Latest KFF Health News Stories
Cities Try To Tackle Homelessness Conditions Made Worse By Pandemic
New York City says it will try to offer support for the people now barred from sleeping in the subway system. Los Angeles resumes its count of people without housing. In Sacramento, vulnerable people say there is not enough access to bathrooms and water to keep them safe from covid.
New Agency, Same Sticking Points: Bipartisan Support For ARPA-H Eroding
Politico reports that the adversarial political climate is spilling over into debate about President Joe Biden’s proposed Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, despite its mission to boost medical research. Other issues reported from the Hill include drugs, burn pits, sick leave, and more.
NY Won’t Enforce Health Worker Booster Mandate That Takes Effect Today
With a large number of health workers who are not yet boosted, New York says it will work to increase uptake over the next three months before reconsidering the requirement.
Hospitalizations Down As Omicron’s Grip Starts To Exhaust
With fewer U.S. cases, one doctor tells AP: “I think what’s influencing the decline, of course, is that omicron is starting to run out of people to infect.”
FDA Plans For Possible Fourth Covid Shot This Fall
The Wall Street Journal reports that the FDA is looking ahead to potentially authorizing a second booster dose of the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA covid vaccines, if studies show a benefit to maintaining protection.
First Edition: February 22, 2022
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial writers delve into these public health issues:
Different Takes: Safer Covid Pills Are On The Horizon; Is It Time To Relax Covid Restrictions?
Opinion writers weigh in on these covid topics.
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
Each week, KHN finds stories worth your time reading over the long weekend. This week’s selections include stories on covid, antidepressants, racism, transgender athletes, mifepristone, and more.
Africa Suffered More In Pandemic Than Was Thought
New studies suggest both infection counts and death figures have been undermeasured across Africa, leading to the impression the continent was doing better against covid than it really was. To support vaccinations in Africa, the U.S. is spending $250 million to help poorer nations.
Toxic Forever Chemicals Found In Neighbors Of Delaware Air Base
Samples from residents near to the Air National Guard base have significantly higher than average levels of toxic PFAS chemicals. School water supplies in Philadelphia, meanwhile, tested positive for lead contamination, with nearly 2 in 3 water outlets in 65 schools showing high levels.
Military Academy Sexual Assaults Reported Sharply Up In 2021
In other news, to beat a storm, Southwest Airlines recently flew a pair of donor lungs to St. Louis; Sure and Brut deodorant sprays are being recalled due to benzene contamination; worries about the CoolSculpting beauty procedure; and a fatal police shooting of a man in mental health crisis.
Controversial PBM Practices Will Go Unprobed By FTC
The Federal Trade Commission had been planning a study to see if pharmacy benefit managers’ work poorly affects independent and specialty pharmacies, but ultimately voted to not investigate. BestCo, Agios’ anemia drug, the Purdue Pharma opioid settlement and more are also in pharmaceutical news.
Ukraine Tension Prompts Warnings Of Cyberattacks Against US Hospitals
The alerts came from federal officials, covering other sectors as well as health care — but the strain of the pandemic may mean hospitals are particularly vulnerable. Separately, Stat reports that health tech companies are joining a call for nationwide patient data privacy standards.
UK Studies Show Vaccines Protect Against Long Covid
A separate pair of studies from Israel also showed that one or more Pfizer/BioNTech covid shots offer durable protection against recurring infection. Media outlets report on the ongoing vaccine rollout across the states, and both Pfizer and Merck’s covid pills are in the news again.
One Of Life’s Little Annoyances Solved: iPhones Will Recognize You In A Mask
The updated Face ID feature, part of iOS 15.4, is expected to be released in early March, Bloomberg and other news outlets reported. Meanwhile, states, cities and schools across the U.S. continue to lift mask mandates, and big companies are reconsidering their vaccine mandates.
‘Stealth’ Omicron Could Be Nasty — But Will Anyone Listen?
New research suggests that the omicron subvariant may cause more severe illness than its parent and more along the lines of the delta variant. Even so, many Americans are moving on, virus or not, and are shutting their ears to anyone who says different.
Endemic Vs. Pandemic: California Is First State To Shift Its Approach
Going forward, California’s covid policy measures will move more toward prevention and outbreak response, instead of requirements around masks and shutdowns, Gov. Gavin Newsom says: “We are moving past the crisis phase into a phase where we will work to live with this virus.”
White House Has Earmarked All Covid Funds, Will Need More For Future Response
HHS documents obtained by Bloomberg reveal that all approved funding has already been allocated to combat the covid pandemic, leaving nothing to protect against future developments like new variants or vaccine stockpiling. But congressional lawmakers may not have the appetite to appropriate much more, Politico reports.
6.7M Children Could Lose Medicaid Or CHIP Coverage In July
A congressional provision prevents states from disenrolling children during a public health emergency. That emergency declaration could be revoked by July, although the Department of Health and Human Services has promised to give states 60 days notice, CNN reports.
