First Edition: Feb. 10, 2022
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
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Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial writers delve into these public health issues.
Opinion writers weigh in on these covid and vaccine topics.
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Read about the biggest pharmaceutical developments and pricing stories from the past week in KHN's Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
In a sign of how quickly the pandemic is moving, the number of total cases was 300 million just one month ago, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, there are more deaths in the U.S. caused by covid than ever before in the pandemic, despite the milder infections of omicron.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the legislation "is designed to target and attack the kids who need the support the most." In other news, $600,000 funding will help Wisconsin test tap water for "forever chemicals," recreational marijuana laws move forward in Pennsylvania, and more.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who is also a parent, made the remarks to the Senate Finance Committee. Separately, Bloomberg reports that Wall Street firms are joining an initiative to destigmatize mental health challenges, as the industry faces issues of employee burnout.
Brick-and-mortar facilities will open in New York and 19 other cities, as the shopping giant expands its push into health care after first launching services for its employees. Structural racism in health care, problems in Alaska's state psychiatric institute, and more are also in the news.
The proposed constitutional amendment now goes to the governor and could be on the ballot in the fall. In Wisconsin, however, state legislators are weighing a bill that would ban abortions if a "heartbeat" is detected.
Turquoise Health, a price-comparison site for medical services, now has 4,000 health care providers — including hospitals and other providers such as imaging centers — in its database.
CBS News reports on the results presented in a new peer-reviewed article, saying the tests use microelectronics to analyze DNA from swabs. In other news, the Oklahoma attorney general said there was no legal basis to discipline doctors prescribing unproven drugs like ivermectin to treat covid.
The Health Resources and Services Administration is awarding the money to "trusted voices" in 38 states and Washington, D.C., to help spur hard-to-reach groups to accept the covid vaccines. The Biden administration is also losing a key player: Beth Cameron, who helped reestablish the Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense in the National Security Council.
The New York Times report says that though the U.S. firm is behind on delivering promised vaccine doses to poorer countries, it paused production at the only plant making usable shots and was relying on stockpiles, as well as making different vaccines for another disease.
The Air Force is still processing 2,556 pending requests and 732 appeals. Over 3,200 exemption requests and over 440 appeals have already been rejected. Meanwhile, Hawaii is debating when to drop its strict covid travel restrictions.
More states are rolling back mask mandates in schools, including ones led by Democratic governors. Some teachers and parents raise concerns that decisions are not being based on science.
While a growing number of states are dropping mask mandates, CDC covid data on transmission rates indicate that more than 99% of U.S. counties should keep covering up. Director Rochelle Walensky said in several interviews that "now is not the moment" to drop the precautions.
Dr. Anthony Fauci tells the Financial Times that he can see an end over the coming months to covid-related precautions like masks and physical distancing, under the current trends in cases. But he cautioned that local restrictions might be needed to control future outbreaks. Hospitals are starting to see a decrease in infections.
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial writers tackle these public health issues.
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