| | | | | |  | | By Sarah Owermohle | Presented by |  | | | With Tucker Doherty, Susannah Luthi, Alice Miranda Ollstein, Rachel Roubein and Mohana Ravindranath Editor's Note: POLITICO Pulse is a free version of POLITICO Pro Health Care's morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.
| | | — The Biden administration is sticking to its goal of vaccinating 100 million people in 100 days. — A new round of Covid relief talks are set to begin, with broad support for vaccine funding. — President Joe Biden has banned travelers from more locations, amid fears of more virulent Covid strains. WELCOME TO MONDAY PULSE — where your guest author is waiting for her invite to be in a bubble on the beach. Your regular host, Adam Cancryn (acancryn@politico.com), is back on Tuesday, but you can usually find me — shameless plug — over at Prescription Pulse. | | A message from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies have committed more than $7 billion to help the nation address the COVID-19 outbreak, by providing premium relief, eliminating patient treatment costs, and enhancing access to telehealth. Learn More. | | |
| | | BIDEN TEAM SAYS VACCINE CRUNCH WON'T CURB EXPECTATIONS — There's short-term supply worries for coronavirus vaccines, but Biden health officials say they're keeping their original projections. State and local officials across the country have warned of dwindling vaccine supply, with dozens saying they are on the brink of running out of doses. But supply concerns should ease by late March, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said on "Fox News Sunday." Here's what will factor into whether the administration hits or misses that goal: — There's been supply surprises, including reports that the federal vaccine reserve has already been exhausted and news late Friday that Pfizer will supply fewer vials to the U.S. government, because pharmacists discovered that more doses can be extracted … with the right syringes. Which not everyone has. — And there are questions about when more vaccine options arrive. Data for a third vaccine, from Johnson & Johnson, is likely to land this week. If it looks solid, the nation could add a single-dose option to its arsenal by mid-February. The 100-million-in-100-days goal is achievable even with just the two authorized vaccine options from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, Biden's surgeon general pick, Vivek Murthy, said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." But public health experts say a one-dose vaccine will be key to immunizing skeptical and hard-to-reach populations. Both CVS and Walgreens are on track to meet a self-imposed deadline today to give out the first shots to nursing homes that are participating in a federal pharmacy partnership, our Rachel Roubein writes. But the program, like many parts of the vaccine rollout, had been criticized, with some governors publicly expressing frustration at the pace of immunizations in nursing facilities. It's an open question whether the country has the manpower to scale up that program even more. SENATORS UNIFIED ON VAX MONEY, NOT STIMULUS CHECKS — Negotiations over another Covid relief bill kicked off in earnest on Sunday in a Zoom call between a dozen senators and three top White House officials, POLITICO's Alice Miranda Ollstein reports. While there was "absolute consensus" that more funds are needed for vaccinations, testing and contact tracing, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) told reporters after the meeting, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle balked at sending $1,400 stimulus checks to Americans regardless of income. "This isn't Monopoly money," King said. "Every dollar here is being borrowed from our grandchildren." There's early discussions about moving a narrower package with funding for vaccines while lawmakers hammer out a broader bill. But the White House hasn't endorsed that approach just yet. And while senators are tentatively pushing for action before former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial kicks off on Feb. 8, the talks are still "preliminary" and there is not yet legislative language, King said. The group aims to meet again in the next 48 hours. BIDEN HALTS TRAVEL FROM MORE COUNTRIES — Biden will issue another round of Covid-related travel restrictions today, this time blocking most non-U.S. citizens traveling from South Africa, our Stephanie Beasley writes. Biden's orders will also reinstate a ban on travel by most non-U.S. citizens from Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and 26 other European countries, reversing a Jan. 18 order from Trump that lifted those restrictions.
| | | | TRACK THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: A new president occupies the White House and he is already making changes. What are some of the key moments from Biden's first week in office? Find out in Transition Playbook, our scoop-filled newsletter tracking the appointments, people, and emerging power centers of the first 100 days of the new administration. Subscribe today. | | | | |
| | | BIRX UNLOADS ON TRUMP CHALLENGES — When Trump was president, outside advisers gave him different Covid-19 pandemic data , leading him to sometimes present graphs that his coronavirus response coordinator, Deborah Birx, never made, she said in a more than hourlong "Face the Nation" interview that aired on CBS Sunday. "Someone out there or someone inside was creating a parallel set of data and graphics that were shown to the president," Birx said. Birx, an HIV/AIDS expert who joined the White House's coronavirus response early last year as a longtime ally of Fauci, also told CBS' Margaret Brennan that she rarely spoke with Trump and "always" thought about quitting. She plans to retire her role after helping the Biden transition. POLL: HEALTH CARE WORKERS FRUSTRATED WITH PUBLIC PANDEMIC RESPONSE — Almost two-thirds of U.S. health care workers say the American public isn't doing enough to stem the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll of 1,000 health care workers. A quarter of survey respondents have considered leaving their roles since last January, with 14 percent contemplating an exit from health care entirely, according to the poll, which was conducted by Morning Consult. Most respondents (63 percent) say they are confident their facilities can manage an influx of Covid-19 patients, but 22 percent say they don't have enough personal protective equipment. And some say the worst is yet to come. Roughly two in five health care workers say we're at the darkest point in the pandemic, according to the poll; one in three say we need to prepare for worse days. | | | |   | | | | | | A RECORD YEAR FOR HEALTH LOBBYING — Dozens of health industry groups sharply increased their lobbying spending in 2020, according to year-end disclosures, POLITICO's Tucker Doherty reports. — Several coronavirus vaccine makers kicked up their spending, including Moderna's 600 percent spike to $280,000 and Novavax's 425 percent bump to $210,000. — The "surprise" billing fix included in the year-end coronavirus relief package also spurred substantial lobbying. America's Health Insurance Plans, the major trade association for insurers, spent $10.5 million, the largest annual total for the group since 2001. On the other side of that issue, the American Society of Anesthesiologists spent $1.46 million, a 33 percent boost. — Surgical groups successfully pushed for provisions in the year-end package to mitigate billions of dollars in potential pay cuts. The American College of Surgeons ($1.09 million) and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons ($501,000) both reported substantial increases in lobbying spending. VAX SITES NEAR ME? — Google will be using VaccineFinder data to serve up a list of local Covid-19 vaccination sites and logistical information, the company announced today. The company told POLITICO's Mohana Ravindranath that the results will look similar to its map and list of Covid-19 testing centers that shows up when you search: "Covid testing near me." Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas will be the first to see the new dashboard, which will display drive-thru locations, whether you'll need an appointment or referral and whether vaccination is limited to certain groups. The company is also doling out $155 million in grants and cash aimed at education and vaccine outreach to underserved populations, including people of color and rural populations, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said.
| | | | GET THE SCOOP ON CONGRESS IN 2021 : Get the inside scoop on the Schumer/McConnell dynamic, the new Senate Bipartisan Group, and what is really happening inside the House Democratic Caucus and Republican Conference. From Schumer to Pelosi, McConnell to McCarthy and everyone in between, our new Huddle author Olivia Beavers brings the latest from Capitol Hill with assists from POLITICO's deeply sourced Congress team. Subscribe to Huddle, the indispensable guide to Congress. | | | | |
| | | PHRMA CHALLENGES NEW HHS 340B MOVE — The pharmaceutical lobby on Friday asked a federal court to throw out HHS' new process to resolve big-money disputes between manufacturers and hospitals over drug discounts for poor patients. It's a leftover from the Trump era,our Susannah Luthi writes. PhrMA argued in its lawsuit that the unexpectedly issued final rule was "not the product of reasoned decision-making" and is a breach of executive power. The complaint also alleges the program's supervising agency is too lax. The dispute comes as Xavier Becerra, Biden's nominee for HHS secretary, is preparing for his confirmation hearing — and he may not sympathize with PhRMA's stance. Last month, in a letter to Trump HHS Secretary Alex Azar, he sided with providers in the standoff, bluntly criticizing drug companies for holding back on some of their discounts. | | A message from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: We believe everyone should have access to health care, no matter who you are or where you live. In every ZIP code in every state, Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies are working to improve health and expand access to quality care. Learn More. | | | | | | Topher Spiro, who led health policy work at the Center for American Progress, will oversee health programs at the White House's Office of Management and Budget, the team that will execute much of the president's response to the health and economic crisis, our Caitlin Emma writes. | | | The Montana Free Pres sreports that Montana legislators will hold a hearing this week on bills limiting the rights of transgender people, after the state House voted last week to prevent doctors from treating children with gender dysphoria and ban transgender girls from playing women's sports. Vaccines alone are not enough to end the pandemic and social distancing could remain in place through July, according to a model by scientists at Columbia University, the New York Times reports, In a move that could transform HIV/AIDS treatment, the FDA has approved a monthly injectable HIV medicine, Stat News reports. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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