First Edition: March 15, 2021
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KHN:
Covid Cases Plummet 83% Among Nursing Home Staffers Despite Vaccine Hesitancy
Joan Phillips, a certified nursing assistant in a Florida nursing home, loved her job but dreaded the danger of going to work in the pandemic. When vaccines became available in December, she jumped at the chance to get one. Months later, it appears that danger has faded. After the rollout of covid vaccines, the number of new covid cases among nursing home staff members fell 83% — from 28,802 for the week ending Dec. 20 to 4,764 for the week ending Feb. 14, data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shows. (Bailey and Dubnow, 3/15)
KHN:
The Boom In Out-Of-State Telehealth Threatens In-State Providers
When the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation began offering telehealth services in Montana in early February, the nation’s largest nonprofit addiction treatment provider promised quality care for far-flung residents without their even having to leave home. That promise was what Montana and more than 40 other states had in mind when they temporarily relaxed rules restricting telehealth services and allowed out-of-state providers to hold remote patient visits for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic. (Volz, 3/15)
KHN:
A Year Into The Pandemic, Three Huge Losses In One Family
In the year since the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, millions of families have endured the excruciating rise and fall of the U.S. outbreak — waves of sickness that leave untold wounds long after hospitalizations ebb and infections subside. Some have borne the tragedy more than others, with multiple family members lost to covid-19 in a matter of months. (Stone, 3/15)
KHN:
Journalists Explore Covid Relief Bill And Vaccine Issues
Chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed how the $1.9 trillion covid relief bill will help bolster the Affordable Care Act with “PBS NewsHour” on Wednesday. Colorado correspondent Rae Ellen Bichell spoke with KUNC’s “Colorado Edition” on Wednesday about what childhood vaccine rates can tell us about public acceptance of the covid vaccines. (3/13)
The New York Times:
Dropping Mask Mandates, Even As Vaccinations Speed Up, Is ‘Risky Business,’ Dr. Fauci Warns.
With millions of Americans vaccinated and states dropping mask and dining restrictions at the one-year mark of the pandemic, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci warned on Sunday against loosening restrictions prematurely, despite the recent week-over-week decreases in new coronavirus cases. “Even though the decline was steep, we absolutely need to avoid the urge to say ‘Oh, everything is going great,’” said Dr. Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, on the NBC program “Meet the Press.” (3/15)
CNBC:
Fauci Says Europe Covid Surge Is Warning As U.S. Lifts Restrictions
On Fox News, Fauci explained that the recent spike in cases throughout Europe was due in part to a relaxation of safety measures.
“When you see that leveling off at a high level, there is always a risk of a surge back up and in fact, unfortunately, that is exactly what is happening in Europe right now,” Fauci said on “Fox News Sunday.” “They [Europeans] thought they were home free and they weren’t and now they are seeing an increase,” he added. “If you wait just a bit longer to give the vaccine program a chance to increase the protection in the community, then it makes pulling back much less risky.” (Macias, 3/14)
Politico:
Fauci: Pulling Back Covid Measures Could Endanger Biden's July 4th Prediction
[Dr.] Fauci expressed concerns that plateaus in levels of infection are often followed by surges. "When you see [infections] plateauing at a level of anywhere between 50,000 and 65,000 cases a day, that is absolutely no time to declare victory, because we know from previous surges that we've had over the year that when you see that leveling off at a high level, there's always the risk of a surge back up," Fauci said. "And in fact, unfortunately, that is exactly what's happening in Europe right now." (Parthasarathy, 3/14)
Axios:
Fauci: CDC "Analyzing" Data That Could Modify Social Distancing Guidance To 3 Feet
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking at data that suggests "3 feet are okay under certain circumstances," for social distancing guidelines, NIAID Director Anthony Fauci said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday. One of the biggest hurdles for school administrators and a barrier to reopening is making sure students stay the recommended 6 feet apart. Fauci said "it won't be very long" for the CDC to potentially adjust official guidelines on social distancing policies, if the data suggests 3 feet of distance won't negatively affect people's safety. (Arias, 3/14)
The Washington Post:
Anthony Fauci Says Trump Should Urge His Supporters To Get The Coronavirus Vaccine
An NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll released last week showed that nearly half of Republican men and 47 percent of those who supported Trump in the 2020 election said they would not choose to be vaccinated, even if the coronavirus vaccines were made available to them. By contrast, only 10 percent of supporters of President Biden said they would not choose to be vaccinated if offered one, the poll found. [Dr. Anthony] Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, called the poll results “so disturbing” when presented with them Sunday on NBC News’s “Meet the Press.” (Wang, 3/14)
Bloomberg:
Fauci Says Trump Could End Republicans’ Vaccine Hesitancy
Reluctance among Republicans to receiving a vaccine is one of the biggest risks to coronavirus control efforts, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser said, although one GOP governor said attitudes may change. Fauci said he’d like to see former President Donald Trump come out and publicly urge his supporters to get the vaccine. “I wish he would,” Fauci said on “Fox News Sunday.” “He has such an incredible influence over people in the Republican Party. It would really be a game changer if he did.” (Krasny and Condon, 3/14)
Axios:
25% Of House Not Vaccinated As Some Members Refuse To Get Shot
Uncertainty about why only 75% of the House is confirmed as vaccinated against the coronavirus is fueling a debate about when the chamber can return to its normal rules of operation. The other 25% of members have either refused to get the vaccine, have not reported getting it at home or are avoiding it because of medical conditions. Until the Office of Attending Physician is clear about this, it can't make recommendations "regarding the modification or relaxation of existing social distancing guidelines." (Goba, 3/14)
NBC News:
How Biden, Republicans And Public Health Leaders Are Trying To Persuade GOP Skeptics To Get Their Covid Vaccinations
Vaccine holdouts could end up being the last obstacle to defeating the pandemic, and a growing effort is aimed at convincing one substantial group of skeptics: Republicans. While efforts to combat vaccine hesitancy and access have so far been mostly focused on African Americans and Latinos, recent polls suggest the largest group of Americans either hesitant about the Covid-19 vaccine or outright opposed to it are Republicans, and efforts to reach them are only in their infancy. (Smith and Seitz-Wald, 3/14)
Politico:
Biden Eyes Gene Sperling To Serve As Covid Rescue Plan Czar
President Joe Biden is eyeing Gene Sperling for a role to oversee the implementation of the administration’s coronavirus relief plan, according to two sources with knowledge of the plans. The White House could announce the role for Sperling as early as Monday, the sources said. Sperling, who served on the economic teams in both the Obama and Clinton administrations, was under consideration to serve as Biden’s director of the Office of Management and Budget after the president’s first pick, Neera Tanden, failed to secure enough support in the Senate. Instead of that post, he is being strongly considered for a position within the White House where he will be tasked with overseeing the enactment of the recently signed $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill. (Barron-Lopez and White, 3/14)
Stat:
White House Set To Unveil Sweeping Vaccine-Confidence Campaign
The White House this week will unveil a wide-reaching, $1.5 billion public relations campaign aimed at boosting vaccine confidence and uptake across the U.S., Biden administration aides told STAT. This television, radio, and digital advertising blitz, set to kick off within weeks, will focus on Americans outright skeptical of vaccines’ safety or effectiveness as well as those who are potentially more willing to seek a Covid-19 immunization but don’t yet know where, when, or how. Specifically, the campaign will target three groups in which access, apathy, or outright skepticism may pose a barrier to vaccinations: young people, people of color, and conservatives, according to a Biden aide. (Facher, 3/15)
Stat:
Former FDA Commissioners Push For Strong Tobacco Regulation
A bipartisan cadre of FDA commissioners urged the Biden administration to get tough on regulating tobacco and to finalize a Trump-era regulation that would render cigarettes non-addictive. “I hope that this administration will have the courage to fight what will be tough battles,” said Robert Calif, who served under President Obama. “I have never seen more capable or nastier lawyers than what I experienced in trying to deal with the tobacco industry.” (Florko, 3/12)
Politico:
Biden Vaccine Website Pledge Invokes The Ghosts Of Obamacare
Almost a decade ago, Jeff Zients was asked to rescue Obamacare's online sign-up system — a task that proved pivotal to the presidency. Now the head of the White House Covid response team has six weeks to roll out another website to help millions of people sign up for coronavirus vaccines and make good on President Joe Biden's pledge to get life back to something close to normal by midsummer. (Kenen, Cancryn and Tahir, 3/12)
Politico:
Beyond Covid Relief: Biden Invokes LBJ As Democrats Aim To Expand Welfare State
Democratic leaders are banking on some of the aid provisions being so popular that letting them expire would be a political nightmare, painful enough for Americans that even Republicans couldn’t stand in the way. At the top of the list is making permanent the expanded child tax credit, a move supporters believe could generate bipartisan backing and which analysts say would cut child poverty nearly in half. But some lawmakers and outside experts expect Democrats will also fight to keep the expansions of the earned income tax credit and a second program for child and dependent care, while further extensions of food assistance and boosted unemployment benefits are also likely. (Cassella, 3/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
States Are Finding More Unreported Covid-19 Deaths
While Covid-19 deaths head lower, raising hopes that the U.S. is turning a corner as vaccinations continue, states around the country are steadily finding previously unreported deaths that are causing data confusion. The issues largely involve systems that states are using to try to report Covid-19 data in near real time, and not deaths reported more slowly through death certificates. These front-line numbers are the ones that fuel state dashboards and data trackers, like the closely watched one created by Johns Hopkins University, which help policy makers and the public closely monitor pandemic trends. (Kamp, 3/14)
ABC News:
College Students Celebrating Spring Break Despite Continuation Of COVID-19 Pandemic
College students are continuing to flock to beaches to celebrate spring break despite the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although universities around the country either scaled back the traditional holiday week or canceled it altogether, the Sunshine State saw an influx of traveling students over the weekend. (Jacobo, 3/14)
USA Today:
Spring Break And COVID-19: Experts Worry About Crowded Beaches
Pandemic or not, spring break is here. Florida’s beaches and bars are already seeing the first throngs of college students on break, crowding beaches and bars – and worrying public health experts around the country who see the weeks of partying as a potential for another spike in coronavirus cases. The primary concern, experts say, is that partying is occurring at a crucial moment in the fight against the coronavirus: More vaccines are being administered each day, yet more cases of variants – which are highly transmissible – are being reported. Making matters worse, they say, is that students will be enjoying their break as more states relax restrictions they had in place, such as mask mandates. (Hayes, 3/12)
CNN:
This Was Texas' First Weekend Without Covid-19 Limits. Here's How It Went For Business Owners
For about a year, Texas businesses have done whatever they could to stay afloat. As Covid-19 ravaged the state and the country, they pivoted to takeout service, operated their dining rooms at reduced capacities and required masks for their employees and their customers, all according to state rules. Last week they were finally given the chance to return to normal, after the governor issued an executive order lifting the state's mask mandate and allowing businesses to reopen at 100% capacity. But their approaches vary: While some have relaxed their rules a bit, others chose to continue requiring masks and restricted the occupancy of their dining rooms. (Andone, 3/15)
AP:
Texas Health Department Reports Virus Increase Of 4,638
The number of newly confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases in Texas rose by 4,638 on Saturday, down from a one-day increase of 6,078 reported Friday, according to the state health department. The department reported a total of more than 2.7 million total cases since the pandemic began and 45,474 deaths due to COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, 156 more than Friday. (3/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Los Angeles County Coronavirus Figures Continue To Decline On Eve Of Reopening
Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline in Los Angeles County as the hard-hit and heavily populated region prepared to reopen businesses — including indoor restaurants, gyms and movie theaters — for the first time in months. With the caveat that the figures may be artificially low due to lags in weekend reporting, county health officials on Sunday reported 644 new coronavirus cases. There were 28 deaths in the county, compared with 250 deaths a day during the winter peak in January. (Rector, 3/14)
Genomeweb:
FDA Warns Of Potential False Positive Results With Roche Cobas Rapid Coronavirus, Flu Test
The US Food and Drug Administration released a letter on Friday warning clinical laboratory and point-of-care staff, as well as healthcare providers, that false positive results for Roche's test for SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A/B may occur. The false positives for the Cobas SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B Nucleic Acid Test, which is used on Roche's Cobas Liat system, could be related to two different issues raised by Roche, the FDA said. One is that the assay tubes might sporadically leak and cause an obstructed optical path in the Cobas Liat analyzer, resulting in abnormal PCR growth curves. This could cause invalid or incorrect positives, specifically for influenza B tests. FDA added that if a tube does leak, subsequent testing could have an increased likelihood of false positive results for Type B flu. (3/12)
Axios:
Zuckerberg Unveils Facebook Vaccination Information Tool
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Monday that Facebook is building a tool to connect people to information about where and when to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Facebook has been blamed for the spread of anti-vaccination misinformation during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. (Fischer, 3/15)
Reuters:
Facebook To Label All Posts About COVID-19 Vaccines
Facebook Inc, which has been criticized by lawmakers and researchers for allowing vaccine misinformation to spread on its platforms, said on Monday it has started adding labels to posts that discuss the safety of the shots and will soon label all posts about the vaccines. The social media company said in a blog post it is also launching a tool in the United States to give people information about where to get COVID-19 vaccines and adding a COVID-19 information area to its photo-sharing site Instagram. (Culliford, 3/15)
The Washington Post:
Massive Facebook Study On Users’ Doubt In Vaccines Finds A Small Group Appears To Play A Big Role In Pushing The Skepticism
The research effort discovered early evidence of significant overlap between communities that are skeptical of vaccines and those affiliated with QAnon, a sprawling set of baseless claims that has radicalized its followers and been associated with violent crimes, according to the documents. (Dwoskin, 3/14)
CBS News:
Yo-Yo Ma Brought His Cello With Him To Get His COVID-19 Shot — And Then Played A Surprise Concert
World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma gave an impromptu concert in the waiting area of a Massachusetts vaccination site after receiving his 2nd COVID-19 dose. During the customary 15-minute observation period that follows each dose, Ma performed Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria" and the prelude to Bach's "Cello Suite No. 1" on his cello, which he'd brought with him. (Goel, 3/14)
The New York Times:
Clergy Preach Faith In The Covid Vaccine To Doubters
During a recent Sunday service at the Gathering Place, an evangelical church in Orlando, Fla., the Rev. Gabriel Salguero focused his sermon on the Covid-19 vaccine, and the fear and suspicion that his largely Latino congregation clutches so tightly. He turned to the New Testament: the parable of the good Samaritan, about the importance of aiding the stranger. “In getting yourself vaccinated, you are helping your neighbor,” he preached to about 300 masked and socially distanced worshipers. “God wants you to be whole so you can care for your community. So think of vaccines as part of God’s plan.” (Hoffman, 3/14)
The Washington Post:
These People Got Coronavirus Just As The Vaccine Arrived
For those infected in recent weeks, as vaccinations became available and experts began talking of an impending return to normalcy, the bad timing is the pandemic’s latest cruel twist. “It’s kind of like running the race and getting to the last 15 yards and tripping and falling,” said Bill Moore, 68, a guitarist and government contractor who tested positive for the virus in early March. “I’m just irritated,” he said as he recovered at his home in Bowie, Md. “Everyone likes to win.” (Schwartzman, 3/12)
The Washington Post:
Covid Vaccine Is Safe And Effective For Heart Disease Patients
More than 30 million people in the United States have heart disease, which alone kills hundreds of thousands each year. It’s also a significant risk factor for developing serious complications from another major threat right now: covid-19.That’s because the disease caused by the coronavirus often attacks the lungs, forcing the already injured heart to fight that much harder. (Bever, 3/13)
Reuters:
Regular Booster Vaccines Are The Future In Battle With COVID-19 Virus, Expert Says
Regular booster vaccines against the novel coronavirus will be needed because of mutations that make it more transmissible and better able to evade human immunity, the head of Britain’s effort to sequence the virus’s genomes told Reuters. The novel coronavirus, which has killed 2.65 million people globally since it emerged in China in late 2019, mutates around once every two weeks, slower than influenza or HIV, but enough to require tweaks to vaccines. (Gaulconbridge, 3/15)
Today:
How To Get Over Fear Of Needles Before Getting COVID-19 Shot
One of the most common treatments for trypanophobia, which is the medical term for extreme fear of needles or injections, is exposure therapy. That's exactly what it sounds like: being exposed to the phobia — in this case, needles — over and over again. "We may start out with cartoons or pictures and then work up to something a little more live action, maybe someone sticking a syringe into an orange," said Cheryl Carmin, Ph.D., the director of clinical psychology training at The Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. (Murray, 3/12)
The Washington Post:
A Border Community, ICE At Odds Over Release Of Detainees With Covid
In a border area that has suffered from ongoing covid-19 outbreaks, advocates for immigrants and ICE are at odds over the agency’s treatment of infected detainees. Advocates and county officials say they had no idea ICE was dropping detainees with covid off at the bus stop, while ICE says it is the agency’s protocol to notify local authorities ahead of time. While the advocates agree that detainees diagnosed with covid-19 should be released from detention so they can seek better medical care, failing to coordinate those transfers with health officials and nonprofits is a danger to public health, they said. (Gerberg and Sacchetti, 3/14)
CIDRAP:
Half Of COVID Survivors Note Lingering Signs Of Depression
More than half of a sample of US COVID-19 survivors reported symptoms of major depressive disorder months after recovery, a research letter today in JAMA Network Open reports. A team led by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University analyzed internet-based nonprobability survey and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) responses from 82,319 adult coronavirus survivors delivered in eight waves from June 2020 to January 2021. (Van Beusekom, 3/12)
CIDRAP:
Study Notes Moderate Depression, Anxiety In Health Workers During COVID
In a review of 65 studies from around the world, pooled data indicate that one in five healthcare workers (HCWs) have experienced moderate depression, anxiety, and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published this week in PLOS One. The study covered patients in 21 countries, most commonly in East Asia (46 studies, with 43 in China), the Middle East (7), and Europe (5). More than 97,000 HCWs were included, of whom 45% were nurses, 27% were physicians, 11% were other medical workers, and 1% were administration and support staff. (3/12)
Stat:
Eli Lilly Releases Detailed Results On Alzheimer’s Drug
Eli Lilly’s experimental Alzheimer’s medicine donanemab showed some of the best early results seen by pharmaceutical researchers in the field. What divides many researchers is whether that is a reason for excitement or not. (Herper and Feuerstein, 3/13)
Modern Healthcare:
1.1M Patients Had Data Compromised In February-Reported Breaches
More than 1.1 million patients had data exposed in healthcare data breaches reported to the federal government last month. Nearly 6.9 million patients have had data exposed in breaches reported so far in 2021. Healthcare providers, insurers and their business associates reported 74 breaches in January and February combined, marking the second-highest number of breaches reported in the first two months of the year since HHS' Office for Civil Rights began maintaining its breach database in 2010. It follows 2020, when organizations reported 96 breaches in the same period. (Kim Cohen, 3/12)
Modern Healthcare:
Why Commercial Insurers See New Opportunity In ACA Exchanges
After a rocky start marked by losses, legal challenges and a general feeling of uncertainty, health insurers are increasingly expanding their footprint on Affordable Care Act exchanges. During its investors day on March 8, Cigna announced that it plans to double its geographic coverage on the individual market to 20 states by 2025. UnitedHealthcare and Aetna are also reentering the space. While a few regional insurers entered the ACA for the first time in 2021, the majority of payers getting back into the exchange are larger and for-profit insurers, according to Ceci Connolly, president of the Alliance for Community Health Plans, adding competition to the long-time regional holdouts. (Tepper, 3/12)
Modern Healthcare:
Providers, Payers Face Intense Negotiations After COVID-19
Providers and payers that expanded their cooperative efforts since COVID-19 struck are likely to continue on that path, and so are those who pulled back from each other in the past year. That in turn is shaping how payers and providers approach upcoming contract negotiations, experts say. “The payers who really stepped up and were willing to help and form a partnership this past year will be included in ongoing discussions around how we best manage both longitudinal care and acute needs across the country and potentially around the world,” said Wesley Wolfe, senior director of payer contracting at Cleveland Clinic. “Those payers who were very transactional may have less influence,” he said. (Wild, 3/13)
Stat:
Hospitals’ Push To Boost Medicare Pay Through December Faces Uncertain Fate In The Senate
Hospitals successfully lobbied to get a House vote next week to prolong a temporary boost in Medicare payments through December, though the measure’s fate in the Senate is unclear. Congress voted last year to increase health care providers’ Medicare payments by 2% to help cushion their bottom lines during the Covid-19 pandemic, but that relief is set to expire at the end of March. Hospitals have been aggressively lobbying for an extension. (Cohrs, 3/12)
The Washington Post:
Fewer Smokers Seem To Be Trying To Quit During Pandemic, Report Finds
Several health-related organizations held a news conference Friday to raise alarm about the significant effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on Americans’ efforts to quit smoking. Smoking is one of the underlying medical conditions that could increase people’s risk of developing severe cases of covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, some states, such as New Jersey, are prioritizing smokers among those eligible to receive coronavirus vaccines. (Chiu, 3/12)
Axios:
More States Are Battling An Increase In Drug Overdoses During The Pandemic
States and cities are facing a rising number of drug overdoses that health officials say have increased during the coronavirus pandemic. Roughly 81,000 people died from a drug overdose between June 2019 and May 2020, the highest number ever recorded in a 12-month period, according to provisional data in the CDC's December report. (Rummier, 3/14)
Bloomberg:
Covid's End Could Be Deadly Beginning For New Measles Outbreaks
Here’s a worrying statistic: We’re just a few months into 2021, and in the U.K., public-health authorities have yet to detect any cases of flu. The reason, experts believe, is that the mask wearing, social distancing and lockdowns designed to slow the spread of coronavirus have essentially wiped out the flu virus. Flu numbers are down all over the world. This is good news, of course. So why is it also worrying? If these measures have also kept the flu at bay, they may have kept other infectious agents under control as well, including some that are far more dangerous. And when we emerge from the Covid crisis and start to relax public-health measures — in particular, allowing international air travel to resume — these more dangerous agents could surprise us with a violent resurgence. (Buchanan, 3/13)
NPR:
More U.S. Travelers Are Flying Again Despite COVID-19 Risks
As COVID-19 vaccines roll out across the U.S., more travelers are taking to the skies. Friday marked the busiest day for the nation's airports since the middle of March 2020, when COVID-19 caused air travel to plummet. About 1.36 million passengers passed through security checkpoints Friday, according to figures from the Transportation Security Administration. That is the highest volume since March 15, 2020, when checkpoints reported more than 1.5 million passengers. But travel remains well below pre-COVID levels. In March of 2019, checkpoint traffic averaged more than 2 million passengers a day. (Hamilton, 3/14)
The Washington Post:
Duke University Under A Mandatory Schoolwide Quarantine Amid Frat Party-Linked Coronavirus Surge
In a typical year, mid-March is spring break season at Duke University. This, however, is 2021. Not only was the vernal holiday essentially canceled, but a recent outbreak of the coronavirus has forced students into what might be considered the antipode of a week spent partying on the beach: seven days in an administration-mandated quarantine, as officials scramble to curb fraternity party-fueled virus spread on campus. In a letter to students on Saturday, three leaders of the university in Durham, N.C., outlined the new “stay-in-place” order and described a dire situation: In just one week, more than 180 students tested positive for the coronavirus and 200 others were in quarantine because they had close contact with an infected person. (Thebault, 3/14)
ABC News:
New York City Marks Anniversary Of 1st COVID-19 Death With Memorial Services
On March 14, 2020, New York City recorded its first death from the coronavirus, and in one year, that toll skyrocketed to over 30,000 lives lost -- more than 10 times the number of people killed on Sept. 11, 2001. On Sunday, New Yorkers of all walks of life marked this grim anniversary with several events to honor and memorialize their fallen neighbors on some of the city's iconic locations. (Pereira, 3/14)
AP:
COVID-19 Leads To Burst Of Info, But Some Data Blocked In NJ
While New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has pledged to be transparent throughout the coronavirus pandemic, his administration has denied or slowly responded to requests for records related to spending, communications and decision-making. Sunshine Week, an annual focus on press freedoms and the fight for government transparency, comes a year after the state marked its first positive case and, soon after that, the first death from the virus. (Catalini, 3/15)
Axios:
Many In Jackson, Mississippi Without Water A Month After Weather Outage
A winter storm has revealed issues in Jackson, Miss.' aging water supply system, leaving thousands of residents without water service since mid-February, NBC News reports. While water supply has been a recurring challenge for Jackson residents, "this year’s outage is one of the worst in recent history," NBC writes. It would take hundreds of millions of dollars to restructure the system to make it resilient enough to withstand harsh climate, mayor Chokwe Lumumba told the outlet. (Arias, 3/14)
The Washington Post:
AstraZeneca Asserts No Link Between Its Vaccine And Blood Clots As More Countries Suspend Use
Drugmaker AstraZeneca said late Sunday that there is no scientific evidence of any link between its coronavirus vaccine and recent deaths in Europe from blood clots, even as more countries have temporarily halted the use of the shot. In a statement, AstraZeneca said that of the 17 million people so far inoculated with its vaccine, there have only been 15 cases of deep vein thrombosis and 22 pulmonary embolisms. “This is is much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar across other licensed covid-19 vaccines,” the company said. (Cunningham and Schemm, 3/15)
Axios:
AstraZeneca On COVID Vaccine: "No Evidence" Of Increased Blood Clot Risk
AstraZeneca announced Sunday a comprehensive review has found "no evidence" that its COVID-19 vaccine causes an increased risk of blood clots. Authorities in Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Iceland have paused administering the vaccine because of clotting concerns, per Reuters. (Falconer, 3/14)
CNBC:
Covid: Ireland, Netherlands Suspend AstraZeneca Vaccine Amid Blood Clot Fears
Ireland and the Netherlands have joined the growing list of countries that have suspended the use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford over blood clot concerns. The Dutch government said on Sunday that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine would not be used until at least March 29, while Ireland said earlier in the day that it had temporarily suspended the shot as a precautionary step. (Meredith, 3/15)
Reuters:
Unthinkable? EU Considers Getting A Vaccine Boost From Russia's Sputnik
Publicly, the European Union has dismissed Russia’s global coronavirus vaccine supply campaign as a propaganda stunt by an undesirable regime. Behind the scenes, the bloc is turning to Moscow’s Sputnik V shot as it tries to get its stuttering efforts to vaccinate its 450 million people back on track, EU diplomatic and official sources told Reuters. An EU official who negotiates with vaccine makers on behalf of the bloc told Reuters that EU governments were considering launching talks with Sputnik V developers and it would take requests from four EU states to start the process. (Guarascio, Chalmers and Parodi, 3/15)
AP:
Mexico's President Knocks US Over Vaccines
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took a dig at the U.S. government Sunday, saying the United States has not helped Mexico with coronavirus vaccines. López Obrador thanked India and Russia, which have each sent small amounts of vaccines, and China, whose firms have promised millions of doses. López Obrador said “I hope that soon I will be able to say thanks to the U.S. government, because I am sure they are going to help too, it is just that that haven’t done so so far.” (3/15)
The New York Times:
Ebola Survivor Infected Years Ago May Have Started New Outbreak
An Ebola outbreak now occurring in Guinea was almost certainly started by someone who survived West Africa’s historic 2014-16 epidemic, harbored the virus for at least five years and then transmitted it via semen to a sex partner, researchers reported on Friday. The finding, based on genetic sequencing of virus samples taken from patients in the current outbreak, shocked researchers. Until now, the longest the virus had been known to persist in a survivor was 500 days. “It’s a stunner,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease expert at Vanderbilt University who was not involved in the research, said in an interview. “This is an extraordinary phenomenon.” (Grady, 3/12)
Stat:
Stunning Analysis Traces New Ebola Outbreak To Survivor Of W. Africa Crisis
A survivor of the massive 2014-2016 West African Ebola outbreak almost certainly triggered an outbreak currently underway in Guinea, according to a new genetic analysis, news that has landed like a bombshell in the community of researchers who study the dangerous virus. The analysis suggests that a survivor of the historic Ebola outbreak continued harboring the virus at least five years after being infected, eventually transmitting it to someone. Previously, the longest an Ebola survivor was believed to have shed the virus was about 500 days. (Branswell, 3/12)
Bloomberg:
Global Baby Drought Of Covid-19 Crisis Risks Population Crunch
Major economies from Italy to Singapore, already afflicted by dire demographics, are seeing that phenomenon accelerate after measures limiting social contacts and the worst growth crisis in generations combined to prevent or dissuade people from having babies. While workplace closures and forced isolation might have encouraged couples to spend time together productively, the number of newborns has been dwarfed by plunging fertility emerging in national data for 2020. They range from France’s lowest birth rate since World War II, to Chinese authorities receiving 15% fewer registrations for babies. (Bosley and Jamrisko, 3/14)