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The Paycheck Protection Program’s loose rules allowed virtually any small business or company in America to qualify for a government-backed relief loan. ... Now the federal loan program has drawn criticism for giving loans to organizations that have challenged the safety of vaccines. ... The groups that received the loans are Children’s Health Defense, an organization founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; the Informed Consent Action Network; the National Vaccine Information Center; Mercola.com Health Resources and Mercola Consulting Services, both affiliated with the prominent vaccine skeptic Joseph Mercola; and the Tenpenny Integrative Medical Center, a medical practice run by Sherri Tenpenny, a physician and author whose books include “Saying No to Vaccines: A Resource Guide for All Ages.” (Cowley, 1/18)

Five prominent anti-vaccine organizations that have been known to spread misleading information about the coronavirus received more than $850,000 in loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, raising questions about why the government is giving money to groups actively opposing its agenda and seeking to undermine public health during a critical period. ... Several of the Facebook pages of these organizations have been penalized by the social network, including being prohibited from buying advertising, for pushing misinformation about the coronavirus. (Dwoskin and Gregg, 1/18)

The Department of Health and Human Services acted with lightning speed to send health care providers more than $100 billion in Covid-19 relief grants — but it’s lagging on holding them accountable for how those funds were spent. (Cohrs, 1/19)

The Department of Health and Human Services is paying a private firm to review the accuracy of some Covid-19 tests — the latest example of the department’s political leadership attempting to bypass scientists at the Food and Drug Administration. The idea behind the last-minute contract, announced days before President Donald Trump leaves office, is that HHS would use the review to issue emergency use authorizations for the tests without input from FDA. (Lim, 1/17)

With covid-19 ravaging the nation at record rates, many Department of Veterans Affairs employees say they lack the support needed to fight the disease. A survey conducted by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents VA workers, indicates most staffers were not informed when colleagues contracted the coronavirus, about half were not told patients had covid-19 before health-care providers served them, and some workers did not have adequate personal protective equipment to shield against the infection. (Davidson, 1/18)

Civil rights officials at the Department of Health and Human Services issued a series of actions to protect people with disabilities from health care discrimination by medical providers during the pandemic. The actions, by the Office of Civil Rights, or OCR, at the Department of Health and Human Services, specifically address discrimination related to the denial of treatment for people with disabilities who have COVID-19 or the symptoms of COVID-19. (Shapiro, 1/15)