The pandemic drove healthcare providers and vendors to take an
even closer look at facility entrances: who enters a facility,
how they come in, and how they leave.
Some hospitals serving large volumes of low-income patients are
at risk of getting kicked out of a popular federal discount drug
program as the fallout from the pandemic’s unprecedented impact
on healthcare providers continues.
GBS — a disorder where the immune system attacks the nerves — is
a very rare complication known to occur after many different
types of infections and vaccinations, including the annual flu
shot and pneumococcal vaccine.
The executive order targets four areas “where lack of competition
in healthcare increases prices and reduces access to quality
care” — hospital and health insurance consolidation, high drug
prices, and hearing aids.
Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that the FDA giving Covid vaccines
full approval is “only a technical issue” and that the hundreds
of millions of people across the world who have been vaccinated
serve as evidence that “the effectiveness and the safety of the
vaccines are very high.”
COVID-19 vaccine maker Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) will meet
with federal health officials as soon as Monday to discuss the
need for a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine as it prepares
to seek authorization, the company said on Sunday.
Blood centers in some U.S. cities are down to a one-day supply,
forcing hospitals to postpone surgeries. The blood shortage is
yet another fallout from the pandemic.
“Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster
shot at this time,” read a joint statement sent Thursday from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug
Administration.
The most populous county in the US is seeing “exponential growth”
of Covid-19 cases as Delta takes over as the dominant coronavirus
strain, health officials in Los Angeles County
said. The jump mirrors upticks in other parts of the
country over the past week, as experts warn of Delta’s high
transmissibility.
In April, telehealth utilization fell 12.5%, a trend mirrored by
a gradual shift back to in-person visits at hospitals and other
healthcare settings, according to FAIR Health’s Monthly
Telehealth Regional Tracker.
Death rates are declining for more than half of the most common
forms of cancer in the U.S., according to a sweeping annual
analysis released Thursday.
As the United States faces a widespread shortage of nurses, UW
Health has started an ambulatory nurse residency program aimed to
help new nurses begin their first professional nursing job and
avoid burn out.
Most of us are familiar with the good news: In recent weeks,
rates of COVID-19 infection and death have plummeted in
California, falling to levels not seen since the early days of
the pandemic.
The Supreme Court granted certiorari in American Hospital
Association v. Becerra, a case that asks the Court to consider
CMS payment cuts for prescription drugs acquired by hospitals
through the program.
Delta variant response teams are prepared to visit vulnerable
communities across the U.S. to provide vaccination or testing
supplies and therapeutic resources
In the past two weeks, many medical experts started to question
whether the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is administered in a
single dose, would be as effective as the two-dose
Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine in protecting against the new,
highly transmissible delta variant that is poised to become the
dominant strain in the U.S.
Los Angeles County public health authorities are urging
unvaccinated and vaccinated people alike to don masks again
inside restaurants, stores and other public indoor spaces because
of the growing threat posed by the more contagious delta variant
of the novel coronavirus.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by U.S. biotech firm Moderna is
effective against the highly contagious delta variant, the
company said in a release Tuesday, offering some hope even as the
World Health Organization warned that the variant has spread to
at least 96 countries.
As the fight to end the coronavirus pandemic seems to be
approaching the finish line, the need for blood donations has
increased — in some cases to desperate levels.
Officials in Los Angeles County on Monday urged residents to don
masks once more when they are inside public spaces, citing the
rapid spread of the highly transmissible delta variant of
COVID-19 around the nation.
Thrown off-stride to reach its COVID-19 vaccination goal, the
Biden administration is sending A-list officials across the
country, devising ads for niche markets and enlisting community
organizers to persuade unvaccinated people to get a shot.
Physician compensation and hospital volumes, revenues, and
margins all saw strong gains in May, signaling that the
healthcare sector may be returning to pre-pandemic levels, two
reports Monday from consultants Kaufman Hall suggest. Even
with the strong showing in May, however, volumes and margins
remain below early 2019 levels and expenses continue to grow,
according to the June issue of the National Hospital Flash
Report.
CMS on Monday proposed expanding its home health value-based
purchasing program nationwide. The CMS Innovation
Center first tested the model in January 2016.
The “delta variant” has come to dominate headlines, having been
discovered in India where it provoked an extreme surge in Covid
cases before spreading around the world, with cases now rapidly
rising in the U.S.
While the pandemic isn’t over, California entered a new phase of
its COVID-19 response when it reopened June 15, removing many
masking restrictions. Now, fully vaccinated people can go without
masks in most indoor settings, like movie theatres and shopping
centers.
Biden’s efforts — which have been largely overshadowed by other
economic and health initiatives — represent an abrupt reversal of
the Trump administration’s moves to scale back the safety-net
program.
A bipartisan Senate bill that would eliminate a federal
requirement for mental health services to be delivered in person
was introduced last week and was immediately welcomed by
telehealth advocates.
The dangerous Delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading so
quickly in the United States that it’s likely the mutant strain
will become predominant in the nation within weeks, according to
federal health officials and a new analysis.
More than 70% of Americans age 30 or older have received at least
one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the White House said, even as
President Joe Biden is set to fall short of reaching his goal of
giving a shot to the same percentage of all American adults by
Independence Day.
The number of Americans relying on Medicaid swelled to an
apparent all-time high during the coronavirus pandemic with
nearly 74 million Americans covered through the safety-net health
insurance, new federal figures show.
LifePoint Health has entered a “definitive agreement” to buy
specialty and long-term care provider Kindred Healthcare, the two
for-profit health systems announced jointly on Monday.
The American Red Cross is experiencing a severe blood shortage as
the number of trauma cases, organ transplants and elective
surgeries rise – and deplete the nation’s blood inventory
California on Friday started offering residents a digital record
of their coronavirus vaccinations that they can use to access
businesses or events that require proof they got the shots.
President Joe Biden took a cautious victory lap Friday in his
quest to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control, announcing
that 300 million vaccine shots have been administered in the 150
days since he took office.
The advisory council, to be co-chaired by First Partner Jennifer
Siebel Newsom and former San Francisco 49ers player and Pro
Football Hall of Fame inductee Ronnie Lott, aims to close equity
gaps in fitness and health education across the state,
particularly among children.
The U.S. Supreme Court batted down a lawsuit led by several
Republican states and the former Trump administration that
challenged the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act
(ACA), upholding the law for a third time.
The spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus will pose a
serious risk this summer to people who are not fully vaccinated,
according to Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of
Public Health.
Cleveland Clinic, Intermountain Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente,
and Providence are among 12 systems in the country to sign a
commitment to expand supplier diversity.
Promising results from a federal demonstration has spurred a
bipartisan group of senators to push for new pay models that
support integrating primary care and behavioral health. It comes
at a time when demand for mental health servcies have spiked due
to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Almost one-fifth of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients later
developed conditions associated with long-haulers, according to a
new white paper from FAIR Health.
The Fetal Care Center of Southern California, based at CHOC
Children’s Hospital in Orange, is set to open its doors on
Wednesday, June 16, offering expectant moms whose babies will be
born with birth defects the kind of comprehensive care in one
place, and during a single visit, that is hard to find in the
region.
The CDC is encouraging hospitals and urgent care centers to step
up outreach to vulnerable patient populations by offering
COVID-19 vaccinations to patients at discharge from emergency
departments (EDs).
Vaccine maker Novavax said Monday its shot was highly effective
against COVID-19 and also protected against variants in a large,
late-stage study in the U.S. and Mexico.
The California Department of Public Health announced June 8 that
it has discontinued central line insertion practices reporting by
hospitals, effective immediately.
Kaiser Permanente has joined the Biden administration’s National
Month of Action push to vaccinate 70% of U.S. adults against
COVID-19 with at least one shot by July 4.
A new report by the Urban Institute has found that the cost of
health insurance plans sold on Obamacare marketplaces has shrunk
each year since premiums rose dramatically in 2017 and 2018.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to spend the state’s
extraordinary budget surplus on correcting the most widespread
financial impacts of the pandemic, pledging to give $600 payments
to most taxpaying adults while committing to pay off all of their
outstanding rent and utility bills.
Hospitals and other provider groups expressed relief at the Biden
administration’s decision Friday to grant them more time to spend
COVID-19 relief grants.
The state agency responsible for creating safety rules for the
workplace will meet on Thursday to consider adopting new
guidelines around employee masking and social distancing.
Leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized nations are set to
commit at their summit to sharing at least 1 billion coronavirus
shots with struggling countries around the world — half the doses
coming from the U.S. and 100 million from the U.K.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra told lawmakers Wednesday that the
agency will issue Provider Relief Fund guidance soon on how the
money can be applied for and spent.
A 40% decline in emergency department visits for emergent,
nonpreventable conditions indicates that many patients with
serious health problems avoided emergency rooms during the first
phase of the pandemic, researchers find.
California officially reopens next week on June 15 after over a
year of restrictions and closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So you can ditch your masks right? Not so fast.
U.S. health officials warned that a more harmful Covid-19
variant known as Delta has surged in the U.K. (a country
with high vaccination levels) in a grim warning to
America as demand for inoculations in some states fades (only
42% of the U.S. is fully vaccinated).
There is an emerging consensus that many services that once
required an office visit can be provided easily and safely — and
often more effectively — through a video chat, a phone call or
even an email.
A COVID-19 vaccination site is scheduled to open Tuesday at Union
Station in an effort to equitably distribute vaccines and
inoculate hard-to-reach communities with low vaccination rates.
For months, President Joe Biden has laid out goal after goal for
taming the coronavirus pandemic and then exceeded his own
benchmarks. Now, though, the U.S. is on pace to fall short of his
aim to have 70% of Americans at least partially vaccinated by
July 4.
A top World Health Organization official estimated Monday that
COVID-19 vaccination coverage of at least 80% is needed to
significantly lower the risk that “imported” coronavirus cases
like those linked to new variants could spawn a cluster or a
wider outbreak.
According to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are both 91%
effective at reducing risk of infection for fully vaccinated
people.
Faced with rates of adolescent suicide and self-harm that have
been among the fastest-rising in the country, schools in Orange
County have teamed up with a local hospital to boost mental
health services on campuses.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has conditionally approved
the sale of Glendora Oaks Behavioral Health Hospital to CHLB and
said the facility would continue to operate as an acute
psychiatric hospital for at least 10 years.
About 70% of hospitalized adolescents had one or more underlying
medical conditions, with the most common being obesity, chronic
lung disease including asthma and neurological disorders. But Dr.
Henry Bernstein, pediatrician at Cohen Children’s Medical Center
in New Hyde Park, New York, said it’s important to note that
nearly 30% of hospitalized adolescents were “perfectly healthy.”
More people than ever are getting health insurance through the
Affordable Care Act, providing new proof of the law’s value even
as its survival depends on a Supreme Court ruling that could come
as soon as Monday.
Kaiser Permanente and Providence Southern California are
partnering to bring a new hospital to the High
Desert — with an anticipated 2026 opening — in a
venture that will also mean the closure of the nearly 65-year-old
Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley.
Los Angeles County could reach herd immunity from the coronavirus
among adults and the oldest teenagers by mid- to late July,
another milestone that underscores the region’s rapid recovery
from the pandemic.
Scientists have found clues that the world’s leading COVID-19
vaccines offer lasting protection that could diminish the need
for frequent booster shots, but they caution that more research
is needed and that virus mutations are still a wild card.
Doctors are reporting improved survival in men with advanced
prostate cancer from an experimental drug that delivers radiation
directly to tumor cells. Few such drugs are approved
now, but the approach may become a new way to treat patients with
other hard-to-reach or inoperable cancers.
A budget revision released in May by Gov. Gavin Newsom could put
more than $4 billion toward home visiting programs, school
counselors, childhood trauma screenings and better Medi-Cal
coverage for psychiatric care.
One month ahead of the target date set by the Biden
administration, California has now at least partially vaccinated
70% of its adult residents against COVID-19.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is predicting
that Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths will fall over
the next four weeks. The CDC ensemble forecasts conclude that
there will be a total of 596,000 to 606,000 Covid-19 deaths by
June 19.
Moderna on Tuesday asked the Food and Drug Administration for
full U.S. approval of its Covid-19 vaccine — the second drugmaker
in the U.S. to seek a biologics license that will allow it to
market the shots directly to consumers.
Even prior to the pandemic, data showed that patients preferred
the convenience of virtual care. A survey by patient experience
research group SPH Analytics showed 70% of patients preferred
virtual visits over an in-person appointment to save time in
early March 2020.
The Desert Healthcare District Board of Directors on Tuesday
unanimously approved the purchase of a nearly $340,000 mobile
medical clinic, which will be used to address health needs in
underserved areas of the Coachella Valley.
A curious thing happened during the Covid-19 pandemic: With
masks, social distancing, and Purell galore, we kept most other
germs at bay. Flu vanished.
Clear Labs’ whole genome sequencing can identify the unique
genetic code of a pathogen within 24 hours, allowing hospitals or
public health agencies to track unusual variants in diseases like
COVID-19 as well as food safety threats like salmonella.
More than half of insurers won’t raise their rates because of the
pandemic, according to a new report from eHealth on
Wednesday. But a third of them intend to change their
plan benefits, with nearly 9 in 10 of those insurers likely to
adjust their telehealth and mental health benefits
HHS and the Department of Defense announced this week that they
will spend an additional $27.7 million to increase production of
low dead-space syringes and needles, which are in short supply
due to the pandemic.
Production of another potential vaccine against COVID-19 will
begin within weeks, its developers Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline
said Thursday as they launched a large trial enrolling 35,000
adult volunteers in the United States, Asia, Africa and Latin
America.
The use of automation technologies at hospitals and health
systems has skyrocketed during the past year, according to a
survey of chief financial officers and revenue cycle executives.
To date, a solid majority of Californians 12 and older — 62.5% —
have had at least one shot, according to data from the California
Department of Public Health. That’s better than the nation as a
whole, where 61.6% have been jabbed, according to the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 60,000 deaths and
nearly 3.7 million infections in California, a devastating event
that vividly underscores the deep-seated health inequities faced
by the Latinx and Black communities.
The American Hospital Association on Friday called on the U.S.
government to play a bigger role in responding to ransomware
attacks against the healthcare industry.The AHA’s advisory comes
on the heels of an alert from the Federal Bureau of Investigation
last week warning about “Conti,” a new ransomware variant.
Moderna said Tuesday its COVID-19 vaccine strongly protects kids
as young as 12, a step that could put the shot on track to become
the second option for that age group in the U.S.
The city of Los Angeles will phase out its large-scale COVID-19
vaccination sites over the next two months, transitioning to
fully mobile vaccine clinics by Aug. 1, Mayor Eric Garcetti
announced.
Hospitals and health systems reinvented themselves in 2020.
Changes in clinical operations that once took months of meetings
were done in days or even hours.
New coronavirus cases across the United States have tumbled to
rates not seen in more than 11 months, sparking optimism that
vaccination campaigns are stemming both severe COVID-19 cases and
the spread of the virus.
HCA Healthcare announced Thursday afternoon that it will be
investing $10 million in Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs).
The health codes are modeled after those used by the Los
Angeles County Department of Public Health, the agency from which
West Covina decided in February to break away, amid anger over
pandemic-propelled restrictions on businesses.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching a
Behavioral Health Coordinating Council to address the mental
health and substance use disorders that have increased during the
pandemic, Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, MD, said
Tuesday.
Shortages in the Strategic National Stockpile even before the
pandemic and the failed efforts of multiple agencies to
coordinate access to personal protective equipment endangered the
lives of healthcare workers and weakened the efficacy of American
hospitals, lawmakers and experts testifying before a Senate
committee Wednesday said.
HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
will give states and territories $3 billion in block grants to
support behavioral health, the agency said Tuesday.
Late last year, Janet Yetenekian was one of the thousands of
people in Southern California whose case of covid-19 was serious
enough to send her to the hospital. But Yetenekian’s recovery was
not typical: She received hospital-level care in her own home in
Glendale.
President Joe Biden said Monday that the U.S. will share an
additional 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with the world
in the coming six weeks as domestic demand for shots drops and
global disparities in distribution have grown more evident.
Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente are betting on a services
company to make it easier for patients to recover from more acute
medical conditions at home, instead of in traditional hospitals.
Safety-nets, which represent about 5% of all hospitals, provided
17% of uncompensated care in 2019 and operated with an average
margin of 2.9%, compared with 8.8% for other hospitals.
Growing real-world evidence suggests that available COVID-19
vaccines are highly protective against known SARS-CoV-2 strains,
including those designated as variants of concern by the CDC,
according to NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, MD.
Advances in medicine and communications are happening so fast
that soon a daughter will receive an alert when her mother’s
activities show hints of future Alzheimer’s disease.
Nursing over the next decade will demand a larger, more
diversified workforce prepared to respond to future public health
emergencies and address systemic inequities that have fueled
health disparities, says a report released yesterday from the
National Academy of Medicine.
For months, Victoria McAllister searched online to make a
vaccination appointment. Unlike other people who can hop into a
car, though, she has ruptured discs that could slice her spinal
cord if she hits a pothole or her wheelchair bumps floor molding.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on Wednesday said the agency is
considering extending the deadline that providers have to spend
relief funds by but did not provide a timeline of when more aid
might be delivered.
Scripps Health CEO Chris Van Gorder thanked all employees and
physicians of the San Diego-based health system May 10 in an
internal memo addressing the May 1 cyberattack that forced the
hospital to shut down its IT systems.
CDC issued new guidance on Thursday allowing vaccinated people to
drop their masks indoors, with some exceptions, and outdoors
entirely, even in crowds.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has left an estimated tens of
thousands of Americans with long-term debilitating symptoms, has
prompted a renewed push to provide full palliative care services
to seriously ill patients in their homes.
Administration officials said payments could begin to go out in
the coming days to eligible governments, allowing state, local,
territorial and tribal officials to offset the economic damage
from the pandemic.
Most COVID-19 vaccines worldwide have been authorized for adults.
Pfizer’s vaccine is being used in multiple countries for teens as
young as 16, and Canada recently became the first to expand use
to 12 and up.
New incentives could spark immediate interest in getting
vaccinated against COVID-19, but some experts think another
approach could spark a more long-term access solution
Los Angeles residents will no longer need an appointment for
COVID-19 vaccinations at city-run inoculation sites, Mayor Eric
Garcetti announced Sunday.
Although there has been a sharp drop in the demand for the
coronavirus vaccine, Los Angeles County’s public health chief
said Thursday there are no immediate plans to close mass
vaccination sites.
Almost a million people signed up for 2021 health insurance
coverage on the federal Affordable Care Act exchange during the
first 10 weeks of President Joe Biden’s special enrollment
period, according to data released Thursday from the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services.
National Nurses Week, which kicks off today with National Nurses
Day, recognizes the service, selflessness, and commitment that
nurses provide. Given the demanding season healthcare workers
have endured, this year’s commemoration is particularly of note.
The Biden administration is throwing its support behind efforts
to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines
in an effort to speed the end of the pandemic.
The COVID-19 vaccines being administered in the U.S.
were authorized for use because they dramatically
reduced the risk of getting the disease when tested in
clinical trials.
The number of children contracting COVID-19 in the U.S. is much
lower than the record highs set at the start of the new year, but
children now account for more than a fifth of new coronavirus
cases, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The mass inoculation of millions of American children against
polio in 1955, like the vaccinations of millions of American
adults against COVID-19 in 2021, was a triumph of science.
The announcement is set to come a month after the company found
that its shot, which is already authorized for those age 16 and
older, also provided protection for the younger group.
The global healthcare system will never be the same. The COVID-19
pandemic exposed the industry’s persistent shortfalls as well as
new challenges. But it also highlighted healthcare workers’ grit
and resilience.
In one of the most emotional moments of his first major address
to Congress, President Biden on Wednesday called on lawmakers to
help him “end cancer as we know it.”
Disneyland reopened on Friday and cruise lines welcomed the news
that they could be sailing again in the U.S. by midsummer, as the
number of Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 reached
another milestone: 100 million.
A report released in April 2021 details how the COVID-19 pandemic
damaged the financial health of California’s more than 400
hospitals in 2020, and forecasts continued fiscal impacts through
2021 and possibly beyond.
Pfizer’s experimental oral drug to treat Covid-19 at the first
sign of illness could be available by the end of the year, CEO
Albert Bourla told CNBC on Tuesday.
Hundreds of community health centers across the country can begin
applying for a share of $1 billion in new funding for major
construction and renovation projects, the Biden administration
announced Tuesday.
Los Angeles County’s daily rate of new COVID-19 cases fell low
enough — barely — on Tuesday, April 27, to qualify for a move to
the least restrictive yellow tier of the state’s
economic-reopening blueprint, but the county must meet the
threshold for another week before it can actually advance.
One night in March 2020, Joy Wu felt like her heart was going to
explode. She tried to get up and fell down. She didn’t recognize
friends’ names in her list of phone contacts. Remembering how to
dial 9-1-1 took “quite a bit of time,” she recalled recently.
As of last week, public health officials say more than 4.5
million people in Los Angeles County have received at least one
vaccine dose, while nearly 2.6 million have received a second
dose.
The U.S. has also been under mounting pressure in recent weeks to
share more of its vaccine supply with the world, as countries
like India experience devastating surges of the virus and others
struggle to access doses needed to protect their most vulnerable
populations.
President Joe Biden is expected to announce Tuesday that the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its
guidance for wearing masks outdoors, three people familiar with
the expected announcement said.
Nurse volunteers from the Registered Nurse Response Network
(RNRN) who have been vaccinating thousands of residents of the
historically underserved South Los Angeles community have
extended the COVID-19 clinic through the end of May and are
calling for more volunteer RNs
As Congress cobbles together a multitrillion-dollar
infrastructure package, providers say policies addressing the
looming physician shortage should be included.
he Food and Drug Administration ended its recommended pause on
the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine on Friday and will add a
warning to its label to note the potential risk of rare blood
clots.
Just a few months ago, California was the epicenter of the
coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. Hospitals in Los Angeles were
drowning in patients, and ambulances were idling outside with
people struggling to breathe, waiting for beds to open.
A limited number of walk-up appointments for COVID-19 vaccines
are available at mass vaccination sites in Los Angeles County
through Monday, officials announced Thursday.
Spread of the coronavirus continues to decrease in Los Angeles
County, and health officials keep urging folks to get vaccinated
to maintain that progress.
More than 87.5 million people have been fully vaccinated as
public health efforts to curb COVID-19 continue across the
nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) Thursday.
Improving patient experiences for Black moms in Los Angeles
County can drive lower Black infant mortality rates in the
county. To help address this health equity issue, Health Net,
through the Centene Foundation for Quality Healthcare, has
awarded a $300,000 grant to Cherished Futures for Black Moms and
Babies (Cherished Futures). Cherished Futures is a joint
initiative of Communities Lifting Communities (CLC), the Public
Health Alliance of Southern California (Alliance) and the
Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC).
Medi-Cal is a crucial pillar of the state’s health care system
and its importance is widely recognized by a strong majority of
Californians. Two-thirds of the children, adults, workers, people
with disabilities and seniors enrolled in the program are people
of color.
California’s coronavirus case rate is now the lowest in the
continental U.S., an achievement that reflects months of hard-won
progress against the pandemic in the aftermath of the state’s
devastating fall and winter surge.
Harvard University is spearheading a new project to create a
first-of-its-kind clinical framework focused on protecting the
ability of safety-net clinics to provide care for patients during
and after a climate-related disaster.
The United States is set to meet President Joe Biden’s latest
vaccine goal of administering 200 million coronavirus shots in
his first 100 days in office as the White House steps up efforts
to inoculate the rest of the public.
Vaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention meet Friday to make recommendations for use of the
Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine after it was put on hold to
investigate a potential link to serious blood clots.
Medical experts are struggling to define or explain the
lingering, debilitating symptoms some covid patients experience.
Part of the problem is the wide range of symptoms, but doctors
say getting a better understanding will mean tracking patients
and their outcomes and establishing clinical trials.
Los Angeles County is expecting an uptick in its supply of
COVID-19 vaccines this week, providing a welcome boost to the
region’s inoculation efforts. The county’s latest
allocation, pegged at approximately 362,000 doses, is up nearly
39,000 from last week, according to the Department of Public
Health.
The White House plan includes creating six centers of excellence
partnerships with universities to develop technologies for
gene-based surveillance of pathogens and building a data system
to better analyze information on emerging disease threats.
As members of Congress decide how to expand access to telehealth
after the pandemic, one of the biggest questions has centered
around how much Medicare providers should be paid for virtual
care.
Los Angeles County public health authorities on Saturday reported
527 new coronavirus cases and 29 related deaths, keeping in mind
that the everyday test positivity rate of 0.9% is the least
expensive since the pandemic started more than a year ago.
The COVID-19 vaccination rollout is well underway in the United
States. Millions of people have already been vaccinated. Though
experts are hopeful that we’ll reach herd immunity eventually,
there are still questions about the need for booster shots and
how long our current immunizations will last.
Riverside County could reach herd immunity against COVID-19
before June 15, the date California is aiming to fully
reopen its economy, public health officials said. “We do
believe we have the capacity and the vaccine supply to be able to
do that,” Public Health Officer Dr. Geoffrey Leung said at a
Board of Supervisors meeting this week.
Moderna hopes to have a Covid booster shot available for
Americans by the fall, according to CEO Stephane Bancel. Last
month, the NIH began testing a variety of
offerings from Moderna to use as a third shot as concern
grows about emerging variants.
New York officials and local experts played up the importance of
moving forward with the other two vaccines available, from Pfizer
and Moderna, so that the state does not lose its momentum.
An effort to promote Covid-19 vaccination in the world’s
lowest-income countries is trying to raise an additional $2
billion to help secure access to doses before they are snapped up
by wealthier nations.
The House passed legislation Tuesday night on a 384-38 vote
delaying a 2% across-the-board cut to Medicare payments for the
rest of the year. The bill is now headed to President Joe Biden,
who is expected to sign it into law. The bill is a big win
for hospitals and providers.
Moderna said Tuesday its Covid-19 vaccine was more than 90%
effective at protecting against Covid and more than 95% effective
against severe disease up to six months after the second dose.
Pfizer’s CEO said Tuesday that the company has
ramped up its vaccine production to deliver doses more
quickly following a pause in distribution of the Johnson &
Johnson vaccine.
As the rate of COVID-19 vaccinations accelerates, millions of
Americans are planning for life after the pandemic. But for
people with lingering symptoms — patients known as
“long-haulers” — that day may never come.
Los Angeles residents this week will have several new options for
obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine, including a new clinic in Chinatown
and a site in East Los Angeles offering doses without
appointments Monday.
Los Angeles County’s large-scale COVID-19 vaccination site at Six
Flags Magic Mountain will close Sunday — a move that comes
shortly after the reopening of the theme park, which had
been closed for more than a year due to the coronavirus.
Dozens of Americans are rolling up their sleeves for a third dose
of COVID-19 vaccine—this time, shots tweaked to guard against a
worrisome mutated version of the virus.
Amazon said on Monday that it is launching the next phase of its
Amazon Web Services Diagnostic Development Initiative, in which
it plans to distribute $12 million this year to fund projects for
COVID testing, as well as for other infectious disease
diagnostics.
California on Monday re-opened enrollment for its state health
insurance exchange, hoping more people will buy coverage now that
the federal government is offering new assistance that could
lower monthly premiums by $1,000 or more in some cases.
Nearly half of Californians 18 and older have received at least
one COVID-19 vaccine shot, an encouraging metric as some experts
watch with concern spiking case rates in Michigan, New Jersey and
elsewhere in the country.
As public health leaders across the country weigh the pros and
cons of so-called “vaccine passports” – a record meant to show a
person has been inoculated against COVID-19 – the OC Health Care
Agency is planning a field test to figure out how proving
immunity would work in the real world.
Even as coronavirus cases climb in parts of the United States,
California is slowly lifting its pandemic restrictions. It’s a
welcome relief for Angelenos weary of locked venues and pleas to
stay at home, but public health officials are worried.
Public Health Chief Barbara Ferrer said one case of the South
African strain and three cases of the Brazilian strain were the
first such cases to be found in the region, fueling growing
concerns about their spreadability. Ferrer noted that “it is
likely” there are undiagnosed cases in the region.
Hospital-based rehabilitation programs are expecting to see a
major influx of medically complex patients, including those with
neurological conditions, in the coming decades.
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