Axios Vitals: The new "civil rights" fight

Plus: A battle over boosters | Monday, July 12, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By PhRMA   Axios Vitals By Tina Reed ·Jul 12, 2021 🌞Good morning, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter, which is 715 words, or a 3-minute read. What to watch this week: A Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Tuesday about anti-competitive conduct by the pharma industry. FDA acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock will be speaking at STAT News' 2021 Breakthrough Science Summit on Wednesday. And ... earnings season is kicking off with UnitedHealth Group's posting its Q2 results on Thursday.     1 big thing: Vaccine status as the new "civil rights" issue Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   Vaccination status is emerging as a new "civil rights" issue in several states around the U.S., Axios' Caitlin Owens reports. What's happening: State Republican lawmakers around the country are pushing bills — one of which has become law — that would give vaccination status the same protections as race, gender and religion. These bills would tie the hands of private businesses that want to protect their employees and customers through vaccine requirements. They also show how deep into the political psyche resistance to coronavirus vaccine requirements has become, and how vaccination status has rapidly become a marker of identity. The big picture: On a national scale, well-known GOP figures have recently escalated their rhetoric about the vaccination effort, comparing it to Nazi Germany and apartheid. What they're saying: "This is a civil rights statute. It absolutely is," said Nicholas Bagley, a law professor at the University of Michigan. "What this law is saying is that a restriction directed at the unvaccinated is prohibited in the same way as you'd be prohibited from putting up a sign saying, 'no Irish admitted.'" The bottom line: "When a legislature passes an anti-vaccine law, it sends a signal to businesses not to deploy any kind of vaccine system," said Lawrence Gostin, a law professor at Georgetown University. Go deeper.     2. Battle over boosters Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photos: Edwin P. Ewing, Jr. via CDC, Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images   NIAID director Anthony Fauci made the rounds on the Sunday shows yesterday to, among other things, clear up the messaging on boosters. Driving the news: Last week, Pfizer said it was seeing waning immunity from its vaccine and would seek emergency use authorization for a booster. It prompted a joint response from the CDC and FDA that they are not yet recommending boosters. Pfizer is expected to brief top U.S. government health officials in the coming days following the public spat, the Washington Post reported. Fauci told CBS News' "Face the Nation" that studies haven't ruled out boosters, but the data doesn't support them yet. "It isn't as if we're going to start from square one if it looks like there are breakthroughs in infection or it looks like the laboratory data indicates there is a diminution of immunity. Right now we are preparing full throttle for doing boosters if we need them," Fauci said.     3. The vaccine-income gap Data: U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey; Note: Does not include respondents who didn't report income; Chart: Axios Visuals There is a growing gap in vaccination status among those with lower incomes, Axios' Bob Herman writes. What's happening: More than half of unvaccinated Americans live in households that make less than $50,000 annually, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. The big picture: Vaccination has been politicized, but juggling work schedules and child care could be bigger factors than politics. "A lot of low-income workers are working hard to provide food and housing," said Julia Raifman, a health policy professor at Boston University. "That may mean it's hard for them to find a time to get vaccinated." Read more.     A message from PhRMA Out-of-pocket costs don't have to be out-of-this-world confusing     The way insurance covers your medicine is too complicated. Getting to what you pay for medicines shouldn't be a maze. What you pay out of pocket for medicines should be more transparent, more predictable and more affordable. If we fix insurance, we can fix out-of-pocket medicine costs. See how.     4. Back to school shopping won't include masks Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   With about a month until back to school begins in many K-12 districts, most states in the U.S. have no uniform plan to require masks, even among the unvaccinated, Axios' Marisa Fernandez reports. Within the past two weeks, eight states have rolled back their mask mandates for schools and left local districts to decide, according to a mask policy tracker by Burbio. Another eight states have banned districts from enforcing masks altogether. But, but, but: 10 states, including California, will mandate students wear masks. That will hold true, regardless of vaccination status among 12-to-18-year-olds, the state's health department said Friday. What to watch: Kids younger than 12 still haven't been eligible for vaccination and, without mitigation efforts like masking, the fall could bring an uptick in the spread of COVID. That's particularly of concern for epidemiologists with the growth in cases from the Delta variant.     5. While you were weekending Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   Several provisions aimed at health care were included in an executive order from President Biden on Friday. Among the actions in the EO: a series of steps to lower prices for prescription drugs, as well as measures to address hospital consolidation. A group of investors in Phoenixus, the drug company formerly known as Turing Pharmaceuticals, is trying to find a way to stop "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli from continuing to influence the company from prison, the New York Times reports. John Carreyrou is debuting a new podcast Aug. 26, following the upcoming trial of former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes.     A message from PhRMA Out-of-pocket costs don't have to be out-of-this-world confusing     The way insurance covers your medicine is too complicated. Getting to what you pay for medicines shouldn't be a maze. What you pay out of pocket for medicines should be more transparent, more predictable and more affordable. If we fix insurance, we can fix out-of-pocket medicine costs. See how.   Like this email style and format? Learn more about Axios HQ. It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. 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