Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Fact-Checking Biden: Where The President's Speech Got It Wrong
President Biden, in a prime-time address on Thursday night, exaggerated elements of the coronavirus pandemic along with his, and his predecessor鈥檚, response to it. Here鈥檚 a fact-check. (Qiu, 3/11)
President Biden鈥檚 address to the nation was heavy on emotion and hope, but light on facts. Here are two moments where the president stretched the truth. (Kessler, 3/11)
The address was the culmination of Biden鈥檚 weeks of effort to get the rescue plan through Congress. Here, we鈥檒l fact-check a few claims from Biden鈥檚 Thursday night speech, as well as some of his talking points from recent weeks about the impact on COVID-19 on jobs, food insecurity and schools.聽(Sherman, 3/11)
President Biden beckoned leaders of two of the world鈥檚 largest pharmaceutical companies to the White House on Wednesday and credited his administration for the 鈥渘early unprecedented collaboration鈥 between the longtime rivals, Merck and Johnson & Johnson, now jointly producing a coronavirus vaccine. But the breakthrough touted by Biden was first conceived by Trump officials last year, culminating in a Jan. 4 conference call arranged between Merck and Johnson & Johnson鈥檚 senior leaders, said four Trump administration officials with knowledge of the efforts. (Diamond and Stanley-Becker, 3/11)
Also 鈥
Kirsten Hess wasn鈥檛 watching President Joe Biden鈥檚 prime-time address Thursday marking one year of the coronavirus pandemic. But she got about 20 text messages telling her to turn on the TV. 鈥淟ast summer, I was in Philadelphia and I met a small-business owner, a woman,鈥 Biden said. 鈥淚 asked her, I said, 鈥榃hat do you need most?鈥 Never forget what she said to me. She said, looking me right in the eye and she said, 鈥業 just want the truth. The truth. Just tell me the truth.鈥欌 (Terruso, 3/11)
President Joe Biden's first primetime address to the nation marking the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic has been met with mixed reaction. As many Philadelphians wait their turn to get vaccinated, those who are eligible waited in long lines at the FEMA mass vaccination site at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Thursday night. (Brooks, 3/12)
There is no more pressing issue for the U.S. 鈥 or the world 鈥 right now than the COVID-19 pandemic. And politically, how President Biden is perceived to be handling it over the next year or so could define his presidency and his chances for reelection, if he runs. So far, he's off to a good start, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey, out Thursday. Sixty-two percent of Americans approve of how Biden is handling the pandemic. (Montanaro, 3/11)