NBC News: 'Find Purpose': Biden Marks 500,000 Covid-19 Deaths With Poignant Address To The Nation
President Joe Biden marked the grim milestone of 500,000 lives lost to the Covid-19 pandemic in a brief but poignant address to the nation Monday evening, drawing on his own personal tragedies as a rhetorical salve for a country still combating the deadly disease. (Clark, 2/22)

AP: Biden Mourns 500,000 Dead, Balancing Nation's Grief And Hope
Biden stepped to a lectern in the White House Cross Hall, unhooked his face mask and delivered an emotion-filled eulogy for more than 500,000 Americans he said he felt he knew. “We often hear people described as ordinary Americans. There’s no such thing,” he said Monday evening. “There’s nothing ordinary about them. The people we lost were extraordinary.” (Lemire and Boak, 2/23)

Politico: Biden Calls For National Unity And Healing, As Coronavirus Death Toll Climbs Past 500,000
In his emotional address, the president, who has a reputation for wearing his heart on his sleeve, leaned into his own personal family grief to comfort affected Americans. “For the loved ones left behind: I know all too well. I know what it’s like to not be there when it happens. I know what it’s like when you are there holding their hands, there’s a look in their eye and they slip away,” said Biden, whose first wife and infant daughter died in a car crash, and whose older son, Beau, he lost to brain cancer in 2015. (Din, 2/22)

Reuters: Bells Toll For Lives Lost As U.S. Reaches 500,000 COVID Deaths 
Bells tolled at the National Cathedral in Washington to honor the lives lost - ringing 500 times to symbolize the 500,000 deaths. “As we acknowledge the scale of this mass death in America, remember each person and the life they lived,” Biden said in a somber speech at the White House after the bells sounded. (Caspani and Maan, 2/22)

NPR: 'A Loss To The Whole Society': U.S. COVID-19 Death Toll Reaches 500,000
Losing half a million lives to this disease was unimaginable when the first few people died of COVID-19 in the U.S last February. The disease soon began to ravage nursing homes and the five boroughs of New York City, frequently striking those left most vulnerable because of age, poor health, job requirements or crowded living conditions. Now, around 2,000 people die from the disease every day on average, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, down from a high of over 3,000 a day on average in mid-January. (Huang, 2/22)

AP: Half A Million Dead In US, Confirming Virus’s Tragic Reach
For weeks after Cindy Pollock began planting tiny flags across her yard — one for each of the more than 1,800 Idahoans killed by COVID-19 — the toll was mostly a number. Until two women she had never met rang her doorbell in tears, seeking a place to mourn the husband and father they had just lost. Then Pollock knew her tribute, however heartfelt, would never begin to convey the grief of a pandemic that has now claimed 500,000 lives in the U.S. and counting. “I just wanted to hug them,” she said. “Because that was all I could do.” (Geller, 2/23)

BBC News: Covid US Death Toll: Imagining What 500,000 Lost Lives Look Like
Half a million Americans have died of the coronavirus. Here's a look behind this grim milestone. (9/22)

And Dr. Anthony Fauci expresses his grief and frustration —

CNN: 'We've Done Worse Than Most Any Other Country,' Fauci Says As US Marks Grim Covid-19 Death Toll
The US has now surpassed the devastating milestone of half a million Covid-19 deaths. It's a staggering figure that experts say did not have to be this high. "I believe that if you look back historically, we've done worse than most any other country and we're a highly developed, rich country," Dr. Anthony Fauci told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday. (Maxouris, 2/23)

Reuters: Fauci Says U.S. Political Divisions Contributed To 500,000 Dead From COVID-19 
In an interview with Reuters, [Dr. Anthony] Fauci on Monday said the pandemic arrived in the United States as the country was riven by political divisions in which wearing a mask became a political statement rather than a public health measure. “Even under the best of circumstances, this would have been a very serious problem,” Fauci said, noting that despite strong adherence to public health measures, countries such as Germany and the UK struggled with the virus. “However, that does not explain how a rich and sophisticated country can have the most percentage of deaths and be the hardest-hit country in the world,” said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a top adviser to President Joe Biden. “That I believe should not have happened.” (Steenhuysen, 2/22)

Fox News: Fauci Cautions Against Dining Out, Even When Vaccinated
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top disease expert in the U.S., said Monday that Americans who have received their second vaccine jab should still exercise caution and try to resist the urge to dine out or go to the movies. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was at the White House giving a press briefing on vaccine distribution in the U.S., and said those vaccinated have dramatically increased their own personal safety, but he said the country is "still at an unacceptably high baseline level" of new infection, according to Business Insider. (DeMarche, 2/23)

CNBC: CDC Study Shows Teachers Could Play 'Central Role' In Covid Spread At Schools
School teachers and staff may play a “central role” in transmitting Covid-19 in schools where social distancing isn’t followed and face masks aren’t worn. Vaccinating them against the disease could help return students to the classroom safely, according to a new federal study published Monday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the coronavirus’ spread within eight Georgia public elementary schools in the same school district between Dec. 1 and Jan. 22, which included 24 in-person learning days. During this period, the average number of cases per 100,000 residents in the county increased nearly 300%, the study said. (Higgins-Dunn, 2/22)

AP: CDC Study: Teachers Key To COVID-19 Infections In 1 District
A new study finds that teachers may be more important drivers of COVID-19 transmission in schools than students. The paper released Monday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies nine COVID-19 transmission clusters in elementary schools in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta in December and January, That included one cluster where 16 teachers, students and relatives of students at home were infected. (Amy, 2/23)

Bay Area News Group: COVID-19 School Outbreak Study By CDC Ties Spread To Teachers
Amid debate over reopening public schools closed for almost a year by the coronavirus pandemic, a new federal study Monday indicated that when there were outbreaks on campus, they were chiefly driven by infected teachers. The study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examined nine case clusters in a Georgia elementary school district in suburban Atlanta. “Educators were central to in-school transmission networks,” said the study, which also noted that “all nine transmission clusters involved less than ideal physical distancing, and five involved inadequate mask use by students.” (Woolfolk, 2/22)

In related news about reopening schools —

NBC News: Why President Biden Can't Make States Vaccinate Teachers — Or Anyone Else
President Joe Biden wants to vaccinate teachers to speed school reopenings, but more than half the states aren't listening and haven't made educators a priority — highlighting the limited powers of the federal government, even during a devastating pandemic. (Seitz-Wald, 2/23)

The New York Times: Covid Vaccines For Kids Are Coming, But Not For Many Months 
As adults at high risk for Covid-19 line up to be immunized against the coronavirus, many parents want to know: When will my child get a vaccine? The short answer: Not before late summer. Pfizer and Moderna have enrolled children 12 and older in clinical trials of their vaccines and hope to have results by the summer. Depending on how the vaccines perform in that age group, the companies may then test them in younger children. The Food and Drug Administration usually takes a few weeks to review data from a clinical trial and authorize a vaccine. (Mandavilli, 2/12)

The Washington Post: Can We Reach Covid Herd Immunity Without Vaccinating Children? 
Amid a race to vaccinate as many people as possible against the coronavirus, which has sickened more than 28 million people and killed about 500,000 in the United States, the 10-year-old son of a Washington Post reader posed a pertinent question — one even experts are struggling to answer with any real certainty. Is it possible for the United States to achieve herd immunity without vaccinating children? It’s a complicated question, as health experts have differing ideas about what constitutes a herd immunity threshold for the coronavirus. (Bever, 2/22)

Stat: Schools May See A Burst Of The Common Cold When They Reopen
A curious thing happened when Hong Kong reopened schools after closing them because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It bears watching here. Hong Kong closed its schools to in-person learning from late January 2020 to late May — and then again in early July, when more Covid cases were detected. Within a few weeks of schools reopening in October, they started to see large numbers of kids getting sick, despite mandatory mask-wearing, additional spacing between desks, and other measures to lower the risk of spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. (Branswell, 2/23)

Reuters: 'Real-World' UK Data Shows 70% Decline In COVID Infections After First Pfizer Shot
England’s coronavirus vaccine campaign is significantly reducing cases of COVID-19, with a drop of around 70% in infections among healthcare workers who have had a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, British health officials said on Monday. Data analysed by Public Health England (PHE) showed the Pfizer provided high levels of protection against infection and symptomatic disease from a single dose, and that hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 will be reduced by more 75% in elderly people who have had a first dose. (2/22)

MarketWatch: Even One Dose Of Pfizer Vaccine Reduces Coronavirus-Infection Risk, Public Health England Says
For those over 80 years old, one dose is 57% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 disease after three or four weeks of inoculation, rising to more than 85% after the second dose. Early data suggest vaccinated people who go on to become infected are far less likely to die or be hospitalized, Public Health England added. (Goldstein, 2/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Vaccinations Cut Hospitalizations And Deaths, U.K. Finds 
The new information from the U.K., published Monday, is preliminary and hasn’t been reviewed by other scientists, but provides reasons for optimism that vaccines offer a route out of a pandemic that has claimed at least 2.5 million lives world-wide and sickened tens of millions. The data suggest vaccines are most successful in preventing hospitalizations and deaths, a top concern of health authorities. While vaccines also suppress new infections, the effect isn’t as pronounced. (Douglas and Colchester, 2/22)

CNN: UK Study Finds One Dose Of Pfizer/BioNTech Vaccine Reduces Risk Of Infection By 72% 
Health workers were tested for Covid-19 infection every two weeks using PCR tests and twice a week with lateral flow tests, Dr. Susan Hopkins, strategic response director at PHE, explained, meaning "there was a lot of asymptomatic testing," she said. "Overall we are seeing a really strong effect to reducing any infection: asymptomatic and symptomatic," Hopkins said during a press conference held by the UK's Science Media Centre on Monday. (John, Senthilingam, Kennedy and Dean, 2/22)

Bloomberg: Vaccine Makers Set To Tell Congress Supply Strains Ebbing
Vaccine makers indicated that some of the big bottlenecks that have shadowed the U.S. immunization campaign could soon begin to ease, in testimony submitted for a Capitol Hill hearing Tuesday. Moderna Inc. said it has received positive feedback from U.S. regulators on a proposal to expand the number of doses of its Covid-19 vaccine in each vial, while Pfizer Inc. said it expects its output to ramp up in coming weeks. And Johnson & Johnson, which could gain clearance for its one-shot vaccine as soon as this week, said it will be ready to ship millions of doses. (Griffin and Langreth, 2/22)

NBC News: Executives With Pfizer, Moderna Say They're Ramping Up Vaccine Supplies
Executives with Pfizer and Moderna said the companies are ramping up their supply of coronavirus vaccines, with shipments expected to double and possibly triple in the coming weeks, according to congressional testimony released Monday. In a prepared statement to be made before a House subcommittee Tuesday, John Young, Pfizer's chief business officer, is expected to say the company plans to increase its delivery capacity of 4 million to 5 million doses a week to more than 13 million by mid-March. (Stelloh, 2/22)

Stat: The Questions Congress Should Ask Pharma About The Covid-19 Vaccines
Executives from Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and Novavax will testify Tuesday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s oversight arm. The hearing, titled “Pathway to Protection: Expanding Availability of COVID-19 Vaccines,” will give lawmakers a chance to grill drug makers on why supply of Covid-19 vaccines is still so limited — and what they’re doing to fix it. (Florko, 2/23)

In related news on supply and manufacturing of covid vaccines —

NBC News: Pharmacists Say 'Pooling' Covid Vaccines Could Save Thousands Of Doses
As millions of people across the country line up for their coronavirus vaccination shots, health officials are struggling to meet the surging demand, the result of short supplies. "It's more valuable than liquid gold, truth be told," said Melanie Massiah-White, chief pharmacy officer for Inova Health System, a nonprofit hospital network based in Northern Virginia. Some pharmacists say a simple solution could get thousands more people vaccinated each week, but the Food and Drug Administration is standing in the way. (Dunn and Beck, 2/22)

The Washington Post: In Baltimore, 400 Million Vaccine Doses Manufactured By Emergent BioSolutions Shipped Elsewhere 
In a city battered by the coronavirus, one biomedical plant is churning out enough vaccine doses to inoculate every resident hundreds of times over. The lifesaving medicine is brewed in stainless steel vats and bottled at subfreezing temperatures — then loaded into trucks that carry the vaccines hundreds of miles away. Most will never return. (Jamison, 2/22)

KHN: Calling All Vaccinators: Closing The Next Gap In Covid Supply And Demand
Beating back covid right now comes down to balancing supply and demand. With hopes pinned to vaccines, demand has far outstripped the supply of doses. But, as an increasing number of vaccine vials are shipped in coming weeks, the concern about shortages may well shift to human capital: the vaccinators themselves. (Appleby, 2/23)

KHN: After Billions Of Dollars And Dozens Of Wartime Declarations, Why Are Vaccines Still In Short Supply? 
The U.S. government has invested billions of dollars in manufacturing, used a wartime act dozens of times to boost supplies and yet there’s still not enough covid vaccine on the way to meet demand — or even the government’s own goals for national immunization. President Joe Biden, in remarks at the National Institutes of Health this month, said the nation is “now on track to have enough supply for 300 million Americans by the end of July.” But at the current rate of production, Pfizer and Moderna will miss their targets of providing at least 100 million doses each by the end of March, let alone 200 million more doses each has promised by July. (Pradhan and Allen, 2/23)

In other updates on covid vaccine development —

The Hill: Johnson & Johnson Ready To Provide Doses For 20M Americans By End Of March 
Johnson & Johnson said Monday that it plans to have enough doses of its vaccine for more than 20 million Americans by the end of March if its vaccine is authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. The vaccine is being eagerly awaited as the next in line to join the COVID-19 vaccines already in use from Pfizer and Moderna. An FDA advisory committee is meeting Friday to consider the application, and emergency authorization could come soon after. (Sullivan, 2/22)

Fox News: GSK, Sanofi Start New COVID-19 Vaccine Study After Setback
GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi on Monday announced the start of a new Phase 2 trial involving their protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate after facing a setback in December. The companies had said previous trials showed an insufficient immune response in older people which sent them back to the drawing board. In a news release posted Monday, the companies announced the initiation of a new Phase 2 study involving 720 volunteers ages 18 and older, which they hope will help determine the appropriate antigen dosage for Phase 3 evaluation. (Hein, 2/22)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Looks To Quickly Authorize Covid-19 Vaccine Booster Shots As New Variants Emerge 
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it will quickly analyze any vaccine booster shots against Covid-19 variants such as those from South Africa and the U.K., and won’t require further large clinical trials of the new shots’ effectiveness. The agency issued new guidance for vaccine manufacturers as it looks to establish speedier procedures to deal with virus mutations that could worsen the pandemic. Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement the agency is seeking “efficient ways to modify medical products that either are in the pipeline or have been authorized for emergency use to address emerging variants.” (Burton, 2/22)

Los Angeles Times: Modified COVID-19 Vaccines May Get Nod From FDA Without Repeating Full Trials
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued new guidance Monday that streamlines the vetting process for COVID-19 vaccines that are modified to target new coronavirus variants. The recommendations, detailed in a 24-page document on the FDA’s website, are intended to speed up the review process amid worries that the new variants — some more contagious, some more able to evade current vaccines — will undermine efforts to halt the virus’ spread. (Khan, 2/22)

Bloomberg: FDA Outlines Faster Path For Shots Against New Covid Variants
Drugmakers won’t have to perform massive trials for new vaccines or booster shots developed to combat worrisome new variants of the coronavirus, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. In documents released by the agency Monday, it said immunizations that protect against the variants could receive clearance based on so-called immunogenicity studies, where researchers vaccinate people and then conduct laboratory tests to measure the strength of their immune response. These tests, similar to what is done for annual flu shots, are far simpler than the standard efficacy studies used for clearance of the initial vaccines, which involved thousands of volunteers and took months of work. (Langreth and Fay Cortez, 2/22)

The New York Times: Vaccines Adapted For Variants Will Not Need Lengthy Testing, F.D.A. Says
The guidance was part of a slate of new documents the agency released on Monday, including others addressing how antibody treatments and diagnostic tests might need to be retooled to respond to the virus variants. Together, they amounted to the federal government’s most detailed acknowledgment of the threat the variants pose to existing vaccines, treatments and tests for the coronavirus, and came weeks after the F.D.A.’s acting commissioner, Dr. Janet Woodcock, said the agency was developing a plan. (Weiland, Thomas and Zimmer, 2/22)

Detroit Free Press: Oakland County Warns Of Possible COVID-19 Vaccine Appointment Scam
Oakland County is warning about a possible scam related to COVID-19 vaccine appointments and is urging folks not to provide callers with their personal and financial information. Two people have reported to county officials about the calls, in which the caller asks questions in order to schedule a supposed vaccine appointment. Then the caller asks for personal and financial information. The caller is representing himself or herself as a public health worker, said Bill Mullan, spokesman for County Executive Dave Coulter. (Hall, 2/23)

NPR: Texas Vaccination Site Apologizes For Refusing COVID-19 Shots To 2 Eligible People
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is apologizing for turning away two people eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations on Saturday because they could not prove they live in the United States. On Feb. 21, it posted a statement on Twitter. UT Health Rio Valley, the clinical practice of the university, stated it "apologizes to those patients who were affected" and "did not follow the most current State of Texas guidelines." Proof of residency and citizenship are not required to get the vaccine, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services — as stated in guidance on the agency's website. UT-RGV spokesperson Patrick Gonzalez confirmed the university did not follow state protocol. (Cabrera, 2/22)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland To Create Statewide Registration Portal For COVID Vaccine Appointments At Its Mass Sites 
Maryland officials will launch a one-stop, preregistration web portal soon for people looking to book COVID-19 immunization appointments at the state’s mass vaccination clinics. The website would come online in March, the state’s acting health secretary Dennis R. Schrader told Maryland state senators at a virtual vaccine oversight meeting Monday. (Miller, 2/22)

The Baltimore Sun: 5 Tips And Tricks For Getting A COVID Vaccine Appointment From The ‘Maryland Vaccine Hunters’ Group 
As Marylanders seek appointments to get vaccinated for COVID-19, the “Maryland Vaccine Hunters” Facebook group has become a helpful resource. The group, which now has over 28,000 members Friday morning, is littered with tips and tricks to help those who visit the page get themselves and their loved ones vaccinated. (Ruiz, 2/23)

Burlington Free Press: Vermont Vaccinated Long-Term Care Residents First - Did That Strategy Pay Off?
As Vermont continues into mass vaccination strategy, early data suggests that long-term care residents and staff around the state have faired better in the past month due to its rollout. Vaccination clinics have been administered in eldercare homes since news of the dosages arrival to Vermont. Long-term care homes began to receive vaccination doses as early as late December. Since then, nearly three-fourths of long-term care residents have received both vaccine doses, in addition to about half of the state's long-term care staff, according to Mike Smith, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, in a news conference on Feb. 19. (Bakuli, 2/22)

KHN: In Search Of The Shot 
Too little covid vaccine and too great a demand: That’s what KHN readers from around the country detail in their often exasperating quest to snag a shot, although they are often clearly eligible under their local guidelines and priority system. Public health officials say the supply is growing and will meet demand in several months, but, for now, readers’ experiences show how access is limited. Some savvy readers report no problem getting in line for the vaccine, but others say that balky application processes and lack of information have stymied their efforts. Their unedited reports are a good snapshot of the mixed situation around the country. (2/22)

And some people still don't want the vaccine —

The Wall Street Journal: The One Shot NBA Players Might Not Take: The Covid Vaccine 
Professional athletes will soon get access to the Covid-19 vaccines that promise a return to normalcy after a year of pandemic sports. But now the country’s biggest and richest leagues are dealing with another problem: The players haven’t decided if they want the shot. NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball officials say a significant percentage of players—perhaps even a majority in some leagues—have expressed concerns about taking the vaccine when it becomes available to them.  (Cohen and Beaton, 2/22)

North Carolina Health News: Only 35% Of Prison Staff Want To Take Vaccine 
A little over a third of North Carolina’s correctional staff want to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to an informal survey by state prison leaders. The remaining employees, about 65 percent of detention staff, don’t want the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccination is currently optional for correctional staff. (Critchfield, 2/22)

ABC News: Biden HHS Nominee To Highlight Experience As GOP Gears Up For Fight 
As the coronavirus pandemic reaches a new 500,000 death milestone, a political battle is brewing over who will take the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services. President Joe Biden's HHS nominee, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, will appear before two Senate committees on Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s expected to be a tense two days, with many Republicans already waging battles against him for his staunchly liberal record. (Pecorin and Haslett, 2/23)

NBC News: Biden Health Secretary Pick Xavier Becerra Braces For Contentious Senate Hearings
President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the powerful Department of Health and Human Services is preparing for two days of contentious hearings in a divided Senate, with allies fanning out to defend him as Republicans mobilize to tank his nomination. If he is confirmed, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a former member of Congress, will have the daunting task of steering administration policy on the coronavirus pandemic and orchestrating Biden's goal to get health care to more Americans. He would also be the first Latino HHS secretary. (Kapur, 2/23)

AP: GOP Working To Block Biden's Health Care Pick; Dems Unfazed
President Joe Biden’s pick for health secretary faces two days of contentious Senate hearings. Republicans are portraying the Californian as unfit but Democrats are unfazed, accusing the GOP of playing politics despite the pandemic. Xavier Becerra, now attorney general of the nation’s most populous state, will be grilled by two panels. Tuesday, it’s the health committee’s turn, followed Wednesday by the Finance Committee, which will vote on sending Becerra’s nomination to the Senate floor. If confirmed, he’d be the first Latino to head the Department of Health and Human Services, a $1.4 trillion agency with a broad portfolio that includes health insurance programs, drug safety and approvals, advanced medical research and the welfare of children. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2/23)

The Hill: 11 GOP Senators Slam Biden Pick For Health Secretary: 'No Meaningful Experience' 
Eleven Senate Republicans announced their opposition to President Biden’s nominee for health secretary ahead of his confirmation hearings before two committees this week. The senators, led by Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), urged Biden in a letter to withdraw the nomination of Xavier Becerra, California’s attorney general, arguing he is unqualified to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). (Hellmann, 2/22)

Politico: ‘Exceedingly Deep Convictions’: Inside Xavier Becerra’s Quest For Health Care For Immigrants 
When President Barack Obama headed to the Capitol in 2009 to make a late-stage push for the Affordable Care Act, pleading to a joint session of Congress that the “season for action” had arrived, it wasn’t only Republicans who became affronted: then-Rep. Xavier Becerra, the California Democrat who had been lobbying for a more immigrant-friendly bill, listened as the president threw cold water on policies that they had been discussing for months. “There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false — the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally,” Obama said. (Severns, 2/22)

In other news about President Biden's administration —

FierceHealthcare: Report: Obama Administration Veteran Fowler Tapped To Head CMMI 
President Joe Biden has chosen Obama administration veteran Liz Fowler to lead the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), which has authority to shape key payment models, according to a report in Politico. Fowler is the latest Obama administration veteran to be reportedly chosen by Biden to oversee his healthcare agenda. He has reportedly chosen Chiquita Brooks-Lasure, another Obama veteran, to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). (King, 2/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Supreme Court OKs Review Of Trump Rules On Abortion Referrals
The Supreme Court granted requests by abortion-rights advocates Monday to review Trump administration rules that have barred recipients of U.S. family-planning funds from referring any of their 4 million low-income patients for abortions. The rules, in effect since June 2019, also require federally funded family-planning providers to place their abortion clinics in separate facilities, a mandate that has already driven Planned Parenthood out of the program. The Biden administration, however, could repeal its predecessor’s rules before the court decides their legality. (Egelko, 2/22)

The Hill: Supreme Court To Hear Challenge On Family Planning Program 
The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the Trump administration’s changes to a federally funded family planning program that pushed hundreds of providers to leave. The court announced Monday it will hear a case brought by the American Medical Association (AMA), Planned Parenthood and others arguing that the Trump administration’s changes to the Title X family planning program that bans providers from referring patients for abortions violates federal law and harms patient care. (Hellmann, 2/22)

In Medicaid news —

AP: Biden Asks High Court To Drop 2 Trump-Era Medicaid Cases
The Biden administration is asking the Supreme Court not to hear arguments in two cases on its March calendar about the Trump administration’s plan to remake Medicaid by requiring recipients to work. The Biden administration has been moving to roll back those Trump-era plans and cited “greatly changed circumstances” in asking Monday that the cases be dropped from the court’s argument calendar. They are currently scheduled to be heard on March 29. The court has been hearing arguments by phone because of the coronavirus pandemic. (2/22)

NBC News: Justice Department Asks Supreme Court To Cancel Argument In Case On Trump's Medicaid Work Requirements
The Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to cancel argument in a case testing the government's ability to approve state programs that impose a work requirement on recipients of Medicaid. The Trump administration approved plans by two states, Arkansas and New Hampshire, to deny coverage to poor people unless they were working, volunteering, or training for a job. Medicaid recipients in those states sued, arguing that the plans would let states kick people off Medicaid for failing to get jobs that had become scarce during the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. (Williams, 2/22)

In hospice news —

Modern Healthcare: Supreme Court Won't Weigh In On False Claims Act Standards Case
The Supreme Court declined to clarify how false claims should be verified under the False Claims Act, which could draw out some related healthcare cases, legal experts said. Hospice provider Care Alternatives asked the Supreme Court to review the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' determination that a false claim could arise if an expert contradicted a physician's reasoning for recommending hospice treatment. That threshold was lower than most other appellate courts' rulings, which found that a reasonable difference of doctors' opinions was not enough to certify a false claim. (Kacik, 2/22)

CIDRAP: Flu Vaccine Associated With Lower COVID Likelihood, Hospitalizations
People who received their flu vaccine were less likely to test positive for COVID-19, and if they were infected with the virus, they were less likely to need hospitalization, mechanical ventilation, or a longer hospital stay, according to a study published today in the American Journal of Infection Control. The researchers created a retrospective cohort of 27,201 patients who were tested for COVID-19 from Feb 27 to Jul 15, 2020, in the Michigan Medicine healthcare system. Of those, they found that 12,997 (47.8%) were vaccinated against the flu between Aug 1, 2019, to Jul 15, 2020. Of that number, 525 (4.0%) tested positive for coronavirus. Of the 14,204 (52.%) not vaccinated, 693 (4.9%) got COVID-19. (2/22)

CBS New York: Mayo Clinic Study: Many Common Childhood And Adult Vaccines May Offer Protection From COVID-19
Normally, we think of vaccines as teaching the immune system to react and protect against very specific invaders, like measles, polio, mumps, pneumonia, flu and so on. It turns out, the immune system can learn from vaccines in unanticipated ways. “If you have received a number of different vaccines previously, your risk of having a positive SARS-COV-2 diagnosis was less. So the rate of positive tests in the vaccinated people were about 60-80% the rate of positive tests,” said Dr. Andrew Badley of the Mayo Clinic. Immune training has now cropped up as protective against COVID-19. In a not-yet-peer-reviewed study, Badley and Mayo Clinic colleagues analyzed more that 137,000 medical records and found an interesting correlation. (Gomez, 2/17)

Also —

Salt Lake Tribune: Two Childhood Viruses At Near Zero, A ‘Good Side Effect Of COVID-19,’ A Utah Pediatrician Says
Two diseases that usually hit children hard in the winter — pediatric flu and RSV — are practically nonexistent this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a leading Utah pediatrician says. The bad news: Both could come back with a vengeance next year. At Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, doctors have not hospitalized any children with RSV this season — and only one child in Utah has been hospitalized with the flu, said Dr. Andrew Pavia, director of epidemiology at Primary Children’s and chief of pediatric infectious diseases at University of Utah Health. Most years, Pavia said, 80 children a week would be admitted to Primary Children’s with RSV, with a third of them needing to go into the intensive care unit. (Means, 2/22)

CIDRAP: Persistent COVID-19 Symptoms Detailed Months After Recovery
One third of symptomatic COVID-19 patients continued to experience symptoms about 5.6 months after their infection began, according to a research letter published late last week in JAMA Network Open. The researchers noted that their study was purely descriptive because of the small participant number. University of Washington researchers received 117 surveys from COVID-19 patients between August and November 2020. Of these, 11 (6.2%) were asymptomatic, 150 (84.7%) were outpatients with mild symptoms, and 16 (9.0%) needed hospitalization. (2/22)

AP: Not To Be Sniffed At: Agony Of Post-COVID-19 Loss Of Smell
The doctor slid a miniature camera into the patient’s right nostril, making her whole nose glow red with its bright miniature light. “Tickles a bit, eh?” he asked as he rummaged around her nasal passages, the discomfort causing tears to well in her eyes and roll down her cheeks. The patient, Gabriella Forgione, wasn’t complaining. The 25-year-old pharmacy worker was happy to be prodded and poked at the hospital in Nice, in southern France, to advance her increasingly pressing quest to recover her sense of smell. Along with her sense of taste, it suddenly vanished when she fell ill with COVID-19 in November, and neither has returned. (Leicester, 2/23)

NPR: COVID-19 Long-Haulers Struggle To Get Condition Recognized As A Disability
Disability advocates and lawmakers are calling on the Social Security Administration (SSA) to study the issue, update their policies and offer guidance for applicants. "If we end up with a million people with ongoing symptoms that are debilitating, that is a tremendous burden for each of those individuals, but also for our health care system and our society," says Dr. Steven Martin, a physician and professor of family medicine and community health at UMass Medical School. "We know what's coming. So, we have to make sure that we're on top of this," says U.S. Rep John Larson, a Democrat from Connecticut, who joined with another member of Congress to write a letter asking the SSA to work with scientists to understand what support long-haulers might need. (Emanuel, 2/22)

Boston Globe: Lonely, Isolated COVID-19 Patients Get Lifeline: Doctor Creates Pilot Program For Vaccinated Hospital Workers To Sit With Them
As Dr. Ben Moor wandered the halls of the South Shore hospital where he works over the past year, the closed doors separating COVID-19 patients from the world outside weighed heavily on his mind. “Behind every door, a person with COVID-19. Alone,” Moor wrote in a recent op-ed for STAT. “They see their nurse periodically. A food service worker comes in three times a day with a tray of food. Other than that, no human contact.” But these days, Moor — an anesthesiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth — is breaking through these barriers. After receiving his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine last month, he saw an opening, a way to bring comfort to people in quarantine and be a liaison to their anxious families, waiting desperately to be by their side. (Annear, 2/22)

In lung transplant news —

Becker's Hospital Review: Utah Nurse Who Had Severe COVID-19 Receives Double Lung Transplant
A Utah intensive care unit nurse was released from Gainesville, Fla.-based UF Health Shands Hospital after a severe COVID-19 infection left her needing a double lung transplant, CBS4 Miami reported Feb. 22. Jill Hansen Holker, RN, contracted a COVID-19 infection in November. The infection eventually became severe, leaving Ms. Holker unable to breathe on her own. She was transferred from her hospital's ICU in Utah to UF Health Shands Hospital and placed on the list for a double lung transplant, which she received about a month ago, according to CBS4. (Carbajal, 2/22)

Becker's Hospital Review: TikTok Partners With National Eating Disorder Association To Curb Harmful Content
TikTok is rolling out new features to encourage body inclusivity and provide support to anyone struggling with an eating disorder through a new partnership with the National Eating Disorder Association, the organization said Feb. 22. Starting this week, when a user searches for hashtags like "proana" (short for pro-anorexia) or "whatieatinaday," TikTok will show resources like NEDA's phone number and hours of operation. The social media platform will also share tips and resources from eating disorder experts for people who may be struggling with a disorder. These resources will remain permanent features on the app. (Mitchell, 2/22)

Becker's Hospital Review: Acid Reflux Heightens Risk For Certain Cancers, Study Finds
Those with gastroesophageal reflux disease face a two times greater risk of developing larynx and esophagus cancers, according to research published Feb. 22 in Cancer. Scientists assessed information from 490,605 people enrolled in the National Institutes of Health AARP Diet and Health Study who were surveyed between 1995-1996. Participants were between the ages of 50 and 71 during the survey period and Medicare claims data showed about 22 percent had GERD.  (Carbajal, 2/22)

AP: Postpartum Depression Survivors Speak Out On Common Plight
After both of her pregnancies, Evi Figgat faced postpartum depression, anxiety and psychosis. But an increased availability of resources in Utah, as well as more awareness about maternal mental health after her second delivery, made all the difference, she said, the Deseret News reported. Figgat’s first experience with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders happened when she was 24 years old. (Imlay, 2/22)

In coronavirus news —

Becker's Hospital Review: Rutgers Study Finds Little Coronavirus On Cancer Care Facility Surfaces
The overall positive test rate for the SARS-CoV-2 virus across surfaces in a number of oncology units was 0.5 percent, according to research published Feb. 18 in Cancer. Researchers conducted environmental surface swabbing from outpatient and inpatient oncology clinics and infusion suites across New Brunswick, N.J.-based Rutgers Cancer Institute and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for 12 days in June. A total of 204 samples were collected and grouped into the following categories: public areas, staff areas or medical equipment. Of those, 130 samples were collected from two outpatient hematology/oncology clinics, 36 were from surfaces in an inpatient lymphoma/leukemia/CAR-T cell unit and 38 were from an inpatient COVID-19 unit. (Carbajal, 2/22)

CNN: Pandemic Stress Is Causing Paranoia 
It was like I had asked her to fork over her Social Security number and firstborn child. "What do you need it for? What are you going to do with it?" my colleague asked me, Zoom eyes wide with fear. "Whoa there," I wanted to say. There was no need to get concerned. I had simply asked a coworker for a straightforward piece of information that in normal times would have evoked little more than an "OK, no problem," in response. Of course, these aren't normal times. (Hope, 2/23)

The Washington Post: Covid Vaccine And Infertility: Misinformation Is Scaring Some Women 
Niharika Sathe, a 34-year-old internal medicine physician in New Jersey, first heard the fertility rumor from another doctor. The friend confided that she would decline the coronavirus vaccine because of something she’d seen online — that the shot could cause the immune system to attack the placenta, potentially leading to miscarriage and infertility. Sathe, who was early in her pregnancy at the time but had not told anyone, spent the next few weeks scrutinizing information from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and calling trusted experts to investigate the report. (Cha, 2/22)

KHN: It’s Time To Get Back To Normal? Not According To Science. 
A popular Facebook and blog post by conservative radio host Buck Sexton claims scientific research indicates life should return to normal now despite the persistence of the covid-19 pandemic. “Here’s what the science tells anyone who is being honest about it: open the schools, stop wearing masks outside, and everyone at low risk should start living normal lives. Not next fall, or next year — now,” reads the blog post, posted to Facebook on Feb. 8. (Knight, 2/23)

KHN: Covid Strikes Clergy As They Comfort Pandemic’s Sick And Dying
The Rev. Jose Luis Garayoa survived typhoid fever, malaria, a kidnapping and the Ebola crisis as a missionary in Sierra Leone, only to die of covid-19 after tending to the people of his Texas church who were sick from the virus and the grieving family members of those who died. Garayoa, 68, who served at El Paso’s Little Flower Catholic Church, was one of three priests living in the local home of the Roman Catholic Order of the Augustinian Recollects who contracted the disease. Garayoa died two days before Thanksgiving. (Alpert, 2/23)

Politico: New Jersey Legalizes Cannabis After Years Of Failed Efforts And Toxic Negotiations
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy finally delivered on a 2017 campaign promise when he signed legislation Monday that legalizes cannabis for adults, decriminalizes the possession of up to six ounces of the drug and codifies criminal justice reforms that will upend how police officers interact with underage offenders. Despite New Jersey's deep-blue political backdrop and strong tailwinds in support of loosening Reagan-era drug policies, Murphy, a progressive Democrat, came close to rejecting the measures. (Sutton, 2/22)

The Hill: Arkansas State Senate Approves Bill Banning All Abortions Unless Mother's Life Is Threatened 
Arkansas state senators on Monday voted to pass a new measure that would ban nearly all abortions. According to The Associated Press, the majority-Republican Senate approved the ban in a 27-7 vote. The bill must be approved by the House and signed by the governor to become law. (Seipel, 2/22)

Louisville Courier Journal: Rep. Andy Barr Introduces Heart Health Bill In Memory Of Late Wife
Kentucky Congressman Andy Barr has introduced a bill to increase awareness of and fund research on heart conditions that often affect young women in memory of his late wife, Carol Leavell Barr. On Monday, the Kentucky Republican filed the Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy, or CAROL, Act to address diseases like the one his wife had. Leavell Barr, 39, died in June after going into cardiac arrest. The Fayette County Coroner's Office said in a preliminary autopsy report at the time her death was likely connected to an underlying heart condition known as mitral valve prolapse. (Ramsey, 2/22)

The New York Times: Gender-Reveal Device Explodes, Killing Man in Upstate New York
A man who was expecting his first child was killed on Sunday and his brother was injured when a device they were preparing for a gender-reveal party exploded in a garage in the Catskills in New York, the authorities said. The New York State Police said troopers responded to a report of an explosion at a home in the town of Liberty, N.Y., just before noon. Christopher Pekny, 28, died and his brother Michael Pekny, 27, was hurt, officials said. (Mele, 2/22)

And in pandemic-related developments —

Los Angeles Times: California Legislators Approve COVID-19 Plan, Including $600 Checks
Californians who qualify for a $600 state stimulus payment could see the money arrive as soon as a month after filing their tax returns under a $7.6-billion COVID-19 economic relief package approved Monday by the state Legislature. Crafted by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders last week, the pandemic assistance plan also includes more than $2.1 billion in grants and fee waivers for small businesses. Those companies can soon apply for the grants, followed by an approval process that state officials estimate would take 45 days. (McGreevy, 2/22)

Bloomberg: New York City Can Re-Open Movie Theaters At 25% Capacity On March 15
Movie theaters will be allowed to open at 25% capacity with no more than 50 people per screening, Cuomo said at a Monday briefing. There will be mandatory masks, assigned seating and enhanced ventilation and air filtration. Theaters are the latest businesses the governor has allowed to reopen as Covid-19 cases have dropped from post-holiday highs and the state’s vaccination campaign ramps up. Over the weekend, New York’s positivity rate dropped below 3% for the first time since Nov. 23. More than 12% of state residents have received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. (Clukey, 2/22)

The Hill: North Dakota House Passes Bill Forbidding Mandatory Mask Wearing 
The North Dakota House of Representatives passed a bill on Monday that would make future mask mandates illegal. The Grand Forks Herald reported that the bill passed 50-44. It next heads to the state Senate. The bill comes three months after North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) imposed a statewide mask mandate, though the governor himself had previously expressed skepticism over such a move. (Choi, 2/22)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Inmate Tests Positive For UK Variant Of COVID-19, Department Of Corrections Says 
A Maryland inmate living in the Maryland Correctional Institution of Jessup tested positive for the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19 last week, according to the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. This is the first inmate in the state known to test positive for the variant, which first emerged in the United Kingdom in late 2020. (Jackson, 2/22)

CIDRAP: Drug Supply Chain Issues Aren't Going Away, Report Says 
In a new American Society of Health-system Pharmacists (ASHP) report, 92% of its "2021 Pharmacy Forecast" panelists say global issues like trade restrictions, pandemics like COVID-19, or climate change will increase the potential for more drug shortages, and almost 90% say a major technology failure or breach could cause widespread disruptions in the delivery of US healthcare supplies. To help mitigate these issues, 90% of panelists also predicted that at least 75% of health systems will develop allocation guidelines. In the report, the ASHP notes a 36.6% increase in ongoing drug shortages from 2017 to 2020, with 276 shortages occurring in 2020. (McLernon, 2/22)

Stat: With Amazon On Their Heels, Digital Pharmacies Race To Expand Their Reach
Ever since Amazon launched its digital pharmacy late last year, industry rivals have been worried the tech giant would steal the show. Rather than waiting to find out, they’re all scrambling to secure their spot on the stage. (Brodwin, 2/23)

In other pharmaceutical and research news —

Stat: AbbVie Smooths Over Trade Secrets Dispute Over A New Version Of Botox
After two years of bickering, AbbVie (ABBV) and a marketing partner have settled a dispute in which they had accused two competitors of stealing trade secrets that were used to develop a rival product to the best-selling Botox treatment. (Silverman, 2/22)

Stat: FDA Concludes Brainstorm's Cell Therapy For ALS Lacks Convincing Data
The Food and Drug Administration told Brainstorm Therapeutics that rejiggered data from a negative clinical trial does not support the submission of a stem cell therapy for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, the company said Monday. Despite the FDA’s recommendation that Brainstorm not seek the approval of its patient-specific ALS treatment called NurOwn, the company may still do so, but will consult with outside experts first before making a decision. (Feuerstein, 2/22)

Stat: As All Of Us Aims To Diversify Research, Tech Partners Push To Democratize It
Everyone working from home this year has figured out their own ways to stay focused. For Chris Lunt, it’s a squat red sphere he keeps on his desk, painted to depict the furrowed brow of Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism — a Daruma doll. (Palmer, 2/22)

Modern Healthcare: Oscar Health's $1B IPO Sets The Stage For More Health Tech Exits In 2021
Oscar Health has unveiled a plan to go public for $1.054 billion, making it the largest public debut by a health tech startup so far this year and there could be many more digital health startups maturing soon. As interest rates remain low and investment interest in the stock market remains high, the New York City-based company's offering is a harbinger for good things to come in the digital health space, particularly as many of these startups mature and new ways to go public pop up in the market, according to Michael Yang, managing partner of the Omers Venture investment firm. "It's just building off the crescendo of the last two years," Yang said. "You had a few in '19, you build that drumbeat in '20 and by '21, people are just kind of conditioned to expect this." (Tepper, 2/22)

FierceHealthcare: COVID-19 Costs, Care Deferrals Came Back To Bite Insurers In Q4 2020  
While health plans reported sky-high profits in the early parts of 2020 due to care deferred under the pandemic, rising costs related to COVID-19 and more stable care utilization dinged their finances in the fourth quarter. Cigna was the most profitable of the major national insurers in the fourth quarter, bringing in $4.1 billion in earnings for the quarter. While those profit numbers fell short of the expectations of Zack's analysts, Cigna's profits far outpaced its competitors in the quarter. In second place was UnitedHealth Group, with $2.2 billion in profits. (Minemyer, 2/22)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Money-Losing Tower Health Replaces CEO After Sustaining Big Losses In Philly And Suburban Hospitals
Tower Health, the financially troubled health system that owns six hospitals in the Philadelphia area, announced Monday that it had replaced its chief executive with a board member on an interim basis. In a move that was unsurprising to health-care leaders in the Philadelphia region, the board replaced Clint Matthews, who led Tower through a dramatic expansion since 2017 in a bid to compete with Philadelphia’s academic medical centers such as Penn Medicine and Jefferson Health. Matthews’ successor is P. Sue Perrotty, 67, a retired bank executive who joined the nonprofit’s board in 2019. (Brubaker, 2/22)

In news about health care workers —

Becker's Hospital Review: Oregon Hospital Workers File Strike Notice
The union representing 156 technical employees at St. Charles Health System's St. Charles Bend (Ore.) hospital campus filed a strike notice Feb. 22, according to a hospital news release. The strike of indefinite duration is set to begin March 4 unless an agreement is reached. "We were driven to do this by the hospital," labor organizer Sam Potter told the publication. "Our members have been waiting for and fighting for fair pay and a fair contract. We've waited long enough." (Gooch, 2/22)

AP: Bone Cancer Survivor To Join Billionaire On SpaceX Flight
After beating bone cancer, Hayley Arceneaux figures rocketing into orbit on SpaceX’s first private flight should be a piece of cosmic cake. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital announced Monday that the 29-year-old physician assistant — a former patient hired last spring — will launch later this year alongside a billionaire who’s using his purchased spaceflight as a charitable fundraiser. (Dunn, 2/22)

AP: Mexico Receives Shipment Of Sputnik V Vaccine
Mexico has received its first shipment of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. Some 200,000 doses arrived to Mexico City’s international airport late Monday night aboard a British Airways flight from Moscow. Officials plan to use the doses to begin vaccinating seniors in the capital’s most marginalized boroughs on Wednesday. Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard confirmed their arrival via Twitter. (2/23)

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Pfizer Plays Hardball In Covid-19 Vaccine Negotiations 
Pfizer has been accused of “bullying” Latin American governments during negotiations to acquire its Covid-19 vaccine, and the company has asked some countries to put up sovereign assets, such as embassy buildings and military bases, as a guarantee against the cost of any future legal cases, according to an investigation by the U.K.-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism. (Madlen Davies, Ivan Ruiz, Jill Langois and Rosa Furneaux, 2/23)

AP: Guatemalans Outraged By Fake COVID-19 Tests
Lawmakers and rights official in Guatemala called Monday for an investigation into 30,000 fake COVID-19 tests that were bought by public health officials. The 30,000 tests and testing materials cost the Central American country’s Health Ministry almost $1 million, but were found to be unreliable. (2/22)

Stat: New Pledges Boost A Global Vaccine Access, But Critics Say More Is Needed
After months of uncertainty and frustration, a World Health Organization program designed to ensure access to Covid-19 vaccines in dozens of low-income countries late last week received a spate of good news. (Silverman, 2/22)

The Washington Examiner: Sweden Moves To Strengthen Academic Freedom After Researcher Harassed For Pandemic Study
Sweden has vowed better protections for academic freedom after a leading Swedish researcher quit his work on COVID-19 after facing an onslaught of attacks for his research being too optimistic about the virus. “It is deeply concerning when academics are threatened to the extent that they don’t have the courage to keep on doing their job. This is not a new phenomenon, but we have seen an increase of threats against academics related to research on the coronavirus. When people are silenced, it’s a threat against the freedom of speech and our democracy,” said Matilda Ernkrans, Sweden’s minister for higher education and research. (Lee, 2/20)

Also —

Stat: Avoiding Light Due To Migraines, Woman Develops A Centuries-Old Condition
In 2017, Karen Porter mentioned something unusual at a routine neurology appointment: Everything she saw appeared to be vibrating. The 57-year-old U.K. resident has chronic migraines, and over the past few years had become increasingly sensitive to light; her house was almost completely blacked out, except for a dim camping light. In low light, she’d noticed the startling change in her vision. (Sohn, 2/22)

The Washington Post: We’ve Lost 500,000 Americans To Covid-19. We Can Prevent The Loss Of 500,000 More.
This is a moment of terrible tension. We are reaching an unspeakable milestone: the deaths of half a million Americans from covid-19. At the same time, there is unambiguous good news in the fight against the virus. It is possible, finally, to imagine a day when this devastating pandemic is brought to an end. The progress we’ve made toward defeating covid-19 should sharpen our grief, making it clear how many lives we might have saved had we been unified in our response. But even as we mourn, we cannot despair: There are people who will live if we keep up the hard, lonely work still before us. (Eugene Robinson, 2/22)

Los Angeles Times: America Underestimated COVID And Now 500,000 Are Dead 
In late March 2020, two of the federal government’s top health experts, Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, delivered a stark assessment about the potential for catastrophic loss of life in the U.S. from COVID-19. Even with lockdowns and social distancing, they warned during a public briefing of the coronavirus task force, between 100,000 and 240,000 people may die before the virus waned or was vanquished.It was an eye-popping number at the time — there had been only about a dozen reported COVID deaths on U.S. soil, and the president had dismissed the coronavirus as nothing more serious than seasonal influenza. (2/22)

Fox News: COVID And The 500,000 Deaths Milestone
People are anxious for certainty and this is the one thing we lack. We must be careful not to make unsubstantiated projections especially since we can’t predict exactly the impact the variants will have. False reassurances may undermine public compliance just when we need it the most. The one thing we do have control over is the vaccine. Only mass vaccination may bring us to herd immunity by summer. Only the vaccine will allow us to fully reopen our society. To beat the pandemic, do your part and get the shot. (Marc Siegel, 2/22)

Bloomberg: Boris Johnson's Lockdown Roadmap To Summer Of Freedom Could Be Great
The word that best summarizes the U.K.’s 60-page Covid-19 response paper isn’t one usually associated with this prime minister. It is, as Johnson kept repeating Monday, “cautious.” He doesn’t have much margin for error. A government that has presided over one of the world’s highest per capita death rates bears a special responsibility to tread carefully and get it right. Johnson won’t want to waste his “vaccine dividend,” and who can blame him? While children will return to school on March 8, life for adults will ease more gradually, with up to six people or two households able to meet again — outdoors only — from the end of March. The reopening of retail, hairdressers, gyms and outdoor hospitality is anticipated from April 12. Indoor hospitality and larger gatherings for events will have to wait until at least May 17, with remaining restrictions removed only on June 21. (Therese Raphael, 2/23)

The Washington Post: Biden Asked What Could Be Cut From His Covid Relief Package. Here Are Some Ideas.
As the House of Representatives moves toward passage of its version of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion covid relief package, concerns about the bill’s cost are growing — across the political spectrum. Republican opposition, characterized by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) as something “that will help unify our party,” was predictable. Less easy for Democrats to dismiss are expressions from such authorities as former International Monetary Fund chief economist Olivier Blanchard and former Obama administration economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers, who argue the plan is bigger than necessary to restore pre-pandemic growth, thus diverting resources needed for other goals — and, less certainly, risking inflation. (2/22)

The Hill: Going Big On COVID-19 Relief Will Help Protect Financial Stability 
President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief package has triggered a vibrant debate among economists. Critics of the package argue that it fails to target the neediest recipients; that it is far larger than needed to boost the economy to full employment; and that it will accordingly re-ignite inflation and expand the federal debt to an egregious extent. Proponents point to the very unequal nature of the nation’s recovery; that after years of subdued inflation, there is no evidence that the expansion will produce anything more than a short-lived spike in prices; and that in light of the tremendous challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic, going big is less risky than going small. (Steven Kamin, 2/22)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan High Court Should Undo Ruling On Whitmer's Emergency Powers
In October of last year, the Michigan Supreme Court struck down a 75-year-old law granting Michigan’s governor broad authority to cope with emergencies. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had drawn on that authority to confront a crisis that has killed nearly 15,000 Michiganders so far.The case, In re Certified Questions, was no ordinary court decision. It rested on an antiquated legal theory that the Michigan Supreme Court had never before invoked to strike down a law. It applied federal case law that has no relevance to Michigan constitutional law. It divided the Court 4-to-3 on partisan line. It was a procedural train-wreck. And it will cast a pall over future laws that the Michigan Legislature may seek to pass to address urgent problems, including a future pandemic. (Nicholas Bagley, 2/22)

Sun Sentinel: Gov. Ron DeSantis' Vaccines-For-Votes Political Strategy
The story is not just who’s getting vaccinated. It’s who’s not: Black and Hispanic Floridians, front-line health care workers, teachers and educational personnel. These Floridians have no shot at getting a shot. They don’t live in the right zip codes.This week, (Gov.) DeSantis’ pop-up politics took him to 34211 and 34202, two affluent zip codes that include the high-end gated communities of Lakewood Ranch in Manatee County, near Sarasota. A real estate developer friend of the governor helped to arrange the visit. Those getting the needle were 65 and over, white and wealthy. When a few people dared to question this elitist strategy, DeSantis struck back with the combativeness that has become his trademark. (Steve Bousquet, 2/29)

Boston Globe: Restaurants Don’t Need Indoor Dining. They Need A Bailout. 
When the pandemic hit, governors across the country were faced with a difficult decision: They could either shut down restaurants or risk more COVID-19 outbreaks in their states. Quickly, and responsibly, governors chose the latter, but, naturally, the restaurant industry suffered as a result. By April, over 80 percent of restaurant workers in Massachusetts were laid off or furloughed — a trend that could be seen in state after state — and the industry lost hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue nationwide. That’s a big reason why states started tinkering with their lockdowns, easing indoor dining restrictions in order to allow restaurants to draw customers back. (2/22)

The New York Times: The Covid Emergency Must End
Christmas of 2021: According to both President Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci, together the two most prominent voices on public health in America right now, that’s when we can hope for a return to normalcy, the beginning of life after the emergency. Even that not-exactly-optimistic prediction comes with hedges and caveats. Next Christmas won’t necessarily be the end of pandemic restrictions, according to Biden — just a time when “significantly fewer people having to be socially distanced, having to wear a mask.” Likewise, Fauci has described his hope as “a degree of normality” by the end of 2021, with the possibility of widespread masking persisting into the following year. I am not vested with Biden’s authority or Fauci’s expertise, but I can read trend lines and vaccine studies, and right now both their takes look way too pessimistic. (Ross Douthat, 2/23)

Stat: Propelling From National Crisis To A Resilient Health Care System 
A year into the Covid-19 pandemic and the U.S. is still battling this crisis. As the country enters its second and third waves of cases, we know it won’t be back to “business as usual” soon. But was “business as usual” in our health care system really working? (Melinda B. Buntin and Kristine Martin Anderson, 2/22)

The New York Times: Covid Vaccines Work. They Likely Also Reduce Transmission 
The purpose of the Covid-19 vaccines is to prevent death and serious health complications that strain our overburdened health care system. All the vaccines authorized for emergency use do this, and their safety and effectiveness in clinical trials have surpassed expectations. But most people, quite understandably, want to know something more: Will being vaccinated stop the spread of Covid-19 so they can socialize outside their bubbles and dine indoors with abandon? Eventually, yes. Many scientists are reluctant to say with certainty that the vaccines prevent transmission of the virus from one person to another. This can be misinterpreted as an admission that the vaccines do not work. That’s not the case. (Angela L. Rasmussen, 2/23)

The Washington Post: Black Americans Should Face Lower Age Cutoffs To Qualify For A Vaccine
Oni Blackstock is a primary care and HIV physician and founder and executive director of Health Justice. Uché Blackstock is an emergency physician and founder and chief executive of Advancing Health Equity. In the 1970s, epidemiologist Sherman James described the phenomenon of “John Henryism,” whereby Black Americans must invest immense effort to cope with the chronic stress of racism, leading to poor health and early death. That’s still the case today, especially during the pandemic. In the first half of 2020, Black Americans’ life expectancy declined almost three years to an average of 72 years, compared with a loss of almost one year for White Americans (now 78 years). Meanwhile, Black Americans are not only twice as likely to die of covid-19 as White Americans but also dying at rates similar to those of White Americans who are 10 years older. Moreover, racial inequities are most striking at younger ages; for example, Black people ages 45 to 54 are seven times more likely to die of covid-19 than similarly aged White Americans. Why, then, are Black Americans subject to the same age cutoff for vaccination prioritization? (Oni Blackstock and Uché Blackstock, 2/22)

Stat: Employers Can't Require Covid-19 Vaccination Under An EUA
Ever since the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for two new vaccines, employers, schools, and other organizations are grappling with whether to require Covid-19 vaccination. While organizations are certainly free to encourage their employees, students, and other members to be vaccinated, federal law provides that, at least until the vaccine is licensed, individuals must have the option to accept or decline to be vaccinated. Knowing what an organization can or cannot do with respect to Covid-19 vaccines can help them keep their employees, students, and members safe and also save the them from costly and time-consuming litigation. (Aaron Siri, 2/23)

Los Angeles Times: If Opening Schools Means Vaccinating Teachers Now, Do It 
Let’s not kid ourselves. Efforts by both Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office and state legislators to reopen schools by vaccinating teachers aren’t the result of science or even fairness. But with teachers nervous about returning to in-person classrooms and their powerful unions putting up a mighty fight, most schools aren’t going to open without vaccinating their staffs, so let’s get on with it. (2/23)

Colorado Sun: Why Coloradans Experiencing Homelessness Need COVID-19 Vaccination Now
Gov. Jared Polis missed the mark when he said in early February that it would “cost lives” to divert COVID-19 vaccines to younger, “healthier” people because “they happen to be homeless.”  In fact, the opposite is true – it would save lives. Here’s why. Congregate shelters, which thousands of unhoused Coloradans rely on for emergency shelter and vital services, are often crowded, poorly ventilated indoor spaces with hundreds of people passing through each day and sleeping just a few feet apart. (Ed Farrell, 2/23)

Stat: Lung Transplants After Covid-19 Raise Difficult Issues
When the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States in the spring, I wrote that some people with severe Covid-19-related lung injury would never recover their lung function. As a lung transplant specialist and lead author on the most recent guidelines for selecting lung transplant candidates, I was concerned that transplant specialists would soon be asked to evaluate Covid-19 patients for lung transplants. The response I got from some of my colleagues in the transplant community was one of surprise: “Really? You think some of these folks will be seeking transplants?” they asked. “Yes, I do,” I said then. Now I say, “Yes, we have.” And likely with more to come. (David Weill, 2/23)

Boston Globe: Overdose Prevention Sites Save Lives
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaping deficiencies in the country’s public health infrastructure. But it’s also laid bare our extraordinarily tenuous handle on other health crises. Health officials and lawmakers should take stock of current approaches and push for strategies that we know will save lives.In no realm of public health is this clearer than the country’s overdose epidemic. By the time the national tally is finalized, 2020 will be the deadliest year on record, with more than 81,000 drug overdose deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Brandon D.L. Marshall and Ashish K. Jha, 2/22)