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 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week released a new webpage and suite of materials for health care professionals as part of the “Hear Her” campaign which aims to reduce pregnancy-related deaths. Over 700 women die every year due to pregnancy-related complications, and two in three deaths are preventable. According to…
Read More »This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report finding that despite overall progress in reducing HIV transmission in the United States, HIV continues to impact some groups more than others due to “longstanding and ingrained barriers.” Black and African American people account for a higher proportion of new HIV…
Read More »U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra announced this week the formation of the HHS Task Force to Prevention Human Trafficking. The Task Force will facilitate implementation of priority actions detailed in the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, as well as strengthen HHS’ human trafficking prevention and intervention efforts…
Read More »Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced updates to school nutrition standards providing a path forward for schools to transition from current pandemic operations toward more nutritious school meals. Specifically, the USDA issued transitional standards that will begin in school year 2022-23 and run through school year 2023-24. In 2022, USDA will continue to…
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 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced it has committed $49.4 million to fund organizations to connect more eligible children, parents, and pregnant individuals to health care coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Awardees, including state and local governments, tribal organizations, federal health safety net organizations, non-profits, schools,…
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…
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