Axios Vitals: America's trust in Biden's pandemic response wanes

Plus: Hospital deaths soared amid pandemic | Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By PhRMA   Axios Vitals By Tina Reed ·Sep 28, 2021 Good morning, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 858 words or a 3-minute read.     1 big thing: The coronavirus made hospitalizations more lethal Data: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Chart: Will Chase/Axios Hospitals saw a lot fewer patients and yet a lot more death in the early part of the pandemic, Axios' Bob Herman reports from new federal data. By the numbers: In the second quarters of the three years before the pandemic, there was an average of 1.8 deaths per 100 hospitalizations. In comparison, there was an average of 3.2 deaths per 100 hospitalizations in the second quarter of 2020, according to hospital data in 13 states analyzed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The number of hospitalizations in April through June in those 13 states dropped 21%, but in-hospital deaths increased 38%. Hospital deaths increased at a higher rate for adults aged 18–64 than for adults 65 and older. 27% of all hospital deaths between April and September 2020 were related to COVID-19, and that percentage was significantly higher for Hispanic (57%) and Black (38%) patients. Between the lines: The surge of COVID-19 deaths forced many hospitals to request refrigerated morgue trucks because they were out of places to store bodies. This has happened again in states like Florida, Missouri, Idaho and Washington even though COVID-19 vaccines are now available and prevent most instances of serious illness and death. The bottom line: If you get hospitalized with COVID-19 and are not vaccinated, your chances of dying in the hospital remain much higher than if you are vaccinated. Share this story.     2. Axios-Ipsos poll: Biden trust takes a blow Data: Axios/Ipsos polls; Chart: Jared Whalen/Axios For the first time in his presidency, Joe Biden faces a trust deficit among Americans when it comes to COVID-19, Axios' Margaret Talev writes about the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index. The big picture: Americans have become a bit less worried about living their lives. The respondents who see large risk in airline travel, dining out or visiting family and friends are at their lowest shares since mid-July. Still, they're stewing in the reality that even after the shutdowns, mask mandates and wide U.S. availability of effective vaccines, the virus is still mutating and with us. Two-thirds of respondents said that any vaccinated American who wants a booster should be able to get one. What they're saying: "He won on COVID, he surfed the first six months on COVID, but he's being challenged by it now because there's not a clear resolution in sight," Cliff Young, president of Ipsos U.S. public affairs, said of Biden. "People have adapted. They have countermeasures they trust. But we're still in the middle of it. It hasn't gone away. You have to wear masks everywhere. It's doable, but it makes you frustrated." Between the lines: The trust problem as the virus lingers goes beyond Biden, with declines over time for the CDC (now 64%) and state governments (50%). Read more.     3. Pic du jour: Biden gets a boost President Biden has a band-aid applied after a third shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as a booster on the White House campus on Monday. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images       A message from PhRMA People want choice and access to medicines in Medicare – not barriers     Right now, Medicare Part D includes a provision that protects access to medicines. But some politicians want to take that away. That would mean that you could be stuck with whatever medicines the government says you can have. Ask Congress if your medicine will be at risk in Medicare.     4. Calif. recall isn't a sign of what's coming Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios   Some have interpreted Gov. Gavin Newsom's win in the California recall election as a mandate for Democrats to go strong on COVID in election campaigns, KFF's Drew Altman writes. The big picture: Supporting COVID measures to protect the public is the right stance for any elected official, regardless of how the votes fall. But there's little evidence to suggest it's a winning campaign platform for Democrats in purple states. Driving the news: Nationally, according to the KFF Vaccine Monitor, Democrats retain a slight edge over Republicans with voters when it comes to the handling of the pandemic. Yes, but: Almost 80% of the American people say they expect the U.S. will learn to live with an endemic virus that's more like the flu, and that more effective treatments in pill form are on the horizon. That suggests the administration and Democrats can lay out a path forward that voters will now accept as success on COVID without totally eradicating the virus in the U.S. Republicans will rally their base using the response to COVID to mobilize anti-government and anti-administration fervor. Go deeper.     5. Business notes Pfizer started a global phase 2/3 study of its COVID-19 oral antiviral drug candidate for post-exposure prophylaxis. This is one of a few drugs in the pipeline aimed at treating COVID. Merck is nearing a deal to acquire rare-disease biotech Acceleron Pharma. The FTC is asking for more information about Medtronic's $1.1 billion acquisition of sinus implant maker Intersect ENT. The FTC also wants more info on the Spectrum-Beaumont hospital system merger in Michigan.     6. Quote du jour "There are many people who very much believe — and I am among them — that we should be preventing symptomatic disease because in fact, there are long-term consequences or because it keeps people out of the workplace, because even moderate disease can actually be pretty severe and debilitating." — CDC director Rochelle Walensky at the Atlantic Festival's Ideas Stage event Monday on the goals for COVID vaccines and boosters.     7. 1 fun thing: Future is promising for Halloween Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   One fun nugget from this week's Axios-Ipsos poll: It looks like trick-or-treating will be a go this year. 68% of parents said they saw sending their child trick-or-treating as a small risk or no risk, while 31% saw it as a moderate to large risk activity. "I wouldn't necessarily go to a crowded Halloween party, but I think we should be able to let our kids go trick-or-treating in small groups," Walensky told Margaret Brennan on CBS' Face the Nation over the weekend.     A message from PhRMA People want choice and access to medicines in Medicare – not barriers     Right now, Medicare Part D includes a provision that protects access to medicines. But some politicians want to take that away. That would mean that you could be stuck with whatever medicines the government says you can have. Ask Congress if your medicine will be at risk in Medicare.   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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