Podcast

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Vaccine Approval Moves the Needle on Covid


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The Food and Drug Administration gave full approval this week to the covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech, which will henceforth be known as “Comirnaty.” It is not clear how many vaccine-hesitant Americans will now be willing to get a jab, but the approval has prompted many public and private employers to implement mandates for their workers.

Meanwhile, the U.S. House, back early from its summer break, overcame a brief rebellion by some Democratic moderates to pass a budget resolution that starts the process for a giant social-spending measure addressing many new health benefits.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: The Washington Post’s “Long-Term-Care Facilities Are Using the Pandemic as a Shield, Even in Lawsuits Unrelated to Covid-19,” by Christopher Rowland

Joanne Kenen: Politico’s “Sadness and Death: Inside the VA’s State Nursing-Home Disaster,” by Joanne Kenen, Allan James Vestal and Darius Tahir

Tami Luhby: CNN’s “My Son Was Lucky to Get a Pediatric ICU Bed When He Needed One. He Shouldn’t Have Needed Luck,” by Ben Tinker

Sarah Karlin-Smith: The New Yorker’s “Costa Ricans Live Longer Than Us. What’s the Secret?” by Atul Gawande


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