🥇 Axios Vitals: Olympics' superspreader potential

Plus: Health care earnings season kicks off | Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By PhRMA   Axios Vitals By Tina Reed ·Jul 14, 2021 ☀️ Good morning, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is an 754 words or a 3-minute read.     1 big thing: Olympics could be superspreader Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   Health experts fear the Tokyo Olympics could become a COVID-19 superspreader event. The big picture: Infectious disease experts say the Olympics don't have strong enough protocols for testing or ventilation, either in competition venues or in the Olympic village. "What kind of ventilation systems do they have? The last check-in we had with them, in their Olympic Village apartments, there wasn't the kind of adequate ventilation that would substantially reduce the spread of the virus," said Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota. Osterholm and a group of other researchers published safety recommendations for the Olympics earlier this year, but with the opening ceremonies fast approaching, they say they've seen little measurable progress. Testing is a core component of the International Olympic Committee's playbook, but it'll be too easy for cases to slip through the cracks and then spread, said Annie Sparrow, a professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. "What about the workers, the volunteers, the bus drivers exposed for 14 to 16 hours a day who are going into the village and then going back home to their families?" said Sparrow, who helped advise the WNBA through the pandemic. Details: The IOC's playbook calls for attendees to physically distance themselves from others, to wear masks, and to get tested daily. An IOC spokesperson said 85% of the delegations will be vaccinated, as well close to 100% of IOC staff. Yes, but: Japan has a meager 19% vaccination rate, and recently extended its state of emergency due to rising COVID cases and the Delta variant. The IOC did not respond to specific criticisms regarding their COVID safety protocols. Share this story.     2. Q2 earnings are almost here Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   Corporate America is expecting big jumps in profits in the second quarter. That's especially the case in health care, an industry that hasn't really lost a lot of financial momentum throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Axios' Bob Herman writes. The bottom line: Health care spending is basically back to pre-COVID levels. Expect big numbers across the board. UnitedHealth Group, which posted a historically profitable 2020 and is on pace to surpass that total this year, will kick off the industry's earnings season Thursday. Go deeper: Follow our health care earnings tracker     3. Uproar over teen vaccines The Tennessee Department of Health is ending vaccine outreach to teenagers — for all diseases — following criticism from GOP state lawmakers, the Tennessean reports. The big picture: Resistance to coronavirus vaccine requirements — as well as the vaccines themselves — has been on the rise in some conservative circles, Axios' Caitlin Owens writes. State of play: Tennessee's political drama escalated last month when GOP lawmakers criticized the state health commissioner in a hearing for efforts to vaccinate teenagers. On Monday, Michelle Fiscus, the state's former top vaccine official, was fired without explanation. Beginning last week, the health department has outlined changes to its vaccination strategy that include ending coronavirus vaccine events on school property and no longer sending teens reminders to get their second shot. What they're saying: "When the people elected and appointed to lead this state put their political gains ahead of the public good, they have betrayed the people who have trusted them with their lives," Fiscus said.     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. 📊 Data snapshot: Proof-of-vaccine bans Data: Ballotpedia, Our World in Data; Chart: Connor Rothschild/Axios     5. Now that's a reason to get vaccinated "To shut the wife up." That was why one white, 65-year-old Michigan man told the Kaiser Family Foundation's polling team he finally got a vaccine. It was part of a collection of answers KFF reported in its latest KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor. After polling individuals in January, KFF recontacted them six months later to find out whether they chose to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and why. Family members turned out to be highly persuasive. "My husband bugged me to get it and I gave in," a 42-year-old white Republican woman from Indiana said, after reporting in January that she was "definitely not" getting the vaccine in January. "My family persuaded me because of my sick kids," said a 28-year-old Hispanic female and Democrat from Texas, who in January was going to "wait and see." "Bahamas trip required a COVID shot," a 43-year-old Hispanic male from Pennsylvania said. When respondents were asked about how they felt now that they're vaccinated, more than 40% said they felt safe or relieved. One in 10, though, said they felt the same. Data: KFF; Chart: Axios Visuals     6. Gawande's new gig Famed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande — former CEO of the now-defunct Amazon joint-venture known as Haven, and a COVID adviser to the Biden administration — announced Tuesday on Twitter he was nominated to lead global health development for the U.S. Agency for International Development.     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. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. 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