�������ýҕ�l

The U.S. military on Wednesday began delivering shots at coronavirus vaccination centers in Texas and New York and announced that service members will start staffing four centers in Florida and one in Philadelphia next week. The expanded vaccination effort came as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with military commanders overseeing the COVID-19 response effort. He also visited the vaccination center in Los Angeles, the first staffed by the new active-duty military teams that are being developed. (Baldor, 2/25)

A Florida sheriff's office is investigating whether a Manatee County official broke the law when she organized a Covid-19 vaccine drive limited to two of the county's most affluent ZIP codes. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office said it has launched the investigation after a citizen watchdog filed a complaint regarding County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, who last week admitted she chose the ZIP codes herself and also selected some people for the vaccination list, so she and others could access the Covid-19 vaccine. (Flores, Weisfeldt and Andrew, 2/24)

One of Pennsylvania’s largest health networks gave special access for coronavirus vaccines to employees' relatives, prompting criticism from health officials who said that other groups should have been prioritized. (Castronuovo, 2/24)

Illinois is expanding COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to people under age 65 with health conditions Thursday, but it likely will be difficult for Chicago-area residents to find shots in coming days. Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Feb. 10 that he planned to expand vaccination phase 1b — which includes seniors and front-line essential workers — to include younger people with certain health issues, starting Feb. 25. (Schencker, 2/24)

A week and a half after abruptly cutting off new supplies of COVID-19 vaccine to hospitals, Massachusetts officials have reached an agreement with hospitals and health systems allowing them to rejoin the massive state effort to vaccinate all residents. Under the plan, vaccine doses will be allocated to certain organizations willing to inoculate any eligible Massachusetts resident. Additionally, two health systems with large numbers of patients spread over a wide geographic area — Mass General Brigham and Beth Israel Lahey Health — can offer the vaccine exclusively to their patients. (Dayal McCluskey and Freyer, 2/24)

The region’s largest COVID vaccine site — created to cater to vulnerable communities — is drive-thru-only, a process that frustrated some observers as health officials work to balance better access to shots, huge demand and the need to inoculate as many people as fast as possible. Opened Wednesday, the vaccination site at NRG Park is accessible only by automobile, Harris County officials said. “We want to operate at full speed — 6,000 vaccines a day — and the only way to reach that number safely in the very limited amount of time we’ve had to set up the site is via drive-thru,” said Rafael Lemaitre, spokesman for Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. “Unfortunately, a walk-up option at that particular site would significantly cut into the number of people we’re able to provide vaccines for overall.” (Begley, 2/24)

Charlotte’s largest independent doctor’s office, Tryon Medical Partners, finally will receive its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines this week — between 100 and 200 doses. But that’s not enough, according to Tryon Medical CEO Dr. Dale Owen. Primary care physicians have been left out of the state’s vaccine rollout from the beginning, he said. (Smoot, 2/25)

Americans of all ages, education levels, genders, races and political parties say they're more likely than not to get the coronavirus vaccine — except Republicans. ... By the numbers: 41% of Republicans say they don't plan to get a vaccine if it's available to them. Only 33% say they do plan to get vaccinated. (Owens, 2/25)

Memories of historical atrocities run long and suspicions high when it comes to medical care. Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to say they do not trust their health care provider, rooted in both contemporary experiences — like that of Dr. Susan Moore, a Black physician who died of COVID-19 after posting on social media that her pain and calls for help were not taken seriously — and other painfully recent history. From 1932 to 1972, federal researchers examined the effects of syphilis on Black men when left untreated. None of the 623 participants in the United States Public Health Service Syphilis Study were told what was happening, and, in one of the worst examples of unethical medical research in modern U.S. history, researchers secured no one’s consent. They were told they had “bad blood,” but researchers withheld actual treatment from them, even after penicillin was discovered as an effective, affordable and readily available therapy for the disease. (Santhanam, 2/24)

Atul Nakhasi couldn’t stop thinking about Dodger Stadium. The storied ballpark-turned-coronavirus-vaccination-site just 10 minutes from his apartment in downtown Los Angeles had been briefly shut down by anti-vaccine protesters, and Nakhasi, a doctor, was horrified. To him, the nearly hour-long delay amounted to an act of “public harm” and served as a chilling example of how far people who oppose vaccines are willing to go to make their point. He had to do something to respond, but what? (Chiu, 2/24)