| | | | | |  | | By Sarah Owermohle | Presented by |  | | | With Joanne Kenen 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's vaccine messaging has hit a snag: There aren't enough shots. — AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine offers minimal protection against the new Covid variant found in South Africa, according to preliminary data. — Two camps are emerging in the search for the next FDA administrator. WELCOME TO MONDAY PULSE — I hear there were some big sports last night! Don't worry, Adam Cancryn (acancryn@politico.com) is back today to talk about them and take tips for Tuesday's Pulse. | | | | A message from PhRMA: As we usher in a new administration and Congress, there are many things on which we can all agree, like ending the pandemic. America's biopharmaceutical companies will continue to develop treatments and vaccines to combat COVID-19, and we are working closely with governments, insurers and others to make sure vaccines and treatments are accessible and affordable. | | | | | | BIDEN'S VAX CAMPAIGN ON HOLD — President Joe Biden is planning a massive messaging effort to convince skeptical Americans to get a coronavirus vaccine — just as soon as there are enough shots for everyone, Adam writes. The president envisioned a $1 billion national vaccine awareness campaign. But before that can happen, health officials must figure out how to distribute those shots nationwide while supplies are still limited and states continue to report severe shortfalls and confusion over how to track their vaccine supplies. "We have to have product available before we go out and encourage people to seek it," said Mark Weber, the federal health official charged with crafting the government's Covid-19 advertising campaign. "We're not there yet." In a sharp departure from the Trump era, Biden officials said the administration is eager to play a central role in coordinating pro-vaccine messaging. But there have been no new messaging initiatives at the Department of Health and Human Services since the Trump administration. MORE ON THIS: Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), Ali Khan, a former CDC official who is now dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and others discussed the issue of vaccine hesitancy, particularly among minority populations, at a POLITICO Live event Friday. Watch their conversation with POLITICO's Joanne Kenen. ASTRAZENECA VACCINE PULLED IN SOUTH AFRICA AS NEW VARIANT SURGES — South Africa this weekend suspended plans to roll out the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine after a small trial suggested it isn't effective in preventing mild to moderate Covid-19 illness caused by the more novel dominant strain in the country.
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A vial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 at a hospital in Sofia, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021. | AP Photo/Valentina Petrova | What is happening: The strain, first found in South Africa and dubbed B.1.351, has sparked similar concerns about the other vaccines, which have also shown less efficacy against the newer strain but were still found to be protective. B.1.351 is one of three variants raising public health officials' alarms, along with one first found in the United Kingdom and another discovered in Brazil, that are more transmissible than the strain of virus now dominant in the U.S. Each variant has since been found in the U.S. What's next: The AstraZeneca and Oxford shot is cheaper than others, and the drugmaker had struck deals with international aid groups, leading some to hope it would be a good candidate for lower-income countries. But its weakness against B.1.315 could raise serious questions about where it gets deployed. But that's not to say it won't be used anywhere: Oxford researchers reported Friday that the shot is slightly less effective, though still protective , against the strain first found in the United Kingdom. That variant is credited with causing a case surge last fall that fueled a second lockdown in the country. GROUPS TAKE SIDES IN FDA CHIEF SEARCH — As the Biden administration's search for a permanent Food and Drug Administration commissioner drags on, two of the top contenders — longtime FDA drug director Janet Woodcock, currently serving as acting commissioner, and Obama-era FDA official Joshua Sharfstein — have each accrued their share of supporters and skeptics. More than 80 health organizations, including the American Association for Cancer Research and the Arthritis Foundation, penned a letter to Biden and HHS Secretary nominee Xavier Becerra on Sunday advocating for Woodcock, arguing her 37 years with the agency serve "as both a touchstone for how to get things done and a master class in understanding the intricacies of the agency's work." The letter followed a similar call from 18 prominent scientists backing Sharfstein's appointment on Friday. Those researchers and doctors said Sharfstein, the current director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, would be able to balance the needs of public health and the industries that FDA regulates. The Biden administration is casting the coming weeks as a trial period for Woodcock, though her critics have argued that during her time in government, she gave insufficient oversight to opioid manufacturers. Others, including former commissioners, have urged Biden to promptly choose a new FDA head, due to the ongoing pandemic. | | | | THE INDISPENSABLE GUIDE TO CONGRESS: Looking for the latest on the Schumer/McConnell dynamic or the increasing tensions in the House? What are the latest whispers coming out of the Speaker's Lobby? Just leave it to Beavers... New author Olivia Beavers delivers the scoop in Huddle, the morning Capitol Hill must-read with assists from POLITICO's deeply sourced Congress team. Subscribe to Huddle today. | | | | | | | | BIDEN WORLD: GET ON BOARD WITH COVID-19 RELIEF — Democrats are plowing forward with a massive Covid-19 relief package without Republican support, setting the stage for a massive relief package that will be fleshed out by congressional committees in the days ahead, POLITICO's Christopher Cadelago and Natasha Korecki report. Hundreds of billions of dollars to assist communities, schools and states with vaccine distribution, are expected to make it into the package. New stimulus checks and bolstered unemployment benefits are also Democratic priorities, though some others, like a higher minimum wage, may not make the cut. Midterm attacks coming: Democrats want to ensure Americans know about every dollar delivered and job kept because of the bill they're crafting, Christopher and Natasha write. "If I'm a candidate in 2022 running for the House or Senate, I think I'd want to be able to say we've had a robust Covid-19 relief bill, we raised the minimum wage, we made progress on health care," said Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), a Biden ally. DEMOCRATS INTRODUCE BLACK MATERNAL HEALTH PACKAGE — Lawmakers this morning unveiled a 12-bill package aimed at improving maternal health and closing racial and ethnic disparities in pregnancy and birth. The 'momnibus' is led by Underwood, Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Among the bills are measures to fund community-based organizations, grow the perinatal workforce and address the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change have had on maternal and infant health. "As maternal mortality rates continue to drop around the world, they are rising in the U.S., leaving behind devastated families and children who will grow up never knowing their moms," Underwood, co-chair and co-founder of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, said in a statement. GOP MOUNTS BECERRA BATTLE PLAN — Senate Republicans plan to link Biden's pick for HHS secretary with California's troubled pandemic response in a long-shot bid to sink the nomination later this month, Alice Miranda Ollstein writes. As the state's attorney general, Becerra enforced stay-at-home orders and other restrictions imposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, including limits on indoor religious services that outraged many on the right. "The case we'll make against Becerra is: He will make your life worse. He will make the pandemic worse," a senior Republican aide said. California's pandemic response was once held up as a model for slowing the spread of the disease. But the state has since been consumed by the virus, including newer and more infectious strains, with Los Angeles County now leading the nation in both cases and deaths per capita. | | | | A message from PhRMA: Despite our divisions, there are many things on which Americans agree. The biopharmaceutical industry is committed to working with Congress and the new administration to:
• End the pandemic. The industry remains committed to getting COVID-19 treatments and vaccines to patients, and we are working closely with governments, insurers and others to make sure they are accessible and affordable.
• Make health care better and more affordable. People want quality, affordable health coverage that works when they need it. We support solutions that will help patients better afford their medicines and protect access to innovation today and in the future.
• Build a more just, equitable society. We must address systemic racism, as has been made clear by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others and the outsized impact of the pandemic on Black and Brown communities. We remain committed to this important issue on behalf of our communities, the patients we serve and our employees. | | | | | | Biden told CBS Sunday that it will be very difficult for the U.S. to reach herd immunity to the coronavirus by this summer. "Knowing that we are always thought about last, I am so scared": How three Queens neighborhoods capture disparities in the Covid-19 response, Liz Robbins and Frances Stead Sellers report for The Washington Post. The in-between: A doctor recounts her emotional journey on the other side of harrowing health news at her young daughter's beside, in JAMA. This counts as health care news, right? Super Bowl halftime performer The Weeknd told Variety's Jem Aswad that his face bandage saga was a commentary on plastic surgery. | | | | TRACK THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: President Biden's cabinet is getting confirmed, bringing change to agencies and departments across the Executive Branch. From the West Wing to Foggy Bottom, track the first 100 days of the Biden administration with Transition Playbook, our scoop-filled newsletter that chronicles the policies, people, and emerging power centers of the new administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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