Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'No Matter What, ... We Will Hold The Games,' Tokyo's Olympic Chief Insists
The president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee had a simple message Tuesday for fellow members of Japan鈥檚 ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The games will happen. 鈥淣o matter what situation would be with the coronavirus, we will hold the games,鈥 Yoshiro Mori, who is also a former Japanese prime minister, told lawmakers. 鈥淲e should pass on the discussion of whether we will hold the games or not, but instead discuss how we should hold it.鈥 (Tanaka, 2/2)
The Pentagon on Tuesday said the Trump administration set in motion the now-reversed decision to vaccinate 40 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, after the plan initiated a sharp backlash as coronavirus vaccine doses remain scarce across the country. John Kirby, the Pentagon鈥檚 top spokesperson, said the vaccine plan was part of the Defense Department鈥檚 original rollout, rather than the result of a specific decision to vaccinate the detainees ahead of other people. (Seligman, 2/2)
Anthem is acquiring InnovaCare Health's Medicare Advantage and Medicaid plans in Puerto Rico. A spokesperson estimates the Indianapolis-based insurer's total number of members in the combined plans will reach 10.5 million once the deal is complete. Anthem, which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in 14 states, will add more than 267,000 Medicare Advantage members and 305,000 Medicaid members to its rolls with the acquisition, making it the fourth-largest Medicare Advantage insurer behind Aetna. (Tepper, 2/2)
Myanmar鈥檚 doctors have vowed to shut hospitals across the country as public protests intensified amid calls to defy the new military regime that took control of the government and seized civilian leaders in a coup on Monday. A 鈥淐ivil Disobedience Movement鈥 started by pro-democracy activists including medical professionals announced on social media Wednesday that more than 70 hospitals and medical departments would stop work in protest of what it called an 鈥渋llegitimate鈥 government. (Lin Kyaw and Heijmans, 2/3)
Capt. Tom Moore, a British military veteran who shot to fame last year after raising millions of pounds for charity by walking lengths of his garden during lockdown, has died at age 100 after contracting the coronavirus. Capt. Moore鈥檚聽family said on Twitter that he had been fighting pneumonia and had tested positive for the coronavirus in January. During the last year, the World War II veteran became a mascot for a British nation plagued by Covid-19, raising millions for health workers, recording a No. 1 single, publishing a book and being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his efforts. (Colchester, 2/2)
In updates from China 鈥
A World Health Organization scientific team in China to investigate the origins of the coronavirus visited the Wuhan laboratory that鈥檚 been at the center of months of speculation over how the disease jumped to humans. The international group of scientists arrived at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, home to a high-tech laboratory that studies some of the world鈥檚 most infectious diseases, on Wednesday morning. The team is 鈥渓ooking forward to a very productive day and to asking all the questions that we know need to be asked,鈥 Peter Daszak, a New York-based zoologist who is part of both the WHO and The Lancet teams trying to trace the virus鈥檚 origin, told reporters, Agence France-Presse reported. (2/3)
China on Wednesday announced a plan to provide 10 million coronavirus vaccine doses to developing nations through the global COVAX initiative. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China is responding to a request from the World Health Organization as developing countries seek to fill shortages predicted to run through March. (2/3)
Chinese police have arrested more than 80 suspected members of a criminal group that was manufacturing and selling fake COVID-19 vaccines, including to other countries. Police in Beijing and in Jiangsu and Shandong provinces broke up the group led by a suspect surnamed Kong that was producing the fake vaccines, which consisted of a simple saline solution, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The vaccines were sold in China and to other countries, although it was unclear which ones. The group had been active since last September, according to state media. (Wu, 2/3)