Stat: Medicare Plans To Restrict Access To Controversial, Pricey Alzheimer’s Drug
Medicare plans to cover the controversial, pricey Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, but only for certain patients enrolled in clinical trials, the agency announced on Tuesday. The proposed move would likely mean some patients will not be able to access the Biogen drug, which is the first Alzheimer’s treatment approved in nearly two decades. Since it got the green light this summer, doctors and scientists have raised questions about whether it actually works, government watchdogs have begun investigating whether the Food and Drug Administration followed proper procedure to approve it, and policy experts have questioned whether it is effective enough to justify its hefty price tag. (Cohrs, 1/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Medicare To Pay For Biogen’s New Alzheimer’s Drug In Clinical-Trial Patients 
CMS said the Aduhelm studies must limit enrollment to patients in the early-stages of disease and have lab tests confirming that their brains have accumulated amyloid, a sticky protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease that Aduhelm is designed to clear. Medicare would pay for a single brain-amyloid scan under the policy. A final decision is expected in April following an additional 30-day comment period in which members of the public can weigh in on the proposed coverage policy. (Walker, 1/11)

AP: Medicare Limits Coverage Of $28,000-A-Year Alzheimer's Drug
The requirement for clinical studies applies to the entire class of drugs of which Aduhelm is a pioneer, monoclonal antibodies that work against amyloid, a kind of protein that forms plaques characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. Biogen sharply disapproved of Medicare’s decision. The company said in a statement that the decision “denies the daily burden of people living with Alzheimer’s disease.” Randomized clinical trials “will exclude almost all patients who may benefit.” The company said clinical trials can take months to years to set up and “hundreds of Alzheimer’s patients...are progressing each day from mild to moderate disease stages, where treatment may no longer be an option.” (Alonso-Zaldivar, 1/12)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Limits Aduhelm Coverage To Clinical Trials
"This is unusual... but we believe it is appropriate for the Medicare population to issue this proposed decision," Tamara Syrek Jensen, director of the coverage and analysis group at the CMS Center for Clinical Standards and Quality, said in response to a reporter question on a Tuesday press call. Medicare beneficiaries participating in trials must have a clinical diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's and evidence of amyloid pathology consistent with Alzheimer's. Beneficiaries can't have other conditions that would contribute significantly to cognitive decline, medical conditions likely to increase significant adverse side effects or be expected to die during the study. (Goldman, 1/11)

CNN: Omicron Variant Will 'Find Just About Everybody,' Fauci Says, But Vaccinated People Will Still Fare Better 
As the Omicron variant spreads like wildfire across the United States, it's likely just about everybody will be exposed to the strain, but vaccinated people will still fare better, the nation's leading infectious disease expert said Tuesday. "Omicron, with its extraordinary, unprecedented degree of efficiency of transmissibility, will ultimately find just about everybody," Dr. Anthony Fauci told J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Those who have been vaccinated ... and boosted would get exposed. Some, maybe a lot of them, will get infected but will very likely, with some exceptions, do reasonably well in the sense of not having hospitalization and death." (Caldwell, Hanna, McPhillips and Maxouris, 1/12)

The Washington Post: FDA Head Says 'Most People Are Going To Get Covid' At Hearing With Fauci 
“I think it’s hard to process what’s actually happening right now,” said Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, “which is most people are going to get covid. ”Woodcock pitched this as being a necessary acknowledgment when it comes to charting the path forward — recognizing that the focus now needs to be on averting the worst that widespread infections could bring in the near term. (Blake, 1/11)

Dr. Fauci and Sen. Rand Paul have another testy exchange —

NBC News: Fauci Says Sen. Paul's Attacks 'Kindle The Crazies' Who Have Threatened His Life
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, sparred with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., at a hearing Tuesday after Paul attacked him for appearing to disagree with scientists who said the coronavirus originated in a lab in China. "What happens when he gets out and accuses me of things that are completely untrue is that all of a sudden that kindles the crazies out there, and I have threats upon my life, harassment of my family and my children, with obscene phone calls because people are lying about me," Fauci said at the Senate hearing. (Finn, 1/11)

CBS News: Fauci Derides Rand Paul In Senate Hearing As COVID Cases Rise: "You Are Distorting Everything About Me"  
During a Senate committee hearing on the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Senator Rand Paul had a heated exchange with Fauci accusing Paul of "distorting everything about me" after the Republican from Kentucky accused Fauci of organizing a smear campaign to denounce conservative academics who had opposed shutdown measures in 2020. ... "What happens when [Paul] gets out and accuses me of things that are completely untrue is that all of a sudden that kindles the crazies out there, and I have … threats upon my life, harassment of my family and my children with obscene phone calls because people are lying about me," Fauci said. (Larkin, 1/11)

The Hill: Hot Mic Catches Fauci Calling GOP Senator 'A Moron' 
White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci was caught on a hot mic Tuesday calling Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) "a moron" during his testimony before the Senate Health Committee on the omicron variant of the coronavirus.  The tense exchange came as Marshall questioned Fauci about disclosing more of his personal finances to Congress. Marshall cited a Forbes story that reported that Fauci is the highest-paid federal employee, earning $434,312 in 2020. (Prieb, 1/11)

The Hill: Biden Health Officials Slammed At Hearing For Confusing Pandemic Messaging
Top Biden administration health officials faced pointed questions during a Senate hearing Tuesday about confusion surrounding pandemic guidance. Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.), the top Republican on the Senate Health Committee, blasted the administration's difficulties in communicating information on testing, boosters and isolation. “This administration has time and again squandered its opportunities and made things worse in the decisions you’ve made on testing and treatments and most crucially in communicating with the American people," Burr said during the hearing. (Weixel, 1/11)

The New York Times: U.S. Officials Defend Omicron Response At Senate Hearing 
Top federal health officials on Tuesday defended the Biden administration’s efforts to protect Americans from the highly contagious Omicron variant, facing withering accusations from senators about the scarcity of coronavirus tests and confusing guidance on how soon people who test positive for the virus can return to normal life. In a nearly four-hour hearing, lawmakers charged that the administration remained woefully unable to meet the demand for at-home tests, noting that the White House would fulfill its pledge to send 500 million of them to American households for free only after the current surge had peaked. (Weiland and LaFraniere, 1/11)

Politico: Decoding What Biden Health Officials Told Congress About Omicron 
Senators on Tuesday demanded clear answers from the Biden administration health officials on the state of the resurging pandemic and the government's short- and long-term plans for combating it. They mostly got jargon. In contrast to previous oversight hearings on the Biden administration's Covid-19 response, Democrats on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee raised sharp questions and complaints about widespread “confusion and frustration” around who should isolate and for how long after a Covid exposure or diagnosis, or where and when to get tested. (Ollstein, 1/11)

Also on the state of the pandemic —

Stat: 13 Big Questions About Biden's Response To Omicron
Amid another coronavirus surge, and facing pressure over everything from testing access to school closures, top Biden administration health officials are headed to Congress Tuesday for a hearing on the Covid-19 pandemic. The hearing, held by the Senate Health Committee, is framed around SARS-CoV-2 variants, but it will also be a chance for senators to pull information from the witnesses about the state of the pandemic and grill them over problems — legitimate or political ones — in the U.S. response. (Joseph, Branswell, Florko and Facher, 1/11)

Politico: 'Rules Need To Be Clear': Dems Call For Covid Strategy Reset As Cases Spike 
Record hospitalizations. A nationwide scramble for tests. Entire school districts forced to shutter. As a brutal surge of Omicron infections hits an exhausted nation, a growing number of Democrats are urging the Biden White House to reset its Covid battle plan to prevent what they fear could mushroom into a crisis of trust in public health authorities as cases spike in virtually every state. (Ferris, Ollstein and Wu, 1/11)

The Boston Globe: Lawmakers Press Baker On COVID, Arguing For More Aggressive Posture As Surge Wallops Massachusetts
Arguing the state has been too hands-off in quelling the new COVID-19 surge, Democratic state lawmakers on Tuesday pressed Governor Charlie Baker to take a more aggressive posture on testing in schools, masking rules, and public messaging. The leaders of a legislative committee peppered Baker and his health secretary, Marylou Sudders, with questions over a combined 75 minutes, at times engaging in testy exchanges about the governor’s turbulent distribution of masks to educators and his administration’s resistance to a universal mask mandate. (Stout and Fatima, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Omicron Surge Spreads Epidemic Of Confusion 
As Americans push into a third winter of viral discontent, this season has delivered something different: Amid the deep polarization about masks and vaccines, amid the discord over whether and how to return to pre-pandemic life, a strange unity of confusion is emerging, a common inability to decipher conflicting advice and clashing guidelines coming from government, science, health, media and other institutions. (Fisher, Spolar and Blumberg, 1/11)

The Washington Post: On Fox News, Tucker Carlson Spreads An Already Debunked Claim About Covid Deaths And Comorbidities 
Monday evening brought something special to Fox News’s prime-time lineup. Tucker Carlson’s program was a “special edition,” as text displayed at one point on the show’s lower-third suggested, on “the left’s politicization of the coronavirus.” In reality, however, the show was a very good example of its usual focus: Carlson’s politicizing the coronavirus in service of the political right. There’s a very concrete example of that effort from Monday’s show. It’s an example that makes obvious how concerned Carlson and his team are about accuracy (not terribly) but also how difficult it can be to uproot misinformation. (Bump, 1/11)

Bloomberg: NYC Covid Rates Are ‘Plateauing,’ N.Y. Governor Hochul Says
The omicron-fueled Covid surge in New York appears to be “cresting over that peak” as the rate of increase slows, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday. She said the percentage of New Yorkers that tested positive has dropped to 18.6%, from more than 22% in recent days. In New York City, Covid rates are “plateauing,” while upstate figures are tracking behind the city by a couple of weeks, Hochul said in a virus briefing. (Clukey, 1/11)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan's COVID-19 Surge Intensifies, Could Peak In Late January
"We're now at a point that we have not seen through this pandemic," Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state's chief medical executive, said Tuesday, noting that metro Detroit  has been hardest hit, with the highest hospitalization rate in the state from the virus. "When we look at our percent positivity, we are up to 33.2%. This is a number that we have not seen since the beginning of the pandemic when tests were very limited. And then, when we look at hospital capacity, we're at 21.9% of our inpatient beds filled with COVID-19 positive individuals." (Jordan Shamus and Boucher, 1/11)

AP: Idaho Officials: COVID Climbing Too Fast To Timely Track 
Idaho’s coronavirus cases are increasing faster than the state can track them, causing a lag in case counts that some public health leaders fear could lull residences into a false sense of security. Deputy state epidemiologist said during a briefing Tuesday that the backlog is happening because public health agencies can’t keep up with the flood of positive COVID-19 tests. (Boone, 1/12)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Urges Residents To Postpone Nonessential Gatherings
As an unprecedented wave of coronavirus infections washes over the region, Los Angeles County health officials are urging residents to postpone nonessential gatherings and avoid some activities — especially those with people who are unmasked, unvaccinated or at higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness. The ask comes just ahead of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend. The Lunar New Year is also right around the corner on Feb. 1, and the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood is a month away. (Money and Lin II, 1/11)

AP: Illinois Prisons Pause County Intakes Due To Pandemic
The Illinois Department of Corrections has temporarily paused intakes from county jails because of COVID-19 outbreaks at prisons, the agency said Tuesday. The affected prison facilities include the Graham, Logan, Menard and Northern Reception and Classification Centers, where county jails transport new admissions, it said. (1/12)

AP: Omicron Wave Prompts Media To Rethink Which Data To Report
For two years, coronavirus case counts and hospitalizations have been widely used barometers of the pandemic’s march across the world. But the omicron wave is making a mess of the usual statistics, forcing news organizations to rethink the way they report such figures. “It’s just a data disaster,” said Katherine Wu, staff writer who covers COVID-19 for The Atlantic magazine. (Bauder, 1/12)

CNN: Jim Justice: West Virginia Governor Feels 'Extremely Unwell' After Testing Positive For Covid-19 And Cancels State Legislature Address 
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice tested positive Tuesday for Covid-19 and described feeling "extremely unwell" as he isolates at home, according to a statement. Justice, 70, awoke Tuesday morning with congestion and a cough, eventually developing a headache and fever, he said in the statement. By late afternoon, his blood pressure and heart rate were elevated and he had a high fever. Results from a rapid test in the morning came back negative but a PCR test came back positive, he said. (Boyette and Sever, 1/12)

Covid is the leading cause of law enforcement deaths —

NBC News: Law Enforcement Fatalities Spiked In 2021. Covid-19 Was The Leading Cause Of Death
The number of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty across the U.S. last year totaled 458, a 55 percent increase from 2020, the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund said in a report released Tuesday.Covid-19 was the leading cause of death, having killed 301 federal, state, tribal and local officers, the report said. (Stelloh, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: COVID-19 Cases Surge In LAPD; More Than 800 Personnel Out
Cases of COVID-19 continued to surge in the Los Angeles Police Department this week, with more than 800 personnel now at home sick or quarantining, officials said. LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the civilian Police Commission during its morning meeting Tuesday that there were 562 new cases among department personnel in the prior week alone, after 424 new cases the week before. A total of 803 personnel in the department of about 12,200 were out. Those figures represent a massive increase from the 82 new cases the week ending on Christmas, and from less than 30 new cases per week as recently as a month ago, Moore said. There were 89 officers out sick or quarantining a month ago. (Rector, 1/11)

People are urged to upgrade their masks —

KHN: Ask KHN-PolitiFact: Is My Cloth Mask Good Enough? The 2022 Edition
The highly transmissible omicron variant is sweeping the U.S., causing a huge spike in covid-19 cases and overwhelming many hospital systems. Besides urging Americans to get vaccinated and boosted, public health officials are recommending that people upgrade from their cloth masks to higher-quality medical-grade masks. But what does this even mean? (Knight, 1/12)

Axios: How Switching To An N95 Mask Gives A 75x Boost In COVID Protection 
With the Omicron variant causing infections to surge to record levels, masking is more important than ever — and increasing evidence indicates the quality of mask makes a significant difference. Fitted particle-filtering masks like N95s are up to 75 times more effective at preventing infection with COVID-19 than surgical masks, according to a study published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Chase, 1/11)

NPR: U.S. COVID Hospitalizations Hit Record High
The omicron-driven surge has sent COVID-19 hospitalizations skyrocketing across the U.S., reaching a new pandemic high this week with 145,982 patients hospitalized. This exceeds the previous high recorded in January last year, according to data tracked by the Department of Health and Human Services, from more than 5,400 hospitals in the country. Patients with COVID now fill about 30% of ICU beds in the nation and pediatric COVID hospitalizations are also at the highest rate of the pandemic. (Stone and Feibel, 1/11)

The New York Times: California Hospitals Find Omicron Causes Fewer Hospitalizations, Shorter Stays 
A new study of nearly 70,000 Covid patients in California demonstrates that Omicron causes less severe disease than other coronavirus variants. The new research, posted online Tuesday, aligns with similar findings from South Africa, Britain and Denmark, as well as a host of experiments on animals. Compared with Delta, Omicron infections were half as likely to send people to the hospital. Out of more than 52,000 Omicron patients identified from electronic medical records of Kaiser Permanente of Southern California, a large health system, Dr. Lewnard and his colleagues found that not a single patient went on a ventilator during that time. (Zimmer, 1/11)

And more on struggling hospitals —

Salt Lake Tribune: With A Record 9,813 New COVID-19 Cases, Utah Is Limiting Eligibility For Monoclonal Antibody Treatments
Amid record numbers of new COVID-19 cases, Utah health officials on Tuesday drastically limited eligibility requirements to access the state’s dwindling supply of monoclonal antibody treatments and other antiviral drugs that are used to treat patients after they’ve been infected. Given the “extreme scarcity of COVID-19 treatments” due to the rapidly spreading omicron variant, “we are re-evaluating” the risk level a patient needs to qualify for the popular treatments, the Utah Department of Health announced Tuesday in a news statement. A record 9,813 new coronavirus cases were reported in Utah in the past day, the health department announced Tuesday. (Alberty, 1/11)

Mississippi Clarion Ledger: COVID Omicron Variant Crushing Mississippi's Hospital Bed Availability
The newest surge of COVID-19, accelerated by the omicron variant, is again robbing Mississippi hospitals of space and staff, leaving the state's health care systems overwhelmed. "We are dealing with a shifty enemy. It's changing the rules of the game on us," said Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, during a Tuesday morning press conference. "Some of the lessons we've learned in previous waves are not applicable to the one that we're in." (Haselhorst, 1/11)

Bay Area News Group: Hospitals Push Santa Clara County To Allow Exceptions To COVID Booster Mandate
Santa Clara County is backing off from its no-exceptions stance in requiring health care workers and others in high-risk settings to get booster shots after hospitals complained such a mandate would further strain staffs already under immense pressure because of the rampant omicron variant. The county decided Monday to set up a waiver process to allow unvaccinated or non-boosted workers in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, jails and other congregate places to remain in their current positions. The county announced on Dec. 28 it was not going to allow any religious or medical exemptions for the 150,000 people affected by the order. The unvaccinated among them who refused to get shots be reassigned to lower-risk settings after Jan. 24 under the older. (Greschler, 1/11)

Becker's Hospital Review: Texas Hospital Offering $20K Sign-On Bonus
Corpus Christi (Texas)-based Christus Spohn Health System is offering up to $20,000 sign-on bonuses at a nurse recruiting event Jan. 12. The event will be held at its Shoreline Hospital. The hospital is seeking dozens of nurses, ranging from new graduates to experienced nurses. The sign-on bonus amount will vary based on experience, the system said. (Carbajal, 1/11)

To help hospitals, more places enact public health emergencies —

Philadelphia Inquirer: N.J. Gov. Murphy Again Declares Public-Health Emergency To Prevent Measures To Combat Pandemic From Lapsing
“This step does not mean any new restrictions,” Murphy said on Twitter. “It simply allows state government to continue to respond to the ongoing threat that COVID-19 poses to our daily lives,” Murphy said. Murphy declared a public-health emergency in March 2020 and continued to renew the declarations through executive orders until June 2021, when he cited progress against the pandemic and allowed the emergency to end. Murphy and the state legislature worked out a deal for some measures to stay in place until today, when they were set to expire. (Moran, 1/11)

The Washington Post: D.C. Mayor Reinstates Public Health Emergency To Aid Hospitals As Coronavirus Cases Surge 
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) on Tuesday imposed a public health emergency in the District until late January, an action that allows hospitals to address staffing needs and other concerns as hospitalizations rise throughout the region. (Brice-Saddler, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Federal Agencies Must Test Unvaccinated Workers Weekly Starting In February, Biden Administration Says 
Federal agencies must start testing unvaccinated employees at least weekly for the coronavirus by Feb. 15, the Biden administration said in new guidance issued Tuesday. The testing, which mainly affects those exempted from President Biden’s vaccination mandate for federal workers, would be required during any week in which those employees “work onsite or interact in person with members of the public as part of their job duties,” the guidance says. (Yoder, 1/11)

In other news about covid mandates —

New Orleans Times-Picayune: New Orleans Reinstates Indoor Mask Mandate Ahead Of Carnival
New Orleans officials will again require masks in stores, offices, restaurants and other indoor spaces, a move aimed at combating a record surge in COVID-19 cases as city officials prepare for the height of Carnival season next month. The mandate begins at 6 a.m. Wednesday. It requires face coverings in all indoor public spaces, and is likely to remain in place until Mardi Gras, according to New Orleans Health Department Director Dr. Jennifer Avegno, who announced the return to a widespread masking rule at a news conference Tuesday. (Myers, 1/11)

Crain's New York Business: New York To Stop Active Contact Tracing, Leaves Option To County Health Departments
New York will step back from active outreach for contact tracing, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in a Tuesday briefing. Individuals in counties that use state contact tracing will no longer receive a call for tracing purposes after testing positive, and will be encouraged to self-manage their symptoms instead. Given the winter surge of people testing positive and the shorter incubation period of the omicron variant, there had been a short window for intervention to disrupt transmission, which is the purpose for contact tracing, said Dr. Mary Bassett, acting state Health Commissioner. The state reported nearly 55,000 new cases on Sunday, or about 19% positivity rate. (Sim, 1/11)

CBS News: JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon Says Bank Won't Pay Its Unvaccinated Workers 
JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon, who has been a staunch advocate for in-person work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, this week threatened to dismiss New York-based employees who are not vaccinated. Dimon on Monday told CNBC that under the company's vaccine mandate for its New York City headquarters, unvaccinated workers cannot enter its offices — and don't have the option to remain unvaccinated and work from home. (Cerullo, 1/11)

Axios: United: Employee Deaths Dropped To Zero After COVID Vaccine Mandate 
Since United Airlines' COVID-19 vaccine mandate went into effect last summer, no employee has died, CEO Scott Kirby said in a letter to employees. Kirby said that prior to the vaccine mandate, "tragically, more than one United employee on average *per week* was dying from COVID,” but "we’ve now gone eight straight weeks with zero COVID-related deaths among our vaccinated employees." He said in the letter that there are approximately 3,000 employees who have tested positive for the virus but added that no vaccinated employee is hospitalized. (Gonzalez, 1/11)

CNBC: Delta Air Lines Battles With Nation's Largest Flight Attendant Union Over Shortened Covid Sick Leave
Delta Air Lines sent the country’s largest flight attendant union a cease-and-desist letter after its president criticized the company’s shortened sick leave policy for staff with Covid-19. Last Thursday, Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, tweeted that the union was getting “multiple reports” that Delta “is telling workers across work groups that they should come to work w/ symptoms even if someone in the household tested positive.” She also said that positive workers were told to “come to work after 5 days if the fever is below 100.9, even if still testing positive.” (Josephs, 1/11)

Miami Herald: Florida Gets OK To Use 1 Million COVID Tests That Expired 
At the Florida Capitol on Tuesday, Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie ran into Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. He had news for her. The federal government has agreed to give Florida another three-month extension to use the nearly one million rapid COVID-19 test kits that expired in a state warehouse at the end of December, Guthrie said. (Wilson, 1/11)

In other testing news —

Louisville Courier Journal: People Seeking Routine COVID Tests Clog Kentucky Emergency Rooms
Faced with rising COVID-19 hospitalizations and increasingly crowded conditions, Kentucky hospitals are asking the public to stop using emergency rooms for routine tests for the virus. "We are running into a lot of problems with patients coming into the emergency department simply for testing," Dr. Mark Spanier, medical director of the emergency department of Baptist Health Lexington, said on a press call Tuesday. "If you show up for routine testing, you'll be delaying care of other patients," he said. (Yetter, 1/11)

AP: Arizona's Largest Lab Bolstering COVID-19 Test Operation
After a record-breaking day last week of COVID-19 tests, officials at Sonora Quest Laboratories said Tuesday that Arizona’s largest diagnostic testing lab will expand its operation and be able to take on thousands more samples. Sonora Quest went through almost 30,000 COVID-19 PCR tests on Jan. 4, the most since the pandemic began. It receives specimens from patient service centers and dozens of collection sites like drive-thru test lines, along with Banner Health facilities in six states. (Tang, 1/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: Google Is Giving Employees Access To Free COVID Tests, But A Union Says Access Is Unequal
Full-time Google employees have access to at-home COVID-19 tests for themselves and their families, but that’s not the case for thousands of company contractors and temporary workers, according to a Google engineer. A Google spokesperson said in an email the company has free, at-home and in-person testing options available to employees as well as temps and vendors. But Ashok Chandwaney, a software engineer at Google and member of the Alphabet Workers Union, said in a statement that access was unequal for the company’s contingent workforce. (DeFeliciantonio, 1/11)

CNBC: Everything You Need To Know About The New, Free At-Home Covid Tests
During these hard times, at least one thing should should soon get easier: Getting tested for Covid-19. Starting Saturday, many people will be able to get free at-home tests, thanks to a new initiative by the Biden Administration. Here’s what you need to know. (Nova, 1/11)

Houston Chronicle: Houston Health Forced To Deliver COVID Test Results By Phone After Glitch Disables Website
A Houston Health Department online portal that delivers COVID-19 test results was disabled Tuesday due to a technical glitch. The outage applies to tests conducted at the Acres Homes Multi-Service Center, the Hiram Clark Multi-Service Center, the Magnolia Multi-Service Center and the Southwest Multi-Service Center. The four city-run clinics each offer about 250 walk-up COVID testing spots daily on a first-come, first-serve basis. (Mishanec, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: Omicron Can Make You Contagious Before You Test Positive
In general, tests are able to reveal an Omicron infection, but enough virus needs to have reproduced and appear at sufficiently high levels in the nose or saliva to be detectable, according to Dr. Michael Mina, an epidemiologist and former professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, whose interview on the podcast “In the Bubble,” hosted by former White House COVID-19 advisor Andy Slavitt, published this week. “Omicron does appear to be more infectious, so it might be taking off and actually spreading the first day or two before there’s enough virus in your nose to turn the [rapid] antigen test positive — or the PCR test positive, for that matter,” Mina said on the podcast. “You might already be infectious, and that’s potentially because the virus now is just so able to potentially aerosolize and get out of people at lower amounts.” (Lin II and Money, 1/11)

Stat: As Surges Drive Covid Testing, Companies Eye An On-Ramp For New Markets
Throughout the pandemic, companies big and small have responded to the call for widely available Covid-19 testing. It’s not just a public good: Supplying a flood of new diagnostics, digital backbones for data sharing, and on-site infrastructure is good business, and most companies are trying to capitalize on the demand for testing as much as possible, for as long as possible. But at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference this week, some of the biggest names in Covid-19 testing described the challenge of hitting that constantly moving target. (Palmer, 1/12)

Also —

The Hill: Breyer, Sotomayor Participate In Supreme Court Hearing Remotely 
Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor participated in Tuesday’s oral arguments remotely. A court spokesperson said Breyer had a false positive COVID-19 rapid test Tuesday morning and participated in arguments remotely from his chambers “out of an abundance of caution.” “As part of routine testing, Justice Breyer took a COVID-19 rapid test this morning prior to oral argument and the result was positive. That test has now been determined to be a false positive,” said court spokesperson Patricia McCabe. ... Sotomayor, who suffers from type 1 diabetes, an additional risk factor, has participated in oral arguments remotely since last week. (Kruzel, 1/11)

NPR: The White House Will Distribute 10 Million More COVID Tests Per Month To Schools
With schools all over the country struggling to deal with a surge of coronavirus cases from the omicron variant, the White House on Wednesday announced it is increasing the supply of COVID-19 tests for schools in order to help keep facilities open for in-person learning. President Biden and others in his administration insist schools should stay open, even with the omicron wave making it harder than ever to manage. The administration will increase the number of COVID tests available to schools by 10 million per month — 5 million rapid tests and 5 million lab-based PCR tests. Wednesday's announcement is in addition to other testing resources and programs, and comes as the supply of COVID tests struggles to keep up with intense demand. (Wise, 1/12)

The New York Times: Why Coronavirus Testing Is Falling Short In Many Schools Across The U.S. 
In California, storms over the winter break destroyed a million coronavirus test kits that were meant to help schools screen returning students. In Seattle schools, children waited for hours for virus testing, some in a driving rain. In Florida this month, an attempt to supply tests to teachers in Broward County turned up expired kits. And in Chicago, a labor dispute, partly over testing, kept students out of school for a week. (Hubler, 1/11)

In more school news —

The Washington Post: Oakland Students Threaten To Strike If School District Doesn’t Meet Covid Demands 
Students from the Oakland Unified School District have threatened to strike and not attend in-person classes unless the district reverts to remote learning or complies with a list of health and testing demands that include KN95 masks for each student, more testing and expanded outdoor space for lunchtime. (Bellware, 1/11)

AP: Bus Driver Shortage Forces Vancouver Schools To Go Remote 
A shortage of bus drivers caused by a surge of the highly contagious COVID-19 omicron variant has forced Vancouver Public Schools in southwest Washington to switch to a rotating schedule of remote instruction in its middle and high schools, making it the latest Pacific Northwest school district to suffer impacts from the pandemic’s spread. Three groups of schools will take turns doing online instruction for one week each in a rotation that starts Tuesday and goes until Jan. 27, The Columbian reported. (1/12)

USA Today: Las Vegas School District Takes 'Five-Day Pause' Due To Staffing Shortage
An "extreme staffing shortage'' linked to a wave COVID-19 cases has prompted the school district that serves Las Vegas to close classrooms for two days and other school-related activities for five. The Clark County School District, one of the largest in the country with 320,000 students, will take a "five-day pause'' starting Friday and running through the Tuesday after the holiday weekend. The district is reporting nearly 3,000 coronavirus infections among its staff. (Ortiz, Yancey-Bragg and Tebor, 1/11)

AP: Virus Rocking New Mexico Schools Again, Santa Fe Goes Remote 
The coronavirus is catching up with New Mexico’s largest school districts once again. On Tuesday, Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Larry Chavez announced the district will return to remote, online attendance for the four-day holiday week starting on Jan. 18. (Attanasio and Lee, 1/12)

Politico: Chicago Mayor Tests Positive For Covid A Day After Announcing School Reopening Deal 
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Tuesday that she tested positive for Covid-19, less than 24 hours after announcing a deal to bring teachers and students back to classrooms this week during an Omicron surge. “I am experiencing cold-like symptoms but otherwise feel fine which I credit to being vaccinated and boosted,” Lightfoot said in a statement. “I will continue to work from home while following the CDC guidelines for isolation. This is an urgent reminder for folks to get vaccinated and boosted as it's the only way to beat this pandemic.” (Kapos and Perez Jr., 1/11)

Axios: Poll: Americans Value "Health And Safety" Of Students And Teachers Over In-Person Learning
More than half of Americans say that it's more important to protect the health and safety of teachers and students by moving to remote learning to avoid COVID exposure than to keep schools open for in-person learning, according to a new Harris Poll provided exclusively to Axios. How to handle in-person learning amid yet another surge of cases is again the subject of intense debate following the Chicago Teacher's Union refusal to return to in-person classes as Omicron cases surged. (Owens, 1/12)

Bloomberg: Cannabis Compounds Prevented Covid Infection In Laboratory Study
Cannabis compounds prevented the virus that causes Covid-19 from penetrating healthy human cells, according to a laboratory study published in the Journal of Nature Products. The two compounds commonly found in hemp -- called cannabigerolic acid, or CBGA, and cannabidiolic acid, or CBDA -- were identified during a chemical screening effort as having potential to combat coronavirus, researchers from Oregon State University said. In the study, they bound to spike proteins found on the virus and blocked a step the pathogen uses to infect people. (Matsuyama, 1/12)

Forbes: Study Finds Cannabis Compounds Prevent Infection By Covid-19 Virus
Although further research is needed, van Breemen noted that study shows the cannabinoids could be developed into drugs to prevent or treat Covid-19. “These compounds can be taken orally and have a long history of safe use in humans,” [lead researcher Richard] van Breemen noted. “They have the potential to prevent as well as treat infection by SARS-CoV-2. CBDA and CBGA are produced by the hemp plant as precursors to CBD and CBG, which are familiar to many consumers. However, they are different from the acids and are not contained in hemp products.” (Herrington, 1/11)

KGW.com: OSU Study Identifies Hemp Compounds With Potential To Block COVID
Hemp is a strain of cannabis plant that has been cultivated to have a minimal concentration of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and is instead used in other commercial products such as textiles, cosmetics or food. ... The compounds are precursors to more well-known hemp-derived substances such as CBD and CBG, but are typically not contained in hemp products, according to van Breemen. More research is needed to find the correct dosage for human consumption, he added. Smoking cannabis does not offer any protection from the virus that causes COVID-19. (1/11)

More From The Study: Summary From Oregon State University | Study Abstract

Modern Healthcare: CMS: We Will Lean On Private Sector To Address Costs, Disparities
The federal government will increase its partnerships with private companies and community groups in 2022 to bridge health disparities and reduce costs for publicly-covered patients, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Tuesday. "Our role with the private sector is really partnering and trying to align goals," Brooks-LaSure said, adding that companies like Walmart "absolutely" play a role in lowering drug costs for Medicare, Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act exchange customers. (Tepper, 1/11)

In other Medicaid news —

WICS/WRSP: After Legalizing Midwives, Illinois Lawmakers Look To Cover The Service With Medicaid  
Springfield lawmakers want to expand Medicaid to cover in-home birthing services. A bill that has already passed in the House would expand Medicaid coverage for midwife services. The voucher program would include coverage for home birth services, in-home prenatal care, and postpartum services from certified professional midwives. In December, Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Illinois, signed a law that allows for the professional regulation of midwives in Illinois, a practice that had been illegal in the state since 1992. (Emerson, 1/11)

Missouri Independent: Timing Unclear For $5.3B Bill To Support Missouri Medicaid Expansion, State Pay Raises
Gov. Mike Parson is in a hurry to get a $5.3 billion spending bill passed by Feb. 1, but exactly when the bill will reach the House floor for debate is uncertain. The House Budget Committee spent about five hours Monday digging through the details of the bill that will fund Medicaid for the remainder of the year, give pay raises to state employees and distribute federal pandemic aid for schools. (Keller, 1/11)

Austin American-Statesman: Fact-Check: Did Texas Turn Down $100 Billion When Republicans Rejected Medicaid Expansion?
Announcing his candidacy for governor, former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke said Texas has left billions of dollars on the table by failing to expand Medicaid during Gov. Greg Abbott's tenure. "Expanding Medicaid, which if we had done at the beginning of the Abbott administration, would have brought in $100 billion to this state's economy," O'Rourke said at a Nov. 19 rally in Houston. Texas is one of 12 states that hasn't expanded Medicaid coverage, which is backed mostly by federal funding. (Mizan, 1/9)

KHN: Left Behind: Medicaid Patients Say Rides To Doctors Don’t Always Come 
Tranisha Rockmore and her daughter Karisma waited at an Atlanta children’s hospital in July for their ride home. Karisma had been at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to have her gastrostomy tube fixed, Rockmore said. The 4-year-old, who has several severe medical conditions, has insurance coverage from Medicaid, which provides transportation to and from nonemergency medical appointments through private vendors. After being told that a ride would not be available for hours, Rockmore said, she finally gave up and called her sister to drive them home to the South Georgia town of Ashburn, more than 160 miles away. (Grapevine and Miller, 1/12)

Axios: Scoop: Medicaid-Focused Circulo Acquires Primary Care Startup Huddle 
Circulo Health, an Ohio-based insurance startup focused on people who use Medicaid, has quietly acquired primary care provider Huddle Health, Axios has learned. Circulo is also said to have partnered with telehealth startup Brave Health to deliver tele-psychiatry services. Much of the recent healthcare buzz has focused on using tech to provide affluent people with more convenient, comprehensive care. That’s left people who use Medicaid or Medicare — notably, those most in need of care — behind. (Brodwin, 1/11)

Modern Healthcare: HHS: Private Insurers Get Clarity On Preventative Care Coverage
The Health and Human Services Department on Tuesday clarified what private insurers must cover under preventative care guidelines for women, including screenings and counseling without co-pays or deductibles for 2023 plans. The Health Resources and Services Administration guidance is meant to help clinicians decide which preventive services to offer patients. The Affordable Care Act also requires insurers to cover the recommended services without cost-sharing. (Goldman, 1/11)

In corporate news —

The CT Mirror: Saint Francis Sues Hartford HealthCare, Claims Anti-Competitive Practices
Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center has sued Hartford HealthCare and its subsidiaries, including Hartford Hospital, claiming that it is trying to create a monopoly on hospital services by acquiring physician networks, particularly cardiologists, and demanding that they refer their patients only to Hartford HealthCare. The 75-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in New Haven alleges “a campaign of exclusion, acquisition and intimidation” and claims that Hartford HealthCare executives have stated in meetings that their plan was to “crush” or “bury” Saint Francis. (Altimari, 1/11)

Georgia Health News: Anthem Seeks To Halt Court Order Continuing Northside Contract 
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has filed a legal motion to end a court’s temporary restraining order that, at least temporarily, has kept Northside Hospital facilities in the giant insurer’s network. Northside Hospital was granted an injunction by Fulton County Superior Court just before its Anthem contract was scheduled to be severed Jan. 1. That injunction – which preserved Anthem members’ in-network status with Northside — lasts till Jan. 31. For months, the two sides have been unable to reach agreement on reimbursement rates for medical services. (Miller, 1/11)

Bloomberg: Aesthetics Firm Suneva Said In Talks For Viveon Health SPAC Deal
Suneva Medical Inc., which sells beauty and anti-aging products to doctors’ offices, is in advanced talks to go public through a merger with blank-check company Viveon Health Acquisition Corp., according to people with knowledge of the matter. The deal is expected to value San Diego-based Suneva at about $511 million including debt, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. (Davis, 1/12)

Also —

Bangor Daily News: Ellsworth Doctor Faces License Suspension Over COVID Misinformation Allegations
A state medical board moved Tuesday to temporarily suspend the license of a doctor accused of spreading misinformation related to COVID-19. The doctor, who recently participated in a briefing with state lawmakers on COVID, will also have to undergo a psychological examination at the request of the licensing board. During a virtual meeting, Maine’s Board of Licensure in Medicine voted unanimously to conduct a further investigation into Dr. Meryl Nass of Ellsworth in response to at least two complaints that she was spreading misinformation about COVID-19. The board also voted to subpoena additional records from Nass and approved suspending her license for 30 days during the investigation, although it also gave the doctor another option. (Miller, 1/11)

North Carolina Health News: NC Doulas Guide New Parents Through Birth And Beyond 
When Kira Kimble goes to the hospital to assist a client giving birth, she is charged with everything from keeping her pregnant client informed about the choices they have — whether they want to get an epidural, have a natural birth — to making sure her clients are simply being addressed by their names. Kimble said her clients report microaggressions as common for pregnant people of color throughout their nine months. This makes something as small as being addressed by your name a big deal. (Thompson, 1/12)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Boards Lag Behind On Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Goals
Although health systems are reviving strategic initiatives amid the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, most are struggling to operationalize those plans, the survey found. Only 3% have appointed health equity experts to their top boards, for example. Governing body membership remain predominantly white, male and over 50. Racial and ethnic minorities make up nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population but only 21% of board members at the companies surveyed. Women make up more than half of the population but hold just 27% of board seats. (Hartnett, 1/11)

CBS News: U.S. Navy Promises To Fix The Hawaii Water Contamination Crisis
House lawmakers on Tuesday criticized the Navy for its initial response to the fuel leak in Hawaii that has contaminated the tap water for thousands of families. "The Navy caused this problem, we own it, and we are going to fix it," Rear Admiral Brendan Converse, deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in his opening statement at a virtual hearing in front of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness. The Navy started receiving reports of discolored water that smelled like diesel fuel and of families with symptoms of diarrhea, nausea, headaches, and eye and skin irritation. A fuel leak from the Navy's Red Hill underground fuel storage facility is suspected to have spread to a water well serving thousands. (Watson, 1/11)

In other environmental news —

AP: EPA Moves To Crack Down On Dangerous Coal Ash Storage Ponds 
The Environmental Protection Agency is taking its first major action to address toxic wastewater from coal-burning power plants, ordering utilities to stop dumping waste into unlined storage ponds and speed up plans to close leaking or otherwise dangerous coal ash sites. Plants in four states will have to close the coal ash ponds months or years ahead of schedule, the EPA said Tuesday, citing deficiencies with groundwater monitoring, cleanup or other problems. (Daly, 1/12)

AP: Year Later, Flint Water Criminal Cases Move Slowly In Court
A year after unprecedented charges against a former Michigan governor, the Flint water prosecution of Rick Snyder and eight others is moving slowly, bogged down by disputes over millions of documents and even whether some cases were filed in the proper court. Snyder, a Republican, is charged with willful neglect of duty arising from decisions to switch Flint’s water supply to the Flint River in 2014-15 without treating it to reduce the corrosive effect on aging urban pipes. Lead contaminated the system, a disastrous result in the majority Black community. (White, 1/12)

And more news that affects the public's health —

The Washington Post: New York And Philadelphia Fires Underscore Safety Challenge Posed By Aging Buildings 
When Chris Jelenewicz learned that at least 17 people had been killed in a fire at a high-rise apartment building in the Bronx on Sunday, his reaction was one of angry disbelief. Jelenewicz is the chief engineer at the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. “It’s inconceivable to me that it’s 2022 already and we have a building” where so many can perish in such a fire, he said. (Slater, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Home Elevator Companies Agree To Recalls To Address Child Safety Hazard 
Three companies agreed to recall their home elevators to fix a safety hazard that has killed and hurt children for decades, regulators announced Tuesday — the latest step in a lengthy standoff with an industry often reluctant to provide the simple fix. Two other major manufacturers continued to refuse the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s request that they voluntarily agree to notify consumers and make minor modifications to eliminate the danger. (Frankel, 1/11)

USA Today: Olive Oil May Lower Death Risks Including From Alzheimer's Disease
The health benefits of olive oil have long been touted – olive oil is packed with healthy fats, nutrients and antioxidants – and it's a vital ingredient of the Mediterranean diet. This new research, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American College of Cardiology, suggests the potential of including olive oil in your diet. The study, led by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, studied the health and diet of 60,582 women and 31,801 men in the U.S. from 1990 to 2018. During the 28 years studied, those who said they consumed more than a half tablespoon of olive oil daily had 19% lower risk of all causes of death, as well as 19% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, compared to those who rarely or never had olive oil. (Snider, 1/11)

Fox News: Autoimmune Disease Spike Blamed On Western Diet, Scientists Say
A rise in the prevalence of autoimmune diseases around the world can be blamed on Western-style diets, scientists say. In a Sunday interview, James Lee and Carola Vinuesa of London’s Francis Crick Institute said they are working to pinpoint the precise causes of autoimmune disease. "Numbers of autoimmune cases began to increase about 40 years ago in the west," Lee told the Guardian's Observer. "However, we are now seeing some emerge in countries that never had such diseases before." (Musto, 1/11)

AP: Universal Health Care Bill Advances In California Assembly 
California Democrats on Tuesday took their first step toward abolishing the private health insurance market in the nation’s most populous state and replacing it with a government-run plan that they promised would never deny anyone the care they need. But the proposal that cleared a legislative committee in the state Assembly is still a long way from becoming law. It faces strong opposition from powerful business interests who say it would cost too much. And even if it does become law, voters would have to approve a massive income tax increase to pay for it — a vote that might not happen until 2024. (Beam, 1/12)

In other news from across the U.S. —

The Hill: Delaware AG Sues Town Over Ordinance Requiring Cremation Or Burial Of Fetal Remains
Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings (D) on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the city of Seaford over an ordinance scheduled to go into effect later this month that would require anyone who has an abortion or experiences a miscarriage to pay for the fetus to be interred or cremated. “It brings me no joy to sue one of our own cities,” Jennings said in a statement. (Choi, 1/11)

Beacon: Poll: Four In Five Mainers Are Worried About Affording Health Care 
A new survey finds that 63% of adult Mainers had difficulty affording health care in the last year and an even more, 80%, reported feeling “worried” or “very worried” about affording their health care in the future. The fear Mainers have about inadequate health coverage, amid the third winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrates that state and federal policymakers urgently need to act, the health care advocates who commissioned the poll said. ... The poll, released Monday, was commissioned by Altarum’s Healthcare Value Hub in partnership with Consumers for Affordable Health Care in Maine. (Neumann, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: Bomb Threat Shuts Down Drew Medical School In South L.A.
Charles R. Drew University closed its campus Tuesday after receiving a bomb threat, officials said. The medical campus of the historically Black college and university in Willowbrook received a bomb threat early Sunday that led to the campus’ closure. The Times obtained a copy of the threat sent from an individual who identified as a white, male, neo-Nazi fascist who alleges to have planted three titanium nitrite sulfuric bombs around the eastern and northern parts of campus. The bombs were allegedly going to detonate around 1 p.m. Sunday. (Evans, 1/11)

AP: Youngkin Announces His Pick For Virginia Health Secretary 
Republican Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin has announced his pick for Virginia’s next secretary of health and human resources, a role that will involve helping oversee pandemic-related public policy. John Littel has been tapped for the role, the transition announced Monday. Littel recently served as the president of Magellan of Virginia, which administers behavioral health services for Virginia Medicaid enrollees. (1/10)

In mental health news from Montana, Connecticut, Texas and California —

AP: Montana Psych Hospital Failed To Properly Investigate Death 
Employees at Montana’s state psychiatric hospital failed to properly investigate the death of a patient who was reportedly told to go back to her room “and stop being dramatic,” after she told staff she was having trouble catching her breath, a federal report said. Investigators with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also found the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs has inadequate staffing, resulting in a lack of patient supervision that led to 113 reported falls on one unit of the hospital from June 2021 through mid-September 2021. (1/11)

The CT Mirror: CT Legislative Leaders: Mental Health System In 'Deep Crisis' Is Priority
Top House and Senate leaders said Tuesday that addressing Connecticut’s overburdened and understaffed mental health system for children and adults will be a bipartisan priority when the General Assembly convenes next month. House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, told participants in an online mental health symposium he is optimistic about the potential for significant legislation emerging from a bipartisan working group. (Pazniokas, 1/11)

Dallas Morning News: To Ease Texas Foster Care Crisis, Experts Say Mental Health, Addiction Services Are Needed
Texas can’t ease a foster care bed shortage that routinely forces youngsters to sleep in Child Protective Services offices without a far-reaching program of new mental health services for children, mobile crisis teams to help distressed families and high-quality treatment programs for youths struggling with mood disorders and addictions, experts said Monday. While the state can avoid losing federal funds by seeking bids for a few high-quality congregate care facilities, it generally should aim to place all foster children with families, a three-member panel said. (Garrett, 1/10)

KQED: 'Hopefully This Will Change Lives': Mental Health Curriculum Added To California High School Health Classes
Health classes in California high schools soon will cover more than just nutrition and exercise. Thanks to a new law that went into effect Jan. 1, students will learn about depression, schizophrenia, mood disorders and other serious mental health conditions. Senate Bill 224 requires all school districts that offer health classes to include mental health as part of the curriculum. The California Department of Education has until Jan. 1, 2023, to incorporate mental health into the state standards, and districts have until Jan. 1, 2024, to begin teaching the new material. (Jones, 1/11)

Axios: Narcan Vending Machines Target Opioid Overdose Crisis
Free vending machines are popping up around the country to dispense doses of Narcan, or naloxone, a drug that can quickly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. New York City plans to install 10 public health vending machines that would dispense free Narcan and other "harm reduction" supplies in neighborhoods that have been hit hard by drug overdoses, according to the Times. (Muller, 1/11)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Becker's Hospital Review: Pfizer To Produce 120M Courses Of Paxlovid In 2022
Pfizer expects to produce at least 120 million courses of Paxlovid, its COVID-19 antiviral pill, in 2022, the drugmaker's CEO, Albert Bourla, PhD, said during a J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference session Jan. 10. Dr. Bourla said the drugmaker will produce 30 million courses by the end of the second quarter, with 6 million to 7 million being produced by the end of the first quarter, according to a tweet from Rebecca Robbins, a reporter for The New York Times. Dr. Bourla said Pfizer will produce approximately 45 million courses for both the third and fourth quarters. (Adams, 1/11)

FiercePharma: Catalent's FDA Write-Up Spurred Novo Nordisk's Wegovy Supply Woes 
Catalent received an FDA write-up for its syringe filling facility in Belgium, BioProcess International reports, adding that it is "allegedly" the culprit behind supply challenges for Novo Nordisk’s obesity med Wegovy. An FDA inspection of the CDMO's filling site in Brussels yielded a Form 483, the publication said, calling it a "recent" inspection. (Kansteiner, 1/7)

FiercePharma: Idorsia Scores FDA Go-Ahead For Insomnia Drug Quviviq 
The FDA blessed Idorsia's Quviviq (daridorexant), a sleeping pill for those with insomnia. Because the FDA has recommended Idorsia to register Quviviq as a controlled substance, the treatment will not reach the market until May, the company said. After more than two decades of trial and error and experiments with—by their estimate—25,000 compounds, the husband and wife team of executives at Idorsia, Jean-Paul and Martine Clozel, said they have finally reached the finish line with a drug they believe can be a game-changer. (Dunleavy, 1/10)

Stat: Amgen, Arrakis Partner To Develop Drugs That Eliminate Troublesome RNA
Amgen and the biotech startup Arrakis Therapeutics announced a research collaboration Tuesday to discover and develop a new class of oral drugs that selectively destroy RNA molecules that turn genetic instructions into disease-causing proteins. Called “targeted RNA degraders,” this emerging technology will go after targets that traditional drug-development methods can’t reach. (Feuerstein, 1/11)

CIDRAP: Review Finds Too Few Innovative Drugs In Antibiotic Development Pipeline
A new review of the antibiotic development pipeline finds that there are relatively few clinically differentiated products in late-stage clinical development, especially against critical, multidrug-resistant pathogens, an international team of researchers reported yesterday in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. (1/11)

In news about drug costs —

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Feds Pledge Review Of Fees Ohio Pharmacists Say Boost Drug Costs And Are Driving Them Out Of Business 
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has told U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown that it is considering a crackdown on a controversial pharmacy benefit management practice that Ohio pharmacies say is putting the squeeze on them and driving up drug costs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. Brown, an Ohio Democrat, joined legislators from both political parties last year in asking CMS to address the problem of direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees that pharmacy benefit management companies charge pharmacists. (Eaton, 1/5)

Stat: 'Skinny Label' For Generic Of Pricey Cancer Drug Cut Costs For Consumers
After a ‘skinny label’ was used to market a generic version of a pricey brand-name medicine, more consumers gained access to the lower-cost copycat drug and saved on out-of-pockets cost, a new study finds. In this instance, a generic version of the Gleevec cancer drug became available in 2016. But while the product label noted it could be used to treat a form of leukemia known as CML and other cancers, the generic labeling deliberately excluded language saying it could be used to treat uncommon tumors in the gastrointestinal tract, a condition called GIST. (Silverman, 1/11)

Stat: More Clinical Trial Protocols Are Experiencing Costly Changes
Over the past several years, the number of deviations and substantial amendments made to clinical trial protocols has increased notably, contributing to delays in drug development and rising costs for completing studies, a new analysis finds. (Silverman, 1/10)

Las Vegas Sun: Build Back Better Helps Small-Business Owners 
Economists estimate the COVID-19 pandemic caused 200,000 more small businesses than usual to shut their doors, never to reopen. As the owner of Expo Ease, a tradeshow services provider, I experienced the effects of the pandemic personally. I’m grateful that my business survived, but it’s a long road to get back to where we were before the pandemic. President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act, passed by House Democrats, is an important step forward. This package is jam-packed with measures like more affordable health care, paid leave and accessible child care that will improve life for millions of people, no matter where they work or where they live. Many of those policies would help small-business owners like me be more competitive, retain staff and increase flexibility to juggle work, family and other priorities. But the impact of this bill would be much greater than just the sum of the individual policies. (Peter Frigeri, 1/9)

The Washington Post: Bipartisanship Is Out For Biden. It’s About Time
President Biden continues to work on untangling supply chains and cracking down on monopolistic pricing. His ability to influence inflation is minimal, but what is within his control is the ability to remind voters that Republicans oppose things that would reduce health-care, child-care and prescription drug costs. He should stress to Americans that he has held down health-care insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans have tried to destroy. (Jennifer Rubin, 1/10)

Penn Live: Greedy Old Propagandist Politicians Won’t Lift A Finger To Help The Poor 
People around here often vote against their own interests, hurting themselves and others. They vote for politicians who consistently hurt local people. The Build Back Better bill is paid for by taxing those who earn more than $400,000 and taxing the huge corporations that don’t pay locals what their work is worth. So we taxpayers subsidize those workers’ food, housing, and healthcare with our tax dollars. Greedy old propagandist politicians don’t care about local people. (Christine M. Adams, 1/9)

Charleston Gazette-Mail: We Need Control On Drug Prices
On the first day of 2022, pharmaceutical companies increased prices on 460 medications, with most prices up 5% to 6% on average, according to the research firm 46brooklyn. I guess that journalists reporting on prescription drug price increases only need to paste in the latest increase to the same headline year after year. This year’s price increases were comparable to last year’s. The number of drugs that had January price increases by year: 629 (2021); 385 (2020); 359 (2019); 538 (2018); and 494 (2017). (Kathleen Stoll, 1/8)

Bloomberg: We Used To Clap For Nurses, Now We Let Them Burn Out And Quit 
If mask-wearing is an indicator of pandemic alertness, Europe is in a state of fatigue. YouGov surveys indicate face coverings have dropped across the continent as vaccinations and booster shots pick up. In Paris, where new rules require masks even in the street, noses and mouths are regularly on display as a small act of rebellion. Behind the fading fear of Covid is the sense that omicron is not delta, and that 2022 is not 2020. (Lionel Laurent, 1/12)

The Star Tribune: Health Care Workers Were In Crisis Before COVID 
Much has been written about the challenges front-line health care workers have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Long hours, excessive death, and fear for one's own safety and the welfare of family and colleagues has been a constant over the past 22 months. Physicians and nurses started out as heroes, but due to strained politics and social media misuse, are now branded by a substantial swath of society as pariahs and purveyors of a medical hoax. (Rick Hilger, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: California Democrats Are Trying Again For Universal Healthcare. It’s A Debate Well Worth Having
Calling the Democrats’ new universal health care legislation “bold” is an understatement. It would be a life-changer for practically every Californian. It also would require by far the largest state tax increase in history. Some powerful opponents will call it “socialist.” But aren’t Social Security and Medicare socialist? And they’re among the most popular government programs in America. (George Skelton, 1/11)

Stat: Can Telehealth Support Relationships Built On Trust, The Core Of Medicine?
A number of promising new digital health companies have surfaced in the past two years, prompted in part by the demand for telehealth visits that soared in the first wave of Covid-19. These companies have been fueled by a wave of breathless hype and tens of billions of dollars in venture and private equity investment. Far from being a new kind of health system, as feverish boosters suggest, the plethora of virtual-first digital health offerings — in which patients’ initial entry point is with a virtual provider they do not know — are a clumsy power grab intended to detach patients from trusted relationships with established caregivers, using instant access as bait, in order to control their downstream care. (Jeff Goldsmith, 1/12)

Los Angeles Times: Americans Used To Respect Public Health. Then Came COVID 
Some of the most alarming government actions since the COVID pandemic began have weakened state authority to safeguard public health. At least 26 states have removed traditional powers from local health departments, the institutions tasked with protecting us. New state laws, for example, take away or limit health officials’ abilities to require masks, promote vaccinations, close restaurants and schools or even impose quarantines. (Judith Walzer Leavitt, 1/12)

USA Today: Nowhere To Turn: Families Are Overwhelmed As Kids' Mental Health Needs Go Unmet
In 2017, I campaigned in every corner of Alabama, listening to people’s hopes, dreams and fears. I heard about jobs, education and college football (I was in Alabama, after all), but I was surprised to hear sobering statistics and heart-breaking stories about the dramatic increase in mental health concerns. Particularly disturbing were reports about the rise in depression, anxiety, loneliness, trauma and suicidal thoughts among our youth. (Doug Jones, 1/11)

Stat: Medicare Shouldn't Cover Annual Liquid Biopsies For Early Cancer Detection
It would be crazy for members of Congress to introduce a bill mandating that Medicare pay for an expensive cancer screening test backed by zero proof that it saves lives. It would be even crazier for the American Cancer Society to argue that mandating coverage for this unproven, expensive test would somehow address health disparities. Crazy, but true. (H. Gilbert Welch and Barnett Kramer, 1/12)

Bloomberg: Time For New Covid Omicron Rules, Not Self-Isolating, WFH Mandates, Mass Testing 
The balance of power between human and virus is shifting. Better armed against a lesser enemy, our species no longer needs to hide in a bunker waiting for a viral wave to pass. That means it’s time for our Covid response to change. As we enter the “endemic” stage of the virus, however, there is confusion about what an updated approach should look like. (Therese Raphael and Sam Fazeli, 1/12)

The Washington Post: Showing Covid Vaccinations And Needles Up Close On TV Scares A Lot Of People 
Ouch — there we go again. Another needle into another arm, for all to see on millions of TV screens coast to coast. Over the past year, and despite the sheer victory that scene represents — the triumph of those vaccines, developed in record time, distributed free of charge and remarkably effective — it has gradually dawned on me, as I avert my eyes from the television, that even reputable broadcast media shares an inadvertent culpability in vaccine avoidance. (Michael Benson, 1/11)

CNN: I Was Relieved When My Sons Got Mild Covid-19. Then I Thought About This 
Covid-19 continues its rampage across the US with the Omicron coronavirus variant spreading here, then there, then everywhere. Two months ago, the US had less than 100,000 new cases diagnosed each day; now the number is over 600,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, with no signs of slowing down. Despite the dizzying number of new cases, Omicron appears, at least in the early reports, to cause much milder symptoms than previous variants, especially among the vaccinated and boosted. These two novel aspects of Omicron -- high transmissibility and mildness of symptoms -- played out recently for me when my two adult sons contracted Covid-19 soon after attending a large raucous wedding. (Kent Sepkowitz, 1/11)

The Atlantic: Two Years Of COVID Crisis Is Long Enough 
Avoiding the virus is no longer an option; Omicron has seen to that. Almost everyone is likely to catch the variant eventually. Over Christmas, one in 10 of my fellow Londoners—one in 10!—had COVID. Thanks to Britain’s solid vaccination rates, particularly among vulnerable groups, this tsunami of infections has so far led to a daily death toll less than a fifth the size of the one we had last winter. In the United States, the picture looks bleaker, with overwhelmed hospitals and 1,500 deaths a day. Because the vaccinated can still spread the disease, Americans should probably lie low for a few more weeks, until this wave subsides. Personally, I don’t need an immediate license to party like it’s February 2020, but I want some indication from lawmakers and medical experts that restrictions won’t last forever. For any country without the discipline, collectivism, and surveillance technology of China, the zero-COVID dream is over. Two years is long enough to put our lives on hold. (Helen Lewis, 1/11)

Scientific American: Nurses Struggle Through A New COVID Wave With Rage And Compassion 
To health care workers in the COVID era, holidays mean death, and we knew Omicron was coming before it had a name. The wave caused by this variant has barely begun, rapidly gathering steam, and we are exhausted, attempting to pull from reserves badly drained by earlier surges. (Kathryn Ivey, 1/11)

The New York Times: What Does Living With Omicron, And The Next Covid Variants, Truly Mean? 
More than two years after the coronavirus emerged, and more than a year after the first vaccines for it arrived, suffice it to say that the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel appears dimmer than one might have hoped. As the stunningly infectious Omicron variant sweeps the country, case rates have blasted past all previous peaks; hospitalizations, too, have now broken last winter’s record. The surge has threatened another round of school closures and stifled the economy as working parents struggle to care for their children, who themselves are finding their lives upended once again. (Spencer Bokat-Lindell, 1/12)

Kansas City Star: KCK’s Back-Alley COVID Tests Out Of A Minivan In Parking Lot 
A Kansas City, Kansas, teacher felt sick, and looked all over for a rapid COVID-19 test so she could return to work without worrying that she could be spreading the virus. But when she found no such tests in the usual places — retailers can’t keep them on shelves and official testing sites keep running out and closing — she resorted to meeting a stranger she found online. (1/12)

Newsweek: Emerging From Quarantine With Thoughts Of Our COVID Future 
Nothing crystallizes one's opinions on this winter of Omicron like getting a breakthrough case during the holidays. In between Netflix offerings during quarantine, I had plenty of time to consider our two-year COVID nightmare, and what 2022 holds for folks like me who now have antibodies, and those who don't—and for folks like me who are vaccinated and boosted, and those who aren't. (Mark Davis, 1/12)