The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) recently announced it is accepting applications for the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) COVID-19 Respond, Innovate, Sustain, and Equip (RISE) Awards. The awards are intended to provide resources to the MRC network to support COVID-19 response efforts. RISE awards will prioritize building capacity for the MRC…
Read More »The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday granted approval to a second COVID-19 vaccine. The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine received FDA approval, and the approved vaccine will be marketed as “Spikevax” for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older. According to the FDA, Spikevax meets the FDA’s rigorous standards…
Read More »The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) this week amended three existing State Public Health Officer Orders requiring COVID-19 boosters for specified health care workers. The amended orders extend the deadline for covered health care workers to receive their booster from February 1, 2022, to March 1, 2022. According to CDPH, the change was necessary…
Read More »This week, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a comprehensive report as part of its series of reports examining the federal government’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In its latest report, GAO sets forth five recommendations relative to pandemic funding managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), tax relief…
Read More »The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is making available more than $2 billion in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 General Distribution payments to more than 7,600 providers nationwide this week. These payments follow the nearly $9 billion issued by HHS in December 2021….
Read More »Amid a historic rise in COVID-19 cases throughout the country, the Biden-Harris Administration has begun accepting orders for free at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests. The federal government launched its ordering site www.COVIDTests.gov a day earlier than anticipated on Tuesday, allowing all Americans to receive four free tests per residential address. According to the Administration, tests are…
Read More »The Biden-Harris Administration recently formed a new Pandemic Innovation Task Force within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to develop new countermeasures against possible future COVID-19 variants and other pandemic threats. The task force will not be responsible for day-to-day pandemic response activities but longer-term projects, including vaccinate, therapy, diagnostic, and…
Read More »The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) recently published an evaluation report that assessed how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted service utilization under the Whole Person Care (WPC) Program, the statewide Medi-Cal demonstration launched in 2016 to integrate medical, behavioral health, and social services for high-utilizing Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The report…
Read More »After hearing oral arguments on the cases last week, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday issued two decisions on COVID-19 vaccine mandates for specified occupational groups set forth by the Biden-Harris Administration. Below, we highlight these decisions: Vaccine Mandate for Large Employers The Supreme Court struck down the vaccine-or-test mandate for employers with 100 or…
Read More »The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) on Saturday issued updated guidance for health care workers and emergency medical services personnel to help address staffing shortages in care delivery systems. Under the new guidance, health care works and emergency medical services personnel who test positive for COVID-19 and are asymptomatic may return to work immediately…
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