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Biden Administration Used Billions in Hospital COVID Funds to Pay Drugmakers
The Biden administration quietly took nearly $7 billion from a fund meant to help hospitals and clinics affected by the pandemic and used it to buy COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, according to a document obtained by STAT.
Now, the hospital money, known as the Provider Relief Fund, has run dry and has no new money left to allocate, according to the agency that administers it. Providers have only been able to submit requests for expenses incurred through March 2021 — before both the Delta and Omicron surges battered the healthcare system.
With the new $7 billion shift, which has not been previously reported, the diversion to drugmakers totals nearly $17 billion, or roughly 10% of the overall money Congress allotted for the fund for hospitals and physician practices.
Congress set aside that money to help healthcare providers pay for pandemic-related expenses including staffing, personal protective equipment, care for uninsured patients, and vaccine distribution.
Sweden Decides Against Recommending COVID Vaccines for Kids Aged 5 to 12
Sweden has decided against recommending COVID vaccines for kids aged 5-11, the Health Agency said on Thursday, arguing that the benefits did not outweigh the risks.
“With the knowledge we have today, with a low risk for serious disease for kids, we don’t see any clear benefit with vaccinating them,” Health Agency official Britta Bjorkholm told a news conference.
She added that the decision could be revisited if the research changed or if a new variant changed the pandemic. Kids in high-risk groups can already get the vaccine.
Wanted: Volunteers to Catch COVID in the Name of Science
The world’s first medical trial authorized to deliberately expose participants to the coronavirus is seeking more volunteers as it steps up efforts to help develop better vaccines.
The Oxford University trial was launched last April, three months after Britain became the first country to approve what are known as challenge trials for humans involving COVID-19.
Its first phase, still ongoing, has focused on finding out how much of the virus is needed to trigger an infection while the second will aim to determine the immune response needed to ward one-off, the university said in a statement on Tuesday.
Moderna Begins Study for Omicron-Specific Booster Shot
Moderna Inc. announced Wednesday that it had begun its first study of an Omicron-specific booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine.
The biotechnology company said the Phase 2 study of its Omicron-specific booster candidate — an extension of an earlier study — would include two trials, including one with participants who received its two-dose primary series of the vaccine at least six months ago and another with participants who received that series and a booster dose at least three months ago.
The study will evaluate the safety, immunogenicity and reactogenicity of mRNA-1273.529 as a single booster dose in adults aged 18 years and older, which both trials will receive. The vaccine-maker said it expects to enroll approximately 300 participants into each cohort, which will be conducted at as many as 24 sites.
Will Virus Be ‘Over’? Most Americans Think Not
Early in the pandemic, Ryan Wilson was careful to take precautions — wearing a mask, not really socializing, doing more of his shopping online. The 38-year-old father and seafood butcher from Casselberry, Florida, says he relaxed a bit after getting vaccinated last year.
And, like many, Wilson has come to believe COVID-19 is probably never fully going away. “It’ll become endemic and we’ll be stuck with it forever,” he says. “It’s frustrating, but what can you do about it?”
Many Americans agree that they’re going to “be stuck with it forever” — or, at the least, for a long time. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that few — just 15% — say they’ll consider the pandemic over only when COVID-19 is largely eliminated.
Why Spotify Picked Joe Rogan Over Neil Young in Its Misinformation Fight
For the last two weeks, Spotify, the Swedish music and podcast streaming giant, has faced mounting public pressure to explain its position on misinformation policies and whether they apply to the platform’s hugely popular podcast personality Joe Rogan, who has repeatedly drawn headlines and public criticism for questioning COVID-19 medical orthodoxy and for featuring guests who have been banned from other platforms for violating health information guidelines.
The controversy hit a new peak Wednesday, with news that Neil Young was pulling his music from the streaming service over his concerns about COVID-19 misinformation on Rogan’s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
“We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users,” Spotify said in a statement after the news was first reported in the Wall Street Journal. “With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators. We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID since the start of the pandemic. We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.”
Does Red Wine Prevent COVID? Scientists Question Study Suggesting It Can
Experts have voiced concern over a study that concluded red wine is associated with a protective effect against COVID.
A Chinese study, published in journal Frontiers, investigated data, including self-reported alcohol consumption, on over 470,000 people held in the U.K. Biobank database. 16,559 of those people were confirmed to have tested positive for COVID.
It found that COVID risk was 10 to 17% lower in red wine consumers compared to non-drinkers. On the other hand, it also found that consumers of beer and cider had between seven and 28% higher COVID risk compared with non-drinkers.
As New Variants Emerge, U.S. Government Turns Attention to a Universal Coronavirus Vaccine
Vaccine makers like Pfizer and Moderna are now exploring tweaked booster shots to match the now-dominant Omicron variant, but the U.S. government is aggressively pursuing a different approach: a pan-coronavirus vaccine that would work equally well against any COVID-19 variant.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads up the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has issued $43 million in research grants across several academic institutions to support development of a pan-coronavirus vaccine, sometimes called a “universal” coronavirus vaccine.
Meet the Novastans: How Novavax Vaccine’s Cult-Like Following Could Alter the Course of COVID
In the ‘hot vax summer’ of 2021, the ’Pfizer Gang’ reigned supreme. Now, in the depths of an Omicron winter, another vaccine fan club is emerging: the Novastans.
Novavax first published clinical trial results in January 2021 showing that its vaccine was up to 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 infections, putting it on par with the efficaciousness of Pfizer and Moderna.
But in the following months, Novavax struggled with manufacturing and regulatory delays that hampered the firm’s ability to bring the drug to market despite its proven efficacy.
EU Regulator Recommends Pfizer’s COVID Pill Be Authorized
The European Medicines Agency has recommended that Pfizer’s coronavirus antiviral drug be authorized for use in the 27-nation European Union, the first time the agency has recommended a pill for treating COVID-19.
In a statement on Thursday, the EU drug regulator said giving the green light to Pfizer’s Paxlovoid could help people infected with COVID-19 avoid more serious disease and being hospitalized. EMA’s expert committee recommended the pill be given to adults who don’t require oxygen and who are at higher risk of severe disease.
The drug was cleared by regulators in the U.S. and Britain in late December, although authorities noted that supplies would be extremely limited.
Why Hong Kong May Become a Living Laboratory in Search for COVID Answers
Hong Kong, a city of 7.5 million people crammed into 427 square miles in Southern China, has a unique combination of characteristics at this point in the pandemic that could make it a living laboratory, if the city is unable to withstand the onslaught of Omicron.
Hong Kong has a zero COVID policy. Like New Zealand and the Chinese mainland, the city has largely succeeded in preventing COVID transmission from taking hold there by requiring incomers to quarantine for 21 days in designated hotels, aggressively testing for the virus, and tracking down contacts when cases emerge.
Less than 50% of adults 70 to 79 have received two doses of vaccine. In adults 80 and older, only 20% have received two shots and only about 4% of people in this highest-risk group have received a booster shot, according to the government’s vaccination dashboard.
If Omicron were to breach the city’s formidable COVID barricades, Hong Kong’s elders would be highly vulnerable to the infection. Things that could appear muddled elsewhere could be clear there.
