On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris, on behalf of the Biden-Harris Administration, marked its first-ever White House Maternal Health Day of Action, issuing a call to action to public and private sectors to help improve health outcomes for parents and infants in the U.S. As part of the call of action, the Administration announced a…
Read More »The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded approximately $82 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) emergency home visiting funds to 56 states, jurisdictions, and nonprofit organizations to support children and families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding builds upon an initial investment…
Read More »The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced it has launched a first-ever SAMHSA Harm Reduction Grant Program with up to $30 million anticipated to be awarded nationwide. The funding, authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), aims to increase access to a range of community harm reduction service providers as they…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week announced it has awarded $22 million to nearly 30 organizations globally to combat antimicrobial resistance (AR) and other health care threats through the establishment of two new networks – the Global Action in Healthcare Network (GAIHN) and the Global AR Laboratory & Response Network…
Read More »This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the expansion of a partnership established earlier this year to improve access to affordable, accessible housing, and the critical services that make community living possible. HHS and HUD announced the launch of a…
Read More »Last Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified a new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, or Omicron, as a “variant of concern” following reports of cases to the WHO by South Africa. Researchers continue to study the virus mutations, its impacts on transmissibility and disease severity, and effectiveness of prior infection, vaccines, and current tests and treatments….
Read More »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) 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 »