most recently on May 25, 2020, when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. During that time, fellow officer Thomas Lane was heard to say, “I am worried about excited delirium or whatever.” (Jennifer K. Brody, Ayana Jordan, and Sarah E. Wakeman, 4/6)

The Washington Post: The Health-Care Industry Doesn’t Want To Talk About This Single Word 
When I write about health policy or speak with medical colleagues about barriers to care, there is one word — and one word only — that evokes a wide range of responses. Some respond with silence; others with avoidance. Some respond with anger and defensiveness. The word appeared at the top of a paper I submitted to the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2015 with David R. Williams, a professor of public health and African American studies at Harvard University. The title: “Racism in Health and Healthcare: Challenges and Opportunities.” (Ron Wyatt, 4/5)

Scientific American: We Must Enhance--But Also Decolonize--America's Global Health Diplomacy 
COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc across the world, accounting for more than 2.7 million deaths so far; prolonged economic shutdowns; and the dismantlement of global health systems. In no small part, this is due to failures of governance and intentional health policy choices. Despite the swift and unprecedented development of multiple COVID-19 vaccines, more than 66 percent of the countries around the world—predominantly in the Global South—have yet to receive a single vaccine dose. In comparison, 10 countries have received 75 percent of the global vaccine supply. These appalling statistics represent the outcomes of contemporary neocolonial approaches—policies, programs and global governance structures that continue to sustain the same power dynamics and outcomes as during colonization—towards the non-Western world. The Western world's inability to move past its colonial mentality continues to perpetuate structural violence and social inequities across the globe. COVID-19-related global health inequities, including in vaccine distribution, highlight our global health governance and programs' failures that uphold a Western commitment to the colonial status quo while relegating Black and brown people to collateral damage. ( Ans Irfan, Christopher Jackson, Ankita Arora, 4/5)

Modern Healthcare: How COVID-19 Broke Health Systems And Made Them Stronger
With patients afraid of our hospitals and clinics, guidelines changing on a daily basis, and no guarantee that we had what we needed to protect our community or ourselves, health systems faced a choice. We could dismantle our own structural pillars, redesign and rebuild them, and survive. Or we could refuse to change and watch the pillars collapse before our eyes. That choice was like jumping off a cliff without knowing for sure that your parachute would deploy. At WakeMed we swallowed our fear and jumped. But first, we had to trust our people to break down and rebuild core aspects of how we function, interact and lead in ways that have made us remarkably stronger. (Dr. Chris DeRienzo, 4/6)

Stat: The U.S. Needs A National Covid-19 Genomic Sequencing Effort
More than a year into the pandemic, the United States is at yet another critical inflection point. The number of Covid-19 cases remains high and is on the rise in more than half of states. And though vaccination rates are climbing here, topping 4 million shots on April 3 alone, we are in a race between vaccinations and the proliferation of viral variants, which continue to spread and may be even more dangerous than the coronavirus that triggered the pandemic. The country must drastically improve genomic surveillance of Covid-19 cases, which is not happening often enough. (James Crawford, Jonathan Slotkin, and Meg Wyatt, 4/6)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: In 2020, We Cheered For Poll Workers, So Why Aren’t They Now Prioritized For COVID-19 Vaccines Ahead Of The Primary? 
On Tuesday, May 18, the voters of Pennsylvania will again take to the polls to determine the outcomes of the municipal primary elections. On the ballot at every voting division this year are your neighbors, the local election officials whose job it is to set up the polling places, greet and sign voters in, ensure smooth election operations, and tend to the voting machines that collect and tally the votes. Poll workers are a crucial cog in the gears of our democracy, and in Pennsylvania, every four years — including 2021 — many have the unique task of overseeing (among other offices) their own reelection. It’s crucial that they are able to do it as safely as possible, and this year that means making sure all election workers who choose to be are fully vaccinated by Election Day. (Ryan Godfrey, 4/5)