Latest Morning Briefing Stories

On Trump’s Last Full Day, Nation Records 400,000 Covid Deaths

KFF Health News Original

On the day before the inauguration of a new president, the country marks a once unthinkable milestone of 400,000 deaths. The winter surge of the pandemic claimed 100,000 Americans in just five weeks.

Are Public Health Ads Worth the Price? Not if They’re All About Fear

KFF Health News Original

Public service announcements about drug use or other public health problems often fall short, public health marketing experts say, because they incite people’s worst fears rather than giving people solutions.

Black Americans Are Getting Vaccinated at Lower Rates Than White Americans

KFF Health News Original

Black Americans are receiving covid vaccines at a much lower rate than their white peers due to a combination of mistrust and access issues, leaving them behind in the mission to vaccinate the nation’s population.

Geography Is Destiny: Dentists’ Access to Covid Shots Depends on Where They Live

KFF Health News Original

A handful of states are making dentists a lower priority than other health professionals for inoculations, even though they have their hands in people’s mouths and are exposed to aerosols that spray germs in their faces.

Delicate Covid Vaccines Slow Rollout — Leading to Shots Given Out of Turn or, Worse, Wasted

KFF Health News Original

“Thaw. Rest 15 minutes. Do not shake. Do not refreeze.”Do not shake. Do not refreeze.” Moderna’s vaccine comes with complicated instructions. And both available vaccines are good for only six hours once the vial is open. So at day’s end, health workers are left to either throw out precious doses or get shots into any arm that’s available.

Hospitals’ Rocky Rollout of Covid Vaccine Sparks Questions of Fairness

KFF Health News Original

The lack of a federal strategy on how distribution should work at the local level means that states, hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies are making decisions on their own about who gets vaccinated and when.

California Budget Reflects ‘Pandemic-Induced Reality,’ Governor Says

KFF Health News Original

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2021-22 budget blueprint would direct billions in state covid assistance to schools, businesses and the state’s vaccination effort. But he didn’t propose more funding for the state’s 61 local health agencies, which have taken on increased responsibility for testing, contact tracing and enforcement of health orders.

Is Your Covid Vaccine Venue Prepared to Handle Rare, Life-Threatening Reactions?

KFF Health News Original

More than two dozen people who have received the new covid vaccines in U.S. hospitals and health centers suffered anaphylaxis, a potentially fatal allergic reaction. While such severe reactions are rare, experts warn that the drugstores and drive-thru clinics considered integral to the vaccine rollout must be prepared.