Axios: Scoop: The Trump Administration's Plan To Speed Up Vaccinations
The Trump administration is set to deliver new guidelines today that will get coronavirus vaccinations moving much faster. ... New federal guidelines will recommend opening up the process to everyone older than 65, and will also aim to move doses out the door rather than holding some back. (Baker, 1/12)

AP: US Asking States To Speed Vaccine, Not Hold Back 2nd Dose
The Trump administration is asking states to speed delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to people older than 65 and others at high risk by no longer holding back the second dose of the two-dose shots, The Associated Press has learned. The Centers for Disease Control is expected to recommend opening up vaccines to everyone older than 65 and to get the vaccines to more people by not holding back the second vaccine dose. That’s according to a Trump administration official familiar with the decision, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement. (Miller, 1/12)

CNN: Vaccine Distribution: Trump Administration Expected To Change Course On Rollout Plans
The change in guidelines, which is expected to be announced at a noon briefing Tuesday by Operation Warp Speed, is a significant shift from the approach taken by the Trump administration which had previously balked at releasing all available doses. Both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna's vaccines require two rounds of injection, and while releasing nearly all vaccine doses on hand could quickly ratchet up availability, it also runs the risk of depleting resources that are necessary to make sure people are fully vaccinated. (Holmes, 1/12)

Senate Democrats urged the White House to take urgent action —

Politico: Democrats Demand Plan From Trump To Fix ‘Failed’ Vaccine Rollout 
The Trump administration must urgently provide states with new resources and guidance to correct "significant failures" in the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, according to a new letter from Senate Democrats shared with POLITICO. The United States "cannot afford for this vaccination campaign to continue to be hindered by the lack of planning, communication, and leadership we have seen so far," Democrats wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, citing data that just over one-third of distributed vaccines have been administered. "The metric that matters, and where we are clearly moving too slowly, is vaccines in arms." (Diamond, 1/11)

The Hill: Senate Democrats Demand Trump Address COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution 
A group of Senate Democrats is demanding that the Trump administration provide states with a plan of action that includes new resources and guidance "to fix the significant failures of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution" rollout. In a letter sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the Democrats said the country's vaccination effort is moving too slowly and blamed the administration’s failure to develop and implement a comprehensive national vaccine plan. (Weixel, 1/11)

In news from the Department of Health and Human Services —

Modern Healthcare: AHRQ Director Gopal Khanna Resigns In Response To Capitol Riot
Gopal Khanna, who has served as the director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality since 2017, announced Monday that he resigned from his role. In an email to staff, Khanna said he submitted his resignation to HHS Secretary Alex Azar. He resigned in response to the riot last week at the Capitol, saying "As a first-generation American and a proud citizen of this country, nothing is more sacred than the values embedded in our Constitution, and the principles we hold dear. However, based on the horrific events last Wednesday at the nation's Capitol, the very seat of our democracy and a beacon of freedom the world over, I have decided to step aside." (Castellucci, 1/11)

Stat: In Intra-Agency Scuffle, HHS Overrules FDA Pick For Key Position 
Health secretary Alex Azar suddenly appointed a new top lawyer at the Food and Drug Administration just hours after the subagency had announced its own pick for the post. The move is already raising concerns among FDA officials; two senior staffers at the agency told STAT they see it as another instance of HHS meddling in FDA policymaking — a criticism that has been raised repeatedly about the two agencies during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Florko, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Vaccines Were A Chance To Redeem Failures In The U.S. Coronavirus Response. What Went Wrong? 
The story of how this happened reflects schisms that have defined the U.S. response, with mistrust smoldering between career scientists and political appointees accountable during an election year to a president widely criticized for his response to the pandemic but who took credit on the stump for vaccine development and promised one would be ready “very soon.” The delayed and disjointed vaccine rollout is the product of poor coordination between the federal government and the 50 states and additional jurisdictions tasked with carrying out the most ambitious immunization campaign in history, likened by officials to the effort to turn back the Nazis in 1944. (Sun, Stanley-Becker, Stead Sellers, McGinley, Goldstein, Rowland and Johnson, 1/11)

Politico: Governors’ Red Tape Blamed As Vaccine Doses Pile Up
Governors face a growing outcry over inflexible vaccine policies that are now being blamed for leaving millions of doses to pile up in freezers — and some to land in the trash. Pharmacists and hospital leaders, scrambling to get the scarce Covid-19 vaccine doses into the arms of the willing, are begging state leaders not to tie their hands. They say a patchwork of Byzantine-like state regulations — and, in at least one case, the threat of monetary penalties for stepping out of line — have left the medical community paralyzed over what to do with extra supplies. (Luthi, Young and Colliver, 1/11)

Vaccinations are picking up —

Reuters: CDC Says 9 Million Americans Now Vaccinated As U.S. States Scramble
Nearly 9 million Americans had been given their first COVID-19 vaccination dose as of Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, as states scrambled to step up inoculations that have yet to slow the roaring pandemic. The 8,987,322 people who have been jabbed with the first of two shots, according to the CDC, represent less than one-third of the 25 million total doses distributed to states by the U.S. government. (Caspani, Whitcomb and Allen, 1/11)

The New York Times: Andrew Cuomo Outlines New York's Plan To ‘Win The Covid War’ 
Facing a daunting budget crisis and a surging second wave of the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday unveiled his vision of New York’s agenda for the year, focused on righting the state’s finances and its citizens’ health in a moment of profound concern about the nation’s well-being. Speaking from a nearly empty room in the State Capitol — the ceremonial War Room just steps from his office — Mr. Cuomo unveiled a seven-point plan for the state, with many of the points touching on the coronavirus and its ramifications. (McKinley and Ferre-Sadurni, 1/11)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Criticizing The Feds, Pa. And N.J. Are Opening Vaccine Sites, Increasing Shots, Still Waiting For More Supply
Top New Jersey and Pennsylvania officials criticized the federal government’s rollout of the coronavirus vaccine on Monday, saying the president’s administration hasn’t delivered enough doses and set unrealistic expectations about how many people could be vaccinated. Touring a new vaccination “mega-site” in South Jersey, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, both Democrats, expressed frustration with the federal government for delivering fewer than the expected number of doses to the state. (McDaniel, Steele and McCarthy, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Vaccine Rollout Reaches Next Phase In D.C., Northern Virginia 
The District and much of Virginia moved into their next phases of coronavirus vaccinations Monday, targeting older residents and other vulnerable populations as a post-holiday surge of new infections in the Washington region continued to reach record highs. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser said the city will begin vaccinating residents 65 and older, while some jurisdictions in Virginia on Monday began making appointments to inoculate residents 75 and older. Health officials previously had worked to inoculate residents of nursing homes and assisted-living communities before moving to the next phase. (Olivo, Fadulu and Wiggins, 1/11)

In updates from West Virginia, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada and Alaska —

Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail: After Antibody Mix-Up, State Bars Boone Health Department From Vaccine Distribution
Since late last month, the Boone County Health Department has been barred by the state from receiving and distributing COVID-19 vaccines, according to Allison Adler, spokeswoman with the state Department of Health and Human Resources. The exclusion came after more than 40 Boone County residents were mistakenly given an antibody treatment instead of COVID-19 vaccines at the health department on Dec. 30. (Coyne, 1/11)

Georgia Health News: Georgia Grapples With Low COVID Shot Rate, Overwhelming Demand 
Georgia’s worst-in-the-nation status for COVID vaccination rate is a glaring hole in the state’s fight against the disease. Some hospital officials are pointing to trouble inputting data into the state immunization registry about shots that have been given. Gov. Brian Kemp has talked about “a significant underreporting’’ of how many vaccinations have been carried out. (Miller, 1/11)

Chicago Tribune: Illinois To Allow Local Health Departments To Move Into Next COVID-19 Vaccination Phase 
Local health departments soon will be able to start vaccinating those 65 and older against COVID-19, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Monday, preparing the way for the much-awaited next phase of the vaccination program. Currently, the state is in phase 1a of its COVID-19 vaccination plan, which provides shots to health care workers and staff and residents of long-term care facilities, amounting to some 850,000 people. (McCoppin and Petrella, 1/11)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Sisolak To Provide Update On Nevada COVID-19 Efforts, Vaccinations
Nevada has revised its COVID-19 vaccination plan to put front-line and essential workers and the general public on concurrent paths, a rollout that would deliver more doses to more senior Nevadans sooner. The new approach would start after the initial vaccinations of health care workers are completed, perhaps by the end of this month. With its parallel lanes, the new plan sets people in the general population on equal footing with groups such as police officers, educators and supply chain workers, roughly in descending age order, with those 70 and older getting initial priority. (Dentzer, 1/11)

Anchorage Daily News: Amid ‘Incredibly Limited’ COVID-19 Vaccine Supply In Alaska, Calls Grow To Bump Up Teachers And Others
Numerous industry sectors and groups, including teachers, are urging state officials to move up their eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine even as it became clear Alaska’s allocation for the month is all but used up. During a hearing Monday, several educators and the president of the Anchorage teachers union urged the state’s vaccine allocation committee to move teachers into “immediate” vaccine status before in-person learning begins for K-2 and special education classes through sixth grade at the Anchorage School District in about a week. (Hollander, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: COVID-19 Vaccines Will Be Administered At Disneyland 
Health officials will begin distributing COVID-19 vaccines this week at Disneyland, the Orange County Board of Supervisors said Monday, making the resort the first “super” vaccination site in the county. In a statement Monday night, county supervisors said Disneyland will be one of five large “point-of-dispensing” sites that collectively would be able to vaccinate thousands of residents each day. Arrangements for the other sites are being finalized, the statement said. (Ormseth, 1/11)

The Hill: California To Open Multiple 'Mass Vaccination Sites' This Week 
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Monday that the state would be opening up multiple “mass vaccination sites” this week as cases continue to surge in the state. Newsom tweeted Monday that the new sites would include places such as Dodger Stadium, Padres stadium and Cal Expo. (Choi, 1/11)

AP: Going Big: US Dispensing Shots At Stadiums And Fairgrounds
Emily Alexander, a fourth-grade teacher in hard-hit Arizona, got vaccinated in a round-the-clock, drive-thru operation that opened Monday at the suburban Phoenix stadium where the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals play. She said she hopes it means she can be reunited in person with her students and colleagues before the end of the year. ... Similarly, in Britain, where a more contagious variant of the virus is raging out of control and deaths are soaring, seven large-scale vaccination sites opened Monday at such places as a big convention center in London, a racecourse in Surrey and a tennis and soccer complex in Manchester. (Pane, Nieberg and Watson, 1/11)

Modern Healthcare: Moderna's Top Doc: No Data Supports Halving COVID Vaccine Doses
Moderna's top doctor on Monday cautioned against giving patients only half doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in an attempt to innoculate more people, saying there isn't data to prove its efficacy. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tal Zaks said at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, which kicked off virtually on Monday, that the company is studying the question but has only preliminary findings to date. Once it has more information, he said the company will discuss the issue with regulators. Moderna's data showing the vaccine is 94% effective is based on two doses administered four weeks apart. "On cutting the dose in half, we're advocating for following the data and the science," Zaks said. "We do not have data on efficacy for half the dose." (Bannow, 1/11)

Modern Healthcare: J&J In 'Final Stages' Of Analyzing Trial Results For Its One-Dose COVID Vaccine
Johnson & Johnson expects to share clinical trial results for its much-anticipated one-dose COVID-19 vaccine candidate "very soon," company CEO Alex Gorsky said Monday. Johnson & Johnson last year enrolled 45,000 patients into a phase three clinical trial for its vaccine candidate. Those patients are still being monitored. "We're in the final stages of that analysis as we speak," Gorsky said at J.P. Morgan's annual healthcare conference. "We hope to have that information very soon." (Kim Cohen, 1/11)

Bloomberg: Pfizer, BioNTech Boost Vaccine Output Goal By More Than 50%
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE plan to produce 2 billion doses of their Covid-19 vaccine this year, boosting previously expected output by more than 50% in response to surging global demand. The companies have already agreed to deliver more than 1 billion doses in pacts with various countries, BioNTech said in a presentation at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference on Monday. The European Union last week sealed a deal to double its supply of Pfizer-BioNTech shots to as many as 600 million, while the U.S. has locked in a total of 200 million doses. (Kresge and Griffin, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Recovered Coronavirus Patients Should Still Get The Vaccine, Experts Say 
Research suggests most people who recovered from covid-19 are immune for at least eight months. Yet epidemiologists are largely still urging this population to get the vaccine if it’s their turn in line.  That’s per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which also says the vaccine is safe for people who have had a prior infection. Former CDC director Thomas Frieden said he’d advise most people to get the vaccine, even if they’ve had covid-19. (Ellerbeck, 1/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Can You Still Spread Covid-19 After You Get Vaccinated? 
Do the Covid vaccines prevent you from spreading the virus, or do they just protect you from getting sick? Scientists don’t know yet—and the uncertainty has big implications during the rollout of the vaccines. (Reddy, 1/11)

In related news about who's in line for vaccinations —

Philadelphia Inquirer: COVID-19 Vaccines Have Gone Mostly To White Philadelphians. Here’s What The City Is Doing To Change That
As the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine ramps up across the country, Philadelphia data show that most of those vaccinated in the city are white, a trend reflected statewide. The vaccine is still largely available only to health-care workers and residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities; paramedics and EMTs in Philadelphia started receiving their first doses two weeks ago. Philadelphia officials said Wednesday that of the 28,476 people who have been immunized at city health facilities, 43% were white, 12% were Black, 10% were Asian American, and 10% reported their race as “other.” For the rest, race was unknown. The city’s population is about 34% white, 44% Black, 15% Hispanic, and 8% Asian American, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. (Whelan, 1/11)

CNN: Baptist Health: Members Of The Public In Kentucky Mistakenly Allowed To Sign Up For Covid-19 Vaccination Appointments 
Members of the general public in Kentucky were mistakenly allowed to sign up for Covid-19 vaccine appointments meant for health care workers, according to Louisville-based health system Baptist Health. Baptist Health provided the Kentucky Department of Health with an online vaccine appointment scheduling tool that could be linked to the state's vaccine website for health care workers, Kit Fullenlove Barry, Baptist Health public relations manager, said in a statement to CNN Monday. (Thomas, 1/11)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Kroger: Not Requiring Its Workers To Be Vaccinated
Kroger is encouraging its workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 but is non-committal about requiring the shots once they are widely available. "At this time, we're strongly encouraging our shoppers and associates to get vaccinated," Tim Massa, Kroger's senior vice president of human resources and labor relations, told The Enquirer. When pressed if Cincinnati-based Kroger was considering mandating vaccination in the future, Massa repeated his previous answer. The nation's largest supermarket chain, Kroger's nearly 2,800 stores nationwide serve more than 11 million customers a day. (Coolidge, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: How Will The Self-Employed Get Vaccinated? There’s No Clear Answer
As a midwife, Tania McCracken spends hours with pregnant women and their families inside their homes, helping deliver newborns. The essential hands-on work puts McCracken and other California midwives at risk of COVID-19. “There’s a lot of breathing involved,” she said, noting that scientists have found that labor, like singing, may spread the virus through the air. But McCracken, who works in homes around Redlands in San Bernardino County, and many other state-licensed midwives have not yet been able to get the COVID-19 vaccine even though health workers have been prioritized to receive the shots before all others. (Petersen, 1/11)

Also —

CNN: Fear Of Needles Must Be Overcome For Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout To Work 
As a fourth-year medical student at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Amanda Walker knows that vaccinations are both safe and essential. Getting one, however, is still an ordeal for Walker, who has needle phobia. "I'll start to get really clammy, and then get cold sweats," she said, describing her reaction to routine injections. "Then I pass out." (Smith, 1/12)

USA Today: 'It's What We Feared:' Hospitals From Georgia To California Face Surging COVID-19 Cases, Staff Shortages And Rising Deaths
During the past week, a record 22,676 people died from COVID-19, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. That's more Americans dying every day than the 2,977 victims on Sept. 11, 2001. Four states with the largest share of hospital beds occupied with COVID-19 patients – California, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia – are struggling to keep pace with the unprecedented surge. The situation has become so dire in California that the state required hospitals to complete crisis-care plans detailing how they will prioritize care when they don’t have enough workers, space or supplies. (Alltucker, 1/12)

CNN: The US Has Averaged More Than 3,000 Covid-19 Deaths A Day Over The Past Week
Health officials had warned the Covid-19 pandemic would make winter one of the most difficult times in US history. That prediction is quickly proving true. December was devastating. And January could be deadlier. (Maxouris, 1/12)

NPR: Is Your Hospital Overwhelmed With COVID-19 Patients? Find Out With This Tool
The federal government on Monday released an updated set of detailed hospital-level data showing the toll COVID-19 is taking on health care facilities, including how many inpatient and ICU beds are available on a weekly basis. Using an analysis from the University of Minnesota's COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project, NPR has created a tool that allows you to see how your local hospital and your county overall are faring. (McMinn and Carlsen, 1/11)

In California —

CNN: Los Angeles County Officials Are Advising Essential Workers To Wear Masks At Home To Avoid Further Spread Of Covid-19
Things are so bad in Los Angeles County that health officials are now advising all essential workers to wear masks inside their own home to prevent spreading Covid-19 within their household. "Right now, because there is so much spread, we're recommending that people wear their face coverings while they're inside the home," Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said in a news conference Monday. That's for people who are either leaving their home every day for work or who are running errands regularly for their family, Ferrer said. (Meeks and Maxouris, 1/12)

The Hill: Deadly Weekend Pushes California Virus Death Toll Past 30,000 
California has surpassed 30,000 coronavirus deaths as of Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Deaths have risen sharply ever since a surge began in October, according to a report by KSWB-TV. The news station notes that it took around 6 months for the state to reach 10,000 deaths but it only took a month for the state’s death count to rise from 20,000 to 30,000. (Choi, 1/11)

In Texas and North Carolina —

Houston Chronicle: Texas Becomes The Second State To Surpass 30,000 COVID-19 Deaths
Texas recorded its 30,000th death from COVID-19 over the weekend, making it the second state in the country to surpass the milestone. The development coincides with a sharp spike in statewide deaths, which reached a seven-day average of nearly 279 on Sunday, the highest mark since early August. Texas’ rate of tests coming back positive also peaked earlier this month at nearly 21 percent, surpassing the previous high set during early July, shortly after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered bars to close and issued a mask mandate for most of the state. COVID hospitalizations now make up more than 15 percent of hospital capacity in all but one of the state’s 22 hospital regions, the threshold that triggers restrictions such as bar closures and the suspension of elective surgeries. (Scherer and Rubio, 1/11)

North Carolina Health News: Rapid Tests May Have Fueled COVID Surge
Despite their good intentions, some people who tested negative for the coronavirus using a rapid antigen test before visiting friends and family over Christmas may have developed a false sense of security. A new report shows that the rapid test missed the virus in nearly 60 percent of people who were infected but not yet showing symptoms. (Barnes, 1/12)

Los Angeles Times: At Least 9 U.S. States Have New Coronavirus Strain From U.K.
The coronavirus variant from the United Kingdom is now in at least nine U.S. states, and scientists expect that number to rise in short order. A total of 63 infections with the strain known as B.1.1.7 were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of Friday, the most recent data available. Given the limited amount of genetic analysis conducted on coronavirus samples collected here, health officials say the true number of cases is surely higher. California currently has more confirmed cases than any other state, with 32, according to the CDC. Florida is next, with 22. (Kaplan and Healy, 1/11)

AP: Officials: More Contagious Virus Variant Found In Indiana
A more contagious variant of the coronavirus that was first identified in the United Kingdom late last year has been found in Indiana, state health officials announced Monday. The Indiana State Department of Health said the variant was identified in the state through testing by the state agency’s laboratory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but Monday’s announcement included no additional information on its discovery in Indiana. (1/12)

AP: Minnesota Businesses Reopen As Cases Of Virus Variant Appear
Some Minnesota bars and restaurants began reopening at half capacity on Monday, eager to get back in business under loosening restrictions even as a new coronavirus variant moves into the state. The arrival of the variant, first identified in the United Kingdom in September and announced in Minnesota on Saturday, didn’t surprise officials. But they said it underscores the importance of slowing spread of the virus by wearing masks, maintaining social distance and quarantining if exposed. (Ibrahim, 1/11)

The Washington Post: CDC: No Sign Of Homegrown U.S. Coronavirus Variant, But Scientists Need To Look Harder 
Infectious-disease experts say there is no evidence the massive winter surge that is killing thousands of people a day in the United States is linked to the U.K. variant or to a homegrown strain. But they acknowledge their battlefield awareness is limited. Some states have minimal capacity to conduct genomic sequencing that allows scientists to trace the random mutations that could give a virus variant some advantage over other strains. Like any virus, this one mutates randomly, and countless variants are in circulation. (Achenbach, Bellware and Shaban, 1/11)

Japan reports yet another variant —

The Hill: WHO: Japan Identifies Another New Coronavirus Variant 
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that Japan has notified it of a new variant of coronavirus, amid concern over more infectious strains discovered in the United Kingdom and South Africa. "Over the weekend, WHO was notified by Japan about a new variant of the virus," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, at a news conference. (Sullivan, 1/11)

CNBC: Covid Strains: All The Major Virus Mutations We Know About
Viruses constantly mutate, so it’s not surprising that the coronavirus that emerged in China in late 2019 has gone through multiple minor variations. But it has also undergone several major mutations, and it’s likely that more, significant variations will emerge. (Ellyatt, 1/12)

In related news about how contagious covid really is —

USA Today: Record Low Flu Cases Show How COVID-19 Is More Contagious And 'Less Forgiving,' Experts Say
As COVID-19 raged last year, the seasonal flu all but vanished, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the 2019 flu season from Sept. 29 to Dec. 28, the CDC reported more than 65,000 cases of influenza nationwide. During the same period this flu season, the agency reported 1,016 cases. Health experts said that high vaccination rates against the flu – combined with social distancing, mask-wearing and hand-washing employed to stop the spread of the coronavirus – played a huge role in preventing influenzatransmission. The drop occurred despite a sixfold increase in testing at public health labs, most of which checked for influenza A and B along with the coronavirus. (Rodriguez, 1/11)

Politico: Biden Team Gets Access To Warp Speed-Related Meetings 
The Trump administration this week will give Biden transition officials their first direct access to certain regular meetings tied to the government's coronavirus vaccine development effort, Operation Warp Speed, a senior administration official told POLITICO. The invite to those meetings comes after POLITICO reported that the Biden team had been denied access to standing meetings on the pandemic response, hampering its planning efforts. (Cancryn, 1/11)

Politico: Biden To Unveil Vaccination Plan This Week 
President-elect Joe Biden is set to unveil a sweeping coronavirus vaccination plan on Thursday, calling the nationwide distribution effort his "number one priority." The plan, which Biden teased on Monday, will serve as the incoming administration's roadmap to quickly vaccinating millions of Americans amid frustration over the slow rollout of the initial doses. (Cancryn and Pager, 1/11)

Roll Call: Biden's Choice To Lead USDA Helped Monitor OxyContin Maker 
President-elect Joe Biden’s designee for Agriculture secretary worked not only as a top dairy industry executive in 2020 but also as a monitor overseeing Purdue Pharma’s adherence to an agreement to stop aggressively marketing opioid painkillers. Tom Vilsack, CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, also had a lucky streak last year in the Iowa lottery with Powerball winnings of $150,000. (Ferguson, 1/11)

And the president-elect receives his second dose of covid vaccine —

The Hill: Biden Publicly Receives Second Dose Of Coronavirus Vaccine 
President-elect Joe Biden publicly received his second dose of the vaccine for the novel coronavirus on Monday in a continued bid to bolster public confidence in the inoculation. “My number one priority is getting vaccine into people’s arms, like I just did today, as rapidly as we can,” Biden, wearing a black face mask, told reporters immediately after receiving his second dose of the vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech. (Chalfant, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman Tests Positive For Coronavirus After Lockdown With Maskless Lawmakers During Capitol Siege 
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a 75-year-old cancer survivor, has tested positive for the coronavirus after taking shelter in a room with other lawmakers, some of whom refused to wear masks, during last week’s violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. “I received a positive test result for COVID-19, and am home resting at this time,” she said in a statement. “While I am experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms, I remain in good spirits and will continue to work on behalf of my constituents.” (Itkowitz, 1/11)

Fox News: Jayapal Tests Positive For COVID-19, Criticizes Some Republicans For ‘Cruelly’ Not Wearing Masks
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., took to Twitter early Tuesday to announce that she has been diagnosed with COVID-19, and excoriated several Republicans locked down with her during last week’s riot at the Capitol who did not wear masks. Jayapal posted that she was "locked down in a secured room at the Capitol where several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but recklessly mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one." Her office issued a statement that said some members and staff were informed by Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician of the U.S. Congress, that those secured in that particular room had been exposed to "another occupant with coronavirus infection." She said they had been in the room for "multiple hours." (DeMarche, 1/12)

Roll Call: Concern Grows Over Potential COVID-19 Superspreader Event During Capitol Riot
Concerns are mounting about the health of lawmakers and other people in the Capitol last week, after the first member to test positive for COVID-19 since Wednesday’s chaos said she believed she was exposed in a crowded hiding place with hundreds of other legislators. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., tested positive Monday while experiencing mild symptoms, and said in a statement she believes she caught the coronavirus from her fellow lawmakers while hunkering down as Capitol Police struggled for hours to contain a Trump-inspired mob attack on the Capitol. (Kopp, 1/11)

The New York Times: Washington Grapples With High Number Of Coronavirus Cases 
While Mayor Muriel E. Bowser of Washington, D.C., was grappling with the riot that tore through the Capitol last week, another crisis was slowly unfolding: a surge of coronavirus in the district. Washington averaged 290 new coronavirus cases a day in the seven-day period that ended Sunday, the most the city has seen during any week of the pandemic. The surge is part of a broader upward tide throughout the nation’s Mid-Atlantic region: Virginia, Maryland and Delaware also set weekly case records on Sunday. (1/12)

The New York Times: Was The US Capitol Riot A Coronavirus Superspreader Event? 
A grim reality has begun to dawn on Capitol Hill: The riot on Wednesday may have started a coronavirus superspreader event, fueled by the mob that roamed through the halls of Congress and unmasked Republicans who jammed into cloistered secure rooms. It could have been worse. Because of the pandemic, lawmakers were instructed to remain in their offices unless speaking during debate over the certification of votes, tourists had been temporarily barred and the number of reporters allowed in each chamber at a time had been substantially curtailed. (Cochrane, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Bowser To Keep Indoor Dining, Museums Closed Past Inauguration Day
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) ordered indoor restaurants and museums to remain closed until two days after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, in a mayoral fiat meant to both curb the rising coronavirus infections in the city and make Washington less hospitable to visitors considering traveling to see Biden sworn in. (Zauzmer, 1/12)

And several health care companies reevaluate their support for some Republicans —

Stat: Health Companies, Groups Suspend Campaign Donations After Capitol Riot 
Following last week’s riot here, several major health care corporations are re-evaluating their support for the 147 Republican lawmakers who voted against certifying the results of November’s presidential election. (Facher, 1/12)

Stat: Eli Lilly Says Drug Slowed Alzheimer’s Decline In Preliminary Study 
An experimental medicine appeared to slow the decline of patients with the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, the drug’s maker, Eli Lilly, said. The results are likely to generate both excitement and debate in the Alzheimer’s field, because the study is small — enrolling just 272 patients — and because the medicine, donanemab, is the latest in a line of similar drugs that all target the same basic chemical mechanism, known as beta amyloid. (Herper, 1/11)

The Hill: Experimental Alzheimer's Drug Shows Promise In Small Trial 
The study did not show that the drug stopped Alzheimer's or cured it. But if successful, the trial showed that donanemab could at least slow the progression of the disease. Daniel Skovronsky, Lilly's chief scientific officer, said in a statement the trial shows donanemab has the potential to provide high levels of plaque clearance even after a limited duration dosing. (Weixel, 1/11)

The New York Times: Eli Lilly's Alzheimer's Drug Shows Promise In Small Trial 
If accurate, it is the first time a positive result has been found in a so-called Phase 2 study, said Dr. Lon S. Schneider, professor of psychiatry, neurology and gerontology at the University of Southern California. ...Participants who received the drug had a 32 percent deceleration in the rate of decline, compared with those who got a placebo. In six to 12 months, plaques were gone and stayed gone, said Dr. Daniel Skovronsky, the company’s chief scientific officer. At that point, patients stopped getting the drug — they got a placebo instead — for the duration of the study. (Kolata, 1/11)

Also —

Stat: Lilly’s Preliminary Alzheimer’s Data Adds $4 Billion To Biogen’s Value 
Biogen added more than $4 billion in market value on Monday after a rival Alzheimer’s disease treatment from Eli Lilly showed promise in a small clinical trial. The preliminary benefit of Lilly’s treatment, which works similarly to Biogen’s controversial aducanumab, “adds momentum and belief” to the idea that targeting a toxic brain plaque called amyloid can slow the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s, Biogen CEO Michel Vounatsos said at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. (Garde, 1/11)

Detroit Free Press: Henry Ford Study On Hydroxychloroquine For COVID-19 Quietly Shut Down
Promoted in April as the first large-scale drug study on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine to protect against COVID-19, the Detroit-based clinical trial has quietly been iced. Henry Ford Health System officials told Bridge Michigan they could not find enough participants to continue studying whether the drug could help beat back the deadly pandemic. Hydroxychloroquine — an antimalarial drug that has also proven useful in treating rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other inflammatory diseases — briefly produced some excitement last spring when it was promoted as a potential game-changer by President Trump. But early optimism gave way to broader medical studies, with the nation’s top health agencies eventually determining it was not effective in treating or preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Erb, 1/11)

CNN: Doctors Test Popular Anti-Depressant To See If It Fights Off Covid-19 
Doctors are running a clinical trial to see if a popular anti-depressant might keep someone from becoming severely ill with Covid-19. The researchers at Washington University of St. Louis are recruiting 1,100 people in the beginning stages of Covid-19 to test out the drug fluvoxamine, also known as Luvox. (Cohen, 1/11)

Stat: Gilead's Remdesivir Sales Are Surging, But Investors Aren't Impressed
A lot more Covid-19 patients in the U.S. are being treated with Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir because of the accelerating case counts. But even with sales of the medicine surging, investors are not impressed. (Feuerstein and Herper, 1/11)

In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —

The Wall Street Journal: Suppliers Of Medical Equipment In Talks To Merge 
Steris PLC is in talks to combine with Cantel Medical Corp. , according to people familiar with the matter, in a deal that would bring together two big providers of sterilization products. The companies are discussing a mostly stock deal that could be completed as soon as Tuesday, assuming talks don’t fall apart, the people said. Cantel has a market value of around $3.5 billion, while Steris’s is around $17.3 billion. (Lombardo, 1/11)

Stat: Tempus Unveils Prototype Cube That Talks Back To Oncologists 
Tempus, a Chicago-based health technology company, wants oncologists to talk to the cube. The cube, in this case, is a device called Tempus One that doctors will be able to put in their lab coat pockets and bring with them as they round at hospitals, asking questions about their patients, the genetic data of tumors, and the availability of clinical trials. Think of it as a tumor science version of Amazon’s Alexa. (Herper, 1/11)

The New York Times: A Colonoscopy Alternative Comes Home 
Most Americans who are due for a colon cancer screening will receive a postcard or a call — or prompting during a doctor’s visit — to remind them that it’s time to schedule a colonoscopy. But at big health care systems like Kaiser Permanente or the federal Veterans Health Administration, the process has changed. Patients who should be screened regularly (age 50 to 75) and who are of average risk, get a letter telling them about a home test kit arriving by mail. (Span, 1/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Bluebird Bio To Spin Off Cancer-Drug Unit 
Bluebird Bio Inc., a biotech pioneer in the field of gene therapies, plans to split itself in two later this year, spinning off its cancer-drug unit into a new, publicly traded company so it can focus on rare diseases. Bluebird Chief Executive Nick Leschly will helm the new cancer company and assume a new position as executive chairman of Bluebird. Andrew Obenshain, currently Bluebird’s president of severe genetic diseases, will become its chief executive, the company said. (Walker, 1/11)

Stat: Vertex Taking More Aggressive M&A Stance To Bolster Its Research Pipeline
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is looking to acquire “mid- and late-stage assets” to bolster its current research pipeline, CEO Reshma Kewalramani said Monday at the virtual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. The company also sees more growth for its cystic fibrosis drug business. (Feuerstein, 1/11)

Modern Healthcare: Mental Health Treatment Was Most Common Telehealth Service During COVID
A new study finds during the first few months of the pandemic, patients were more likely to use telehealth services for behavioral health treatment than physical conditions. The study, published recently by RAND Corp., shows that 53.6% of patients with a behavioral health condition sought treatment via telehealth from mid-March to early May of 2020. By comparison, 43.2% of patients with a chronic physical condition used telehealth to receive care during the same period. (Castellucci, 1/11)

Bangor Daily News: After Years Of Political Wrangling, Bangor Psychiatric Unit Expected To Open Later This Month
A newly built facility on the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center campus in Bangor is set to open later this month, housing older patients with severe mental illness from across Maine. The 18-bed unit’s opening will cap years of political wrangling over how to address persistent concerns about staff and patient safety at the state-run Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta, which lost its federal certification in 2013 before regaining it in 2019. The Bangor facility had long been intended to house forensic patients who have been found not criminally responsible for crimes they have committed or have been deemed unfit for trial, but who no longer need the restrictive, hospital level of care provided at Riverview Psychiatric Center. (Marino Jr., 1/12)

In other health care industry news —

Fox News: Amid Faulty Disinfection, Coronavirus Patients Battled Deadly, Drug-Resistant Fungus: CDC
As if the latest deadly novel pathogen wasn’t enough, the federal health agency recently documented a summer-time outbreak of a serious, multidrug-resistant fungus in a Florida COVID-19 unit. Health department officials were flagged to four cases of the so-called Candida auris infections; three manifesting in the bloodstream, one presenting in a urinary tract infection. The CDC says this yeast can cause serious infections and death, especially in patients with underlying medical conditions. Worse yet, it’s difficult to identify, can be asymptomatic and lingers on surfaces. After the first four cases were found in an unspecified "hospital A," the CDC, state health department and the hospital launched a joint investigation to observe staffers’ hand hygiene, disinfection and PPE practices, per a recent CDC report. (Rivas, 1/11)

Stat: Crossing The Threshold: Violence Against Home Visiting Nurses 
It’s a difficult time to be a nurse. It’s an even more difficult time to be a home visiting nurse. This large group of health care providers, who are largely invisible in the media, are poorly paid and more stressed than ever before. (Ha Do Byon, 1/12)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Mercy Health Will Bring $156 Million Hospital Complex To Mason
Mercy Health officials say the health system will build a new hospital and medical office complex in Mason. The $156 million medical complex will include a 60-bed hospital on 30 acres off the Kings Mills exit on Interstate 71, according to a Mercy Health release. Construction is scheduled to start on the 156,900-square-foot medical center in the third quarter of 2021. The health system expects to start seeing patients there shortly after construction is finished in the third quarter of 2023.About 220 new jobs are eventually anticipated in Mason in 2024, eventually increasing to 275. (Mayhew, 1/11)

KHN: An Urban Hospital On The Brink Vs. The Officials Sworn To Save It
Illinois and Chicago officials are trying to figure out how to stop a private company from closing a money-losing urban hospital in a poor, underserved Chicago neighborhood. Trinity Health, a national Catholic tax-exempt chain, wants to close Mercy Hospital and Medical Center on Chicago’s Near South Side by May 31. Last month, in an unusual move, the Illinois Health Facilities & Services Review Board unanimously denied Trinity permission to close the 412-bed facility, which predominantly serves Black and other minority patients on Medicaid. (Meyer, 1/12)

KHN: Health Workers Unions See Surge In Interest Amid Covid
The nurses at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, declared on March 6 — by filing the official paperwork — that they were ready to vote on the prospect of joining a national union. At the time, they were motivated by the desire for more nurses and support staff, and to have a voice in hospital decisions. A week later, as the covid-19 pandemic bore down on the state, the effort was put on hold, and everyone scrambled to respond to the coronavirus. But the nurses’ long-standing concerns only became heightened during the crisis, and new issues they’d never considered suddenly became urgent problems. (Pattani, 1/12)

The Washington Post: Hundreds Of Alabama Fans Pack Streets To Celebrate Championship Win, Defying Covid Safety Orders
Hordes of Alabama football fans packed the streets of Tuscaloosa after Monday night’s national championship victory over Ohio State, ignoring pleas from the city’s mayor and university officials. Eyebrow-raising photos and videos showed thousands of people crowding together to celebrate the win in the city’s downtown strip, most of them young and many of them not wearing masks. Some fans “hugged and kissed, with social distancing out the window,” AL.com reported, noting that there was a large police presence in the area but seemingly little enforcement of the statewide mask mandate. (1/12)

Los Angeles Times: Gorillas Contract Coronavirus At San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Multiple gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have contracted the coronavirus in the first known instances of natural transmission to great apes, the zoo announced Monday. The zoo tested the gorillas’ fecal samples after two of them began coughing Wednesday, the zoo said in a news release. Preliminary results returned Friday showed the animals had tested positive, and U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratories confirmed the results Monday, the zoo said. (Wigglesworth and Wosen, 1/11)

The Wall Street Journal: January Forces Some Schools To Extend Remote Learning, Others To Reopen Classrooms 
School districts across the country are changing their plans with the new year, with some deciding to prolong remote instruction and others moving to reopen classrooms. Tenuous schedules are expected to remain fluid as districts weigh rising coronavirus cases in much of the country against concerns about student learning loss and when teachers can be vaccinated. (Calfas, 1/11)

Boston Globe: Day-Care Workers Feel Forgotten In State’s Testing Program
Early childhood education providers are furious after the state announced a new coronavirus testing program last week for public schools without including day-care centers and after-school programs, which are still struggling to serve more than 100,000 children almost a year into the pandemic. On Monday, more than 250 early education and out-of-school providers, advocates, and associations sent a letter to Governor Charlie Baker urging him to include their industry in the testing program. “Clearly, we are not essential enough to benefit from the same health and safety measures meant to protect the lives and wellbeing of our K-12 brothers and sisters who care for the same families that we do,” the letter read. (Krantz, 1/11)

Stat: Add Covid-19 Exposure Apps To Popular Social Media Apps 
The beginning of the end of the Covid-19 pandemic may be at hand in the U.S. with the approval and ongoing rollout of vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and by Moderna. Yet it will be months — at the least — before this or other vaccines are available to all. (Ben Alsdurf, 1/12)

The Washington Post: Vitamin D And Covid: Experts Say More Research Needed 
Interest in vitamin D supplements has spiked during the pandemic as many people have sought ways to improve their immune health. According to Nielsen data from December, sales for vitamin D supplements increased 41.5 percent year over year. But although more research has emerged suggesting a possible connection between vitamin D deficiencies and cases of covid-19, experts say there is not yet sufficient evidence to support taking supplements to prevent or treat the disease caused by the coronavirus. (Chiu, 1/11)

In other public health news —

AP: Study: Wildfires Produced Up To Half Of Pollution In US West
Wildfire smoke accounted for up to half of all health-damaging small particle air pollution in the western U.S. in recent years as warming temperatures fueled more destructive blazes, according to a study released Monday. Even as pollution emissions declined from other sources including vehicle exhaust and power plants, the amount from fires increased sharply, said researchers at Stanford University and the University of California, San Diego. (Brown, 1/12)

CNN: Rule Cracking Down On Emotional Support Animals Goes Into Effect 
A new Department of Transportation regulation goes into effect Monday that says airlines aren't required to treat emotional support animals as service animals. The DOT rule, announced last month, defines a service animal as a dog "trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability." (Hunter and Muntean, 1/11)

KHN: Only A Smokescreen? Big Tobacco Stands Down As Colorado And Oregon Hike Cigarette Taxes
Big Tobacco did something unusual in Marlboro Country last fall: It stood aside while Colorado voters approved the state’s first tobacco tax hike in 16 years. The industry, led by Altria Group, one of the world’s largest tobacco companies, has spent exorbitantly in the past to kill similar state ballot initiatives. In 2018, Altria’s lobbying arm spent more than $17 million to help defeat Montana’s tobacco tax ballot initiative. That same year, it spent around $6 million to help defeat South Dakota’s similar measure. (Ramachandran, 1/12)

Des Moines Register: COVID-19 Deaths Not Investigated By OSHA At Meatpacking Plants
At least 239 meatpacking workers have died and 45,000 have contracted the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, according to tracking by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. But companies reported less than half that number of deaths to OSHA, a joint investigation by USA TODAY and the Midwest Center found. Experts say that's in large part because the agency weakened reporting requirements during the pandemic. Even fewer deaths triggered the kind of robust investigation OSHA typically conducted before the pandemic. Worker advocates say that's also a consequence of a hands-off approach from OSHA. (Bagenstose, Chadde and Axon, 1/11)

Houston Chronicle: Two Texas Lawmakers Boycott 'Superspreader' Opening Day Ceremony
Two Dallas-area Texas House members are calling the Legislature’s planned Opening Day ceremony on Tuesday a “superspreader” event and say they do not plan to participate. Reps. Ana-Maria Ramos and Michelle Beckley, both Democrats, said Monday they will be sworn in by Ramos’ husband, Johnny, who is a public notary, at an alternative location. The Texas House is requiring that attendees wear masks at the abbreviated ceremony and is encouraging them to get tested. Guests and media are required to be tested. (Goldenstein, 1/11)

KHN: California Budget Reflects ‘Pandemic-Induced Reality,’ Governor Says 
The coronavirus pandemic doomed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ambitious plans last year to combat homelessness, expand behavioral health services and create a state agency to control soaring health care costs. But even as the pandemic continues to rage, California’s Democratic governor said Friday he plans to push forward with those goals in the coming year, due to a rosier budget forecast buoyed by higher tax revenue from wealthy Californians who have fared relatively well during the crisis. (Hart, 1/12)

AP: Analysis: Health Care, Education, Incentives On 2021 Agendas
With the Mississippi legislative session just beginning, officials are starting to reveal their public policy wish lists, including proposals to increase teacher pay and improve the availability of health care services. The Senate Democratic Caucus chairman, Derrick Simmons of Greenville, repeated last week what he and many other Democrats have said for years — that Mississippi should expand Medicaid to cover tens of thousands of people who earn modest salaries and don’t receive health insurance through their jobs. Expansion is optional under the 2010 health care overhaul signed by then-President Barack Obama, and Mississippi is one of 12 states that have not chosen the option. (Wagster Pettus, 1/10)

Reuters: India Delivers COVID-19 Shots To Prepare For 'World's Biggest Vaccination Drive' 
Indian airlines started delivering batches of COVID-19 vaccines across the country on Tuesday, getting ready for the launch of a campaign to offer shots to 1.3 billion people in what officials call the world’s biggest vaccination drive. Authorities hope to inoculate 300 million high-risk people over the next six to eight months. Vaccinations are scheduled to begin on Saturday. (Shah and Ravikumar, 1/11)

Stat: A Covid-19 Vaccine Maker In India Stirs Controversy Over Its Clinical Trial
For the second time in two weeks, patient groups in India are raising concerns about a domestic vaccine manufacturer and its Covid-19 shot, which is one of two vaccines that were recently granted emergency use by the Indian government for combating the pandemic. (Silverman, 1/11)

In other global developments —

AP: Albania Carries Out 1st Vaccinations With Donated Doses
Albania kicked off its coronavirus vaccination program on Monday with doses received from an undisclosed European Union nation, making sure that the prime minister was among the first to receive a shot. Prime Minister Edi Rama said he was “not authorized” to say which EU country had provided 975 doses to the Balkan nation. Albania’s main vaccination campaign is due to start next week. (Semini, 1/11)

AP: Bodies Pile Up At Crematorium In Germany's Virus Hot Spot
The caskets are stacked three high in the Meissen crematorium’s somber memorial hall, piled up in empty offices and stored in hallways. Many are sealed with plastic wrapping, others are labeled “infection risk,” “urgent” or simply “COVID.” A surge of coronavirus deaths in this corner of eastern Germany has boosted business for crematorium manager Joerg Schaldach and his staff, but nobody is celebrating. (Jordans, 1/12)

AP: Gunmen Kill Policeman Escorting Polio Workers In Pakistan
Gunmen riding on a motorcycle shot and killed a policeman in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday as he escorted a team of polio workers. The attack in the district of Karak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province came on the second day of a nationwide anti-polio vaccination campaign that Pakistani authorities launched in an effort to eradicate the crippling disease by the end of the year. (1/12)

Stat: Vaccine Plans Should Be Overhauled With Data Before It's Too Late 
The first phase of the vaccine rollout, which is supposed to deliver shots to roughly 24 million health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities, has been stymied by poorly conceived distribution plans based on judgement calls. Without better use of sound science and data, vaccine plans for the next two phases of the rollout, which aim to inoculate nearly 180 million Americans, could descend into complete chaos. (Gary Velasquez, 1/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Vaccine Queen
It’s maddening to watch politicians like Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D., N.Y.) delay needed Covid vaccinations with needless bureaucracy. For any citizens crying out that there has to be a better way, the good news is that a number of states have been moving quickly to get shots into arms. Recently this column noted the speed of vaccinations in West Virginia. Fortunately the Mountain State is not the only success story.“South Dakota among leaders in COVID-19 inoculations,” notes a headline in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. It seems that state leaders didn’t believe the media consensus that a rapid vaccine approval couldn’t happen. They were prepared for the possibility of success. (James Freeman, 1/11)

Axios: The Challenge Of Vaccinating Rural America
Rural Americans are especially hesitant to receive a coronavirus vaccine, and only a highly tailored outreach campaign is likely to change that. The big picture: Even as the coronavirus has surged throughout rural America, most people who live in those areas don’t see vaccination part of a social responsibility to help protect others. By the numbers: In our KFF polling, 35% of rural Americans say they probably or definitely will not get vaccinated, compared to 26% of urban Americans. (Drew Altman, 1/12)

Bloomberg: Covid Improved How The World Does Science
The current pandemic will eventually end, leaving us more free to ponder what to keep from all the changes it has wrought. One obvious candidate is open-access scientific journals. Most relevant scientific advances on the Covid-19 front have been put online in open-access form and then debated online. Even if they later came out in refereed journals, their real impact came during their early open-access days. (Tyler Cowan, 1/11)

Bloomberg: National Regulators Cut The Red Tape At Their Own Pace
If one country approves a coronavirus vaccine, should another just trust it and follow suit? Covid-19’s rapid global spread pushed labs and manufacturers to develop vaccines quickly. Several are now in use and more are in various stages of development. Early predictions that a vaccine would take 12 to 18 months to arrive seemed optimistic. Hand it to the  pharmaceutical companies; they stepped up and delivered. Now, the greater burden is on regulators to deploy vaccines in their countries. Drug approval processes vary by nation and there isn’t a universal one-stop procedure, though various bodies tend to communicate. This means timelines of deployment vary from place to place, often delaying shots going into arms. (Anjani Trivedi, 1/11)

The Washington Post: 1,100 State Department Employees Got Vaccinated. At USAID, Zero Did.
When the federal government dispersed its first round of coronavirus vaccines to federal agencies last month, the State Department received and distributed them to about 1,100 employees in Washington, D.C. But its own development arm, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) got exactly zero, officials told me, despite its crucial role in combating the coronavirus pandemic. This is only the latest — and hopefully the last — example of appalling mistreatment the Trump administration has perpetrated on this organization and its workers. (Josh Rogin, 1/11)

Richmond Times Dispatch: A More Proactive COVID-19 Vaccine Process
Creating the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines required “innovation” and “collaboration.” But those characteristics have been lacking in distribution models across the country. We hope Virginia leaders will do their part to nurture a more proactive process in the weeks and months ahead. Lives depend on it. Monday was an example of taking action. After Gov. Ralph Northam’s firm directive this past week to accelerate vaccinations across the commonwealth, 11 local health districts began administering inoculations to Virginians in Phase 1b. The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) COVID-19 vaccine webpage also now spells out eligible participants in greater detail: front-line essential workers; people ages 75 and older; and people living in correctional facilities, homeless shelters or migrant labor camps. (1/11)

Los Angeles Times: Could Trump Have A Reality-Distorting Mental Condition?
In the aftermath of the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, egged on by President Trump, members of the House, the Senate and Trump’s Cabinet are weighing options on how to ensure the safety of the nation and the integrity of our democracy. There have been calls for his resignation or removal by the 25th Amendment for his being unable to discharge the duties of the office. On Friday afternoon Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) announced that the House would launch a second impeachment if Trump did not resign “immediately.” As the gatekeepers of our democracy, they need to inquire about whether Trump is potentially dangerous as the commander in chief — including raising questions about whether he has a reality-distorting mental state. One such condition is “delusional disorder,” which is unique among psychiatric conditions in that the area of dysfunction can be highly circumscribed. (Eli Merritt, 1/9)

Bloomberg: Lilly's Alzheimer's Drug Isn’t Worth $20 Billion Yet 
Alzheimer’s disease is a grim reality for many people as they age, with one in 10 U.S. seniors older than 65 diagnosed with some form of dementia related to the ailment, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Nothing on the market can effectively treat the disease, let alone halt its relentless progress, so a working therapy is akin to the holy grail for drugmakers and their investors. Against this backdrop, Eli Lilly & Co. released data on Monday from a small phase II clinical trial for its antibody drug, called donanemab, that showed significant slowing of decline for patients in early stages of the disease, compared with those who received a placebo. This was a surprise and investors cheered the news, sending Lilly’s shares up more than 11% and adding almost $20 billion to the company’s market value. Shares of Biogen Inc., which is working on an Alzheimer’s drug targeting similar problems in the brain as Lilly’s treatment, also got a boost. Is this reaction justified? Sadly, as much as I would love to say yes, the answer is no, not yet. Here is why. (Sam Fazeli , 1/11)