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After 9/11, as our defenses against international and bioterrorism hardened, our defenses against infectious diseases shrank. By the time a deadly virus arrived on our shores last year, nearly two-thirds of Americans were living in counties that spend more than twice as much on policing as they spend on public health.
After a bruising confirmation process, Xavier Becerra was sworn in as secretary of Health and Human Services this week. The Senate also confirmed the nominations of former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to return to the post he held in the Obama administration, and former Pennsylvania health secretary Rachel Levine as assistant secretary for health. Levine is the first openly transgender person to receive Senate confirmation. Meanwhile, questions continue to swirl around the AstraZeneca covid vaccine, which some public health experts worry will create more hesitancy toward other vaccines.
Air-cleaning companies with limited oversight are targeting a growing market of schools desperate for covid-19 protection. Donald Trump鈥檚 former covid adviser lands with one that built its business, in part, on ozone-emitting technology.
The once-promising therapy that infuses blood plasma from recovered covid-19 patients into newly infected people, theoretically to boost immunity, has suffered setbacks. But some proponents say it鈥檚 too early to abandon the treatment.
Although vaccine supply is ramping up, the supply gap puts pressure on vaccinating teams to extract every drop they can. Some are asking the FDA to waive guidance against extracting vaccine from two vials with the same needle. It鈥檚 worth a shot.
After nearly a decade鈥檚 worth of federal inspections, reprimands and corrective action plans, has Pfizer fixed the facility that will be filling vials of its covid vaccine?
The pictures are on the nightly news, on billboards, bus stop posters and all over social media. How can people who fear needles manage to get their covid shots?
Covid has pressed the Food and Drug Administration into its fastest vaccine reviews ever 鈥 which are still painfully slow, critics say.
As experts race to get an approved test for covid variants, officials are severely restricted from sharing information about the cases. That makes it harder to protect others.
Even while the Senate is busy with Donald Trump鈥檚 impeachment trial, the House has gotten down to work on a covid relief bill using the budget reconciliation process. Meanwhile, the watchword for covid this week among the public is confusion 鈥 over masks, vaccines and just about everything else science-related. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, the panelists recommend their favorite 鈥渉ealth policy valentines鈥 along with their favorite health policy stories they think you should read, too.
With U.S. cases skyrocketing, demand for Gilead鈥檚 dark horse antiviral is only growing. Biden appointees propose potential legal tactics to tamp down the price for patients.
The federal government expects vaccinations to be available to everyone who wants them by summer 鈥 though glitches are inevitable. If enough of us get vaccinated, we could wave goodbye to the pandemic in 2021.
After missteps in Washington, each state and county is left to juggle where to send vaccines first and how to get them to each nursing home, hospital local health department and even school.
Even as the federal Food and Drug Administration engaged in intense deliberations ahead of Friday's authorization of the nation鈥檚 first COVID vaccine, and days before the initial doses were to be released, hospitals have been grappling with how to distribute the first scarce shots. Their plans vary broadly.
With two vaccines against coronavirus disease poised for release within weeks, experts say they expect attitudes to shift dramatically from hesitancy to 鈥淏eanie Baby鈥-level urgency.
Dentists and optometrists across the country are trying to join in the fight to get everyone vaccinated against COVID-19, the flu and other diseases.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
It typically takes months to install new leadership, but with COVID deaths set to surge through the winter, many Democrats say Biden doesn鈥檛 have that sort of time.
California and at least five other states have said they may independently vet any vaccines. Experts warn that could needlessly confuse the public.
Regulators and scientists have been leery of introducing the tests, preferring to rely on tried-and-true methods, but evidence is mounting that the spit and swab tests may be more convenient and just as accurate.
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