THE MARSHALLESE WILL GET THEIR MEDICAID BACK — Congress on Sunday night also agreed to restore Medicaid coverage for Marshall Islanders and other islanders covered by the Compact of Free Association, almost 25 years after accidentally stripping them of coverage during welfare reform, Dan first reported. "THIS IS ENORMOUS!!," tweeted Kathy Ko Chin, the former head of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum. "This makes my heart sing." In a series of stories that began in January, POLITICO detailed how the United States promised Medicaid to the islanders after using the Marshall Islands to test nuclear bombs — before Congress accidentally barred COFA migrants from the safety-net health program. The loss of Medicaid access was a major factor in the islanders' worse health outcomes, researchers concluded, and the Marshallese and other COFA migrants disproportionately suffered during this year's pandemic, POLITICO wrote last week. The Covid-19 infection, hospitalization and death rates in one Marshallese community studied by the CDC were "staggering," the scientist who led the study told POLITICO. — Advocates, lawmakers and researchers had spent years trying to fix the Medicaid policy, which also affects citizens of Micronesia and Palau. Democrats like Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz and Rep. Tony Cardenas worked to build a legislative coalition, winning over Republicans like Reps. Steve Womack, Don Young and Cathy McMorris Rodgers this year. "My ultimate goal in life before I die is that we get Medicaid restored for Marshallese and that we improve health equity," Pearl McElfish, the vice chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and a prominent researcher on Marshallese health, told POLITICO earlier this month. "Well, I guess now I can die, but there's still more work to do," McElfish texted PULSE on Sunday night. — The view from across the nation: "When reached by phone Sunday, Hawaii resident Josie Howard said she was crying tears of joy," Anita Hofschneider writes for CivilBeat. Howard co-founded a local organization, We Are Oceania, to boost health access for the islanders. CDC PANEL: FRONTLINE WORKERS, 75-YEAR-OLDS AND UP SHOULD GET SHOTS NEXT — The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Sunday overwhelmingly made the recommendations, following a robust debate about whether more seniors and high-risk groups should be given priority over some essential workers, POLITICO's Brianna Ehley reports. The recommendations aren't binding, but states have been looking to ACIP recommendations to help them settle challenging ethical questions over how to fairly divvy up the scarce supply of doses. "This isn't black and white," Amanda Cohn, ACIP's executive secretary, said of the recommendations. "It will vary by local context." LAWMAKERS BEGIN TO GET VACCINATED — A steady stream of officials are receiving the vaccine under continuity-of-government protocols, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who got their shots on Friday. "I'm feeling good," said Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), a nurse who broadcast her vaccination — and made sure to praise the nurses who gave her the shot. BUT NIH, TONY FAUCI STILL WAITING — As of Friday, the agency hadn't received a single shipment of vaccine, despite playing a key role in the effort to develop them and having an on-site hospital, POLITICO's Dan Diamond scooped. The agency is "hopeful" that its frontline staff around the country will soon get access to vaccines, NIH Director Francis Collins wrote in an email to staff on Friday, obtained by POLITICO. "For other NIH staff, vaccinations will not be possible until 2021, and it is not yet clear how vaccines will be provided — whether through NIH or through community sites." NIH didn't respond to requests for comment on Friday. | 
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