This week, public health and medical experts with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the ongoing development of a plan to begin offering COVID-19 booster shots to vaccinated Americans beginning on September 20. The move comes as recent data suggests protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection from the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines…
Read More »This week, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), announced the development of an emergency regulation requiring staff vaccinations against COVID-19 within the country’s more than 15,000 Medicare and Medicaid-participating nursing facilities. According to CMS, the new requirement is intended to…
Read More »On Tuesday, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. directed his Administration to extend 100 percent federal reimbursement to states for eligible COVID-19 emergency response costs, including emergency medical care, non-congregate sheltering, and vaccination operations, through December 31, 2021. Tuesday’s action extends the order President Biden issued upon taking office directing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)…
Read More »The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) this week unveiled its re-evaluation of the Thrifty Food Plan, the lowest cost food plan option offered to low-income Americans by the USDA. By way of background, the cost of the June Thrifty Food Plan serves as the basis for the maximum Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit amount…
Read More »This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the creation of a new center designed to advance the use of forecasting and outbreak analytics in public health decision making. According to the CDC, once established, the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics will bring together next-generation public health data, expert disease…
Read More »Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended its emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine and the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine to allow for the administration of an additional vaccine dose in certain immunocompromised individuals, including solid organ transplant recipients or those diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent…
Read More »On Wednesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data demonstrating the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant persons. The CDC continues to recommend all individuals ages 12 and older get vaccinated against COVID-19. The CDC’s analysis focused on current data from the v-safe pregnancy registry and found that vaccination early…
Read More »The Bipartisan Policy Center, a prominent national thinktank, recently announced the formation of a new coalition of organizations working together to develop a five-year roadmap for public health leaders and elected officials to influence strategic investments and decision-making to build a more robust and sustainable public health system. Members of the coalition include the de…
Read More »The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed an order placing a moratorium on evictions for sixty days in areas across the United States “experiencing substantial and high levels of community transmission levels of SARS-CoV-2.” The previous CDC moratorium expired on July 31, 2021. Despite previous statements…
Read More »In a shift from previous guidance, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday recommended that all Americans wear a face covering when in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high COVID-19 transmission, regardless of vaccination status. The CDC’s masking update comes as sharp increases in B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant cases…
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