On Thursday, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. announced a series of new actions to protect Americans from COVID-19, including the Delta and Omicron variants, this winter. The Administration’s new actions come as additional cases of the Omicron variant continue to be identified in the U.S. and globally. The new set of actions include: Boosters for…
Read More »On Monday, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced the CDC has strengthened its recommendation for booster doses for individuals ages 18 and older. Per the CDC, everyone ages 18 and older should get a booster shot either when they are six months after their initial Pfizer or Moderna…
Read More »This week, Pfizer and BioNTech submitted a formal request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand the emergency use authorization (EUA) of a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccination to include individuals ages 16 and 17. Currently, only people ages 18 and older are eligible for a COVID-19 booster dose in the…
Read More »The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) on Tuesday, December 7 from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm will host a webinar on recently released data exchange and reporting requirements for ECM and Community Supports as part of the CalAIM Initiative. DHCS will provide an overview of the guidance documents and corresponding data flows with…
Read More »The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) was recently accepted into the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Infant Well-Child Visits Learning Collaborative Affinity Group. The group is part of CMS’ Maternal and Infant Health Quality Initiative, which is intended to support states in implementing quality improvement projects that improve the utilization…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today it is revising the current Global Testing Order to shorten the timeline required for testing for all international air travelers to one day before departure to the United States. The one-day testing policy is anticipated to help protect travelers and the health and safety…
Read More »On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee (AMDAC) narrowly recommended that the agency issue its first emergency use authorization (EUA) for Merck’s investigational oral antiviral medication for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults with high risk of severe COVID-19 or hospitalization. The drug, molnupiravir, has been…
Read More »On Wednesday, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. issued a proclamation commemorating World AIDS Day and calling on states, territories, and the American people to join the HIV community in activities to remember those who have lost their lives to AIDS. As part of the President’s proclamation, the White House detailed a series of actions to…
Read More »Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the release of the new National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, detailing the country’s strategy to addressing human trafficking. The plan delineates actions and resources across numerous federal agencies and emphasizes collaboration with state and local governments, the private sector, and non-governmental partners. The National Action Plan retains a…
Read More »A new report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found significant increases in the use of telehealth that helped maintain access to some health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report, produced by researchers in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), also found that…
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