Latest KFF Health News Stories
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Delta Blues
Covid is back with a vengeance, with some people clamoring for booster shots while others harden their resistance to getting vaccinated at all. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration is pushing hard on drugmaker Pfizer’s request to upgrade the emergency authorization for its vaccine and give it final approval. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Unraveling the Mysterious Mutations That Make Delta the Most Transmissible Covid Virus Yet
Scientists are trying to piece together why the delta variant so readily infects unvaccinated Americans, spewing 1,000 times more virus particles.
Delta ha mantenido algunas de las mutaciones más exitosas encontradas en variantes anteriores, pero también contiene nuevos cambios genéticos que le permiten propagarse dos veces más rápido.
Analysis: Necessary or Not, Covid Booster Shots Are Probably on the Horizon
In today’s pharmaceutical universe, a simple “safe and effective” determination by the Food and Drug Administration to approve a drug can be manipulated to sell products of questionable value. And drugmakers can profit handsomely.
Novavax’s Effort to Vaccinate the World, From Zero to Not Quite Warp Speed
Novavax is a vaccine company that, despite $2 billion in new federal and international funding, still hasn’t come through with a licensed covid vaccine. It hopes it can still help to fight the global covid scourge, but will it deliver?
New Research Finds J&J Vaccine Has Muscle Against Covid’s Delta Variant
The data is reassuring to people who got this shot.
Analysis: Why We’ll Likely Never Know Whether a Covid Lab Leak Happened in China
If international scientific sleuths are hoping to see a lab log or find a whistleblower, that sort of information won’t be revealed. In China today, it is dangerous to say what you know if it challenges the official government narrative.
The WHO Didn’t Reverse Its Position on Kids and Covid Vaccines
The World Health Organization this week updated its guidance on children and covid vaccinations — but in a different way than alleged in a viral social media post.
Hemmed In at Home, Nonprofit Hospitals Look for Profits Abroad
About three dozen elite health systems are involved in for-profit hospital projects overseas. Though the systems are exempt from U.S. taxes for providing “community benefit,” there’s limited evidence that such business ventures benefit American patients.
Analysis: Mounting Pressure on China About Covid ‘Lab Leak’ Could Backfire
Where the coronavirus originated remains a mystery and the Chinese are bucking demands to let investigators see more.
KHN Journalist Combs for Clues on Covid’s Origins
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Return of the Public Option
Lawmakers are working on fleshing out the concept of a “public option,” a government-run or heavily regulated insurance plan that would compete with private insurance. But the details are complicated, both substantively and politically. Meanwhile, bioethicists are debating whether the U.S. should be vaccinating low-risk adolescents against covid-19 while high-risk adults in other countries are still waiting. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Roe v. Wade on the Ropes
The newly conservative Supreme Court will hear a case that could overturn the nationwide right to abortion and cause political upheaval. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s abrupt announcement that vaccinated people can take off their masks in most places has caused upheaval of its own. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
La idea de que el virus que causa covid escapó de un laboratorio chino, una teoría que en su momento se consideró conspirativa, está cobrando fuerza. Al mismo tiempo, peligra la reputación de renombrados científicos, al igual que su seguridad personal.
Leading virologists, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, are demanding a deeper probe into China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology as they try to identify the source of the deadly coronavirus.
All agree that covid vaccines are urgently needed to stop the pandemic, but simply waiving patents fails to provide technological know-how and address supply chain challenges.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: 100 Days of Health Policy
It’s 100 days into Joe Biden’s presidency and a surprisingly large number of health policies have been announced. But health is notably absent from the administration’s $1.8 trillion spending plan for American families, making it unclear how much more will get done this year. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention loosens its mask-wearing recommendations for those who have been vaccinated, but the new rules are confusing. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Julie Appleby, who reported the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode.
Expertos en salud pública temen que los fondos desaparezcan cuando termine la pandemia
El Congreso ha enviado miles de millones a los departamentos de salud para luchar contra covid. Pero históricamente, esta financiación se acaba cuando termina la emergencia sanitaria.
Public Health Experts Worry About Boom-Bust Cycle of Support
Congress has poured tens of billions of dollars into public health since last year. While health officials who have juggled bare-bones budgets for years are grateful for the money, they worry it will soon dry up, just as it has after previous crises such as 9/11, SARS and Ebola. Meanwhile, they continue to cope with an exodus from the field amid political pressure and exhaustion that meant 1 in 6 Americans lost their local health department leader.
Brecha de género contra covid: se vacunan más mujeres que hombres
Porque representan gran parte de la fuerza laboral en atención médica y educación, porque viven más o porque son más proactivas, las mujeres tienen tasas más altas de vacunación contra covid.
