The New York Times: Early Omicron Reports Say Illness May Be Less Severe 
The Covid-19 virus is spreading faster than ever in South Africa, the country’s president said Monday, an indication of how the new Omicron variant is driving the pandemic, but there are early indications that Omicron may cause less serious illness than other forms of the virus. Researchers at a major hospital complex in Pretoria reported that their patients with the coronavirus are much less sick than those they have treated before, and that other hospitals are seeing the same trends. In fact, they said, most of their infected patients were admitted for other reasons and have no Covid symptoms. (Chutel, Perez-Pena and Anthes, 12/6)

CIDRAP: Report From South Africa's Omicron Hot Spot Spurs Cautious Optimism 
A report on hospital admissions in South Africa's worst-affected Omicron (B.1.1.529) COVID-19 variant district—Tshwane near Pretoria—sheds light on clinical patterns, offering some optimism, but with the caveat that the information portrays only the first 2 weeks of the surge. Meanwhile, some scientists who are assessing transmission data say case counts could dwarf the Delta (B1617.2) variant, which even in the face of milder disease would still overburden healthcare systems. The worries about the more transmissible variant come amid reports of super spreader events in Norway and Denmark. (Schnirring, 12/6)

Could omicron end up helping to eradicate delta? —

USA Today: Omicron Could Be More Contagious, Less Dangerous. That Would Be 'Good News For The Human Race.'
Overall, news of the variant's transmissibility and virulence could be good news, with the understanding that certainty is weeks away, say experts. "It would be a great thing if, in fact, omicron crowded out delta. If omicron was a less pathogenic virus, that would be very good news for the human race," said Dr. Warner Greene, director of the Center for HIV Cure Research at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. It also makes sense for the virus to evolve in the direction of being less dangerous, said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. (Weise, 12/7)

AP: Omicron V. Delta: Battle Of Coronavirus Mutants Is Critical
As the omicron coronavirus variant spreads in southern Africa and pops up in countries all around the world, scientists are anxiously watching a battle play out that could determine the future of the pandemic. Can the latest competitor to the world-dominating delta overthrow it? Some scientists, poring over data from South Africa and the United Kingdom, suggest omicron could emerge the victor. “It’s still early days, but increasingly, data is starting to trickle in, suggesting that omicron is likely to outcompete delta in many, if not all, places,” said Dr. Jacob Lemieux, who monitors variants for a research collaboration led by Harvard Medical School. (Ungar and Meldrum, 12/7)

In other news about the omicron variant —

Axios: Axios-Ipsos Poll: Americans Shrug Off Omicron 
Most Americans aren't willing to make big changes in their behavior to minimize the risk from the Omicron variant, like avoiding indoor restaurant dining or cancelling their holiday travel plans, according to a new Axios-Ipsos poll. The poll found support for some broader public responses, including one — travel bans aimed at people from other countries — that was widely supported by people across the political spectrum. But it found that Americans are only willing to do so much on their own. (Nather, 12/7)

The Wall Street Journal: However You Pronounce ‘Omicron,’ You’re Probably Saying It Wrong 
The World Health Organization’s decision this year to use letters of the Greek alphabet to name Covid variants is a source of both honor and consternation for Greeks and Greek-Americans. “We always take a secret pride in Greek being used for scientific purposes—even if it is to describe a variant that creates a new level of panic in all of us,” said Sylvia Papapostolou-Kienzl, a host of a Sunday morning Greek-language radio program in New York. That was true for earlier variants such as Alpha or Delta, which didn’t trip up most non-Greek speakers. Omicron, though, showed that such prominence can come at a cost: a mangled parlance that amplifies academic rifts over ancient and modern pronunciations. (Andriotis and Sugden, 12/6)

Bloomberg: Origin Of Omicron: Mutations May Give Clues How Strain Develops, Analysis Shows
Omicron’s unusually large number of mutations on the gene that helps the coronavirus spread may provide clues as to how it developed, according to a computational analysis of the variant. The co-existence of mutations on the so-called S-gene that would normally inhibit the ability of the virus to thrive suggests the changes are instead working to make the variant more effective at spreading, according to a blog post by researchers led by Associate Professor Darren Martin at the University of Cape Town’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine. (Sguazzin, 12/6)

KQED: Scientists Find Traces Of Omicron In Sewage From Sacramento And Merced
Scientists testing sewage in California say they've detected evidence indicating a low-level presence of the omicron variant in Sacramento and Merced. The research team found small concentrations of a mutation characteristic of omicron in samples taken from wastewater treatment plants in the two cities, but caution that the results do not indicate yet that the variant is widely circulating. The research team includes scientists from Stanford University, the University of Michigan and Emory University. (Maria Dillon and Fitzgerald Rodriguez, 12/6)

Bloomberg: GSK Antibody Treatment Works On Omicron Mutations, Study Shows
GlaxoSmithKline Plc said research shows its Covid-19 antibody treatment is effective against the full combination of mutations in the new omicron variant. Tests done in-vitro against a pseudo-virus that recreates a synthesized version of omicron showed that sotrovimab, Glaxo’s antibody treatment, stands up to all mutations in the spike protein of the omicron variant and not just the key mutations, the drugmaker said in a statement Tuesday. The tests included all 37 mutations identified to-date in the spike protein. (Hipwell, 12/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Glaxo Says Its Covid-19 Antibody Drug Works Against Omicron 
GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology Inc. said their Covid-19 antibody treatment retained effectiveness against the Omicron variant in laboratory studies, even as early data suggests that similar treatments work less well against the highly mutated strain. The results provide hope that at least one monoclonal antibody therapy—a form of treatment that has proven useful in blunting severe disease—will remain effective against Omicron, which has been detected in dozens of countries including the U.S. since it was identified by scientists in South Africa two weeks ago. (Roland, 12/7)

Also —

Fortune: GSK Says Its COVID Antibody Therapy Works Against Omicron. Here’s What Other Drugmakers Say About Their Treatments
Most pharmaceutical companies have been working on their own monoclonal antibody or antiviral pill treatments and rushing to test how they fare against the new omicron variant, which is proving to be highly contagious, but mild in symptoms. Among the others, preliminary testing of U.S. drugmaker Regeneron Pharamaceuticals’ monoclonal antibody drug has shown it loses effectiveness against Omicron, the company said last week. ... Regeneron rival Eli Lilly also isn’t as effective against Omicron, outside scientists found. (Mellor, 12/7)

The New York Times: New Covid Antiviral Pills Offer Hope As Omicron Looms 
As the world worries that the Omicron coronavirus variant may cause a surge of cases and weaken vaccines, drug developers have some encouraging news: Two new Covid-19 pills are coming soon, and are expected to work against all versions of the virus. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon authorize a pill made by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, called molnupiravir, which reduces the risk of hospitalization and death from Covid-19 by 30 percent if taken within five days of the onset of symptoms. (Zimmer, 12/7)

CNBC: WHO Strongly Advises Against Convalescent Plasma For Treating Covid Patients
The World Health Organization on Monday issued a strong recommendation against administering convalescent plasma to treat Covid-19 patients, citing research that shows no improvement in patients who received the treatment. In convalescent plasma therapy, blood plasma is donated by someone who has recovered from the virus and transferred into a patient battling the virus with the hope the donor’s antibodies help fight the infection. However, the WHO’s guideline development group found that “there was no clear benefit for critical outcomes such as mortality and mechanical ventilation for patients with non-severe, severe or critical illness, and significant resource requirements in terms of cost and time for administration.” (Kimball, 12/6)

In updates on the spread of the coronavirus —

The Washington Post: U.S. Coronavirus Cases Approach 50 Million 
The total number of reported coronavirus cases in the United States marched toward 50 million early Tuesday, as New York City imposed a vaccine mandate for all private employers, federal health authorities warned against travel to several European countries and more nations tightened restrictions on the unvaccinated. The omicron variant of the virus, which is possibly more contagious than the widespread delta variant, had been found in 19 U.S. states as of Monday — just five days after the first known case in the country emerged in California. That number reflected the potentially heightened transmissibility of the newest variant and an improved system for detecting it. (Jeong, Suliman, Bernstein, Sellers and Villegas, 12/7)

Billings Gazette: Montana COVID Deaths At Record Highs, Flu Season Concerning For Experts
COVID-19 related deaths continue to reach record levels as 130 more Montanans died in the last seven days. Montana has averaged 15 deaths per day over the last week with Nov. 30 bringing 33 deaths in a day. Yellowstone County leads the state with 461 COVID-related deaths since the start of the pandemic. Three more residents died over the weekend including a woman in her 70s who died Dec. 4, a woman in her 80s who died Dec. 5, and a man in his 60s who died Dec. 5. None were vaccinated. (Schabacker, 12/6)

USA Today: Court Orders Hospital To Allow Ivermectin Treatment In COVID-19 Case
A court order issued late Friday allowed a Pennsylvania man on a ventilator in a medically induced coma from COVID-19 to be treated with the controversial drug ivermectin. Keith Smith's wife, Darla, filed a lawsuit in York County Court last week asking a judge to compel the hospital to treat her husband with ivermectin, seeking an emergency injunction to force UPMC Memorial to administer the drug. Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic that is not part of the medical center’s COVID-19 protocols and is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of the virus. (Tebor and Fernando, 12/7)

KHN: When The Surges Just Keep Coming: A View From The Covid Vortex 
Dr. Rais Vohra has impeccable timing. He stepped into his role as interim health officer of Fresno County just months before the start of the covid-19 pandemic. Almost immediately, he found himself navigating the treacherous tensions between public health messaging and a skeptical population in a hub of industrial agriculture that is also one of the most politically conservative regions of California. First came the anti-mask protests, amplified by vows from the county sheriff that her deputies would refuse to enforce the state’s mask mandate. Next was the vocal resentment of covid-related business restrictions. Cap that off with roiling distrust of the new covid vaccines and a large migrant farmworker population with long-standing challenges accessing health care. Little surprise, then, that as of Dec. 3, about 55% of Fresno County residents were fully vaccinated, nearly 10 percentage points lower than the statewide average. In some rural pockets of the county, fewer than 40% of residents are fully vaccinated. (Gold, 12/7)

In news about testing and tracing —

The Boston Globe: Coronavirus Levels In Boston-Area Waste Water Have Risen Dramatically In Recent Days
Coronavirus readings in Boston-area wastewater have seen a dramatic rise in recent days, reaching levels not seen since the height of the January surge. The increase in the wastewater levels continues a trend that began around mid-November, but the tests found that the seven-day averages of virus traces in the wastewater have risen particularly fast over the last week or so. Levels of coronavirus in wastewater coming from the northern and southern samples of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s territory have both risen substantially, returning to levels last seen in mid-January. (Little Endara, 12/6)

Anchorage Daily News: A New Company Is Now Handling Anchorage’s Privatized COVID-19 Testing. What Changes Does That Bring?
A private company is now handling COVID-19 testing in Anchorage: Capstone Clinic, a Wasilla health care provider that’s evolved through the pandemic to become the state’s largest testing presence. The shift to Capstone from Visit Healthcare, the municipal testing contractor since July 2020, came suddenly this week with little public notice. (Hollander, 12/4)

The Washington Post: How To Find Covid Tests Abroad For New U.S. Flight Rules 
Per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirements, travelers must get a rapid antigen test or nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), which includes polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. While the PCR lab test is considered the gold standard of coronavirus testing, it usually take a couple of days to process results so it won’t work for the updated U.S. testing window (unless you get a pricey rapid PCR test, which delivers results in about an hour). Rapid antigen tests tend to be the fastest and most affordable, with results available in as little as 15 minutes. (Compton, 12/6)

In other covid news —

Bloomberg: First-Ever Covid-Killing Steel Can Inactivate 99.8% Of The Virus
Researchers in Hong Kong said they have developed the world’s first stainless steel that kills the Covid-19 virus within hours, adding to the arsenal of products being created globally to curb the pathogen that triggered the worst pandemic of the past century. The newly-developed alloy can inactivate 99.75% of the SARS-CoV-2 virus within three hours and 99.99% within six hours, according to a study published Nov. 25 by a team of researchers at the University of Hong Kong. (Hong, 12/7)

CIDRAP: Hispanic Race, Diabetes, Poverty Tied To Higher Rates TB Plus COVID-19
Tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19 were disproportionately diagnosed in close succession and more than twice as likely to lead to death among Californians who were Hispanic, had diabetes, or lived in areas of low health equity than those diagnosed as having TB before the pandemic, finds a study published late last week in JAMA Network Open. Researchers from California public health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) examined state health surveillance records for residents diagnosed as having TB from Sep 3, 2019, to Dec 31, 2020, and COVID-19 up to Feb 2, 2021, and compared them with those diagnosed as having TB from Jan 1, 2017, to Dec 31, 2019, or COVID-19 alone until Feb 2, 2021. (12/6)

KHN: Data Science Proved What Pittsburgh’s Black Leaders Knew: Racial Disparities Compound Covid Risk
The ferocity of the covid-19 pandemic did what Black Pittsburgh — communities that make up a quarter of the city’s population — thought impossible. It shook the norms. Black researchers, medical professionals and allies knew that people of color, even before covid, experienced bias in public health policy. As the deadly virus emerged, data analysts from Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh, foundation directors, epidemiologists and others pooled their talents to configure databases from unwieldy state data to chart covid cases. (Spolar, 12/7)

Indianapolis Star: More Than 50,000 School Children Have Tested Positive for COVID-19 This Semester
Reported cases of COVID-19 cases among Indiana's K-12 students jumped back up this week, after taking a dip around the Thanksgiving holiday. There were 4,321 new cases reported among students this week, the highest number of newly-reported cases since mid-September. Cases among students had dropped consistently for nearly two months until they began to tick back up at the start of last month. In addition to student cases, 265 new cases were reported among teachers and another 442 among other staff members. (Herron, 12/6)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kagel School Temporarily Transitions To Virtual Learning Due To COVID
Milwaukee's Albert E. Kagel School is temporarily transitioning to virtual learning after 3% or more of the total school population tested positive for COVID-19 within a 14-day period, according to a Monday evening news release from Milwaukee Public Schools. The school will start virtual learning on Tuesday and return to in-person on Dec. 17. (Kirby, 12/6)

Chicago Tribune: After School Aide's COVID Death, Coworkers Seek Stronger Protocols 
Longtime Chicago Public Schools employee jonL Bush had been working toward becoming a special education teacher before he died last month of coronavirus at the age of 44. “He’s friendly. He’s humorous. He’s understanding,” Bush’s mother, Claudette, told the Tribune. “His personality, even when he was working as a security guard, he was the go-to person. He was the chaperone when you go on a field trip. He didn’t just do his job from 9 to 5. He did it full-fledged.” At a news conference Monday outside the South Side school where her son worked as a special education classroom assistant, Claudette Bush called on the school district to strengthen its COVID-19 protocols to prevent other deaths. jonL Bush died Nov. 26, with obesity and hypertension listed as secondary causes, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. His mother said he was fully vaccinated. (Swartz, Petrella and Pratt, 12/6)

The Advocate: Louisiana Lawmakers Ask Gov. John Bel Edwards To Reject Rule Adding COVID Vaccine To School Shot List
Louisiana lawmakers voted Monday to reject Gov. John Bel Edwards' proposal to require students get vaccinated against COVID-19 before entering school, though the Democratic governor has said he intends to override legislative rejection and move forward with adding the vaccine to the state immunization schedule. Following an hours-long oversight hearing chock-full of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, the Louisiana House Committee on Health & Welfare voted 13-2 to oppose the rule, with a string of mostly Republican lawmakers labeling it a form of government overreach that infringes on parental choice, despite Louisiana's exceptionally broad opt-out provisions. (Paterson, 12/6)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Miami, UC Mandate Results: What Happens to Unvaccinated Students, Employees?
The deadline for students and workers at two of the Cincinnati region's biggest universities to get their COVID-19 vaccinations has passed. Compliance rates at Miami University and the University of Cincinnati vary between main and regional campuses as well as among students, faculty and staff. At Miami, compliance rates among students were higher than employees, with Miami staff holding the institution's highest unvaccinated rate of 7.68%, according to data provided by the university. (Mitchell, 12/7)

In mental health news —

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Las Vegas Sisters Help Give Nevada Students Mental Health Days
Taking inspiration from a teen in another state, two sisters in Las Vegas have helped make mental health a priority for students in Nevada. Caroline and Lauren Edgeworth, with the help of community groups and state Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, D-Las Vegas, pushed legislation that would allow Nevada students ages 7-18 to take up to three mental health days a year and adds mental health resources to the back of all student ID cards statewide. (Dylan, 12/6)

New Hampshire Public Radio: How The Pandemic Had A 'Massive Effect' On N.H. Kids' Mental Health 
It’s been a difficult time for families throughout the pandemic, with school closures and so much uncertainty. A new report from New Hampshire’s Office of the Child Advocate highlights how children, in particular, have been harmed by the pandemic. NHPR’s Morning Edition host Rick Ganley spoke with Moira O’Neill, the state’s Child Advocate, more about those findings. (McIntyre and Ganley, 12/6)

Also —

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: University Of Georgia To Clean Dorms Amid Student Health Complaints
The University of Georgia said Monday crews will soon conduct deep cleanings and make some repairs to several student housing complexes after a recent groundswell of parent complaints about their children getting sick on campus. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week reported many students — primarily in their first year on campus — are complaining of intense coughing, severe sore throat, congestion and other health conditions. They say it’s because rooms are improperly ventilated, old, need air filter replacements or have mold. (Stirgus, 12/6)

The Washington Post: Gen Z Most Stressed During Covid Pandemic, Citing Toll On Mental Health 
Gen Z is feeling the stresses of the pandemic more than any other age group, according to a new U.S. survey released on Monday. Higher proportions of young Americans between the ages of 13 and 24 say the pandemic has made their education, career goals and social lives more difficult, compared with millennials and Gen X. (Jeong, 12/7)

Fox News: COVID-Related Stress Weighs Heavily On Gen Z
Overall, more than a third of Americans ages 13 to 56 cite the pandemic as a major source of stress, and many say it has made certain parts of their lives harder. But when it comes to education, friendships and dating, the disruption has had a pronounced impact among Generation Z, according to a new survey from MTV Entertainment Group and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Among Americans in Gen Z — the survey included ages 13 to 24 — 46% said the pandemic has made it harder to pursue their education or career goals, compared with 36% of Millennials and 31% in Generation X. There was a similar gap when it came to dating and romantic relationships, with 40% of Gen Z saying it became harder. (12/6)

And everyone's blood pressure seems to be up —

CIDRAP: Blood Pressure Up During Pandemic? You're Not Alone, Study Finds 
Middle-aged US adults' blood pressures climbed during the COVID-19 pandemic, likely owing to increased stress and alcohol consumption, decreased physical activity and medication adherence, poor sleep, and disrupted access to healthcare, according to a research letter today in Circulation. Cleveland Clinic researchers mined data from more than 460,000 US participants in a national Quest Diagnostics employee wellness program who had undergone blood pressure screening every year from 2018 to 2020. Average age was 46 years, and 54% were women. (Van Beusekom, 12/6)

More on this pandemic ... and the next one —

The Atlantic: COVID Is Not Endemic Yet—And May Not Be For A Long Time
COVID is not yet endemic because too many people still lack any immunity from either vaccination or infection, here in the United States and globally. Europe is a cautionary tale in this regard: Countries such as Germany and Austria that have slightly better vaccination coverage than the U.S.—68 percent and 66 percent, respectively, compared with 60 percent here—are nevertheless seeing their cases and hospitalizations soar in yet another wave. Even with most people vaccinated, there isn’t enough immunity to blunt big and fast surges of Delta. ... (Zhang, 12/6)

NBC News: AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine Co-Creator Warns Next Pandemic Could Be Worse
One of the scientists behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Monday warned that the next pandemic could be even more deadly than the current one. Professor Sarah Gilbert, an Oxford University academic who won acclaim for her role in developing a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine in less than a year, warned against complacency in tackling future threats. "This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods," she said in a lecture at Oxford University due to be broadcast by the BBC on Monday night. "The truth is, the next one could be worse. It could be more contagious, or more lethal, or both." (Smith, 12/6)

AP: NYC To Impose Vaccine Mandate On Private Sector Employers 
From big Wall Street banks to corner grocery stores, all private employers in New York City will have to require their workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the mayor announced Monday in the most sweeping vaccine mandate of any state or big city in the U.S. The move by Mayor Bill de Blasio comes as cases are climbing again in the U.S. and the worrisome but little-understood omicron variant is gaining a toehold in the nation’s largest city and elsewhere around the country. (Price, Calvan and Matthews, 12/6)

The New York Times: N.Y.C. To Mandate Vaccines For Employees At Private Businesses 
The mandate, almost certain to face legal challenges and to pose difficulties for the employers tasked with enforcing it, will apply to about 184,000 businesses. It is set to take effect on Dec. 27, just days before Mayor Bill de Blasio leaves office. Mr. de Blasio described his action as a “pre-emptive strike” designed to stall another wave of virus cases amid rising concerns about the Omicron variant. (Fitzsimmons, 12/6)

The New York Times: Will Eric Adams Keep N.Y.C.’s Newest Vaccine Mandate? 
The mayor-elect, who is on vacation in Ghana, intends to “evaluate this mandate and other Covid strategies when he is in office and make determinations based on science, efficacy and the advice of health professionals,” Eric Adams’s spokesman, Evan Thies, said. So even as Mr. de Blasio won ample publicity in advance of his likely run for governor, it remained far from clear what would happen to this private-sector mandate — or Mr. de Blasio’s pandemic policies in general — once he leaves office. (Rubinstein, 12/6)

In related news from New York —

Axios: Gov. Hochul Will Order Some NY Hospitals To Halt Elective Surgeries 
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday that some state hospitals will be ordered to halt certain elective surgeries in an effort to combat a recent COVID-19 surge, Hochul said at a press conference. New York has struggled with hospital capacity throughout the pandemic and postponed nonessential procedures before. Hochul said the program to end elective surgeries will be "targeted" and affect around 30 facilities, which are expected to be announced late Monday. (Garfinkel, 12/6)

In other covid mandate news —

Health News Florida: Appeals Court Denies Florida's Request To Halt Biden's Health Workers Vax Mandate 
A divided federal appeals court Sunday rejected Florida’s request to at least temporarily block a Biden administration rule that would require health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, turned down a motion by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody for an injunction against the Biden administration rule while the Atlanta-based court considers the vaccination requirement. The decision said the state “failed to make the requisite showing for an injunction pending appeal.” Judges Robin Rosenbaum and Jill Pryor made up the majority, while Judge Barbara Lagoa dissented. The one-page decision said full opinions would be issued later. (Saunders, 12/6)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Nursing Homes Avoid Furloughs, Fines Over Unvaccinated Workers 
Ronald Payne was on the verge of carrying out companywide furloughs this week at the nursing home chain he runs in Texas, letting go of anyone on staff who had not gotten at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, as mandated by the federal government. That might have meant well over 100 people at Southwest LTC Management Services’17 Texas nursing homes, he said. Instead, his facilities, along with most of the other 1,200 nursing homes in the state, were able to continue business as usual after a federal judge last week blocked the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health care workers. (Harper and Astudillo, 12/7)

Dallas Morning News: Caris Life Sciences Employees Sue Company After Religious Exemptions Denied For Vaccine Mandate
Employees of an Irving-based cancer research firm sued it for its vaccination protocol, which they say is unlawful. In a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas last Tuesday, four Caris Life Sciences employees said that they had been targeted for termination if they refused to get vaccinated by Dec. 1, which they say represents “discriminatory employment practices.” (Walters, 12/6)

CIDRAP: Study: COVID Vaccine-Related Myocarditis Mild, Resolves Quickly
Today in Circulation, researchers report that most cases of rare yet potentially serious episodes of myocarditis related to COVID-19 vaccinations in teens and young adults were mild, and the case-patients recovered quickly. Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, often follows bacterial or viral infections. In June 2021, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a link between mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and increased incidents of myocarditis, especially in boys and men 12 to 29. (12/6)

Reuters: Mixing Pfizer, AstraZ COVID-19 Shots With Moderna Gives Better Immune Response -UK Study
A major British study into mixing COVID-19 vaccines has found that people had a better immune response when they received a first dose of AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech shots followed by Moderna nine weeks later, according to the results on Monday. "We found a really good immune response across the board..., in fact, higher than the threshold set by Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine two doses," Matthew Snape, the Oxford professor behind the trial dubbed Com-COV2, told Reuters. (Aripaka and Marks, 12/7)

In updates on breakthrough infections —

The Wall Street Journal: Post-Booster Breakthrough Covid-19 Cases Are Happening, But Rarely 
A small number of Covid-19 breakthrough cases are beginning to show up among people who got both a full round of vaccinations and a booster shot. Heather Green received her Covid-19 booster, a third injection of the Pfizer vaccine, at the end of September. A month later, the 47-year-old was surprised to discover during a routine test that her mild allergy-like symptoms were actually from Covid-19. (Reddy, 12/6)

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: What Is The Buckeye State’s Coronavirus Breakthrough Case Rate? Ohio Department Of Health Isn’t Reporting It 
The Ohio Department of Health still doesn’t release the number of positive coronavirus cases among vaccinated Ohioans, despite nearly a year passing since the first shots arrived in the Buckeye State. Ohio has entered a new wave in the pandemic. COVID-19 hospitalizations in Northeast Ohio have shot up, and some facilities have postponed elective surgeries to devote more resources to fighting the coronavirus. Yet, the state doesn’t plan to release breakthrough case data beyond cases that result in hospitalizations and deaths that it currently updates on Thursdays. (Hancock, 12/6)

And more on the vaccine rollout —

AP: Unvaccinated Starkville Employees To Pay More For Insurance
Starting in early February, Starkville city employees who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 may have to pay an extra $75 a month for medical insurance. Aldermen for the Mississippi city set the policy in September and set it to take effect Dec. 1. They met last week and voted to delay that until Feb. 4. (12/6)

The Boston Globe: Wu Announces Free COVID Tests, Masks, And Vaccination Clinics To Confront Boston’s ‘Urgent Situation’
Boston health officials will distribute 20,000 free rapid antigen home tests and free masks to neighborhoods with the highest rates of COVID-19, Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration announced Monday. The city will also expand access to vaccinations, including at new high-volume clinics and city schools. The plan, announced at a City Hall press conference, marked the new mayor’s first initiative to combat the latest phase of the pandemic, as the Omicron variant bears down on Massachusetts. She also announced the formation of a 17-member board to advise the city on its COVID-19 response. (Freyer and Stoico, 12/6)

NPR: Francis Collins On Medical Advances, Vaccine Hesitancy And Americans' Ill Health
It's Dr. Francis Collins' last few weeks as director of National Institutes of Health after 12 years, serving three presidents. Collins made his name doing the kind of biomedical research NIH is famous for, especially running The Human Genome Project, which fully sequenced the human genetic code. The focus on biomedicine and cures has helped him grow the agency's budget to over $40 billion a year and win allies in both political parties. Still, in a broad sense, Americans' health hasn't improved much in those 12 years, especially compared to people in peer countries, and some have argued the agency hasn't done enough to try to turn these trends around. One recently retired NIH division director has quipped that one way to increase funding for this line of research would be if "out of every $100 dollars, $1 would be put into the 'Hey, how come nobody's healthy?' fund." (Simmons-Duffin, 12/7)

AP: Biden Touts Savings On Insulin And Other Drugs For Americans 
President Joe Biden pledged Monday that his social agenda legislation would deliver tangible savings on prescription drugs for all Americans. Relief that consumers have clamored for is now in sight, he asserted. But first the bill has to pass Congress, where plenty of obstacles remain in its path. Biden tried to shift the focus to pocketbook provisions overlooked in the political machinations over his $2 trillion legislation, which deals with issues from climate to family life and taxes. Even before concerns over rising inflation, polls consistently showed support from Americans across the political spectrum for government action to lower drug costs. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 12/6)

The Hill: Biden Points To Drug Prices In Call For Senate Social Spending Vote 
Biden called prescription drugs "outrageously expensive in this country," saying, "It doesn't need to be that way." "To really solve this problem, we need the Senate to follow the House of Representatives' lead and pass my Build Back Better bill," he said. Lowering drug prices is one of the most popular parts of Biden's sweeping climate and social spending measure, and Democrats are looking to tout the changes and hammer Republicans for opposing them. (Sullivan, 12/6)

Stat: Biden Touts An Insulin Price Cap, But Advocates Want More Ambitious Reform
President Biden promised Monday that Democrats’ signature drug pricing plan will mean no insured American will spend more than $35 per month for insulin. Drug pricing advocates say that’s not good enough — they’re pushing for last-minute changes to expand those reforms to the uninsured. Democrats’ drug pricing reforms, which are included in the larger spending package known as the Build Back Better Act, would cap how much those with insurance can pay out of pocket each month for insulin at $35. The provision currently applies to those covered by both Medicare and private insurance, but it does not change how much those without insurance will pay for their insulin. (Florko, 12/6)

In related news —

Axios: Vulnerable Democrats Urge Congress To Act Before Medicare Cuts Kick In 
Vulnerable Democrats are urging President Biden and congressional leaders to act quickly to prevent the Medicare cuts that will take effect on the first day of the new year. Congress has little time to act before the Medicare reimbursement cuts kick in on Jan. 1, 2022, and there’s currently no vehicle on the table to push the legislation through. (Mucha, 12/6)

ABC News: Why Congress Keeps Letting Deadlines Pile Up And Pushing Them Back 
When asked Monday about whether his sweeping social spending and climate agenda -- the Build Back Better Act -- can pass the Senate before Christmas as he and congressional leaders want, President Joe Biden responded, "As early as we can get it. We want to get it done no matter how long it takes." And that answer suggests it could be yet another deadline missed. (Donaldson, 12/7)

Politico: Biden’s Plan For A ‘No Drama’ December 
The White House is praying for a quiet December, aiming to avoid the usual political histrionics that come at the end of the year as they push the second piece of President Joe Biden’s landmark economic agenda. Internally, White House officials are optimistic about getting the social spending plan done and, perhaps, of avoiding high-pitched fights. The successful extension of government funding this past week — despite brief threats by some Republicans to force a shutdown over vaccine mandates — has only boosted their hopes. (Barron-Lopez, 12/6)

Also —

Axios: Drug Pricing Coalition Documents Reveal Data-Blocking Against Employers 
American businesses spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on prescription drugs, and the bills keep getting bigger. But some of the companies promising to help rein in those costs prevent employers from looking under the hood. Documents provided to Axios reveal a new layer of secrecy within the maze of American drug pricing — one in which firms that manage drug coverage for hundreds of employers, representing millions of workers, obscure the details of their work and make it difficult to figure out whether they're actually providing a good deal. (Herman, 12/6)

Dallas Morning News: Medicare Open Enrollment Deadline Is Tuesday
Open enrollment for next year’s Medicare coverage started last month and continues through Dec. 7. Nationwide, over 3,800 plans are available, the highest number ever, the Kaiser Family Foundation says. Anyone signing up for Medicare gets to choose either “original Medicare” or a Medicare Advantage plan. Original Medicare consists of Part A (hospital services) and Part B (medical services), so many people on Original Medicare buy a prescription drug plan and a supplemental policy to help cover expenses. Medicare Advantage plans (sometimes referred to as Part C) are more of a one-stop-shop option, often covering vision, hearing and/or dental care, and they also include prescription drug coverage. (Schnurman, 12/6)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Medicare Changes Must Be Made By Dec. 7 For The 2022 Plan Year, Including Your Part D Prescription Plan
Ever-rising health-care costs are most burdensome to people who are low income or uninsured. But health-care affordability is an issue that cuts across generations and income levels: About 2.6 million Medicare beneficiaries skipped or delayed filling a medication prescription because of cost. Medicare, the publicly funded health program for adults 65 and older and people with disabilities, is often characterized by good coverage with low out-of-pocket costs. But according to analysis by Robert Wood Johnson researchers, out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries vary greatly, depending on your medical needs and the type of plan you choose. (Gantz, 12/6)

In more Medicare news —

Stat: Targeting Prices For Accelerated Approval Drugs May Have Limited Impact On Overall Drug Spending 
As U.S. regulators approve more medicines under a so-called accelerated approval pathway, Medicare and Medicaid continue to spend more on treatments that come to market through an accelerated approval pathway, even though the clinical benefits remain unproven, according to two new analyses. Accelerated approval refers to early endorsements of medicines that treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need based on a surrogate marker that is “reasonably likely” to predict clinical benefits. From 1992 through 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued more than 250 accelerated approvals, mostly cancer treatments. (Silverman, 12/6)

Modern Healthcare: At-Home Primary Care Demo Hasn't Saved Medicare Money, Study Finds
A demonstration aimed at offering Medicare beneficiaries better primary care services at home and cutting costs hasn't led to program savings or substantially improved care, an independent analysis found. The sixth year of the demonstration known as Independence at Home reduced total Medicare expenditures by an estimated 1% per beneficiary per month in 2019, according to research published by the consulting firm Mathematica last week. Earlier Mathematica evaluations of the program through its fourth year found that savings weren't statistically significant. Though year five in 2018 did result in lower costs, those were driven by a single site that left the program after that year. (Goldman, 12/6)

Bloomberg Law: Justices Pass On Case Over Doctor’s Medicare Billing Start Date
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a doctor’s dispute with the Department of Health and Human Services over its alleged failure to pay out seven years of Medicare claims after a program contractor mistakenly deactivated the doctor from Medicare billing privileges. The case would have offered the justices the chance to reexamine how much deference courts should grant to agency interpretations of ambiguous regulations. (Brown, 12/6)

Stat: Major Telehealth Players Unite Ahead Of Tough Lobbying Battle 
Major players in the telehealth space have united to create a supergroup of sorts, ahead of a looming lobbying fight. Giants like CVS, Walmart, and Amazon are teaming up with lobbying powerhouses like Teladoc and the American Hospital Association, along with major hospital systems including Johns Hopkins. They have a huge financial interest in making sure the telehealth regulations that were loosened during the pandemic and the Medicare pay rates that were boosted for the same reason stay that way. AARP, which advocates for older adults, also joined the group. (Cohrs, 12/7)

The New York Times: Instagram Parental Controls Are Set Arrive In March 
Instagram will introduce its first parental controls in March as it faces pressure to do more to shield its young users from harmful content and keep them from overusing the product. Adam Mosseri, the head of the app inside Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, said in a blog post that parents would be able to see how long their teenage children have spent using Instagram and limit the amount of time they spend on the app. Teenagers will also be able to tell their parents if they have reported someone for a violation of Instagram’s policies. “This is the first version of these tools; we’ll continue to add more options over time,” he said in the post. (McCabe, 12/7)

NPR: Instagram Unveils New Teen Safety Tools Ahead Of Senate Hearing
Instagram is rolling out a new set of safety features aimed at its youngest users and their parents, a day before the photo-sharing app's head testifies to Congress about the platform's potential risks to kids and teens. They include tools to help users manage how much time they spend on the app, limits on both unwanted interactions with adults and exposure to sensitive content, and optional parental oversight of children's accounts. (Bond, 12/7)

The Washington Post: Instagram Is Touting Safety Features For Teens. Mental Health Advocates Aren’t Buying It.
Instagram will start offering “take a break” reminders starting today if you’ve been scrolling on the social media app too long. The prompt is one of a cluster of features that Instagram, owned by Facebook parent company Meta, is rolling out to keep teens safer and healthier online, it said Tuesday. The proposed features include unspecified restrictions on what content is algorithmically recommended to teens and soon-to-come tools for parents to view and manage the time their teens spend on the app. (Hunter, 12/7)

In related news —

New York Post: Eating Disorder Posts Still Thrive On Instagram Despite Claims Of A Crackdown
Instagram is still plagued with disturbing eating disorder images that appear to violate the photo app’s rules — months after parent company Meta claimed it was cracking down. Despite a rash of bad press and congressional scrutiny around the app’s toxic effects on teens, recent searches on Instagram have revealed accounts with names like “theprettiestareskinniest” and “be_skinnyb—ch” that feature images of emaciated bodies and which appear to encourage eating disorders, an investigation by The Post reveals. (Wayt, 12/5)

The New York Times: Women Earn $2 Million Less Than Men In Their Careers As Doctors 
Female doctors make less than their male counterparts starting from their very first days on the job, according to a large new study. Over the course of a 40-year-career, researchers estimated, this pay gap adds up to at least $2 million. The survey of more than 80,000 physicians, published on Monday in the medical journal Health Affairs, is the largest analysis to date on physician salaries and the first to estimate the cumulative impact of pay gaps in medicine. (Ghorayshi, 12/6)

Stat: Gender Gap In Physician Salaries Adds Up To $2 Million In Lifetime Earnings
Women may now equal or outnumber men in medical school classes, but their lifetime earnings as doctors still fall far short of parity. A persistent 25% pay gap between female and male physicians adds up to $2 million over a medical career, a new analysis calculates, after accounting for specialty, hours, location, and years of experience. The study, published Monday in Health Affairs, echoes other research in academic medicine but also charts a similar gulf in community settings. Its authors believe their work is the first to put a dollar sign on the cumulative impact on income for physicians wherever they practice. (Cooney, 12/6)

In updates on the nursing shortage —

The Washington Post: Nurses Are Leaving Staff Jobs During Covid And Tripling Salaries To Travel
Wanderlust, and the money to fund it, made Alex Stow’s decision easy. After working a couple of years in an intensive care unit, he signed up to be a travel nurse, tripling his pay to about $95 an hour by agreeing to help short-staffed hospitals around the country for 13 weeks at a time. “Travel” proved a bit of a misnomer. His current assignment is in Traverse City, Mich., only a few hours from his old full-time job in Lansing — close enough that he still works per-diem shifts at his previous hospital. Now Stow, 25, is buying a truck and a camper and preparing to hit the road. He’ll work where he wants and take time off to see the country between nursing assignments. (Bernstein, 12/6)

Modern Healthcare: University Of Maryland Medical System To Spend $5.1M To Recruit Staff
The University of Maryland Medical System on Monday said it launched a $5.1 million recruitment effort to attract nurses and other bedside staff as the pandemic continues to put pressure on medical staffing. The campaign, called UMMS Community College Tuition Assistance Incentive Program, began in December and is targeted at recent graduate from two-year state schools, the system said in a news release. "In the spirit of community, we have enhanced our partnerships with community colleges whose health professions programs are an excellent workforce resource. including schools across Maryland and with Delaware Technical Community College," Lisa Rowen, a registered nurse and UMMS senior vice president and chief nurse executive, said in a news release. (Christ, 12/6)

In other news about medical personnel —

New Hampshire Public Radio: New Hampshire Seeks Outside Help With Autopsies 
The state medical examiner’s office is asking for help to address a rising number of autopsies and other duties. At a time when deaths by drug overdose and COVID-19 are rising in New Hampshire, the state has been down a medical examiner for more than a year, straining the office’s ability to investigate a range of deaths. A contract up for a vote by the Executive Council this week would pay a New York doctor $18,000 to help with autopsies and other tasks in the state’s medical examiner’s office. (Rogers, 12/6)

Houston Chronicle: Exclusive: CEO Of Astroworld Medical Provider Recalls Moment When Routine Festival Spiraled Out Of Control
Alex Pollak was feeling pretty confident in the moments before Travis Scott stepped out on the stage at NRG Park last month. He’d spent hours walking across the venue, checking on his EMTs and doctors, who were roaming the pit and staffing ParaDocs Worldwide’s medical tent. The crowd was full of energy, he recalled, but nothing seemed particularly unusual compared with other concerts his company had worked over the years. But as Scott appeared on stage, just after 9 p.m., what appeared to be a routine music festival would begin to spin out of control. (Barned-Smith, 12/6)

Bloomberg: One State’s History Of Hospital Debt Lawsuits Reveals Racial Gap
Hospitals sued patients to collect medical bills at an escalating pace over the past two decades in Wisconsin, according to a new analysis, and the suits disproportionately affected Black people. The rate of medical debt collection lawsuits in the state increased by more than a third from 2001 to 2018, researchers from Yale University and Stanford University reported in the journal Health Affairs. Lawsuits that led to wage garnishments also rose. The authors called it the first study of long-term trends in such suits by hospitals. (Tozzi, 12/6)

Modern Healthcare: Wisconsin Hospitals Sued More Patients, Garnished More Wages In Recent Years
Wisconsin hospitals filed 37% more medical debt lawsuits in 2018 than in 2001, and the targets were disproportionately Black patients and those living in rural areas, a new Health Affairs study found. Wisconsin hospitals sued patients at a rate of 1.53 per 1,000 residents in 2018, a year they filed about 8,900 lawsuits, according to the findings released Monday. That's up from 1.12 per 1,000 residents in 2001, when they filed just under 5,900 lawsuits. The share of cases that resulted in wage garnishment jumped 27% during that time. Just over half of cases filed in 2018 culminated in wage garnishment. (Bannow, 12/6)

In other health industry news —

Cal Matters: From Maggots To Sex Abuse, Nursing Homes Sue California To Overturn Citations, Fines
At a nursing home in Los Angeles last year, a nurse’s aide was giving a resident a bed bath when she noticed something moving around his feeding tube. When she looked closer, she saw maggots crawling from underneath the tube’s dressing. Another nurse noted that the patient’s tube — inserted into his stomach to provide nutrition — “had not been cleaned” and “flies are always in the building.” There was no record of the feeding tube being cleaned for 23 days, a state inspector reported. Already paralyzed from a stroke and suffering from COVID-19 pneumonia, the 65-year-old man contracted a serious infection and landed in the hospital. (Feder Ostrov, 12/6)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas Clinic Genecis Cuts Care To Transgender Kids, Halts Hormone Treatments For New Patients
A pioneering care program in Dallas for transgender youth is cutting off hormone and other medical treatments for new patients, a move that goes against the standards of care for eligible adolescents set out by transgender health experts. Genecis — which stands for Gender Education and Care, Interdisciplinary Support — was a highly-acclaimed 7-year-old program created by Children’s Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center to provide transgender and gender-diverse youth with health care, including mental health counseling and hormone therapy. (Wolf and McGaughy, 12/6)

AP: Kansas To Get $27.6M From Firm Investigated Over Drug Costs
Kansas will receive nearly $27.6 million from a legal settlement with the company that manages prescription costs for its Medicaid program, after an investigation into whether the company had overcharged the state, Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Monday. The settlement with St. Louis-based Centene Corp. comes after a nearly two-year investigation by Schmidt’s office and a Jackson, Mississippi-area law firm it hired to review Centene’s practices. States throughout the country have been investigating companies known as pharmacy benefit managers, and Mississippi and Ohio in June settled lawsuits against Centene for a total of nearly $144 million. (Hanna, 12/6)

And more legal news —

AP: Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Faces Cross-Examination 
The fraud trial of fallen Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is set to resume Tuesday with continued cross-examination of Holmes and possible expert psychological testimony. Holmes, 37, has pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding investors and patients by failing to deliver on her promise to revolutionize health care with a technology that was supposed to be able to detect a wide range of diseases and other problems by testing just a few drops of blood. She is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud, which carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. (12/7)

AP: Former Pharma Executive Charged With Embezzling Millions
A former executive and owner of a pharmaceutical company embezzled millions of dollars from his company to use for personal expenses, the U.S. attorney’s charged in a criminal complaint released Monday. John Klein allegedly took about $3.9 million from a customer in 2016 and deposited it into an account he controlled, then used the money to pay for personal expenses including credit card payments, property taxes and his child’s private school tuition, all while allowing the company to represent in its financial statements that the money hadn’t been collected. ... Klein’s company wasn’t identified in the complaint, but his online bio and other court filings list him as the CEO of Cambridge Therapeutic Technologies, a company that was headquartered in Teaneck and engaged in the packaging and distribution of pharmaceuticals. (12/6)

In other pharmaceutical industry news —

The Wall Street Journal: Johnson & Johnson Prepares To Untangle Finances Ahead Of Planned Split 
Johnson & Johnson is trying to figure out how to divide its supply chain and substantial financial holdings as part of a planned split into two publicly-traded businesses. The New Brunswick, N.J.-based healthcare and consumer-goods giant last month said it would split off its consumer-health business, which sells Tylenol medicines, Band-Aid bandages and Johnson’s Baby Powder, into a so-far unnamed company in 18 months to two years. The company is considering spinning out the unit and holding a stock offering. (Maurer, 12/6)

Stat: Flagship To Launch A New Startup Focused On Neurodegenerative Conditions
Flagship Pioneering is gearing up to launch a new company that seems to be developing precisely targeted treatments for neurodegenerative conditions, including Parkinson’s. The new startup, dubbed Vesalius Therapeutics, will be led by Chris Austin, a high-profile recent Flagship recruit who was the founding director of the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and a senior adviser to the National Human Genome Research Institute. Neurodegenerative conditions are one of his scientific areas of expertise. (Sheridan, 12/7)

Stat: Carbon Health Launches A Program For CGMs To Curb Diabetes Risk
In April, endocrinologist Calvin Wu described how his company, Steady Health, was making use of the flowing stream of data from continuous glucose monitors to help patients with type 1 diabetes manage their blood glucose and avoid dangerous complications. That effort extended to some patients with type 2 diabetes, but he drew the line there. “I think there may very well be a role for CGM down the road as more of a preventative kind of use case,” said Wu. “But I think the challenge here is that the evidence for that right now is fairly light.” (Palmer, 12/7)

Stat: Acadia Pharmaceuticals Drug Meets Endpoints For Treating Rett Syndrome
An experimental drug being developed by Acadia Pharmaceuticals improved the symptoms of women and girls with Rett syndrome, a rare genetic disease that robs patients of the ability to interact socially and can cause seizures and other neurological problems, the company said Monday. The data were made public in a press release and have not yet been peer-reviewed. (Herper, 12/6)

The Hill: Study: Test Detects Signs Of Dementia At Least Six Months Earlier Than Standard Method
A study released Monday concluded that a self-administered test detected signs of potential dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, at least six months ahead of the standard testing method, suggesting the exam may help doctors diagnose patients sooner. The self-administered gerocognitive examination (SAGE) test picked up on signs of cognitive impairment months earlier among patients than the often used mini-mental state examination (MMSE), according to the research published in the journal “Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy.” (Coleman, 12/6)

Product recalls are announced —

NPR: Adult Portable Bed Rails Have Been Recalled After 2 People Died
Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission are recalling nearly half a million adult portable bed rails after the reports of two deaths, one in 2011 and another in 2015. The voluntary recall issued Monday involves four different models of the company's Bed Assist Handle and Bed Assist Rail adult portable bed rails, totaling more than 496,000 units. According to the recall notice posted by CSPC, the two deaths occurred in February 2011 and February 2015. One of the cases involved a 93-year-old woman from California and another involved a 92-year-old man who was living at an assisted living facility in Canada. (Franklin, 12/6)

NPR: Alexander & Hornung Recalls Ham And Pepperoni Products Over Listeria Concerns
A subsidiary of Perdue Premium Meat Company is asking customers to avoid eating certain batches of its fully cooked pork products because of possible listeria contamination. Michigan-based Alexander & Hornung is recalling 234,391 pounds of fully cooked ham and pepperoni products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced on Sunday. "FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers' refrigerators or freezers," it said, urging people to throw the items away or return them to their place of purchase. (Treisman, 12/6)

In other public health news —

The Washington Post: Pregnant People More Likely To Die By Homicide Than Any Other Cause 
At the Safe Sisters Circle, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., founder and executive director Alana C. Brown said she has worked with “countless” survivors of intimate partner violence who were abused while pregnant. While providing legal services to survivors in the city’s predominantly Black Ward 7 and 8, Brown said she’s witnessed that sometimes the abuse isn’t only physical; she’s seen survivors miscarry from the stress of emotional abuse. Earlier this year, Brown published an article with the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence detailing the specific ways that medical racism, a long legacy of discrimination and reproductive coercion have resulted in Black women facing some of the highest rates of domestic violence and sexual abuse. (Nowell, 12/6)

The Hill: Study Casts Doubt On Idea That Marijuana Improves Sleep
Scientists say using marijuana could harm sleeping habits, according to a new study published Monday. The study, published in the journal BMJ, showed that adults who used marijuana at least 20 times in the last month were 64 percent more likely to sleep less than six hours per night and 76 percent more likely to sleep over nine hours per night. (Beals, 12/6)

CNN: Hawaii Health Officials Order Navy To Clean Up Contaminated Drinking Water After Families Are Forced To Move Out Of Their Homes 
The Hawaii Department of Health is ordering the Navy to take immediate action to address contaminated drinking water at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, an issue that has forced more than 700 people from their homes and left parents fearing the water they bathed their children in made them sick. The Navy previously said it shut down its Red Hill well on November 28 and that families living on base reported symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and skin-related concerns. (Chen, Simonson and Burnside, 12/7)

AP: Navy Halts Use Of Fuel Storage Complex Above Hawaii Aquifer 
The U.S. Navy announced Monday that it is suspending use of a massive World War II-era fuel storage complex above a Hawaii aquifer that supplies nearly 20% of Honolulu’s drinking water — following days of complaints that tap water smells like fuel and has sickened some people. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro traveled to Pearl Harbor and told reporters he was apologizing to everyone affected by what he called a “horrible, horrible tragedy.” (McAvoy, 12/7)

In news from Arizona and Montana —

AP: New Study Outlines High Costs Of Extreme Heat In Phoenix 
Extreme heat is expensive. That’s the conclusion of a study presented Monday by The Nature Conservancy, which commissioned a look at the costs of rising temperatures in Phoenix. Working with infrastructure consulting firm AECOM, the nonprofit environmental organization known for its nature preserves and efforts to protect biodiversity this time turned its attention to the country’s hottest large metropolitan area. “As Phoenix continues to urbanize and its population expands, the benefits of adapting to extreme heat may only increase, as will the consequences of inaction,” the report said. “To implement the ambitious solution scenarios and realize the associated benefits, both the public and private sector will need to play an active role.” (Snow, 12/7)

Billings Gazette: VA Unveils New $2.1M Veterans Health Care Clinic In Miles City
Veterans living in the Miles City region will have access to a new VA clinic starting this week. Tucked into a shopping center on the east side of the city, the new facility is one of several recent additions to the Montana Veterans Health Care System. State VA officials, along with health care workers and local veterans, gathered Wednesday for a ceremony marking the building’s opening. (Hamby, 12/6)

In news from Wisconsin, Ohio and Kentucky —

ABC News: Wisconsin Law To Curb Rape Kit Backlog With Standardized Collection, Tracking System 
For years, thousands of sexual assault kits sat on the shelves in Wisconsin crime labs, leaving victims and investigators desperately waiting for crucial data, according to state officials. But new legislation that went into effect Monday aims to clear up this backlog and provide victims with more information about their investigations. (Pereira, 12/6)

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Former Geauga County Health Commissioner Robert Weisdack Dies From COVID-19 Complications 
Longtime Geauga County health commissioner Robert “Bob” Weisdack died last week of complications from COVID-19. He was 70 years old. Weisdack died Friday after a three-week battle with COVID-19, according to an obituary posted by Fleming & Billman Funeral Directors. The obituary did not say if he had received a coronavirus vaccine. Weisdack spent 19 years as the commissioner for the Geauga County Health Department. Throughout his career, he has served as an epidemiologist, registered sanitarian and administrator, according to his obituary. (Mitchell, 12/6)

AP: Children's Hospital Opening In Eastern Kentucky
A children’s hospital has opened in eastern Kentucky. The Drs. R.V. and Jyothi Mettu Children’s Hospital opened Monday at Pikeville Medical Center, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. It will be the first such hospital in the region and will serve Kentucky, southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. (12/7)

Courier Journal: Kentucky Judge Hits Health Care Sharing 'Ministry' With $4.7M Judgment
When Austin Willard, a committed Christian, left his job at a campus outreach ministry to start his own business and needed to find health care coverage for his growing family, he turned to an alternative to conventional insurance. Willard, of Lexington, Kentucky, signed up in 2018 for what is known as a "health care sharing ministry" in which members of the same faith share medical expenses. (Wolfson, 12/7)

In news from Vermont, Maryland and Florida —

Burlington Free Press: Vermont Abenaki Bison Project Tackles Food Insecurity By Raising Bison
It was a chilly Vermont afternoon, and the bison were hungry. The herd eagerly chomped down on mounds of hay fed to them by Chief Don Stevens of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk-Abenaki Nation. (Fisher, 12/7)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Health Department Says There’s No Evidence Of Data Lost After Cyberattack; Website Is Back Online 
The Maryland Department of Health said Monday that there was “no evidence” any of its data had been compromised after a cyberattack forced the agency to take its website offline over the weekend. “There is no evidence at this time that any data have been compromised,” department spokesman Andy Owen said in a Monday afternoon email. “As part of the ongoing investigation into the network security incident that occurred, the Maryland Department of Health’s servers will remain offline out of an abundance of caution,” Owen said. “Data updates will resume as soon as possible.” (Condon and Miller, 12/6)

Health News Florida: Florida Is Poised To Move Forward On Black Farmer Medical Marijuana License
Black farmers with ties to doing business in Florida will be able to apply for one of the state’s highly sought-after medical marijuana licenses in March, according to an emergency rule published this week by state health officials. The Department of Health will accept applications for the single Black farmer license from March 21 through March 25, the notice said. The application period will be the first opportunity for prospective medical marijuana operators to vie for a Florida license since 2015, after lawmakers in 2014 legalized marijuana that is low in euphoria-inducing THC for patients with a handful of medical conditions. (Kam, 12/6)

Axios: U.S. Announces $400M For Global COVID Vaccine Distribution 
The U.S. will invest an additional $400 million toward COVID-19 vaccination distribution efforts, such as bolstering cold chain infrastructure and supporting delivery, USAID administrator Samantha Power announced Monday. While the problem of COVID-19 vaccine supply across the world is starting to ease in some places, the logistics of getting the vaccine in arms has emerged as a major bottleneck. (Reed, 12/6)

In other global covid news —

The Washington Post: CDC Issues ‘Very High’ Risk Warning For Travel To France And Portugal
Federal health authorities issued a warning Monday against travel to several European countries as well as Jordan and Tanzania amid growing fears of the omicron variant, telling people to make sure they are fully vaccinated if they must visit. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said to avoid travel to France, Portugal, Cyprus, Andorra and Liechtenstein, grouping all in a Level 4 category that represents a “very high” level of the coronavirus. Countries and territories in this group have an infection incidence rate of more than 500 new cases per 100,000 people over the past 28 days (or, in places with fewer than 100,000 residents, more than 500 cases cumulatively over the past 28 days). (Knowles, 12/6)

Reuters: Nearly 70 ICU Medics At Spanish Hospital COVID-19 Positive After Christmas Party 
Nearly 70 nurses and doctors working in the intensive care unit at a Spanish hospital have tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a Christmas party, health authorities said on Monday. Sixty-eight medics at the University Regional Hospital in Malaga had been diagnosed with the coronavirus, the Andalusian regional government said. ... Those who contracted COVID-19 all had antigen tests or the third booster vaccinations before attending the party, health authorities said. (12/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Citing Omicron, South Korea Tells Unvaccinated Teens To Get Covid-19 Shots Or Face Restrictions
The Omicron variant has prompted South Korea to accelerate efforts to vaccinate schoolchildren, and penalize those who don’t comply, sparking debates over the safety of Covid-19 shots and education access. In recent days, South Korean officials have given a February deadline for individuals between the ages of 12 and 17 to get vaccinated. If they don’t, the students risk being denied entry to restaurants, libraries and after-school academies that are central to many students’ education. (Yoon, 12/6)

Bloomberg: S. Africa Research Council Can’t Access Vaccine Data
The South African Medical Research Council said it cannot access the country’s Covid-19 vaccination data and it is working to amend a data-sharing agreement with the Department of Health. The inability to access the data may impinge on the organization’s ability to determine the impact of the omicron variant on mortality, it said in a statement on Monday. The council produces a weekly report on national excess deaths, a measure of mortality above the historical average that is seen as a more accurate measure of the impact of Covid-19 than official data. (Sguazzin, 12/6)

Bloomberg: Roche’s Roactemra Wins EU Regulator’s Backing For Severe Covid
The European Medicines Agency’s drug advisory board backed the use of Roche Holding AG’s Roactemra for adults who are severely ill with Covid-19, providing doctors with another tool as the latest wave of the pandemic spreads. The medicine, sold as an arthritis treatment under the name Actemra, has already been in broad use in many countries to treat Covid. The EU recommendation is for patients who are taking steroids and need oxygen or are on ventilators. (Kresge, 12/6)

Stat: An Advocacy Group Seeks To Broaden Access To A Pfizer Covid-19 Pill
In a bid to expand access to the Pfizer (PFE) Covid-19 pill, an advocacy group is trying to create a path for generic manufacturers to sell the treatment in the Dominican Republic, which was excluded from a licensing deal the drug maker reached for its medicine to become available in mostly poor countries. The effort by Knowledge Ecology International involves a two-pronged approach that could not only broaden availability of the Pfizer pill, but also pressure the Biden administration to take yet another step toward ensuring low- and middle-income nations have access to Covid-19 medical products. For these reasons, the initiative is likely to be closely watched. (Silverman, 12/6)

In news about malaria —

Bloomberg: Malaria Makes Comeback Amid Pandemic Disruption, WHO Says
The coronavirus pandemic has derailed the global campaign against malaria, increasing deaths from the mosquito-borne disease for the first time in three years. The number of malaria cases and deaths in 2020 were at least 40% higher than the Word Health Organization’s targets, according to the agency, which said its 2030 goals are now at risk. “While African countries rallied to the challenge and averted the worst predictions of fallout from Covid-19, the pandemic’s knock-on effect still translates to thousands of lives lost to malaria,” Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, said in a statement. “African governments and their partners need to intensify their efforts so that we do not lose even more ground to this preventable disease.” (Kew, 12/6)

Bloomberg: Omicron Variant Should Spur Rich Nations To Close Covid-19 Vaccine Gap
Scientists don’t yet know where the new coronavirus strain dubbed omicron first developed, or even whether it was incubated in humans or animals. Still, two things are clear. The yawning gap in vaccinations between rich and poor countries only increases the risk of more such variants emerging. And bridging that divide will require focusing on demand as much as supply. (12/6)

Chicago Tribune: Why Immunization With Current COVID-19 Vaccines May Not Protect Against The Omicron Variant 
The new omicron variant of the coronavirus may be more transmissible and virulent than the first-wave virus. The possibility of enhanced contagiousness is attributed to omicron’s mutations of the gene encoding the spike protein of the virus. It will take epidemiologists several weeks of observations and genomic testing of the virus recovered from infected people to reach a conclusion about its contagiousness. As a precaution, the World Health Organization has designated omicron as a “variant of concern.” (Ronald Kallen, 12/6)

Mercury News & East Bay Times: A New COVID Variant, The Same Obstructionist Deniers
Once again, we enter a new phase of pandemic uncertainty. As we approached the end of the second year of the pandemic, we knew that the holiday season would once again present challenges. With the weather cooling and more people gathering indoors to celebrate with friends and families, an upsurge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths seemed inevitable. And then, on Thanksgiving Day, as the U.S. holiday season launched, South Africa alerted the world to its discovery of the omicron coronavirus variant. Five days later, the first U.S. case was reported in San Francisco. (12/4)

NBC News: Covid Vaccine Efforts Can't Let Up Because Of New Pills From Merck And Pfizer To Treat The Virus
New oral medications that fight Covid-19 are here, and they represent a major advance in the fight against the pandemic.Last week, in a controversial 13-10 vote, the Food and Drug Administration expert advisory committee recommended that the agency grant emergency use authorization to the first oral medication designed to treat Covid-19. The drug, named molnupiravir by its developers, pharmaceutical giant Merck and its collaborator, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, was the first such medication seeking emergency use authorization. According to data presented by the manufacturer, if the drug was taken early in the course of Covid-19, it would have the potential to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by 30 percent among high-risk people. (Dr. Irwin Redlener, 12/6)

Los Angeles Times: How Our Brains Help Us Adapt To Whatever COVID Throws Our Way 
The availability of COVID-19 vaccines earlier this year allowed for the partial reboot of life as usual during the pandemic. But the Omicron variant — and its Delta predecessor — have come along to remind us that COVID-19, like your Uncle Ted at the holidays, is here to stay for an undetermined while longer. Now that we definitely know a finish line to this health crisis is not within sight, how can we mentally adjust to this latest new normal? Psychological research conducted in my lab at Duke University and elsewhere has illuminated how times of uncertainty affect anxiety and alter our perception of time and provided insights into how we can help ourselves cope. (Kevin S. Labar, 12/7)

The Star Tribune: Health Care Workers Already Stepped Up 
The Star Tribune editorial, "Health care leaders must step up now," (Nov. 30) misses the mark. We have all faced challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but health care workers and leaders have tirelessly staffed the front line for nearly two years. Worldwide, researchers and health care professionals have risen to the challenge through every surge and have continued to transform how we care for patients, protect communities and conduct research. It is essential to recognize those contributions. They are significant. (Gianrico Farrugia, 12/6)

USA Today: Tackle Maternal Health Disparities, Mortality With Data And Better Care
I’ve been working to expand access to affordable health coverage for children and families for more than two decades. After the birth of my daughter, I heard with different ears the story of my own birth – the nurses sent my dad home “to rest” and left my mother laboring overnight without checking on her because they didn’t want “to disturb the doctor on Sunday.” (Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, 12/7)

Stat: Labels Can Harm, But They Also Can Help: See 'Profound Autism' 
Labels are a divisive subject. When used inappropriately, they have the power to misrepresent and dehumanize people. As the mother of a child with autism, I have seen numerous instances in which hurtful or inaccurate labels have been applied to my daughter. Yet there are times when using accurate labels can dramatically improve the lives of those with autism. The specific label I’m thinking of is “profound autism” — and it’s one being embraced by an increasing number of autism researchers and advocates. (Alison Singer, 12/7)

The Boston Globe: No One Taught Me That Epidemiology Is Political — But It Is 
As scientists-in-training, we are taught the parable of people drowning in a river. Medicine extends her hands to pull each person out while public health runs upstream to prevent people from falling into the water. The idea that some of these lives matter less than others is so unspeakable that we don’t name it. But the recent naming of the COVID-19 variant Omicron places health inequity in headlines once again. Across pathogens and places, pandemics are nothing if not socially driven: Widespread global efforts to control spread reach a tipping point after which the burden of infectious diseases is shifted to the shoulders of the poor. Slowly, the lettered plagues — TB, HIV, COVID — recede from the front page. One might argue that their unfolding is not newsworthy, since we have tolerated the poverty traps of these plagues for centuries, decades, and years, respectively. (Rachel R. Yorlets, 12/6)

Tampa Bay Times: A Drug Price Safety Net Is Fraying For Medicaid And Uninsured Patients In Florida
Millions of Floridians can pick an insurance plan this enrollment period with the peace of mind that federal law defends their health care rights. Floridians also know that their state legislators have worked diligently to defend them from harmful practices like step therapy and the unnecessary burden of prior authorizations. But what about those Floridians — many of them elderly — who are still falling through the gaps in our health care system? (Brian Nyquist, 12/6)

Stat: It's Time To Open Up Health Care's Secret Use Of Consumer Data 
Each year as older adults begin choosing between traditional fee-for-service Medicare and Medicare Advantage, they are bombarded by ads and mailings aggressively pitching health plan perks like dental and vision care or gym membership. Unadvertised, though, is how some plans use consumer data to quietly address more fundamental needs. Join the right plan and you could get food when you’re hungry, companionship when you’re lonely and even — during the height of the pandemic — home delivery of toilet paper. The goal is to prevent issues like food insecurity, depression, and shopping while unvaccinated from developing into issues needing expensive medical care. But there’s a hidden catch to this comforting scenario. One way that Medicare Advantage plans find those who might need help is by secretly analyzing members’ detailed information ranging from their credit scores and shopping habits to how they vote. (Michael L. Millenson, 12/6)

Stat: Fixing U.S. Drug Pricing Starts With USPTO Confirmation Hearing 
The Senate began its confirmation hearing last week for President Biden’s nominee to head the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), intellectual property attorney Kathi Vidal. While this is one of the more obscure U.S. agencies, it is pivotal in influencing the U.S. health system — from global vaccine equity to the country’s drug pricing crisis. The latter issue touches the lives of the two-thirds of Americans who rely on pharmaceuticals for everything from controlling blood pressure to battling cancer, few of whom know that, as head of the Patent and Trademark Office, Vidal would oversee a system that is being gamed to line the pockets of pharmaceutical companies at the expense of patients. (Tahir Amin and Priti Krishtel, 12/6)