The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) this week officially recommended mRNA COVID-19 vaccines over Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine. ACIP, in a unanimous vote, issued its clinical preference following a robust review of the latest evidence on vaccine effectiveness, safety, and rare events. At issue is…
Read More »This week, the United States reached the tragic milestone of 800,000 deaths due to COVID-19. The figure, the highest of any country in the world, comes one year after COVID-19 vaccines began to be administered. More than 200 million Americans are vaccinated against COVID-19, though the country continues to experience challenges with the virus and…
Read More »This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced the distribution of approximately $9 billion in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 payments to health care providers who have experienced revenue losses and expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 69,000 providers in…
Read More »Today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released two reports in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report highlighting the use of test-to-stay practices used in schools to minimize absenteeism and learning loss which can occur during traditional quarantine at home. The CDC has added information on test-to-stay practices in its K-12 Transmission…
Read More »The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), this week encouraged hospitals to implement evidence-based patient safety practices for managing obstetric emergencies along with interventions to address other key contributors to maternal health disparities. The announcement by CMS follows last week’s first White House Maternal…
Read More »This week, the Biden-Harris Administration released its Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan, representing a historic effort to deploy resources from the recently enacted Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to deliver clean drinking water, replace lead pipes, and remediate lead paint. The plan includes over 15 new actions from more than 10 federal agencies with the goal…
Read More »On Wednesday, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved State Plan Amendment 21-0019 for dental components as part of the sweeping California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative. The amendment, effective January 1, 2022, authorizes supplemental payments for select preventive dental services and dental examination services for continuity of care. The amendment…
Read More »Following a formal request from Pfizer-BioNTech last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to authorize the use of a single booster dose for administration to individuals 16 and 17 years of age at least six months after completion of primary…
Read More »This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for AstraZeneca’s Evusheld for the pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 in certain adults and pediatric individuals ages 12 and older. The monoclonal antibody (MAB) product is authorized for those individuals who are not currently infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and who…
Read More »This week, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new Surgeon General’s Advisory calling attention to the urgent need to address the nation’s youth mental health crisis. The advisory outlines the pandemic’s unprecedented impacts on the mental health of youth and families in the U.S., as well as mental health challenges that existed prior…
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