The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week released an assessment finding that fully vaccinated adults from the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines 65 years of age and older were 94 percent less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than people of the same age who were not vaccinated. People 65 and…
Read More »Amid a significant surge of COVID-19 cases, California and the United States this week sent supplies and materials to India to support the country’s emergency needs and ongoing response to the pandemic. California sent hundreds of oxygen concentrators, cylinders, regulators, and related supplies to India which will be provided directly to health care providers and…
Read More »This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its commitment to advancing two tobacco product standards to significantly reduce disease and death caused by using combustible tobacco products. The two standards – a menthol product standard and a flavored cigar standard – will aim to ban menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes…
Read More »On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released new buprenorphine practice guidelines that, among other actions, remove a long-established requirement tied to health care provider training. According to HHS, many providers have cited the training requirements associated with the prescribing and use of buprenorphine as a significant barrier to treating more…
Read More »U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra recently renewed the country’s declaration of a public health emergency due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The renewal became effective on April 21 and is renewed for 90 days until July 20, 2021. The renewed declaration is available here.
Read More »Today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted their recommended temporary pause on the administration of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The move follows today’s vote by the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to recommend the resumption of Johnson and…
Read More »This week, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. announced the U.S. has reached its updated goal of administering 200 million COVID-19 vaccines within his Administration’s first 100 days. Recall, the goal was doubled after 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered by day 58 of the Biden-Harris Administration. To encourage the continued administration of COVID-19 vaccines,…
Read More »On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended a temporary pause in the administration of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine out of an abundance of caution following the emergence of six reported cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot….
Read More »This week, the Biden-Harris Administration White House announced a number of significant investments in the federal government’s continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Below, we highlight these actions: Fighting COVID-19 Virus Variants: Pointing to the rapid rise of COVID-19 virus variants nationwide, the Biden-Harris Administration announced significant investments to improve the nation’s capacity to detect,…
Read More »During Black Maternal Health Week, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a series of actions to address the maternal health crisis in the U.S. Notably, the Biden-Harris Administration highlighted the disproportionate rates of maternal morbidity and mortality experienced in the U.S. compared to other countries, as well as the fact that black women are roughly two to…
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