ABC News: 'Please Hear Me Clearly': CDC Director Urges States Not To Reopen Too Soon As Cases Plateau
The U.S. has hit a plateau in coronavirus cases and deaths that signal a "potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic," the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned states on Monday not to loosen restrictions and get in front of the progress the country has made since it hit a monumental 300,000 cases a day in January, the worst point of the pandemic so far. Over the last week, the daily number of cases and deaths, on average, has risen by about 2% compared to the week prior, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House press briefing, to about 67,000 cases per day and 2,000 American lives lost to the virus each day. It's nearly a third of what the U.S. was seeing during its holiday surge, but still no better than what the U.S. saw during the summer peak. (Haslett, 3/1)

The New York Times: The U.S. Is Edging Toward Normal, Alarming Some Officials 
The positive signs come with caveats. Though the national statistics have improved drastically since January, they have plateaued in the last week or so, and the United States is still reporting more than 65,000 new cases a day on average — comparable to the peak of last summer’s surge, according to a New York Times database. The country is still averaging about 2,000 deaths per day, though deaths are a lagging indicator because it can take weeks for patients to die. (3/2)

Fox News: COVID-19 Not Likely To Be Over By End Of Year, WHO Says
The World Health Organization said Monday that it is unlikely that the coronavirus will no longer be an issue by the end of the year and one official said despite advances, the virus is "very much in control." Dr. Michael Ryan, the head of the WHO’s emergency services arm, told a press conference in Geneva that he believes it is "unrealistic, to think that we’re going to finish with this virus by the year." (DeMarche, 3/2)

AP: WHO: 'Premature,' 'Unrealistic' COVID-19 Will End Soon
A senior World Health Organization official said Monday it was “premature” and “unrealistic” to think the pandemic might be stopped by the end of the year, but that the recent arrival of effective vaccines could at least help dramatically reduce hospitalizations and death. The world’s singular focus right now should be to keep transmission of COVID-19 as low as possible, said Dr. Michael Ryan, director of WHO’s emergencies program. “If we’re smart, we can finish with the hospitalizations and the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic” by the end of the year, he said at media briefing. (Cheng and Keaten, 3/1)

CNN: The Country Needs To Hold On For Another 2 Or 3 Months Without Easing Up, Expert Says 
Despite the progress, Covid-19 numbers in the US are still alarmingly high. And they could quickly climb even higher if Americans let up now, one expert told CNN on Monday. "We should not ease up, allow indoor dining, big groups ... getting rid of mask mandates. We have to hold on for another two or three months in this condition," said Dr. Zeke Emanuel, who was a health adviser for the Obama White House and was a member of the Biden Transition Covid-19 Advisory Board. "We're still having on average 2,000 deaths a day. We cannot become inured to that." (Maxouris, 3/2)

CNBC: Surgeon On Current Covid Trends: 'We've Got To Push Further Downward'
States are easing social distancing rules but it’s “too soon” to roll back Covid restrictions, Dr. Atul Gawande warned on CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith.” “We are currently at levels of cases that are still above the highest level of our last surge, so we haven’t even come down below the surge last summer,” said the surgeon and professor at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (DeCiccio, 3/1)

Also —

The Washington Post: New Global Virus Cases On The Rise For The First Time In Six Weeks 
The global number of new coronavirus cases rose for the first time in nearly two months, the World Health Organization said Monday, blaming the surge in infections on circulating variants and premature efforts to lift public health restrictions. It would be “unrealistic” to think that the virus will be over by the end of this year, warned WHO’s head of the emergency program, Michael Ryan. (Cunningham, 3/2)

11alive.com: Covid Deaths Among 18-29 Year Olds In Georgia
As the state nears one year since the first reported COVID-19 case, Georgia hit another grim milestone for the younger population. The Georgia Department of Public Health is reporting 100 deaths in the 18-29 age bracket since the pandemic began. The state said there have been 182,207 reported cases in that age group. (Braverman, 3/1)

Houston Chronicle: Houston Is First City To Record All Major COVID Strains, New Study Finds
Houston is the nation’s first city to record every major variant of the novel coronavirus — many of which are more contagious than the original strain. “The numbers of the major variants we have identified in our large sequencing study are disquieting,” said Dr. James Musser, who leads the team of experts at Houston Methodist Hospital behind the new finding. “The genome data indicate that these important variants are now geographically widely distributed in the Houston metropolitan region.” (Downen and Garcia, 3/1)

Bloomberg: New York Covid-19 Variant Expands Reach In U.S. With 735 Cases
About 735 cases of a coronavirus variant that emerged in New York City in November have now been identified in the U.S., including 585 in the last two weeks, a federal health official said. The mutation has traveled extensively through the metropolitan New York region, and individual cases have also been found in 14 other states, including Texas, Wyoming and Maryland, according to Gregory Armstrong, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advanced Molecular Detection Program. (Court, Wingrove and Fabian, 3/1)

Fox News: 'Keep An Eye' On New York Coronavirus Variant, Fauci Warns
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on Monday urged a close watch of a coronavirus variant recently detected in New York. "We certainly are taking the New York variant, the 526 [referring to B.1.526] very seriously," Fauci said during a White House briefing, later adding, "We have to really keep an eye on that for its ability to evade both monoclonal antibodies and to a certain extent, the vaccine-induced antibodies, so it’s something we take very, very seriously." Fauci noted unknowns associated with the variant, like the degree and persistence of viral load in the nasopharynx, and whether variants emerge in immunocompromised individuals. His comments came after reporter Laurie Garrett questioned whether the variant first emerged in an HIV/AIDs patient. (Rivas, 3/1)

Also —

The New York Times: Virus Variant In Brazil Infected Many Who Had Already Recovered From Covid-19 
Three studies offer a sobering history of P.1’s meteoric rise in the Amazonian city of Manaus. It most likely arose there in November and then fueled a record-breaking spike of coronavirus cases. It came to dominate the city partly because of an increased contagiousness, the research found. But it also gained the ability to infect some people who had immunity from previous bouts of Covid-19. And laboratory experiments suggest that P.1 could weaken the protective effect of a Chinese vaccine now in use in Brazil. (Zimmer, 3/1)

CBS News: Democratic Leaders Criticize Biden Administration's "Outmoded" Guidance On Aerosol COVID-19 Spread 
A group of House Democratic leaders are questioning the basis for the Biden administration's guidance on aerosol transmission of COVID-19, which they say relies on "outmoded" science. In a four-page letter addressed to White House COVID response chief Jeff Zients, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky and acting Labor Secretary Al Stewart, four House committee chairs say they have "serious questions" about the adequacy of the CDC's guidance on workplace protection from aerosol transmission. For the last two weeks, scientists, experts and unions have been prodding the administration to be more specific about guidance on exposure to small aerosol particles that carry COVID-19, which they say the CDC's official guidelines downplay. (Erickson and Tin, 3/1)

In other updates on covid research and testing —

Fox News: COVID-19 At-Home Rapid Test Gets Emergency Use Authorization
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization on Monday for a rapid at-home COVID-19 test that delivers results without the use of an outside laboratory. The QuickVue At-Home COVID-19 Test must be obtained via prescription and can be used by individuals 14 and older, or individuals 8 and older as long as an adult collects the nasal swab sample. The test can be prescribed by a health care provider for individuals who are within six days of symptom onset. (Hein, 3/1)

CIDRAP: Preceding Statin Use Associated With Lower In-Hospital COVID Mortality
Patients who used statins prior to COVID-19 hospitalization were almost 50% less likely to experience 30-day in-hospital mortality compared with those that didn't, according to a retrospective study published late last week in Nature Communications. Statins are drugs meant to reduce blood fat for conditions such as high cholesterol, and, as such, they have anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting properties. (3/1)

The New York Times: A Covid Vaccine Side Effect, Enlarged Lymph Nodes, Can Be Mistaken For Cancer
Coronavirus vaccinations can cause enlarged lymph nodes in the armpit or near the collarbone, which may be mistaken for a sign of cancer. As vaccines are rolled out across the country, doctors are seeing more and more of these swollen nodes in recently immunized people, and medical journals have begun publishing reports aimed at allaying fears and helping patients avoid needless testing for a harmless condition that will go away in a few weeks. (Grady, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Virus Studies Yield New Clues On Pandemic’s Origin 
As a World Health Organization team digs into the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, other scientists are unearthing tantalizing new clues suggesting that the virus behind it evolved naturally to infect humans. At least four recent studies have identified coronaviruses closely related to the pandemic strain in bats and pangolins in Southeast Asia and Japan, a sign that these pathogens are more widespread than previously known and that there was ample opportunity for the virus to evolve. (McKay, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Vaccines Yield Breakthroughs In Long-Term Fight Against Infectious Disease 
The pandemic has opened a new era for vaccines developed with gene-based technologies, techniques that have long stumped scientists and pharmaceutical companies, suggesting the possibility of future protection against a range of infectious disease. Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, which was authorized Saturday for use in the U.S., is at the vanguard of a class of shots designed to mobilize a person’s immune defenses against the disease. It will be the first Covid-19 vaccine administered in the U.S. that uses viral-vector technology, which employs an engineered cold virus to ferry coronavirus-fighting genetic code to the body’s cells. (Loftus, 2/28)

CBS News: Twitter Will Label Posts With Misleading Information About COVID-19 Vaccines 
Twitter announced Monday that it will begin applying labels to tweets that include misleading information about COVID-19 vaccines and is introducing a strike policy to curb users from repeatedly violating those rules. In an effort to root out misinformation surrounding the coronavirus from its platform, Twitter said the labels will first be applied by human moderators. But the goal is to eventually use both humans and artificial intelligence to address content that spreads COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. (Bidar, 3/1)

AP: Twitter Cracks Down On COVID Vaccine Misinformation
“Through the use of the strike system, we hope to educate people on why certain content breaks our rules so they have the opportunity to further consider their behavior and their impact on the public conversation,” Twitter said in a blog post Monday. People with one violation — or strike — will see no action. Two strikes will lead to an account being locked for 12 hours. Five or more will get a user permanently banned from Twitter. (3/2)

Vox: Like Facebook, Twitter Keeps Tweaking Its Covid-19 Vaccine Misinformation Policies 
Labels and strikes for false vaccine claims are not the only new misinformation strategy Twitter’s working on. In late January, the company also announced that it was developing a new tool called Birdwatch that’s designed to crowdsource expertise and beat back false narratives in a Wikipedia-like forum eventually connected to Twitter’s main app. The company, as it has throughout the pandemic, has been trying to elevate authoritative voices, like Anthony Fauci’s, to speak on vaccine-related issues. It’s also working with the White House to clamp down on vaccine misinformation. The new strategies to combat misinformation highlight how Twitter has had to adapt its approach as the nature of the pandemic has shifted. (Heilweil, 3/1)

In related news about the spread of misinformation —

AP: Some GOP State Lawmakers Help Spread COVID-19 Misinformation
Many Republican lawmakers have criticized governors’ emergency restrictions since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Now that most legislatures are back in session, a new type of pushback is taking root: misinformation. In their own comments or by inviting skeptics to testify at legislative hearings, some GOP state lawmakers are using their platform to promote false information about the virus, the steps needed to limit its spread and the vaccines that will pull the nation out of the pandemic. (Smyth and Bohrer, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Biden To Announce ‘Historic Partnership’: Merck Will Help Make Johnson & Johnson Coronavirus Vaccine, Officials Say
President Biden will announce Tuesday that pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. will help make Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot coronavirus vaccine — an unusual pact between fierce competitors that could sharply boost the supply of the newly authorized vaccine, according to senior administration officials. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a matter that has not been announced, said they began scouring the country for additional manufacturing capacity after they realized in the first days of the administration that Johnson & Johnson had fallen behind in vaccine production. They soon sought to broker a deal with Merck, one of the world’s largest vaccine makers, which had tried and failed to develop its own coronavirus vaccine. (McGinley and Rowland, 3/2)

The Wall Street Journal: J&J Covid-19 Vaccine Shipments Head For States 
Trucks carrying Johnson & Johnson’s newly authorized Covid-19 vaccine began rolling out Monday en route to states and sites that have been seeking more doses to boost vaccinations. McKesson Corp., which is serving as the centralized distributor for J&J vaccines, is working with FedEx and UPS to ship the doses nationwide. The shipments are expected to reach states and vaccination sites as early as Tuesday, the Biden administration said. (Loftus and Thomas, 3/1)

NPR: Johnson & Johnson To Ship Nearly 4 Million COVID-19 Vaccines This Week
Johnson & Johnson has begun shipping nearly 4 million doses of its newly authorized COVID-19 vaccine across the U.S., officials said Monday, and is expected to further scale up supply in the coming weeks and months. "We think literally within about the next 24 to 48 hours, Americans should start receiving shots in arms," Alex Gorsky, Johnson & Johnson's CEO and chairman of the board, told NBC's Today. Both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on the vaccine over the weekend, making it the third to receive authorization in the United States. It's also the first single-dose vaccine to receive the blessing of U.S. authorities and the only one that does not require ultracold storage. (Treisman, 3/1)

Bloomberg: J&J Covid Vaccine Could Protect Millions—If They Take It
Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine could protect millions more Americans from contracting the coronavirus. The key will be assuring people that the single-shot vaccine is worth taking, as its overall efficacy appears lower than the two-dose ones already on the market in the U.S. J&J’s shot, which U.S. regulators authorized Saturday, is more convenient than the vaccines cleared by the Food and Drug Administration last year. It requires one injection and can be stored for months in a refrigerator. State health officials and the Biden administration see it as a way to quickly host mass clinics as more transmissible virus variants continue to spread. Yet the ease of distributing the vaccine will need to be balanced with the risk of creating the perception that J&J’s shot is an inferior option. (LaVito and Griffin, 3/1)

Boston Globe: State Officials, Community Leaders Try To Dissuade Residents From Vaccine ‘Shopping’
With a third COVID-19 vaccine soon to be available in Massachusetts, state officials and community leaders Monday sought to discourage residents from “shopping” for one brand over another, stressing that all are highly protective against serious disease from the coronavirus. The assurances stemmed from apparent concern the newly authorized Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a one-shot formula officials view as ideal for hard-to-reach populations, might be regarded as an inferior product — especially by marginalized communities distrustful of the health care system. (Weisman, 3/1)

CNN: Which Covid-19 Vaccine Should I Get? Dr. Wen Weighs In 
And then there were three. There are now three Covid-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration, manufactured by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. All three will be distributed across the United States. Many people are wondering which Covid-19 vaccine they should get: Is one better for certain groups of people? (Hetter, 3/2)

The Hill: New Orleans Archdiocese Calls For Catholics To Avoid Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
The Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans urged Catholics on Friday against taking a vaccine for COVID-19 manufactured by Johnson & Johnson because the vaccine is developed from stem cells obtained from two abortions. In a statement on the archdiocese's website, the organization argued that Johnson & Johnson's vaccine was "morally compromised." (Bowden, 3/1)

CNBC: CDC: J&J Covid Vaccine OK For People With Allergic Reaction To Pfizer's Or Moderna's
Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine can be used as a substitute for a second jab of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s shots for those who have an allergic reaction to the first round of either company’s vaccine, a scientist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. (Feuer, 3/1)

WCNC: J&J May Work For Those With Allergies To Other COVID-19 Vaccines 
While health experts note that more research is needed, initial data shows promise on that front. "I think it creates some additional opportunity for individuals who may have been more concerned about the other vaccines with the history of anaphylaxis," Rebecca Bean, Novant Health's Chief Pharmacy Officer, said. According to Johnson and Johnson's FDA briefing document, out of 40,000 clinical trial participants, severe allergic reactions, like anaphylaxis, were not reported. (Ruffes, 3/1)

In related news about mixing and matching vaccines —

The Washington Post: One Dose Or Two? Anthony S. Fauci Says U.S. Must Stick With Two-Shot Plan. 
The government’s top infectious-disease expert on Monday reiterated that the United States will stick to a plan to inoculate tens of millions of Americans with two doses of coronavirus vaccine, as calls mount to protect more people by letting them get one shot now. “There’s risks on either side,” Anthony S. Fauci told The Washington Post, warning that shifting to a single-dose strategy for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines could leave people less protected, enable variants to spread and possibly boost skepticism among Americans already hesitant to get the shots. (Diamond, 3/1)

Los Angeles Times: Scientists Get Serious About Mixing And Matching COVID-19 Vaccines
“I wouldn’t make any changes unless you’ve got good data,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “I don’t think you mix and match without results showing it’s very effective and safe.” Now British researchers are trying to do just that. This month, a team of vaccinologists from Oxford University began recruiting 800 or so people age 50 or older for a complex study to see whether vaccine switching could actually work. Using an eight-armed clinical trial, they’ll test vaccine regimens using various combinations and intervals of the two vaccines currently being dispensed in Britain: one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, and another developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca. (Healy, 2/27)

The Baltimore Sun: Lack Of Eligibility Checks At Maryland’s Mass COVID Vaccination Sites Is A ‘Double-Edged Sword,’ Experts Say 
People who show up to Maryland’s mass coronavirus vaccination clinics will not be turned away for lack of documentation or proof of eligibility — a possible benefit for some of the state’s most at-risk residents, but also for those exploiting the system, medical ethicists, logistics experts and lawmakers say. (Miller and Mann, 3/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: California's Vaccine Sites Don't All Require Proof Of Eligibility, Leaving Room For Line Jumpers
The state has issued no guidelines on how vaccination sites should verify eligibility. Counties have varying rules, with some leaving it up to the vaccination site to decide what verification, if any, to require. The lack of uniform rules and enforcement underscores the porous nature of California’s approach to vaccination. While relying largely on the honor system helps advance the urgent public health goal of quickly vaccinating as many people as possible, it also leaves the rules open to abuse. But because many vaccination sites are not checking for proof of employment-related eligibility, it's unclear how many individuals have cheated the system, or tried to. (Ho and Bobrowsky, 3/1)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Teachers Going Out Of State To Get Vaccinated
The Georgians making these trips see vaccination as essential to safety in their schools. Health leaders in the destination states say the traveling teachers are taking vaccines away from their residents, but they haven’t prohibited the activity. Georgia is not reciprocating. Under recently published state rules, vaccine providers in the state could temporarily lose access to doses if they knowingly vaccinate someone who neither works nor lives here. Social media groups have filled with chatter about these trips to Alabama, Tennessee and other states now vaccinating teachers. (Tagami, 3/1)

Health News Florida: Many Turned Away From Jax Vaccine Site Due To Registration Website Error 
Several people who made appointments to get the COVID-19 vaccine at the new Edward Waters College community site in Jacksonville on Friday morning were turned away because they had been allowed to preregister even though they didn’t meet the qualifications. (McLean, 3/1)

Salt Lake Tribune: A Flaw By State Employees Allowed 7,200 Unqualified Utahns To Sign Up For COVID-19 Vaccines
The glitch that allowed 7,200 Utahns who did not qualify for COVID-19 vaccine to make appointments over the weekend was caused by a mistake in the website design created by state Department of Technology Services employees, a DTS spokeswoman said Monday. That flaw gave credence to rumors that began circulating Friday that the state was having trouble filling appointments and expanding access, as the website allowed people to register despite their admissions that they did not have the required health conditions or weren’t old enough to meet current criteria. (Jacobs and Pierce, 3/1)

In other updates on the rollout —

CNBC: Florida Gov. DeSantis Accused Of Favoritism In Distributing Covid Vaccine
Florida’s agriculture commissioner on Monday called for a congressional investigation into Gov. Ron DeSantis over “alleged political favoritism” in his state’s distribution of Covid-19 vaccine doses. (Feuer, 3/1)

Health News Florida: Broward Health Offers Vaccine To 18-And-Older At-Risk Patients 
Broward Health has begun offering the COVID-19 vaccine to at-risk people 18 and over, the only hospital in South Florida to publicly expand vaccine eligibility to this younger group with certain medical conditions. On Friday, the health system began accepting appointments for this new group of people, but it quickly filled up, Broward Health Spokeswoman Jennifer Smith said. There is no timeframe for when new appointments will open again, but next week is a possibility. (3/1)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Convention Center Mass COVID Vaccine Site To Prioritize Vulnerable City Residents Amid Criticism Of Inequity 
Amid criticism of inequitable access to Maryland’s limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, the state’s mass vaccination clinic at the Baltimore Convention Center will prioritize people from underserved areas of the city, officials announced Monday. (Campbell and Ruiz, 3/1)

Stateline: States Fail To Prioritize Homeless People For Vaccines 
Frank Galloway falls into the most vulnerable categories for COVID-19: He is 87, he is Black, and he is experiencing homelessness. “It ain’t no joke,” Galloway said of the coronavirus, which has killed some of his friends in Greensboro, North Carolina. “I don't mind taking something that will help my life to keep going.” He’s waiting for a vaccine while staying in an emergency shelter. Although the state began vaccinating people age 65 and up in mid-January, Galloway, like many others without housing, doesn’t have access to the technology and transportation that people in many places need to get a shot. (Van Ness, 3/1)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium's Philadelphia Coronavirus Vaccine Clinics Now Walk-Up
In an effort to expand access and equitable distribution of the coronavirus vaccine, starting Monday the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium will offer walk-up vaccinations for qualified Philadelphians at all of its clinics. On a first-come first-serve basis, Philadelphians who are age 75 and older, or who qualify under the city’s 1B vaccination category and live in zip codes identified by the organization as “hardest hit” by the coronavirus, can visit the consortium’s sites. (Rushing, 3/1)

NBC News: Blacks And Hispanics Are Being Short-Changed On Covid-19 Vaccines In Florida And Elsewhere
Not long after Florida began its rollout of the coronavirus vaccines, Black leaders and others began raising alarms that the first doses were finding their way into the arms of mostly white senior citizens who supported Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, while their hard-hit communities were left in the cold. Now some numbers appear to support those suspicions. Of the 34 states that shared vaccination data by race and ethnicity, Florida ranks near the bottom in the rate at which Black residents have been inoculated even as the community has suffered a disproportionate share of Covid-19 deaths, concluded Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida. (Siemaszko, 3/1)

Axios: Trump Received COVID Vaccine At White House In January 
Former President Trump and former first lady Melania Trump were both vaccinated at the White House in January, a Trump adviser tells Axios. Trump declared at CPAC on Sunday that "everybody" should get the coronavirus vaccine — the first time he's encouraged his supporters, who have been more skeptical of getting vaccinated, to do so. (Treene, 3/1)

CNN: Donald And Melania Trump Received Covid Vaccine At The White House In January 
Trump's decision to quietly receive the vaccine, without public fanfare, contrasts sharply with his successor and predecessors. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were each vaccinated on live television in December, and former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton volunteered in December to get their Covid-19 vaccines on camera to promote public confidence in the vaccine's safety. ... During his CPAC speech, Trump, who oversaw the rapid development of coronavirus vaccines through the Operation Warp Speed task force, said his administration deserves much of the credit for the current pace of vaccinations in America and repeatedly referred to Covid-19 using a racist term. "Never let them forget this was us. We did this," he said of the vaccine development. (Acosta and Kelly, 3/1)

Also —

Stat: Trump Administration Spent Billions In Hospital Funds On Warp Speed
The Trump administration quietly took around $10 billion from a fund meant to help hospitals and health care providers affected by Covid-19 and used the money to bankroll Operation Warp Speed contracts, four former Trump administration officials told STAT. (Cohrs, 3/2)

New York Post: Fauci's Boss: Trump Admin Deserves Credit For COVID Vaccine
The Trump administration deserves credit for the “breathtaking” speed at which two COVID-19 vaccines were developed, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s boss said. Speaking to “Axios on HBO” in an interview released Monday evening, National Institutes of Health director Dr. Francis Collins made the remarks after being asked what the previous administration got right in their pandemic response. “The Operation Warp Speed, for which I give a great deal of credit to [former Health and Human Services] Secretary [Alex] Azar, was an effort that many of us were not initially convinced was going to be necessary,” Collins told the program. (Jacobs, 2/23)

Axios: CMS Will Give Community Groups $2.3 Million To Bolster ACA Sign-Ups 
The Biden administration will provide about $2.3 million to help bolster Affordable Care Act sign-ups in underserved communities, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Monday. Why it matters: This funding for ACA "navigators" who provide in-person enrollment assistance will help uninsured Americans take advantage of the special enrollment window that opens later this month. (Fernandez, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Biden Administration Provides Slim Increase In Help For ACA Insurance Coaches
The Biden administration is providing a modest amount of additional help to community groups coaching consumers to sign up for Affordable Care Act health plans during the 2 1/2 months remaining in an extended shopping period for such insurance. The $2.3 million, announced Monday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is being delivered after some of the groups, known as navigators, complained they had little money left after a regular enrollment season ended late last year. They had no way to anticipate that President Biden would order HealthCare.gov, the federal online ACA insurance marketplace, to reopen for an unprecedented extra shopping time — a decision prompted by the economic dislocation imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. (Goldstein, 3/1)

Axios: Study: Only The Biggest ACA Subsidies Improved Financial Health 
Low-income families eligible for both premium subsidies and cost-sharing subsidies spent 17% less on out-of-pocket health care costs than unsubsidized enrollees. But the financial burden of health care costs didn't alleviate at all for middle-income families eligible only for premium subsidies. (Fernandez, 3/2)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Tax Surprise Due To COVID-19: Part Of ACA Insurance Subsidy May Have To Be Paid Back
The vast majority of people who sign up for a marketplace plan are eligible for a tax credit to reduce their monthly premium. But the tax credits are based on estimated annual income — which may be especially hard to predict during such financially uncertain times. People whose income fluctuated significantly during the year may be in store for a tax season surprise: having to pay back part of their premium tax credit if they earned more than they expected. (Gantz, 3/1)

In Medicare and Medicaid news —

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Administration’s Plan To Rescind States’ Medicaid Work Rules Faces Temporary Hitch 
The Biden administration wants to roll back some states’ requirements that Medicaid recipients work in exchange for government relief, but its task may be complicated by moves in the final weeks of the previous administration to lock in the requirements for months. The Republican Trump administration supported work requirements, calling them a way to move people out of the program and into jobs with employer-sponsored health coverage. Typically, a beneficiary has to work 20 or more hours a week, or perform community service or participate in education or job training, in order to get or keep their health insurance. (Armour, 3/1)

Modern Healthcare: Rural Residents Twice As Likely To Leave Medicare Advantage As Urbanites, Study Says
Medicare Advantage enrollees living in rural areas are more than twice as likely to switch to traditional Medicare as urban dwellers, according to a new study. Researchers from Drexel University and Brown University analyzed nearly 17,900 member responses to the annual Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey from 2010 to 2016 to find that 10.5% of rural Medicare Advantage members switched to fee-for-service Medicare, while 5% of urbanites switched from the public-private relationship to the government program. The report analyzed 11 different measures to determine beneficiaries' care satisfaction. Coauthor Sungchul Park, an assistant professor at Drexel University, said that rural members' biggest complaints were around the narrow provider networks they were allowed under the program. (Tepper, 3/1)

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Bill On Medicaid-Expansion Overhaul Unveiled
Lawmakers seeking to preserve Arkansas' "private option" Medicaid expansion program unveiled legislation Monday that would replace the controversial work requirement with a system that incentivizes work through access to government-funded private health insurance. Senate Bill 140, the proposed "Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me Act," would be the second overhaul of the state's Medicaid expansion during the administration of Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who inherited the program from his Democratic predecessor, Gov. Mike Beebe. The bill also comes as the Legislature seeks to navigate the future of the state's Medicaid expansion program under the new administration of President Joe Biden, which has signaled it will not permit traditional work requirements sought by Arkansas and other states. (Moritz, 3/1)

Politico: Senate Set To Take Up $1.9T Covid Aid Bill As Soon As Wednesday 
The Senate will move forward as soon as Wednesday on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer predicting Monday that the chamber would face "some late nights" ahead this week. Democrats are racing to pass the Covid aid package into law before March 14, when boosted federal unemployment benefits expire. Given the evenly divided Senate, they are using a complex tool known as budget reconciliation process to pass the bill without the need to win GOP votes. (Levine, 3/1)

CNN: Biden To Huddle With Senate Democrats On Covid Relief Ahead Of Push For Passage 
President Joe Biden is expected to huddle with Senate Democrats on Tuesday as the chamber gears up to pass the White House's top legislative priority: a major pandemic relief plan. Biden is slated to join Senate Democrats virtually during their caucus lunch Tuesday afternoon, a meeting that comes as Democrats face pressure to stick together to pass the sweeping rescue package. Biden also held a virtual meeting with a group of Senate Democrats on Monday. (Foran, 3/2)

Roll Call: Pension Funding, COBRA Coverage Survive Aid Bill's 'Byrd Bath' 
Senate Democrats won two procedural battles Monday on a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package they hope to pass by week’s end. The chamber’s parliamentarian said funding to shore up failing union pension plans and to subsidize health insurance for jobless workers do not violate the "Byrd rule," which limits what can be considered under budget reconciliation procedures, according to Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore. (Lerman and McPherson, 3/1)

USA Today: GOP Governors Criticize Joe Biden's COVID-19 Relief Bill As 'Biased'
Twenty-one Republican governors and one Democrat are taking aim at a key component of President Joe Biden's COVID-19 relief bill, arguing a proposed allocation of funds "punishes" states that did not fully lock down businesses amid the pandemic. The governors, led by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, issued a statement over the weekend critical of what they called a "biased" formula used to decide how much money in direct aid each states receives. One Democrat, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, also supported the statement. (Garrison, 3/1)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

Bloomberg: Elizabeth Warren Says Wealth Tax Could Help Pay for Infrastructure, Health
Senator Elizabeth Warren said her proposed wealth tax on households worth more than $50 million could help pay for investments in infrastructure, childcare and health reforms as part of President Joe Biden’s plan to “Build Back Better” after the coronavirus pandemic that has disproportionately hit low-income families. “We need to turn to infrastructure, childcare, pre-K, college. We need to turn to the things that create investment and opportunity going forward and to do that, a wealth tax is the best way to pay for it,” Warren said. (Wasson, 3/1)

NPR: Coronavirus House Subcommittee To Investigate One Medical's Vaccine Practices
The consequences are deepening for concierge health care provider One Medical following an NPR investigation that found the company administered COVID-19 vaccinations to those with connections to leadership, as well as ineligible patients. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis is launching its own investigation into the San Francisco-based company's practices, NPR has learned. The probe has plunged the publicly traded company, whose business model depends on patients paying a $199 annual fee for VIP health care services, into damage control mode. (Mak, 3/2)

The New York Times: High Staff Turnover at U.S. Nursing Homes Poses Risks for Residents’ Care
Extraordinarily high turnover among staffs at nursing homes likely contributed to the shocking number of deaths at the facilities during the pandemic, the authors of a new study suggested. The study, which was published Monday in Health Affairs, a health policy journal, represents a comprehensive look at the turnover rates in 15,645 nursing homes across the country, accounting for nearly all of the facilities certified by the federal government. The researchers found the average annual rate was 128 percent, with some facilities experiencing turnover that exceeded 300 percent. (Abelson, 3/1)

Modern Healthcare: Average Nursing Home Nursing Staff Turnover Exceeds 100%, Report Finds
Nurses working in nursing homes saw an average turnover rate of greater than 100% in a given year, according to a study released today in Health Affairs. While the rates by position varied, the averages were all above 100%: registered nurses, 140.7%; licensed practical nurses, 114.1%; and certified nursing assistant, according to the report. Ashvin Gandhi, assistant professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management and one of the report's authors, characterized the staffing turnover rates as "alarmingly high, higher than most people would have expected." (Christ, 3/1)

In related news about nursing homes and other assisted-living facilities —

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Nursing Home 'Dumped' Residents To Bring In Lucrative COVID Patients, Authorities Say
A nursing home accused of illegally “dumping” patients onto city streets and into ill-equipped homes in order to take in more lucrative COVID-19 patients will nearly double its nursing staff, allow increased oversight and pay $275,000 in penalties and costs to settle a lawsuit brought by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office. City Atty. Mike Feuer on Monday announced the legal agreement with the Lakeview Terrace skilled nursing facility, which he had accused of “sustained” and “intentional” misconduct in failing to adequately tend to some patients, while pushing others out of the 99-bed home. (Rainey, 3/1)

The Washington Post: St. Elizabeths’ Delayed Response To Coronavirus Contributed To 18 Deaths, Report Says 
A report released Monday by advocates for the mentally ill said a delayed response to the coronavirus at the District’s public psychiatric hospital contributed to the deaths of 17 patients and one staff member in the past year. St. Elizabeths Hospital, D.C.’s 166-year-old mental hospital in Southeast Washington, houses patients committed in civil and criminal proceedings. Although it once held thousands of patients, its population has dwindled to about 200 as fewer people have been committed by courts in recent decades and as officials have tried to keep patients out of congregant settings during the pandemic. (Moyer, 3/1)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Pandemic Leaves Questions About Effects Of Medicare Reimbursement Restructuring In SNFs
Only a few months after CMS massively changed how skilled nursing facilities are reimbursed for therapy services, the pandemic hit and threw long-term care operations into a tailspin. That makes it difficult to determine exactly how the change affected therapy services and therapists in nursing homes, researchers say. A report published in Health Affairs on Monday shows that therapist staffing levels were cut in anticipation of and after the change to the patient-driven payment model in October 2019. The new model replaced the long-standing Resource Utilization Group payment system, known as RUG, with general support from the post-acute care industry. But, after the fourth quarter of 2019, there isn't reliable data to further track the changes, the authors said. (Christ, 3/1)

KHN: Sorting Out How Politics, Policies Figure In Flap Over New York Nursing Home Covid Death Rates 
The plaudits have faded for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Once hailed as a paragon of pandemic governing, he’s since come under scorching criticism for undercounting the state’s covid deaths among nursing home residents by as much as half. The tallying flap drew attention to another misstep: a policy last March that directed nursing homes to accept covid-positive patients from hospitals, potentially exposing high-risk, medically vulnerable nursing home residents to the deadly virus. Did the governor intentionally fudge nursing home death counts to deflect attention from the impact of an ill-advised directive? That depends on whom you ask. (Andrews, 3/2)

Modern Healthcare: Bundled Payments Reduce Surgery Costs By 10.7%
Bundled payments helped cut costs for several surgery types by more than 10%, with those savings passed on to employers and patients, a new study found. Joint replacement, spinal fusion and gastrointestinal surgeries were on average $4,229 less when providers charged a set price compared to prior payment models, according to a RAND Corp. analysis of 2,372 procedures covered by self-insured employers between 2016 and 2020. The study, which used data from Carrum Health, was published in Health Affairs on Monday. (Kacik, 3/1)

Bloomberg: Employers Cut Health Costs With Incentives For Patients, Doctors
Employers can cut their health-care expenses by paying top medical providers a flat rate for a bundle of related services while offering incentives to the patients who use them, a study suggests. The study, published Monday in the journal Health Affairs, found that employers using a flat-rate approach run by Carrum Health saved about 11% overall on procedures including joint replacements, spinal fusions and bariatric surgeries. The average prices when people used Carrum providers were between 6% to 41% lower compared with other providers. (Tozzi, 3/1)

In other health care industry updates —

Roll Call: Masks Stack Up In US Warehouses As Nurses Reuse N95 Respirators 
U.S. manufacturers say they have enough high filtration respirators like N95s in their warehouses for every American adult, and they are calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to revise guidance that discourages the general public from getting them. (Kopp, 3/1)

Stat: 5 People Steering Amazon's Sprawling Efforts In Health Care
Its spinout Haven may have shuttered, but Amazon’s appetite for health care disruption has only grown. While the company officially ended its ambitious endeavor with JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway at the end of last month, it has been steadily building a health empire of its own. (Brodwin, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Women And Girls Over 13 Can Now Be Screened For Anxiety As Part Of A Routine Checkup
On Jan. 1, women and girls in the United States became eligible for an additional check on their health. Now, starting at 13, they can be screened for anxiety as part of a routine checkup or physical with a primary care doctor or OB/GYN as a preventive service under the Affordable Care Act. “This is a real breakthrough because we’re now saying that the mental health conditions that women suffer from are extremely important and they need to be screened for,” said Maureen Sayres Van Niel, a psychiatrist and the president of the women’s caucus of the American Psychiatric Association. (3/1)

Albuquerque Journal: Sandia Radiation Expert To Lead National Group
Sandia National Laboratories’ Charles Potter, a certified health physicist, recently was elected president of the American Academy of Health Physics, the professional support group for certified health physicists and the certification process. Potter, previously the organization’s parliamentarian for three years, is an internationally recognized expert on the measurement and impact of radiation on humans, according to a news release. He’s now vice chairman of a committee that develops standards for radiation protection and participates in working groups focused on measuring external radiation exposure through inhalation or ingestion, and monitoring dose exposure for large groups after an adverse event. (3/1)

Stat: A Nascent State Effort Would Tax Drug Makers For Not Providing Clinical Evidence For Price Hikes
In a bid to control the cost of medicines, lawmakers in two states — Hawaii and Washington — recently introduced bills that would tax drug makers for raising prices without providing clinical evidence to justify the increases. Although the bills failed to gain traction and would have to be reintroduced, the idea is likely to irk the pharmaceutical industry. As envisioned, drug makers would face penalties worth 80% of the difference between the sales generated by its medicine in each state and the revenue the drug would have generated if the company had maintained the list price from the previous calendar year, adjusted for inflation. (Silverman, 3/1)

Stat: New Mexico Attorney General Accuses Gilead Of Blocking Competition To Its HIV Medicines 
The New Mexico attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Gilead Sciences (GILD) and two other major drug makers for allegedly conspiring to block competition to several different HIV medicines, which ultimately caused the state to spend millions of dollars for “excessively overpriced” treatments. (Silverman, 3/1)

Stat: Surprise FDA Advisory Panel Imperils Fibrogen's Experimental Anemia Pill
Fibrogen was expecting the Food and Drug Administration to complete a review of its experimental anemia pill and render an approval decision by March 20. But in a surprising — and concerning — move announced Monday evening, the FDA has instead decided to convene a meeting of outside experts to review the drug’s clinical data. (Feuerstein, 3/1)

TechCrunch: Clue Gets FDA Clearance To Launch A Digital Contraceptive
Clue, an early pioneer in the femtech category with a well-regarded period-tracking app that’s used by around 13 million people, is getting ready to launch a digital contraceptive which will offer users a statistical prediction of ovulation as a birth control tool. A US launch of Clue Birth Control is slated for “this year”. The team won’t be more specific on the date yet. Pricing will be “premium” — but they’re also keeping the exact cost under wraps for now. The Berlin-based company is today announcing that they’ve gained FDA clearance for the forthcoming product, clearing the way for a US launch in 2021. (Lomas, 3/1)

Also —

Axios: RNA Technology Used For COVID Could Lead To Malaria Vaccine 
The RNA technology that helped us get a COVID vaccine may help the world get a vaccine for malaria, too. Scientists have applied for a patent for an RNA-based vaccine that might circumvent the problems that have made it difficult to come up with any kind of malaria vaccine, per the Academic Times. (Nather, 3/1)

KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: Revisiting Insulin: How The Medicine Got So Expensive
We’re re-releasing a story we first reported in 2019, about how insulin got to be so expensive. And this 2021 update  includes a check-in with people working to make the potentially lifesaving medicine more available. The story seems especially relevant right now, for two reasons: The rollout of the covid vaccine has reminded all of us how vital it is to make  breakthroughs in the lab and make sure everyone can afford to benefit from them. The second half of the episode — about ways that people who need insulin are taking action on their own behalf — fits An Arm and a Leg’s current focus on financial self-defense. (Weissmann, 3/2)

Health News Florida: Panama City Beach Limits Spring Break Gatherings On Sand 
Panama City Beach is limiting the number of people who may gather together on the sand during spring break. It's the only pandemic-related restriction in place at the start of the busy month for tourism. (Crowder, 3/1)

Axios: Teenagers' Demand For Mental Health Care Skyrocketed During Pandemic
Teenagers' demand for mental health care skyrocketed last year amid the pandemic, even as their overall need for care declined, according to a new analysis by FAIR Health. (Owens, 3/2)

North Carolina Health News: Is Youth Suicide Increasing In The Pandemic?
The debate to reopen schools for in-person learning has highlighted an alarming idea – that students are not just falling behind academically, but at a heightened risk of death by suicide. (Critchfield, 3/2)

CNN: Smartphone Addiction: Effects On Sleep And What You Can Do 
Addiction to smartphones will result in poor sleep, according to a new study. The study, published Tuesday in Frontiers in Psychiatry, looked at smartphone use among 1,043 students between the ages of 18 and 30 at King's College London. Researchers asked the students to complete two questionnaires on their sleep quality and smartphone usage, in person and online. (LaMotte, 3/2)

In other public health news —

Stat: Study: Evictions During Pregnancy Tied To Adverse Birth Outcomes
Babies born to people evicted during pregnancy are more likely to have lower birth weights and be born earlier or prematurely than those whose parents were evicted at other times, according to new research. (Gaffney, 3/1)

The New York Times: Frontier Cancels Flight, Citing Maskless Passengers 
A Frontier Airlines flight from Miami to La Guardia Airport in New York was canceled on Sunday night after a large group of passengers, including several adults, refused to wear masks, the airline said. By Monday morning, the airline was facing accusations of anti-Semitism for its treatment of the passengers, who are Hasidic Jews, as well as demands for an investigation from the Anti-Defamation League of New York and other groups. Frontier steadfastly held to its position that the passengers had refused to comply with federal rules requiring them to wear masks. (Fazio, 3/1)

NPR: Racial Barriers To Alzheimer's Care Hurt Patients And Families
Many members of racial and ethnic minority groups say they face extra barriers when seeking care for a friend or family member with Alzheimer's disease. Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American caregivers were far more likely than whites to encounter discrimination, language barriers and providers who lack cultural competence, according to a report released Tuesday by the Alzheimer's Association. "Among nonwhite caregivers, half say they've faced discrimination when navigating through the health care system," says Maria Carrillo, the association's chief science officer. Just 17% of white caregivers reported that sort of problem. (Hamilton, 3/2)

KHN: Readers And Tweeters Dispense Timely Advice For Difficult Times
Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. (3/2)

CNN: California Lawmakers Reach A Deal To Encourage Schools To Have Students Back In Class By The End Of The Month
California leaders have reached an agreement to encourage schools to resume in-person classes by the end of March. The agreement combines proposals from Gov. Gavin Newsom and from California's legislature to provide $6.6 billion to help return schools to in-person learning. (Mossburg and Moon, 3/2)

AP: Deal Reached To Get California Children Back In Classrooms
The majority of California’s 6.1 million public school students could be back in the classroom by April under new legislation announced Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders. Critics panned the plan as inadequate. Most students in the nation’s most populous state have been learning from home for the past year during the pandemic. But with new coronavirus cases falling rapidly throughout the state, Newsom and lawmakers have been under increasing pressure to come up with a statewide plan aimed at returning students to schools in-person. (Beam, 3/2)

In other news —

Axios: More Schools Are Reopening In The U.S. 
The U.S. is seeing an almost-universal return of schools that were in-person as of November, as well as a gradual return in parts of the country that had been virtual for almost a year. (Fernandez, 3/1)

AP: Veto Override Of NC School Reopening Bill Fails In Senate
The state Senate failed on Monday to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of Republican legislation that would have directed North Carolina’s K-12 school districts to offer in-person instruction to all students in about two weeks. The 29-20 floor vote to override fell just short of the three-fifths majority required, so the veto was upheld. The override still would have had to been approved by the House to be successful. (Robertson, 3/2)

Health News Florida: Class Of COVID-19: During The Pandemic, Keys Schools Find New Solutions To An Old Problem: Student H 
It's long been true that some students who attend Monroe County schools struggle with not having enough food to eat, and COVID-19 has made the situation worse. Educators say the pandemic also has led to new solutions for student hunger. (Klingener, 3/2)

NBC News: Covid Upended The Lives Of Children Everywhere. In These States, They Struggled The Most.
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted childhood in every state, with particularly devastating consequences in the South, where families are most likely to run low on food and struggle with bills and access to online schooling, according to a new report. Louisiana — where 1 in 4 families lack sufficient food, more than anywhere else in the country — placed as the “worst” state for children during the pandemic, the global nonprofit Save the Children found in its ranking based on U.S. census surveys. It was followed by Mississippi, Texas, New Mexico and Alabama. Minnesota and Utah were the states where children fared the best, with Washington, New Hampshire and North Dakota rounding out the top five. (Harris, 3/2)

Also —

KHN: Beijing’s SARS Lockdown Taught My Children Resilience. Your Covid Kids Will Likely Be Fine.
Many parents are filled with angst as they prepare for their children to exit a year of pandemic isolation: Will it be OK to send them to school, per the recent recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? Will school feel like school if students are masked and can’t trade snacks? Will children’s development be impaired by nearly a year of seeing few friends? With 20-20 hindsight, I can provide some reassurance, because my kids were 8 and 10 when SARS hit Beijing nearly two decades ago, shutting down the city for months: Your children will likely be fine, and maybe even better as human beings for having lived through this tragic experience. (Rosenthal, 3/2)

CBS News: Jackson, Mississippi, Residents Remain Without Water For More Than 2 Weeks After Storm 
Winter storms that passed through the South last month caused long-term damage in several states, with millions in Texas without power and water for days. While the focus was on the Lone Star State, Jackson, Mississippi continues to suffer from storm-related issues as well. ... Jackson is still feeling the effects of the storm, with a boil water notice still in place, more than two weeks after the snowstorm. Reeves also activated the National Guard to help with water distribution efforts in the area. And the city has set up several sites for distribution of non-potable or flushing water this week. (O'Kane, 3/1)

Stat: Amid Covid-19, Spiking Overdose Deaths Fall To Back Burner In Washington
There’s an epidemic sweeping the country, causing thousands of needless deaths each month and billions in economic damage. The government response is haphazard. Many Americans remain resistant to the prevention and treatment strategies shown to work best. It’s not Covid-19. It’s the country’s “other” health emergency: accelerating drug overdoses, which could soon, for the first time, claim 100,000 U.S. lives in a single year. (Facher, 3/2)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Hartsfield-Jackson’s Approach To Homeless Outlined In Proposed Ordinance
A proposed city ordinance intended to discourage homeless people from going to Hartsfield-Jackson sleep now specifies how violators should be handled. While police can detain or cite anyone found at the airport during restricted hours, the updated ordinance proposal says that, if a homeless person is arrested or issued a citation, the person will be given access to “certain pre-trial intervention services.” City Council is trying to walk the line between securing the airport and making sure that homelessness isn’t criminalized. (Yamanouchi, 3/1)

CBS News: NYC Tenant Owes $20,000 In Back Rent As Millions Face Possible Eviction During Pandemic: 'Can Happen To Anybody'
A federal moratorium on evictions runs out at the end of March, potentially forcing people who owe back rent amid the COVID-19 pandemic out of their homes. An estimated 10 million renters were behind on payment at the beginning of 2021, owing a combined $57 billion in rent and utilities. New York City resident Allilsa Fernandez said the situation has left them hanging on by a thread. Fernandez told CBS News' Jericka Duncan they owe nearly $20,000 in rent, and described the last 11 months of the pandemic as "traumatic." (3/1)

KHN: States Aim To Chip Away At Abortion Rights With Supreme Court In Mind
When Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway introduced a bill in the Montana House two years ago that would have prohibited abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, the Republican legislator knew it was unlikely to survive the veto pen of the Democratic governor. Sure enough, then-Gov. Steve Bullock vetoed that bill and two other anti-abortion measures passed by the Republican-led state legislature. In his veto message, Bullock wrote that “for over 40 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that the U.S. Constitution prohibits a state from banning abortion.” (Franz, 3/2)

USA Today Network: U.S. Supreme Court Case Could Impact Guam Residents With Disabilities
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case from Puerto Rico that could impact the lives of people with disabilities who live on Guam and in other U.S. territories. Justices on Monday granted a petition for writ of certiorari in “United States v. Vaello-Madero,” which involves Jose Luis Vaello-Madero, a person with a disability, who lost his federal Supplemental Security Income payments when he relocated from New York to Puerto Rico. A federal appeals court last April ruled that Vaello-Madero can’t be denied SSI payments simply because he now lives in Puerto Rico and not elsewhere in the United States. (Limtiaco, 3/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court Takes Up Puerto Rico Case Biden Pledged To Abandon 
At issue is Supplemental Security Income, a program Congress added to Social Security in 1972 to assist low-income Americans who are older than 65 years, blind or disabled. It initially applied to residents of the 50 states and the District of Columbia; Congress later extended the program to the Northern Mariana Islands but not to Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories including American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Currently, eight million Americans participate in the program, receiving an average monthly benefit of $575, the government says. (Bravin, 3/1)

Voice of America: Supreme Court To Decide Whether Puerto Ricans Qualify For Federal Benefit 
If the highest court rules in favor of the U.S. territory, elderly Puerto Ricans, as well as those who have a disability, will join the country’s 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Northern Mariana Islands in benefiting from the program. The Supreme Court will hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that established that Puerto Ricans on the island should have the same access to SSI as Americans in the mainland. The appeal was filed by the former Trump administration.  (3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Isn’t Considering Sharing Covid-19 Vaccines With Mexico, White House Says 
The Biden administration isn’t considering sharing its Covid-19 vaccine supply with Mexico, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said ahead of President Biden’s first bilateral meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “The president has made clear that he is focused on ensuring that vaccines are accessible to every American,” Ms. Psaki said Monday. (Parti and Montes, 3/1)

Dallas Morning News: Why A Lack Of Vaccine Cooperation With Mexico Could Put People On Both Side Of The Border At Risk
A White House aide on Monday acknowledged that the U.S. will need its top trading partners, Canada and Mexico, “to get back on their feet so we can build back better. The president looks forward to how best to address this for North American cooperation, and supply chain resilience.” But before the meeting, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden would not consider an expected request from López Obrador to share its coronavirus vaccine supply with its southern neighbor. The White House has not ruled out future vaccination cooperation between the two nations, but U.S. officials plan to focus on U.S. citizens first. (Corchado and Chavez, 3/1)

In other global developments —

Bloomberg: Pfizer Or AstraZeneca Single Dose Cuts Hospitalizations By 80%
A single shot of either Pfizer Inc. or AstraZeneca Plc’s coronavirus vaccines can cut hospitalizations among older people by around 80%, according to a study, in a further boost for the U.K.’s immunization program. The report from Public Health England, published Monday, also found that one vaccine shot reduces the chance of people aged over-70 becoming ill by some 60%. (Ashton, 3/1)

Reuters: Iraq Receives First Batch Of COVID-19 Vaccines From China 
Iraq received its first 50,000 doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated by China as the country is struggling to cope with a new surge of the disease. An Iraqi military transport plane carrying the first batch of the vaccines from China landed at Baghdad International Airport late on Monday. (3/2)

AP: Slovakia Signs Deal To Acquire 2 Million Doses Of Sputnik V
Slovakia signed a deal to acquire 2 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, Prime Minister Igor Matovic said Monday. Matovic said his country will get 1 million shots in the next two months while another million will arrive in May and June. (Janicek, 3/1)

Axios: China And Russia Vaccinate The World — For Now 
While the U.S. and Europe focus on vaccinating their own populations, China and Russia are sending millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to countries around the world. (Allen-Ebrahimian, 3/2)

AP: Ivory Coast Begins Its Vaccination Campaign With COVAX Doses
Ivory Coast has begun giving shots to inoculate against COVID-19 with vaccines delivered last week by the global COVAX initiative, which was created to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have fair access to doses. The West African country’s mass vaccination campaign started Monday with jabs being given to health workers, teachers, and members of the armed forces at the Treichville Sports Palace in the commercial capital, Abidjan, where 95% of the country’s cases have been recorded, according to the health ministry. (N'Gotta, 3/1)

In other news —

CIDRAP: Study Shows High Rate Of Superbugs Acquired—And Lost—During Travel 
A new study by an international team of scientists suggests that exposure to multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria during travel to certain parts of the world may be far greater, and more dynamic, than previously imagined. In the study, published last week in The Lancet Microbe, the scientists collected daily stool samples from 20 European visitors to Laos over a 3-week period in 2015 and analyzed the samples for acquisition of MDR strains. Samples were initially evaluated in Laos, then sent to Switzerland, Finland, and England for further analysis. The participants were also asked to fill out daily reports on what they ate, any gastrointestinal symptoms they were having, and medication use. (Dall, 3/1)

Politico: The U.S. Has The Power To Tamp Down Coronavirus Variants — If We’re Willing To Use It 
The United States is in a race against the coronavirus, trying to vaccinate a critical mass of the population against Covid-19 before new variants take hold. That might suggest that the Biden administration should double down on vaccinating U.S. residents and not worry about the pace of vaccination elsewhere in the world. In fact, the opposite is true: Unless we speed up global vaccination, the U.S. will be at risk. The emergence of new variants that could evade vaccine protection risks a prolonged pandemic here as well as elsewhere, because uncontrolled spread anywhere in the world allows the virus more opportunity to mutate and more dangerous variants to emerge and spread. The only way to reduce the risk of vaccine-escape mutations here is to increase vaccination and control measures everywhere. (Tom Frieden and Marine Buissonniere, 3/2)

CNN: Biden Must Balance The Horror Of Covid With The Hope To Come 
It may not feel like it right now after a horrific winter, but America has never experienced a moment this hopeful since the pandemic began. The tantalizing promise borne by the quickening rollout of new vaccines, however, is tempered by warnings from President Joe Biden's team that a new cycle of sickness, death and isolation may loom if the country tries to grab its freedom too fast. (Stephen Collinson, 3/2)

New York Post: Hypocritical COVID Politicians Want Lockdown For You, But Not Them
Forever pandemic for thee but not for me? Over the weekend, footage surfaced of Matt Meyer, president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, taking his daughter to pre-school. What should be an innocuous happening is actually monumental since Meyer has blocked a return to school for the other children of Berkeley arguing that school is “unsafe.” Meyer responded to the video saying “I have my two-year-old in preschool. Unfortunately, there are not public schools for kids her age.” If there were public schools for two year olds, she would be home and not in school specifically because of people like her father. (Karol Markowicz, 3/1)

The Post And Courier: McMaster Jumped The Gun Again On Dropping SC COVID-19 Restrictions
On Friday, we got a double-dose of warning from the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, and from Dr. Anthony Fauci, who cautioned against the temptation to ease off on public health precautions, because the nation remains “at that very precarious position that we were right before the fall surge — where anything that could perturb that could give us another surge.” Unfortunately, the other thing that happened Friday was that S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster did precisely what Drs. Walensky and Fauci warned against, once again jumping the gun and easing up on his meager restrictions as we start to head in the right direction, but long before we’re in a safe place. South Carolina, after all, was still reporting the second highest number of new infections per 100,000 people in the country last week. (3/1)

Los Angeles Times: California's Deal On School Reopening Won't Speed Things
Before anyone gets too excited about schools supposedly reopening on April 1, that’s unlikely to happen in much of California under the terms of the deal that Gov. Gavin Newsom just worked out with the Legislature. The agreement announced Monday to offer schools $2 billion in incentives to reopen at least their K-2 classrooms by April 1 is less meaningful than the governor’s recent turnaround on vaccines for teachers. The state is now setting aside a hefty share of the doses to meet the demands of teachers’ unions. (3/1)

USA Today: COVID Challenge: Not All Remote Workers Want To Return To The Office
With Biden promising to distribute 100 million vaccines in the first 100 days of his administration, many employers around the country are asking the same question: When can we safely open our offices again? In our work with dozens of the top tech start-ups, we’ve found that while 10 months of working from home has been soul crushing for many, it has actually been a joy for others. For every parent resenting having to juggle the three roles of childcare, teaching, and working, there is another who has loved the “quality time” with their kids. For every employee living alone who is depressed from the isolation and misses his colleagues, there is another who has enjoyed learning new skills during her alone time. (Edward Sullivan and John Baird, 2/28)

CNN: I Got Vaccinated. What Now? 
The United States Covid-19 vaccination program is gaining steam. As of Tuesday, more than 40 million people have received the first dose, representing about 13% of the country. At the same time, national rates of new infection have decreased, presenting a real opportunity to control the pandemic. (Kent Sepkowitz, 2/23)

Boston Globe: With Vaccine Comes Relief And A Stab Of Guilt 
After several days of wrestling with the state’s COVID-19 vaccination website, I scored an appointment — at a Walgreen’s in Chelsea. With the jab came relief and a stab of guilt. Chelsea, a densely populated city that’s home to many poor and working-class Latinos, has been hit hard by COVID-19. While it just fell out of the red zone, it still has a high caseload compared with other Massachusetts locales. Getting a shot there turned me into a poster child for all the inequities baked into the system set up under Governor Charlie Baker. I had time, Internet access, and two family members who also entered and reentered the required information in the state’s frustrating website. (Joan Vennochi , 3/1)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Why Should Anyone Have To Endure A 2½-Hour Journey To Get The Vaccine?
I was very grateful to have received my first coronavirus vaccine on Feb. 23 and give thanks to all the people along the supply chain who made it possible. But I am trying to understand why I needed to drive 153 miles to near the Iowa border to get it. The fact is that there are very few vaccines available in the populated parts of Missouri (such as St. Louis) and seemingly large quantities in the rural areas. It’s not as if I didn’t try to obtain a vaccine in St. Louis. I’m of an age to qualify under Phase 1B — Tier 2, which includes anyone 65 and older, and adults with cancer, heart conditions and so on. I’d registered for a vaccination with all the hospitals here, which is home to some of America’s finest health care facilities. And we St. Louisans have a perfect mass vaccination facility in the shape of the convention center of half-a-million square feet. Parking up the wazoo. (Nigel Holloway, 3/1)

Stat: A U.S. Institute Of Health Technology Assessment Could Help Control Costs
The public outcry to “do something” about health care spending keeps growing, but fear about what that might entail stymies action. Americans need affordable, accessible, and innovative health care. They don’t need rationing of treatments or a regime of price controls that could hobble medical progress. (Darius Lakdawalla, Peter Neumann and Gail Wilensky, 3/2)

The Charlotte Observer: Medicaid Expansion Comes Knocking Again In NC. This Time It’s A Better Deal.
The gridlock over expanding Medicaid in North Carolina – an impasse now entering its seventh year – can get tiresome, but fortunately for the state’s working poor it’s an issue about which Democrats are tireless. Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the last state budget passed by the Republican-led General Assembly in part because it did not provide for expanding Medicaid, a change that would mostly benefit low-income working adults without children. Now President Joe Biden is making a pitch to North Carolina and 11 other holdout states in an effort to extend health insurance to millions of people who are braving the pandemic without it. (3/1)

Sun-Sentinel: Florida Can Run On 100 Percent Clean, Renewable Energy
We are at a tipping point when it comes to how we power our lives. Nationwide, and in Florida, we are still producing, consuming and wasting energy in ways that damage our environment and our health. In 2021, we have the opportunity and know-how to tap into clean and renewable energy from sources such as the sun and wind, but doing so will require the nation and state to transform the way they produce and consume energy. But it isn’t. (Anna Vishkaee Eskamani, 3/1)

Los Angeles Times: New Homes Need To Be Fossil Fuel-Free
In September, while touring the charred wreckage left by yet another devastating wildfire, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared: “This a climate damn emergency.” The state’s ambitious strategies to curtail greenhouse gas emissions were not enough to counter the effects of a warming planet, Newsom warned, and he pledged to “accelerate all of them, across the board.” Except, apparently, at the California Energy Commission, where officials want to delay a requirement that new homes be built only with electric appliances. (3/2)

New York Post: A Society That Can't Debate Trans Ideology's Effects On Kids Isn't A Democracy
Should children be given life-altering treatments to help them transition from one gender to another, including puberty blockers and body-mutilating surgeries? Should doctors be encouraged to allow minors to make a choice that will block their physical development and ability to have children when they get older? Is there evidence that doing so might do more harm than good? These are weighty medical and ethical questions that a responsible and compassionate society would vigorously debate. After all, what’s at stake isn’t the right of adults to live as they please, but the well-being of children, something that ought to transcend ideologies and political agendas. But America in 2021 isn’t such a society. (Jonathan S. Tobin, 3/1)

Stat: Remembering Bernard Lown: Physician, Activist, Nobel Prize Winner 
I have long thought that there are three types of physician. The first is fascinated by the intricacy and complexity of biomedical science. The second finds inspiration in the personal relationship between doctor and patient. The third is committed to the broader context of health, to social justice and to making the world a better place. (Iona Heath, 2/28)