NPR: Supreme Court Approves White House Request To Limit Abortion Pill Access
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a Trump administration request to reinstate restrictions for patients seeking to obtain a drug used to terminate early pregnancies. The decision, issued over a dissent from the court's liberal judges, reinstates a requirement for patients to pick up the drug, mifepristone, in person. Three lower courts had blocked the Food and Drug Administration's in-person pick-up requirement for mifepristone during the coronavirus pandemic, citing the risks of contracting COVID-19 at a doctor's office or a hospital. (Diaz, 1/13)

Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court Joins With Trump On Restricting Abortion Pills
The justices, by a 6-3 vote, set aside a Maryland judge’s nationwide order that waived the in-person pickup rule on the grounds that it was medically unnecessary and posed a health risk for women during the pandemic. All six conservatives voted in the majority, and the three liberals in dissent. ... The incoming Biden administration could seek to change the rule, but that could be a lengthy process.(Savage, 1/12)

The Washington Post: Supreme Court Restores Requirements For Medication Abortions, Siding With Trump Administration 
The court’s conservative majority did not explain its reasoning, as is common in emergency applications. ... Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote separately to say he went along with the decision to dissolve the lower court’s stay out of respect for government experts. My view is that courts owe significant deference to the politically accountable entities with the ‘background, competence, and expertise to assess public health,’ ” Roberts wrote, referring to an opinion he wrote upholding state limits on attendance at church worship services. (Barnes, 1/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court Restores Mandate That Women Pick Up Abortion Drugs In Person
Dissenting, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the policy “imposes an unnecessary, unjustifiable, irrational, and undue burden on women seeking an abortion.” Justice Sotomayor’s dissent, joined by Justice Elena Kagan, argued that the Trump administration’s position made no sense. (Bravin, 1/12)

The New York Times: Supreme Court Revives Abortion-Pill Restriction 
The contested measure requires women to appear in person to pick up the mifepristone and to sign a form, even when they had already consulted with their doctors remotely. The women can then take the drug when and where they choose. There is no requirement that women pick up misoprostol in person, and it is available at retail and mail-order pharmacies. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other groups, all represented by the A.C.L.U., sued to suspend the requirement that women make a trip to obtain the first drug in light of the pandemic. There was no good reason, the groups said, to require a visit when the drug could be delivered or mailed. (Liptak, 1/12)

AP: US Will Require All Arriving Passengers To Get COVID-19 Test
Anyone flying to the U.S. will soon need to show proof of a negative test for COVID-19, health officials announced Tuesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirement expands on a similar one announced late last month for passengers coming from the United Kingdom. The new order takes effect in two weeks. (Stobbe and Koenig, 1/12)

The New York Times: Covid-19: U.S. To Require Negative Virus Tests From International Air Travelers 
The new policy requires all air passengers, regardless of vaccination status, to get a test for current infection within the three days before their flight to the United States departs, and to provide written documentation of their test results or proof of having recovered from Covid-19. Proof of immunization will not be sufficient, because the vaccines have only been shown to prevent serious illness, said Jason McDonald, a spokesman for the C.D.C. Vaccinated people may still become infected, in theory, and transmit the virus on a flight. (1/13)

Reuters: U.S. To Require Negative COVID-19 Tests For Arriving International Air Passengers 
All travelers aged 2 and older must comply except passengers who are only transiting through the United States. The CDC will also consider waivers of testing requirements for airlines flying to countries with little or no testing capacity, including some places in the Caribbean. The order dramatically broadens a requirement imposed on Dec. 28 for travelers arriving from the UK as a more transmissible variant of the virus circulated there. (Shepardson, 1/12)

Politico: U.S. Will Require Covid Testing For Arriving International Flights
Long haul flights are particularly vulnerable to potential in-flight transmission of the virus because it's harder to avoid crowding and masks are difficult to keep on for the entire trip, according to Jeff Engel, senior adviser for Covid-19 at the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. “Airlines are always reporting that they circulate their air through filters that filter out 99.9 percent of germs, which is true,” Engel said. “But transmission occurs through direct person-to-person spread without that air even going through the circulation system.” (Lim and Mintz, 1/12)

CNN: US Coronavirus: The US Has Suffered Its Worst Day Ever For Covid-19 Deaths 
The US reported its highest daily number of Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday with more than 4,320 fatalities attributed to the virus. It marked the second time -- both this month and since the pandemic's start -- that the US reported more than 4,000 Covid-19 deaths in a single day. Over the past week, the US has averaged more than 3,300 deaths every day, a jump of more than 217% from mid-November. (Maxouris, 1/13)

AP: California Lifts Stay-Home Order For Sacramento Region
California lifted a stay-at-home order in the 13-county Sacramento region on Tuesday as hospital conditions improved, a rare turn of good news as the state pushes through what Gov. Gavin Newsom called “its most intense surge” of the coronavirus. The order imposed Dec. 10 banned gatherings outside a household and shuttered or restricted many businesses. With virus cases and hospitalizations more stable now, the region can resume outdoor dining and worship services, reopen hair and nail salons and other businesses, and increase capacity at retailers Gatherings of up to three households are allowed. (Ronayne, 1/12)

In updates from Maryland, Nevada, Texas, Georgia and Virginia —

The Hill: Maryland Residents Test Positive For UK Strain Of Coronavirus 
Two Maryland residents have tested positive for the United Kingdom variant of the coronavirus, becoming the first confirmed cases in the state, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Tuesday. According to Hogan, one of the individuals had recently returned from traveling abroad, while the other is that person's spouse. Both are in isolation, and health authorities are conducting contact tracing, Hogan said. (Weixel, 1/12)

Las Vegas Review Journal: Las Vegas Hospital Issues Disaster Declaration Because Of COVID Wave Of Patients
With COVID-19 patients pushing hospitals across Southern Nevada to near capacity, one Las Vegas hospital issued a disaster declaration over the weekend. St. Rose Dominican Hospital, San Martin campus, issued the declaration Saturday, when a surge in patients increased occupancy in its intensive care unit to 137 percent, according to an email obtained by the Review-Journal that was sent by the administration to hospital physicians. The 147-bed hospital had a general occupancy of 121 percent as it treated 73 patients with COVID-19. “As we experience a sustained increase in critically ill COVID-19 patients, key resources are in limited supply: hospital beds, ICU and health care staff,” hospital spokesman Gordon Absher said in response to questions about the declaration. (Hynes, 1/12)

AP: Austin Opens COVID-19 Field Hospital In Convention Center
The Austin area opened a field hospital in a convention center Tuesday as cases of the disease caused by the coronavirus continue to soar. The opening came as state health officials reported that Texas had surpassed 14,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients for the first time, as well as 22,000 more newly confirmed cases. For now, the Austin field hospital will have 25 beds and can expand if needed. (1/13)

Georgia Health News: Georgia Hits Daily Record On COVID-19 Deaths; Kemp Voices Frustration On Vaccine Situation 
Georgia reported 145 COVID-related deaths Tuesday, the state’s highest single-day total recorded since the pandemic began. More than 9,000 new infections were also reported Tuesday, along with 435 new hospitalizations. The overall number of COVID hospitalizations currently has hit 5,700, continuing its steady, record-breaking climb. (Miller, 1/12)

Macon Telegraph: Teacher Who Retired Over COVID Concerns In GA Dies: Family Says
An imminent spike in COVID-19 cases after Thanksgiving forced a Georgia educator to choose between her health and the work she loved, family members said. Maude Jones, a special education paraprofessional with Gwinnett County Public Schools, decided she wouldn’t return to the classroom and submitted her paperwork to retire on Dec. 18, the final day of fall semester, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Weeks later, complications from the virus claimed her life. (Kenney, 1/12)

The Washington Post: Fairfax County Sheriff's Office Deputy Dies Of Covid-19, Officials Say 
A veteran Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office deputy has died of covid-19 amid an outbreak of the coronavirus at the county jail that has sickened more than 30 guards and inmates in recent days, authorities said. The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office declined to say whether the death of Frederick “Butch” Cameron, 51, was directly related to the current wave of cases at the jail, but a spokeswoman described his death as in the “line of duty.” Sheriff’s deputies guard the jail and the courthouse in Fairfax County. (Jouvenal, 1/12)

Stat: U.S. Plan To Expand Covid-19 Vaccine Access Likely Sets Up New Debacles
As health authorities across the country struggle to get Covid-19 vaccination programs up and running, outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar threw a new wrench into the works on Tuesday, telling states to expand priority access to tens of millions of additional people immediately. But it will be several months before there is enough vaccine available to meet that kind of demand. (Branswell, 1/12)

Politico: Trump’s Abrupt Shift On Covid Shots May Sow More Chaos
CDC Director Robert Redfield downplayed the impact of the new policy, saying the advisory board’s guidance never guaranteed that everyone in those groups would be immunized before moving on to lower-priority groups. And the federal health official said the administration’s intention is not to skip over essential workers. ... But flooding the system with more vaccine alone won’t work without setting up more vaccination sites and providing more material support, experts say. “In order for us to efficiently move doses into arms, a strong understanding of how many doses to expect this week, next week, and the following weeks is needed,” Claire Hannan, the executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, wrote in an email. (Ollstein and Roubein, 1/12)

The Washington Post: Biden Team Sees Risks In Trump Decision To Widen Vaccine Pool 
Advisers to President-elect Joe Biden are balking at a decision by the Trump administration to dramatically increase the number of people eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, believing the changes could overwhelm states and create unrealistic expectations for millions of Americans waiting for shots. At issue are changes to the vaccine rollout announced Tuesday by the Trump administration. Officials instructed states to begin vaccinating tens of millions of people with a high-risk medical condition putting them at increased risk of dying from the coronavirus, along with all adults 65 and older. Including both those groups immediately adds another 100 million people potential seeking shots, bringing the total to about 184 million and intensifying demand on already stressed sign-up systems. (Sun and Stanley-Becker, 1/12)

The Trump administration officially announced the policy change Tuesday —

The Washington Post: Trump Administration Reverses Stance, Will No Longer Hold Back Second Shots Of Coronavirus Vaccine
The Trump administration announced sweeping changes to its vaccination rollout on Tuesday, including making all of the coronavirus vaccine supply immediately available, urging states to provide shots to anyone 65 and older and warning states with lagging inoculations that they could lose some of their shots to speedier places. The steps, part of an effort to accelerate a delayed and disjointed rollout, depart from the administration’s original strategy, and come just days after President-elect Joe Biden announced plans to release nearly all the vaccine supply. (Sun, McGinley, Stanley-Becker and Goldstein, 1/12)

NPR: Trump Administration Makes Big Changes To Speed COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
The call is accompanied by a change in how vaccine doses are allocated to states. Currently, doses are given to states based on their total adult populations. Starting in two weeks, vaccines will be distributed to states based on the number of over 65-year-olds who live there — and by the pace of vaccine administration reported by states. "[This new allocation system] gives states a strong incentive to ensure doses are going to work, protecting people rather than sitting on shelves or in freezers," Azar said at the press briefing, "We need doses going to where they'll be administered quickly and where they'll protect the most vulnerable." (Simmons-Duffin and Huang, 1/12)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

The Wall Street Journal: Health Officials Scramble To Provide Booking Systems For Covid-19 Vaccines 
After a week of unsuccessful attempts to book an appointment for a Covid-19 vaccine, Katie Solovey’s parents turned to her for help. The 34-year-old’s parents spend their winters in Siesta Key, Fla., part of Sarasota County, which is using Eventbrite Inc.’s ticketing platform to schedule vaccine appointments. The platform is familiar to Ms. Solovey, but not to some older people including her parents, who are in their 70s, she said. Her father was also using a first-generation iPad on a shaky wireless connection, making it hard to enter all the information required before the system timed him out. (Deighton and Alcantara, 1/12)

STAT: CDC’s COVID-19 Vaccine Guidelines Prioritize People With Type 2 Diabetes Over Type 1. Why?
The CDC’s interpretation of risk differs from the decision made by U.K. health officials to include both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in its list of conditions that pose higher risk after Covid-19 infection. The CDC responded with a statement that reiterates the guidelines and current evidence used to write them. “This list is a living document that will be periodically updated by CDC, and it could rapidly change as the science evolves,” Kristen Nordlund of CDC’s public affairs office wrote Monday. States are free to create their own priority lists, and in Tennessee, for example, people with both types of diabetes are classified together as at higher risk than the general population. (Cooney, 1/12)

KHN: Hospitals’ Rocky Rollout Of Covid Vaccine Sparks Questions Of Fairness 
Last week, after finishing inoculations of some front-line hospital staff, Jupiter Medical Center was left with 40 doses of precious covid vaccine. So, officials offered shots to the South Florida hospital’s board of directors and their spouses over age 65.But that decision sparked outrage among workers left unvaccinated, including those at one of the hospital’s urgent care clinics, or who believe the hospital was currying favor with wealthy insiders before getting all its staffers protected, according to a hospital employee who spoke on the condition of not being named. (Galewitz, 1/13)

KHN: Feeling Left Out: Private Practice Doctors, Patients Wonder When It’s Their Turn For Vaccine 
Dr. Andrew Carroll — a family doctor in Chandler, Arizona — wants to help his patients get immunized against covid, so he paid more than $4,000 to buy an ultra-low-temperature freezer from eBay needed to store the Pfizer vaccine. But he’s not sure he’ll get a chance to use it, given health officials have so far not said when private doctor’s offices will get vaccine. “I’m really angry,” said Carroll. (Appleby, 1/13)

KHN: Are You Old Enough To Get Vaccinated? In Tennessee, They’re Using The Honor System 
In December, all states began vaccinating only health care workers and residents and staffers of nursing homes in the “phase 1A” priority group. But, since the new year began, some states have also started giving shots to — or booking appointments for — other categories of seniors and essential workers. As states widen eligibility requirements for who can get a covid-19 vaccine, health officials are often taking people’s word that they qualify, thereby prioritizing efficiency over strict adherence to distribution plans. (Farmer, 1/13)

Modern Healthcare: Cigna To Stop Contributions To Some Lawmakers Following Capitol Riots
Cigna is the latest insurer to stop contributions to some federal lawmakers following the riot at the Capitol last week. Cigna said in an email that its political action committee will "discontinue support of any elected official who encouraged or supported violence, or otherwise hindered a peaceful transition of power." Cigna's announcement is on the heels of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which vowed to stop political contributions to lawmakers who voted to object electoral college results from the presidential election following a riot at the Capitol. Other insurers and healthcare organizations are either reviewing their policies for political contributions or pausing them entirely. (Castellucci, 1/12)

The Hill: Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Suspends Donations To Lawmakers Who Opposed Electoral College Count
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) will suspend its donations to lawmakers who opposed the Electoral College count after rioters stormed the Capitol building. BCBSA President and CEO Kim Keck announced on Friday that the federation of 36 health insurance companies would no longer provide financial contributions to these congressional members through its political action committee that is “supported solely by employee contributions.” (1/10/13)

In other fallout from last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol —

NPR: 3rd Member Of Congress Tests Positive For Coronavirus, Blames Capitol Attack Lockdown
On Tuesday, Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., announced he has tested positive for the coronavirus after sheltering in place with other lawmakers who refused to wear masks. "I am at least the third Member from that room paying the price," Schneider said, noting positive coronavirus tests from Jayapal and Rep. Bonnie Coleman, D-N.J. Schneider shared a video of the scene, saying, "Several Republican lawmakers in the room adamantly refused to wear a mask, as demonstrated in video from Punchbowl News, even when politely asked by their colleagues." (Chappell, 1/12)

11Alive.com: GOP Georgia House Rep Accuses Pelosi Of Exposing Congress Members To COVID By Calling Them Back For Votes
"Healthy people do not spread COVID. COVID positive people spread COVID. Everyone was exposed ALL week by the COVID positive members who Nancy Pelosi brought into the Capitol and into Washington DC," recently-elected House member Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said in a statement via email. (King, 1/12)

The Washington Post: The Lockdown Room Was A Safe Space For Lawmakers Under Siege. Now Some Say Maskless Republicans Made It A Coronavirus Hot Spot.
One Democrat, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), grew so angry that she left the secure room, concluding, according to an aide, that “we’re not going to survive a terrorist attack to be exposed to a deadly virus.” ... Several Republican lawmakers seen in a video refusing masks from a Democratic congresswoman did not respond to requests for comment. Freshman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who was also in that group, called it “absurd” to blame them and shifted it to [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi. “It is absolutely ridiculous and insane to blame those of us who did not have COVID or symptoms,” she said in an email. “The blame lies squarely on Nancy Pelosi and the positive COVID members bringing COVID in the Capitol! It’s absurd to say they caught it during the safe room.” (Itkowitz, 1/12)

Vox: The Capitol Outbreak Shows One Vaccine Dose May Not Fully Shield Against The Coronavirus
Can you still get Covid-19 after getting a vaccine? And can you still spread the virus that causes it to other people? As more Americans begin the process of vaccination, how much protection each dose provides in the real world is being put to the test. At least three Democratic members of the House of Representatives recently found out the hard way. They were sheltering for hours with Republican colleagues who refused to wear masks during the Capitol riots on January 6 and later tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Their experience suggests that one dose of a vaccine and masks may not be enough to protect someone in the face of hours of reckless behavior. (Irfan, 1/12)

Politico: Biden, Democrats, Plot 'Aggressive' Pandemic Response — Without The GOP
President-elect Joe Biden has spent months pledging to work with Republicans to advance his agenda. But Senate Democrats are now gearing up to pass Biden’s first major legislative package without them. Key Senate offices are coalescing around a plan to pass another round of coronavirus legislation soon after Biden takes office using a process called reconciliation, which would allow them to move forward without any Republican support, five Senate aides tell POLITICO. (Ollstein, Cassella and Emma, 1/12)

The New York Times: Ahead Of Biden’s Stimulus Rollout, Schumer Promises Quick Action On Expanding Payments To $2,000. 
Senate Democrats plan to prioritize a bill containing more Covid relief, including additional $1,400 payments to many Americans and money to accelerate vaccine deployment, as their “first order of legislative business” when they assume control of the chamber. The priorities, which Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the incoming majority leader, outlined in a letter to colleagues on Tuesday, echo many of the policies that President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has signaled he will officially unveil on Thursday. (Tankersley, 1/12)

Cheddar: Biden's First 100 Days: Four Crises, Three Branches, Two Parties, One Guy
Every president enters the Oval Office with a full plate of issues to tackle. But some have had more urgent crises to deal with than others. Abraham Lincoln inherited a country on the brink of civil war, and his very election drove the South to secede. Franklin D. Roosevelt had to confront the Great Depression, still the greatest economic crisis in the nation's history. Barack Obama's first order of business was confronting the second-biggest economic crisis in the nation's history. President-elect Joe Biden will join that class of presidents coming into office amid a crisis on Jan. 20. (Deeter, 1/12)

In news about President-elect Joe Biden's health —

Nurse.org: Nurse Who Vaccinated President-Elect Joe Biden Says, "It Was An Honor"
So just how did they decide on who would be the one to vaccinate the President-Elect? Tabe Mase explained that as the Director of Employee Health with ChristianaCare, she was part of the crucial planning team that decided how to coordinate and organize the vaccination efforts. Being chosen to vaccinate President Biden, Mase said, was both an honor for herself personally as well as a “nod to nurses.” ... Mase added that she also always asks her patients if they are ready and if they want her to count to three before sticking them (Biden declined.) (Brusie, 1/12)

The Washington Post: Joe Biden, 78, Will Lead An American Gerontocracy
We’ve scrutinized every skin blotch, every frog in the throat, every momentary lapse in speech (as if such lapses aren’t common at any age). The incoming 46th president has had two aneurysms, deep-vein thrombosis and a pulmonary embolism. He has had surgery on his prostate; his gallbladder was removed in 2003. In 2008 he had mild diverticulosis and a noncancerous tubular adenoma removed. The 46th president’s medicine cabinet has recently included Eliquis (an anticoagulant), Crestor (for cholesterol), Nexium (for gastroesophageal reflux) and Dymista (for allergies). None of this is concerning, according to doctors who assessed [Joe] Biden’s health for the Journal on Active Aging. This is just what it means to be a man of 78.2 in the last quarter of a well-heeled life. (Zak, 1/12)

Also —

The Hill: Incoming CDC Director Vows To Tell The Truth, Restore Trust 
The incoming director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vowed in a New York Times op-ed published Monday to tell the public the truth, “even when the news is bleak.” Rochelle Walensky, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the embattled agency, acknowledged the CDC will have to work “very hard to restore public trust.” (Hellmann, 1/12)

Reuters: Public Trust Crumbles Amid COVID, Fake News - Survey
Trust in governments, business chiefs and media is crumbling amid a perceived mishandling by leaders of the coronavirus pandemic and a widespread feeling among ordinary citizens that they are being misled, a global survey has found. The Edelman Trust Barometer, which for two decades has polled thousands of people on their trust in core institutions, found 57% of people believe government leaders, business chiefs and journalists are spreading falsehoods or exaggerations. (John, 1/13)

Politico: FDA Fights For Independence In Trump Administration's Final Days 
The Department of Health and Human Services is rushing to enact major policy changes at the Food and Drug Administration without the agency’s input — the latest example of Trump political appointees exerting control over scientific decisions. FDA was blindsided Monday when HHS Secretary Alex Azar approved rules designed to reduce scrutiny of drugs and medical devices before they reach market, four senior FDA officials and a person familiar with discussions said. Now the agency is trying to stop HHS from jamming through an industry-backed plan to effectively strip FDA oversight of genetically modified animals. (Owermohle and Cancryn, 1/12)

Modern Healthcare: New Rule Makes It Harder For HHS To Penalize Guidance Violations
HHS officials bolstered President Donald Trump's deregulation agenda on Tuesday, signing off on a rule that makes it more difficult for regulators to go after individuals and organizations for not following standards laid out in guidance documents. The rule effectively bans the department from penalizing individuals and organizations for noncompliance with a standard or practice if HHS only announced it in a guidance document. It also lays out a substantial process HHS must follow to carry out civil enforcement actions for potential violations. HHS said the rule is necessary to ensure fairness. (Brady, 1/12)

Fierce Healthcare: Trump Administration To Invest $8M In Broadband For Rural Telehealth Access | FierceHealthcare
The Trump administration is doling out $8 million to improve broadband access for rural telehealth services. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, awarded the funding to the Telehealth Broadband Pilot (TBP) program. That program will assess the broadband capacity available to rural health care providers and patient communities to improve their access to telehealth services. (Landi, 1/12)

AP: Another Record Decline Reported In US Cancer Death Rate
Researchers on Tuesday reported another record one-year decline in the U.S. cancer death rate, a drop they attribute to success against lung cancer. The overall cancer death rate has been falling since 1991. From 2017 to 2018, it fell 2.4%, according to an American Cancer Society report, topping the record 2.2% drop reported the year before. (Stobbe, 1/12)

Fox News: US Cancer Deaths Hit ‘Single-Year Record Drop,’ American Cancer Society Says
Cancer death rates in the United States hit a record 2.4% decrease in 2018, marking a record for the second year in a row and contributing to a 31% drop since 1990, the American Cancer Society announced Tuesday. The organization tied the progress -- which translates to about 3.2 million fewer deaths -- to less smoking and continuing advances in lung cancer treatment, comprising nearly 50% of the total drop in deaths from 2014 to 2018. The overall cancer mortality rate among men and women in 2018 was 149 cases per 100,000 people. (Rivas, 1/12)

The Hill: US Cancer Death Rate Fell Record Amount From 2017 To 2018 
The death rate from cancer in the United States fell by a record 2.4 percent between 2017 and 2018, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society. The drop marks the second year in a row with a record decline in the cancer death rate, following a 2.2 percent drop from 2016 to 2017. An improvement in lung cancer treatment helped drive the latest decline, the report said. (Sullivan, 1/12)

The Detroit News: Michigan Plans To Charge Ex-Gov. Snyder In Flint Water Probe
Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, top aide Rich Baird and former health director Nick Lyon have been told they will face criminal charges resulting from Flint's water crisis, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. The Flint water scandal contaminated the African American-majority city's drinking water with lead and was blamed for a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in 2014-15 while Snyder was governor. The looming charges likely mean the state's former top officeholder will face a high stakes legal battle over his administration's handling of the scandal. The News could not discern what kind of charges would be brought against Snyder, Lyon, Baird and Croft. (Fleming, Mauger and Beggin, 1/12)

Detroit Free Press: Everything we know about charges Rick Snyder, others could face in Flint water scandal
In 2018, [former health department director Nick] Lyon was ordered to trial on involuntary manslaughter charges after a special prosecutor accused him of failing to timely inform the public about the outbreak. His attorneys argued there was not enough solid information to share earlier with the public. But in June 2019, [state Attorney General Dana] Nessel landed a bombshell, with her office dismissing all pending criminal charges arising from the drinking water crisis, saying the initial Flint investigation had been bungled and opting instead to launch a new and expanded probe. That led to the dismissal of charges against all eight remaining defendants, including Lyon. (Guillen and MacDonald, 1/12)

AP: Key Moments In Flint, Michigan’s Lead-Tainted Water Crisis
The Flint water crisis began in 2014 when the city began taking water from the Flint River without treating it properly, contaminating it with lead. Here’s a look at some key moments since then. (1/12)

In other public health news —

The New York Times: 150-Foot Vessel Sculpture At Hudson Yards Closes After 3rd Suicide 
The Vessel, the spiraling staircase at Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s Far West Side, was closed to visitors on Tuesday, a day after a 21-year-old man jumped to his death in the third suicide in less than a year. It was unclear when the 150-foot structure, the vast development’s centerpiece, would reopen to the public. A spokesman for Related Companies, the developer of Hudson Yards, said that the structure was “temporarily closed” and that the firm was consulting with suicide-prevention experts, including psychiatrists, about how to limit the potential for more suicides. (Shanahan and de Freytas-Tamura, 1/12)

The Washington Post: Foot Pain And Broken Toes Resulting From Pandemic Life 
The coronavirus hasn’t been satisfied with unleashing a serious, contagious disease that has altered everyday life around the planet. In its overachieving way, it is also responsible for increases in anxiety and depression, teeth-grinding, anger, sleeplessness, migraines and another physical ailment being noted by orthopedists and podiatrists: “There’s a pandemic of broken toes,” said John Keeling, an orthopedic surgeon in Chevy Chase, Md. He estimates the number of broken toes seen at his office has tripled or quadrupled. (Chang, 1/12)

CNN: Pandemic Fatigue Is Exhausting, But Vaccines Offer The Hope Of Better Days 
Nearly a year of ever-changing public safety guidelines with long days cooped up at home are wearing on many people. People have been social distancing, wearing masks and skipping gatherings with friends and family in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus... Dr. Neelima Denduluri says pandemic fatigue has negatively impacted her everyday life, whether it's worrying that she's an asymptomatic carrier when seeing her patients or struggling to facilitate online learning for her children. (Marples, 1/13)

In news about mask-wearing —

AP: Hemingway Look-Alikes Urge Mask-Wearing In Florida Keys
Ernest Hemingway look-alikes are being used by the Florida Keys tourism council to encourage visitors and residents to wear masks to protect against COVID-19. The men, a former winner and five regular contestants in Key West’s annual “Papa” Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, appear in a short video that debuted Monday evening on Keys’ social media outlets, urging compliance with coronavirus health protocols. (1/12)

Anchorage Daily News: Anchorage’s Mask Mandate And Summer ‘Hunker Down’ Orders Helped Reduce Spread Of COVID-19, State Report Finds
The report found that while a June mask mandate was responsible for bringing case counts down in Anchorage, “an even greater drop in transmission” occurred after two additional emergency orders were implemented. Those orders — the 14th and 15th implemented by former Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz in response to rapidly rising cases counts and hospitalizations — went into effect on July 24 and Aug. 3, and limited capacity in bars, restaurants and gyms, and also indoor public venues. “The Anchorage experience indicates that even if a high proportion of people use masks, this may not be sufficient to control (virus) transmission if enough persons are engaged in high-risk behaviors such as close contact in crowded environments with persons outside of their household,” the researchers wrote, explaining why these further restrictions proved necessary. (Berman, 1/12)

The New York Times: Does Double-Masking Help Slow The Spread Of Covid?
Football coaches do it. President-elects do it. Even science-savvy senators do it. As cases of the coronavirus continue to surge on a global scale, some of the nation’s most prominent people have begun to double up on masks — a move that researchers say is increasingly being backed up by data. Double-masking isn’t necessary for everyone. But for people with thin or flimsy face coverings, “if you combine multiple layers, you start achieving pretty high efficiencies” of blocking viruses from exiting and entering the airway, said Linsey Marr, an expert in virus transmission at Virginia Tech and an author on a recent commentary laying out the science behind mask-wearing. (Wu, 1/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Rapid-Test Sites Planned For New York Office Buildings 
New York is working to open up Covid-19 rapid-testing sites at commercial buildings to help return workers to their offices, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday. The expansion of rapid-testing facilities would allow the state to loosen social-distancing measures, including on theaters and restaurants, which have had to limit or close their operations during the pandemic, the governor said. Several of New York’s largest landlords said Tuesday that they are participating in the effort. (Honan and Grant, 1/12)

AP: Cuomo Pitches Rapid Testing To Open Restaurants, Theaters
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday he wants to start opening restaurants, theaters and offices by launching rapid testing sites in New York City and eventually at hundreds of new sites in other city centers throughout the state. An individual could theoretically get tested and in 15 minutes go to a dinner or movie, under the Democratic governor’s plan, which he said could also help get more people onto mass transit. Cuomo said he’ll partner with the real estate community and work with local governments to reduce bureaucratic hurdles. (Willeneuve, 1/13)

In news from Illinois, Utah, California and Pennsylvania —

The Washington Post: Chicago School System Locks Out Some Teachers, Withholds Pay For Not Returning To In-Person Instruction 
Chicago opened public school classrooms this week for the first time since the spring, but 18 percent of teachers and staffers required to return Monday did not do so, according to the school district, which is starting disciplinary procedures against some employees. On Monday night, Chicago Public Schools notified 145 employees that they were considered absent without leave and that their pay would be docked beginning Tuesday. Some teachers who spent Monday teaching virtually instead of returning for in-person instruction were also locked out of their Google Classroom accounts in the evening, according to a district email that many teachers received. (Reiss, 1/12)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Health Care Leaders Declare Systemic Racism A Public Health Crisis
Systemic racism is a public health crisis, according to Utah’s health care leaders, and they say they are working together to eliminate disparities that patients face. “If we had any doubt whatsoever about whether race affected the health of communities and individuals, the pandemic has absolutely clarified that,” said Dr. Marc Harrison, CEO and president of Intermountain Healthcare, in a virtual news conference Tuesday. He was joined by the heads of University of Utah Health, the Utah Hospital Association, MountainStar Healthcare and Steward Health Care. In addition to being motivated by COVID-19, Harrison and the others said they decided to collaborate after seeing racial injustice in 2020 and the killings of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, among other Black people. (Jacobs, 1/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: Can You Pay Someone To Stop Using Meth? Proposed California Legislation Would Boost Drug Treatment Option
As overdose deaths soar throughout California, proposed state legislation would legalize a program that encourages people to curb their methamphetamine use with incentives like gift cards and cash. The approach, called contingency management, is a controversial but effective practice. Researchers have found it helps people control their substance use, particularly for methamphetamine. It’s yet another approach that San Francisco officials hope they can use to address the deadly drug epidemic that killed approximately two people a day in the city last year. (Thadani, 1/12)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Philadelphia Supervised Injection Site Plan Rejected By Federal Court
In a setback to advocates who had hoped to open the nation’s first supervised injection site in Philadelphia, a federal appellate court ruled Tuesday that such a facility would violate a law known as the “crack house” statute and open its operators to potential prosecution. In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit lauded the goals behind Safehouse — the nonprofit that, in an attempt to stem the city’s tide of opioid-related deaths, has proposed the site to provide medical supervision to people using drugs. But, Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote for the majority, “Safehouse’s benevolent motive makes no difference.” “Congress has made it a crime to open a property to others to use drugs,” he added. “And that is what Safehouse will do.” (Roebuck and Whelan, 1/12)

CNN: China's Sinovac Vaccine Trial Results Far Less Effective Than Initially Claimed In Brazil 
A leading Chinese Covid-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech was just 50.38% effective in late-stage trials in Brazil, significantly lower than earlier results showed, according to a statement published by the government of Sao Paulo Tuesday. While the number exceeds the threshold required for regulatory approval, it falls far below the 78% previously announced, raising questions as to the veracity of the data and fueling skepticism over the apparent lack of transparency regarding Chinese vaccines. (Gan and Arias, 1/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Chinese Covid-19 Vaccine Far Less Effective Than Initially Touted In Brazil 
Brazil’s Butantan Institute, a São Paulo-based public institute that is the first to complete late-stage trials of the CoronaVac vaccine, had said last week that it was shown to be 78% effective and offer total protection against severe cases of the disease. But after rising pressure from Brazilian scientists, some of whom accused the trial’s organizers of misleading the public, Butantan said Tuesday those rates only included volunteers who suffered mild to severe cases of Covid-19. When data from all volunteers was considered—including those who contracted “very mild” cases of Covid-19 and required no medical assistance—the total efficacy rate fell to 50.4%, Butantan said. (Pearson, Magalhaes and Deng, 1/12)

CNN: Chinese Covid-19 Vaccine Far Less Effective Than Initially Claimed In Brazil, Sparking Concerns
Despite the worse than anticipated results, Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the US based Council on Foreign Relations, said the Sinovac vaccine would still be "usable" by helping to relieve pressures on healthcare systems while reducing potential deaths, given its higher efficacy for moderate and severe cases that would require medical treatment. (Gan and Arias, 1/13)

CNBC: China's Sinovac Vaccine Reportedly 50.4% Effective In Brazilian Trial
Brazil and other developing nations have pinned their hopes on Chinese vaccines as wealthier countries snap up vaccines developed in the West. Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine is also cheaper and easier to transport because it can be stored in ordinary refrigerators — unlike the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna that must be kept at subfreezing temperatures. (Lee, 1/12)

In other global news about covid vaccines —

The Wall Street Journal: Iran, Cuba, Under U.S. Sanctions, Team Up For Covid-19 Vaccine Trials 
Iran and Cuba have begun trials of a joint Covid-19 vaccine, as Tehran fights the worst coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East while pledging not to use vaccines from the U.S. and U.K. The Cuban vaccine, called Soberana 02, is the most advanced of Cuba’s four vaccine candidates and will be developed in cooperation between Cuba’s Finlay Vaccine Institute and Iran’s Pasteur Institute, authorities from both countries said Monday. (Rasmussen and Eqbali, 1/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Irish Inquiry Finds 9,000 Infants Died In Homes For Unwed Mothers 
More than 9,000 infants died in homes for unmarried mothers in Ireland between the 1920s and the 1990s, many run by Catholic religious orders, a long-awaited inquiry concluded after years of campaigning from survivors and their offspring. In some years during the 1930s and 1940s, the report said, more than 40% of the children in the mother-and-baby homes were dying before their first birthday, high mortality rates often known to the government and local authorities. (Fidler, 1/12)

NBC News: 9,000 Children Died In Irish Mother-And-Baby Homes, Report Finds
The nearly 3,000-page report describes the emotional and even physical abuse some of the 56,000 unmarried mothers — from farmhands to domestic servants — were subjected to in the so-called mother-and-baby homes. "It appears that there was little kindness shown to them and this was particularly the case when they were giving birth," the report said. The homes, many run by nuns and members of the Roman Catholic Church, operated in Ireland for most of the 20th century, with the last home closing as recently as 1998. They received state funding and also acted as adoption agencies — with many of the children adopted to families in the United States. (Talmazan, Suliman and Skinner, 1/12)

NBC News: She Was A 'Guinea Pig' In An Irish Institution. Now She's Hoping For Justice.
Four decades after she left the Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork, Ireland, Mari Steed made a horrifying discovery. While there as an infant, she had been part of what she calls a “highly unethical” vaccine trial. Starting at 5 months old, Steed was vaccinated at least three times with an experimental shot to prevent diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and polio, her medical records, which she shared with NBC News, revealed. Steed, now 60, later learned the vaccine was administered without the knowledge of her birth mother, with whom she lived for the first 18 months of her life at Bessborough. (Chuck and Skinner, 1/12)

In other global news —

Bloomberg: Drugmakers Push Back on U.K. Plan to Stretch Out Vaccine Doses
Global drugmakers added to doubts raised about Britain’s strategy for giving Covid-19 vaccines to as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. Industry groups representing pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. and Europe on Wednesday joined the top medicines regulators in both markets in questioning any moves to alter the timing or dosage of Covid-19 shots in a bid to stretch supplies. “The biopharmaceutical industry supports adhering to the dosing that has been assessed in clinical trials,” according to their statement. Any changes from approved vaccine dosing and schedules “should follow the science and be based on a transparent deliberation of the available data.” (Paton, 1/13)

Bloomberg: Mexico Posts Largest Daily Increase In Covid-19 Deaths
Mexico reported the highest daily increase in Covid-19 deaths after breaking its own record last week with the government struggling to contain the current outbreak. Deaths reached 1,314 on Tuesday, the single highest increase apart from Oct. 5, when health authorities adjusted their way of calculating fatalities from the novel coronavirus. Mexico, which has the fourth-highest death toll from the virus, now counts 135,682 fatalities and 1,556,028 cases. The nation’s capital has seen a surge in hospitalizations, and Mexico City will remain on the highest Covid alert over the coming days, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said last week. (Orozco, 1/13)

In news about Ebola —

CIDRAP: Group Creates Global Ebola Vaccine Stockpile
Public health officials have a new tool to combat Ebola, which kills about half of the people it infects: a global vaccine stockpile. In a news release today, the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision said the effort will allow countries, with the support of humanitarian organizations, to mitigate future outbreaks quickly. This is the ICG's fourth stockpile, following ones created to combat yellow fever, meningitis, and cholera outbreaks. (McLernon, 1/12)

Stat: Verve Selects Its First CRISPR Base Editing Treatment For Human Trials
Verve Therapeutics said Tuesday its one-time treatment that uses the “base editing” form of CRISPR to remove a cholesterol-associated gene in monkeys has demonstrated durable and significant reductions in LDL “bad” cholesterol for six months. Based on these new data, Verve intends to advance the treatment, called VERVE-101, into clinical development for people born with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, or HeFH, a genetic heart disease that causes lifelong, high LDL levels. (Feuerstein, 1/12)

Stat: Key Investor Writes Down Stake In Former Diabetes Unicorn Intarcia 
Intarcia Therapeutics, a one-time biotech unicorn that has been unable to secure approval for a diabetes implant, has lost the support of a major Chinese investor and is being forced to auction lab equipment for the cash it needs to remain in business. China-based Luxin Venture Capital Group has written down to zero its investment in Intarcia, according to documents reviewed by STAT. Luxin invested $30 million in the company’s 2016 venture round. (Sheridan and Feuerstein, 1/12)

Stat: Health Tech Experts Explain Why Trust Is Crucial For Clinical AI Tools 
It was a slight departure from the usual Consumer Electronics Show panel: Rather than touting the latest health gadgets that attendees have come to expect from the annual Las Vegas tech bonanza, panelists at a session on trust in AI for health care grappled with how to ensure the tools don’t worsen inequality or create new problems for health care providers. (Brodwin, 1/12)

Stat: Middlemen Sue To Block A Signature Trump Drug Pricing Proposal 
The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which represents drug middlemen in Washington, filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block implementation of one of President Trump’s signature drug pricing policies. The policy at issue would prevent drug makers and middlemen from negotiating rebates on prescription drugs. The policy has been controversial even within the Trump administration: The administration first proposed the idea in January 2019 but abandoned it in July of that year, only to pick up again last November. (Florko, 1/12)

Stat: Democrats, Eyeing Medicare Drug Price Negotiation, Still Face Roadblocks
Democrats have their best shot in more than a decade to deliver on one of the party’s central health care promises: allowing Medicare to directly negotiate prescription drug prices. But it’s far from guaranteed that they can deliver. After last week’s special election in Georgia, Democrats now control the White House, Senate, and House, giving them virtually unilateral control to dictate health policy in Washington. One of their first non-pandemic priorities will likely be allowing Medicare to directly negotiate with drug makers over the price of drugs: President-elect Biden has called the Medicare negotiation ban “outrageous,” and for years, top Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have made clear the policy ranks near the top of their wish lists. (Florko and Facher, 1/11)

Also —

Stat: Prices Of 7 Drugs Were Hiked Without Proof Of New Benefits, Report Finds
During 2019, drug makers raised prices on seven widely used medicines by substantial amounts without any new clinical evidence to justify the increases, leading patients and insurers in the U.S. to spend an added $1.2 billion that year, according to a new analysis. (Silverman, 1/12)

Stat: Commerce Department Agency Proposes Eliminating 'March-In Rights'
In a little-noticed move, a Commerce Department unit has proposed a new rule that would prevent the federal government from using a controversial legal provision known as “march-in rights” to combat the high prices of products developed with taxpayer dollars. And if adopted, the change may rob Americans of a tool that could be used to lower prescription drug costs, according to consumer advocates. (Silverman, 1/11)

Stat: Endocrinologists Urge Federal Lawmakers To Act To Lower Insulin Costs
Amid ongoing concerns over the cost of insulin, a leading physicians group is calling for a raft of measures that would increase affordability for the life-saving diabetes treatment, a move that comes as the incoming Biden administration readies its agenda for addressing prescription drug prices. At the top of its list, the Endocrine Society would like to see the federal government negotiate pricing with drug companies, as well as place limits on future wholesale price hikes that are tied to the overall inflation rate and restrict the out-of-pocket costs borne by people with diabetes. (Silverman, 1/12)

Stat: Dedicated To Cutting Drug Prices, EQRx Raises Money, Releases Few Details
EQRx, a startup that made waves last year when it announced a plan to develop new medicines that would sell at cheaper prices than existing high-priced drugs, said Monday it had raised $500 million more in investment, bringing the total amount it has raised to $750 million. (Herper, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Biden Can Lower Drug Prices Without Congress Doing Anything 
Though President Trump spent the past four years railing against drug manufacturers, his administration had little success in curbing pharmaceutical prices. In 2019 alone, Americans spent an astonishing $82 billion out-of-pocket on prescription drugs. That’s an 11-percent increase since 2015. This has real human costs: A recent Washington Post investigation found Americans risking their lives because they cannot afford modern insulin treatments. A divided Senate may struggle to address rising drug prices, but the Biden White House can fix one of the most broken aspects of our drug system with no help from Congress. It can give out fewer bad patents. (Doni Bloomfield and Aaron S. Kesselheim, 1/5)

Also —

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Proved The Stagnationists Wrong 
In a series of changes, some of them a half-century overdue, Mr. Trump also helped remove government obstacles to innovation and competition in health care. Democrats will tell you that the first calendar-year drop in retail prescription drug prices in 46 years was mere coincidence, not the result of deregulation. Mr. Trump’s first redirection of the Food and Drug Administration proved to be a warm-up act for Operation Warp Speed, which shocked the “experts” who predicted there was no way a Covid-19 vaccine could be approved in 2020. (Casey B. Mulligan, 1/5)

The Detroit News: Trump's Drug Pricing Plan Promises To Hurt Americans
His days in the White House may be numbered, but that didn't deter President Donald Trump from handing down his most sweeping health care reform to date. The president recently announced the final rule for his "Most Favored Nation" executive order, which requires Medicare to pay drug makers no more for certain medications than nations with wealth comparable to ours pay. (Kenneth E. Thorpe, 1/6)

Bloomberg: China Needs To Come Clean On Covid-19
On Thursday, a team of World Health Organization experts will arrive in China to investigate the origins of Covid-19. The mission, which has been planned and negotiated for nearly a year, almost didn’t happen. As recently as last week, China was still refusing to authorize it. Although the government seems to have had a change of heart, there’s every reason to think it will continue to try to bend the pandemic narrative to fit its perceived political interests. And that’s likely to be a big mistake. China’s reticence about such probes is longstanding. Nearly two decades ago, the government covered up the SARS outbreak with tragic consequences. (Adam Minter, 1/12)

Bloomberg: How Did Covid-19 Start? Researchers Are Still Trying To Find Out 
People want to know where the coronavirus came from. If humans first caught it from bats, then where and how? Did Covid-19 escape from a lab, as several magazine articles have insinuated? While most scientists dismiss a deliberate release of the virus as a conspiracy theory, they can’t completely dismiss the possibility that it escaped by accident. International investigations could shed light on the matter, but they’ve gotten off to a bumpy start. A WHO investigative team was held up for months before finally getting admitted to China this week. Another team associated with the Lancet has yet to start field work there. Getting to the bottom of things is not only critical for preventing future pandemics, it’s important for keeping the public in the loop, to keep people motivated to help mitigate the spread. (Faye Flam, 1/12)

The Washington Post: I Got Covid-19 Because My Republican Colleagues Dismiss Masks And Facts
Over the past day, a lot of people have asked me how I feel. They are usually referring to my covid-19 diagnosis and my symptoms. I feel like I have a mild cold. But even more than that, I am angry. I am angry that after I spent months carefully isolating myself, a single chaotic day likely got me sick. I am angry that several of our nation’s leaders were unwilling to deal with the small annoyance of a mask for a few hours. I am angry that the attack on the Capitol and my subsequent illness have the same cause: my Republican colleagues’ inability to accept facts. (U.S. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, 1/12)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Informal Rules Have Helped Curb COVID-19′s Spread
Through much of the last year, COVID-19 has propelled many people to accept and follow new patterns of behavior. These include wearing a mask in public, attempting to socially distance and restricting groups to smaller numbers. Developed in what critics say was an absence of strong national leadership, these behaviors have been policed, by and large, by people themselves – fines and other punishments are seldom enforced at an official level. Instead, nonobservance is greeted by the disapproval and occasional anger of others. While we wait for vaccines to provide more lasting protection, these decentralized social norms have helped our collective safety. But an interesting question arises: How important are informal rules in keeping us safe, and why do people alter their behavior to follow norms when they don’t expect disobedience to be punished by authorities? (David Mednicoff, 1/11)

The New York Times: Why Is A Woman’s Body Always In Question?
From youth to old age, a woman’s body is viewed as something to regulate, comment on and critique — what’s personal becomes a matter of public opinion. In the short documentary above, five women share experiences from different stages of life. What they have in common is the sensation of being treated less like a person than like a body — like flesh. (Camila Kater, 1/12)

The New York Times: Biden Should Boost Covid Vaccine Supply With New Manufacturing Plan 
The Covid-19 pandemic has been mismanaged for months. Now vaccines are here —  but in very short supply. Most Americans will wait months to get immunized, and poorer countries are scrambling to find any vaccines at all. There is another way. President-elect Joe Biden can solve the U.S. and worldwide vaccine shortages by using a strategy inspired by the one our country used to address the AIDS crisis. Mr. Biden can marshal the federal government’s resources to manufacture additional vaccine supplies and combine that move with vigorous efforts to boost distribution. Nearly two decades ago, Anthony Fauci, who was then almost 20 years into his role as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, helped persuade President George W. Bush to establish the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. (James Krellenstein, Peter Staley and Wafaa M. El-Sadr, 1/12)

ABC News: Speeding Up COVID-19 Vaccinations Is A Race Against Time
The nation's historic COVID-19 vaccination campaign began Dec. 14, 2020. Since then, 27 million doses have been distributed with only 9.3 million doses administered as of Jan. 11. As the United States faces what may be its most consequential days of the pandemic, breaking record highs of new infections and hospitalizations with over 4,000 Americans reported dead in a single day and two highly transmissible variants, COVID-19 shots in arms to slow hospitalizations and deaths are urgently needed. (Dr. Syra Madad, 1/13)

The Washington Post: We Need A Better Way Of Distributing The Covid-19 Vaccine. Here’s How To Do It. 
The covid-19 vaccine distribution effort is in trouble, and the Trump administration’s plan to release more of the existing vaccine supply intensifies the urgent need for improvement. Only about a third of the more than 25 million doses distributed nationwide have been given to people, federal data show. Hundreds of different distribution programs are being organized across states and counties for front-line health workers, residents of long-term care facilities, the elderly and others that states are prioritizing in different sequences. The resulting complexity means that few Americans can answer the basic question: When and where can I get vaccinated? (Drew Altman, 1/12)

Crain's Cleveland Business: Fighting COVID-19 Is Biden's First And Most Urgent Job
President-elect Joe Biden's first and most urgent task will be to repair the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given how badly the current president has bungled the job, it won't be hard to do better. Even so, the scale of the task is daunting. From the start, President Donald Trump failed to organize the response or create a national plan to allocate medical supplies, coordinate test-and-trace efforts and prepare states to distribute vaccines. He refused to heed scientific reality or let professionals lead the public health response. He fomented bitter disagreement among his own advisers. Trump hasn't even bothered to wear a mask or otherwise lead Americans to take basic precautions. In most ways, Biden simply needs to do the opposite.

The Wall Street Journal: Vaccination By Age Is The Way To Go
It is time for simplification. To deliver free vaccines with maximum speed, the health-care system needs to follow a simple rule that applies to everyone. Fortunately, such a rule is readily available: date of birth. The older the person, the higher the priority. One can prove one’s age simply by showing a driver’s license, Medicare or Medicaid card, or another form of identification. For most, that information is already embedded in the files of hospitals, pharmacies and doctors’ offices. (Paul E. Peterson, 1/12)

Los Angeles Times: Stop Sitting On COVID Vaccine, California. People Are Dying
Federal officials agreed on Tuesday to release the nation’s entire stock of COVID-19 vaccination doses for immediate distribution — something that President-elect Joe Biden and a group of governors including Gov. Gavin Newsom have urged. That’s great. Vaccines only work when they are used. The federal government had been holding back half its vaccine stock in reserve to ensure that there were enough second doses to go around. (The two COVID-19 vaccines currently used in the U.S. require two shots, three or four weeks apart.) But the steady ramp-up of production has made federal officials more confident there will be plenty to go around in coming weeks. Indeed, at this point, supply exceeds demand, according to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. (1/13)

The Wall Street Journal: An Anti-Bureaucracy Vaccine, Please 
The Trump Administration said Tuesday it would release vaccine doses that it had been holding back for second inoculations and send more shots to states that are administering them faster. Thank you. This should speed up vaccinations by putting more pressure on states to relax the bureaucratic and political controls that have slowed the rollout. “Every vaccine dose that is sitting in a warehouse rather than going into an arm could mean one more life lost or one more hospital bed occupied,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a press briefing. He’s right. Only 9.3 million of the 27.7 million vaccine doses that have been shipped to states have been administered. (1/12)